A large bump awoke all the passengers on board the flight. Sakura was startled by the sudden jolt, consequently bolting foreward, only to bash her head against the seat in front of her. She felt it move slightly foreward.

"What the hell-?"

The seat belt yanked the pink-haired teenager back into the security of her seat, winding her in the process. She let out a groan and glanced up to see onyx eyes staring at her. They were like a deep, dark hole pulling her into its abyss.

"Oh, sorry Sasuke-kun, I-"

"Oh my goodness! We're here! We're actually here! Hinata, look!" Naruto interrupted her.

Sakura peered out the window, the blonde was proven right. They were still moving, but not in the air. The clear blue sky had been replaced by tarmac, the fluffy clouds replaced by buildings…

The six travelers stumbled off the airplane with popping ears and legs of jelly. Ino reached solid ground first, followed by Sasuke, Hinata, Sai, Sakura, and finally Naruto. However, when Sakura was three steps of the ground, the blonde behind her bellowed:

"Yeah! That was great! Don't you think?" literally jumping up and down. Not being fully awake, Sakura tripped and plummeted towards the hard concrete. To her it felt like slow motion. Thoughts were whizzing around in her head:

'Naruto, you are dead! What if I land on my head and it splits open? That would spoil everyone's holiday! Hopefully I'll just graze my elbow. But if I hold my hand out to take the force of the fall, it's likely to snap my wrist-!'

She was cut off from her thoughts by a pair of warm, strong arms wrapped around her torso, pulling her steadily into a standing position.

"Sakura-chan!" the knuckle-head called.

She finally found the courage to prize open her eyes to see who had caught her.

Raven hair, toned body, a blush creeping onto her face. It was none other than the Uchiha. She couldn't take her eyes off him. It was like she'd been hypnotized. Her legs were going all jelly and her mouth was dry. Why did this always happen?

From behind Sasuke, Hinata and Ino had a massive smile from ear to ear taking over their face. They knew that the Haruno girl had a crush on the Uchiha, even if she didn't know it herself.

Sakura's acid green orbs were still fixed on Sasuke's black holes, that was until Naruto bombarded her with questions, checking her all over for a graze or cut. Just like an overprotective mother would do.

"She's fine, Naruto." Sasuke stated, starting to walk away.

"But-!"

"Naruto! Lend me some money." Naruto just looked bemused at his best friend.

"You did go and convert the money, didn't you?"

"Ah, I knew I forgot someth-"

"You mean we haven't got any money?!" All five shouted together. Naruto rummaged through his pocket to pull out lots of money, but they were in yen.

"Sorry guys, but hey! I was too busy deciding what flavour ramen to-"

"Ramen is more important to you than money? If you hadn't got any money you wouldn't have any stupid ramen in the first place! How the hell do you think we're going to get to the Falls now? We've got no money for the taxi, dobe!"

Just as Naruto was about to throw back an insult, Ino cut across him.

"Cool it, boys! We can walk; it's only a twenty minute taxi ride there so we can walk. And remember, we're ninja's! We can run there at top speed if we wanted to! It might even take less time than a car!"

Everyone uttered a 'fine…' seeing as it was the only way to get there. The explorers took off at top speed, leaving behind trees and buildings alike. Sakura completely forgot the urge to strangle Naruto as a thick mist domineered the horizon. She knew as a fact that the force of the water from the Falls crashing down created a mist that could be seen for miles. Everybody else seemed to notice this aswel, and moved a little faster...

"Wow!"

"Look at all that water!"

"It's amazing…"

"Hn." was the comment Victoria Falls got from Sasuke.

"Admit it Sasuke, its beautiful!" Sakura said, staring at the wonderful water.

"Whatever."

"Sasuke!" Sakura turned around to look at him, regretting it at once. The funny feeling in her stomach returned, Sasuke was looking straight at her! She felt like she was going to faint and fall into heaven, only if those eyes didn't catch her first.

"Hn. Fine, it's cool."

The pink-haired kunoichi felt a smile crawl across her face, along with a blush. Realising that it was a lot hotter in Africa than it was in England, she tore off her jacket, letting it fall to the ground. At least it took her eyes away from him.

After a couple of minutes admiring the view, Sai's stomach gave out a little rumble.

"Looks like I'm not the only one that's hungry! Lets eat!" Ino chuckled, laying down the blanket for them to sit on. Sakura walked on towards the smell of food, only to find Naruto was not following her. She turned on her heel to find the shinobi staring at the waterfall; she was surprised there wasn't a disruption in the water by the intensity of his look.

"Hey Naruto? It's not like you to miss out on food." She walked towards him, concern in her voice. She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, waiting for his reply.

"I was just thinking."

"Ha! Naruto and thinking have never been in the same sentence before!" The blonde gave her a look that made her apologize.

"Joking, joking."

"I was wondering. Have you heard of all those stories where there's a cave behind every waterfall?"

"Of course, who hasn't?"

"Well, we could find out for ourselves."

"WHAT?! You mean go through the waterfall?"

"Why not?" He finally turned around to look at her.

"I was going to do it anyway, but if there really is a cave behind all that water, then I wouldn't want to get lost on my own…"

"You mean you want someone to go with you? Why don't you go ask Hinata?"

