Chapter 16: Unexpected

Ah, to be on the road again! It was so nice to finally be able to leave Tazuna's house and to get away from everything that had happened on the bridge. But Wave country isn't exactly the nicest weather-wise and it was actually quite cold, with a chilly breeze blowing off the sea almost constantly. I made everyone stop and put on some extra layers so that no one would freeze.

"We're losing time," Sasuke complained, but I silenced him with a glare. "If someone gets sick and we have to stop, then we're losing time. But this is not losing time." Sasuke grumbled about it, but Kakashi agreed with me. "Anyways, we need to get back and there is some explaining we'll have to do," Naruto said, and inwardly I winced; there would be a story to tell the Hokage as to why our team leader was injured.

"Speaking of explaining, why don't you start, Naruto? We all want to know what the hell happened at the bridge. So go on. We're all waiting, dobe," Sasuke spoke up, staring at Naruto. Blondie was silent for a while before he responded. "You will get an explanation. I swear that one day I will tell you everything, Sasuke. But not now. Not today. It's not the right time. But mark my words – one day you will know the truth." And then he would say no more as we continued on.

Sasuke tried to get an answer out of him, but finally Naruto got fed up and he glared fiercely at Sasuke, a glare that made me want to shut up, even though I wasn't even talking. Suddenly there was a strong gust of wind, but it was a different wind from the normal breezes we had been getting. It was...warm.

Then there was a pressure on my lungs, and I gasped for breath, feeling the air squeezed out of my lungs. I felt a tugging sensation in my gut and then it pulled hard. I still couldn't breathe; the air just wouldn't come into my lungs! Then the world blurred and suddenly sharpened again.

A face appeared in front of me; it was so familiar, and yet I couldn't place it! Eyes like molten gold looked at me, and I struggled to remember who he was. "Sleep." The one word was so strong a command that I obeyed immediately, my eyelids fluttering shut. "Sakura! His eyes!" Inner yelled, and suddenly I remembered. "Masatake-sama..." I whispered before sleep pulled me under.

***Back With Neji!***

I darted forward just as Sakura vanished into thin air. "Naruto!" I shouted, because he out of all of us would be the most worried. But when I faced him he had a blank expression on his face. Slowly, he bent and touched something on the ground, picking it up and staring down at it. "She's fine," He said, sounding a little strangled.

"What?" I demanded, coming over to him. Slowly he stood and let whatever was in his hand drop. "She's with Masatake-sama. She'll be all right." His voice sounded oddly blank, and he turned and continued down the road as if nothing had happened. I bent down to see what he had dropped, and sand coated my fingers. I brushed it off before shrugging and heading off after him. The rest followed behind slowly.

I headed up to Naruto, keeping pace with him. "Masatake-sama?" I questioned. "Her summon. Her head summon, leader of the pride. He reverse summoned her." He sounded frustrated. "Oh." We were silent for a time before I spoke again. "I get the vague feeling that you...dislike this Masatake-sama." Naruto turned and gave me an odd look.

"What's with the sudden curiosity?" He asked a little coldly, and I shrugged. "Just that. Curiosity and nothing more." I heard him grumble something along the lines of 'stupid-genius-prodigy-that-has-to-know-everything'. I thought he wasn't going to answer, so he surprised me by speaking again.

"Masatake-sama...I don't get him. He's powerful, very much so. But he wants something. He always wants something. I mean, you sign a summoning contract; you get the summons, and in return they get your power as well. But not him – he's always wanting more. And he doesn't really like me. He says that I'm too much like my summons, the foxes. They're sort of lazy, almost – I never summon them, and they don't do anything in return. Simple."

"But Masa-sama...he's always got some ulterior move in his head. Sure, Sakura is with him and she won't be harmed. She's safe with him, that I'm sure of. But he wants something from her. What he wants, I have no idea." And then he fell silent and continued on a little faster, and I knew that I would not be getting anything more out of him today.

