Hello, folks! Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it!
PS Whytegriffen thank you for the reviews! Everytime you post one, it makes me extremely happy ^^ And considering your last comment, I can assure you that Kakashi doesn't die in this chapter. Actually after I got the idea for the tournament from HP and didn't really followed the script of the story as you might notice. So, you shouldn't fear the death of our beloved Copy nin.
PPS I do not own "Naruto" it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto ©
When all the love has gone away?
And passion stares me in the face
Could I walk away?
"Devotion" by Hurts
Sakura stood silently in the crowded room. People were staring at her with hungry eyes as if she was for sale, then she remembered…she was on sale… A pained grimace appeared on her face; every damn thing in this tournament was decided by sheer luck. The choosing of the participants, the outcome of the challenges… and now that. Up until now, except for maybe the second test, the reason for the victory lied not in participant's particular ability but in their luck. Well, sometimes luck could be bad as well. The dead face of the other girl suddenly emerged in Sakura's head and the pinkie shivered. It's been a while since she had thought of her. Her mind was always occupied with something else and the Leaf kunoichi didn't have time to dwell on her death and what caused it.
Sakura smiled to herself. In the beginning of the tournament she was scared the shit out of the possibility to fail or be killed, now she realized that there is no point in worrying about something that she couldn't change. She couldn't change her fate or her luck. She could only hope they were good enough to save her ass. The pink-haired kunoichi bowed slightly her head and smirked."Since when have I become such torpid person?" She slightly turned her head around and glanced at the man standing behind her with her peripheral vision, his mask was covering as usual the lower part of his face but, once seen, the image of his bare face was sealed in Sakura's mind and now she could mentally retrace his lips, nose, and chin. The kunoichi expected to feel the stabbing pain in her chest as she experienced before in the same situations but nothing happened. Was it because she didn't care? No, it was probably because nothing changed. She still considered him a friend, even a little bit more than that, just a little bit more, she still trusted him with her life, she still respected him. And no matter what he had said or done, nothing was going to change the way she felt for him.
The sudden ruckus startled her and she forced herself to pay attention. Every single eyes was turned in her direction, a heavy silence was lingering the air. She heard a curse coming for behind her and she turned around to see Kakashi's narrowed eye.
"What's wrong?", she managed to force herself to speak, despite the inner reluctance she felt.
"Aren't you listening? You'll be first to bid for.", the man behind her hissed angrily.
"And that is a bad thing?", she couldn't follow him quite well.
"It's the worst possible.", the Copy nin whispered and his chin trembled.
Sakura tried to say something the voice of the Mizukage interrupted her, "Is everyone who want to bid for Sakura ready?", a loud positive responses echoed in the hall, "In that case…Begin."
As soon as the voice of the Mizukage faded away a man raised his hand in attempt to bid but in instant Kakashi was already next to him, tightly clenching his forearm, pushing it down. The silver-haired jonin looked slowly around at the surprised shinobi and said with indifferent voice, "7 no trump."
Everyone including the Kage's raised from their seats with wide open eyes. Only Tsunade was sitting comfortably in her chair. Sakura's mouth was gaping open. The kunoichi couldn't believe that just now Kakashi declared the highest possible announcement. He was out of his mind or he made it on purpose probably? The kunoichi stepped forward to the Copy nin with unwavering gaze nailed on him. His black eye was staring at her blankly. None of them said a word, standing side by side, looking at one another. Then Sakura's lips trembled.
"I'm once again in your care, senpai.", she bowed formally and sent him a bright smile.
The Copy nin nodded dryly and gave her an eye crinkle, "I look forward working with you, Sakura-chan.", she could fool everybody in this hall but she definitely couldn't fool him. He saw her real feelings that she put behind her words. The anger and frustration that once again she'd be protected. That's how she looked at this situation. They were again comrades. He was once again the more experienced and skilled one. But how could he just let her life to be depending on some horny perverted teenager ninja, just graduated to jonin. No way. That was better.
The Mizukage said loudly, "First pair: Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi.", the hall didn't fill with applauses as usual, there were many displeased faces among the crowd and everybody knew why. After a few seconds the Mist leader continued, "You both may leave. This outcome was unnatural but there is always a solution for a problem. There won't be a bidding for the other participants' partners. They will be selected randomly by a lot."
