Chapter 3
A/N: Hey guyssss! I'm backkkzzzzz. Sorry to keep ya waitin'! My exams finished on 11th but I was having trouble with this chapter. *Sweat-drops*
I had to rewrite this chapter at least 3 times. And it's a bit lengthy, sorry. I hope you won't find it boring. This chapter was necessary for the development of the story. Alrighty go on! Read it!
Sakura was beyond tired now, she felt like a zombie. She hadn't gotten enough sleep in the past two days, well you could say that it was her own fault. Both Naruto and Sakura were practically running all over the village like a bunch of five-year olds playing a game of tag.
'Not. My. Best. Decision.' Thought Sakura tiredly as she trudged towards the gates of the village.
You got it, after goofing off both of them had realized that if they kept this up, they would anger their friends and would get delayed. Of course Sakura also had to go all the way back to the training grounds near the forest where she had hidden the book. It had taken her an additional half an hour to find it as like the genius she was, she forgot the exact hiding place.
The sky was still filled with clouds, not helping a bit as it was still dark. No light to help her, but they didn't look like storm clouds. They had been getting very weird weather phenomenon for the past few weeks.
All of that aside, some people had really odd or disgusting thoughts in the morning.
'Well, I guess it was my fault for passing by a house of newlyweds, jeez you have the rest of your life to do 'IT', what's the point of going at it so early in the morning.' Thought Sakura shaking her head, when she heard Naruto's voice.
"Sakura-chan! Come quick or we're gonna be late!" The blonde yelled.
Everyone was already there and they looked… well they looked uh… displeased.
"So-sorry guys, there-there was a dog and it chased-
"Can it Forehead! You're late! What the hell were you doing?" Ino yelled as she glared at her.
Before Sakura could reply with a witty insult they were interrupted by Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi, and Jiraiya. Everyone looked at them in surprise.
"Baa-chan? Pervy-sage? Wha-?" Asked Naruto confusedly.
"We came to wish you good luck." Said Tsunade with a smile.
"Yeah that and don't mess up kid." Jiraiya teased Naruto which had the desired effect and Naruto became a loudmouth until Sakura shut him up with her fist. Jiraiya looked scared as both Sakura and Tsunade glared at him for agitating the blonde genin.
'Damn, both of them have the same death-glare. They aren't related are they?' Sakura heard Jiraiya's thoughts in her head.
'You hope we aren't, but it doesn't matter cause I'll beat the pervyness out of you either way.' Thought Sakura viciously while Inner Sakura whooped in agreement.
"I hope you all return safely. Please be careful." Said Shizune with a soft smile when Sakura noticed Kakashi-sensei squeezing her hand for comfort. It was hard to notice, but her observation skills were much higher than average. She smiled to herself, 'Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem like the sweet type, I guess I was wrong.' She thought when Shizune's thoughts flooded in her head.
'Oh my! What is he doing?! And in front of children!' This confused Sakura. So she took a closer look at the two.
Shizune appeared to have a nervous sheen of sweat while Kakashi was sporting an innocent expression. Then Sakura noticed that he wasn't holding the dark haired jonin's hand anymore, no he was squeezing her uh… cough… butt!
'What the-
'WHY THAT PERVERT! I'LL KILL HIM LATER! CHA!' Inner Sakura boomed.
Unfortunately Sakura's scandalized expression was not well masked and Naruto noticed. "Uh… Sakura-chan? Are you alright? You seem like you've eaten some expired ramen. Ugh, I know how that feels like. It happened to me like a week ago." Said Naruto as he chuckled at the last part.
Sakura suddenly realized her slip and covered it up, "Ye-yeah I'm fine, just tired." She said as her gaze shifted from the whiskered blonde to the rest of her team when she noticed Shikamaru trying to cover up a blush.
Their eyes met and they both instantly realized that the other had seen… 'That'. Both geniuses made a silent pact to not mention it and made the wise decision to stay quiet.
"Man! I'm getting hungry! Can we get moving? The sooner we get to Suna, the sooner I can fill myself up!" Said Choji excitedly.
"That sounds wrong on so many levels." Said Naruto with a cheeky grin. Jiraiya chuckled, "Good one kid." He said as he hi-fived him.
Shikamaru chuckled, Ino hid her smile while Sakura and Tsunade glared at their respective team-mates with the same thought going through their heads 'How did we get stuck with such perverts for team-mates.'
"Choji's right guys we have to get going." Said Shikamaru trying to prevent a massacre that might occur by the hands of the two kunoichi.
That seemed to break the killing intent coming from the two and they decided to leave before anything else distracted them. "What a drag…" Mumbled Shikamaru.
"Naruto, Sakura." Said Kakashi-sensei as the team had started to leave. Both genin turned towards their sensei and flashed him questioning looks.
"I have faith in both of you, I know you can do it. Bring him back and be safe, I don't want to see you in the hospital like the last time Naruto." Said Kakashi-sensei in an uncharacteristically soft voice.
Naruto and Sakura looked at each other in surprise but then they smiled at their sensei, "You have our word." They said in unison.
With that the team left to bring back their comrade who had fallen prey to the darkness.
3 days later… Still in the forest… Standing in the snow shivering (Wondering why they're still in the forest when they should have been in Suna? Well let's find out…)
"GOD NARUTO I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! LET ME GO INO!" Yelled an irate Sakura as she struggled to free herself from Ino's grip.
"As much as I want to do the same, I don't think us going to prison is such a good thing." Said Ino sensibly.
"I. Don't. Care!" Yelled Sakura.
Naruto squeaked as he noticed Ino was starting to lose her grip, "Sa-Sakura-chan ca-calm down! It's not my fault! I-it's the snow's fault! I know the way! If it wasn't for this for this goddamned snow we'd be in Suna, believe it!" He said with a sweat-drop.
Shikamaru sighed, "What a drag… you're all troublesome. Naruto just admit that we're lost."
"Yeah, and now because of you I'm gonna run out of chips! I only packed enough for 3 days! If I go hungry I'm gonna eat you first!" Choji threatened the trembling blonde.
