((Author's comments (Do read, please) : Ok, thank you for your reviews but might I say I already did an effort to make Sakura stronger, not sure if people noticed. Someone mentioned it and I took it into account. I did my best and I personally was semi satisfied with the outcome, even if I can't be totally objective towards the components of my story. I am sorry if the way Sakura acts is not how you expected it to be but I don't think I am flexible enough to make her stronger for the time being. I want you to know though that I tried to make it better for you. Thanks for your critique nonetheless, always appreciated.))
Chapter 5: Never Annoy The Mountains
Sakura slowly opened her eyes to what had seemed like a century, while the kiss was taking place.
She immediately looked down and grabbed the kunai in her hands again, breaking the kiss in frustration.
She placed it once again on the same old spot on his neck, and looked at him, trying to lick off his addictive taste.
''You are not going to fool me with such tricks, Uchiha!''she said looking at him coldly.
''No need for that, I knew the outcome either way. I am taking you back.''he said.
''I wouldn't be so sure in your place.' she hissed, pushing lightly the kunai against his skin.
He looked at her and smirked in a superior look.
''You know you can't kill Me.' he said removing his hands from her arms and looking at her calm.
Her next move caught Sasuke off guard and earned her a mildly shocked look.
''I may not have it in me to kill you, Sasuke, but I can anytime put an end in my own pathetic life.''she said turning the kunai in the opposite way and placing it on her chest over the place where her heart was.
Sasuke looked at her, with a mildly worried expression.
''You wouldn't dare. Why end your life like that? Isn't it pathetic?''he said but his tone wasn't the one he used when he tried to put her down.
''No!!What would be really pathetic would be to turn with you back to Orochimaru.
Better dead, than a traitor.''she hissed and stared at him in confidence.
Sasuke tried to slowly sneak his hands behind her. She caught his notion with the corner of her eye, and pressed the kunai further deeper in her skin.
''Don t you dare do anything or I might as well do it now.''she said trying to hide the desperate tone in her voice.
''And what will you do? Try to escape? Is it worth all this?''he asked trying to calm her down.
''Yes yes it is. If I can't be free and with the ones I love, then death suits me better.''she said and the phrase hurt Sasuke secretly, as it implied he wasn't thee one she had feelings anymore for.
''Now now calm down, boy.''she said as she kept a close look on his hands and carefully picked herself up from his lap. She stood up, the kunai stable on her chest, in her tight grip.
He stayed still, but watched her move around, trying to think maniacally of a way to prevent her from hurting herself and escaping in the same time.
She reached a table with tools fast and grabbed a whip, liberating her hands from the kunai, which she shoved in her pocket anymore.
Sasuke was at once up, and made a few fast steps towards her, still in an alert mood.
Sakura gave him a hatred look as she slammed her whip on the floor and close to its feet, making the air around cry.
''You wouldn't like to feel this thing on your skin.' she said but he kept making steps towards her, apathetic.
He didn't want to let her get away, but this wasn't solely for Orochimaru anymore.
He moved a few steps back and bended fast in order to pick up a kunai from the ground, in the period of a few blinks, which made Sakura space for a while. She quickly regained her composure and once he was back up, she kicked the kunai from his left hand, as in the same time she shot the whip which twirled around his right leg. She lost no time, she dragged violently the whip with strength, which made him lose his balance and fall on the floor.
And that was what she needed. She busted out of the room, throwing the whip on the ground outside of it, and kicked the door of the next room, causing it to break.
Her gaze instantly fell on the window, where the morning light was still coming from, even if now it was more close to noon.
She grinned, as her heart beated faster, her only chance to escape was shining in front of her eyes.
She ran as fast as she could towards the window, breaking with a kick of hers the weak metal bars that separated the outer with the inner world, and jumped on it, crawling to her freedom.
Sasuke was already in the room and after her.
She ignored him, even if her heart stopped in agony for some seconds.
He went closer and grabbed her leg, trying to pull her back into the room.
All her body was out except for her right leg, which he was dragging in his wet hand.
''Let go!''she said as she gave him a strong kick that found him on the head causing him a bleeding nose that made him step back for some minutes.
And in the meantime, she had made to carry her whole body out of the building and away of the small window. Sasuke wouldnt fit through it, he was more massive than her.