Kakashi and Sakura sent the Hokage a empty stares and left the hall without uttering a word. Walking down the corridor to the room prepared for them, none of them looked at the other. The kunoichi's eyes were nailed right in front of her, on the soft dark red carpet.
"Won't you ask why I did it?", Kakashi murmured without looking at her.
"No need."
"Why?", the man insisted, confused by her unordinary nonchalance.
"I trust you."
Did she mean it? The Copy nin stopped and stared in her back as she continued walking, "Sakura…", the girl turned around and looked at him questioning. That was the first time today she looked him in the eye since she came out of her apartment. The silver-haired jonin sighed heavily and drew closer to her, "I did it because Tsunade wanted me to be your partner at all costs. I couldn't let everything to luck and hope that nobody would be stupid enough to call the highest bid.", Sakura's eyes flinched and suddenly a cold sparkle appeared in her emerald lakes but Kakashi continued, "Every man in the hall was ready to announce the highest declaration possible, just like I did. In order to be your partner I had to talk first.", his hand attempted to stroke her shoulder but Sakura slapped it.
"Don't touch me again, senpai.", the pink-haired kunoichi glared in Kakashi's coal eye, "It may cause some unwanted consequences and blow off the challenge. What are we going to do then?", her eyes widened in terror and her voice lowered in dread, "What are we going to say to Tsunade-sama?", her fingers buried in her hair worriedly, "I get chills down my spine just thinking about it.", Sakura bit her lower lip, shaking her head in refusal. Then the kunoichi turned around and left Kakashi staring at her silenced.
"I think it's appropriate time to raise a huge sign with written SARCASM on it."
The Copy nin turned around and saw Jiraya smirking at him, "When did you come back?"
"Few hours ago.", the old shinobi laughed and supported his back on the wall next to Kakashi, "But I guess I've missed quite a lot."
"No, you didn't."
"Well, with a behavior like yours, no wonder.", the Sanin shook his head disappointedly, "Minato would have been so ashamed. He was the perfect student. Like a dry sponge. Whatever I said or did he absorbed it and then reproduced whenever he needed. How do you think he managed to get such wild cutie for a wife?", Jiraya poked him in the ribs. Kakashi only frowned as the old shinobi continued, "Too bad you didn't learn anything from Minato in that aspect…Kushina and Sakura are more alike than you think."
"You think Sakura should be kidnapped and then I should go and save her, claiming to be following her strands of pink hair?", smirking the silver-haired jonin murmured.
"No, all I'm saying is that there is always something you can do to change things.", the legendary Sanin chuckled, "A kiss or two, maybe more, always help. Who knows? There are rarely quarrels between men and women while they're in the bed. Problems start when they get up…"
"Just go and see Tsunade, you horny ancient prick.", Kakashi sighed and headed to the room where Sakura was. There were still things they needed to discuss about the challenge.
Sakura went through the lists with instructions for the first game. Each of the teams would receive fifty balloons filled with paint. They had to tag their targets by hitting them with a balloon. The dye will splash over them and that's how they would be marked. The kunoichi sighed and peeked in the cardboard box on the floor beside the table. A small electric blue rubber balls were showing from under the semi closed-cover. At least the color was cute and easily distinguished. Suddenly the door snapped open and Sakura turned around.
The Copy nin slowly entered and quietly closed the door. Without looking at her he sat in the armchair next to the table, "So, did you come up with a strategy?"
The pink-haired girl frowned, "I was reading the instructions."
"I see."
"Do you have any ideas?", Sakura growled at him.
"Probably."
"So? What is it?", the girl raised her voice, "Don't make me pull out your words with a hook, please."
"First answer my question.", the silver-haired jonin nailed her with his gaze, "How many people do you want to tag?"
"Eight.", she answered without hesitation.
"Wrong.", Kakashi replied annoyed and send her angry look, "The correct answer was 8+."
Sakura narrowed her eyes, "Why do you want to make our task even more difficult? There is no point in that."
"Again wrong.", the Copy nin sighed, "What is the difference between us fighting 8 people and us fighting 14?"
The kunoichi bit her lower lip. He was right, again, they were in disadvantage in both options. No matter how many people they tagged their battle strategy would be the same – them against many. A frown appeared on her face, "The difference is in the points you receive."
