EKUSA

Chapter 5: Kakashi's Conclusion

Long story short, after a while of Naruto brawling with Kakashi, he ended up falling for a cheap trick and getting caught by a rope. Now, he was hanging upside down from a tree. Taking a kunai from his pouch, he slashed the rope and began to fall towards the floor. "Damnit! I'm not going to fall for one of his stupid traps again." He landed with a crouch, and something wrapped around his ankle. And again, he was dragged up the tree. Also, the impact was too much that it made him drop his last kunai. "NOOOO! CHIKUSHO! The exact same trap right underneath me!"

"Uzumaki-kun?" Hearing the familiar meek voice, he saw Ekusa looking up at him confused. "What happened?"

"Perfect timing Ekusa-chan! Hurry and take me down!"

"Hai!" Taking the kunai, she stood on her tip-toes and cut the rope off. Once he landed, she held both of his hands in hers, and looked at him with worry. "Did you fall for an obvious trap, Uzumaki-kun?"

A sweat drop formed on his forehead. She could tell right away… "Huh?" He felt something smooth being slipped in his hands.

She smiled sweetly at him like she always did. "Please keep this pebble with you for good luck."

"AHHH!"

A scream put both of them in alarm. After putting the pebble in his pocket, he thought aloud. "That scream.."

"Haruno-san…" she completed. The two ran towards the noise.

Once they both arrived, Ekusa pouted as she saw Sakura lying on the dirt with tears streaming down her face. She looked petrified. "Haruno-san easily fell for it."

Naruto quickly went on his knees and lifted her head. "Fell for what?! What happened to her?!"

"Genjutsu; it is a form of hypnotism."

"AAAHW"

Another scream echoed through the forest. "Uchiha-san…" she muttered. Making Sakura lie against Naruto and placing a pebble on her lap, she looked at him urgently. "Can you please stay here with Haruno-san and make sure she keeps the pebble after she wakes up?"

Feeling flustered from being in close proximity of his crush, he stuttered back a response, "S- Sure Ekusa-chan."

As Ekusa ran, something on the floor caught her eye. She paused and blinked a couple of times to really understand what she was seeing. Sasuke's head popped out of the ground. "… Uchiha… -san?" She slowly walked up to him, as he remained silent. He was too embarrassed to be seen like this. "If I guess correctly, Hatake-sensei did a ninjutsu to put you in such a state?"

He clicked his tongue in irritation. "Damnit! The difference between Kakashi-sensei and my power is that large…" He was clearly in his own mind right now.

"Umm…" Unsure on how to approach the situation, she meekly asked, "Do you need help?"

"No!"

"Hai…" She crouched next to his head, and placed a pebble on his head. She smiled at him. "Well please keep this pebble as good luck once you escape."

His eyebrow twitched in irritation. "You're such a baka." After a moment, his cheeks turned slightly pink as he looked away. "Turn around. I don't want you to look at me getting out."

She quickly nodded and turned around. After he escaped, he brushed off the dirt on himself as he stood up. "There's not much time left until lunch. I'm going to try again."

Standing up as well, she asked him. "You are still going after the bell, Uchiha-san?"

"I already touched it.. Next time I'll get one."

Clasping her hands together, she looked at him in admiration. "You are incredible Uchiha-san…" She smiled at him. "However there is no need to push yourself that hard. There is always a way to get stronger in time-" Her eyes widened as he glared at her.

A strong gust blew leaves around them, as silence consumed them both. He finally broke the silence. "There's a man that only I can kill."

She looked at him in concern. ".. Who do you mean?"

A hazy image of him holding a small figure popped in his head. "That time.. crying.."

"Crying…?"

"My.."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm an avenger. I have to become stronger than him, so I can't just stay here and do nothing."

The blaring sound of the alarm clock rung throughout the forest.

"Damn.." he turned and walked away. "Wasted too much time."

She stood there, watching his back grow smaller as he walked away. Uchiha-san…

10 minutes later…

The four kids sat on the floor as Kakashi stood in front of him with his arms crossed. "You guys look really hungry. Oh and... By the way, something about the training… Well.. There's no need for you guys to go back to the academy."

Sakura's and Naruto's face lightened up. Sakura cheered to herself as Naruto leaned towards Kakashi. "THEN! THEN! ALL THREE OF US…!"

Kakashi smiled back to them. "Yup. All three of you…" His face fell as he continued. "… should quit as shinobi!"

Both Naruto and Sakura's eyes widened as their mouths fell open from the announcement. Sasuke glared at him and Ekusa remained silent, as she looked at the floor and played with the pebbles.