Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three and one more behind the rock.
A thousand memories of many troubled days gushed into her mind as the stillness of the air grew heavier and heavier each second that passed by. She could easily beat all of them but with the chakra, she has left, her body might not make it anymore.
A cold wind passed through the massive forest, the sky was full of stars sprawled like diamonds in different sizes. She closed her eyes — breathing in the faint scent of the after rain, she pulled out the last kunai she had as she charged towards the nearest opponent from her.
Thirty-one down, three more to go.
Her heavy breathing can now be heard, the open wounds on her arms, legs, and torso stopped healing which only meant she's at her worst condition. The three opponents stood before her, they noticed that she slowed down. "You should give up." One of them proclaimed as they started making similar hand signs known as the Sealing Jutsu.
"An anbu has to fulfill their given mission and giving up was never an option. It has always been to succeed or to die." she barely whispered, a small smirk formed on her lips under the mask. "Although, I'm not much up for the second option."
The twitching pain of her wounds kept her on the edge, it's now or never — she thought to herself. Multiple flashbacks ran through her brain as if she knew it's going to be her last battle. Her memories with her family, friends and the people of Konoha kept replaying inside her head. Mom, Dad, Lady Tsunade, Shizune... Naruto...Sasuke... I'm sorry.
"Byakugou!"
The markings appeared for the second time, the immense chakra that can be felt within the forest appeared once again. I don't have any time left . Without wasting any second, she charged directly on her opponents, dodged all attacks and continuously threw punches, taking down the two of them.
"I'm giving you a chance to give up," she said.
"Not when I know you're so close to dying."
He wasn't wrong, the markings were slowly fading, she felt her body slowly give up and she knew if she tried she could take him down — in exchange for her life.
"Any last wishes?"
"You should be saying that to yourself."
She successfully landed a punch to his opponent that sent him at least a good distance away from her as her body stopped responding anymore, she collapsed on the ground — her mask broken in half, revealing a part of her face.
A shuffling noise can be heard from afar along with loud grunts and a small laugh. "I can't believe you fell for a trick like that." The man strode towards Sakura's weak body then pulled out a sword as he grazed it through Sakura's tattooed arm. "Did you think you can knock me out with just a punch?" Using his sword, he moved her broken mask, revealing Sakura's face. "Oh, aren't you a beauty? Too bad, you're going to die young." She heard the man laugh hysterically then she heard him draw his sword in the air, ready to aim her.
I'm sorry, I failed.
Sakura felt the warm blood run through her damp skin, is this really how I die? My body is too weak to even feel the sword. Her mind went black after a while as her frail body laid on the cold damp ground.
The darkness invaded the forest that night, giving them a hard time to run around. Sure, they had an Uchiha with them but they were asked to reserve their chakras for a possible counterattack. The three anbus moved as fast as they could, searching for any source of chakra similar to Sakura's.
"Have you sensed her yet?" the pony-tailed guy named Shikamaru asked.
The girl with a white long hair answered him with a shake of her head. They continued to move around together, looking for any trace of footprints on the trees and ground but it was hard to tell due to the recent downpour.
Ino, the white-haired girl, suddenly stopped on her tracks. Her eyes grew big, she felt her heart rate rise in shock. The two guys halted instantly, "Why? What happened?" Sasuke said first.
"S-sakura, I felt her chakra but it was too quick. We have to get moving! Follow me!" The two of them didn't need to be said twice, they followed Ino as they ran as fast as they could. Sakura, please hold on a little longer, Sasuke muttered to himself.
Shikamaru studied both of his teammates — Ino showed different kinds of emotion, she looked haunted, scared, he could barely see it but tears were streaming down her face. Sasuke was no different, his aura was darker than it usually was. He knew it was dangerous to approach him or even talk to him. He carefully took a glance at his face only to see that his eyes already turned to that familiar red orbs. He must've accidentally activated his Sharingan.
"Ino," Sasuke called her out. Ino barely faced him, she only waited for his next words. "What exactly did you sense?" Ino looked away from Sasuke and took her time to give him a proper answer.
"I... sensed her chakra. Two chakras to be exact. But now, I can't... I can only sense the opponent. So we have to hurry... 'cause I'm afraid... we might be too late."
The three arrived a few minutes later and as expected, they saw Sakura's helpless body on the ground, her chakra long depleted. And without any warning, Sasuke took out his sword and thrust it straight to the opponent's heart.
"Ino! Quick! Heal her!" Sasuke ordered. Shikamaru instinctively double-checked their surroundings while Ino knelt beside Sakura and started to aid her, "Her b-body... All of her chakra points are damaged, it would take a while to heal her by myself. We have to get back to the village as soon as possible." Ino hurriedly said.
"Prioritize the severe damages, Shikamaru and I will investigate the remaining bodies then we'll leave," Sasuke said, as he stood up from Sakura's side.
"Don't leave me, too."
"Introduce yourself."
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I want to be a hokage!"
"Hello! I'm Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you."