"Exactly. There is one more thing as well…", Kakashi tilted his head thinking, "Don't think that the other teams will stay still until you tag your people. They will try to sabotage you. Only one person less and we're doomed. We need to think fast and choose the most suitable candidates to become our hands. We shouldn't underestimate them. Among the prisoners there might be very strong shinobi. If we misjudge their strength we might end up fighting against an S class ninjas or even higher."
Sakura was staring through the window on the opposite wall without uttering a word. Her sight was wavering and Kakashi frowned under the mask, "Are you even listening to me?"
Startled the girl looked at the shinobi beside her, "Do I dare not to?"
The Copy nin sighed tiredly, "This can't continue any more. At this rate you'll fail us."
"Of course I will! I wasn't even supposed to be in this tournament!", the kunoichi raised her voice nailing her cold stare at the jonin, "But don't worry, I will give my best not to embarrass you, or at least I'll die trying." After the words came out of her mouth, Sakura walked out of the room and closed the door with a bang.
The spectators were countless and the clamour they were making was deafening Sakura's ears. The kunoichi didn't come back to their consultative room and now she had no idea what was the plan, what they were going to do. Her action was the most unprofessional thing she had even done in her career since she was an academy student. Kakashi was emitting a deadly aura and he refused to look at her, probably after the challenge, Tsunade will tell her off so bad that she might not be able to show her face in the open again. After so many years of service she was ashamed of herself. Sakura cursed in her mind, she mustn't let her feeling to take the better part of her sober mind.
The kunoichi glanced at the man next to her. He was standing leisurely with hands in his pockets, but the pinkie knew him long enough to notice the nervousness, anger and anxiety in his body. She wanted to apologize but her pride didn't let her utter a word and Sakura only bit her lower lip, tasting the blood on the tip of her tongue. Suddenly the gates of the Coliseum opened wide and a group of people slowly entered. They were all men, some of them were short, some - too tall. Sakura noticed that each one of the prisoners was wearing pure white clothes and that their hands were clasped in handcuffs. "So, the Kages decided to hide their chakra from us for now…", the thought passed through her mind, "So much for the wise choosing…"The girl took a quick glance at the other corners of the arena, trying to see the enemy teams but the distance was too much for her eyes and she could only distinguish small dark figures.
With a single waving from the Hokage's hand , the spectators silenced and Tsunade turned to the Mizukage in a sign to announce the beginning of the challenge. Sakura felt the panic crawling under her skin and she nervously stroke the extra leather pouch hanging on her waist. Kakashi had given it to few minutes ago without saying anything. Naturally, Sakura checked its contents and realized that he had separated the balloons in half – 25 for him and 25 for her. She sighed heavily, trying to calm her beating heart. There was no point for her to panic, she needed to think soberly in order to pull this off. Suddenly, a hand roughly grabbed her for her forearm and she instinctively gazed at Kakashi's face. He wasn't looking at her but she knew it was him who was holding her.
"When the event starts I want you to separate the prisoners from other teams.", his voice was quiet and she barely could hear him, "I'll be tagging the people, you'll keep the others from getting any."
"Firstly, how exactly I'm supposed to keep them away. You're the one with doton jutsus, not me. Secondly, even if I manage to keep them away for a bit, you won't have enough time to tag everybody alone…", her speech was interrupted by the irritated voice of the Copy nin.
"Firstly, I don't care how you will keep them away. If you had stayed in the room maybe you could have had enough time to think about it but you chose to behave like a third-rate shinobi. Secondly, don't dare to tell me what I can or cannot do. This is entirely my problem."
Sakura's teeth were tightly clenched as she was trying to swallow the anger that was rising in her. She knew she was the one at fault but he shouldn't have said it like this. Then the fury in her chest was replaced by the frustration that she had no idea how to keep the others away long enough for him to finish his job. The pink-haired kunoichi looked around and stopped slightly her foot at the ground. The earth was hard but as far as she knew there were sewer tunnels just under the arena. With few precise kicks she could easily make the ground collapse. Her eyes lingers on the arena. There were white lines, separating it into quadrants – one for each of the teams and one in the middle for the prisoners. Suddenly her gaze stopped on some strange unevenness on the ground few inches away from her feet, the kunoichi looked carefully around, everybody was busy listening to the Mizukage. Sakura smirked and stepped closer to the jog. The kunoichi ploughed up the ground with her sandal and gasped for air as she realized that was a pumping-shaft. Quickly she lifted her gaze tracing the arena for another roughness. Her eyes popped as she found another one, then another one... Soon her mind had made a mental image of the sewerage. Perfect. Sakura grinned, missing the strange look that Kakashi sent her.
