When Sasuke and Naruko finally returned from their training that day the rest were halfway through dinner.
Sasuke entered with Naruko sprawled on his back, her arms loosely around his neck, seemingly fast asleep on his shoulder.
If Sakura wasn't so surprised she'd have almost teased Sasuke about giving Naruko a piggy back ride home because she'd half expected the raven haired Uchiha to leave Naruko there.
"She passed out while climbing up." Sasuke said. He looked dead tired as he grumbled and Sakura didn't point out that Sasuke looked just as bad, it was probably only his pride that kept him standing.
"That's a pity." Kakashi said,"There was ramen for dinner."
"Ramen!" Naruko jerked awake so fast that it caused Sasuke to lose his balance and the both of them fell on the floor.
"Idiot!" He groaned from the floor.
Naruko didn't care though she was wide awake now and shot up making a beeline for the food. Sasuke followed clearly not in the best of moods but once he saw the food his usual ingrained Uchiha manners were left behind as he attacked the food with as much vigor as Naruko.
Naruko finished three bowls before she remembered how to breathe and Sasuke was on his fourth.
Within minutes they finished and both of them groaned and clutching their stomach while Sakura who'd barely managed to clean off one bowl even with all her extra training sighed.
"Both of you should know better than to eat that fast. You'll get sick."
"But Sakura-chan!" Naruko whined,"I'm so hungry and tired. You made walking on trees look so easy but it's really really hard."
"Hn." That was all the agreement Sasuke was going to give.
Sakura beamed. Being acknowledged for something by the both of them had renewed sense of purpose. Her insecurities were still there but they were becoming less significant by the day. She was a part of the team.
"I'll see if I can make something to help you both digest the food." Sakura announced getting up from her seat still beaming over Naruko's comment.
"Sakura-chan you're the best!" Naruko grinned,"We'll train even harder tomorrow."
"What's the point?"
Tazuna's grandson who had just entered was the one who'd spoken. For the majority of the genin's stay in Tazuna's house the young boy hadn't really interacted with them seemingly avoiding them.
Sakura would never say it out loud but to her Inari seemed like a miniature version of Sasuke, always sulking around the house quietly.
Naruko on the other hand had actually said it out loud the other day to Sasuke's face and it had lead to another one of their immature fights.
Sakura thought the younger boy would say more but instead he turned on his heels and marched out of the room without saying anything more.
"Does this have something to do with the torn picture on the wall?" Sakura asked.
Tazuna sighed and recounted the tale of Inari's brave step father who'd been a symbol of courage for their land but when Gatou put him to death it had broken the spirit of everybody on the small island and turned young Inari cynical and jaded.
Sakura had the strangest urge to cry by the end of the tale but the rest of her teammates didn't seem all too moved with it.
Sasuke being the heartless bastard he was hadn't even looked up from his food and it almost looked like he had't even heard the story much less get effected by it. Kakashi's lone eye was unreadable as supposed the both of them were the perfect embodiment of ninjas who were not supposed to show any emotion.
Naruko on the other hand was looking down. For a second Sakura thought Naruko had fallen asleep but the blonde girl suddenly stood up her hair flying about.
She turned around abruptly, stumbling towards the door. Limping and clearly exhausted Naruko determinedly took a step forward but halted when Sakura called out.
"Naruko what are you doing?"
Naruko turned towards them her face dirty, scratched and bruised with heavy bags under her eyes. Her legs were shaking as if they could barely support her weight but the fire in those blue eyes shone so brightly that Sakura thought that she'd perhaps never seen Naruko stronger.
"I'm going to prove that real heroes do exist."
Sakura stared at her teammate with admiration. Her tenacity was bullheaded and stupid, yes, but at the same time it was inspiring. Perhaps Sakura would have gotten up determinedly and joined her too but in the very next moment Naruko's legs abruptly gave out beneath her.
Kakashi was the one who caught her before her head hit the floor holding her by the collar of her bright orange tracksuit.
Sasuke simply sighed looking at his unconcious teammate,"Idiot."
But the hint of grudging admiration in his tone and the somewhat awestruck look on Sakura's face was not missed by their sensei.
Sasuke was shook awake a good three hours before dawn.
