Hello! I had some encouraging reviews so I decided to carry on with this. Bear with me, I'm not quite sure where it's going but hopefully you guys like it! Enjoy!
Kakashi had been on his guard the whole night, listening and trying to single out noises from under the beat of the rain which had eased of and was now a gentle drumming on the tin roof. Watching through his eyelashes, he had seen Sasuke kneel over Naruto in the night, breathing on him, a broken look on his face.
He feels responsible, thought the copy-cat ninja. Slowly he surveyed his subordinates.
Sakura, next to him, was still sleeping, her face pulled into a delicate frown. Naruto and the Mizukage's son's blood on her face. She was a mess. Naruto had apparently thrown her out of the way before he was stabbed. She felt useless again. One day she would realize that she was one of the things that kept the other's so strong. She was their girl. Their girl who they had to protect no matter what.
Naruto, on his back lay near Kakashi's feet, his breathing normal now. Bloodied hands were fists at his sides, his jaw clenched slightly. Wrinkles appeared on his mask as Kakashi shook his head in disbelief, smiling a little. Naruto truly was a great ninja. Stupid, annoying and hasty, but great. He'd be ok.
Sasuke, on the ground next to Naruto with his fingers reaching out in his sleep, close to the other boys face. The guilty aura around the Uchiha was almost visible. Dark eyes softened and the jounin moved without a sound to where the boys lay. Gently, he picked up Sasuke and placed him propped up against the wall and brushed his long bangs off his grubby face.
It'll be trouble if someone wakes up before him and finds him in such a un-Sasukeish position, Kakashi mused, picturing the embarrassed anger on his young face. He almost laughed.
Suddenly the rain was gone and it was silent. The man lifted himself to his full height. He nudged Sasuke and Sakura awake, pressing a finger to his masked lips to make sure they stayed quiet. Something moved outside. With two fingers Kakashi motioned for them and each ninja moved stealthily to the entrance of the barn, kunai at the ready.
Someone was humming loudly. They know we're here, thought Kakashi. It's us they've come for. He leapt into the clearing, Sasuke and Sakura following. No attacks came. They moved into a defensive position, standing back to back, crouched low. Three figures sat high in the trees. Kakashi heard Sasuke growl. New faces. Not the same ninja from before but the outfits were similar to the first round of enemies and two wielded katana. The second string? Why? Wondered Kakashi briefly.
"What do you want," asked the eldest sharingan user, keeping his voice even.
"Strong..." hissed the single woman, appearing in front of him suddenly. There was a moment where everyone was quiet as she flicked out her tongue, tasting their chakra, Kakashi realized. They leapt back, and then, the silence exploded as the other two men leapt from the trees, roaring in attack.
...
It wasn't that Kakashi was losing; it was just that he wasn't winning. He stepped back as the woman leaned into him, her slitted grey eyes locking with his mismatched ones. With a kunai in hand he swept his arm out but missed. Her technique was unusual. When he was playing defense, she would rush at him, pushing him further and further into the trees but she never formed any hand signs or drew a weapon. When he switched to offense she could dodge easily in fluid movements, bending over and then flipping backwards, her pointed toes sweeping close to his chin. She rarely attacked. He didn't like it. It was the same as last time, Kakashi was being separated but this time he was on his own and this time he had realized too late what she was doing. He cursed under his breath.
...
Sakura stood back to back with Sasuke. She felt him move closer, pressing his shoulder blades to her so he could feel if she moved. She pushed back to gauge his breathing. His breath was ragged and noisy, his body shuddering as the air passed through his lungs. Sasuke was exhausted. The pink haired kunoichi widened her stance, ready to protect her team mate if she had too. He was tired, she slightly less. He had protected her from the most of the fight, taking on the quicker opponent and occasionally jumping in to nudge her out of the way of a surprise attack as she tackled the bigger but slower enemy.
Very carefully, Sakura flicked her eyes towards the barn. Naruto. Was he awake? In the moment when she had lifted her gaze from her opponent the faster one had rushed in and ripped her from Sasuke's side, throwing her to the ground and shoving the blade of his thin bladed sword to her throat. She heard Sasuke yell and saw him struggling as he was restrained, the big ninja's arms wrapped tightly around him. From the corner of her eye she saw Kakashi escape his opponent and begin to rush from the trees.
"Sakura!"
"Sakura!"
She began to panic as the enemy female ninja leapt in front of Kakashi. Who would save her? Could she do this by herself? Her panting shortened and quickened as blood roared in her ears, the flat side of the sword cutting of her airway. She looked up at the body on top of her. His face was blotched with inky black spots from lack of air. Sakura blinked slowly. He was young, maybe a few years older than her. His face was handsome; his eyes a piercing green, much greener than her own. But his smile was wide and slightly too big for his face as his lips curled into a crazed grin.
"You're pretty," he murmured to her and she lay very still.
"Sakura! Sakura!" Sasuke saw his hand first as it slipped down her body until it was between her legs. His fingertips were cold as her ran them the length of her feeling her through her clothes. Sakura cried out. It was a desperate and terrified cry and it echoed throughout the clearing until it was overtaken by something louder.
BOOM! The structure exploded and orange chakra burst forward, flaring high through the smoke and over the treetops. Every pair of eyes turned, watched, widened. Every body tensed as the immense power of the chakra attacked their senses. The smoke cleared and Sakura's lips trembled as she whispered his name.
"Naruto..."