"1 minute till the beginning of the challenge. Prepare yourselves! A whistle will announce the start. Please, stand still until then!", the Mizukage glared at the teams with a evil grin on his face and returned to his chair in the baignoire next to the other VIP guests.
Kakashi let out his breath and took his hand out of his pockets. He felt Sakura looking at him but he ignored her. Right now he shouldn't distract himself with her. Then a small pouch emerged before his black eye and the Copy nin looked quickly at his comrade. The kunoichi was handing him her portion of the balloons, "What's the meaning of this?", his voice came out rougher than he wanted to.
"You're gonna need them more than me.", the girl pushed them in his chest, forcing him to accept them.
"But…"
"There's no time for buts.", Sakura said with a blank stare, sighed and crack her fingers.
Before Kakashi had the chance to argue with her a loud whistle echoed in the coliseum. Immediately Sakura rushed to the furthest line, defining the quadrant of the prisoners. The girl froze into a place as she notice Chojuro and some short black-haired girl rushing at her. The leaf kunoichi only smirked and clashed her fist into the ground under her legs. A deafening crackle concussed the arena, the earth cracked and few moments later it collapsed leaving a deep and wide pit, separating the team from the prisoners.
Only seconds had passed since the beginning of the challenge and Sakura could feel the sweat drops on her forehead. As she made sure that this would hold them up for a while the girl rushed to the second line. Darui had already managed to reach it and he was just about to throw a bright red balloon when suddenly from only God knows where appeared Pakkun and bumped into his hand, forcing him to drop the paint. Sakura's eyes immediately travelled in direction to Kakashi and they widened in surprise as she saw his dogs jumping from man to man, leaving electric blue paw-like prints on their white clothes.
The kunoichi averted her eyes from his teammate and stared in front at her enemies. Darui and a strange looking young man were rushing at her in an attempt to eliminate her. A sudden rush of panic passed on her nerves but she quickly recovered and bumped her fist in the ground. Another hole appeared, colliding with the first one. The targets in the middle quadrant were looking around shocked, sending terrified stares at the petit pink-haired kunoichi.
Sakura rushed to the third side but then before she could even try and demolish the ground a high mud wall raised from the earth before her, just in the place where she wanted to create the pit. Her head immediately turned around and saw Kakashi kneeling behind her, tossing a paint balloon in his right hand and the left one placed on the ground. His dogs were near him, surrounding a terrified prisoner. The Copy nin gave her an eye crinkle, "I saved him for you.".
The kunoichi's face curved in a smug expression as she pulled out a shuriken from her pouch. The silver-haired jonin stood up and tossed the balloon above the head of the prisoner. Sakura threw the weapon, piercing it right in the middle. The electric blue paint splashed over the man's hair and the spectators burst out in loud exclamations. Sakura drew closer to the Copy nin and kneeled down on the ground to pet his dogs, ignoring the look he gave her.
"You did a great job, guys. Especially you, Pakkun. Thanks for stopping Darui.", Sakura bowed down and stroke the tip of her nose to his small black moist nozzle. The pub wagged his tail excited.
"Anytime."
Sakura stood up and faced their owner quietly. She was completely aware that he expected an apology, "Look, I'm sorry I bailed out but I got angry and I knew that if I stayed even a minute longer I'd probably say things that I don't mean.", she crossed her fingers and changed the weight to her other foot.
"I know. And I understand.", Kakashi sighed, "But that doesn't mean that you can use this as an excuse for your unprofessional and completely imbecile act. You are the Konoha's representative, Sakura, you can't just think about winning, you must consider keeping and improving the prestige of the village and the Daimyo. I can't lie and say that I'm not disappointed in you.", the kunoichi's eyes fell ashamed, "If you didn't finish your part of the challenge accordingly to my plan I would have been forced to report to the Hokage-sama."
Suddenly Sakura's gaze raised and she glared surprised at Kakashi, "You mean, you didn't tell Tsunade-shishou?"
"I would have signed your death sentence if I did."
"Thank you.", Sakura bowed politely and tried to say something else but the Kages had come down to the arena to greet the participants and announce the results.
