҉ ¤ Gallimaufry ¤ ҉

Part I: Chapter III

The Art of Life

The earth seemed to halt in its rotation; causing the bugs to stop buzzing and the waves to stop splashing, allowing a moment of silence for Sakura to gaze wide-eyed at the beaten figure that had stumbled upon the white beach. The rising moon and the dim, distant fire shone against its dark hair and luminously pale skin. It didn't quite look human from where Sakura could see; an odd shape sticking out from the side of its leg, like an appendage. The sight of the beast held Sakura stiff in fear, and it took all of her energy to break from her shocked, frozen position, and even longer for her medical expertise to kick in. She rushed over to the figure— a boy, she realized— and turned him over gently, hurriedly dragging him closer to the fire for more light.

Sakura checked over his body.

Lodged in and protruding from his left leg— what Sakura had earlier assumed to be an extra, irregular appendage— was actually a long branch, more than two coins in diameter, its wood splintered and cracked with a few remaining leaves hanging on. Red liquid soaked his jeans around the area, and Sakura could smell the fresh iron as she closed in to examine it. A normal person would have gagged at the sight— a wound plugged and waiting to explode. All along his face were gashes and bruises. The biggest was along his hairline, and probably measured the same as Sakura's index finger. It oozed blood onto the rest of his face, dirtied and mixed in with the sand.

For a split second Sakura didn't know what to do. What could she do? She was stuck on an island, with no access to any kind of medical supplies whatsoever. She had assessed his wounds; determining that perhaps one would need to be stitch up, others simply bandaged, and she knew what needed to be done. However, she could do nothing. A weight like thousand airplanes came down on her shoulders, causing her to shake. What could she do? She had never been faced with a situation like this.

Sakura looked to the ocean, a paroxysm of realization hitting her.

Salt water.

Sakura rushed to the shoreline, grabbing a few of the furry cups on the way. After filling the cups she ran back to the practically unconscious boy, nearly spilling the liquid, and placed the furry goblets down on the sand. Immediately she began to tear strips away from the bottom of the boy's jeans and around the wound, soaking them in the salt water. Then she turned her attention to the foreign body protruding from the boy's leg. She didn't know how far the branch had penetrated his tissue, but judging by its angle and position it didn't hit anything vital.

Sakura quickly ran to refill a few cups, prepping for the branch's removal. She knelt by the wound, gingerly wrapping her fingers around the bough's trunk, she pulled it out, immediately drowning the bleeding wound in salt water before wrapping it up with some of the soaked jean strips. Moving on to the boy's other cuts and scrapes, Sakura realized the only thing she could really do was clean his wounds. Sakura sighed, feeling a bit more at ease as she lifted the boy's head into her lap and began dabbing his wounds with a jean strip. The blood and sand that had been smudged all along his pale canvas-like skin was soon washed away, revealing a strangely beatific face. The steady spray of the waves against the shore appeased Sakura's ears, and the world seemed to be back in motion.

The boy's breathing abated, his eyes cracking open. Sakura's breath caught in her esophagus. He had the darkest, yet most sparkly eyes known to man. They were like a caves; no light available except for the dim shine of the crystals lining the walls. He was gorgeous.

"Sakura!" Naruto called in the distance. The boy closed his eyes again.

"Naruto! Come quickly! There's someone here who needs our help!"

Within a matter of minutes Naruto ran out of the thick foliage and onto the shore, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of the boy. "What happened?" He asked, kneeling beside Sakura to gawk at the boy.

"I don't know, he just kind of… appeared like this," Sakura replied, throwing the stick that had been in his leg into the fire, "And it doesn't seem like he's traveled far either." Naruto immediately looked up, his face stern like marble.

Sakura looked down at the boy; he seemed to have fallen asleep. Charily she removed his head from her lap, lying down in the sand beside him. She had no idea why, but she was thoroughly exhausted. Naruto stood, peering over at her.

"You should rest…" Naruto said, "It's been a long day…"

And without even meaning to, Sakura fell asleep.

˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.◦► ¤◄◦.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙

She awoke to a sweet smelling green bulb poking around at her face. A honey pop. Or many, for that matter, attached to a branch held by Naruto. "Wakey wakey," he poked, and Sakura took one in her mouth, squeezing out the delectable juice. Her stomach was feeling better already. She sat up and looked to her side, expecting to the see the mangled, sleeping boy.

But he was gone.

Sakura withdrew, scanning the area restlessly for him. Her green eyes softened upon seeing him a little ways down the shore, standing to watch the sun rise.

"Care to eat?" Sakura's eyes snapped to Naruto. He was offering a piece of sliced fruit.

"What is it?" She asked, taking it in her hands and carefully examining it. It had dark yellowish orange flesh, and leathery green skin.

"To my understanding, it's a mango."

"A mango?" Sakura stared at the juice, which reeked a bit of turpentine, "What in the world…"

"It's a lot like a mangerine. Except this is what the old people used to eat before the genetic revolutions," Naruto explained. A switched went off in Sakura's head. All students new of the genetic revolutions. There were two big ones; one in the 2100's, and another in the 2330's. In the 2100's the 'revolution' was mainly about the alteration of human genomes. It became a trend for people to permanently change their hair and eyes to odd colors. And depending on the style at the time, features were added or taken away from the human race. However, this genetic revolution came to a brutal end with the discovery that scientists were secretly cloning homo sapiens. Due to the ethical outrage brought by that subject, a 'restoration' period was then initiated, thus changing most of the odd hair and eye colors back to normal and ending the reign of the Second Great Society. Few "odd color" genes survived; Sakura being a prime example.

The second big genetic revolution was in the plant genome, and focused mainly on improving the standard production of food. It took the genomes of existing plants as well as extinct, preserved plants and combined them to create the ultimate flora; plants who were more suitable to certain conditions. It increased durability in cold weather, increased size, quantity, quality, and even managed calorie counts.

"Aren't these supposed to be extinct?" Sakura questioned.

"I thought so too."

Sakura sniffed the fruit again, and slowly grimaced. "Just try it," Naruto said, "It's actually good."

Sakura dared to bite into it. To her surprise, Naruto was right; it didn't taste that bad. She gazed up into his bright ocean eyes, smiling.

At that moment the boy tottered over and plopped down by the fire, a frown burdening his clean face. Naruto offered him a piece of mango, which he took without a word, simply holding it in his palm. Sakura stared at him.

"So what's your name?" She finally asked, deciding that simply calling him 'the boy' would not suffice. Besides, he wasn't a boy; he was a man.

"Sasuke Uchiha." His voice was deep and masculine. It was exquisite to listen to, like the collide of waves, yet extremely monotone.

"I'm Sakura, and that's Naruto," She said, gesturing to the aforementioned blonde, "It's nice to meet you."

Sasuke was silent.

"Where are you from?" Naruto inquired.

Silence.

"Um…" Droned Sakura, "Could you maybe tell us how you got here? We're a bit curious…"

Sasuke scowled and stood, throwing his piece of fruit into the fire before limping off into the foliage.

"What a waste," Naruto grumbled to himself, poking around the searing mango with a stick, "I worked hard getting that."

"What do you think his problem is?" Sakura mumbled, staring off in the direction Sasuke hobbled way in.

"I don't know, I thought it was pretty good too!"

"What? No, not with the mango, Naruto," Sakura rolled her eyes, "With what I asked. I didn't mean to offend him."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. He seems like an ass anyway—"

"Naruto! You can't just assume that about people!"

"I know the type," Naruto retorted, gritting his teeth. He broke the poking stick into pieces and threw them into the fire.

Sakura gave him a disapproving look. "We should go after him. It's dangerous out there alone."

"He'll come back," Naruto said, staring into Sakura with unmoving eyes,"Stop worrying."

"He's probably just like us; a Provincial student stranded on a forsaken island. I believe, as equals, it is our job to help a fellow civilian in need. The more people we have in our group the better, right?" Naruto's face was stern; unmoving, as he averted his eyes from the question. Sakura sighed, scrunching her brows together and looking at the sand. Something was wrong with Naruto. He became… subliminally defensive, it seemed, though Sakura couldn't put a word on what exactly he was being defensive about. And although she only knew Naruto for a few days, Sakura understood Naruto's character enough to tell that he wasn't one to jump to conclusions. Therefore whatever his problem may have been with Sasuke, it was probably justifiable.