"Alright fine! We're lost! But I promise I'll make it up to you Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled in defeat.
"Hey… What about us?" Asked Choji with an offended expression pointing towards himself and his other two team-mates.
Naruto looked at him with a dead-pan look, "You're not pretty and cute. And you can't pummel me into next week." He replied with brutal honesty.
At this remark Sakura instantly calmed down and blushed a dark red that could have been spotted from a mile away as the whole forest was covered with a thick sheet of snow.
"Wha-?! I am way prettier than her!" Yelled Ino in an affronted voice. Naruto opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by Shikamaru while Sakura rolled her eyes.
"This is becoming too troublesome… Shouldn't we be looking for a way out before we get ambushed or something?" Asked Shikamaru trying to change the topic as to prevent Ino from killing Naruto after he said something stupid.
Ino hmphed and jumped into the trees and hopped away while Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at his team-mate's behavior. Choji shook his head in exasperation as he and Shikamaru took after her.
Naruto looked at Sakura in confusion, "Did I do something?" He asked naively. The blonde boy had such an innocent look on his face that it made her giggle and then shake her head as she pulled him in the direction where their friends had gone.
"You're such an idiot." The pink haired kunoichi mumbled.
Back in Konoha…
Clear sounds of a fight could be heard coming from one of the training grounds.
"YOSH! THE FIRE OF MY YOUTH WILL BURN FOREVER!" A voice said as they dodged the oncoming attacks.
"Shut it Lee and just fight me!" Another voice snapped as they tried to hit him again but missed.
"Can't you both ever not fight?" A feminine voice laced with agitation snapped.
The two ninjas engaged in the fight turned to look at their female team-mate and with deadpan expressions on their faces they replied in unison, "No." This irked the girl as a red tick mark appeared on her head.
"Ugh! That's it! You're both idiots! You're gonna stop fighting or else…" The girl threatened them. The two boys stopped and stepped backwards.
"Ten-chan relax please. We will stop fighting. There is no reason for you to get violent." Replied Lee smartly as he backed away from Neji.
Neji scoffed, "I don't have to listen to you." He grumbled as the tick mark grew on Tenten's head and she growled before punching the Hyuuga prodigy into the nearest tree.
Lee yelped. "Ten-chan… that was a little harsh. You have erased the power of his youth! Yosh! He shall be remembered as a brave, fearless, and handsome shinobi! A GENIUS!" Yelled Lee with tears streaming down his face.
Tenten rolled her eyes at her team-mate's uh… well… eccentric behavior. Before she could say something to shut him up, she was interrupted by a loud voice.
"YO! Lee! Tenten!" A bit of silence followed before the voice said again, "Hey man… What happened to you?"
Tenten and Lee turned to see Kiba and Hinata making their way towards them. They were kneeling beside Neji who was lying against a tree with swirls in his eyes and a bump on his head.
"D-do you th-think he-he's alright?" Asked Hinata as she looked towards her team-mate.
As she looked towards Kiba, she hadn't anticipated how close they were. Hinata's nose brushed against Kiba's lips which resulted in Hinata jumping back with a squeal while Kiba just looked at her in shock as he touched his lips. "Hi-Hinata?" He stuttered.
Tenten leaned towards Lee and whispered, "Awkward." And Lee nodded in agreement.
Before Hinata could stutter out an apology a groan interrupted her.
"Unghhh… Damn that hurt." Neji groaned as he glared at Tenten.
"You got what you deserved!" Yelled Tenten as she huffed.
"If you're done with the married couple bit, then would you be kind enough to shut up and come with us to the hokage tower?" A calm stoic voice interrupted them.
Neji whipped his head towards the source, "How did you get there? I didn't even sense you." He said in an accusatory tone.
"That's for me to know and for you to never find out." Replied a boy with black glasses coyly.
"Ew… That sounds weird man." Said Kiba finally snapping out of his daze.
"I'm surprised you have the brains to understand innuendoes, not expected from a boy who mistook dog pee for apple juice and figured it out after drinking the whole glass." The boy replied without missing a beat.
"What'dya say bug creep?!" Yelled Kiba in anger as Akamaru barked at the boy in anger.
"Ki-Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, please don't fight. Th-the Hokage is wa-waiting for us. Sh-she wo-won't be happy if w-we are la-late." Hinata said trying to calm them down. Kiba looked at her and Hinata eeped and looked away while Shino raised an eyebrow at her behavior as he looked towards Kiba who just blushed and looked away. 'Odd' the bug ninja thought.
"Why does the Hokage want us?" Asked Neji stoically.
"We don't know. So we should get going before we actually are late." Replied Shino as he started walking away from them his hands stuffed in his pockets.
Lee and Tenten looked at each other and shrugged as they followed the creepy boy with Neji grumbling as he nursed his bump. The last to follow were Hinata and Kiba who blushed whenever they looked at each other while Akamaru just smirked and gave his owner a suggestive look.
"MAN! I'm so bored!" Yelled Naruto as the small group of genins and 1 chunin trudged through the snow.
"Well, what do you propose we should do in a forest covered with snow as far as one looks, ne Naruto?" Said Sakura in a sarcastic voice.
"Skiing? Oo…Oo Sledging!" Suggested Naruto enthusiastically after which Sakura smacked him upside the head.
"You need a slope for that idiot." She said in an annoyed voice.
"Do you two EVER shut up?! I mean I don't know how Sasuke-kun used to put up with you two." Yelled Ino exasperatedly.
This caused both Sakura and Naruto to glare at the platinum blonde. "No-one was talking to you pig!" Yelled Sakura.
'Damn straight! Who does she think she is?! Blonde-diva-bitch!' Naruto's annoyed voice filled her head. She almost giggled out loud but the next part made her trip and face-plant into the snow. 'Wonder what Shikamaru sees in her.'
"Sakura-chan!" Yelled Naruto in a concerned voice as he lifted her up. Sakura coughed a little as a few shivers went down her spine. 'Damn this cold.' She thought when a voice brought her back to reality.