The Mizukage grabbed the Copy nin's and Sakura's wrists and pulled them after him. When they stood in the middle quadrant, where few other shinobi were repairing the terrain, the Mist leader shouted looking around at the spectators, "Team Konoha had tagged 14 people. Their next challenge would be fighting against these, selected by them, targets. If they managed to finish the second stage that would mean that they will receive additional double points for each one of their six extra hands.", the Konoha's population among the crowd on the stands burst into happy exclamations, "Also,…the other two teams: Team Kiri and Team Kumo won't participate in the second part because they don't have any tagged people. Their teams will join in the third last challenge without receiving any points from these two parts.", the Mizukage finished his speech with an evil smile on his face.
Sakura took a deep breath and headed to the exit of the Coliseum when Naruto grabbed her hand and stopped her. The blonde was panting and the kunoichi could easily guess what was the reason for that, "Did Tsunade send you to summon me?"
Naruto only nodded grinning and they both headed to the Hokage's tower.
"Do you have some new information about the mission I gave you?", the blonde kunoichi glared at her student, "You hadn't reported to me since I gave it to you."
"I'm really sorry, Tsunade-shishou. But my mind was occupied with the tournament and I barely had time to report to you.", the pinkie bowed slightly.
"You're excused.", the Hokage waved to the armchair before the desk and Sakura sat in it, "Tell me what you've learnt."
"I don't know if you're informed but my date on the festival was one of the participants, Darui.", Sakura frowned as she remembered the events that occurred after that, "I was able to spend some quality time with him and I don't think he's involved with the poisoning cases."
"I know."
"How…?"
"I suppose he invited you, didn't he?", Tsunade grinned at Sakura's nodding, "He had the same mission as you. The Raikage asked him to research the other participants."
"I see. So, he invited me because of the mission.", Sakura narrowed her eyes.
"Sakura, you don't really…"
"No, no, no, shishou. I don't have any… feelings… for him if that's what you wanted to ask.", Sakura interrupted the blonde.
"Good. Then Chojuro?"
The pink-haired kunoichi gulped and averted her eyes from the woman before her, "I don't have any proof that he is the one poisoning the victims. But…"
"But…?"
"My instinct tells me that he is quite different than what everyone thinks of him. I mean. I don't want to accuse him of anything but I find it strange that he always finishes last in every challenge. If he is selected by the Ark then he should have some remarkable abilities, but up until now we haven't seen any.", Sakura sighed.
"My exact thoughts, Sakura.", Tsunade's face frowned in a serious grimace, "Thank you. Go and rest. You need to be at full strength for tomorrow's challenge."
"But I didn't really help much.", the kunoichi bit her lip.
"You did a great job. I didn't send you for proofs, Sakura. I needed another point of view on the case.", Tsunade smiled gently.
The kunoichi returned the smile and nodded slightly, "I'll be going then.", she stood up and walked to the door when the voice of the Hokage stopped her.
"One more thing, Sakura…Pay Kakashi a visit. You two need to discuss the strategy for tomorrow."
The girl scratched her neck uneasily, "I'm feeling tired, shishou, I really wanted to go home and rest."
"Fine, I'll tell him to go to your place then…", Tsunade grabbed a pile of papers from her desk and threw it in the waste basket on the floor next to her desk.
"Oh..No, no I'll go…", Sakura bowed once again and went out of the door with frustrated expression on her face.
How was she supposed to face him? Different plots played in her mind but the end of every one of them wasn't something she was particularly fond of. The girl took a deep breath and raised her hand, clenched in loose fist. She didn't have the courage to knock. Why was is so difficult? Sakura frowned at her cowardice and hypocrisy. In front of everyone she could easily force herself to behave normally but when she was alone with him, her feelings took the better part of her and she couldn't control her reactions. The pink-haired kunoichi shook her head to chase away any thought in her mind. She came here because she needed to discuss their plan for tomorrow's challenge. Sakura couldn't risk again and go there unprepared.
The girl sighed and knock on the wooden door two times. She looked around herself while waiting. That was the first time she had ever come to her ex-sensei's apartment. The building was old and at some places the grayish yellow plaster had fallen, revealing the bricks under it. Sakura could swear that her teammate received fatter paycheck than her and yet he lived in such seemingly abandoned place. The kunoichi sighed again and stared at the door. He hadn't answered yet. Maybe he wasn't at home or he was just absorbed in one of his naughty books, grinning under his mask. She knocked again and made a step back still wondering if she should leave and just visit him early in the morning. The girl sent the door one last glance and turned around to head toward the exit of the building.
