Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 5
Second Time?
"I forgot the tent."
"It's okay. The tent's completely–" Sakura smiled sheepishly at him before she too, widened her eyes in realization.
"blah blah blah three days blah treasure hunt blah…"
"You forgot the tent?" she asked stupidly, her jaw hanging loosely as she stared at his (beautiful) face incredulously. Sasuke's frown increased tenfold. Wait. Increased may not be a good term. Leveled up is a better one. Sasuke's frown leveled up into a super duper annoyed grimace. "Didn't you hear what I said?" he bit back. This immediately made Sakura close her mouth - in fear of Sasuke most likely.
Realizing her mistake, Sakura uttered a sincere apology to the annoyed jerk, I mean, man. "There could be some sort of shelter somewhere…" she added wistfully. She frowned at the silence that greeted her. The way she was acting in front of him was actually frustrating her.
Sakura's musings were cut short when she heard his cold voice again, "You're being a burden again." Looking up, she saw him already a few meters away from her. "Ah, hai! I mean, I'm coming."
It wasn't long before they arrived at a clearing. Well, it wasn't exactly a clearing since there were a few trees here and there.
Sasuke halted and dropped some of the bags he was carrying in an attempt to rest – or so she thought. She was watching him inconspicuously under her lashes but fatigue eventually consumed her and she unceremoniously dropped her things at the forest floor. Sasuke slowly looked at him with an unreadable expression, the side of his face glistening slightly with sweat.
"Are you tired?" By the tone of his voice, she knew that he was slightly concerned about her but he was just masking it with his blank look. She was secretly delighted at this thought. Sasuke was actually worried about her. Striving hard to hide the pleasure beneath her voice, she replied "I think I could still bear it."
She instantly regretted what she said because Sasuke's face immediately stiffened.
"We should get going then to find a shelter. There might be some man-made cave here or something." Sasuke said stiffly. She inwardly groaned.
They continued walking for another hour. Sakura was actually gawking at the enormity of the place they were in. And it was only man-made.
'This is so annoying.' Sasuke mulled over. 'Stupid luck. How in the world I got paired with her. I couldn't concentrate at the task at hand.'
He sneaked a sideway glance at her. She was pretty tired. Her hair was starting to fall out of place and she was breathing heavily. He sighed. "Let's take some rest."
"Eh?" Sakura's head shot up. 'Was it that obvious that I'm so tired?' she thought. In an effort to 'redeem' herself, as she would put it she said nervously, "No. It's okay. Besides, we have to look for a shelter."
'You're obviously lying.' Sasuke muttered to himself. He was not one to be defeated, or should I say disobey…
"I'm tired. I want to rest for a bit." Sasuke lied efficiently. His face was indifferent.
"If you say so."
- - - -
"Nara-san, could you please pass that hook beside the green bag?" A petite girl was stooping over a somehow constructed tent. She was looking expectantly at a brunette guy lying beside their bags.
"…"
"Oi, Shikamaru-sama! Sleep after we, I mean, I –" she emphasized with the last word "finish setting this up."
"Mendokuse." Shikamaru sighed before sluggishly passing her the green bag. Sometimes, he wondered if it was really worth coming to school.
- - - -
"We could leave our bags here." Sasuke remarked, putting his bags neatly at one side of the cave. Sakura followed him, observing her surroundings and silently wondering if there are real bats living in this cave.
The cave couldn't really be considered one. For one thing, it is quite obvious that it is not natural. There were no stalactites or stalagmites to be seen.
'This is like a cemented dome or something.' Sakura mused. Her thoughts were cut off by the faint growling of her stomach. Her head shot instantly to Sasuke.
'Thank god he wasn't looking!' Sakura cheered.
"We have to win." Sasuke muttered before going out of the cave leaving a completely baffled Sakura behind.
"Matte!"
- - - -
"Matte!"
"Hmm?" Naruto looked up, noodles hanging from his mouth and saw a fuming Ino. A few packs of instant ramen and canned goods littered before her as she was making some sort of an inventory of their food for the next two days.
"You're eating everything! Our supplies!" she snapped. "And is ramen the only thing you eat?" she added as she held up a cup of instant ramen. Naruto nodded with glee, earning a punch or two from Ino.