"I have a bad feeling about him." Naruto finally stated. Sakura watched as his face completely morphed from one of complete seriousness and concern to its old shape of lightheartedness and play. His face often did that. "Well, anyway, are you ready to head out?"

"Where?"

"To that place I was telling you about. With the box," Naruto explained, standing up.

"Oh, right." Sakura remembered. Naruto offered a hand to help her up, though he stopped in the action eyes wide.

"W-what? What's wrong?" Sakura stammered, giving him a worried look.

"Your right elbow! It's like a coconut! What happened?" He responded, kneeling down to her level to examine the joint.

"A coco-what?" Sakura looked down at the area of interest, seeing that it was swollen and nearly as blue as the deep sea. Her face eased into a look of annoyance and disinterest. "Oh… It's fine. Just a sprain."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Naruto questioned, concern plaguing his pretty features. Sakura couldn't understand his worry though; her injury was nothing— at least compared to Sasuke's.

"I didn't notice it because there wasn't any pain," Sakura lied,"I suppose it just swelled. It looks worse than it is; I'm fine. Besides, there's not much you can do about a sprain considering our circumstances."

"Of course there is!" Naruto persisted, "Anything you need, I'll get it!"

"Listen Naruto, I've lived and grown up in a Medical Province. I know what to do. If I could have done it, I would."

"And what may that be?" Naruto challenged, raising a questioning brow.

She swallowed, her mouth slightly dry, and stared menacingly into the deep abyss of his glowing blue eyes. "To treat a sprain there are four major actions that must be carried out," Sakura began, tapping off her fingers while counting, "Number one, rest. Number two, ice the sprain. Number three, support and wrap the sprain. And number four, elevate the sprain."

Sakura grinned as she recalled her very first lessons. There was a short pause.

"You haven't done any of those."

"It's not like I have a bandage, or a sling," Sakura defended, "Plus, we have no ice."

"You have to be creative, Sakura," Naruto said, standing up. He began to unbutton his blue shirt, slowly revealing a tan and toned chest. Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she averted her eyes, a strange and unnatural heated rising from her stomach to her face. After stripping off the shirt Naruto stared at her, a growing smirk decorating his lips.

"Are you blushing?" He almost laughed.

"Blushing— No, of course not!" Sakura sputtered, glancing between his chest and the white sand beside her multiple times. His accusation caused an even greater heat to envelope her cheeks. What was wrong with her? This was like a body malfunction.

"Sorry," He apologized, a smirk still prevalent on his façade, "I guess you're not used to seeing shirtless men, being from the main Provinces and all. Back home most of us work in the fields without shirts— the men, I mean— so I usually don't think much of it."

Another difference between her Province and his, Sakura noted.

He kneeled back down in front of Sakura, beckoning her wavering and ambling eyes to gaze into his own hard stare. With his shirt he reached behind her neck and began to make a sling. "Where did you learn to do that?" Sakura questioned, but Naruto's smirk simply widened in response, the sun baking his already golden skin, highlighting the side of his sculpted, masculine face. Sakura was stunned at the image. In the pit of her stomach she felt a bitter knot that tangled and sewed around her entire body, causing her bones to feel like gelatin and her heart to freeze. What was this feeling, and why did it exist? Sakura could only guess. The only thing that she knew was that she liked it. A lot.

"There," Naruto exhaled, his breath sweet like honey pop. The smell made Sakura dizzy. "That's what I mean by 'creative'."

Sakura blinked, regaining her composure and prompting the world to still. "That was hardly necessary," She muttered, shooting him a disapproving look as he stood.

"Does it help?"

"… I suppose." It did take weight off of her shoulder and ease the pain.

"Then it's necessary." Naruto said, flashing his pearly whites again. He proceeded to help Sakura up, noticing a red splotch all across her left ankle. He narrowed his eyes. "Do your burns hurt?"