"If you're both done cuddling can we move on?" Said Shikamaru with a smirk.
Sakura jumped out of Naruto's arms and immediately regretted it and almost groaned out loud from the lack of warmth. 'It felt so warm and just… wow…' She thought.
'Yeah, that's what I'm talking about girl!' Inner Sakura said with a perverted expression.
3 hours later….
Ino looked towards the darkening sky and yawned. It was getting pretty late. They would have to set up camp in some time. It seemed they'd be reaching their destination sometime tomorrow. They would have been there by evening today if Naruto hadn't gotten them lost.
Sakura silently agreed with her when said girl broke her mental grumbling,
"So Sakura, I noticed you and Naruto have grown quite close over these few months. What have you two been doing?" She asked with a suggestive smirk while she elbowed Sakura in a teasing manner.
Sakura blushed a little as she said in a slightly shaky voice, "Wh-what are yo-you talking about? Shut-up piggy!"
Ino giggled, "Do kiss and tell my pink haired odd-ball." She said cheekily as Sakura gave her a murderous glare, the blush still prominent on her face.
She huffed, "It's nothing like that you pervert. It's just that… Naruto and I have been training together ever since I became the hokage's apprentice to work on our team-work, establish more trust and become stronger." Finished Sakura as she huffed again.
Ino sobered up after hearing that as Sakura thought, 'That oughta shut the piggy up.'
"You've….been training?" Asked Ino imploringly.
"Yup and I'm a lot stronger than last time! So you better watch out Ino-pig I can kick your ass good!" Said Sakura proudly but it only made Ino laugh out loud, "Oh…oh that's a go-good one forehead, Oh! My stomach hurts!"
Sakura glared at her but before she could say anything, Shikamaru interrupted her,
"What a drag…. It's getting pretty late, we're gonna have to set up camp now." He said in a bored voice.
"Well if it wasn't for a certain orange goofball then we would be in Suna by now, wrapped in cozy blankets sipping hot chocolate instead of freezing our asses off in this stupid snow!" Snarled an irked Ino as she glared at Naruto who quickly stepped behind Sakura for cover making the pinkette sigh.
"Come to think of it, why on earth is it snowing on the way to Suna? Isn't Suna a desert? It's supposed to be scorching hot." Said Choji as he ate from a bag of chips that appeared to be like his last one.
Naruto stepped away from Sakura and came to stand beside her as adopted a thinking pose, "Huh? You're right. Even I'm confused." He said and Ino agreed too.
The lazy chunin sighed, "The most probable theory is that it's some kind of freak weather." He said as he scratched his head.
Sakura nodded in agreement, "Actually it's not a theory, it is what's happening. I read about this kind of weather happening in certain areas. The most common cause is that there is an atmospheric disturbance due to huge amounts of chakra release or if someone performs really strong elemental ninjutsu. And I guess it's not so odd since it is December ya know?" Said Sakura with a blackboard behind her and in a professor voice.
"Jeez Sakura, nobody here wants a science lecture about weather doohickey and stuff." Grumbled Ino as she folded her arms. Naruto and Choji nodded while a bubble blew from Shikamaru's nose meaning he had actually fallen asleep.
"Hey!" Pouted Sakura but before she could say anything Choji interrupted,
"I guess that spot a little ahead near that creek is good enough for us to set up camp." He said pointing a little to the left.
Everyone turned to look in that direction to see a part of the snow covered ground which was relatively bare of trees and a little further away was a flowing river that seemed to be a bit frozen. They all agreed.
"TSUNADE-SAMA! YOU CALLED FOR ME AND I AM HERE AT YOUR SERVICE! YOSH IT IS THE WINTER TIME OF YOUTH AND MY-
"Can it Gai." Tsunade snapped at the green spandex wearing shinobi who was an older eccentric pro version of Lee.
Gai nodded enthusiastically as Kakashi who stood next to him sighed as he read his perverted book.
"Why did you call us here?" The silver haired jounin asked.
"Yes about that, this pervert over here" Tsunade gestured to Jiraiya who stood next to her before being interrupted by said sanin.
"No, no, I'm a SUPER PERVERT HAHAHAHA!" He laughed wildly.
Tsunade growled and spat out the first part of the sentence, "I'm sorry I meant this super pervert here detected some traces of an unusual form of chakra. He wants to investigate with your help." She explained.
"Unusual chakra? What do you mean Hokage sama?" Asked Gai in confusion.
"I have no idea what it is, that's why you have to investigate, now go before-
Suddenly the door burst open again and a younger version of Gai dashed in,
"HOKAGE-SAMA! I AM SORRY FOR BEING LATE! IT WAS NOT MY FAULT! MY POWER OF YOUTH IS TOO STRONG!"
"Before that happened." Tsunade finished with a sweat-drop. Following Lee came in team 8 and the remaining members of Lee's team.
"Are they going to be coming with us?" Asked Kakashi fearfully making Jiraiya gulp and Shizune sweat-drop.
"No, I have a different mission for them." Said Tsunade, "Now shoo, you three."
Jiraiya rolled his eyes as he walked towards the door but turned back and winked at the blonde haired sanin, "See you tonight princess." He said in a suggestive voice making Kakashi shudder in disgust.
A light blush made its appearance on said Hokage's face as she growled, "GET OUT!" She bellowed as she got off her chair and threw it towards the white haired sanin.
Jiraiya yelped as he quickly shut the door behind him, but the chair burst through the door making a giant hole in the wall, hit him and tore the opposite wall as well.
'Ouch…' He thought before falling with the chair again towards the concrete ground.
Everyone in the room gulped fearfully as Kakashi and Gai walked through the wall and after Jiraiya visibly shaking.
Tsunade grinned smugly as she dusted her hands, "Shizune go get my chair, and do something about the holes too." She said calmly.
"Yes Tsunade sama." Shizune replied with a sigh as she walked out.
