Chapter 12: Scents
The final part of the Chunin exams started with Naruto and Neji fighting in the first round. Sakura cheered for her teammate as he fought against what many called a genius at fighting. More then once, Sakura felt her heart stop when she saw Naruto get hit with one of Neji's attacks. But with every attack that he was hit with, Naruto came rushing right back at Neji, with more strength and determination then the last.
Off to the side, she could hear Kiba cheering for Naruto as well. That made her smile and feels a lot better during the match. She was glad that Kiba held no hard feelings for Naruto because of their match, and she was glad that he had faith in her teammate. But mostly she was just glad that Kiba was there, it somehow made her feel…safer. If she turned her head fully to the side, she could see a glimpse of his hair and Akamaru's fur.
Soon enough the match came to an end, with Naruto as the winner, "You did it!" Sakura cheered out for Naruto once the match was over. She was so impressed and so happy that Naruto had won. She looked all around her, laughing and smile when she saw that everyone was cheering and clapping for Naruto as well.
When he finally noticed the cheering, Naruto ran all around, smiling and cheering himself. Sakura watched him do this from her seat. 'Naruto just keeps getting stronger.'Many of the girls in the stadium were saying how strong he was and Sakura sighed. 'I hate to admit it Naruto, but I envy you. Watching your battle has made me realize that I have to work really hard too. Or I'll never get anywhere.'Sakura sighed again, she knew that she wasn't like Naruto or Sasuke, but she knew that she had to try. She needed to get stronger and help them both; after all they were Squad Seven.
With Naruto and Neji's fight over, it was time for Sasuke match to begin. Only Sasuke still wasn't there yet, he was still no where to be found.
"I wonder what's going on." Ino asked, looking down at the empty arena. "The next match…Sasuke should be here by now."
Sakura was thinking the same as her friend. Only her thoughts were somewhere else, she had an idea of where he might be. 'Sasuke…'She knew where he could have gone. He may have gone with Orochimaru, or he was taken. Either way it wasn't good.
Sakura looked around the arena hoping that Sasuke was just walking in, but stopped when she noticed something. She no longer saw any sign of Kiba, she looked around but she didn't see him or Akamaru. That couldn't be, she knew that he came to the match. She heard him and even saw him, so where was he now?
"So coo!" Ino's voice brought back Sakura's attention. "That means Sasuke is still in this." Ino was happy; Sakura knew it but why wasn't she? She should be glad that he can still fight, but she wasn't. She looked around again, this time for Kiba and not Sasuke, but she still didn't see any sign of him.
'I don't like this.'She thought turning back to the arena. 'I don't like this one bit.'
Shikamaru's match came next and while it was a good distraction for Sakura, it still didn't help that she couldn't find any sign of Sasuke or Kiba. That worried Sakura; she was worried that something might have happened to them. Sasuke with Orochimaru, and who knows with Kiba, she didn't know if made enemies too during the Chunin exams. That's all she needed, to be worrying about two guys important to her, abandoning their village.
Time passed and Sasuke finally showed up, Kakashi was with him so everyone knew why he was so late. Even when it's for the Chunin exams, the copy ninja was always late. They started the fight between Gaara and Sasuke, but that's when the Sound and Sand attacked the Leaf. Sasuke chased after Gaara and Naruto and Sakura chased after him along with Pakkun and Shikamaru. However they were being chased by Sound-nin and Shikamaru stayed behind to fight them.
"Did I just smell what I think I'd smell?" Pakkun suddenly spoke up. He stopped on a branch, Naruto and Sakura stopping on either side of him on different branches.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked once they stopped.
"What is it? You smell some kind of trouble?" Sakura was suddenly wishing that Kiba and Akamaru were there with her. Pakkun had a good nose, but she felt better with Kiba and Akamaru. She would feel a lot safe if they were with her.
"Strange I never noticed it before." Pakkun was sounding so serious that it scared Naruto and Sakura.
Now Sakura was really wishing she had Kiba with her. Then she could at least hold onto him or something to stop the sudden panic that was beginning to run through her veins.
"Sakura," Pakkun turned to look at her and was smiling. "Did you know you use the same shampoo as I do?"
Sakura felt her whole body freeze up at his words, she felt ghostly pale and suddenly he clothes didn't seem to fit her anymore. It was like she was disappearing. She leaned against the tree for support, no longer hearing the world around her.