"She's afraid of the dark."

"So am I. I'm also claustrophobic and arachnophobic." She stated matter-of-factly. However, when she looked into the blue eyes that belonged to him, she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but if there is a 'cave' then I'm coming straight back."

Meanwhile, everyone else was munching away at their food. They had noticed Sakura and Naruto, but didn't take any notice, until that is, when they started walking towards the waterfall. They tried to shout out to them, but they just ignored them. Ino watched them get closer and closer towards the massive gush of water until they disappeared behind it. Just like that.

"SAKURA! NARUTO!" She screamed. Hinata and Sasuke were racing her there. Running towards the place where the two vanished, Ino was thinking:

'God! I knew that Naruto was stupid, but Sakura?'

Sai looked up at where his friends had just been a moment ago, utterly confused.

"SAI! Get here now! We're going after them!" His girlfriend shouted. He got up slowly, but then quickened his pace as he saw the other three dash through the Falls. Not wanting to be left alone, he ran through the water. It was freezing. Colder than a cold shower. As soon as it started, it finished.

They all found themselves in a cold, but dry place. It was dark and smelly, and they could only just see the outlines of their friends.

"Sakura, Naruto, what the hell do you thi-?" Ino asked, breaking the silence. However, she was cut off by a dripping noise. Their ninja senses coming into action, they looked up and found stalactites everywhere. They looked down: stalagmites, even a few columns.

"I don't like the look of this place…" Ino whispered. She didn't dare make a noise any louder. Hinata, being scared of the dark, clung onto Naruto's arm, with him wrapping one of his around her shoulders.

"It's ok, Hinata. We'll be alright." Naruto reassured her, but he wished that he was as certain as he sounded. Sakura wasn't scared of the dark as much as Hinata was, but she still didn't like it. Plus, they were in some sort of tunnel: a cave. Her claustrophobia came into action and she held onto the nearest thing to her. Whatever it was, she didn't know, and quite frankly, she didn't care. The object that she was holding didn't make any attempt to shove her off; therefore, she tightened her grip. It was warm, obviously a human. Thinking that it was Ino, she buried her face into her shoulder, only to find out that it was a little higher than expected. Was Ino standing on a rock?

"Sakura, if you tighten your grip anymore, my arm will fall off." She jumped in fright. That deep voice wasn't her best friends, it was Sasuke's! Swearing mentally to herself, she quickly (but reluctantly) let go of him. However, if her other phobia was in the cave, then she was sure to have a panic attack.

The six of them started walking away from Victoria Falls, to curious to go back. Water droplets splashed on the top of their heads, puddles were created as the saturated clothes dripped, and Sakura trembled at the thought of her other fear…

"Spider!" Naruto yelled in her ear, causing her to scream out loud. She looked up to where her team mate was looking, and there it was, a massive black spider, with long legs, and just the thought of those eight eyes watching her every move made her want to puke.

She backed away from the arachnid, never taking her eyes off it. She couldn't hear anything, couldn't smell anything, and couldn't see anything but that spider. She didn't even notice that she bashed into the person behind her, that she was hugging its warm body, hanging on it for her dear life.

"Sakura, I can't breathe…" she only just heard the voice. It ringed in her head until she realised that it was Sasuke's, again. But this time she didn't let go of him. She only clung on tighter, burying her head into his chest.

"We've got to keep moving." He said, looking at Naruto, or anybody for help, so that he could fill his lungs once more with fresh air.

"Hey Sakura. Come on. It's gone now. You're ok." Ino said, her voice as soft as she could get it.

"No…" was the only thing that the kunoichi could say.

"Sakura…" It was Naruto this time. He attempted to prize her hands off the Uchiha, but was failing miserably.

'Damn super strength.' he cursed.

Ino walked over, studying her best friend.

"I'm sorry Sakura. But I have to do it…" and the blonde kunoichi slapped her hand against Sakura's neck. The pink-haired woman consequently loosened her grip. She started falling to the ground until Sasuke caught her once again.

"I'll carry her." he said, lifting her up into his arms. The rest nodded and resumed walking.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why the hell did you force her into going?"

"I didn't force her! I persuaded her, there's a lot of difference!"

"What made you come up with the stupid idea anyway? Have you seen what mess we're in?!" the Uchiha growled, staring daggers at the blonde shinobi.

"Would you two shut the hell up? I'm getting a headache here!" Ino yelled over them, rubbing her temples out of annoyance.

"He started it!" Naruto pointed accusingly at Sasuke.

"And I'll finish it!" Ino added. They had now been walking for at least an hour, with Sakura still out cold. The boring scenery around them and damp atmosphere had made them all a little moody. However, Sai hadn't spoken a word since they were at Victoria Falls, until now.

"I don't think this is a good idea."

"Excuse me?"

"I have a bad feeling about this…"

"A bad feeli- Now you tell us Sai!" Ino shouted, her short temper getting the better of her.

"I didn't want to break up your argument."

"Who cares about a stupid argument? We are stuck in a dark cave, we have nothing to eat or drink, we have no idea where we are, and we have been walking for hours! Well I'll tell you this, Sai! We're not going back now!"

"There's no need to, look up ahead!" Hinata said. They all did as instructed, and right in front of them was light, precious light…