"Sakura?" He squinted at the pink haired girl who stood over him,"What-"
"Naruko's not here." Sakura stated,"I got up to go to the bathroom and I saw her missing. I was wondering if you knew where she was."
Sasuke rolled over pulling the blanket,"I don't really care."
Sakura jabbed him in the back and it took all his self control not to throw a kunai at her.
"What?" He hissed.
"I'm worried." She persisted,"She may have fainted again or fallen asleep out on her own completely defenceless. She may be a ninja but you know how she's like when she's asleep. The world would probably end and she'd still be snoring."
Sasuke simply grunted in response not bothering to open his eyes again.
Sakura let out a long sigh,"Yeah you're right. Naruko will be fine despite all those long hours of training. I mean she'd almost drained all her chakra so much so that you had to carry her back, but she'll be fine."
With that Sakura settled back onto her futon closing her eyes.
Sasuke on the other hand was now wide awake.
The possibility of Naruko going out to train after dinner was a high one and the possibility of her falling asleep or fainting half way through was even higher.
How idiotic could she be?
Naruko had been completely drained of chakra so how did she even have the energy to get up?
Sasuke stood up abruptly.
He wasn't going to check up on her, he reasoned to himself as he walked out of the room, he was going just to make sure that Naruko didn't catch up to him. He had a reputation to uphold after all and there was no way he'd let the blonde idiot beat him.
Meanwhile Sakura in her spot on the futon smiled.
Boys are so simple, inner Sakura croned.
The real Sakura had to agree.
True to Sakura's suspicions he found Naruko fast asleep on the forest floor.
It wasn't dawn yet and the air was chilly which is why the small blonde ninja was curled up in a ball in the ground as if she was trying to keep herself warm.
What an idiot.
Sasuke was about to nudge her awake with his foot but he stopped halfway through his mother's voice echoing in his head,"Sasu-chan, remember you must always treat girls with respect."
In Sasuke's defence there was no way Naruko could really be classified as a girl. She was loud, obnoxious, a complete and total idiot with not even a sliver of common sense and that was just the beginning.
Honestly sometimes Sasuke found it difficult to comprehend how someone could be that much of a pain.
Treat with respect? As if.
But none the less he bent down to shake her roughly awake,"Idiot wake up."
She didn't.
Obviously, Sakura hadn't being exaggerating when she'd said that Naruko could sleep through anything.
Sasuke didn't know why he'd expected otherwise.
Next he tried pulling on her hair, honestly those ridiculously long twintails she wore were a disaster waiting to happen but reasoning with her would be just stupid on Sasuke's part.
And Uchihas didn't do stupid things.
"Wake up." He tugged on her hair.
This time Naruko stirred.
"Stop it." She whined batting his hand away. She was still clearly asleep as she murmured,"Stop picking on me. Stop-I didn't choose this! Please I'm not a monster. Don't hate me, please."
"Idi-"
"Please." She cried and then went still.
And for the longest time Sasuke stood there looking down at her almost as if he was frozen.
Sasu-chan, remember you must always treat girls with respect.
And then he bent down laying his palm on her shoulder gently trying to shake her so she would wake.
"Naruko wake up."
Nothing.
"Naruko wake up." This time he was firmer.
All he managed to was make her turn a little so he got a clear view of her face. She was asleep but unconsciously chewing on the ends of one of her ponytails dreamily murmuring,"Raaaaammeeeen."
He almost laughed. One moment she was crying out and the next she was chewing on her hair.
This girl was just weird, he decided, just plain weird.
He then bent down closer to her and said,"I'm going to finish the last bowl of ramen."
"RAMEN!" Naruko shot up so fast that she collided with Sasuke their foreheads bashing with each other.
"Oww you bastard." She whined rubbing the sore spot on her head while simultaneously looking around,"Where's the ramen?"
She abruptly stopped when her eyes fell onto one of the most horrific scenes she'd ever seen her in life.
Sasuke laughing.
Sasuke actually laughing.
Laughing out loud.
Not smirking in that infuriatingly condescending way he always did whenever he looked at Naruko but a genuine to god laugh. It wasn't overly loud or silent but something so utterly natural that Naruko actually rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't having some weird nightmare.
