Author's notes: Sorry it took me a while to update here (not so sure how long it is usually for other authors to update: weeks? months? who knows) I was celebrating my sixteenth birthday with my mates and wasn't allowed on the net. Anyways, here we have it, chapter ten . Yes, we are getting very far already crowd claps not only that, but I think we're almost half way through (yes it's long, but who's counting) I feel like I've won an award or something theme music I'd like to thank you guys for reviewing on all my chapters, I love it: 21 to be exact. but anyway, here it is "A Dizzy Trip In A Forest", it sounds crap, but I'm sure you'll like it
CHAPTER TEN: A DIZZY TRIP IN A FOREST
Sakura finally calmed down after Kakashi spoke to her a few times that made her feel more secure.
"Okay Sakura-chan, now I want to take you somewhere that might make you feel a little unsteady, but you'll get use to it," Kakashi insisted on taking her; a chance for Kakashi to decide to his kind fun activity.
Sakura nodded as Kakashi nudged her to move on. With the help of Kitsune's loyal personality, Sakura was able to regain certainty in life without the worries taking her back three paces all the time.
After a walk through the last half of the village, Sakura was getting very restless, "Kakashi-sensei, where are you taking me?" she asked in a slight groan of impatience.
"You'll see," Kakashi replied with a grin on his hidden face.
Sakura didn't bother trying to ask further questions; it wouldn't get her anywhere anyway. The walk wasn't that long, Sakura was just being pushed along until Kakashi led the way in the last few minutes.
Kakashi ended up bringing Sakura in a forest. The trees all looked strange and their shapes almost resembled people. As Kakashi made his way along the track with Sakura staring at his feet right behind him, she looks back at the path she walked to find it totally changed. Sakura felt sick now.
"Kakashi-sensei…" she worried, turning to look at Kakashi, but to find that she was all alone; Kakashi had wandered off somewhere else.
Now Sakura was getting scared, and now that she was all alone with only the sounds of the wind in the trees, Sakura felt more vulnerable with no one by her side to help her, "Kakashi-sensei," she tried again, this time with more concern.
Sakura could feel her heartbeat in her throat as the loneliness increased. The medic took a deep breath to calm down and started to follow where Kakashi was last seen, until she stumbled across a fork in the road. This was bad; Sakura had to chose which road to go through, but one could lead her further away from Kakashi.
As awkward as it sounded, Sakura needed Kakashi, as if her life depended on her. She was nineteen years old yet she still cried like the little girl she used to be, and her loyalty towards her former sensei self stronger than ever.
"Kakashi-sensei," she called again.
Sakura decided to head to one path, having no idea where she'd end up, but took her chances. She was a mature woman now and it was time to prove it. Running down the path, looking at every tree she passed; all looking the same and none led her anywhere she found comfortable.
Kitsune stayed perched up on her shoulder and gave a worrying meow to the medic. Sakura reached back and patted the brown fox before slowing down on her traces, and staring hopelessly at the ground.
"Kakashi! Is this your idea of having fun?" Sakura shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping the silver haired man would hear her.
Still no sign of the older Jounin, Sakura was ready to give up, before she heard a growling sound from within the bushes behind her. The rustling got louder as it surrounded the medic, making Sakura pull out a kunai.
She glared at the resonance, her knees shaking and her mind unsteady; Sakura just wanted to get out of here, and without even thinking, Sakura wanted Kakashi by her side.
Sakura was ready to cry out from fear and let whatever wanted her to kill her, "please…where are you?" Sakura whispered, ready to collapse and give up completely.
"Sakura-chan…" a voice called from within the noise.
Sakura held her breath at the sound. She held up her kunai tightly and closed her eyes, bracing herself from whatever it was, "Sakura-chan…" there it went again, the same lonesome tone, deep and calm.
Sakura opened her eyes, wishing everything would turn out okay, before a name slurred from her parted lips, "Sasuke-kun…" Sakura felt her legs weaken again.
Now Sakura knew it was him. That raven haired boy was easily distinguished from a voiced group; though he didn't speak much, but when Sakura heard the cold hearted voice, she knew it belonged to Sasuke.
"What do you want?" she asked firmly, searching around to find the raven boy.
"You know well what I want, and I'm not about to let it go any time soon," the voice sounded bitter, moving around more within the shrubbery.
After those words, Sakura gulped deeply before the rustling and the movements had ceased, leaving behind a very shocked Sakura, holding onto a kunai as if it was the last thing she could do.