Pakkun sniffed the air once more. "Minty Rainforest Mist, right. With extra body." He sounded really proud of himself for sniffing that out from her.
"I smell like a dog." Hoping through the trees, Sakura kept repeating those words over and over again. Many girls and some guys even, don't like hearing that the smell like an animal. The minute this was over she was going to switch shampoos, who in their right mind wanted to smell like a dog?
Suddenly her mind flashed her an image of Kiba. 'Ok, so maybe I'm overreacting. I mean Kiba lives with dogs and he doesn't smell. Only on days he doesn't shower.'She thought remembering her childhood where Kiba refused to take baths and Sakura always ran away from him because he smelled so bad. 'Hana even uses the same shampoo too so at least I'm not the only one. Besides, it can't be too bad and I'm sure there could be worse things to smell like.'Sakura thought over worse things that she could smell like. A pig, or a dead body, or even Naruto when hedoesn't shower. Sakura thought Kiba smelt bad when he didn't bathe, but at least with him she could stand to be in the same room. With Naruto she couldn't. There have been a few times when she and Sasuke went running out of a room because Naruto forgot about personal hygiene. He smelled so bad that Kakashi even cancelled training because Naruto's B.O. was making his eyes water.
After that little break was over, the three ran towards Sasuke and found two of the three Sand-nin. They found Sasuke lying on a tree branch, in pain with his curse mark activated. Naruto went to fight while Sakura stayed to help Sasuke, or at least try too. Gaara went after him but Sakura stood in his way, she would not let him hurt Sasuke. She would protect him! Gaara used his sand and pushed her up against a tree, slowly crushing her to death. Sakura was knocked out for the fight, not knowing what was going on around her.
"Sakura…" Her body felt weak and was screaming in pain. It felt like every bone and muscle in her body was abused at the same time and was screaming at her for letting it happen. "It's time to wake up now, Sakura." She heard a voice, it was male, and it sounded very close to her. Her mind was waking up now, she was on a bed and there was a light pressure by the end of it. It wasn't heavy enough to belong to a human; it was about the weight of an animal. A dog's weight to be more accurate.
Slowly she opened her eyes, being temporary blinded by the light of the sun. "K-Kiba?" She question, her hand reaching out for his hand to hold in hers. With her mind awake now, the images of Gaara and the fighting that went on at the arena came into her head. She wanted him to hold her hand and tell her that everything was fine, that he was ok and so were the rest of their friends. "Kiba…"
She felt her hand touch another. Blinking away the blind spots that the light had cause, Sakura looked up expecting to find a smiling Kiba standing over by her bed, "Not quite." Kakashi was not was she was expecting to see. He held a sheepish but amused look in his eye as he held Sakura's hand.
It took her only a minute to process and react to what had just happened. "Kakashi-sensei! What the hell!" Sakura jumped into an upright position, pulling her hand away from her teacher. "What are you doing here?" She asked, or more like yelled at him, trying to remember what was going on.
"I'm visiting my student in the hospital." He said causally, sitting down in a nearby chair.
"Hospital?" Sakura repeated, she looked around the room and found that she really was in the hospital. It looked a littler destroyed, but other then a few cracks and holes in the wall, it looked pretty good to her. "How did I…?"
"You got hit pretty bad with that sand, little girl." Pakkun jumped down from his spot on her bed, and landed next to Kakashi. "Since she's awake now and there's no more fighting going on, I guess it's time for me to get going." He said before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura called, she was confused by all this and wanted some answers. "What's going on?" She moved some hair out of her eyes. She noticed that she wasn't wearing her leaf village headband or her regular clothing. Instead her hair was left down and she had on a white hospital gown, that she hoped wasn't the ones where people could see your backside because it didn't button up all the way.
"It's like Pakkun said," He said from his chair. "Gaara hit you with his sand and nearly crushed you to death," He had his hands in his pockets while he spoke, looking her directly in the eyes. "If the sand had continued any longer then it did, you would have been dead by now." He told her, causing her to gulp in fear at how close to death she was.
