"Okay, now let go." Sasuke instructed.
Sakura gulped nervously and in an instant, sent the arrow flying. It hit the first arrow she had shot earlier, splitting it straight down the center.
It's been three days since Sakura discovered that she was Blessed. And right now, Sasuke and Sakura were alone…in the gym…at nine in the evening…with two bows and a hundred arrows. Talk about romantic, right? Not that Sakura would admit to even considering it romantic. After all, he was like her brother, right? Or was he supposed to be like a father, since Zeus is the father of Apollo and Artemis.
No, it doesn't work that way, a small voice inside her whispered. Besides, the voice continued, if that were true, then isn't Sasuke supposed to be a playboy? Sakura glanced at Sasuke with his impossibly good looks. Never mind, the voice muttered before it disappeared.
"Tell me why we're doing this again?" Sakura asked loudly, liking the way her voice bounces off the gym walls.
"Tsunade said that we have to find out which Blessing you have…and, you know…" Sasuke trailed off. Not that Sakura needed him to complete the sentence. She did know. Every Blessed One has to give up something in exchange for the Blessings or Talents they have received. Yuki already lost her sight. What if she herself lost an arm, or a leg?
"It doesn't work that way, especially for the both of us." Sasuke suddenly said out of nowhere.
"What?" Sakura asked, clearly confused.
"You won't lose an arm, or a leg. They make it so that you lose something important, but not so that you couldn't fight."
I said that part out loud? "Fight? Why?"
Sasuke sighed, "Yuki hasn't told you anything about fighting yet?"
Sakura shook her head and simultaneously fired an arrow. She watched in satisfaction as the arrow hit its mark.
"You know about the Chronicles, right?" Sasuke asked once more.
Sakura simply responded with a puzzled glance at him while shooting more arrows, now at moving targets.
"The gods and goddesses are trying to find someone to defeat the darkness and find Olympus," Sasuke simplified.
At Sakura's nod, he continued, "The darkness was defeated years ago. There is only one problem left."
"Finding Olympus." Sakura muttered.
"Now, at some point in history, the Blessed Ones found out that whoever finds Olympus get eternal power and ever since then there has been a lot of fighting. Eventually, alliances were formed, and then now, there are bigger groups." He explained, "We are part of Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. And we have a few allies, one of them is Sunagakure, the village hidden in the sand."
Suddenly, the gym door was slammed open, startling Sakura.
"Uchiha! The southern barrier's been breached. Tsunade's sending the usual team." Neji yelled in a commanding tone.
"Be there in ten." Sasuke responded while quickly grabbing his backpack from under the bleachers.
"What's happening?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke answered her as he ran to the locker room, "The hunt."
Five minutes later, Sasuke emerged from the men's locker room dressed up in a tight black sleeveless zip-up shirt, black pants that were a bit tight, tucked into knee-high black boots. A silver sword was strapped to his back and he had white arm guards that covered his arms from his knuckles to his elbows.
"You look hot." Sakura blurted as soon as the thought reached her mind.
"Thanks." Sasuke gave her a cocky smirk.
When she realized what she had just said, she blushed and turned so red that her face could match a tomato. She thanked whoever was up there that Sasuke didn't tease her for it, and that Sasuke didn't see her blush because he was facing the other way.
Sasuke suddenly grabbed her by the waist and carried her in his arms (his very muscular arms. Oh wow.) as he sped out of the gym so fast that everything was a blur, within seconds, they were in Tsunade's office.
"You stay here." Sasuke ordered as he set her down on one of the chairs.
"No, I'm coming with you." Sakura said defiantly.
"No, you're not. You could get hurt."
"Yes, she is," Tsunade said as she appeared near the doorway. She tossed Sakura a bow and a quiver filled with arrows, "You saw what she did in the gym just now, every target was hit dead-center. She might be able to help. It's a relatively safe mission anyway."
Sakura smiled, "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."