Secretly, for the first time in her life, she thanked God she was a woman, when Sasuke's angered voice was heard, cutting her relieved thoughts short, as a sharp steel.
''Dont hurry to feel happy, yet.''he said as he was trying to climb on the window, his hands out of it.
Sakura moved further away, looking around her. They were in the back of the castle, no guards around.
She grinned looking at his desperate efforts to fit through the small hole.
''Let me help you.''she said as she crossed her fingers and made a jutsu she had learnt years ago, which made upper parts of the building collapse, dropping a pile of rocks and bricks over the place Sasuke was now, closing for the time being the window, sealing it thickly with the collapsed material.
She heard Sasuke's moans after the collapse and smiled.
She felt victorious against him after a long long time.
Even he can have his weak moments, she thought as she gave a quick but examining look around her for guards and fast rushed on to the east of Konoha, to some mountains that had been covered with snow, since the time now was winter. But even on the other seasons, except summer, the mountains were always painted in white.
She didn't have time to stop and smile to her freedom, she didn't have time yet to taste the free air through her lungs. Her prudence to not be caught was bigger than her excitement.
She made no stop, running like mad away, away from that place of her worst nightmare, to her freedom, as the sun had began setting behind the hills.
She thought it would obviously take a long time for Sasuke to recover the fall, she didnt care if he was hurt, her freedom mattered more right now.
She ran unstoppably, till she felt her lungs and legs would collapse from the fatigue but she didn't stop, she was determinated to die trying to escape, she didn't care for the pain in her shoulders, or her legs that screamed in the touch of the air, as they were crossing it violently, never looking back, never pausing.
And she finally reached out of Konoha, where the route for the mountains started.
Not exactly, as between the village and the sharp mountains, was lying a small little brownish valley. In the past, it used to be greener, but after long periods of draught, it had resulted in the current ground type.
She crossed that fast too, running, as her heart felt like it would give up on her anytime, both from the panic of getting caught again and from her recently but not yet completely earned freedom.
And then there she was, she reached out at the base of the mountains, behind thick trees, well hidden to any observant from the valley or the village. Even though, it would be impossible to be seen by such far distances.
And then she stopped finally running.
And she collapsed on the ground, her lungs screaming for air, her eyes crying in happiness and exhaustion.
She fell on the spare grass, smelling it and kissing it, smiling in terrible happiness as she was free again. Free and safe. Anymore, she would take care of herself. She wouldn't let them take her back. The hard part was over.
She rolled around herself on the spot, still playing with the grass between her fingers, blinking in excitement and pure joy, smiling widely and looking up at the light blue cloudy sky, partially hidden by the tall trees at the base of the mountains.
She wanted to scream, yell in joy, and shout how she had made it, how she had defeated them and she was free now. Free, free, free. She couldn't stop whispering the word, tears of joy running down unstoppably by her eyes.
She would fight to find Naruto and she would fall in his arms, tell him how much she had missed him and that she would never leave him again, that he was her only true brother, the only person still giving color to her life. And Naruto would hug her tightly, happy that she was alive, with him. And they would make plans to free Konoha, or even better run away from all this nightmare and be happy. But she knew Naruto would never give up on Konoha. And she would do whatever he told her. She didnt care. The only thing that mattered is that she would be safe again, with him.
She stayed still for some minutes, trying to regain her strength and get back to reality.
Her escape wasnt over yet. She was afraid Sasuke would come back after and maybe even tell everyone else for her escape, bringing a whole team of hard headed dark ninjas on her chase. What Sakura always seemed to rule out was how most things spinned around Sasuke's pride.
She started climbing on the mountain, slowly but surely, grabbing her wounded thigh tight, as the pain now that her excitement had calmed down stroke her again, subtly.
She grabbed herself on herbs and plants, to help her rise in the upper layers of the mountain. She planned on going to the places that lied beyond them. When Konoha was being attacked, Naruto had told her and all the team that if anyone of them survived, The Light village behind the mountains would be their gathering point.
Of course, she hoped that this secret had rested unsealed till now and with that as her only hope, she set it as her destination.
In the meantime, back to the castle, everyone was looking for Sasuke as they had recovered from their last night's hang over and were now wondering why he hadnt showed up. Servants confirmed that he wasn't in his room.
Sasuke had passed away under the heavy pile of bricks and rocks.