"You're hopeless!" She packed the things that she had scattered and then searched for something in another bag.
"Ino, what's that?" Naruto asked as he set aside the empty cup beside him. "Wait, are you planning to look for the treasure yourself?"
"What else?" Ino grinned before leaving the shocked blonde.
- - - -
"This is utterly ridiculous."
Swish.
"Sas- Uchiha-san! Where are you going?" Sakura yelled, stooped down and got the blank map on the ground.
"Home."
"But what about the –"
"Who cares about that?" he drawled lazily, heading back towards the cave. It was quite far from where they are now. For Sasuke, this treasure hunt was nothing but a waste of time. The map couldn't even be classified as a map, firstly.
'And class unity? How could this develop class unity if we're working in pairs?'
"But you said you wanted to win this… this… I mean."
Pat. Pat.
Sasuke looked at Sakura as if she had just declared that she was actually a man. 'Even if I like her, this girl is definitely getting on my nerves.' His eyebrows were starting to meet.
'Oh shit. Sasuke-kun's already angry.' Sakura observed. "Uhmm… Fine. Let's just, go back. I guess…" she said sheepishly. But, in the back of her head, her inner self was already muttering profanities. 'If only you weren't my first love, I'll strangle you and hang you on top of that tree!'
"… It's quite bothersome to even try to decipher this… this… this paper. Yeah, this stupid –"
Plop. Plop.
"You're really annoying."
Plop. Plop. Plop plop. The map-slash-paper, his refusal to continue, and the atmosphere around them made them miss the sudden darkening of the sky. It was only a drizzle but who knows if it might get worse?
Sakura didn't know if she should thank this light rain or not. Those words that came out from his lips hit her like arrows. 'No Sakura! Don't cry. Not in front of him.' She urged herself.
"Don't cry." She could hear his eight-year old form say gruffly. Just like that time.
'Don't cry.'
The rain had stopped again. She cursed inwardly. 'Why is it hard not to cry?'
- - - -
Pitter patter. Pitter patter. Plop. Plop.
"This is getting interesting." Kakashi muttered to himself before getting inside his van to avoid getting wet.
- - - -
He couldn't understand this girl. 'Are girls all like her, or is it just her?' A while ago, she was constantly urging him to continue the treasure hunt, saying all sorts of encouragement to him. The next second, she was already agreeing with him about backing up. And then…
'Those glassy eyes.'
"Help me!"
"Please… help."
Just like before. 'But maybe, it's the drizzle?' He looked up. The drizzle already stopped.
He couldn't stop himself from getting irritated. He was always inclined to get angry at people who always display their weak side. But a part of her keep telling him –
'No. Don't. Stop hurting her.'
- to keep his mouth shut and lengthen his patience.
Snap.
But it snapped.
And he snapped.
"Why are you crying now?" he spat. He tried very hard to not look at those glassy, glassy eyes. It would hurt.
"Am not." Her voice quivered. "Saa… let's head back before the rain pours again, ne?" Her knuckles were turning white as an unknown debate started in her mind. 'Just do it!'
'Do it.'
He looked at her, scrutinizing her.
Those glassy, glassy eyes.
"Hn."
But before they were able to really go back to where their bags are, she broke into a run, away from him, clutching the map tensely.
Away.
Away from him.
'Away from me.'
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "It shouldn't affect me. I don't care. I don't." he convinced himself. "She must not matter."
- - - -
Sakura panted. She didn't know why she ran away from Sasuke. All she knew was that a major part of her wanted to prove to everybody that she was not weak.
"I want to continue this." She mumbled.
"I could do this! And I'm not really annoying!" She desperately cajoled herself but by the tone of her voice, she knew that those words greatly affected her. She couldn't even hold back the tears that had now streamed down her face. With her hands that held the map, she covered her face in despair.
A few seconds later, something hit her.
"The map's getting wet!" Quickly, she unrolled it and gasped in astonishment.
There appeared some lines and words on the parts of the map that were wet. "Yes! I could see the map already. I just have to make it wet a little bit more!"