"Now, go. The infiltrators are from Grass. Your captain will fill you in on the rest," Tsunade said before Sasuke grabbed Sakura and carried her once more to the school gates.
Sakura felt out of place, being the only one still in school uniform.
The three of them were standing below a streetlight right behind the campus, clearly waiting for her and Sasuke.
Naruto had a half-zipped black long-sleeve over a bright orange shirt. His black pants were tucked into his brown boots. He had a pouch on his thigh and a large battle-axe was loosely tied to his back.
Neji wore a loose white robe-like shirt and long tan-colored pants with open-toed ankle-high boots. What startled Sakura the most was the small glimmering eye tattooed on his forehead, which was usually covered with a strip of white cloth.
Yuki was dressed in a short black dress that had long, loose sleeves, a tight bodice, a short pleated skirt, and a low neckline showing her black moon Mark, she also wore black mesh tights. She had a small pouch tied to her hip and her combat boots were light silver in color. The top half of her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wasn't using her illusion to cover her eyes which were now totally white.
"Why did you bring Sakura here?" Yuki asked.
"Tsunade's orders." Sasuke answered.
"But she hasn't been trained yet!" Naruto said, waving his arms for emphasis.
"I can fight, you know. I used to take MMA training before, remember?" Sakura said, annoyed.
"But can you kill?" Neji asked stoically.
"What?" Sakura froze.
Something Sasuke once said suddenly flashed in her mind. "The things we do are considered…immoral by most mundane humans."
"You need to be able to kill, Sakura. That's the main concept of 'eliminating the competition'," Yuki explained gently.
"Are you sure you want to come? I mean, we can always leave you as backup in case things go wrong, right?" Naruto said unsurely while looking at Neji who confirmed his statement.
"Yuki can stay hidden with Sakura; according to the report, there are only about five to ten enemies," Neji nodded to himself, "But if there are more than ten enemies, Yuki has to join the fight, and Sakura would be left defenseless."
"No, she won't. She has a Talent with the bow and arrow. She can defend herself." Sasuke said.
Sakura nodded; her eyes met Neji's, "I refuse to kill anyone, even an enemy, but I'm definitely not above decapitating them. I can defend myself."
Neji's eyes narrowed, "I'm only letting you sit out on this just this once since you're new to this all, but you need to be able to kill, Sakura. It is important that you kill them before they kill you."
"I understand." Sakura replied.
"Well, are we ready to go?" Yuki asked in feather-light tone.
"Take us halfway there; the enemy might have another Blessed One of Hecate who could sense your spell." Neji commanded.
"Yes, captain." Yuki said as a large rune-covered circle not unlike the ones you see witches cast in the movies, encompassed the five of them with a wave of her arm, and there was a sudden lurch before they found themselves in the middle of the forest.
Sakura gaped, "How did you—"
"I have a Blessing for spell-casting," Yuki cut her off bluntly and seemed to look her in the eye.
Yuki's snow-white eyes were unnerving.
"How long have you been blind?" Sakura suddenly asked.
"I've been blind for a few months already, it happened instantly. The same time I got my full mark, I couldn't see anything anymore." Yuki replied casually.
"And nobody noticed?" Sakura asked, her astonishment rang clear in her voice.
"No one even expected it, the ones who know only know because I told them. I used illusions to hide my all-white eyes. Then I started using awareness and perception spells so that I wouldn't bump into any walls and fall into any ditches," Yuki said.
"Alright, the enemy is at least two miles south. We—" Neji gestured at Sasuke, Naruto and himself, "will go ahead, and you two—" Neji now glanced at both Yuki and Sakura, his lilac eyes unnerving in the dark, "will need to trail us from a safe distance. Remember, if there are more enemies than we can handle, find a way to call for more backup. Our goal is to totally eliminate the enemy, am I clear?"
The boys and Yuki nodded while Sakura answered with a small "yes".