Sighing deeply, Sakura shook her head and said, "time to grow up," those bold words seemed empty, but Sakura had to say something to make her move. She jogged down the track, making sure Kitsune was with her. Sakura had to find a way out of this Genjutsu enhanced forest before it got dark.
After about an extra five minutes of walking and searching, Sakura was getting tired and still scared. Kitsune stroked Sakura's face with her fur in hopes of getting Sakura in a more safer position, "thanks Kitsune, but I need to find a way out of here fast," she pointed out, kunai still in hand.
Sakura was beginning to worry about Kakashi's safety, wondering if he was okay and not confronted by Sasuke. With those doubts now pushed aside, Sakura made her way further down the trail, hoping she'd find someone soon before she went mentally insane.
"Kakashi!" she tried once more, everything slowly falling apart.
Not only was Sakura alone (not counting Kitsune), but she was also hungry. Sakura hadn't eaten since this morning and right now would be a good time to sit down and eat, but no. Sakura was stubborn and wanted to save the food til later.
The medic rushed her way around before she was getting too tired to go on. Huffing and puffing, Sakura caught her breath, getting down on her knees in exhaustion. Kitsune stares at the medic with a sad frown, meowing mournfully, trying to get Sakura to move on, but it was no use.
"I'm sorry Kitsune, I'm just tired," she muttered, patting the fox gently before she sensed a proverbial presence.
Alas, Sakura was too tired to pin-point exactly where the person was, but she knew she would like it when she saw it, "Sakura-chan, you okay?" the calm voice asked from afar.
Now alert, Sakura whirled her head around to find Kakashi in almost the same state she was, tired and worn out, "Sensei," she sighed in relief, ready to fall on her back and go to sleep.
Kakashi stumbled to the medic's side and held out his hand, which Sakura gladly took. Once on her two feet, Sakura gave Kakashi a gentle hug, happy to see her former sensei with her after about a long hour.
"I was wondering where you were," Kakashi mentioned, patting his former student on the head and smiling.
"Me too," Sakura mumbled, looking down at their feet and watching Kuro and Kitsune greet each other again.
Kakashi stood there, wondering why Sakura was so freaked out to begin with. He wondered why Sakura was hugging him like this. He wondered why Sakura was almost acting like the immature little brat he used to teach. He wondered why he was thinking about all of this. But Kakashi had to hand it to the medic; Sakura had survived over a month of agony and sorrow and yet she hadn't killed herself. And on the honest statement, Kakashi was proud to have taught her as a student.
"Sakura-chan, I think I know how to get out of here," Kakashi decided, letting Sakura go and facing the pathway.
Sakura felt thrilled to finally get out of here, "really, I think I might've found one too," she said with a wide grin on her face. Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest thoughtfully and said, "well then, you first," with that said, Sakura gladly faced the edge of the path and shoved on her super power gloves, glaring seriously at the trees that stood in her way.
"Lets get out of here," Sakura readied herself in her fighting stance and heaved her fists at the ground, causing the earth to shake.
Kakashi took a few steps back to get out of the medic's furry and watched carefully on Sakura's progress in strength. Sakura pounded the ground and let her rage slowly take over before it split the earth and into the trees' path and causing an explosion of dust and flying branches.
With one new path made from the forest, Sakura grabbed Kakashi's hand and pulled him through. Now with only one hand really needed and the other holding onto the surprised Jounin, Sakura pulverized the next collection of trees and continued to move in a straight line.
Hopping on branches to the ones following, Sakura roughly dragged Kakashi along, ignoring anything he wanted to say to the medic and kept right on going until there was nothing left to smash. Kakashi winced every once in a while as he was being towed through the forest. He could barely feel his hand anymore now that Sakura had her hand on it, and basically smothered it in her tight grip.
'Why is Sakura-chan so riled up all of a sudden?' he thought, 'it's actually quite scary to see her like this,'
Kakashi was lunged across and expertly regained his balance whenever a bough hit him in the face. He tried to follow Sakura's movements but she was so fired up that she was too quick for him. Wait a minute? Did Kakashi just think that Sakura was faster than him? There was no way she could be, unless Kakashi was just mistaken for her angered personality.
Another explosion through the trees and finally Sakura stopped on a familiar road. It was wide and the surface was different to the normal pathways. Sakura inspected the road quickly before realising they made it outside.
Both gasping and panting to catch their breathes, Sakura searched her surroundings in case of anyone trying to get in her way still, "great, we made it," she panted, getting up and looking back at Kakashi to find him slightly dazed from the trip. Not only that, but Kakashi was also injured with a number of cuts and gashes.