"You know, suddenly I don't feel so good." She laid back down on the bed, hoping she would feel better the next time she woke up. That is if Kakashi wasn't there with her that next time, telling her more of how she almost died. Once her head hit the pillow, she could feel the peace of sleeping calling to her. 'I wonder where Kiba is.'Her eyes remained opened long enough for her to watch the door open to reveal a panting Kiba Inuzuka. Sakura smiled at him while he tried to catch his breath just before her mind went back into the darkness of sleep.
X
"Sakura!" Kiba Inuzuka cried out as loud as he could. He was still trying to catch his breath from the sprint he just did. He had woken up at the arena to find his mother and sister checking him for wounds. They explained only a few details to him about what was going on until Shino showed up and told him that Sakura was in the hospital. Kiba left the arena in a flash, leaving behind on a cloud of dirt.
Kakashi turned to look at him, "I take it you came to visit Sakura as well." He looked over the panting genin and smiled through his mask. "Though I'll have to ask you to be quite. She just fell back to sleep and she needs her rest." He put a finger to his hidden mouth, showing Kiba to keep his voice done.
Kiba listened to the masked ninja and made his way over to Sakura, Akamaru was still in his hood whined when they both saw the wounds she had on her. It was nothing life threatening but it still made him upset. "Where is he?" Kiba asked, his hands balled into fist as he turned to Kakashi, a look of anger in his eyes. "Where's the person who did this to her?" He wanted to hit them, no kill them. He would hunt down whoever did this to Sakura. The wounds may not be life threatening, but he could sense that she was in pain. That she went through a lot and it had drained her of her energy. "Tell me!" He barked at Kakashi.
The copy ninja looked at Kiba; he kept still and silent, watching the Inuzuka's movements. "I told you before," He finally spoke. "Sakura needs her rest, so you need to be quiet." Kakashi removed his hands from his pockets, hands on his knees, ready incase the young Inuzuka tried anything.
Kiba growled at Kakashi but listened nonetheless. He was right, Sakura needed her rest, Kiba could see that, so fighting off his instincts that were screaming at him to kill whoever did this to Sakura, he took in deep breathes before sitting down on the edge of Sakura's bed. He watched her sleeping form for a moment, letting his body and mind calm down. "What happened to her?" He asked, he was calm but his voice still had an edge to it.
Kakashi heard this edge, leaned closer to Kiba and Sakura's sleeping form, in his chair. "Gaara of the Desert went tried crushing her to death." Kiba's hand clenched the bed sheets, he was trying to control himself, but after hearing that, it was becoming very hard not to.
'Crushed to death? That sand guy, he did this to her. He tried killing Sakura!'Kiba let a low growl escape him at the thought of Gaara or anyone trying to kill Sakura. His body was shaking and he was seeing red. He wanted him to pay, how dare he hurt Sakura like that! How dare he put her in that kind of danger! How dare he try and kill her! How dare he try and take away his mate's life!
"Kiba!" Kakashi jumped out of his chair, calling to Kiba just as Tsume and Hana walked in. Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's hood at this point and whined up to his master, telling him to calm down.
"Pup," Tsume and Kuromaru gave a warning growl. "You need to relax yourself, Kiba." His mother told him, slowly moving into a fighting stance. She could smell the scent radiating off of Kiba, she was sure that Hana, Kuromaru, and even Kakashi could smell it. Kiba was enraged, he wanted to kill whoever put Sakura in this hospital and he wouldn't stop until he had the blood of that person on his hands.
"You need to stop this Kiba." Hana tried to talk to her brother but he wasn't listening. He was listening to his primal urges, and they were screaming at him to go and hunt down that guy from the sand.
"That's enough!" It was Kakashi's turn to growl at Kiba. "If you want to yell and scream that's fine, but don't do it near Sakura," He pointed to the sleeping Kunoichi. "If she wakes up and sees you like this, the mere shock of it all will frighten her to the point where she won't ever want to be in the same village as you." He told Kiba, hoping the young genin would understand why it was so important for him to calm himself. If Sakura did wake up now, it wouldn't end well.
Hearing the words of his family and Jonin, Kiba looked down at Sakura for a moment, taking in her tired appearance before finally calming down. "Sorry." He apologized. He kept his gaze on Sakura, waiting to see if there was any sign of pain or movement from her. So far, she was sleeping peacefully and Kiba liked that. 'Good. It means she isn't suffering from any long term damage.'He was glad for that, if something like that had happened; he wasn't sure what he would do. He'd probably run all the way to the sand village and break through Gaara's ultimate defense shield and beat the life out of him.