But when she opened her eyes he was still there and he was still shaking his head and laughing at the absurdity of her actions.
And that's when Naruko's horror turned into fascination for Naruko in all her eyes in the Academy had never truly seen Sasuke laugh. It was quiet and restrained all at once barely a laugh for most people but it somehow seemed fitting on Sasuke almost like he'd forgotten to act as the grumpy jerk with a stick up his ass for a few moments. Curiosity got the better of her and Naruko leaned forward until her face was just inches away from his to try to figure out if he was real to not.
The Uchiha abruptly stopped laughing looking at the blonde girl who was just inches away from him peering up at him with her large blue eyes.
"What are-"
And then with her pointer finger she poked him in the forehead.
For a few tense moments nothing happened and then suddenly Sasuke shoved Naruko away so hard that she hit the ground rather painfully.
"What the hell bastard?" She yelled as the Uchiha suddenly got up turning away from her, his hands clenching into fists.
"I was just checking to see if you were real because you were acting so weird." She said struggling to get up.
He barely paid attention to her reasoning because that gesture had reminded him of something... no someone and it had harshly brought him back to reality.
What had he been doing?
Laughing at what? Why?
How could he get so utterly diverted?
What was wrong with him?
He was an avenger before everything else.
An avenger.
Maybe next time Sasuke.
Foolish brother...
I have someone I want to kill.
He angrily rubbed the spot on his forehead as he marched away from the clearing leaving behind the blonde haired kunoichi yelling a string of curses to his back.
And from his spot behind a particularly large tree Haku silently stood and watched the entire exchange.
For the next couple of days the tension between Sasuke and Naruko could be cut through with a dull kunai.
Neither talked to each other, Sasuke ignored everybody completely and there was a fierce aura of determination and anger around him that scared Sakura.
Naruko on the other hand was plain annoyed. She glared at Sasuke even more than usual and refused to utter a word to the bastard even if it was to call him bastard.
They'd practice and come back for dinner and an awkward silence would ensue filled with deathly glares from Naruko's part and utter indifference from Sasuke's.
Naruko had developed a habit of sneaking out at night to train and since Sasuke didn't seem to care anymore which is why Sakura was forced to drag a half conscious Naruko back a few hours before dawn every day.
In short the team was a mess.
"We have to do something about them, Kakashi sensei." Sakura reasoned during their next genjutsu training session. She was getting pretty good at making genjutsu's and breaking them was also getting easier because Inner Sakura always seemed to know whether it was an illusion or not.
"They'll have to sort it out on their own." Kakashi answered,"For now concentrate on your training."
Kakashi's genjutsus had been pretty docile up till now but he was slowly ramping up the level.
He was mainly focusing on her strengthening her defense against genjutsu during their short training sessions after her stamina building exercises.
They both did it on the bridge itself so that Kakashi and Sakura could keep a close eye on Tazuna whilst completing her training.
Sakura had high chunnin level chakra control but her stamina and amount of chakra was what primarily held her back. Not only did she had a dismal amount compared to the monsters that her teammates were but also being a civilian she barely had genin level chakra. She was slowly but surely building up her reserves but it was a clear handicap.
Her main talent in genjutsu lay in breaking them rather than making them although she wasn't half bad in the latter either. He was still to test the fill limits of her natural flair in genjutsu though.
He raised his headband revealing the Sharingan. Kakashi's talent in genjutsu relied heavily on the Sharingan, as a kid he'd always favoured using ninjutsu and taijutsu. Now with the Uchiha's bloodlimit he could cast genjutsu's that could fool even skilled ninjas like Zabusa.
"Okay Sakura." Kakashi said,"This time I'm going to give you a tougher genjutsu."
Sakura looked at his lone red eye wearily, she'd been there when he'd demonstrated the capability of the eye.
She nodded,"I'm ready."
Sakura's progress in the past week had been spectacular when it came to genin level genjutsu. She could cast the basic ones almost flawlessly and breaking out of them had become laughably quick which is why Kakashi had started seeing if she could display the same level of skill when it came to the tougher chunin genjutsu techniques.