And he had stayed like that for over an hour. He finally slowly opened his eyes, as dust fell into them, causing him to curse in frustration.
He tried to move, but the little rocks would roll all around him, with the danger of causing a further but smaller than the previous one collapse.
He tried to think. What had happened? He remembered Sakura climbing out of the window and then, then everything went black as something had hit him unexpectedly all over him.
He felt surrounded by a thick pile of sharp, soil materials and he tried to unite his hands slowly, with soft but careful moves, concentrating his chakra, to cause a jutsu.
Light blue flames came out of his hands as they busted all around the rocks, causing them to fly away from him, in any distance possible all around. He crawled out of the building, with cuts and scratches all over his body, mostly his face and chest but nothing too serious, except for his left arm that felt seriously fractured or even broken.
He remembered fully now. Sakura had improved as a ninja a lot and he hadn't discovered fully till she used that powerful jutsu on the building causing parts of it to collapse on him.
He cursed her inside him, with a small but sharp cut on the left corner of his lips to give him annoying touches of pain.
He tried to calm down, looking around him. The sun had already set and he remembered how it was morning when everything went dark on him.
He figured out that he must have fainted for a medium amount of time.
He looked around, shouting for any soldiers or guards. But it seemed as it was deserted, which was only logical since that part of the castle was way far from the front entrance and rarely used so they had let their guard down on it.
Orochimaru was taking things granted often and this time this had costed them Sakura.
Now that his mind was trying to calm, he felt the heavy shower of disgrace falling on his shoulders.
What would they think of him? That he let her go just like that? That a weak konoha ninja girl had slipped out of his fearsome hands? This would be way too humiliating.
He suddenly turned his gaze on a soldier that was walking in curiosity towards him.
It seemed as he must have heard his shouts from the other part of the castle and had come to examine the situation.
His look rushed from an impatient angry Sasuke to the recently collapsed section of the building and gasped his mouth in wonder.
''What the hell happened here?''he asked still looking at the pile of rocks, and then he turned his glare on Sasuke for an explanation.
He walked closer to Sasuke. He finally seemed to realize who the raven haired man was and his attitude now became fast humbler making Sasuke to smirk instantly on the effect he had on the guards.
''Mister Uchiha, were you the one that shouted for help?''he asked, avoiding to look at him intensely.
''Yes, you idiot. What took you so long? And isnt this section of the castle guarded? A slave ran away out of your laziness and lack of staff.'' he said annoyed and irritated.
''I am sorry for this. We were under Orochimaru's orders. But I thought the dungeons were free from slaves at this period.''he said, almost whispering in confusion.
Then he realized and his mouth hanged in shock.
He meant the pink haired girl, the slave that was under his control.
He gave Sasuke a questioning look.
''The slave…this slave belonged to you, right?''he asked and pinned his eyes now on Sasuke.
Sasuke looked at him in a superior way and said out of his teeth, coldly.
''Listen to me, what I want you to say to Orochimaru is that I let her escape in order to follow her as so to guide me to Naruto. Tell him that I didnt notice the others, because the more people would go after her, the more suspicious we could rend her. Tell him I will come back to organize a team to go for Naruto, once I learn the place he is right now. And I will come back with the girl, too. There is no doubt about this.''he said as he had walked closer now and grabbed the poor man from his shirt, giving him a threatening look.
''If you say something more or less, I will make sure to get rid of your useless body, when I get back. And I will get back. Is this clear?''he said spitting his words, not wanting Orochimaru and the dark clan to think he had failed in getting her.
But the soldier didnt seem stupid enough and Sasuke guessed he would already have thought that the girl had in fact really escaped and Sasuke had just made up that plan to cover the underbelt hit to his pride.
So Sasuke was forced to result into intimidating him with his sharp threats.
The soldier nodded, trying to control the trembling on his legs, as Sasuke released him.
''Now go!' he ordered him and the man ran back to the castle, unsure and not looking back.
Sasuke clenched his fists, uniting them, as he rubbed his knuckles, with his gaze pinned on the setting sun behind the hills.
''We are not over, Sakura.'' he whispered with a bitter tone on his voice.
He was ready to go but then he saw a middle aged woman in a worried face, running towards him with a packet on her hands.
It was Saya.
Sasuke gave her a secretly shocked look. What was she doing there?
''Mister Sasuke…please wait!''she said and her voice sounded broken.