Sakura followed his eyes down to the marred skin, her face falling at the obvious wound. The skin was red and pink, still soft yet beginning to harden and blister over. The plastic of her shoe was melted into a clump on the side. "… Yeah."

Naruto gave her a look of disbelief. "Why don't you tell anyone anything about your injuries?" He grumbled, "You're a medic for goodness sake!"

"I was going to look for some materials to treat it, but I forgot."

"Let's look now," Naruto proposed, no, demanded, grabbing Sakura's good arm and dragging her toward the forest.

"Now? Wait—What about the box?"

"That's not important at the moment," He stated, a hint of insolence in his voice, "What do you need?"

"Just some tea leaves, or maybe some aloe," Sakura quickly answered, a bit unsure as Naruto steered them through the thick foliage and over broad tree roots to an unfamiliar path— not that anything there was familiar to begin with. Halting, Naruto released Sakura's pale hand and stepped his way over a few bushes.

"Wait here," he commanded, disappearing behind the creepers that hung from a nearby tree. And, like an obedient pet, Sakura waited. Almost as quickly as he had left Naruto reappeared, this time with a slice of aloe in his palm. "Is this good?"

"That was fast." Sakura noted aloud, taking the plant to examine it, "It's perfect."

His speed and precision and overall knowledge of the area was outstanding. Did he know all of the plants on the face of the earth? Probably. Yet again Naruto amazed her with his expertise.

"Why did I even bring you a long," the boy uttered to himself, running a hand through his golden locks and giving Sakura a vertical pan, "You're practically crippled. You should be resting."

Sakura dismissed his constant worry. In a way it was belittling. Though she couldn't say she didn't feel safe because of it. It generated a warm feeling within her, different than before when she had been ogling over Naruto's body. This feeling wasn't bitter; on the contrary, it was sweet. It didn't make her heart stop; it made it beat faster— she was developing a soft spot for the omniscient boy in front of her.

˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.◦► ¤◄◦.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙

Two pairs of feet crunch along the side of a tiny fresh water stream— one pair sluggish and tired, while the other remained swift and strong. Amphibious critters who lay peacefully on the side hopped out of the frantic couple's path, warning other animals of their presence. The birds chirped loudly with the early morning sun, creating new and beautiful melodies that would lift the spirits of any listener. However, not to the blonde girl walking along the stream. To her the birds were mocking. Their melodies were so energetic and refreshing that it made her even more fatigued; reminding her of the little sleep she had gotten the night before and how much she craved a cold shower. With soap and conditioner.

"We're going to need to keep moving at all times until we find some place safe," The brown haired boy nearly ten feet in front of her called. He looked over his shoulder to hear the girl's response, noticing how far she lagged behind. She simply peeked through the curtain of tiny hairs that were pulled from her pony tail, spilling over her face, and glared heatedly at him.

It was obvious that they needed to take a rest, and he knew it.

The boy stopped and turned on his heel, heading up the slight inclined hill toward the girl. "We'll rest for a few minutes," He announced, and the light came back to the blonde girl's face as she fell down on the rocks and pebbles beneath her. The boy filled their water bottle.

"We're lucky," He said, taking a sip of water before handing the bottle to the girl, "We came across this stream. Eventually we should reach a greater body of water that it pours into."

He sat down in front of her and reached into the flowing stream, retrieving an animal that squirmed in his grip, "Hungry?"

The girl shrieked, scooting away from the ugly creature in the boy's hand.

"Freshwater Crab," he stated hungrily, hissing as it pinched the pad of his finger, "They're great for protein."

He took the animal's big claw and ripped it off, discarding the rest of it. Using the butt of his pocketknife to crack it open against a sturdy rock, he tore away the shell and ate the meat, fighting a vehement grimace. And although it wasn't exactly his mother's cooking, he shot a boastful smile to the girl. Her dull blue eyes widened in disgust, a gag forming in her throat.

The boy reached into the stream again, retrieving another crab. "Here," He offered, extending the crab to the girl, "You have to link their pinchers together and hold them in order for them not to get you. But getting the meat should be easy."