Using the Sharingan to cast the genjutsu would add another level of difficulty. It wouldn't quite be the high jounin level type he'd used to defeat Zabusa but it would be rather hard for a genin to break. In fact even Sasuke would have had a hard time breaking it without a Sharingan.
Sakura stared at her sensei determined getting ready for the genjutsu, anytime now-
"Sakura-chan!" Naruko's loud voice called out bounding on to the half completed bridge,"The bastard was pissing me off so I decided to take a break and see how you were doing."
"Oh." She tried not to bristle at Naruko's pathetic timing,"Kakashi sensei's showing me his Sharingan."
They turned to look at the white haired man who'd covered up his Sharingan staring keenly at the orange book that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He looked up for a moment and said,"Yo." Before turning his attention back to his book.
"Oooh." Naruko chattered excitedly,"That's so cool."
Wrong, wrong. Inner muttered her black and white eyebrows scrunched together in anxious confusion.
And that's when Sakura realised that she was no longer seeing Inner Sakura in her head but actually as a figure standing next to Naruko. She was still outlined in black and white a stark contrast to the colourful background but she was standing against.
Inner Sakura looked at her firmly,"This is a genjutsu."
Then Inner turned and leaped at Kakashi.
The entire world took a violent one eighty and suddenly Sakura found herself on her knees panting, Naruko no longer there.
Kakashi looked at pink haired kunoichi with disbelief. She'd not released the genjutsu by disturbing her chakra flow but had somehow torn the entire illusion apart and tried to turn it back on Kakashi.
If Kakashi had been a lesser ninja he'd have fallen for Sakura's attack but with the Sharingan and his natural abilities as an elite jounin he'd managed to evade it.
That black and white figure...
Kakashi should have had full control over that particular genjutsu and yet Sakura had managed to inject something entirely her own something into that should have been purely his illusion.
"Sakura what was that?" Kakashi asked.
The twelve year old girl looked at him confused,"What do you mean?"
"That black and white figure she-"
"You saw her?" Sakura asked wide eyed,"I always thought she was just a figment of my imagination."
"Your imagination?"
"Yeah.." Sakura trailed of looking down at her feet,"As a kid I used to get bullied a lot and I was too timid and docile to fight back. So Inner Sakura became kind of like the part of me that was all brave and strong and wasn't afraid of doing what she wanted. She's like another version of me that exists in my head."
Another soul? Kakashi asked to himself, Is that what Sakura had?
Each team had been divided carefully making sure that each of the genin team had a particularly specialty despite whatever was told to them.
Kurenai's team had clearly been formed for tracking, a Hyuuga, Aburame and Inzuka all three clams whose speciality lay in hunting down their enemy.
Asuma's team was formed of the the tried and tested Ino-Shika-Cho combination whose forte had always been in interrogation and planning.
Even the other teams had had some sort of pattern but Team Seven...
Kakashi had found it odd.
Sasuke and Naruto had been assigned to him because he was perhaps the only jounin capable of handling the sharingan user and a jinchiruki housing the most powerful of the tailed beasts.
But Sakura..
Sakura had been a weird choice.
She was intelligent definitely, perhaps even enough to rival the Nara boy on some level but other than that her reports had been average.
Her chakra control had been good even back then, enough to place her in the medic team but instead she'd been placed in the most volatile squad of the lot.
Kakashi had always thought it was because he'd have his hands full with the other two that Sakura was given to him to be simply ignored. By the way it seemed despite being intelligent she was a civilian and her career as a ninja would perhaps only last till genin at most.
But now looking at her he realised that perhaps the pink haired kunoichi might have been underestimated entirely and there was a lot more to her than meets the eye.
Shit what kind of team had he gotten?
"Ow-ow- Sakura-chan it hurts!"
"Naruko stop whining." Sakura scolded,"I told you that your ankle was in a bad state yet you refused to rest. Trees will always be there to climb."
"But I have to get stronger I can't let the bastard beat-ow!"
Sakura sighed and got up making her way towards Sasuke.
"What?" He asked rudely.
"Your hands." Sakura demanded,"If you don't let me clean the scrapes you'll get an infection."
"I'm fine." Sasuke insisted.
"Bastard Sakura-chan is trying to help you." Naruko spoke threateningly getting up "Stop being such-"
Her bad leg gave away and she fell down howling.
