Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 4
TForgetEmeNnotT
Dear diary,
I really don't know what to do now! I've been waiting to see him again for so long. But now… he doesn't remember me anymore. I really want to talk to him, to know him more, to be closer to him. You know what, he's much colder now than before. It's really forbidding to approach him. He has this intimidating aura and it's making me small and inferior.
Today, Kakashi-sensei announced that we will be having a treasure hunt at Crescent Lake forest on Friday. It will be in pairs. I was so nervous at the draw lots. I really thought that Sasuke-kun, I mean Uchiha-san will turn out to be my partner for the treasure hunt. But it turned out to be Rei-san. I felt very relieved by that.
But at the same time, why do I feel disappointed about it?
- - - -
Kakashi stared… and stared… and stared hard at the piece of paper he was holding. Undoing one of the buttons of his uniform, he turned the fan of the faculty room. Sweat was slightly trickling down his face not only because of the heat but also because of the frustration he was feeling at the moment. A while ago, he had made the pairs meet and plan about the treasure hunt.
Thinking back, he was too sure that his plan will go smoothly. Yes folks, he really was planning something… such as setting up Sasuke and Sakura! And yes, he was the one behind the treasure hunt activity and not the principal Tsunade-sama. But I guess you figured those things out ages ago, knowing how smart you are, dear readers.
But why did he do it, one might ask? For what reason did he go to Tsunade-sama and ask for her permission for this activity, prepared the draw lots, and put a small amount of glue at the back of Sasuke and Sakura's names making them stick on the fish bowl so that they will be the very, very last to be called as an added "romantic bonus" – or so he calls it that? He didn't even know anything about Sakura, much less the so-called "thing" between her and Sasuke.
Let's just say Kakashi has this feeling that those two students have a history – a romantic one to be exact. And his mission is to give a slight push to their relationship. (Kakashi's brain was already totally consumed by Icha Icha Paradise, don't you think?)
"But why, oh why did it fail?"
- - - -
"Haruno-san."
"Haruno-san."
Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw blue eyes staring straight at her. It was Rei.
"Eh?" She looked at him, confusion all over her face.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, concerned. He put down his pen and looked straight at her.
"Ah… No. Sorry. I was a little distracted." Sakura fumbled on her words. She straightened herself and flashed him a reassuring smile.
"Oh. Okay." Rei continued writing several things on his note book. Once in a while, Sakura would hear him sighing and would see him biting his pen.
She observed him more. Dark blue hair matched his sapphire blue eyes. He has this gentle aura around him – it feels so comforting that Sakura could almost forget her inner turmoil. Almost.
Crack.
Her gaze moved from Rei to the man near the door.
"Is it because of Uchiha-san?" he asked and then glanced at the person mentioned. Sakura immediately blushed and stammered, "E-Eh? Of course not! He's not my crush or anything!" Good thing they're at the leftmost corner of the classroom. If not, someone would surely hear them.
Hearing her stammer, Rei couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I didn't ask you if you've got a crush on him. You're so obvious Haruno-san."
"No! You-you've mistaken. He's not… really…" her blushing face suddenly turned somewhat sullen. But it was only for a split-second before she smiled again. "I don't have any person I like. Anyway, maybe we should start discussing about the treasure hunt? Hmm?"
Crack.
He chuckled again before replying, "As you say so."
- - - -
He can't fully concentrate on what Sakurai Ayako was telling him. There are some… other things he was thinking about, silently snatching gazes at her. He was troubled by this – by how he was acting now.
"Do you have anything more to add, Uchiha-san? The voice of his partner snapped him out of his reverie. Actually, he was rather thankful that she became his partner instead of some random fan girl in his class.
"I think that's enough." he tonelessly replied. He looked at his partner as if scrutinizing her. Well, he thought that she was rather capable and wouldn't be much of a burden for him. Not that he was so desperate of the prize of the treasure hunt that he'd scrutinize her like that. He just wanted to always win. Talk about an egoistic person.
"She'll do fine." he concluded. But deep inside, he was feeling a little bit uneasy.