***Summon Land, With Sakura***

"Hey, sleepy. Get up. Come on, Sakura, wake up." I stirred slightly, the voice penetrating my deep sleep. Then I blinked slowly, a soft-featured face coming into view. The face had eyes like gleaming bronze and soft golden locks that framed her face. "...Yasue?" I murmured. She smiled and nodded, and I slowly sat up.

I lay on a bed that was covered with pillows and soft sheets, and inwardly I sighed. It had been way too long since I had slept in a bed this nice. "Masatake-sama wishes to speak with you," she said formally, and I yawned before rolling out of bed. "Okay. Let's go then." She laughed softly, a laugh that sounded almost like a lion's purr. "Not like that you aren't! Here, put this on and brush your hair." She handed me a beautiful cherry-blossom print kimono and a brush.

"I'll be at the door. Let me know when you're ready." Yasue turned and slipped out of the door, closing it gently behind her. I slipped out of my clothes and struggled into the kimono, getting stuck on the sash. I carefully straightened it before going at my hair with the brush. Being on a mission had killed my beautiful hair. I pulled a spare rubber band out of my bag and put my hair in a bun at the top of my head, hoping to appear at least decent.

Then I walked to the door and pushed gently, letting it swing open. Yasue smiled and nodded at my appearance before leading me down a long hallway to stand before a large golden door, ornately carved with lions. She pushed the door open, bowed and gestured inside. I stepped in and the door swung shut behind me.

I looked straight ahead, and there sat Masatake-sama. He sat, almost sprawled, on a large golden chair that was covered with pillows. He smiled as I came in and gestured towards the floor, where more pillows lay. I obediently sat, folding my legs beneath me.

"Ah, Sakura. We need to talk."

***Back with Naruto***

We made good time getting back to Konoha. After Neji's questioning, it had been silent through the rest of the journey. Even Sasuke-teme was quiet, not bothering to ask anything. But when we arrived at Konoha's gate, everyone was surprised by Sakura standing there. One look at her and I immediately knew something was wrong.

Tears streamed down her face and her eyes were red from crying. "It's Kyo-sensei," She said, throwing herself into my arms and crying uncontrollably. "He's hurt. Bad," She sobbed, and my blood ran cold. "Shh. Shhh. Let's go home, tell me there. Come on..." Quietly I lead her away from everyone else, heading towards our apartment.

-Flashback (Sakura P.O.V)-

"As you know, I have many children. One of these children is bound to a mortal form, a human form. You know him as Kyo." Masatake-sama spoke, and I nodded. This was old news. Naruto and I had known for a while that Kyo is Masatake-sama's son.

"At the moment he is not in good health." I was confused. He went on. "He has been injured in battle, quite badly. But his wounds will not kill him; he will live." My breath caught in my chest and a cold dread filled me. "But...what happened? How did this happen?" Masatake-sama silenced me with a look. "I said that his wounds will not kill him. However, if something were to happen to him, then that would change." I spoke. "What are you talking about?", but then he held up a hand to silence me.

"I want you to kill Kyo."

I stopped breathing.

He went on. "Sakura, you are not deserving of the body, of the life you have now! You deserve so much more! Your spirit and mind are that of a lioness, of a demon." I was silent. I was waiting for him say, 'Psyche! I got you good beyatch!' but it just never came. He saw the confusion on my face.

"If you kill Kyo, you will absorb his powers and his demon form, which will turn you into a lioness. You would never age, never feel tired. Your body would stay forever young, and you would only grow wiser and more powerful with each year! Think of it, the wonder of it." His eyes were alight with an excited fury.

"I...I don't know..." I said haltingly, and he nodded. "I can see that my proposal has startled you, and I do not expect an answer immediately. However, I will receive an answer in three days time. I will bring you back here. Be ready with your answer. You are dismissed for now." Yasue was suddenly at my side, gently taking me by the arm and leading me out of the room.

-End Flashback-

Naruto P.O.V.