The youngsters in the room looked at the short tempered hokage and gulped. Kiba swallowed before he stepped forwards and took lead, "S-so-so Hokage sama, did you have a mission for us?" The Inuzuka asked with a shaky smile.
Tsunade looked at them and snickered at the wimpy expressions on their faces, "Yes I do, come here." She beckoned them towards her table.
As the gathered around her desk Tsunade slid a small photograph forward on the desk.
Tenten looked up in confusion, "It's a picture of a book." She said.
"Yes it is." Tsunade replied calmly.
"Wh-what do we d-do w-with it?" Asked Hinata as she fumbled with her hands in nervousness.
"You need to find that book. Someone stole it from the library a few days ago and that book is very important. It's from the restricted section." Explained Tsunade.
"A stupid book?" Scoffed Neji.
"Yes Hokage-sama, no offence but why do we need to find this book?" Asked Lee in confusion.
"Yes, I'm sure someone just forgot to return it." Said Shino stoically and Tenten nodded in agreement.
"Your mission is to find that book. I told you, that book is very important AND dangerous! If it falls into the wrong hands, I'm afraid to say we will be in very serious trouble." Tsunade said sternly.
Hinata gulped in fear while everyone looked shocked.
"Because of a book?" Mumbled Kiba but Tsunade heard and gave him a glare making him shudder in fear.
"Yes! Now go before I have to punch you all through another hole! I have work to do! I don't care how, but just go and find that book!" Tsunade told them exasperatedly.
All of them squeaked in fear, yes even Neji and Shino, before they all ran out of the room at the speed of light just as Shizune stumbled through the hole with her hair all messy, clothes crooked, ragged breath and flushed face.
Tsunade looked at her in surprise, "Shizune? Wha-? It looks like you just wrestled with a cat….and the cat won! What's with the uh… messy appearance?" She asked with a snicker.
Shizune blushed a crimson as she ran a hand through her ruffled hair, "Uh…um…I…uh… kind of got distracted." She mumbled in embarrassment.
"Well that explains why you don't have my chair." Said the Hokage annoyed.
Shizune laughed nervously, "I-I'll just get it, heh." She mumbled before bolting out the hole in a klutzy manner. Tsunade cocked an eyebrow at her assistant's weird behavior,
"Hmmm… I guess the super pervert was onto something. Shizune is hiding something." The hokage mused out loud.
Sakura sighed in annoyance as she continued to lie awake under the cozy blanket they were sharing. She wasn't able to sleep…again! Gosh, three days ago she felt like a zombie for not being able to sleep for two days but here she was now, wide awake and completely ok.
She didn't understand what was going on. Sighing again the pinkette got out of the cozy blanket and into the biting cold. She shivered as she put on her sandals before stepping out of the tent and onto the soft snow.
She started walking towards the frozen creek towards a huge rock she had seen as they were setting up the tent.
Five minutes later we find her sitting on top of the rock cross legged with a glazed look in her eyes as she stared up at the sky covered with snow clouds as the moon shone during a few intervals as the clouds moved a little.
Her mouth curled into a frown as she started recalling the information she had read from the book she had "borrowed". Sakura was still having trouble believing that people would do stuff like sealing beasts in new-born babies and on top of that she was NOT impressed with the history of the various tailed beasts.
Treating the poor things like weapons? Why? What had they done to be treated that way? Sure they're scary and are beasts but they were also living creatures with feelings. It was hard to believe they were considered monsters. If that wasn't enough, the people who had those beasts inside them were treated like crap!
Her fist clenched in anger. Reading about the treatment of those poor people especially the part where the book had said that their childhood is horribly destroyed by others had brought tears to her eyes which of course had frozen her eyes open due to the frigid temperatures and at that exact moment a fly flew into her eye.
Ouch… she did not want to remember those excruciating five minutes. Anyway back to the topic, more reading had confirmed that the Kyuubi had not been killed by the fourth hokage. It had been sealed. But into whom? She still wondered. Whoever it was, she felt sorry for them and hoped they had a good childhood.
She sighed as a wave of sadness hit her. Why couldn't she sleep?! Sakura was beyond frustrated. Gazing at the cloudy sky in the freezing snow while reading potentially depressing reading material was not as fun as it sounded. She felt the familiar feeling she knew very well; Loneliness.
None of her friends knew she stayed awake during the night like an owl even after trying her best to sleep. It's kind of depressing to sit alone in the darkness while everyone slept.
Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time when a slight rustling grabbed her attention. She whipped her head towards the direction from which the sound had come only to see a blonde haired goofball stumble forwards into the soft snow with a cute oof.
Naruto groaned as the cold snow made his face feel numb. "Sakura-chan what are you doing up there?! It's freezing out here!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood up almost stumbling again.
A small smile made its way onto her face, "I just… like the snow." Said Sakura as she turned away from him.
"You can't sleep again." He said. It wasn't a question. If this wasn't surprising enough, somehow Naruto was right next to her! Sakura almost stumbled off the rock.
"Wh-what do you mean? I just can't sleep today. On every other night I was out colder than Uncle Sam who thought it was a good idea to wrestle with a gorilla hyped up on sugary bananas!" Sakura said with a small giggle.
Naruto looked a little amused making Sakura think she was off the hook but she was mistaken!
"Sakura-chan, I saw you leave the tent on the other nights." Naruto said as he folded his arms and looked at her sternly.
"Aha! So you haven't been sleeping either!" Sakura pointed at him in accusation.
Before Naruto could respond a frigid gust of wind blew making Sakura shiver violently making Naruto notice that her fingers were blue. Sakura pulled her legs closer to her chest for warmth.
Naruto quickly took off the large fleece jacket Choji had lent him and put it around Sakura.
"What are you doing?! You'll freeze!" Sakura said worriedly as she tried to push off the jacket.
"You've gotta be kidding me Sakura-chan, your hands are turning blue!" Naruto said with an incredulous expression on his face.
"You don't even like the cold Naruto! Look at yourself! You're shivering!" Sakura retaliated.
Both of them glared at each other for a few seconds. "Fine!" Said Naruto as he took off the jacket surprising Sakura.
