On our way to the forest this morning I had a gut feeling that Kakashi sensei would actually show up on time, but of course I was wrong. It seems that he pulls this stunt every single time we have a specific meeting time. Over the years it's only gotten more and more annoying, Naruto and I both are pacing from the irritation. Sasuke's probably having a déjà vu moment right now, my hands have been on my hips since it hit the hour mark. We only have another hour before our deadline of entering the forest.
"I swear Kakashi sensei is always late. When he decides to show his face, I'm going to knock him into next week." Naruto lets slip through his teeth, I'll second that. The other proctors have already entered the gate, Tenten and Temari giggled at our group when they passed by. It's embarrassing but at least they understand Kakashi's tendencies. This down time give Ino a few more minutes to go over the map with Sai, even if they are cuddled up. As I move back towards Sasuke his hand reaches out to grab me and stop my nervous habit.
"Stop pacing Sakura. He's walking up." Letting my hands drop, Naruto and I glare at the grey haired ninja. My eyes shoot over to the pack slung over his shoulder, the rest of us didn't bring a pack so why did he? It must be a good reason if he's kept us waiting this long. Sasuke helped me make sure I packed enough in my jacket and pouches, but he made sure that I brought enough medical supplies just in case. Although I packed a few extra soldier pills behind his back, we'll need them more than he thinks.
"About time you show up sensei! And don't say that you got lost on the path of life, because that's bogus." His voice almost sounds like an upset child and his body language is of a sulking kid. It reminds me of how Naruto used to react whenever he thought Kakashi was being unfair.
"Calm down Naruto. I had to go by the technology division and pick up a few things, they took longer than I thought. Take these and put them on, they're already programmed to our frequency." The pack drops to the ground softly and I notice the new communicators, looks like we get a definite upgrade from last time. Taking the device, I fasten the strap around my neck and pull my hair into a high ponytail. The last thing I need is for my hair to get caught in anything.
"These are the newest model of coms. The range is wider and the charge will last at least a week straight. Every one needs to be vigilant, no contact needs to be made with the testers. This time around there's a time limit, Sunday at sunset is the end of phase two." Half of the teams will be eliminated again but this time they will be able to rest for the night before for the brackets begin. Ino grabs my wrist and pulls me to the side away from the group, something's bothering her.
"What's up?" A flash of concern covers her blue eyes and I pat her shoulder. Of course her thoughts would go straight to our first time here. I'm not going to let it bother me too much, nothing is going to happen to us or the genin. Ino is struggling to find the right words, offering a gentle smile the wheels stop turning.
"I get it Ino. Come on, Kakashi didn't look finished with the briefing." The guys are watching from the small distance and they seem curious about our conversation. Nudging Kakashi with my shoulder he continues speaking.
"We will wear these at all times. Once we enter that gate, we act in the shadows. Like I said be vigilant, if any genin catches our movements there are consequences. Mask your chakra until we enter our rendezvous spot, Tsunade has made designated areas for each proctoring group to camp. Pull out your scrolls, I want to make sure that everyone has theirs." We all make sure to prove to Kakashi that we packed them, an eerie feeling washes over me as I turn with the group to look at the forest. Sensei passes Sai and Sasuke another map for them to tuck in their jackets.
"There's a spot marked on those maps, that's our campsite. Let's go." I push away the dark feeling and let the excitement take over. This is going to be a long weekend, but maybe it will be enjoyable as well.
'Nothing's going on in our area. There hasn't bene any genin here in the past hour.' Sai's voice fills our ears as Kakashi and I watch over a squad. They seem to be making their plan of action, but they haven't moved in the past ten minutes. From up here in the treetops, it's harder to see facial details.
"Kakashi and I have eyes on a squad. Nothing seems too out of the ordinary." Whispering into the microphone, I bend over as a wave of nausea hits me. Covering my stomach with green chakra, it's not long before I stand back up and stretch my back.
'We have a few groups fighting in our area, nothing too brutal though.' Sasuke's voice causes a shiver to run down my spine, he always has an effect on me even being so far away. This morning he was hesitant to join me in the shower; his mind was running wild. Last night before we fell asleep he confessed that he was nervous to come back, the memory of the curse mark still hurts.
"Meet up at the campsite here in a few hours, Ino and Sai go ahead and head back. Set up camp and make sure the perimeter is secure." A grunt comes through the coms. Looks like Ino's annoyed at the lack of action. I look over to Kakashi and furrow my brows at him, why are these genin just sitting there? I jump down to a closer branch, looking at the group intensely. They are all fast asleep with traps set up around the area. It's a smart plan honestly.