I stared at Sakura as she finished speaking. "You're not serious. You can't be. Kill Kyo-sensei...?" I said, aghast. "I'm serious. I just kept waiting for him to say, 'Just kidding!' but it never came," She said miserably, and the tears started again. I just held her and let her cry herself out. That was how Sakura was – if you got the waterworks started, you just had to wait them out.

"Come on lets get you home, neko." I put my arm around her and directed her down the street. "We'll see you later," I said to the others, they watched Sakura's shoulders shake with concern. "Perhaps it would be better if I helped Naruto-san." Lee stepped forward. "No," I said sharply, "This isn't your place, Lee." I pushed Sakura gently, trying to ignore my guilt over Lee's hurt expression.

Once we were back in the apartment, I put our bags away and made Sakura a strong cup of herbal tea. She was still crying, although she was trying her hardest to stop. "Oh g-god! I j-j-just.....I.. Why am I so weak?!" She sobbed out, and I froze. "What're you talking about neko-chan?" I murmured uneasily stroking her back. "Y-you... you never cry... you never give up.... Yukihiko, Izumi, Ami, Lee... Neji you...and Sasuke are always so strong! Why can't I be more like you guys?" She cried, clutching me tightly.

"Sakura you are strong!" I said fiercely. "No I'm not....n-not l-l-like you....I'm always the one who b-breaks d-down and c-c-cries! We're not s-supposed t-to cry r-remember? S-s-sliver d-dragons do-don't cry!" She choked back more sobs, and I pulled her closer into a full embrace. "Sakura that rule... is... it's just... stupid! The only reason we came up with it was to help our grief from Yuki remember? There's no reason why you can't cry; no reason why you can't move on... no reason to stop yourself from falling in love again."

She cried harder now, and didn't stop for a long time, but slowly she did. Once she stopped I picked her up bridal-style and took her to her room, placing her gently on the bed. I tucked her into the covers and moved to leave but Sakura's now hoarse voice said. "I'm sorry for crying all over you, fox-kun...."

"Don't worry about it, I used to do the same all the time remember? When we were little?" I heard her suck in a shaky breath, and mumble yes. I stood in her room a little longer before leaving. I went to my room. I plopped down onto the bed, and sat there for a while. Then I reached over and pulled out the guitar Sakura bought me, and began to slowly pluck the strings. I wasn't amazing at it, and I didn't have a great voice to sing, but I loved playing the guitar.

I found when I was little that music helped me think, it relaxed me. So I continued to pluck the stings slowly humming as I did. My thoughts swirled around my head slowly as I tried to work out a solution. It was obvious that Sakura wouldn't – couldn't – kill Kyo. It was just impossible. We both knew his relationship with her.

Kyo was like a father to her. He had keept an eye on her when her father had been killed, and Sakura looked up to him. My fingers continued to move over the strings, plucking out a tune that I was making up on the spot. And after a time I grew tired, my fingers feeling heavy. I sighed and gently set the guitar down, sliding it back into its case. Then I curled up on my side, closing my eyes. Sleep would help with the problem at hand. I drifted off into darkness.

-Later-

I was woken up by Sakura gently shaking my shoulder. "Naruto, wake up. There's food." I sat up, the thought of food being a motivation. I glanced over at Sakura. Her eyes were still rimmed red, but otherwise she looked okay. "You okay?" I asked, and she nodded firmly. "Yes. I'm alright. But come on – you've got to be hungry, because you haven't eaten since we got back. And I know you and food," She said wryly, and I rolled ungracefully off of the bed.

"Is there ramen involved with this food?" I asked as we headed into the kitchen. I made it to the kitchen before she did and darted to the cabinet, pulling out a package of instant ramen. "Apparently there is," Sakura said, heading for the fridge and some real food. I made my ramen and then dropped into a chair to wait. I glanced over at her as I sat.

"What's the plan for tomorrow? Are we going to train or something?" She shrugged. "Kakashi said that he had something he wanted to talk with us about. Didn't say what though, so Kami only knows what he's got planned."

