3
I can't do that
The sky was particularly melancholic that day.
It was autumn, but there was no wind, only steel-grey clouds covering the sky.
Kakashi sat under a tree on a bed of colorful leaves, reading his Icha Icha book.
Sakura and Saskue stood in front of him, practicing their hand-to-hand combat.
Sakura tried to land a blow on Sasuke, using her hands and feet, while Sasuke tried to parry each blow.
Sakura, as expected, was failing, though most of the credit must go to Sasuke's sharingan.
She tried as much as she could, today was one of the days she was in such a gloomy mood she didn't care if she beats her idol into a pulp or not.
Fists and feet, either parried by arms and legs, or avoided by a quick dodge or jump to back or to the side.
And very impassive Kakashi "supervising" all of that from behind his book.
Sakura jumped back from Sasuke, panting. "I… can't do that," she managed to breath out.
Sasuke glared at her. "So try harder," he growled.
It was a general day of bad moods.
"Come on, Sakura, you can do it! Just land one hit," Kakashi said encouragingly with a smile, the motivational effect of this somehow lessened by the fact that he said it without his eye leaving the book.
Sakura glanced at him and then at Sasuke, biting her lip.
She then charged forward again and tried to hit Sasuke in the head.
He caught her fist in his own hand, stopping it effectively.
She shifted her weight to her right leg, kicking out with her left.
He caught her leg as well, frowning at her. "Take a break," he said darkly, letting go off her with a strong push, causing her to lose her balance and fall. "You're even slower than when we began."
She glared at him as he turned and walked few steps away, assuming a stance and drawing a kunai out of his pouch to throw it.
For once she actually realized how rude he is.
"Sakura."
The pink haired kunoichi turned to the side, facing her sensei, who even put down his book for once.
"Come here."
She nodded and obeyed, standing up and then sitting down again next to the silver haired jounin.
"Sensei?"
Kakashi lifted his book again, easily annoying Sakura. "You can't hit Sasuke, right?"
Nice you realized. "Yes, I…" She sighed and put her fisted hands on her knees. "I can't do it."
"That's right," Kakashi nodded. "You can't. There is no way you can hit Sasuke with his sharingan."
Sakura frowned at him. "What's the point of this training, then?"
Kakashi shrugged. "There is more of points, actually. As a ninja, more or less often, you will be faced in a while with someone who's hand-to-hand combat skills or long-range-fighting skills will be far superior to yours. It is very important for you to be able to recognize when you really can't do it, and thus not waste your time and strength by trying."
"I see," she muttered, watching Sasuke as he attacked a dummy continuously with his kunai, effectively slashing it to bits hit by hit. "What should I do when I find that out? Flee?"
"That's the other point of this practice. You can either try to change the battle to your liking, by keeping your distance or the other way around…"
"But that won't help me, because Sasuke is better at a long-range combat than me."
"Right. That keeps you with only one choice." He actually looked at her with a smile when he said, "Cheat."
"Cheat? Should I use some ninjutsu?"
"No. Try to land a blow on him using any means necessary without using ninjutsus."
Sakura looked up at him curiously. "Any means necessary?"
He smiled even more broadly, returning to his book. "Yes, that's the part of that statement you should think about."
She looked at Sasuke again and stood up.
"Good luck, Sakura," Kakashi called after her as she walked away.
She looked back at him. He wasn't looking at her, of course. He was reading his perverted book.
She sighed.
As always.
One day, she will steal that book from him and find out what was so damn interesting about it.
She turned back at Sasuke who ignored her, walking up to him.
"Sasuke."
He stopped hacking the dummy to shreds and turned to her, putting his kunai away. "Sakura. Ready to continue?"
She swallowed. "Sasuke… I…"
His brow rose. "Yes?"
She walked few steps towards him. "Sasuke…"
He surveyed her warily with his scarlet eyes. "Sakura?"
She closed the gap between them.
The sky seethed above them, and few first droplets fell from it, getting caught in Sasuke's hair, latching to his face, glistening, giving it all somewhat unreal look.
She kissed him, the warmth of his body and lips contrasting the icy wind that started to blow and the chilly rainwater.
And then…
Sakura punched him in the gut. Hard.
It stole Sasuke's breath, leaving him standing few steps away from Sakura where the blow had flung him, clutching his stomach, glaring at her.
It was heartbreaking.
Sakura stood, tears welling up in her eyes.
This was her first kiss.
"I am sorry, Sasuke."
His eyes narrowed. "You get me and then apologize?"
She bit her lip, whipped by the icy air.
"Good work Sakura."
Sakura didn't look at Kakashi. It was all his fault.
"The practice is over. You can go home."
Sasuke nodded and jumped up on a tree branch, looking around for a while before leaping away on a nearby rooftop.
After Sasuke disappeared in the heavy rain, in which the drizzle quickly led, Sakura turned to Kakashi.
There were glittering drops of rain in his hair, and drop got caught in his lashes. The glittering water gave his silver hair even more metallic look.
"Sensei," she said, swallowing a sob. "I can't do this. I can't."
Kakashi smiled at her sympathetically. "I understand, Sakura," he said softly. "You should be grateful for it."