She reached out on him and expanded the buddle towards him, waiting for him to pick it up.
''Saya…what is this all about?''he asked, once he took his glare from the packet and pinned it on her, in a dead serious tone.
''Excuse me for being rude,sir, I just found the guard on my way to your room and he told me that you were about to leave in search of your slave girl. So I fast rushed into your room, and made a choice of some items that you might find useful in your journey.''she said smiling shyly.
Sasuke spaced out. He couldnt help but smirk at the caring move of the old lady.
He carefully took the bundle in his hands, thanking her, still serious but softer now.
''That was nice of you, Saya. You can go back now.''he said not wanting anyone to delay him.
Saya stayed still, the hesitation obvious in her face.
''Mister Uchiha, I would…like to ask a favor from you.''she said, and Sasuke gave her a curious look.
''Which is?''he asked her impatiently.
''I…well, I just want to ask you to not hurt the girl. I understand she is your captive but she is a wonderful person…and I cant help but worry for her. So, please, I beg you, do not damage her...anymore.''she said avoiding his glare, but in a bravery bigger than Sasuke could ever except from her to show.
Sasuke looked at her pensive, feeling a weird scratch of guilt in him.
''She has to be punished, she escaped and the law says that run away slaves get to be punished. I will try to be smooth, though.''he said not letting his pride walls down.
''Oh please, dont mind her. She is just a suffering girl. The little time I spent with her, I figured out that she once had strong feelings for you. And she could still have.''she said, her eyes wet on worry for the young girl. Saya felt as a mother against her and wanted to protect her from any damage, even if that meant getting her master mad at her.
Sasuke gave her an angry look. How did she dare to enter his inner world? And talk to him about what Sakura feels or not about him?
He put on a cold face and nodded to her.
''I promise I will do my best to not hurt her.''he said, hiding his anger under the mind's rational cry.
''Now go before I lose my temper.''he ordered the old woman that with a mix of gratitude and doubt she set her way back to the castle.
The packet seemed full of small things, but yet not as heavy as it would seem to be from afar.
He weight it in his hands, cupping it. It was nice when someone cared for him, and he found such pigments of care in the people he least expected to.
A small smile graced his cold mouth, as he raised his glare again to the east, embracing the mountains with his gaze.
He wished Sakura cared for him, too. But once he caught himself getting soft again he pushed those thoughts fast out of his head.
He had a mission, and a chance to save his reputation. And with that thought, he hanged the packet on his back, and ser off with a fast pace for the mountains.
In the meantime, Orochimaru was laughing out of his lungs together with Erin and the rest of the team over Sasuke's idiocy.
''Hahahah, I am sure he just failed to prevent her from leaving. What an idiot.''he said between his giggles.
Erin looked at him, evilly, immitating his laughs.
''Oh and we thought just that she couldnt affect him that much. Looks like the tough boy is in love.''she said drinking some wine.
Orochimaru's laugh froze, looking at Erin in fast raising anger.
''What?''she asked him stunned.
''And what if he just runs away with her? What if all that was an excuse for him to step back on us and betray us? Did you ever think of that?''he said behind his teeth punching his fist on the table, making all the laughs around to cease.
Erin gave him a snobby look.
''Orochimaru, you also are an idiot!''she yelled.
''And I thought you knew Sasuke very well to speak without thinking. He is very selfish, he would never accept us to call him a coward. And all the plans we made together, the boy is after power. He lives for that. Sure, the girl might influence him in some ways. But all these 4 years we have been together, I came to know that he is too thick headed to kneel in front of the whims of a girl.''Erin said in one breath, letting her wine aside to give a pissed glare at Orochimaru.
At times like this, she gave her nerves when he acted like a paranoid chicken.
Orochimaru looked at her like he had ignored her words.
''Erin, all the times I took things for granted I mistaked. I wont let this happen again.''he said.
''And what will you do? Run after him? That way if what he said is true, the girl would take notice of us and probably never lead us to Naruto's hide out. If she had such guts to escape, then he must mean a lot to her. Sasuke is much of a cold bastard to let a girl ruin all his future evil plans. Just relax, we will sit back and wait for him to do all the job, like an obedient boy.''she said laughing behind her teeth.
''And why did he have to let her go so as to run after her? I thought the plan was that we waited for Naruto to come and take her.''he said suspicious.