"Hm." I was quiet for a while before I finally had enough guts to ask what had been on my mind. "And...about Masa-sama's proposal...what are we going to do?" I asked quietly. She sighed and sat down next to me. "Nothing. We're not going to do anything. I'm not going to do anything. I am going to tell Masatake-sama that I am not interested in his proposal and that will be that," She said firmly. I smiled slightly at her and then happily ate my ramen, a lighter mood already settling over the both of us.

***Next Day – Sakura P.O.V***

The next morning dawned bright and early as Naruto and I headed to the training area where we were supposed to be meeting Kakashi. Sasuke had beaten us there and he nodded a little awkwardly at us, apparently still confused after yesterday's escapade. "I'm willing to bet that he's gonna be late," Naruto said flatly, and I nodded and suppressed a giggle. "What do you think his excuse will be today? 'An old lady needed help across the street', 'I ran into a black cat, so I had to go the other way' – any suggestions, Sasuke?" I asked.

"No, but I don't think he'll need them," a voice said behind me, and I half-screamed and whirled around. Kakashi stood behind me, a slightly annoyed expression written on his face. "Okay, well, you've got to admit that you are late ninety percent of the time," I muttered as I got a dark look from him. "Anyways, I wanted to talk to you all today about something that will be coming up relatively quickly and that is very important. Any guesses?" He asked, and we all shrugged.

"I wanted to talk to you about the Chunin Exams. I believe that you three are ready to enter. They don't start for a few months, but the entrance forms are due in advance and I figured that you all should know. Now, I think you're ready-" I interrupted him with a peal of laughter. "Yeah right. We are not ready," I told Kakashi mildly, amused by the fact that he thought we were ready. He stared at me. "I would argue otherwise," He started, but I held up a hand to shut him up.

"No we're not and don't say that we are. We can't work as a team, we don't have nearly enough training, and we all hate each other. I think that those three things – amid others – equals not ready," I said point-blank, and I could see that I was ticking Kakashi off. Part of it was that I was right. He sighed, realizing that he had a moot point on his hands. "There's no use talking about this, is there?" He asked, and I shook my head. "Fine then. You three stay and train while I go off and do sensei stuff." And with a puff of smoke, he disappeared.

Sasuke finally spoke. "What the hell? You just threw away an amazing opportunity! Do you know how many rookie teams make it into the Chunin Exams? Practically none! So the fact that Kakashi was going to enter us means that he thought we were ready, that we're strong enough! And you just killed our chance of getting in!" He was seething with anger; I could practically feel it rolling off of him in waves.

"Oh, relax. That was not the only opportunity that we're going to get. He did say that they aren't for another few months. I said that we aren't ready, which is true. But we're not ready now. I never said that we won't be ready later. So we have until that later to get ready. Understand?" I said. I watched as he slowly realized what I was saying.

"You're suggesting that we train, and if we can train enough, then we'll be ready for the Chunin Exams?" I nodded, clapping slowly. "Congrats! The amazing Uchiha prodigy has figured it out! Slow clap for Sasuke, everyone!" Naruto exaggerated a slow clap with me which made Sasuke flush with anger, but he said nothing. "So when do we start?" He asked, and I sighed. "Okay, first off I return to my third point – we all hate each other. Don't try to tell me otherwise, Mr. Uchiha, because you know it's true. So before we even think about training, we need to all get along."

Sasuke and Naruto both groaned at the same time. "You're telling me that I have to spend time with him?" Naruto whined, pointing accusingly towards Sasuke. He snorted. "Quite the opposite. I'm going to have to spend time with you, the witless wonder." Naruto huffed angrily, crossing his arms. "See, this is my point! You two just don't get along," I sighed. "But yes, you're going to have to spend time with each other. I propose we start today by all going out for lunch. And if either of you say something mean about the other, you will both get smacked."

We started off towards the city, leaving the training grounds behind. Naruto and Sasuke bickered quietly behind me as we walked along and I didn't bother to scold them; let them get their frustration out before we got to the restaurant. I observed the scenery as we walked along, noting how the sun that shined seemed to be less warm.