Because you wanted to approach her.
His eyes landed at the leftmost corner of the room.
"I have nothing to do with her."
You feel uneasy.
"She's nothing." He opened his Chemistry book that was lying a while ago unnoticed on his desk and started reading about oxidation reactions, a topic that is only mentioned by teachers for the third years.
She gave you something.
Importance.
Crack.
- - - -
"Good morning Tsunade-sama."
"Good morning to you too, Shizune."
Shizune placed some folders containing files about the first years on Tsunade-sama's desk. "I've just brought something for you to look at Tsunade-sama." The blonde principal sighed at this. "Tch. Tch. Work again, eh?"
"Yes." Shizune was about to sit down on her own chair by her desk when she noticed that the door was opened slightly.
"I wonder what Kakashi-sensei's doing at this office this early in the morning." Shizune said audibly.
"Hmm? Ah, that. A musical contest is coming up and he wanted to check on it." Tsunade-sama replied as she scanned the files in front of her in a bored way."
"Musical contest? I never knew he was interested in those kinds of things."
"You'll never know…"
- - - -
"I'll be playing with her?"
"Ah. Yes. She's good, eh?"
"Yes. Although I've just watched her once, I knew she's definitely good."
"Okay, I trust you guys."
- - - -
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Sakura tossed and turned on her bed that night. However hard she tried to, she still couldn't enter the beloved dreamland. She looked at the wall clock across her and saw that it was already one in the morning.
"How I wanted to throw that clock at the wall." she thought, irritated by the ticking sounds of the clock. Its sound made her wide awake.
Hugging her purple pillow tightly, she once again, tried to sleep.
"I am always like this whenever something unexpected will happen sooner or later."
- - - -
"Welcome, minna-san. Don't break your lines and go inside the bus already." A masked man told the grumbling students. He was wearing green cargo pants and a khaki shirt.
"Sensei looked like a military person."
"Yeah. How strange. To think that he couldn't even wake up early for class."
"But he's still kinda cute, don't you think?"
"What are you saying, you idiot!"
"Stop it. He might hear you."
"I do not even understand why we are doing this thing. To think that it's still the start of the school! It's stupid."
"Sensei said that we should develop what you call a 'class unity' first things foremost."
"Class unity my ass."
Once in a while, students will look at their sensei and mumble these things among themselves. But Kakashi disregarded it all. As long as they went inside the bus in an organized way, he would be satisfied. Well, not completely satisfied. He has some other thing to… err… work on.
Unbeknownst to him, a certain pink-haired girl was walking on tiptoes, searching for her "beloved" partner. Don't fret; I was only exaggerating on the last part.
"Where is Rei-san?" Sakura panicked. She was sure that they had agreed to meet early for this activity. Rei was the first friend of Sakura in the class, well, except for Ino.
"Sakura, what are you still doing here? The bus will be leaving soon!" A girl came rushing beside Sakura and then gave her a slight thwack on her head.
"Ino-pig! You're so loud even though it's so early in the morning!" Sakura reprimanded her best friend while slightly rubbing her head.
"What are you doing here, forehead?" She pointed at Sakura.
"I'm looking for Rei-san. I haven't seen him yet." Sakura explained. This made Ino grin like a maniac.
"O-ho-ho. Are you and Rei-kun dating already? How fast of you." Ino teased.
"You idiot! Of course not. He's only my partner for this strange activity." Sakura threw her an annoyed look.
"Right. Right. Ah. I remember he's already dating Ayako-chan. Maybe, he's annoyed because you became his partner instead of Ayako. Hmm… To think that Ayako is still not here yet."
"Maybe… Wait, Ayako-san is also missing?"
"Not missing, idiot. She still just hasn't come."
"Then that means Sasuke-kun has no partner either. Don't tell me…"
They snapped out of their thinking at Kakashi's voice. "Ah… Yamanaka, Haruno. Please get on the bus already."
"Hai!" They hurried to the bus. Kakashi suddenly stopped Sakura.