But Sakura was even more surprised when instead of wearing it again like she had thought, Naruto sat behind her, his legs on either side of her as he pulled her towards his torso and wrapped the jacket around them both. She was snuggled between his legs, her back was pressed up against his chest and his hands had gently wrapped themselves around her waist.
"Wh-what are y-you doing?!" Sakura asked in shock.
"Well, both of us were cold and you were being stubborn! This was the only way for both of us to stay warm." Naruto said as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
A burst of unknown feelings erupted in her stomach and heart simultaneously confusing her. Warmth enveloped her from the outside and inside. Sakura gulped as her face turned a million shades of red when she heard Naruto's voice in her mind,
'Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man!' Then she heard girlish screaming in her head followed by a different voice grumbling.
"Good god kit! Someone who isn't afraid to get in the face of that snake bastard is afraid of a girl, it's laughable!" The voice grumbled in annoyance.
'Hush up furball, I'm trying to enjoy the moment. Wow… it feels sooooo wow… man now I'm in for a world of pain.' Naruto's voice floated in her head.
Sakura was surprised that she hadn't hit him right away. The warmth was very comforting and she couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face.
'Hey… why isn't she hitting me…? WHA-?' His thoughts went haywire after Sakura snuggled against him by wrapping the jacket around them tighter.
"Sa-Sakura-ch-chan?" Naruto asked in a shaky voice.
"Hush up goofball, I'm trying to enjoy the moment." Replied Sakura as she looked at him sideways.
Naruto's blush intensified as he realized Sakura had said the same thing he had told the fox.
Sakura felt him tighten his hold as his voice floated in her head again, 'I love it when you blush like that for me…. Dang it, I wish I had the guts to say that out loud.' His soft voice said in her head making her blush even hard if it was possible.
"Kit, you sound like an emo hero from a stupid movie, dial it down or else I think I might throw up, oh too late OOF!" The second voice said.
'Ha ha ha, very funny, you're just lonely and you wish you had someone to cuddle with too!' Naruto's voice boasted.
"EW no. I am above all of this…ugh…emotion. Besides I am a part of you, I feel everything you feel." The voice said smugly confusing Sakura. 'A part of you?' She wondered.
'WHAT?! I'm not sharing Sakura-chan with you! Go away, I don't like you!' Naruto grumbled childishly making Sakura giggle inwardly.
"First of all, I don't want her, I don't even like the pink haired smartass and second of all, veryyyy matureee.' The voice finished on a sing-song note.
Sakura giggled lightly breaking the mental conversation between Naruto and the voice.
"Sakura-chan?" Asked Naruto in confusion.
"It's nothing." She giggled again.
"Oh ok, anyway I wanted to ask you something." Said Naruto.
"Hm?"
"How's your training going?" He asked.
"Medical or the secret one?" Asked Sakura impishly.
"Secret!" Smirked Naruto.
Sakura sighed, "It's going…. Okay I guess." She finished lamely.
"Really? Show me, maybe you're better than you think." Said Naruto with an encouraging smile.
Sakura turned and looked at him for a few seconds as if contemplating something before getting up. She shivered, "Oh, I miss the comforting warmth!" She said as she rubbed her arms.
"Comforting warmth huh? How about burning hot?" He said raising his eyebrows suggestively with a foxy smirk.
Sakura turned red at his blatant pervyness, "Naruto… just because we cuddled does not mean I will go soft on you if you throw around pervy suggestions, got it idiot?" She said in a dangerously low voice. But what happened next completely surprised her. Instead of getting scared and apologizing like he usually did, Naruto gave her another foxy smirk.
"Feisty Sakura-chan, I like it when you get all bossy, it's…kind of hot." He said as his voice dropped an octave lower making a pleasant shiver go down her spine.
Her mouth dropped open as her cheeks flushed brightly, "Na-Naruto y-you PERVERT!" She yelled the last word before she stomped towards him and delivered a powerful punch on his head.
Naruto fell on his back on the soft snow covered rock as Sakura stomped off the rock, "Wait here, I'm showing you." She said in a heated voice when she heard his dazed voice in her head.
'Worth it!' His voice said making her grumble and blush at the same time.
Naruto sat up as he nursed the growing bump on his head as he heard a small cracking voice meaning that Sakura had broken a small part of the ice covering the creek. He almost blanched when suddenly Sakura was in front of him standing on what looked like a small circle of water!
"Wha-? Ho-how are you doing that?!" He exclaimed in surprise.
Sakura smiled, "Well you see, since I have water affinity, I can use it to change the molecular structure of water. I can manipulate the intermolecular distance between the molecules of water resulting in the change of the state-
"Uh Sakura-chan could you uh use English?" Said Naruto sheepishly.
Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "You know how water is a liquid?" Naruto nodded.
"And we can walk on water using our chakra? Well using that technique and using my chakra to transform the water in liquid state to a semi-solid state, I can do this!" She explained.
"Woah! That is awesome! I don't see how your technique is just okay! It's blowing my mind!" Naruto yelled excitedly.
"What really? You're being too generous Naruto, many skilled users can do a lot of cool stuff that I am not even close to cracking!" Said Sakura sadly.
"That doesn't matter Sakura-chan! You should be proud of yourself! You have perfect chakra control, you'll pull it off!" Said Naruto giving her the nice guy pose.
Sakura blushed at the compliment before smiling and saying, "Well, since you believe in me so much, check this out!"
Naruto watched two blobs of water fly upwards on either side of the pink haired girl. Naruto looked at her in question when the two blobs transformed into a pair of doves and circled around Sakura before turning into a pair of bunnies. Sakura giggled as she watched the cute creations hop. At that moment the clouds shifted a bit and the moon became visible.
The scene in front of him was in a word… breathtaking! The way the moonlight shone on the pink haired girl made her look like a…a…an angle!
A blush grew on his cheeks as he captured a mental photo. "Wow…" Said Naruto breathlessly.
"Naruto?" Asked Sakura as she waved her hand in front of his face snapping him out of his daze.