Suddenly and silent crack was heard behind her back and Sakura immediately turned her head, noticing Kakashi half-naked with a towel on his neck. The mask was nowhere to be seen. The girl's eyes lingered on his bare firm chest, she couldn't help but smirk in her mind. There were still few sparkling drops of water, rolling down on his abdomen and the kunoichi traced them with her green gaze until they were lost from her sight in his loose black trousers. Sakura cleared her throat and smiled at the expecting expression on Kakashi's face. She was far from used to see him without his mask. "I wanted to talk to you about the challenge…but if the moment is inappropriate I can come by early tomorrow."
The Copy nin gave her a blank glare and stepped aside with a casual gesture, inviting her in. The kunoichi nodded slightly and entered his home, looking around curiously. The walls were naked, no pictures, photos or any other kind of decorations. As she noticed he didn't have carpets and furniture. Except for the small coffee table and two seated sofa which she saw in the living room. The girl cleared again her throat and sat on the edge of the couch, feeling uncomfortable. There was a strange tension hanging between them.
"I don't have anything to offer, expect for water – ", his voice came out lazily and he eased his shoulder at the kitchen's door-casing.
"No, thank you. I came for work anyway.", Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to smile, "So, did you think about our strategy for tomorrow? We have to fight against 14 shinobi."
"Actually, to be honest, I didn't.", he let his breath out and ran his fingers through his silver wet hair. Some tiny locks fell in front of his sharingan eye and the man reached to put them in place.
"Is something wrong?". Sakura asked, raising her brow.
"Nothing's wrong."
"Are you sure?", she insisted.
"I'm fucking damn sure, Sakura. Period.", he raised his voice and she tilted her head slightly back.
"Sit here, Kakashi.", the kunoichi shot him a worried, yet adamant stare, and tapped on the couch next to her.
"I'm fine."
"Don't be so stubborn… Please?", she looked him in his eyes pleading and after a deep sigh the man obeyed, joining her on the sofa, "Talk to me."
"Why should I?", his lips curved in a sad grimace.
"You know perfectly well, why.", Sakura took a sharp breath and her eyes travelled on his face, looking for his. When they met, the green emeralds glistened from all the things left unsaid between them, "We need to solve this. We need to make it as clear as possible for the good of both of us. It's ruining yours and my life, Kakashi. I can't sleep, I can't even think properly, my mind is full of those crazy thoughts and I don't know if you experience the same but if all this doesn't stop anytime soon, it will drive me crazy…"
"It's worse – ", the Copy nin smiled sadly, interrupting the girl. He stared a her with darkened eyes – she looked so small, so fragile and so damn tired right now. He hadn't noticed till now but there were dark shadows under her eyes, "I bet it's way too worse for me than it is with you…"
"Why?", Sakura's lips trembled at his words, she didn't know why but she was on the verge of crying.
"Because I have no idea what to do. I know what I want to do but I also know what I mustn't do. At any costs.", the man let out his breath and closed his eyes, "I'm being tormented from the inside. So tell me, Sakura, what to do?", his black coal eye slowly opened and fixated hers.
"I can't answer that, Kakashi. I can barely decide what my next step will be, yet you ask me to tell you yours.", the kunoichi looked at the floor, averting her gaze from his.
"Then why did you come here?"
"I already told you. Because we need – ", her speech was interrupted by his nervous chuckling.
"Cut it out, Sakura. We both know that the last few days, every time when we were alone together in a room we argued. You are smart enough to understand that we were better off not seeing each other before this challenge. It will only make things worse.", the Copy nin laughed under his breath and eased his back at the sofa.
"We need to talk it out. Somewhen. I'm confused, Kakashi. Utterly confused…so are you.", Sakura raised her eyes, "We can't continue do this…It is affecting our work too.", her hand reached and stroked his bare shoulder, comforting him.
His black eye immediately moved to meet her emeralds at her touch. His pupil was widened and it was moving chaotically. The place, where her fingers were caressing his cold skin, was burning. The flames were spreading through his whole body, making him shiver. Without thinking Kakashi gripped her waist with his strong hands and pulled her to him. The girl next to him gasped for air but she didn't opposed and the silver-haired jonin let his eyes linger on her face, studying every centimeter of it. The full pink lips, slightly glistening from the moisture on them, were smelling like cherries. Kakashi felt drawn to her even more by the aroma. His thumb traced the outline of her mouth and then caressed gently her bright reddish cheeks. The skin felt unbelievingly smooth. The Copy nin licked his lips and slowly, tenderly pressed them at hers.