"They are waiting till night fall. Smart kids." Kakashi only confirms my suspicions. I stayed up for most of the night watching over Naruto and Sasuke, the forest was quiet for the most part at night. It's risky since all of their competition is near the center of the forest, but it's a plan that could work.
"Looks like nothing serious Sakura. Let's continue." Following Kakashi, I jump form limb to limb looking down at the forest floor. Seems almost surreal being back here, so many memories related to this place, this is where I vowed to protect Sasuke and Naruto with my life. I got my ass kicked that day, I haven't been roughed up like that in a long time. That's also when I had to cut my hair and change the way I saw myself. Back then I swore up and down that I was a full fledge ninja, nothing could stop me. My looks got in the way of my training and stunted my growth compared to my two teammates. That's the day I made it my goal that I would never look at their backs again, although it's taken a long time.
Below us more squads are starting to get into the action, small battles here and there. Their jutsu's aren't nearly as destructive as Sasuke and Naruto's, which means no life threatening injuries. Nothing seems to be getting out of hand and I motion for Kakashi to stop for a second. Dropping to my knees for a second I take out my bottle to take a quick drink of water, he follows my lead and chuckles from under the mask. His hand clicks off his com and I do the same.
"Are you feeling alright?" I'm not used to running like this anymore, truthfully my training has taken a halt since working in the hospital. It's been at least six months since I went training with Naruto or Kakashi. Most of my days are spent behind a desk or healing the injured ninjas that come in.
"I'm fine. It's just that I haven't been out in the field like this in a while. Medics are used to office work." A chuckle comes from my sensei as I tuck my bottle back into my pouch. I wipe the sweat from my brow and turn my head abruptly looking behind me. The hairs on my neck stand, it feels as if someone is watching me.
"Let's go ahead and head back." Looking back ahead of me, shaking the feeling, I move towards the campsite. There's no way someone would be watching me, the ninja that entered this forest are documented. Tsunade would've spotted someone that didn't belong, I have to trust the system and focus on the task.
"About time you got back here Sakura." Once again Ino's being a loud mouth and I throw a kunai just beside her leg. After constantly moving around all day I'm in no mood for her to act like a child. Sasuke and Naruto aren't back yet, not surprising they probably are watching a good fight. I lean against the tree trunk and slide down to the base letting out the breath I had been holding. An uneasy feeling washes over me and I look around the perimeter closely, the forest is working against me here. All day I haven't been anxious or nervous about being here, it must be happening since my mind isn't focused on anything.
Ino must've seen my face turn white, her body is next to mine in a flash handing me the kunai back. There's a small Uchiha fan engraved into the blade, Sasuke must've put that in with my others when he stocked my gear. Closing my eyes, I take in another deep breath and even out my breathing. I don't know why I'm acting this way now, but I still can't shake the feeling of being watched. Sasuke told me they took care of the rest of 'The Master' group but Hiroku's name never popped up in the report. He's a loose end that needs to be taken care of before he can recruit anyone else into his sick gang.
"I know how your feeling. Earlier when Sai and I were on our rounds, I was right above the place where you were attacked." The air leaves my lungs and I look over to my friend. I thought we were close.
"You were there?" The nod is small and shaky, Ino watched me get beaten for the most part. By the time she jumped out of the bushes Sasuke was waking up. His aura and chakra that day were filled with so much rage and darkness, it still makes me shake thinking about it.
"Yeah…" I can't let this place get the best of me again, for fucks sake I'm a Jonin now and a pretty damn good medic too. Ever since Shishou asked me to do this, there was an excitement that rushed through me but there's a mixture of anxiety too. I'm better than this, I know that I can handle whatever is thrown at me.
'About time. You've worked your ass off to get here. It's your job to show these kids that what it means to be a Leaf Village ninja.'
'Yeah, yeah I get that now.'
'Good, now your handsome no scratch that…sexy husband is walking towards you. Get your ass up.'
Rude as ever, making my way up from the ground I move over to my two guys. Naruto looks agitated about something and Sasuke looks beyond angry. Our eyes clash against each other, there's something wrong. I make a motion for him to follow me through the tree line so we have some type of privacy. Sasuke rips off his communicator and shoves it in his pocket, two hands run through his raven locks and grip it tightly for a second.
"Sasuke what's going on?" Every fiber of my being wants me to wrap my arms around him, but that's not the solution that Sasuke needs right now. I watch as his eyes turn red and it takes me by surprise, my feet move back slightly.
"You two turned off your coms. We've been trying to get in touch with you for hours." Oh shit, I must've forgotten to turn the device back on. What could be so important? There's been no major activity in the forest for hours, nothing too chaotic.