"Haruno. Kanade Rei is attending a contest tight now…"
"Ah.. So that's why he's missing. Wait, please don't tell me-"
"…with Sakurai Ayako. So you're pair would now be Uchiha Sasuke."
"Oh. My. God."
- - - -
"Uhmm… Ino?"
"Lalalala…"
"Ino…"
"Mou, Ino, listen to me for a bit dattebayo!" Naruto shouted at the blonde girls ears. Ino went, "What the hell's wrong with you Naruto!" before punching him square on the face. "Couldn't you at least tap me on the shoulder?" Ino was huffing and puffing like an angry wolf. She was so angry that her face went all red.
Wiping his bleeding nose, Naruto glared at Ino. "You're the one at fault here! I'm tapping you like hell for the last ten minutes of my life. And you were like, lalalalala-ing me. Talk about rude!"
"Who are you calling rude, huh?" Ino challenged Naruto. She was looking extremely scary, what with her nose flaring and face contorting like crazy. But Naruto wasn't the one to back down… "You, stupid."
Not.
"St-Stop it Ino!" Naruto cried as he clutched his head away from Ino's blows. "Look, I'm sorry."
Ino glared at him.
"Sorry! I just want to say something to you earlier." he pleaded; his hands were clasped together before him as if saying, spare my life.
"What is it?" Ino grunted.
"Ino, I think I left the tents on the bus. Sor– "
A resounding scream was heard all over the forest.
Aho. Aho. Aho.
- - - -
"Oh. My. God."
Kakashi watched in amusement at how all the color in Sakura's face vanished. She became all pale and he was betting that her palms were already wet with sweat. But he hid all of this amusement behind his mask.
"Is there any problem with it, Haruno?" he feigned a stern look.
"N-no. Nothing Kakashi-sensei." Sakura stammered as she quickly got on the bus to hide her shock.
"I really shocked her." Kakashi noted to himself as he stared at the railing near the door of the bus.
It has a wet hand mark on it.
- - - -
"Shit." Sakura mumbled to herself as she looked for a place to sit in the bus. Biting her lower lip and clenching her fists, she sat on one empty sit, not noticing who was beside her.
"Ah… Damn it! Why does it have to be him?" she muttered as she repeatedly hit her head with her clenched fists but not in a hard way.
"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Da-"
"Stop it. It's annoying." a voice suddenly interrupted her "inner" scolding. Looking up, she saw him staring outside the window in a bored manner. But she knew better. He was actually looking at her reflection on the window – at her childish and stupid acts. She suddenly blushed in embarrassment.
"You idiot!" her inner voice chided.
"I'm sorry!" she bowed at him apologetically but instead, she hit her head on the back rest of the sit in front of her.
"Itai!"
"Whatever." he said indifferently.
Sakura looked at him instantly after hearing those words. A while ago, she made herself embarrassing in front of him and now, she was completely humiliating herself because of her stupid acts.
Usually, she would just rub it off her mind. She didn't really care about these things. But now was a different moment.
She humiliated herself in front of none other than Uchiha Sasuke.
Oh how she wanted the ground to gobble her up at that very moment.
- - - -
The rest of the trip went on in awkward silence. Sakura did not even try to steal a glance at her seatmate in fright of being discovered.
"He might get annoyed at me again if I do so." she resolved. She was very determined to not look at him forever – well, not forever but just until he wasn't that annoyed anymore.
But then, he suddenly threw fitful coughs. With this, she suddenly turned her attention on him, concern all over his face.
"Are you alright Sasuke-k – I mean Uchi –" She tried to touch his shoulder but he harshly shrugged it off.
"Don't fret over small things." His cold voice rang in Sakura's ears. The bus' floor suddenly turned into an interesting thing. "Right. I'm sorry to bother you."
He never replied to this.
Crack.
- - - -
"We are here at Crescent Lake forest, guys! Okay. The rules are so simple. First, we will give each pair a map. All you need to do is find the treasure! No PDA is allowed here and there are teachers scattered all over the forest, watching over you. Anyone doing PDA or any lascivious actions will be suspended for a month, got it? You have three days to look for the treasure." Kakashi explained to his students.