''We discussed this a million times before. Do you remember how many times you felt worried over the fact that the fox boy would gather a good amount of strength before attack us? Because as it seemed he was taking his time with Sakura and didnt plan to come back anytime soon. He probably could guess that a trap would be waiting for him. What else reason would we have to keep his ninja friend alive?''she said, impressing Orochimaru with her sharp mind.
He hided his defeated look and tried to think of something to pose agaisnt her.
''Still he did things without asking me first. He defied my control, my authority! This is a good enough reason to not trust him.''he said disappointed.
Erin immediately backed that up, too. ''Oh come on, boss. You already know she probably just escaped on her own and he failed to get her. That is why he invented that story up, you know his pride, he is just trying to cover up his ass. And the only way to do it good, would be to stay faithful on his words.''she said, with a victorious look on her face that angered Orochimaru even more.
''Fine.'' he said. ''But if he fails or betrays us, I will put the blame on you.''he said as Erin gave him a charming smile to mock him.
''Deal, but I am sure this wont happen.''she said, rebringing the glass on her lips, with her stare focused on him, but secretly day dreaming.
''How can you be so sure?''he asked trying to calm down.
''Here is the catch, if we see he takes too long to bring her back, along with the info on the hide out, we make a team and ravage out on the mountains, to look for them. If he betrays us we take them both out and that is it. A traitor less. The girl should be easy to handle. So we will mostly have to focus on him.''she said, smiling to herself with her fast thinking.
''And I will think of a punishment for you, after that. A deal is a deal.''he said smiling sarcastically, making Erin to roll her eyes. A man is a man, he can never take a hit on his ego, she thought and returned her gaze to her glass.
''Deal.''
Sasuke was now running too fast, ignoring anyone or anything unimportant on his way.
Sakura was partially wounded, so she shouldnt have gone far, he thought. He looked around the valley once he was out of the village.
She could have taken no other way around, cause every village on that side of the mountains, was guarded by sound ninjas and would capture or kill anyone without their head band on their foreheads.
He looked up at the mountains. He sighed. She should be crazy to even think to cross those mountains on her own, in such freezing cold that haunted their tops.
But her eagerness and the strength of her desire to escape impressed him. If she was going to Naruto, she was willing to risk her life to get to him, without second thoughts.
He stayed pensive for some minutes. Yep, that was typical of the Sakura he knew.
She would give everything for the ones she loved. In the past, she had done it for him, now she was doing it for Naruto. He felt a soft punch of jealousy on his stomach.
Too bad she hadnt thought she would be followed.
The valley was deserted apart from the few animals moving bored here and there, chewing on the spare grass or wetting their mouths by the small shallow river.
He felt the wounds on his skin from the previous collapse, annoying him as the air caressed them in a rush.
It was starting to get cold. He had his vest on, so the weather shouldnt be such of a barrier to him, unless it started to rain. Then they would be both screwed.
He clenched his teeth and took off running determined towards the mountains.
Sakura in the meanwhile had just made it to that section of the mountains where the route for the top started and everything around was covered in snow, except for the high branches of some trees. She felt her feet freezing as they dove into the thick but soft snow, leaving her foot steps on it as marking trail. She shivered in the thought of someone discovering her but she wasn't hiding exactly, she was running away and everything was permitted in the chase. She felt still strong and as like she could go on for more.
She knew her power limits anymore and making it to the top seemed humanly possible in her mind.
She wondered if Sasuke had took after on her chase and felt her heart shrinking in the thought, as he was way stronger and faster than her, and would be no big deal for him to reach her.
Sasuke was still climbing and could already sense her chakra around, smirking satisfied.
He was close, he could feel it. But all the way he was walking, he was thinking tensely inside him. He didn't want to damage Naruto. Maybe he wouldnt do anything to save him if he faced him either, but even in his cold heart the memories of their old team hadn't faded completely. He had killed his brother and he was ok with it. If that bastard Orochimaru wanted the future Hokage of Naruto dead, it wasn't his own business. He was only pretending to agree to every plan of them for the sake of his future leadership in the sound clan. But he knew he wasn't willing to sacrifice everything for it. Not anymore. With Itachi out of the way, revenge had stopped occupying his mind, as well. At least most of the times.
And with the power of his and his improvement over time he wouldn't need to be afraid for anything, the future sound throne belonged to him and Orochimaru wouldn't stand a chance against him. So why risk so many things, when he knew he could make it even without them?