"Heh, heh, sorry I spaced out for a second…" Chuckled Naruto as he ran a hand through his wild locks. Sakura sighed in annoyance prompting Naruto to ask, "What's the matter Sakura-chan?"
Sakura looked at him sadly, "It's just that I still can't 'that' jutsu right! I am really frustrated!"
"'That' jutsu?" Naruto questioned as Sakura gave him a look. "Ohhhhh! 'That' jutsu! Come on Sakura-chan, you can't expect to master that kind of jutsu in a few months! Don't you remember what happened that time when I tried that wind jutsu for the first time?"
"Ahhh, near-death experience 47…" Said Sakura as she adopted a thinking pose.
Naruto pouted, "Do you really need to number those incidents?"
Sakura gave him a look, "Yes!" She said.
"Well, near-death experience 58 was more dangerous than 47, you know." Said Naruto with a grin.
"Well it doesn't matter, you almost got us killed in both those incidents." Yelled Sakura.
"Wha-? That's not true!" Naruto pouted.
"Oh yeah? Why don't we take a little trip to the past?" Retorted Sakura with her own smirk.
"That's alright with me!" Exclaimed Naruto
(Near-death experience 47) *Flashback*
"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan." Naruto continued chanting as he continued poking said girl in the side.
"WHAT!?" Yelled Sakura in annoyance.
"I don't wanna study anymore! I wanna practice now! Come-onnnnnnn!" He whined.
Sakura sighed as she slammed the book close. "Ugh fine! But I hope you at least studied the working of the jutsu." Sakura said sternly.
"Of course! Now let's get to it!" Yelled Naruto enthusiastically as he pulled Sakura up with him.
They were both in the middle of the forest outside of Konoha. No one knew of their location or that they were training, trying to learn elemental jutsu.
"Ok Naruto, make your Rasengan first." Sakura instructed.
"Okay!" He said excitedly. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled. Another Naruto appeared as the original Naruto extended his hand towards the clone. In a matter of few seconds a blue ball of chakra was spinning in the blonde's hand.
"Ok now pour wind chakra into it, gently. Then I'll pour water chakra into it. Then we'll have the combination Tsunami Rasengan, got it?" Said Sakura.
"Awesome!" Said Naruto as he started concentrating trying to picture pouring wind chakra into it.
Suddenly Sakura yelled, "Naruto! Stop!"
"Wha-? Why?"
"Look at your hand baka!" Sakura yelled.
Naruto looked at his hand to see that the Rasengan was now a green color and very enlarged!
"Uhhhh… what's happening?!" Naruto asked in panic.
"I think you poured too much chakra! It's getting unstable, if you don't dispel it, it might explode and kill us!" Sakura replied in panic.
"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled in panic. As his panic increased, a rush of adrenaline burst through his body sending another burst of chakra into the Rasengan. The green ball enlarged even more.
"Why the heck is it still growing?!" Sakura asked in panic.
"Heyyyy, that's what you said last night." Naruto said cheekily. Sakura turned red when inner Sakura spoke up cheekily,
'Well that's what I dreamt last night. Made my underwear…'
'THE HELL?!' Sakura yelled at her inner self in anger as her face took on an even deeper shade of red.
"Narutooooo! How can you be such a lewd perverted jackass right now?!" Sakura growled before tackling him to the ground.
Unfortunately that made Naruto loose grip on the Rasengan. It bobbed on the ground before crashing into a tree.
"Uh oh…" Was the only thing the two genins could say before the Rasengan exploded and a vortex of air was created blasting the two in the sky.
The two tumbled in an unknown direction through the sky only to fall into a huge ravine.
"Narutoooo, this is all your fault!" Sakura growled in anger as they hung from tiny rocks in a huge ravine that was who knows how deep.
"Not entirely, you're the one who tackled me!" Naruto replied but squeaked as Sakura tried to kick him. Naruto was hanging onto her leg, dodging was not an option but he still managed too somehow.
"I'll kill you if we ever make it out of here alive!" Sakura yelled in anger.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan! I have a plan!" Said Naruto as he formed his favorite hand signs and another Naruto suddenly appeared on the same level as Naruto hanging from small stones jutting out of the wall.
"N-no don't tell me!" Sakura exclaimed. But it was too late, there was another green engorged Rasengan, even bigger than the last one. Naruto threw the Rasengan downwards.
"Naruto! Wha-?!" But she was cut short as a strong current of air propelled them both in the air and out of the ravine.
"Well we're out of the ravine." Shrugged Naruto as Sakura tried to strangle him.
"He—ee-eyy wha-t is tha-aat?" Naruto choked out. Sakura turned her head towards the direction he was pointing in only to see a tiny speck that kind of looked like a kunai heading their way. On closer inspection, it seemed like that the kunai had something attached to it... an exploding tag!
They both screamed and hugged each other as the kunai kept flying towards them. They tried to scramble away in the air, but their efforts were futile as the kunai was just a few meters away from them, when it burst. The force of the blast sent the flying through the sky again.
2 mins earlier...
"Konohamaru! Don't!" Yelled Moegi as her friend threw a kunai towards the sky, trying to catch the cat that was getting away from the again.
Alas the kunai didn't hit and sailed through the sky, to who knows where.
"It had an exploding tag on it! Did you want to kill the damned cat?!" Yelled Moegi angrily.
"Wh-what?" Konohamaru stuttered, "I didn't know it had an exploding tag on it!" He chuckled nervously.
"Calm down Moegi, it was an accident, let's not make a big deal about it." Udon said smartly.
"S-see Moegi... Udon's right... we shouldn't turn on each other! That is what the cat wants!" Said Konohamaru dramatically, grasping her arms and shaking her.
Moegi blushed a little making Udon snicker, but he quickly started whistling as she gave him a glare, "Baka... Let go of me, and let's find that dumb cat" She grumbled.
Konohamaru looked at Udon in confusion as Moegi stomped off. Udon just gave a sly smile before following Moegi. Konohamaru shrugged cluelessly and followed.