"Hai." they replied in unison. Suddenly, a hand shot into the air. "Wait, Kakashi-sensei, we're going to be in the forest alone with our partners?" one student piped.
"Yes. That's why I've been warning you about your future acts." Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at him. "Man, I don't understand these students. Are they stupid or not?" "Don't worry; there will be about five teachers all around the forest and about fifteen volunteer parents." At this statement, some of the students had dropped their jaw in shock or disappointment.
"But what about the food?" the student earlier continued.
Kakashi frowned beneath his mask. "Are you sure you're a second year already? You'll have to find your own food. You're big enough to do it."
The student pouted. "But – "
"The volunteers will watch over the pairs. If you don't find any food, they'll certainly do something about it. Don't you?" he gave a thumbs-up at a big bush near them. Instantly, ten of the volunteers appeared, saluting back at him.
The students couldn't help but sweat drop.
"Idiots." Shikamaru mumbled.
- - - -
"What senseless talking." Sasuke muttered incoherently. Crouching down, he examined his belongings to see if something important was missing. It was a really useless thing to do since he, a genius, would never commit a mistake of forgetting. But he had to do it nonetheless to occupy himself.
Sakura was also doing the same thing. But instead of her bag, she was inspecting her first aid kit. It will really be helpful at times like this.
"Check. Nothing's missing, I guess." She never noticed that she was saying these things out loud, not caring about another presence.
Hearing her, Sasuke looked momentarily at her. She was still the same even after those long years. She was still the odd yet amusing girl he met at the cliff. A smirk graced his lips at this sight of an innocent girl. But when she turned to him, his completely cold demeanor took over him almost instantly.
She quickly looked away. This made him frown more.
"Let's go." he then said as he swung his bag on his shoulder and started walking.
"Hai."
They both walked in silence, yet again, Sasuke leading the way. After a few minutes, they are officially inside the forest. They have parted with the others after another ten minutes.
Sasuke suddenly broke that stupid silence… at last.
"The map?" he asked, stopping and spun a bit. His open palm was directed towards Sakura's face.
"M-map? It's with me." Sakura scuffled inside her bag and afterwards, she handed her a rolled piece of brown and withering paper. "Here."
She studied her feet afterwards.
Sasuke unrolled the piece of parchment, determined to search as soon as possible for the stupid treasure.
"Are you sure this is the map?" he queried while shoving the map near her face. Sakura was surprised with his actions. It seems that his annoyance leveled up a few seconds ago. Sakura shuddered at the thought.
"Yes! Why? Is there… something wrong?" She took the map and looked at it to find… nothing. Her green eyes widened in surprise.
"But this is what he gave me!" Sakura explained. She looked at the map again, only to notice scribbles written on its side.
The answer lies on this piece of parchment.
Sakura read the line loud enough for the raven-hair to hear. She then commented in her optimistic way, "Maybe we just have to do something to this map. And the directions will appear all of a sudden!"
"Hn." Sasuke snatched the map back and looked at it for the second time. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion before rolling the map again and giving it back to Sakura with a, "This is getting more ridiculous."
An hour of walking towards nowhere, Sakura began to slow down. Soon enough, she was hunching over and panting. "Ch-chotto." she wheezed, holding on her knees for support. Sasuke frowned at this.
"You're too weak." Sasuke, even after saying that line, stopped and sat down, as if waiting for her to regain some of her strength back. He took a look at his things again, to busy himself perhaps?
Silence once again dominated the place. So do lingering thoughts and flashbacks…
"blah blah blah three days blah treasure hunt blah…"
Sasuke widened his eyes at a sudden realization. "Shit."
Hearing him curse, Sakura looked at Sasuke, confusion written all over her face. "What's wrong, Uchiha-san?" Even though it is against her will, Sakura still forced herself to call him that. The last thing that she wanted was him avoiding her.
"I forgot the tent." Sasuke replied, gritting his teeth.
Who knew that the last Uchiha can also be a scatterbrain at times?
- - - -
AN: Edited to satisfy Sapphire Snowflake's whims…