"Ew, no!" The girl exclaimed, making an audible noise of disgust, "There's no way I'm eating that! And definitely not raw!"

"We can't waste time building a fire unless we really need it. We don't have all day, and we can't travel by night. So you have to eat it raw. Now."

"I'll pass."

The boy glared daggers into her unreasonable eyes, "Eat now, or die later."

The girl's eyes shook with hesitation as she thought over what she was about to do. She really didn't want to eat that poor thing, however, in the back of her mind, no matter how hard her conscious tried to stop her, a little voice was urging her to grab the animal and devour it senseless. Her pretty, dirty, porcelain face scrunched up at the thought. Nevertheless, she took the crab from the boy— ignoring his triumphant grin as she did so— and linked its two pinchers together before tearing them apart, cracking the big claw open between two rocks. She placed the fleshy meat into her mouth, forcing herself to swallow. She knew it wouldn't help her already upset stomach.

"Why are we eating just the big claw?" She questioned, looking down at the tiny section of meat. Even if she liked it, the portion would not be filling.

"Crabs are infested with tons of parasites. It's never safe to eat their meat raw. Usually you can eat what's around the sides, but we can't risk getting sick. The big claw is purest part; that's why we eat it," The boy explained, searching for another crab with no luck.

"What about the rest of it?"

"There isn't much meat on it to begin with, and the gills are taboo to eat. Never eat the gills. They're the filthiest part," He explained. There was a short pause as the girl finished her claw.

"What confuses me is; why do you need to know all this stuff in your Province? You know, all this crab stuff, what to eat, what to drink, how to live in the Forbidden," She said, twisting her face in thought, "Is the Military even needed anymore? It's not like we have any wars."

The boy pressed his lips together, thinking over his answer slowly. "Sometimes we are needed to help troubled scientists out of the Forbidden. Sometimes they get too excited and get stuck somewhere only we can get them."

"But why is it necessary?"

"… I'm afraid I can't tell you everything you want to know about my Province," He affirmed, his face blank.

"…Why?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" He countered, a bit sarcastic. He fell back into the ground, staring at the tree covered sky and placing his palms behind his head, "Simple: we took an oath of secrecy. I can't tell you what the Military Provinces are for; that would go against my oath."

The girl narrowed her eyes, "How are we supposed to support each other if we can't trust each other?"

"I'm sure you, Ino Yamanaka, actress of the biggest Film Province in the world, have a few secrets you can't share with me."

Ino bit her bottom lip. "You know," She said, "I never asked you your name."

The boy smiled genuinely, for once, his canines sharper than anyone's she's seen, "Kiba Inuzuka," He said.

˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.◦► ¤◄◦.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙

Naruto whistled as he and Sakura gazed up at what had to be one of the tallest trees they had ever seen. Up in one of the branches, its silhouette illuminated by the blaze of the sun, was a box, barely visible from where they stood.

"Wow," Naruto exhaled, "I must have super vision if I saw that at night. I could have sworn it was closer."

Sakura didn't even know what to say. How the heck were they going to get that? It was probably 70 feet up in the air. It would be too risky to even try climbing. "We should leave it," She proposed, glancing at Naruto, whose head was still up marveling at the height.

"No," He said, "I'll climb it."

"You must be suicidal!"

"Please, Sakura, I've climbed trees too many times to count back in my Province," Naruto mumbled, "Just not this high."

Sakura crossed her arms— or rather, placed the good arm under the sling—, unsure.

"How about this," Naruto began, grinning mischievously, "Let's have a bet."

Sakura raised her brows, "Why do you feel the need to change risking your life into a game?"

"I bet you I can make it halfway up that tree," Naruto said. That would be about fifty feet; not too bad. At least that was what Naruto was trying to convince himself.

"Only if you do it in five minutes or less," Sakura added.

"Hey, we have to be reasonable! Halfway up and down without… dying."

Sakura rolled her emerald eyes, "… and your reward?"

Naruto looked up in thought, tapping his chin with his index finger. After a minute he turned to Sakura, deciding, "Mm… I'll think about it."