"Why?" His body moves closer to mine and I jump involuntarily, there's a dark aura clinging to him. Sasuke hasn't acted like since he returned home, it reminds me of our genin years. This is what his presence was like all the time.
"Naruto and I thought we saw Hiroku. He wasn't on the list of criminals that we captured or took care of. This time his chakra signature is stronger." My legs start to shake and I stop breathing as my eyes drop down to the ground, so I did feel someone watching me. Of course he decided to come look for me, last time he said breaking me would be fun. There has to be someone helping if he got into this forest, he could've posed as a chunin applicant even though we screened everyone. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened.
"Sakura calm down, you could hurt the baby." Oh…taking a ragged breath in as my body shakes from disbelief. How did I not sense that he was masking his chakra? That was a rookie mistake to make and yet I made it, I let my guard down too quickly. Sasuke drops to his knees and grabs my face with his two hands, I have to keep myself together. Breaking down right now isn't the best idea in the world and if Hiroku is watching it will only prove that he can effect me.
"What are we going to do Sasuke? There are innocent kids here, if a real battle breaks out in here they could get hurt." I look for an answer in those crimson eyes of his. Sasuke and I are good about thinking on our feet, our teamwork is great for the most part when it comes to missions but what about now? There's more at stake for us, if I get hurt then there's a possibility of hurting the baby as well.
"We will deal with it when it happens. For now, we need to let the others know." Of course Sasuke would make sense in a time of chaos. His hands drop down and one intertwines with mine. As we walk back to the group, Naruto's eyes lock onto us. There's so much worry and concern coming from him.
"Sasuke we need a plan. We also need to send word to Tsunade about the intrusion but we need to keep it quiet. If he thinks we don't know, then we can have the upper hand." Naruto sounds desperate, the options are very slim at this point. We all gather in a circle around the fire that someone started while Sasuke and I were alone.
"We can't alert shishou. She'll stop the exams and flush out the forest, which will only make matters worse. If we can contain him nearby then there's a better chance that we can take him out." Even being pregnant I know that I could do some serious damage, I'm about a month along so the baby isn't effecting my abilities yet.
"Sakura's right. From the intel Shikamaru brought back we know that very few members of that group are still around. Which means he's most likely working alone or he doesn't have backup. The safest place for Sakura to be is here with us." Kakashi's right too. If I were to leave the forest, then Hiroku would follow and attack me while I'm alone. Sasuke isn't going to let me out of his sight the rest of the time but we have to stay separated. It will give us an upper hand I he does decide to show his nasty face.
"There's no way I'm going to let her be used as bait." Sasuke's words are dripping with anger. The mood in the air changes, all of us are working on making a decent plan. Like I said, there's not many options we can take. The best one is to act like nothing is happening but be hyper vigilant, Kakashi knows that too. Sai isn't the best at handling emotions or expressing them but his face says it all, stalemate. The others are starting to come to the same conclusion, all expect my stubborn husband. Sasuke isn't used to being caught without a viable plan, he hates going with the flow in situations like this.
"I can handle whatever happens. We have to let Hiroku think he's got the upper hand and that we are out of the loop." Once again our orbs clash and his lips are pressed into a thin line. I understand his frustration since this entire situation is frustrating. If I ever get my hands on Hiroku he won't be able to walk ever again, or hurt another woman ever.
"Hn. Fine. We'll go on as normal." My eyes tear away from his and look into the red hot fire. I'm not going to let my friends get hurt just because this psycho is targeting me. This time around I will protect them and myself, I made that promise to myself all those years ago.
"Since that's out of the way, we will take hour watch shifts. Sai, Naruto, Ino, Sakura, myself, and then Sasuke. Let's get dinner ready and get some sleep. Tomorrow the action's really going to start." He's right, tomorrow most of the testers are going to be looking for the other scroll. Things are going to start getting messy and violent, I can't help the smirk that comes over me. We'll be able to cover our battle as a genin squad fighting if we are stumbled on. Looks like we do have a few options after all.
Sasuke and I are sitting underneath a tree far away from the others. He hasn't spoken since we all decided to carry on business as usual. I've wanted to ask him what's wrong but I had to stop myself and let him have space. At least Sasuke's the one who came to me, that's a good sign. The others are staring to lay down for the night and I know I won't be far behind them.
"Do you want to talk about it?" My head leans over on Sasuke's shoulder, closing my eyes. Underneath my head I can feel him shrug and tense up.
"Not really." That's fine with me, I'm not going to pressure him into doing anything he doesn't want to. Letting out an exhausted sigh, I move down to let my head rest in his lap. My hair starts to move and Sasuke's fingers are rubbing small circles on my scalp. It's soothing me into a deep sleep, best to get my sleep before my one a.m. watch shift.