"Naruko I told you to shut up and sit. Sasuke where the hell do you think you're going?" Sakura yelled and then yanked Sasuke back glaring at him.
"Sakura let me-" he hissed as she dabbed an alcohol soaked cloth to his scratched up hands.
"Haha what a baby!" Naruko pointed and laughed.
Sasuke poisonously glared at her and Naruko gave him an equally dirty look in response.
Originally they would have probably bickered for a few moments before Sakura settling down but seeing them barely being able to look at each other set her on edge. This was not how her team was supposed to be.
"ENOUGH THE BOTH OF YOU!" Sakura shouted banging her hand on the table standing up in order to break the unbearable loud silence,"I don't know what's been going on with you with I swear if you don't stop this instant I'll kill the both of you SHANNARO!"
Neither said a word.
"You've been acting like crazy people working yourselves to death. Sasuke you ranked number one in class so naturally I thought you'd be smarter. Do you not remember rule seventeen of the ninja handbook?"
Sasuke just blinked at her.
To be perfectly honest he'd never even opened the ninja rule book finding the entire matter unnecessary. He'd always answered the questions whichever way he'd wanted to and most of them he'd gotten right.
"And Naruko." Sakura continued turning her glare towards the blonde girl who'd shrunk back.
"I don't understand where your crazy amount of stamina comes from but at least Sasuke has the common sense to rest at night. Every night you go out to practice again and I have to drag you back before dawn when you're half conscious or sleeping in the middle of the forest. Crazy stamina or not you will kill yourself like this."
"But Sakura-chan-"
She narrowed her eyes,"What?"
Kakashi would have laughed at Sakura's very motherly outburst but to be perfectly honest he was to busy hiding behind his orange book hoping that she wouldn't notice him and decide he was her next target.
"I have to try my hardest!" Naruko exclaimed,"I won't lose to this jerk and I certainly won't let anything happen to Tazuna-san. The bastard maybe better at this than me and I have to work harder but you will see I'll get-"
"Why do you try so hard?" Inari had entered and interrupted Naruko's monologue causing the entirety of Team Seven to turn their gaze at the small boy.
Of course, Inner Sakura groaned, mini Sasuke had to make a dramatic appearance now of all times.
"No matter how hard you train you're still no match for Gatou's men! In the end you'll just killed."
Nobody responded except for Naruko who huffed," I'm not like you."
"I'D HATE TO BE LIKE YOU!" The little boy shouted angry tears dotting his eyes,"YOU'RE IGNORANT YET YOU'RE BEING SO NOSY. YOU'RE ALWAYS JOKING AROUND AND ACTING CHEERFUL LIKE YOU'RE A LITTLE KID WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT A HARD LIFE IS! SO STO-"
Naruko slammed her fist on the table,"How do you expect your life to get better if you keep on crying and feeling sorry for your self? You're nothing more than a sissy and a-"
"Naruko enough." Kakashi's voice was quiet but the warning in his tone was clear.
Naruko looked absolutely furious, an expression Sakura had never seen her wear. Sure she'd seen Naruko angry but Sakura had never seen the seemingly carefree girl this mad. The fury in her blue eyes was a living thing and the fact that Kakashi could hold her gaze without flinching away was a testament to his skills.
For a few tense moments nobody moved and silence prevailed all around them as Inari cowered crying in a corner.
"Fine whatever I'm leaving." Naruko looked away and limped out of the door her hair whipping behind her.
"Naruko don't-" Sakura started to follow her but Kakashi shook his head stopping her.
"Give her time, she'll be alright."
While Kakashi's words sounded reassuring Sakura wasn't entirely convinced. She glanced over at Sasuke for help but stopped short when she saw the look on his face.
Sasuke was staring-no glaring at Inari who was still sobbing. The look on his face was of pure disgust clearly brought about by the young boys words. It had clearly risen out in defence of his blonde teammate and it was potent enough to silence Inari immediately when he looked over.
Sasuke held the young boy's gaze for a few moments before he shook his head and got up. He caught Sakura staring at him who quickly looked away almost feeling embarrassed to have caught Sasuke's eye.