When she saw that her son was finally back in his proper mind, Tsume approached the bed that held Sakura's sleeping form. "She'll be ok, you said it yourself. The girl is strong." She petted her son on his head, telling him that he everything would be fine.
Kiba for once didn't move his mother's hand away from his head, he let her pet him like he was a puppy. He was glad that she cared for Sakura; he wanted everyone in his family too. "I should have been there." He whispered grasping one of Sakura's hands.
Hana was leaning up against the wall with Kuromaru crossed her arms as she spoke to her little brother. "You had no way of knowing that this would happen, Kiba." She told him. None of them knew that this would happen; none of them had been prepared.
"It doesn't matter." Kiba finally looked away from Sakura to stare at the people in the room with him. "Sakura's my mate! I should have been there to protect her!"
Tsume only shook her head. "Listen pup, just because you love the girl, doesn't me you can be with her all the time. She'll have to go on missions without and sometimes she'll get hurt on those missions. You just have to accept it." She hoped her son would understand. If not then she would make him have a long talk with his grandfather about mates and how to deal with them going on long missions.
Kiba didn't care about that. Sakura was hurt now and he should have been there to protect her. "That shouldn't matter! I still should have…"
"Excuse me." Kakashi spoke up. "What do you mean by, mate?" He asked, looking directly at Kiba. He wanted to know exactly what he meant by saying he and Sakura were mates. Kakashi knew enough about the Inuzuka clan to know how to people become mates, and Sakura and Kiba were too young to do that stage.
Kiba seeing Kakashi stare at him, stared right back, he wouldn't back down. "Just what I said. I declared Sakura as my mate." He straightened his shoulders out, trying to look tough in front of the Jonin. This man was Sakura's sensei; he needed to get his approval about Kiba and then he would get her families.
Kakashi froze for a moment. "And how exactly did you "declare" Sakura as your mate?" He asked, his voice going into a low tone. "I know there is one way of declaring mates for Inuzukas, and I also know that you two are still far too young to do that." Kakashi's aura and scent was scaring Kiba and Akamaru. The Jonin was upset over this, but Kiba couldn't back down, no matter how scary Kakashi was.
Tsume could smell the beginning of her son's fear of the Jonin, decided it was time to step in. "Kakashi," She called the Silver haired Jonin's attention off her son. "He didn't do what you think he did. He declared Sakura his mate by telling Akamaru who he wants to mark," Kakashi raised an eyebrow, silently telling her to continue. "By telling Akamaru, it means that the two will now share a common bound for Sakura. They will protect her and not be swayed by any other female that may try and tempt them," She placed her hands on her hips, looking from her son to his companion. "It also gives Akamaru a chance to get use to Sakura's chakra and fighting abilities."
"And what does that do?" Kakashi wondered. Sakura wasn't an Inuzuka so why would Akamaru need to learn about Sakura's fighting ability and her chakra?
"If the two do get married but if Kiba dies and Akamaru doesn't, the Akamaru then becomes Sakura's companion and will fight along side with her like he does with Kiba now." She explained, already thinking of training exercises that she would put the young kunoichi through. She knew that Kiba was serious about Sakura; he wouldn't choose another girl, so it was her duty to prepare Sakura. Even if she didn't choose her son as her mate, Kiba still chose Sakura so she needed to start preparing the girl for everything.
"Interesting." Kakashi mumbled looking back at Kiba and Sakura. "Well, I think it's time for me to get going." He made a quick hand sign. "See ya." With that said, he was gone in a puff of smoke.
Kakashi left and Tsume and Hana left soon after, telling Kiba to come home before the sunsets. Of course he wasn't listening, he was to busy looking at Sakura, wondering if there was anything he could do for her. So far, he hasn't done anything but make her mad and confuse her. "What can I do?" He asked standing up from his spot on the bed. He reached over to push some stray pieces of her hair back. "I want to keep you safe, always, but so far I haven't been able too," He knew he probably sounded crazy speaking to himself the way he was, but deep down he had a small feeling that Sakura could hear him. "I need to get stronger. I need to get serious before I can ever say you and I are real mates." He cupped her cheek and leaned in closer to her. "I swear, someday I'll protect you from everything, I'll make sure that there will always be a smile on your face."