The kiss was sweet and bitter at the same time. Kakashi imagined that it was the taste of the forbidden fruit. It felt completely wrong and yet right. Her lips were as soft as they looked and they hungrily parted, responding to the movement of his tongue. The Copy nin's hands tightened the grip on her waist and his other hand travelled a little higher to the back of her head, burying his fingers in her pink locks.
Sakura moaned quietly and raised on her knees only to straddle him, without breaking the kiss. Her hands wrapped around his shoulders, touching, studying, moving eagerly to his chest, impatient to feel his smooth skin. Another groan escaped her mouth as she felt his tongue playing with hers. With every kiss the flame in her body ignited even more and the fluttering butterflies in her stomach were making her mind blank. Sakura pressed her body to his, and deepened the kiss. The short dark-blue skirt she was wearing, was now rolled up on her hips. She felt his palms slowly moving towards her bottom and she purred as they reached their destination and grabbed tightly her rear. She forgot to breathe.
Sakura pulled back a little, tearing apart their lips. His mouth was glistening and she traced it with her forefinger, lifting her darkened, from the arousal, eyes to meet his, "Is this what you want, Kakashi?", her voice was hoarse but she didn't cleared her throat.
The man under her closed his eyes and pushed her away gently, "It doesn't matter what I want, Sakura. How many times should I repeat it so you can understand?", the jonin made her sit next to him and he stood up nervously, turning her back at her. She needn't to see him so flustered.
"It matters to me. Or will we pretend that none of this happened?", Sakura raised her voice, standing on her feet with eyes nailed in Kakashi's back.
"It did happen, Sakura. And it was a mistake we would never do again – ", the girl's brows knitted and she reached to catch his arm but he pushed her away, "Don't…Please… If you really care about me, just let it go – "
The kunoichi licked her still wet lips. It was the first time he had ever begged her for anything. He must have his reasons and Sakura lowered her head in understanding, passing him by. At the doorstep she turned around and smiled brightly at him, "I suggest to use the same tactic as today – I'll try and jail them in one place, you just have to kill them. I can help you out with some of them but you know if we try to avoid the close range combat, I'm not much of a help ."
Kakashi averted his eyes from her and stroke his chin, thinking, "We can try something else.", he was grateful for the change of the subject.
"Like?"
"I kill, you heal."
"You want to confront all of them at once?", Sakura's eyes popped out.
"I've handled even more at once. And I was much younger than I am now.", the jonin scratched his neck, "Moreover, you can cover me from behind with shuriken and kunai."
The kunoichi hmm-ed and headed towards the exit, "I'm going. I remembered that I need to check something in Hokage's tower before they close it.", Sakura waved and smiled at Kakashi, "Rest well. I will come early in the morning to wake you up and give you a quick check up. I'm still not sure it's ok for you to exert yourself so much."
"I'm perfectly fine, Sakura-chan – "
"You nearly died, Kakashi. You can't be "perfectly fine" – "
"But you were there to save me – ", he smiled at her, giving her and eye crinkle, "As you will be tomorrow if something happens."
"You're putting too much faith in my abilities – "
"No. I'm putting faith in you, Sakura.", his gaze was warm and gently and the kunoichi knew that he meant it. The small spark in her heart ignited and Sakura felt her chest clenching.
"Thank you.", the girl smiled and turned her back to him walking out of his apartment, Kakashi following her.
"What friends are for?", the Copy nin laughed shortly and closed the door after she left.
Standing on the sandy ground of the arena, the Konoha team looked around at the audience. The Coliseum was crammed with people, waiting for the beginning of the challenge. Sakura shared nervous glace with Kakashi and the Copy nin just nodded reassuring her. The arena was back to normal, obviously they repaired it after yesterday's match and the kunoichi noticed that there were no lines this time – only dirt. The pink-haired girl bit her lower lip and wondered if her teammate would manage to fight against so many shinobi. She was well aware of the rules – anything was allowed, the match wouldn't be stopped even if one of the participants is dead. Kill or be killed. The only way out of this was victory or death. She gulped the lump in her throat and her finger traced the weapon holster on her hips and the first-aid kit next to it. Each one of them were given only ten shuriken and kunai, one metallic string and few smoke bombs with explosive tags. As the Mizukage said, Sakura was allowed one extra item and she of course choose her medical kit.