And while Sasuke didn't say anything Naruko's defence or go after her Sakura realised that maybe her team was far more put together than she'd previously thought.
That day Sakura was too tired to wake up in the middle of the night to even notice that Naruko hadn't come back. Whatever weird genjutsu trick she'd used today had really knocked her out for good.
Sasuke on the other hand had noticed the blonde's absence. Much to his irritation it had taken a fair degree of self control to actually stop himself from getting up in the middle of night to check if his teammate was still alive or as he tried to convince himself that she'd not somehow managed to beat him.
Although he didn't go immediately choosing to sleep for a while longer for he didn't have the seemingly endless energy Naruko had he still got several hours before his usual time choosing to skip breakfast. He convinced himself that it was purely because he wanted to get a few extra hours of training in and not because he was the tiniest bit concerned.
After all he couldn't afford to be concerned.
Naruko on the other hand to nobodies surprise had fallen asleep beneath her tree by dawn. She'd made a lot of progress, her anger had driven her even if she was puzzled as to why exactly she was this furious.
Seeing Inari act like that had reminded Naruko of herself before, the time in her life where she was always angry, always sad and drowning in self pity. It had taken a lot for her to become the person she was now and focus completely on her goal but sometimes happy, determined Naruko reverted back to her insecure lonely version and Inari's words had really taken a toll on that part of her.
Eventually her anger had given away to utter exhaustion and she'd dropped to the grass fast asleep. She may have had a crazy amount of stamina but she was barely sleeping nowadays and running on the bare minimum amount of chakra.
She didn't even notice the boy with long hair who stood behind the tree watching her the entire time.
Haku contemplated whether to wake up the girl or not. He'd seen her every morning in this clearing whenever he came to collect medicinal herbs but by now her pink haired friend should have come to pick her up.
Despite his better judgement Haku waited for the friend who must have been running late, standing like a guard for the blonde girl. When it became clear that she wasn't coming Haku hesitate for a moment before deciding to wake her up. He was well aware that coming into contact with a girl who was Zabusa's enemy and by extension his wasn't very smart but he'd grown strangely attached to the girl he'd seen almost every day for the past week, tirelessly striving to climb the same tree.
No matter how many times she fell she'd always get back up repeating the progress again and again with perseverance that left even Haku amazed.
Perhaps it was seeing her with the pink haired girl or the grumpy black haired boy that left Haku wondering whether if things had been different he would have been like them too and would have had a group of friends, teammates, who cared and protected eachother in their own way.
Haku gently tried to shake the blonde girl awake. At first she didn't wake completely, murmuring,"Five more minutes Sakura-chan." Before turning around and curling up into a tighter ball.
Haku smiled and shook the girl awake more vigorously. Sleeping in the forest unguarded was highly dangerous regardless of how good of a shinobi one was. The girl moaned finally opening her eyes and looking at him blearily.
"You're not Sakura-chan." Naruko blinked up at him and then suddenly shot up peering at the Haku,"You're very pretty."
Haku almost blushed. The girl's eyes were almost impossibly blue, like a cloudless sky where the sun never stopped shining.
"What are you doing here?" Haku asked.
The girl beamed proudly,"I'm training."
Haku feigned ignorance,"Are you perhaps a ninja?"
The girls eyes went wider than before. It really was breathtaking, in the land of the mist sunshine and bright blue skies were a rare thing and seeing it up so close made Haku wonder if his village was truly missing out on something utterly vital by blocking out the sun with dreary skies and thick mists.
"Yes!" She replied excitedly,"I am! I look like one don't I?"
She then pointed to her headband proudly,"I'm a ninja from the village of the hidden leaf and I'm training to become stronger."
"You already seem plenty strong to me."
"Really?" She asked absolutely ecstatic,"I do? Thank you Onee-chan. But I want to become even stronger."
"Why?" Haku asked utterly puzzled by the girl's unfaltering determination.
"I want to become the strongest ninja." She said,"I want to prove my worth to others and show them that I am a true kunoichi of Konoha, believe it!"
Haku looked at Naruko thoughtfully,"I think you become stronger when you have someone to protect."
Naruko nodded remembering how Iruka had taken the giant shuriken to save her. He'd been bloody, pale and shaky yet to Naruko he'd never seemed stronger.