Slowly he moved his head enough to place a kiss on her lips. Like the last time, he felt a sudden rush of heat and energy running through his body. He pulled away to stare back down at her for one final time before leaving the hospital.
A week had passed since the attack on the Leaf and many people were still cleaning up the destroyed remains of their village. Everyone was pitching in to help rebuild it so no one was really too sad. Sakura was out of the hospital and was helping her family repair their house like many others were. They held the funeral for the third and although it saddens them, no one in the village wanted to give up. They all knew that they had to keep going.
Kiba Inuzuka was one of those that kept going. He helped rebuild some of the builds that got destroyed in the fighting. The Inuzuka compound wasn't hurt too much because it's in the farther part of the village since it's so big. They need the open area to train their companions. However, when he wasn't helping rebuild building he would train harder then he ever has and would always keep an eye out for any sight of pink hair or green eyes.
Sakura didn't know this, or anyone else for that matter, but Kiba would search for her when he was finished for training. He missed seeing her glowing green eyes that always showed him what she was feeling. Her bright pink hair that always smelled of cherries to him, he loved it even more now that it was short. It just made her look a lot cuter in Kiba's mind. Most of all he just wanted to see Sakura, he loved everything about her that he was going mad not seeing her. He was always on edge at training, but would instantly calm down when he caught a sudden whiff of her scent.
Shino suggested that he either find Sakura soon or get something that reminded him of her. Kiba knew that the bug-nin was getting annoyed with his behavior but he couldn't help it. Kiba was an Inuzuka, they were passionate and possessive when it came to the people they love. He figured though that he should probably take Shino's advice before the bug-nin put him in the hospital. So after training he ran to Sakura's house and jumped into her empty room.
"Smells like she just left." Kiba commented to Akamaru, who jumped onto Sakura's bed. Akamaru, like Kiba, missed seeing and smelling Sakura. "Come on, buddy. We don't have time for this. We need to get home soon or else mom will send Kuromaru to get us." Kiba and Akamaru shuddered at the thought of Tsume sending her companion out to get their butts. It wouldn't be pretty.
Akamaru whined but began to help Kiba search for something of Sakura's take he could take with him. He hated doing this, but Kiba knew that this was the only way to have Sakura's scent with him at all times. "Once I get stronger and get Sakura to be my girl, I won't have to break into her room." He said mostly to himself, but Akamaru still heard him and whined. "Don't worry, boy. It'll only be a matter of time before Sakura sees that I am the man of her dreams." Kiba said trying to convince his dog, and himself.
The two searched through Sakura's room in a way only a ninja could. They made sure not to make any unnecessary noise, Sakura wasn't home but her mother was. Kiba could smell her in the kitchen making dinner for her husband and daughter that would be coming home soon. That just made Kiba search harder for an object he could take. It had to be something he could take with him that wouldn't cause Sakura to suspect that someone had been in her room. So taking a shirt or any other article of clothing was out of the question. He knew what he wanted to take with him, the red ribbon that Sakura always wore when they were little. He knew it was important to her, but she never even wore it anymore, so he figured it would be ok to take it.
"Come on, where is it?" He was starting to get frustrated. Kiba opened drawer after drawer and he still couldn't find the ribbon. "It has to be here somewhere." He hated that he couldn't find one stupid ribbon. He was training to be one of the best trackers in the entire village. How could he get that goal if he couldn't even find a ribbon! Kiba looked all over Sakura's room, but he couldn't find the ribbon. The only place he hadn't looked was her underwear drawer. He was tempted to look through it, but he wouldn't. Sakura deserved his respect and nothing less then that.
"Man, this is so annoying!" Kiba finally gave up and collapsed on her bed. He calmed down the minute his senses were engulfed in the fragrances that could only belong to Sakura. He rolled onto his side, his head propped up on his arm, eyes closed as he breathed in her scent. He smiled at how strong her scent was. It hadn't been this close to him for a long time and Kiba missed it. "Oh man." He rolled onto his back to stare up at the ceiling of Sakura's room. He gave a bitter smile at what he was doing; he was acting like some weird stalker, breaking into Sakura's room just to steal her stuff for his own personal reasons.