He was in a dilemma. Untrusting by nature, he thought it would be practical to follow Sakura to the end either way to find Naruto, and then drag her back once the village he was resting became known to him. Or he could just save him time and drag her either way, turning back and tell everyone he had searched the place with her and found no signs of him.
Then he flinched, realizing that he didn't know the reason he had ran after her.
Was it his pride? It had to be more than that. If that was the case, he wouldn't be so loose about finding Naruto. But instead, his only concern seemed to be…to see her face again.
He froze at the realization of his want. He…why did he think like that?
Damn her, he cussed inside him, she had made him weak. And he didn't feel like walking away from her. Not anytime soon.
He pushed the thoughts away, of course it was all about his pride, he thought.
He couldn't let them think he let her escape. Even without bringing the much wanted info back, he could still capture her again.
His thoughts were too confused even for him. He wasn't sure anymore about the motives behind his actions. He looked now down at the snow that had started showing up on the path ahead of him. And he could see her foot steps on it, as a sinister grin formed on his lips.
He lost no time, as he took off running again, following a similar but parallel route next to hers, hidden behind the thick trees.
Sakura was out of breath by now. Not deadly tired but her body was in emergency for some rest and food. She couldn't keep on like that. The top was about two kilometers away but her frozen feet couldn't take her any further for the time being.
She ignored her scared mind that was yelling how they could be following her and catch up with her if she stayed at her place. But she didn't care, her feet wouldn't comply, what was there she could do?
She sat on a rock breathing heavily and rubbing her cold feet, trying to return the feeling sensation in them.
It didn't seem to work for the first 5 minutes so she retook the harsh massage, trying to warm them. She started feeling again on her skin and the smile returned on her lips.
She wanted desperately to lean around and sleep but she didn't have time for this and even if time wasn't a luxury, cold was and it was plenty around her. She would die if she let herself doze off in the freezing snow.
She stood up slowly from the rock, a painful grin gracing her frozen lips, as the wound on her thigh was still giving her pain.
She made two steps away from the rock. Her feet hadn't recover fully yet but at least she figured out she could stop again later, the next time hidden well behind some trees.
And that is when Sasuke saw her. He seemed he had been way too fast and he had been closer than he thought. He was leaning on a branch, looking at her silently, trying to work out in his mind whether to face her in a fight or keep following to the hide out.
But luck wasn't with his side, as Sakura heard a tiny noise, not humanly possible to notice if you weren't a trained ninja, and turned her head fast to the spot where Sasuke was standing.
Her eyes fell on his, both looking at each other straightly, him apathetic, her trying to hide her shock and bitterness he had found her.
For some seconds both silent. Sasuke first broke the silence, as Sakura stepped back.
''Sakura…here we meet again. Seems like your effort was futile. Should have chosen to stay with me, instead. Would have saved you time.''he said sarcastically and Sakura gave him a hating look.
''Why are you after me?''she asked in a frustrated tone.
Sasuke laughed after he looked at her like she was losing her mind.
''Isn't it obvious? How far you thought you could have gone away from me? I would get to you, sooner or later.' he said and Sakura felt her eye brows uniting in a bitter desperation.
Sasuke enjoyed her scared look, as it instantly crossed his mind that it wouldn't be as easy anymore to find Naruto's hide out. An option less. And somehow this made him feel insecure, not knowing why.
''I am not going back with you.''she said and turned her back on him, walking away calm.
Sasuke's eyes widened. Who did she think she was to ignore him like that?
He jumped down of the branch and landed on the snow with grace.
He ran after her, standing two meters away from her, as she turned her back to face him in alert.
''Fight is first. And you sadly don't stand a chance against me.' he said as she sighed secretly. Why couldn't she find a moment of peace?
She looked at him, trying to seem confident.
''I wouldn't be so sure, in your place, you surely did fail to get out of that window out of my jutsu.''she said, in a pissed tone.
''That was a mistake. And I don't do the same mistake, twice.' he said meaning victory was his only option now.
''Neither do I. Which is why I won't go back with you.' she said and she jumped back on the air, fiercely as she crossed her hands preparing for the attack.
''Mark your words, Sakura.''he said as he dodged of her attack.