Winter would be on its way soon, I realized. I noticed how the shadows under the trees always seemed longer, and as I looked at one shadow, it almost seemed to move. I blinked and jerked to halt as I realized that it wasn't the shadows that were moving...it was a no-face.

"Naruto," I murmured, stopping him and gesturing towards the no-face. Sasuke stopped, confusion flitting across his face. "No-face," I informed him, and he paused. "Where?" He surprised me by asking, and I gestured to where the no-face was. He stared at the spot, and then sighed in defeat. "I still can't see them," he muttered, disappointed. "I mean, why can't I-" He broke off and his eyes widened. "I-I think I see it."

I was silent, and then a huge grin broke out on my face. "You can? Describe. Tell me what you see," I commanded, and he told me, haltingly. "It's big and dark, but not...evil, you know?" He shook his head, and whether he was confused or astounded I didn't know. "Shall we?" I asked Naruto, taking his hand as he nodded. We walked slowly to the no-face, and as one we bowed respectfully.

"Go on. Your place is not in this world, and it is time for you to move on," Naruto said softly, and as soon as he had finished, I spoke a few words in the spirit words that would send it on. Its body slowly faded and grew dimmer until it just disappeared entirely, and a sound like sighing wind echoed around us. I turned around to see how Sasuke was handling it, and to my surprise, a very small smile had made its way across his face.

"What great miracle has allowed Uchiha-sama to grace us with a smile?" Naruto said in mock awe. Immediately the smile vanished and Sasuke glared. "Shut it dobe!" he sneered. I sighed, not really in the mood to do anything. "I believe, Sasuke, that you can almost see," I said, turning towards him. He looked at me for a while. "What was that you were saying before? To the...thing?"

"No-face," I corrected him. "And it was the spirit words – they're used to help the no-faces pass on peacefully. Everyone learns it so that we can all do our part." He was quiet for a while before he carefully tried to mimic what I had been saying, badly mangling the words of the spirit chant. Naruto burst out laughing, and Sasuke cut off with an embarrassed fury.

"Don't fucking laugh!" He snarled at Naruto, an angry flush spreading over his face. "I'm trying to freaking learn what you're doing – if anything you should be trying to help! Isn't that why you came in the first place, with your stupid sensei? And where the fuck did he go off to, anyways? He just vanished, leaving you two behind with this unstable freak-" Here he pointed accusingly at Naruto, "-And now he's supposedly all hurt? What a great sensei he is," Sasuke sneered, and then my hand smacked across his face. He jerked back, staring angrily.

"Don't you ever fucking say anything about Kyo-sensei again," I hissed, shaking with suppressed rage. "You... you have no right to say anything, anything at all. So just shut up, Sasuke, just shut the fuck up. And I better fucking not ever hear a word about him out of your mouth again, or I will personally cut your tongue off and feed it to you." And with that I turned and whirled, anger burning like a fire in my stomach.

***Naruto P.O.V***

Sasuke looked stung and also surprised by Sakura's outburst. "What the fuck was that all about?" He said frostily, looking towards me for an answer. I returned his glance just as coldly and remained silent. He sighed, frustrated. "Oh come on. Just fucking tell me. Really, what's the big deal over your sensei? I mean-" I cut him off with an angry glare. "She was right. Don't you say anything about Kyo-sensei. Because to her...He was more than just a sensei."

A.N: Hello there! We're so proud because we've finally got some activity and that means we got three chapters up in less than a month...yay us :) Anyways YOU NEED TO GO VOTE IN OUR POLL. SERIOUSLY. GO DO IT. Because it's an important poll and it will affect the outcome of What We See. SO GO NOW. OR ELSE...BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

--lol for this chapter I totally had to steal a bunch of kitsunegirl2's stuff to make her write, it was fun....... VOTE -Kitsunegirl1 ^.^

S-she stole my Bleach manga....;-; -sob- But I've got it back now. -Kitsunegirl2

Read and review like always :)

-Kitsunegirls