But he really couldn't help it. He needed her scent, it kept him sane, it kept him calm, but most of all it made him feel powerful. Having her scent with him always made Kiba feel like he was the strongest, like he could perform every jutsu known to man. "I love you, Sakura." He whispered into the empty room, wishing that Sakura was in the room with him, giving him an answer to his confession.
"I'm home, mom." Kiba's wish just came true. Too bad he didn't want it to happen.
"Crap!" He jumped off the bed and worked faster to find that ribbon. "Come on, where is it?" He looked under her bed, in her closet, and searched her dresser drawers one last time but he still couldn't find the ribbon.
"I'll be in my room." Kiba's heart just stopped. He knew that if Sakura found him here, she would most likely scream until the Anbu came and dragged his butt off long enough for her to get a restraining order against him. He couldn't let that happen, he wanted her to like him, not think he was some stalker that followed her home.
"Arf arf!' Akamaru barked quietly, scratching at one of the bottom dresser's drawer. "What is it boy?" Kiba opened the drawer and saw that it filled with some of Sakura's old clothes from when she was a child. There was a handkerchief on the very top of the articles of clothing, along with a few pictures, and old jewelry that she would sometimes wear.
Sakura's footsteps were getting closer so Kiba didn't have time to be picky about what he wanted to take with him. He quickly grabbed the handkerchief, along with Akamaru, and jumped out of her room and landed on the roof just as she entered her room.
"Close one." Kiba breathed out, Akamaru was sitting next to him wagging his tail. He was happy that their little mission didn't end with failure. "I can't believe I couldn't find that stupid ribbon." Kiba sighed again, looking down at the hanky in his hand. It looked familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it. He would figure it out later, putting the handkerchief in his pocket, Kiba was ready to run home when he saw Sakura step out onto her balcony and sit down.
"Akamaru, get down." Kiba whispered the command, he and Akamaru lying on the roof to hide their presences from Sakura. If she did notice them, he would just have to say that he was training with his sensei and it took him here. Kiba, slowly, looked down at Sakura from his spot on the roof. Sakura was sitting down on her balcony, her legs were up against her chest and her arms were wrapped around her legs.
"Sasuke…" She sighed up to the sky, not knowing that she wasn't. "What's happening with you?" She sighed again, thinking of the encounter she just had with Sasuke at Naruto's apartment.
Kiba watched her from his hiding spot on her roof; he could hear the worry in her voice and could smell it on her as well. It was so strong that it made his senses clog, he himself was starting to feel worry for the Uchiha. 'Why? Why is she worrying about him?'Kiba wanted to know why Sakura was worrying so much over Sasuke, why was she only thinking of him? Didn't she say that she liked him too, or did her feelings change that quickly?
"Maybe, is should have told Kakashi-sensei." Sakura was speaking again; her eyes were focused on the clouds in the sky. "Maybe I should have told someone about the curse mark. About what Orochimaru said." Sakura wrapped her arms around herself tighter, bringing her head into her lap, she was shaking.
"Sakura! Can you come and help me." Her mother was calling her and without a reply, Sakura left her balcony to help her mother.
With her gone, Kiba was able to sit up on the roof without worrying about being seen. He, like Sakura, was looking up at the sky watching the clouds. He was thinking over what he had just heard. Sakura was worried about Sasuke, because of something called a curse mark? And Orochimaru?
"What does this mean?" Kiba asked pulling out the handkerchief he had just stolen. He looked at it in his hand, and sighed. "Orochimaru was the guy that attacked our village, so what does he have to do with Sasuke, and Sakura?" Kiba was tempted to go down and demand that Sakura give him answers. Even with her gone, he could still smell the worry that she had on her. He could smell her worry, and her fear.
Sakura was scared of something. What she was so afraid of, Kiba had no idea, but he knew it had something to do with Sasuke. Something had happened to the Uchiha and it was affecting Sakura. It was eating her up on the inside, making her slowly drown in her own fears.
"Sakura." He brought the handkerchief up to his nose, breathing in the scent that was Sakura. The cloth had to be from a few years ago, so it held no sign of worry or fear, only Sakura. "What's happening with you?" He asked the cloth, hoping that it could give him the answers that he wanted. Kiba sat there for a few moments before standing up from the roof and headed back home. He needed to think about all this, about what's happening with Sakura. If there was someway he could help her, before her fears became a reality.