Chapter-27

Sasuke and Sakura were sitting on the ground. The sound ninja had left. Sasuke was really worried. Sakura pulled her hair and had a troubled expression. I gave into it. How could I .. I hurt somebody and still laughed! She was shaking and panting. Sasuke looked at her and he felt upset. He hated seeing her like this. He slowly advanced towards her to shake her shoulder when Sakura got up suddenly and turned around and she just smiled.

"Are you okay. Sasuke?"

Sasuke was at a loss of words. She was breaking down but now she's smiling?

"Me? Think about yourself! Are you really okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. don't worry about it."

That does it.

"Ofcourse I'll worry! You stuck your nose in between the fight and got the curse mark instead of me! why did you do that? Are you crazy?!" Sasuke remembered her screaming her lungs out, how she was shaking and held her hand tightly.

"Well… I couldn't just let you take all the wounds now, could I?" she said while smiling.

"Those sound ninja were saying that it's a miracle you're still alive! You could have…"

He started shaking at the thought.

"I'm fine, Sasuke. Let's go check on Naruto."

They started walking towards the tree but then Sakura suddenly stopped. Sasuke also stopped behind her.

"Sasuke?"

"what?"

"Don't tell Naruto about this mark. I don't want to ruin our teamwork because of his concern for me."

Sasuke looked troubled. Why is she hiding it? I know she has a point but keeping Naruto in the dark wont be good. He was about to decline when Sakura went ahead and sat behind Naruto. She held his head in her lap and started focusing chakra in his head. Sasuke was wondering what she was doing but also felt unpleasant that Naruto had his head on Sakura's lap. What pissed him off more was that Sakura did it voluntarily.

"what are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm waking him up by sending chakra inside him." She lied and continued

After some time Naruto opened his cerulean blue eyes groggily and saw a shade of pink above him. His vision got cleared and he suddenly sat up. He roamed his eyes around to make sense of where he was and what happened. Then he suddenly remembered. Orochimaru. Attack. Sasuke and Sakura in trouble. A punch in the stomach. Unconscious.

He turned towards Sakura

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay? That snake guy was really dangerous!"

"I'm fine, Naruto. He couldn't do anything to me."

At hearing that, Sasuke glared at Sakura and Sakura just ignored him.

Naruto walked out of the tree and saw signs of battle.

"Hey did you guys get in a fight or something?"

Sasuke looked at Sakura once and then said

"Yeah. Some sound ninja came for our scroll. We beat them of course and now we have the white scroll." He finished by showing him the white scroll.

"Aw man! I missed all the action. But its great that we have both the scrolls now."

"Let's just get to the tower as soon as possible. We shouldn't engage in useless battles."

"Aa"

And then they packed up their things and sped off. Only after a short while, they heard some screams behind the bushes they were hiding in. They saw Gaara who was twisting his sand around on his enemy and just crushed him. There was blood everywhere. He just laughed crazily and left with Temari and Kankuro, who were his siblings.

Sakura was watching with sad eyes. He went through so much agony but later he achieved the title of the Kage. I'll make sure you get there Gaara-san. Meanwhile Sasuke and Naruto had their jaws dropped.

" We really should be avoiding that guy at all costs. He is really scary." Said Naruto.

Sasuke watched Sakura who had her hand on the neck where the curse mark was. It felt like it was throbbing. She closed one eye and bit her lip to not attract attention. Sasuke was about to ask her if she was fine but then she stood up.

"come on. Let's go." And she sped off

Sasuke looked at her with a scowl but followed her. She is really annoying sometimes.

When Naruto and Sasuke were following her, they suddenly saw of flash of a grown up Sakura, crying in front of them. They both stilled. What was that? A dream? An illusion? I don't sense anybody here.

"Guys, whats wrong? You okay?"

Both of them saw Sakura looking at them worriedly and they just shook their heads and started going towards the tower again. This is really weird.

They stopped for the night and sat near a river. They freshened up and caught some fish for dinner.

"Okay. We are almost there. We should rest up and speed off tomorrow morning as soon as possible. Tomorrow is the 4th day so I think we'll be fine."

"yeah"

"I'll take the first watch. You guys sleep." Said Sakura.

"No. Sakura you're not fine right now so im taking the first watch." Declared Sasuke.

"fine, fine. I'll take the second one then. Wake me up when its time."

And with that Naruto and Sakura laid down while Sasuke sat by the river. He saw the moon shining in the sky and its reflection in the water. He immediately went back to the Land of the Waves mission when Sakura hugged him. It felt so foreign but at the same time… comforting. He didn't know why. Usually he hates physical contact but with Sakura, he didn't seem to mind. She felt warm. Ah why am I thinking this stuff! He shook his head and turned around where Naruto and Sakura were laying. His eyes fixed on Sakura. she was shaking in her sleep. Is she having a nightmare? Suddenly she shot up and looked around wildly. When she saw Naruto and Sasuke, she gave a sigh of relief. She was drenched in sweat. Well I wont be able to sleep now. She saw how people were dying. Her friends, teachers, Kage, all of them. But what made her wake up was when she saw Naruto and Sasuke in a pool of blood.