"Is there anyone you'd like to protect?" Haku asked softly his thoughts flitting to the time when Zabusa found him.
"Iruka sensei!" Naruko answered almost immediately.
Perhaps if this question was asked to Naruko a few months ago her response would have ended there. She'd never had enough things to actually have the need to protect but now she had a friend who went shopping for new shoes with her, a sensei who might be a total pervert but would still lay his life on the life for him and a jackass teammate who drove her forward.
So she continued,"And I'd like to protect Sakura-chan too. Even Kakashi sensei but he can take care of himself. "
Then with some reluctance she added,"And I guess I'll have to add the stupid Uchiha. That's only because I need him to live long enough to see that I become Hokage so he can eat all of his arrogant stupid words."
"Well then it sounds like you're even stronger than you think."
She beamed,"Maybe I am."
Haku nodded getting up, this girl would make a worthy opponent,"Let us meet again in another place."
Naruko nodded enthusiastically,"I hope we do Onee-chan!"
Haku stopped and turned around,"I'm a boy."
And with that he left, walking past Sasuke who'd finally arrived eyeing Haku suspiciously for only a moment before turning his gaze at a stunned Naruko.
"I'm sorry okay?" Naruko yelled out suddenly.
They were both currently lying side by side on the grass after what must have been their billionth failed attempt to climb the tree. Chakra control was a hard earned talent and both Sasuke and Naruko undoubtedly sucked at it compared to their pink haired teammate.
They were breathing heavily lying on the ground as they stared up at the seemingly unscalable trees when Naruko suddenly burst out with an apology.
"I don't know why you're acting like more like a bastard than usual but for whatever I've done I'm sorry!" She said red faced but quickly turned away hoping that he hadn't seen her expression.
Naruko had to swallow every inch of her pride to force the apology out and perhaps if she'd not been a girl who'd had to learn the importance of humility the hard way she'd have kept her mouth shut.
But her conversation with the extremely pretty boy had really made her think abut what was important. Thee likelihood of coming face to face with Zabusa was high and right now none of them could afford fracturing their team dynamics. Sure she didn't like Sasuke's guts and thought that he was a massive jerk but no matter how much she tried to convince herself Sasuke was talented.
Of course not as talented as her but where Naruko had to work tirelessly for he had talent that came naturally.
Although Naruko would have given up eating ramen before admitting that she'd secretly admired Sasuke's skills as a shinobi ever since she was a little kid there was no denying it that he was everything she wanted to be. Smart, popular and naturally talented, everybody liked him while Naruko had been ignored and hated by an entire village for all her life. She'd wished to be like him, Sasuke was everything Naruko wanted to be, everything she worked tirelessly to achieve but somehow she always fell short.
Naruko shook her head and turned back to Sasuke who hadn't responded to her apology.
"Reply you jerk. Honestly if anything you should be the one who should be apologising for being such a-"
"Naruko." Sasuke cut her off abruptly,"Shut up."
Perhaps if Naruko hadn't been looking at Sasuke she'd have taken his words in the literal sense and leaped up to pick a fight with him but looking at him, she realised that he didn't want her apology.
Because at that moment Sasuke looked so utterly defeated that all of Naruko's insults died in her throat. He looked up at the tree with a sort of helplessness in his eyes that was so uncharacteristic that once again Naruko had the strangest urge to poke him to see if he was real. Remembering his violent reaction to the same last time Naruko wisely chose not to instead choosing to remain quiet.
Perhaps it was because Naruko was stunned into silence, that for a moment Sasuke forgot that she was there which is probably why he didn't quickly wipe the vulnerability off his face like he normally would have. At that point his goals seemed so far away from him that it was almost overwhelmingly difficult for him to even get up. Just how many times more would he have to get up to repeat the entire process just to be met with disappointment?
And that's what made Naruko incredibly angry.
Because the Sasuke she'd secretly looked up to, the Sasuke she'd made it her goal to beat, the one that inspired her to be better had given up just like that.
"Fine." She huffed getting up,"If you want to be a wuss and watch me as I beat you to the top then be my guest."
Sasuke didn't respond.