Suddenly an explosion in the distance made the three stop in surprise and look around in confusion.
"Guess that tag finally exploded." Moegi said with a worried expression.
"Yeah... I hope no one's hurt..." Udon trailed off.
"It's gonna be alright guys! Let's just focus on finding that cat! Seriously the amount of times that cat has ran away from his owner is ridiculous!" Konohamaru grumbled.
"I know!" Moegi exclaimed, while Udon smiled fondly.
Present time...
Sakura pounced on him as they sailed through the sky and continued to shake the living day lights out of him
"We're gonna die! And it's all because of you, baka Naruto!" Sakura yelled at him still shaking him.
Naruto tried to get the words out but it was proving to be a little difficult. He was about to spit the words out when he noticed, that they were nearing the canopy of the forest now, meaning they'll be crashing soon. It seemed like Sakura had noticed too as the world had stopped shaking terribly.
Sakura closed her eyes as she readied herself for the devastating impact that would probably kill them both only to find herself levitating 3 ft. over the ground tangled in a mess of wines. Naruto was next to her upside down.
"Lucky catch?" He chuckled.
"You're dead, when I get out of here!" Sakura exclaimed angrily making Naruto flinch and flail around trying to get out. But suddenly her cried out in pain.
"Naruto what's wrong?" She asked in concern.
"It-it hurts! My skin feels like its burning and I feel like my energy is being sucked out!" Naruto yelled in pain.
Sakura's eyes widened, "Oh crap! This-this is not a normal wine tree! How did I not notice the leaves and the color!" Sakura admonished herself.
"Wha-?" Naruto asked as his eyes glazed over and started drooping.
"It's poison oak! But it was injected with a poison to make it even more deadly. It can kill us in under five minutes!" Sakura explained but she got no answer.
"NARUTO! Wake up baka! No you can…n't… give ….in…" Sakura trailed off as her vision blurred. The last thing she remembered seeing was two green shapes before she fell unconscious.
Needless to say, they had ended up at the hospital. It turned out that Gai and Lee had been returning from a mission and they had stopped to take a pee-pee break and heard a crash somewhere near them. This led them to find the two. Naruto had woken up after 3 days but she stayed unconscious for a week. After she woke up, Naruto almost launched himself at her but Tsunade had come in first and unleashed hell upon both of them.
They had gotten a punishment, to do paperwork for two months and clean the whole village with Naruto not allowed to eat ramen and Sakura not allowed to read for two months. *Sigh* Bad luck.
*Flashback Over*
"See?" Sakura said with a grin.
"I-I, you're the one who tackled me! It's not entirely my fault." Naruto pouted.
"Mmmhmm, we'll see about that." Said Sakura as she waved a hand.
(Near-death experience 58) *Flashback*
"Come-on Sakura-chaaaaaan!" Naruto whined as he played tug of war with said girl over a book. Sakura insisted on reading while Naruto wanted her to practice.
After 10 minutes of tussling Naruto finally managed to steal her book which prompted Sakura to try and throw herself at him to try and get the book.
Naruto put a finger on her forehead knowing it would startle her. Sure enough she froze and Naruto took advantage of the situation and threw the book in a tree.
"Damn you Naruto!" Sakura yelled at him as she got away from him.
"Heheheh Sakura-chan. Now come-on it's time to practice! You won't be able to do a jutsu just by reading about it!"
"Fine…" Sakura pouted.
This time again they were in a forest outside of Konoha also again secretly, the only thing different was that they were near a huge lake.
Sakura walked towards the edge of the lake and took a deep breath. She was going to perform a modification of the original jutsu. Naruto stood beside her and gave her a thumbs up.
Sakura formed a hand seal, "Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!"
At first nothing happened as Naruto continued watching the lake. The jutsu required the user to spew water from their mouth but Sakura wasn't on that level yet and would require an already existing body of water.
The water in the lake started moving as waves started forming. Naruto could see Sakura concentrating very hard. Sweat was starting show on her body highlighting the energy she was putting in. The waves were becoming very big now. Naruto took a little step back. The waves were at least 70 ft. tall now.
"Sa-Sakura-chan?" Naruto stuttered.
"What?" She asked trying not to break her concentration.
"Uh… I think now's the time to dispel the jutsu, the waves are huge! They might just destroy the whole forest!" Naruto said trying to remain calm.
"Wha-?!" As a surge of panic went through her body, she put too much chakra in the jutsu as an image of a huge wave came in her mind.
"AH! Sakura-chan! The waves just got bigger! We better run!" Naruto yelled as he pulled Sakura along with him.
They both ran as fast as they could with the huge wave chasing them. Alas the wave caught up with them and they tumbled in the water.
Naruto broke the surface of the water and tried to see where Sakura was. Suddenly a pink head surfaced beside him.
"Woah!" Sakura said as they got carried away.
"Uh Sakura-chan? Is that a crocodile?" Naruto asked with a tremor in his voice.
"Actually, it's an alligator, see there's-
"Sakura-chan! They both have sharp teeth and can eat us in one bite! It doesn't matter what type it is!" Naruto yelled while he produced a Rasengan as they got closer to the alligator.
"Naruto I don't think this is a good idea!"
The alligator was now right in front of them as it opened its mouth to eat them only to take in a Rasengan that had a bit of wind chakra poured into it by habit.
A huge explosion occurred forming a whirlpool.
"I told you it wasn't a good idea!" Sakura yelled as they both started swirling around.
"Oh man, I'm getting dizzy….OUCHY!" Exclaimed Naruto as he jumped upwards in pain and landed next to Sakura who saw a stream of blood leak out from his back.
"Naruto?" Sakura asked worriedly.
"Something bit me!" He said. At that moment a fin appeared in the whirlpool. Sakura and Naruto paled as they realized what it was.
"A SHARK!" They yelled. The shark broke the surface of water and popped up right in between them and showed them its very shiny and sharp teeth making the scream in terror and swim in opposite directions only to smash into each other and see stars.