"Let's go." Neji commanded and he started running east with Naruto and Sasuke flanking him.
Yuki faced Sakura as she fished in the pouch tied to her hip. She brought out a small ornate vial filled to the brim with swirling purple gas.
"Just in case I can't protect you, take this," she pressed the small vial into Sakura's hand,.
"When you're in danger, crush it and run. The gas it emits is a very potent poison. "
Suddenly, a twig snapped, and the Yuki noticed the presence of multiple people.
Yuki pointed up and Sakura immediately understood. We're going up.
A wave of Yuki's hand resulted in a small ruffle of wind that lifted them both up gently onto a thick branch. Yuki counted the barely hidden enemies, there were thirty of them, and she cursed under her breath.
"Are there too many of them?" Sakura whispered in horror.
"You better get your bow and arrow." Yuki said grimly, "You don't have to kill them at all; I'll take care of that. Just make sure that they don't get away, understand?"
Sakura nodded then readied herself and pulled out three arrows which she shot simultaneously, each of them hit their mark.
"Keep firing." Yuki said and in her cupped hands, balls of purple fire formed at her fingertips and she flung them down one by one, knocking off most of those who were trying to knock down the tree.
"What are you doing? You could knock the tree down!" Sakura hissed while continuously shooting arrows.
"Have a bit of faith in my abilities." Yuki hissed back.
"Do you have any larger spells?" Sakura asked.
"A few…but I can't cast them here. They would topple the other trees."
Sakura paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from her brow. She felt around at her back. "I have three arrows left."
"Then let's make them count." Yuki answered, heavily panting. She stopped flinging mini fireballs and cast a spell on Sakura's remaining arrows. "Now, fire them, but be careful, these arrows will fly through the body you shoot them at."
Sakura aimed and shot. She watched the arrow become so small that she could barely see it then continued watching as it flew straight through one guy's knee and the next guy's thigh. It lodged itself in the arm of the fifth guy it hit. The remaining men kept trying to climb the tree they were in.
"Damn it. I can't figure out what they're doing! They have no strategy, no attack pattern!" Yuki ranted.
"They're just like mindless zombies." Sakura commented as she let the second arrow fly.
"Zombies? What…oh, no…" Yuki said with dread seeping in her voice.
"What?" Sakura asked. Yuki kept staring straight ahead, her blind eyes focusing on something far away.
"Listen to me. I'll cast a teleportation spell on you. You have to focus on Tsunade's office. If you don't, you might get transported somewhere else. Find someone. Tell them that the information is faulty. You need to hurry. Tell them to send as much backup as possible. Understand?" Yuki said urgently as she launched more and more fireballs below.
"Why? What's happened?" Sakura asked hurriedly.
"NOW! Focus!" Yuki yelled before another spell-circle tattoo floated up from her arm. It grew and encompassed only Sakura. Sakura closed her eyes and pictured Tsunade's office, and recalled every single detail about it that she could remember. She felt the lurch and when she opened her eyes, Tsunade was standing over her with worry marring her features.
"Where are the others?" She asked.
"Yuki is still in the forest, halfway to the border. I don't know where the others are. The information was faulty. She says to send as much backup as you can as soon as possible," Sakura reported.
Tsunade presses a button under her desk. Within seconds, three teachers appear, Kakashi and Asuma, both dressed in black, and Kurenai who had a white and scarlet dress with black accents.
Tsunade raised a brow, "Where's Gai?"
"He called in sick today." Kakashi replied.
"Back to business then, team Hyuuga was sent to eliminate infiltrators at the southern border. Apparently, the information was faulty—they were outnumbered. Your mission is to complete theirs."
"Understood, ma'am." Kakashi answered straight away. He was about to jump out the window when Sakura stood up, "I need more arrows. I'm going with them."
Tsunade stood up and retrieved an armful of arrows from a hidden compartment in a nearby bookshelf which she gave Sakura, "I'm counting on you to find them and bring them back alive."