Naruko turned around towards the tree determinedly curling her hand to form a fist.
I will show Sasuke that I can surpass him.
I will show him that no matter how many times I fall, no matter how many people tell me that I can't do it, I will never give up.
I will become Hokage.
I will protect my dream and my team till the very end and never give up.
I'll prove everybody wrong, Believe it.
And then Naruko started running. She zoomed past Sasuke her blonde hair trailing behind her. Her leg was aching but she paid no attention to it charging forward with a single minded determination. She reached her highest mark and…
Zoomed right past it.
One step became two then three and so on as she continued upwards.
Maybe I can reach the top Naruko thought excitedly but the very next moment her leg slipped a little and Naruko knew she'd pushed herself to the limit which is why she took her kunai out and left a mark on the tree as she started descending. The pain in her ankle flared up and she barely managed to land properly stumbling on her feet in front of Sasuke.
The Uchiha stared at the panting blonde girl shocked. Naruko had been a good fifteen feet below him but in one swoop she'd caught up to him making their progress more or less equal now.
"So? Ready to admit that you're going to lose yet bastard?" Her breathing was shallow and she was barely managing to hold herself upright but the blue fire in her eyes burned hotter than any Katon he'd ever created. In an instant Sasuke had gotten up staring back at her with equal determination.
Suddenly things didn't seem do hopeless anymore. His far off goals, his sense of utter failure everytime he thought about how he wasn't even close to his revenge were shoved to the corner of his mind replaced by a new sense of determination to rise up to the blonde girl's challenge.
Right now his goal wasn't to become stronger so he could one day kill his brother, but to become stronger so that he could win against the girl with the fiery blue eyes by making it to the top of the tree.
"You wish idiot." Sasuke replied with a smirk,"I'll be the first one on top."
Naruto returned his challenge with her own smirk,"It's on jerk."
And just like that they were alright. They were back to being the jerk Uchiha and idiotic Uzumaki who are always competing with each other to become better.
They were back to being teammates.
And then they started running.
They were neck to neck, for every one large leap Naruko took Sasuke took two quick steps, dodging the branches rushing past the numerous kunai marks that represented their progress. With each passing second they climbed higher and higher surpassing yet another mark, yet another engraving on the tree that documented their handwork through the week until there were no more marks to cross anymore.
They raced past their final markings climbing higher and higher pushing themselves to the very limit until...
Until they reached the top.
For a moment they stood in stunned silence looking at each other, Naruko's sunny blue eyes clashing against Sasuke's dark onyx gaze.
"We did it!" Naruto breathed harshly as if she was having trouble believing it. Her arms and legs had snaked around the tip of the trunk and she rested her cheek on the wood. She was breathing heavily as if she couldn't get enough air but at that moment nothing mattered to her.
She'd done it dattebayo!
Sasuke stared ahead strangely exhilarated. He was a far way off from his revenge but for now this was enough. For now he'd achieved exactly what he'd wanted.
For now he'd become stronger on his own terms.
"We did it Sasuke!" Naruko exclaimed excitedly taking her kunai and embedding it on the branch,"We made it to the top!"
Sasuke couldn't help but give her a triumphant smile back, meeting her gaze once again."Aa. We did."
They'd reached the top, together.
AUTHORS NOTE
I'll admit it I'm not the happiest with the writing of this chapter but eh, it's important. I always felt that Naruko and Sasuke's relationship wasn't really developed enough for them to become so close all of a sudden for Sasuke to almost die for Naruto. The thing with this book is that I want to do all of the characters justice and instead of making them extremely overpowered shinobi I want to develop their relationships as well.
Which is why I suppose everyone is a bit OOC but I genuinely feel like that as a girl Naruko would have more tact than Naruto would for her ego would be toned down several notches. Sasuke on the other hand I want to make him seem less like an ice cube and more like a person who can laugh and smile at times but doesn't let himself do it because he feels guilty.And Sakura I want her to be strong and independent but also like in the canon I want her to care for her team above all else.
I truly hope I'll be able to do justice to them because Kishi has written a fantastic story with fantastic characters even though he cheated out on their development at times.
I hope you like it and I can't wait for the fight next chapter so please tell me what you think. It really helps me to write.