The shark bared its teeth again and went after Sakura. She tried to swim away but shark caught her arm in its mouth and bit down… hard!
"AHA…AHHHH!"
"Sakura-chan! Unhand her you monster! Oh wait I mean unmouth her you monster!" Naruto yelled with fire in his eyes as Sakura continued to struggle as tears streaming down her face from the extreme pain.
Naruto jumped up on the shark making it go ballistic and ended up getting himself thrown off into the middle of the whirlpool. He was seeing stars when he heard Sakura whisper, "Na-Naruto, co-come he-re oh the pa-pain it's AHAAAH!"
Naruto quickly made his way towards her, "Help me-me make ha-hand s-signs!"
"Okay!" He consented as he extended his hand towards her good one.
"Make a rat." Naruto nodded.
"Dog…"
"Ox…"
"Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu!" Sakura yelled as a whip of water got created from the water and bound the shark surprising it into releasing Sakura's bleeding and mangled arm.
"Oho sweet release!" She exclaimed in relief before regaining herself. "Naruto, it's up to you now! But-
"I got it!" Naruto declared. "Wind Style: Divine Down Current!" He yelled forming the corresponding signs.
Suddenly a vortex of wind was created and Naruto directed it towards the struggling shark, blasting it into the sky. Only a shining star could be seen in its wake.
"Don't use any wind jutsu…" Sakura finished with a sigh.
"Why not? I got rid of the shark didn't I?" Naruto said happily.
Suddenly the wind picked up and the water started to rise up in what looked like a tornado. It started pulling everything inwards.
"That's why!" Sakura yelled over the raging wind as they both got pulled in.
"Uhh… Oops?" Naruto chuckled with a shrug and sweat-drop while Sakura only sighed as they swirled around and around and around and around… well you get it.
"Now, we're stuck in a Tsunami Tornado!" Yelled Sakura as they continued swirling around.
"It's kind of cool, I mean if we trap an enemy in it!" Naruto yelled while Sakura rolled her eyes.
They had kept swirling around for about an hour as the tornado rampaged in the forest attracting the attention of some Jounin specifically Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai as they noticed the sudden change in the weather and saw the tornado since they had been hanging in the forest.
Upon reaching the scene they saw an unconscious Naruto and Sakura fly out of the tornado to who knows where. Kakashi had followed them while Kurenai and Asuma had dealt with the tsunami tornado.
As the sun had set Kakashi had found his two students on the Hokage Mountain, beaten, bruised and bloody.
Of course Tsunade once again gave them hell, but luckily no one suspected that the tornado had been their doing. Everyone thought that the two genins had gotten caught in a crossfire between some ninjas.
They received the same punishment, just the duration had been increased by a whole month AND on top of the punishment they had to help out at the academy teaching bratty kids about Ninja arts. They had three words to describe it: It. Was. Hell!
*Flashback End*
"You know 58 is still your fault." Sakura stated.
"No way! Then 47 is your fault!" Naruto retorted.
"Is not!"
"It is!"
"Is not!"
"It is!"
"Is not!"
"It is!"
"Is not!"
This unfortunately went on till the sun came up and Choji found a very weird sight.
Sakura was pulling Naruto's mouth making him look like a cartoon as she stood on what looked like water and they seem to be arguing.
"Uh guys?" The fa- uh I mean very healthy boy asked.
Choji's voice startled both genins resulting in Sakura to lose concentration and the water platform returned to its original form causing her to plunge into icy cold bone chilling water. Naruto fell on his knees on the rock.
Both boys stared at each other in panic before Naruto jumped off the rock and sat on the edge of the creek looking for Sakura.
"Sakura-chan?!" Naruto yelled into the water.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't think she would fall in! Chips?" He offered.
"I thought you already ate your last one?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"Shikamaru and Ino had packed extra! They both gave me their share!" Choji said happily.
Naruto rolled his eyes as Sakura suddenly came up shivering violently.
"I-I-I-I think I-I-I-I'm t-turning in-into a-a-a po-popsi-sical! Ge-get m-m-m-me OU-OU-OU-OUT!" Sakura said through chattering teeth.
Naruto quickly grabbed her and a shiver went down his own spine as he touched her cold body as he started pulling her out while Choji had run and brought a blanket.
"Th-tha-thank-yo-you." Sakura shivered as she said as Naruto wrapped the blanket around the pinkette.
"Sakura, I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to fall in." Choji apologized with a sweat-drop.
"I-its o-o-o-ok." She said through chattering teeth.
After an hour or so they had started their journey again.
Unfortunately this little incident caused Sakura to sneeze all the way to Suna. Oooo the snot rockets! DiSgUsTiNg!
A/N: Soooooo, how was it? I hope ya'll enjoyed it. And this whole near-death experience thing? Yeah it was my way of showing you all that Naruto and Sakura had been training on their own after Sasuke left. I don't like it that Naruto uses only a select few jutsu.
I actually like elemental jutsu. So I decided to have the characters use them in my story, but of course they can't be experts from the start so they've been training and it has been rough. They know one or two individual elemental jutsu and they're training to learn more advanced jutsu and combination jutsu like you saw. They'll continue training as they look for Sasuke.
I hope no one minds. Now I have a question that kind of requires your votes i.e. a polling question.
So I'm gonna have Sasuke and Karin make an appearance finally. So I wanted to ask that do you want me to make Karin a little different? Like fiery? Kind of like Misty, she'll drive Sasuke crazy, and that would lead them to argue. I think it'd be fun to see Sasuke going crazy and not understanding what to do with the crazy red head. Kind of how she behaves with Suigetsu. Or do you want me to keep her the same way like in the anime? Your choice people! Vote in the reviews please! I mean you're the ones reading the story so if you want to be entertained thennn REVIEW!
And I know I didn't talk about the note about the phoenix mark in this chappy, don't worry it will be coming and more will be revealed in the coming chapters. Also yes Sakura is close to finding about the Kyuubi, but since there's a specific scene I have in my mind so unfortunately you'll have to wait.