"Alright." Kakashi answered as he scooped Sakura up and carried her in his arms as he jumped out the window.
"Neji, Naruto and Sasuke went ahead, they were supposed to take on the enemy and Yuki and I were back up in case something went wrong. The plan was for me and Yuki to follow the boys from a safe distance, however, before we could, we were surrounded by the enemy squadrons. Yuki used her spell to lift us up into a tree and we fought from there. When she noticed that the enemy had no pattern, no strategy, she seemed to have come to a conclusion on why the enemy was like so. She then ordered me to call for backup and here I am now." Sakura whispered to Kakashi while clinging to his back for dear life as he sped through the forest faster than what was humanly possible.
"Were they mundane or Blessed?" Kakashi muttered softly, one can never be sure about who's listening.
"If they were Blessed, then they were incredibly weak, and they didn't show any kind of battle training. I'd say they're mundane." Sakura whispered back.
"Kakashi, there's blood on the ground." Kurenai noted before she melted back into a tree.
Sure enough, when Sakura glanced at the ground, there was a reddish glint to it.
Within seconds, the small group reached a bloody clearing littered with dead (and dying) men. The branch she was standing on with Yuki earlier was covered in arrows.
"Yuki! Where is she!" Sakura cried worriedly.
"Let's go, Sakura." Kakashi said as he scooped her up in his arms and started running once more.
"Wait! What about Yuki?" Sakura asked.
"I know where to find her." Kakashi answered confidently.
When they found Yuki and the boys, it took a while before Sakura's mind processed everything in the darkness of the night.
First of all, there were enough bodies to cover a small army.
Second, Naruto was screaming.
Third, Neji was limping.
Fourth, Yuki was bleeding heavily and trying to heal Sasuke.
Fifth, SASUKE WAS DYING ON THE FOREST FLOOR!
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried worriedly as she raced to his side.
"Don't die on me, teme," Naruto, who was kneeling at his side, whispered angrily.
Sakura almost fainted when she saw Sasuke's chest. It was covered with large gashes, and she was sure more than a few of those were fatal.
The glow Yuki's hand started flickering and it went out completely. "This can't be…no, not now!"
But he can't die, he just can't. I won't let him die. Sakura thought with increasing confidence. I won't let him die.
"I WON'T LET HIM DIE!" Everyone was nearly blinded by the bright light that Sakura gave off.
When the bright light faded, Naruto just gaped, and when Sakura glanced down at Sasuke, she gaped too. Even in the dark, she could see that every single wound was gone. Not even a single drop of blood remained.
"Thank the gods," Sakura sighed in relief at the miracle she had just witnessed.
"You did it, Sakura-chan! You're Blessing saved Sasuke. You're a miracle healer." Naruto said as he hugged Sakura fiercely.
Kakashi sighed in relief; his favorite student was no longer on the brink of death.
Suddenly, all Sakura wanted to do was sleep. She welcomed the blackness that overcame her.
I want to announce a few things:
First: Thank you for taking some of your precious time to read this.
Second: I will be updating every Wednesday or Thursday, depending on which time zone you're in.
Third: I may only respond to some of your reviews, but that does not mean that I don't appreciate all of you!
Okay...
dark. angel.0818 - *shifts eyes* Girl, you weren't supposed to say that. But I gues the cat's out of the bag now. For everyone's knowledge, I DO pre-type my chapters, that way I can ensure that I can keep posting. And, dear cousin, I FLUFF 'YA!.
MichiiHaru-Chan - The reason why they were blunt and straighttforward is because when you ask the Blessed about their Blessing, it's like asking someone when their birthday is. No one really beats around the bush about that.
BriBri - As I have mentioned, I pre-type my chapters. The description of the rooms is in the next chapter, and so I hope you have enough patience to wait a week more.
Everyone, please, do review! I really need the appreciation! :3