"Kakashi-sensei, you're bleeding," Sakura vexed, staring at the blood in the Jounin's hair.
Kakashi stared strangely at the pink haired medic as she sat in front of him on her knees, ogling the small injuries on his forehead. Though Kakashi didn't really care that he was injured, the scratches on his face stung a little after the blood began to slowly run down the side of his face.
"These are just scratches, it's nothing big," he said, touching the blood, now stained his fingers.
"But you're bleeding like there's no tomorrow; I need to stop it," Sakura retaliated, leaning towards Kakashi and placing a hand on his masked face.
Kakashi felt uneasy of this at first but let Sakura be the nurse and heal his small cuts. It didn't seem so necessary to heal such small injuries but Kakashi just couldn't refuse the offer, or in this case, refuse the bad-tempered Kunoichi.
Sakura moved to the side of the pathway in case of an oncoming person or traffic, which rarely ever seemed to happen. Once out of the way and on a nice patch of grass, Sakura opened her backpack and pulled out a cloth and her bottle of water.
Sakura soaked the cloth and gently placed it on the Jounin's forehead, replacing the headband he still wore to cover his eye. Kakashi just sat there against a tree while Sakura tended to his cuts.
Sakura neatly placed the headband next to her stuff and continued to help Kakashi with the wounds on his face. Sakura made herself comfortable next to the silver haired man and placed her hand on the side of Kakashi's face, "I'm just going to use some of my chakra to stop the bleeding," she said with a serious yet gentle expression.
Kakashi nodded slowly and let Sakura do what she needed to do to help him. Sakura concentrated some of her chakra to her right hand and placed it on the Jounin's forehead. Slowly, Sakura poured her chakra into the cut on Kakashi's face and it began to heal the injuries.
Kakashi felt the chakra sooth his cuts and felt more relaxed and closed his eyes. He wasn't relaxed from his healing wounds but the fact that Sakura was fixing them; it made Kakashi feel happy that someone cared for him in this way.
"Ne, Sakura-chan-" Kakashi was cut off when Sakura placed her two fingers before his masked lips, silencing him.
Sakura didn't say anything, but closed her eyes, feeling for any other cuts on the silver haired Jounin by using her chakra. With nothing more to heal, Sakura opened her eyes to find Kakashi glaring at her.
She didn't realise it but Sakura still had her hands on the man's face. The only way Sakura reacted was turning a dark shade of red and immediately pretending that she wasn't quite done yet, but looking around with her burning red face to check for anything else she might've missed.
"Okay, I think it's all healed," she spoke softly, wiping her hands down to get the blood off.
Kakashi tied his headband on again and covered his Sharingan eye, sighing in relief after his little treatment, "though it wasn't really necessary to heal such small injuries, I appreciate that you care about me, so thank you Sakura-chan," he smiled softly at the medic.
Sakura's blush faded and returned the thanks with a wide smile. Yes, Sakura is starting to lighten up after the loss of such a close friend within such a tragic death; after Sakura saw Naruto fight with Sasuke that day, and after Sasuke did that to the blonde, Sakura knew something was going wrong.
The two Jounins get up with Sakura helping Kakashi up. Sakura had a strange feeling in her gut that she couldn't figure out, 'why am I feeling this?' she wondered, picking up her bag slowly with a blank and confused expression plastered on her face.
Kitsune and Kuro were running about around Sakura and Kakashi's legs, before Sakura picks up Kitsune, ending the fun for now, "come on Kitsune," she whooped, patting the brown fox playfully.
Kuro willingly leaps up on Kakashi's shoulder, hoping he would get some attention from the silver haired Jounin, "meow," he purred, brushing his head against Kakashi's. Kakashi sighed as he patted the black fur ball.
Sakura and Kakashi made their way onto the road before Kakashi grabbed the medic's wrist, stopping her on her tracks. Sakura first looked at the hand on her wrist and then at Kakashi, who was looking around suspiciously.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura started, glaring at the Jounin, "what's wrong?"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he watched the trees dancing in the blowing wind. Still no answer, Sakura waited for the man to reply.
"Kakashi-sensei-" before Sakura could say anything more, she was cut off when Kakashi glared seriously at her.
Still ogling at the medic, Kakashi finally says, "we're still in the maze forest," he stated firmly, at last letting go of Sakura's wrist. Sakura felt like just giving up; stuck in a mazed forest where the chances of getting out is slim due to the changing environment.