She shakily wake up and that's when her curse mark throbbed. She gave a small grunt as she held the place where the mark was. Damn it. This is really bothering me. Sasuke saw that and immediately came over to her.

"Sakura? are you okay? Is it hurting?" asked a worried Sasuke

"Yeah, yeah, all good. Don't worry." She said with a small smile

Sasuke just scowled at her and went back to sit by the river. Seeing as he was clearly upset, Sakura walked over to him and sat beside him. They stayed in silence for a while.

"Bad dream?" asked Sasuke just to start a casual conversation

"Haha, yeah something like that." It wasn't bad, It was downright torture.

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" she aasked as she dipped her feet in the water.

"why did you do it?" again

"Do what?"

"Save me? Do you think I'm weak?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke who looked downright upset. That's the way I used to feel. I don't want to see him like this.

"No. of course not. You are really strong Sasuke."

"Then why do you get in between?! You know you could die right? So why put in so much effort."

"Because you're special to me. I can't just let you take up all the blows. It bothers me."

Sasuke looked at her with wide eyes. I'm special…to her? The thought made sparks fly in his chest and he didn't know why.

"If I have to sacrifice everything, just to see my friends alive and happy, I'll do it. And that includes dying." She said with a smile.

Sasuke just kept staring at her in wonder and amazement while she played with her feet in the water. She would die for us? How can she be strong mentally? But he quickly shoved that thought away.

"Sakura, I told you if you die because of us then I would not forgive you."

"I heard it. And my answer is that its okay if you don't forgive me. You can even forget about me and I wouldn't care. I just want to see you happy. That's all." She said cheerily

A silence followed.

"I won't ever forget you."

"hm? What?"

"No-nothing."

"Oh is time for my shift. You go rest Sasuke."

But in truth, Sasuke wanted to stay. Just look at her and her smile. Her presence is really comforting. And with that thought, he went to lie down but he kept seeing Sakura sitting beside the river. You're special to me too. And then he drifted in sleep.

When Sakura confirmed that Sasuke was sleeping, she started meditating to replenish her chakra. The curse mark is taking up a lot of chakra. Thought Sakura grimly. She also noticed that whenever she saw something that upset or enraged her, it would start throbbing. This is a pickle. I'll have to cool down a lot. She thought about Sasuke and him asking if she thought he was weak. How can he think something like that? But she blushed when she recalled her answer 'Because you're special to me'. Of course all her friends were important for her but Sasuke really was… special. She turned to look at Sasuke and had a sad smile on her face. I guess I'll never stop loving you. Sakura kept meditating and then went to wake up Naruto for his shift and lied down. She couldn't sleep because of the nightmare so she just tried to relax.

Morning came and Team 7 was ready to go. Suddenly Sakura felt a person behind the bush. She turned and threw a kunai over there. Why is he here? She thought while she glared at him. Sasuke noticed Sakura's displeasure at that man's entrance. She really doesn't like this guy.

"Who are you?"

Asked Sasuke as both Naruto and Sasuke ran up ahead and stood in front of Sakura.

"Hey. I'm Kabuto." He said with a smile.

Sakura knew how creepy it was but decided to keep her cool.

"Why are you here?"

"Um don't worry. I already have my scrolls. Im not here to fight you." He said as he showed the scrolls he had.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Well, I got separated from my teammates and then I saw you guys so I thought I should stick with you. Since I'm a medic and all, I can be of lots of help." he offered.

What the hell? This is downright suspicious. Thought Sasuke. He looked back at Sakura and noticed that she was hiding her curse mark. Why is she hiding it from him?

Finally Sakura spoke up.

"No, thank you. We have no reason to trust you. Leave." She said coldly

Sasuke had never seen Sakura speak so harshly before. Does she really know him?

"Aw come on! I'll be killed since I have the scrolls if I'm alone!" he requested

"I said no. now leave before I pummel you." Said Sakura angrily.

Both Naruto and Sasuke grimaced as they remember her punches on their heads. I wonder what would happen if she hits seriously… wondered Naruto. I better not act stupid around her. She'll kill me.

"Okay fine. You guys go. I'll try to find somebody else. Goodbye, Sakura."

Sakura's eyes went wide. He was spying on us! What a bastard. And he said goodbye specially to me. That means he knows about the curse mark. He wanted to check me out.

Meanwhile Naruto didn't even hear anything but Sasuke also found it weird that Kabuto pointingly said goodbye to Sakura. this is really suspicious. He turned to look at Sakura and saw that she had her head down and fists clenched. She groaned and put a hand on her head. I really hate that bastard.

"Come on guys. Let's go." Said Sakura as she sped off. Sasuke was wondering how she knew that guy but decided against it to ask her about him. She'll definitely punch me if I ask. and then they went on their way to the tower.