Ridiculous as it may seem, she rubbed the map on her face but frowned again when she discovered that it wasn't enough. She chuckled, "I should find a lake or something. Oh wait! I have my backpack with me. This should work." She pulled out of her pack a bottle of water. Carefully, she poured some of the water to the map. Everything that was hidden before now showed.
'This is wonderful! Wonderful! I have to –"
"No. I have to do it by myself." she said with determination.
And then, as if on cue, the drizzle started again.
"Not again!" she groaned and hurried to her next destination.
- - - -
Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the sky. It was starting to drizzle again but his pride prevented him from doing anything.
'She went away herself. She should come back by herself.'
With nothing to do, he busied himself with studying the inside of the cave. It was a bit dark and the weather made it dimmer. But of course, the Uchiha was never afraid of the dark. And then, his gaze settled, for some unknown reason, to the bag near him. A pink object was showing on its side. Sakura forgot to zip her bag completely.
He shrugged and tried to ignore it. But after a few minutes, there he was, a pink notebook at his hand.
"What's this?" He was about to look at its contents when he noticed the rain suddenly grew stronger.
"This is not good." Sasuke frowned, seeing that her pink-haired partner wasn't there yet. He hurriedly put the notebook back at its place.
"I have to look for her."
- - - -
"A little bit more…" Sakura was on the top of a tree, reaching out for what look like a necklace. After about half an hour of walking, studying the map, and searching, she found the thing that will guarantee their victory. It was a necklace, dangling from a high branch of the sakura near a cliff. The cliff's height had given Sakura confidence to climb the tree. If she ever fell there, she would only get cuts and bruises, worse, a sprain. And she was determined not to fall at any rate. Even if the drizzle had become rain…
She was already soaking at that time but she couldn't care less. For her, winning is very much important.
"Come on." she reached harder.
"Yes! I got you now!" She clutched the object happily when lightning suddenly struck the sky. In surprise, she slipped…
…and fell, down, down into the mud, rolling down the cliff.
"Ahh!"
- - - -
He was already soaking and it had been ten minutes since he started looking for her. It seemed futile since she was nowhere from his sight. Suddenly, he heard a scream nearby.
"Ahh!"
The first thing that came in Sasuke's mind was –
"Sakura!"
- - - -
He ran. He ran as fast as he can. Soon enough, a cliff came in view.
'Don't tell me…'
"Sakura!" he called out desperately, his eyes had gone wild.
When he reached the cliff, he looked down and saw the body of Sakura full of mud."
"Sakura!" He rushed into her side with the help of the sakura near the cliff.
"Sasuke-kun, I-I got it. I found it." Sakura smiled at him, showing before his eyes the treasure that they were seeking for the treasure hunt. Instantly, Sasuke felt so much happy not because she already had the so-called treasure but because Sakura's quite okay. But he felt something wrong.
He swiftly placed his hand on his forehead. She was burning with fever.
"You're burning. You should've stayed with me in the cave. The rain's pouring again! You said so, yourself." He angrily said. He was already carrying her on his arms trying to climb up again but failed miserably. He put her down gently and slowly shifted her so he was carrying her on his back.
De ja vu. A small voice had said from deep within his heart.
You're the hero again, Sasuke-kun. It said, mocking him.
But look at poor Sakura-chan, this time, it's you're fault she's hurt.
'Shut up.'
Look. It urged him and he complied. He glanced sideways at her. She was breathing heavily. They had won and in exchange, she got sick. Her hair was in disarray and her clothes were wet with rain and mud.
See? It's your fault.
You left her.
"Annoying." He muttered, still looking at her and checking if she's still conscious. He couldn't ascertain that since her eyes were closed. That one-word wasn't meant for her at all. However, that didn't escape Sakura's ears.
Slowly, she looked up at those cold eyes of his and smiled sadly, "That word again… It's still not enough, huh?"
And then, she fainted.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
'I didn't mean that!'
- - - -
"It all started in a stormy night; she was in his arms and he was soaked in the rain."
- - - -
AN: Yey! It's quite long. It's been a while! Reviews were very much appreciated.
Pretty please, with a cherry on top?
Sapphire Snowflake