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke."
It was rather a peculiar group yet Sakura never felt indifferent from the two. Uzumaki Naruto, a jinjuriki of the Nine-Tailed Beast and Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of the elite clan Uchiha. She knew the power the two boys have but to her, they were her friends and teammates. The three of them were known as Team 7 — led by their captain, Hatake Kakashi. They trained together as they promised to become the highest of all shinobis and obtain their goals in life. The time they spent together was invaluable than any other team then a year later, they finally graduated as genins, went on difficult missions and grew up to be even better shinobis.
The once weird group is now a family. No one expected that the three of them would have such a strong bond. Sakura took the role of being the 'mature' one no matter how much Sasuke insisted he was only normal among them. Perhaps it was because they didn't have anyone other than themselves. Naruto and Sasuke, who always spent their nights alone, were accompanied by Sakura most of the time. It was those small actions that made their team strong. So when Naruto broke the news to them that he had to train with Lord Jiraiya, Sasuke and Sakura definitely couldn't hide their dejection.
"Oi Sasuke! When I return, you should be stronger than me, okay?"
"Stupid! I'm stronger than you, don't ever come back if you can't beat me."
"Naruto, be careful okay? Write us letters!"
With that, Team 7 was left with only three members — Team Leader Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura.
"Hey, Sasuke."
"What?"
"Say, what exactly are your plans?"
"Why?"
"I'm going to take the Jounin exams this year and I'll be trained by Lady Tsunade, how about you?"
"I have to train with Kakashi sensei and learn how to control my curse mark... If that goes well, I might take the exam too."
"Really? Yay! Let's train together, alright?"
"Whatever."
Eventually, as per the rules of Konoha — a team must consist of four individuals and a captain, although the two genins couldn't deny the disappointment that Naruto had to be replaced. Later on, a boy named Sai was added to complete the team. He was the exact opposite of Naruto; shy, reserved and expressionless but he adjusted faster than Kakashi expected and pretty much got along with Sasuke and Sakura.
The first few missions with Sai was a bit awkward — mostly because of Sakura and Sasuke's clumsy mistakes. They were used to Naruto's aggressive and unplanned attacks that they somehow fell back during a mission. "You should work this out or we have to stop this mission right now." Kakashi reprimanded during a short break.
Sasuke was disappointed, not to Sai or Sakura but himself. He hated how irresponsible he is right now after Naruto's absence. He knows it's his fault for not approaching the guy — it was always the other kids who asked him to play. He wasn't used to be the one who initiates a small talk so when he met Sai his mind automatically goes blank whenever he's around.
"Hey, Sai!" Sasuke heard Sakura call him out. Her hands behind her back as she stood shyly in front of Sai. "Hello." Sai curtly replied.
"I just want to say sorry," Sakura opened up. "I know we're at fault for not approaching you, so I hope in this mission we can get through it!" Her mouth curved into a small smile. Sai offered Sakura a handshake, a rather strange action for someone who's been with them for two weeks now. She returned the handshake, nervously shaking their hands.
"I always have trouble expressing my feelings that's why I recently started studying people's emotions for you and Sasuke," he uttered honestly. "Now that I've said my feelings, is it okay if I start approaching you even if it's not for missions?" Sakura's cheeks showed the color of pink, she beamed a grin at him while nodding.
"Sure! You can—"
"You can approach me too."
The guy with long black hair said as he appeared behind Sakura. Her eyes twinkled in glee, "Sasuke, let's train with Sai after this mission!" Sasuke shrugged but replied with a hum.
"Thank you, Sakura, Sasuke." Sai replied, his eyes turning into adorable crescents. Kakashi suddenly asked Sasuke to come over, leaving Sai and Sakura alone again.
"You like him, don't you?" Sai spouted, making Sakura blush again.
"W-well… Y-yes? I guess…" she replied, fiddling with the ends of her pink hair. Sai found it cute, humans do have weird habits when they're shy. "Why don't you confess to him then?"
Sakura jolted with his sudden question, "Sai! It's not that easy! I'm just relieved he doesn't like anyone right now. I'm content with that."
"But he—"
"Sakura! Can you come here for a second?" Kakashi called out.
Sakura slapped both of her cheeks then shook her head, "Yes! Coming! Later, Sai!" She ran towards their captain and stood beside Sasuke who was also looking at Sakura.
"But he likes you too, Sakura…"
After a lot of rigorous training, missions, and exams, the three finally achieved the Anbu status in Konoha — also earning nicknames to themselves, the Elite Anbus, trained by the fifth hokage herself and one of the village's talented shinobi, the Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi.
The time both Sasuke and Sakura spent together was more than those who are married. They trained together, even had to sleep together during missions, a lot of people assumed that they're practically dating.
There was one time while doing an infiltration mission in a foreign country, the two were sent to disguise as travel performers and to gather intel while they have to stay in hotels every other week. Normally, they sleep in different rooms during missions but the hotel manager insisted they sleep in one room as the whole building is quite packed.