Sakura gave him a challenging smile as she jumped over the ground highly and tried to bring in her mind what Kakashi Sensei had taught her and Naruto to do, as their first powerful battle jutsu, rasengan.
She united her palms, and crossed her fingers, as she focused her chakra on her hands.
She closed her eyes in pain from the huge effort, spinning her chakra, giving it sufficient force, and forming it into a spherical shape.
Sasuke gave her a stoned look. He was secretly amazed by her improved abilities. He could never except her to be able to use such a move successfully. Last time he had spent with his old team, Naruto was struggling to perform rasengan and even when he made it he had to call a clone of his to form the chakra while he was busy with the rest of the jutsu.
He blinked in surprise as Sakura relished rasengan against him, landing herself gracefully back on the ground as she took running towards his spot, with the spherical chakra on her hands.
Sasuke gave her another stunned look before he turned his focus now entirely on his effort to use chidori technique, another powerful jutsu that he alone from all his team could use, being a heir of the sharingan of the uchiha clan.
Lightning were all around his hands, as he started running towards her in inhuman speed.
Both running towards each other, the conflict would be unavoidable.
And then the distance between them closed…uniting the two jutsus into one.A strong explosion followed due to the two large powers hitting against each other.
The earth shook under their feet and the energy was sent flying all around the place, as those two fell both hitten on the ground.
Suddenly, the snows around the mountain higher layers started shaking from the strong hit, causing a huge masse of snow collapse all around, swiping everything on its way.
Sasuke opened his eyes in pain, still hurting from the hit as he watched in terror the snow swallowing anything just a few meters away from them, descending in enormous speed and utterly painful noise.
His worrying glare immediately turned at Sakura, as he watched her trying to crawl away inside the snow under her feet until the snow sea was only a few meters away from her until the distance closed and it swallowed her inside. Then everything went black for Sasuke, as now it came his turn to be dragged by the massive snow current. He felt frozen snow going down his throat as his yells were covered harshly by it. And then everything went black.
Sakura could feel herself being dragged inside the snow river, trying to surface but it was impossible. She felt the wound on her thigh screaming as the harsh little pieces of ice rubbed against it making it reopen and bleed.
She tried to let her head out of the snow, but it wasn't too soon before she slipped again under it and it wasn't too long before she felt her head hitting against something hard and cold, probably a big rock, as the pain made her lose her sense for a while till she fainted completely, all covered by snow.
The snow storm was over after 10 minutes, leaving them both covered under it in seer
devastation.
Once Sasuke, felt the flow was finally over he immediately struggled to unbury himself from under the snow and rose out of it, stepping away from his previous spot, looking around in dead worry for Sakura.
''Sakura!!!''he started shouting her name, as he could feel burning tears of worry threaten his eyes.
He was ok, just a few scratches and a more fractured arm, but he was one to overcome injuries fast. He overlooked the pain in his chest and forced his look around, looking on the snow desperately for some signs of his old friend.
He kept walking slowly around in panic. A small pink sign was lying onto the snow, some meters away from him.
He looked in terror. It was Sakura. He ran over fast to the place, and started digging with his bleeding hands in the snow, trying to unbury her.
He kept doing so, until her face and chest were now exposed and he paused for a while, in her sight. She was unconscious, with a calm expression on her face.
He found she was lying close to a rock, buried under the snow too. He rushed on digging up until he managed to drag her whole body out of the snow and he laid her on it some meters away from the spot she was previously buried.
He leaned over her trying to prevent his tears from falling.
She wasn't moving. He placed his head on her heart but her palm was so light that he couldn't manage to hear it.
''Sakura…, please, open you eyes.' he said as he looked back in desperation in a fast examination of the place. The roads around had been closed by snow and whatever it had dragged with it, closing the way back to Konoha for the time being.
He sighed.
''Great, now we are trapped.' he muttered as he felt someone touching his hand lightly. He immediately turned his face back to look at Sakura, who had started regaining her consciousness, coughing snow out of her mouth.
''Sakura! Are you ok? ''he asked as he thanked god inside him for her survival.
Sakura opened her eyes fully now and tried to focus her glare on him. Pain was crossing her whole body and she felt the cold digging up in her skin.
She looked at him, with a scared expression on her face. Confusion mixed with mild fear.
''Who is Sakura? And …who are you?''she asked, leaving a stunned expression on Sasuke's handsome face.