"I'm sorry, I can't agree to a bet where I don't know the terms," Sakura joked.

"Fine. The reward, if I win… will be that you have to do one thing for me, anything I ask. Even if you don't want to do it," Naruto said this as if he had given it some genuine thought prior… As if she already knew what he was going to ask her, but didn't want to say it.

Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "That's hardly fair. What if I really don't want to do it?"

"Doesn't matter. You still have to." He held back a revealing grin. Sakura wanted so badly to know what he on his mind.

"…Fine."

"And if you win the bet?" He asked.

"Mm… I'll think about it." Sakura mocked. Naruto raised his golden brows, "Okay, okay… You have to… throw me a feast."

"Laaaaame," Naruto dragged out, frowning, "Come on, give me some more motivation."

"Then… If I win, you have to… Bring me somewhere beautiful; somewhere breathtaking." Sakura smirked.

Naruto grinned ear to ear. Although it didn't exactly 'motivate' him to win the bet, he did like the sound of that. "So it's settled?"

The two shook hands. "It's settled."

"Alright… Here I go."

Naruto had a rough start. The branches didn't bud from the trunk until about fifteen feet up, thus all he had for support were the loose creepers and ivy that had crawled around the bark. It took him almost ten minutes of reaching and falling to get to first sturdy branch. When he did, he looked over his shoulder at a very shaky Sakura, sticking out his tongue. Sakura smiled at his confidence.

Who would have guessed that over the course of two days they would already be— somewhat— friends. If not friends, then pleasant colleagues, or perhaps even friendly acquaintances. No, that didn't sound right. Sakura knew they were more than just that. She and Naruto had an instant bond… She couldn't exactly explain what it was…

Snap.

A chill ran down Sakura's spine, causing her whole body to shiver. Swiftly she looked up, searching through the blinding sun for Naruto, who was already nearly thirty-five feet high. She spotted him dangling from a branch, one foot barely on a bough while the other was frantically searching for some foothold.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" He grunted back, his voice echoing through the forest.

"Naruto don't go any higher! You should come down!" Sakura called, her heart racing at the possibility of him falling.

"I'm not losing this bet!" He laughed. Sakura knew it was only an attempt to ease her nerves though. She could tell he was scared as out his mind, just as she was.

Swinging, Naruto managed to get both feet on one branch. For a minute he halted, leaning against the trunk to rest, and then kept moving upward; going on 40 feet, 45 feet, 47 feet.

"He's crazy," Sakura thought aloud.

Just then a blur of black flashed at her flank. She turned her head quickly, recoiling at the sight of the boy— Sasuke— planted next to her. He was watching Naruto.

"What are you—?" Sakura started, but the boy had taken off in the direction of the tree and had begun climbing, "Hey!"

Sasuke was a fantastic climber. His hands were agile and strong, and he moved about the branches almost strategically. What took Naruto ten minutes took him less than one. Sakura's mouth fell agape as she watched him he quickly advanced, tailing Naruto and quickly closing the distance. How did he climb so fast, especially with that injured leg of his? He must be made of steel.

By the time Naruto had reached fifty feet, Sasuke has already passed him and was promptly approaching the box. Sakura had to shade her eyes in order to see him.

"What is it?" Sakura asked when Sasuke had reached the box. He inspected is listlessly, scaling around it to get a better look. It was a large wooden crate with an immensely painted mailing stamp across the front face. It read:

INSTITUTION

To be continued…

˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.◦► ¤◄◦.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW

A/N: Arghhh! So I couldn't get this out in time for Christmas! I'm sorry! :(

(It's like 18 minutes late!)

Well anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! I MEAN PLLLLEEEEASE! I will never discontinue this story if you don't, but still…. Please!

Also, I apologize for not updating in a while… I have A LOT of work… A LOT…. AP classes and junk. Ugh. College stuff…. UGH. Someone save me from this torture!

Anyhow, I hope to update A Million Pieces of Eight sometime this week! I know how much you all want Chapter 2! I promise it will come!

Love,

Miasmic

PS: Sorry for grammatical/spelling errors. I really wanted to get this out. And quickly.

Also:…Review