"I'm sorry but we have to be in separate rooms," Sakura said.
"Ya! At this age, couples stay in one hotel room."
"But we're not a couple—" she insisted, grunting at the manager.
The manager handed her a small key, "Here's the key to the room," as she winked at Sakura.
"Seriously, we're not—"
"Look at him," the manager pointed out to Sasuke, who was sitting in the lobby of the hotel. "Every girl who passed by just now asked if he's taken or not."
Sakura glanced at Sasuke's direction, two girls just walked away. One of them was crying. She couldn't help but grin to herself, I'm so mean .
"Tell me, is he not your boyfriend?"
"Again, he's not my boyfriend. He's my close friend and that's it." Yes, he is.
Sasuke felt like he was being watched so he walked towards the counter, where Sakura and the manager were. He took a glance at the lady behind the counter before leaning into Sakura's left ear. "What's taking so long?"
"They're giving us only one room. Do you think we should leave?" she whispered back.
A woman in her 20s approached them, she had long black hair and her body proportions were heavenly. "Hey, there." she opened up, looking at Sasuke only. "Is she your girlfriend?" the woman asked.
"Yes, why?" Sasuke answered in a heartbeat. What the hell? Sakura felt her face and the tips of her ears turn red and warm.
"Oh, what a waste." The woman said after eyeing Sakura, then letting out a sigh.
"Sasuke—"
"Calm down, I had to stop them from coming or else we can't finish this mission." He calmly replied, as he snatched the key from Sakura then thanked the manager. "Come on, let's go."
Their room was located at the farthest secluded section of the hotel. It had a small private hot spring just outside the room, with the view of the city's downtown. A very romantic setting perfect for newlyweds.
The two laid down their bags inside the room, they took separate ways to scan the whole room then Sasuke went out to sit by the patio leading to the hot spring. He then removed his cloak followed by the long sleeve shirt that covered the thick Anbu armor.
"S-sasuke, you should have changed inside. It's cold out here."
He turned to face Sakura, she was wearing a black floral yukata, her usually tied up pink hair perfectly flowed down by the sides of her face. The bright moon's reflection can be seen through her emerald eyes. He stood still and admired the woman in front of her. Sasuke has never seen anyone as beautiful as her, she's intelligent, powerful and independent. It's almost no one's undeserving to marry her, not even a prince nor a king deserves a perfect woman like Sakura. He examined her from head to toe (once again) before shyly hiding his face. "I'm not cold." He shortly replied.
"Oh, o-okay then…" he heard her mumble.
"Are you going to take a dip?"
"Ah! No, I'm fine. You should go on, I'll probably try it t-tomorrow."
After what it felt like an eternity, Sasuke finally removed all of his upper clothing. He stood upon the ground, as he faced her bashful partner. "That's too bad then."
Too bad? What did he say? Was he expecting me to bathe with him?
"You should take a rest," he said immediately, after realizing what he just did. "I'll just take a dip for ten minutes."
Still frozen from her place, Sakura thought of hundreds of possibilities of what could've happened if she said yes to Sasuke. Did I just miss a very crucial point that could've led to an actual relationship with Sasuke?
"Sakura? Sakura? Sakura!"
"Ah!" She yelped earning a small laugh from Sasuke, "What did you say?"
"Can you come closer?" What? Why? Unlike her thoughts, she moved closer to Sasuke. He smiled at her and motioned her to lean towards him. "Why?" She suddenly blurted out.
"Just do it." She was utterly confused but somehow she managed to lean towards him, her heart couldn't keep up with its rapid beating. Calm down, Sakura. Calm down. He asked her to lean more until their eyes are on the same level.
This is my first time seeing Sasuke this close. Like those cliche movies, she stared at his eyes first, admiring his dark but beautiful black orbs. God, I hope he knows how I love his damn eyes. She inched a bit closer, his cute nose turned red from the chilly weather. Her eyes trailed down to his thin yet chapped lips, "Sasuke…" Sakura barely whispered, her cold hand held the side of his face.
"Close your eyes, Sakura." Their eyes once again, mirroring the same emotions - scared yet full of excitement. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt Sasuke move closer.
She felt it.
The warm feeling felt heavy but it was rather familiar.
Should I bury myself on this very ground or use my new jutsu against him?
Sakura mustered all her courage and opened her eyes, the heavy yet warm cloak of Sasuke draped on her body. I'm so embarrassed, I want to disappear.
Thankfully, Sasuke was facing away from her, his hair long enough that it already reached his shoulder blades. "You should go inside." He moved his hand to brush up his long hair, he looked majestic under the bright moonlight.
"O-okay. D-don't take too long, Sasuke." she quietly replied, as she marched her way inside the room.
Later that night, she dreamt that someone held her throughout the cold night and kept giving her soft forehead kisses. She woke up the next day only to see Sasuke sleeping on the other side of the room, she knew it was just another dream of her but the familiar scent on her evening dress made her doubt it.