"There is no way we're still in the damn forest," Sakura was agitated now.
Kakashi nodded his head, "I know, I was sure you got us out of the jutsu, but I guess there is still a while before we can get out," Kakashi sighed deeply and scratched the back of his neck frustratingly.
Sakura expression spoke of disappointment and failure before she felt determined to keep going until she was finally free from the wretched woods. She faced Kakashi with a narrowed grin on her face, "I have an idea," she started, glaring at Kakashi with her unwavering expression.
Once the plans were set out and confirmed, Sakura and Kakashi were ready to get out with the plan in mind.
The two made slow paces down the track and kept their eyes on the trees around them. Sakura paid close attention to any differences within their movements. Kakashi just watched the clouds in case the forest would rotate somehow.
They hear hasty noises coming from within the trees around them and knew they had to keep a sharp eye on anything that could jump out or change the environment. A swift shadow caught Sakura's attention. She glared at the traced steps and continued to walk.
Any minute now, Kakashi and Sakura would make a run for it and fool who ever was using the jutsu. Kakashi was curious to know now, "ne, Sakura-chan, why do you believe that the forest id being controlled by someone's jutsu?" he asked, glancing to his right at the trees.
"Because a forest can't produce a jutsu," she replied firmly, not making any eye contact with the other Jounin, "there has to be a catch to this 'mystery,'"
Kakashi stared a while more before a loud sound alerted both of them. Nervous at first, Kakashi had to remember that he was an elite Shinobi of the Leaf; a Copy Nin and a Hatake with the Sharingan ability. If it weren't for his best friend of the Uchiha clan, Kakashi would never have become who he was now.
The noises got louder and Sakura glared angrily at the trees and shrubs, pulling out a kunai and staying completely still. Just one tiny movement would cause Sakura to draw her attack, pelting anything she would get.
Sakura looks up at the sky and then at the path they walked before and saw that it was starting to morph into another part of the forest track, "now!" Sakura demanded, dashing ahead of Kakashi, sending the signal with her incredible speed.
Kakashi raced after the pink haired Kunoichi and easily caught up with her. Ahead of the trail Sakura could see the clouds and path changing again, "turn!" she shouted loudly.
With a quick turn of the body and a swift movement of the arms, Kakashi reached out for Sakura's arm and began to head straight back the way they came. With Kakashi's lightning speed, he carried Sakura back and through the morphing forest and ended up on the other side.
Without any thoughts over what they were doing, Kakashi and Sakura raced against the Genjutsu technique to make it out of the forest in one piece. By confusing the so-called jutsu user, Kakashi and Sakura dived through a small collection of shrubbery and trees until they crash-landed onto another path with Sakura on top of Kakashi.
As embarrassing as it seemed, all the two Jounins could do was stare at each other, both panting with Sakura hanging over Kakashi with an exhausted appearance.
"Well…" Kakashi muttered, "this is awkward,"
Sakura sighed deeply before relaxing herself and resting her head on the Jounin's chest. She took another deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Sakura could hear Kakashi's steady heartbeat, thumping in its calm rhythm. It all felt strange to Sakura; it wasn't weird or embarrassing, it was actually comfortable lying on the other Jounin.
Kakashi just lay there, staring at the sky before glancing down at the pink haired medic, wondering of all things what she was doing. He had a few premonitions, but didn't want to go there; it would only lead back to his nasty thoughts.
Lying on the road was something Kakashi wasn't in for anymore. He clears his throat and says, "lets head back to the village; it's getting late," Sakura immediately shot her head up and her face turned the same colour as her hair.
"O-okay," she stuttered, getting up from the silver haired Jounin and rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.
Kakashi got up, adjusting his shirt and wiping off the dust from his pants. The two made their way down the track and before they knew it, they reached the village; they knew for sure that they got out of that Genjutsu. Sakura and Kakashi found a place to stay for the night and stayed there for the rest of the evening until the next day dawned through the trees.
Author's notes: I made a fluffy ponders , yes it sounds a bit odd, but I just couldn't help myself. I kind of made Sakura have really fast mood swings when she was in the forest: normal. frustrated. happy. angry. angry. worried. happy. serious, and goes on for a while until the embarrassingly fluffy part XD. Kakashi is going soft against the Shinobi crisis (no emotions whatsoever) starts dancing like an idiot Kakashi's going soft, Kakashi's going soft, Kakashi's going soft, Kakashi's going soft . Once again, I'd also like to thank you guys for all the reviews, I love you, I love the reviews, and now as a favour, please review some more