She looked at her companion - topless Kakashi was something pleasing to the eyes but now Sakura frowned. They made them wear a specific outfit for the challenge. When she first heard about it, the kunoichi thought that they were giving them something that can be useful in combat but in the end it turned out that they were only trying to make things even more dangerous and difficult. The Copy nin wore only a pair of black trousers and ninja sandals. Nothing more. He wasn't even allowed to wear gloves or forehead protector. Sakura wondered how he convinced the Kages to keep his mask. The girl stirred uncomfortably at her place. She wasn't exactly fond of her outfit as well. It was the same as Kakashi's with the single difference that she had bandages wrapped around her chest, covering her breasts. The fear that at some point her bare chest could be seen from all of the population of Konoha was sending chills down her spine and Sakura double checked the knot that was keeping up the swathe.
The kunoichi knew that without her gloves, her hands would become chafed, worn out and there was a possibility that she might break some of her knuckles. She had to be extremely careful with her punches. The pinkie sighed and her green gaze looked for her shishou at the spectators. Quickly she spotted the VIP baignoire but her eyes couldn't reach to see the blonde Hokage. She was scared, for her and Kakashi's lives. There was a high possibility of them getting hurt, she wasn't a delusional little girl, setting her ex-teacher on pedestal, idolizing him, sure that he can kill all of the men without getting hurt. She wasn't naïve anymore to think that he would always win. Sakura didn't know what made her such negatively thinking person. "No…", she quickly opposed in her mind, "I am not a pessimist, I'm just realistic, down-to-earth girl." The pinkie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, calming herself.
"Be a little bit more confident in my abilities, Sakura. You're hurting my feelings.", Kakashi whispered in her ear and the kunoichi snapped her eyes open startled.
"I'm sorry. But I can't just magically stop worrying. It's not implicated in my software system.", the kunoichi frowned, looking straight in front of her.
"You're worried about me?", he sounded surprised.
Sakura shot him a blank expression and rolled her eyes, "Don't sound so surprised, if somebody hears you, they'll think I'm heartless, cold-blooded person."
The man chuckled, "Are you aware that every single one of those prisoners would try to kill you, not me?"
"Why would they? We're both in the same boat."
"I guess you didn't hear about the clauses under which these men agreed to participate.", Kakashi shook his head, "Seriously, did you think that they would obediently come here so we can slaughter them?"
"Well, I thought that…", she scratched uncertainly her cheek, "…the Kages forced them to participate…"
"Sakura, they may be brutal at some point but even they have to obey certain laws.", the Copy nin sighed, "The condition under which those people decided to take part in the challenge is that whoever manages to kill the participant in the challenge will be granted his freedom."
"So they chose to fight here, knowing that most of them would die, because of a very slight possibility one of them could be released?", her eyes were widened, "That's just stupid."
"Is it really?", the silver-haired jonin smiled under his mask, "They have no future. They know that they'll be executed sooner or later. That condition is like a ray of hope, coming through the tiny window of the cell, they are kept in. It is an opportunity for them to live…"
Sakura silenced, lost in thoughts about what her teammate, just said. What was the feeling to know that you will die tomorrow or the day after that? She couldn't even imagine the desperation they were feeling right now. The person's strongest instinct is the one with the desire to live. They would be fighting like an cornered wild animals, desperately trying to escape the claws of the predator that was hunting them. Sakura was their escape route, their ticket to life, their second chance. The kunoichi bit her lip. The prisoners would be merciless, reckless, irrational, their behavior could reach extreme heights if they see they were losing the fight. The kunoichi shivered and glanced at the man beside her.
What was she prepared to do to save his life, to protect him? Was she prepared to die? Her immediate answer that came to the surface of her mind was "yes" and she would have answered without hesitation few weeks ago but now things were a bit different. She wore the burden of Konoha's fate on her shoulders, the Hokage, the people of the village relied on her victory, even Suna prayed for it. Was she selfish enough to threw everything away so she could save one single life? Did she really care for Kakashi so much that she even consider putting him before her responsibilities? Would she sacrifice everybody else in order to keep him alive?
She couldn't find the right answer, that wasn't a simple question to which you can answer with "I don't know" or "I can't choose". When the time came and she didn't have the time to dwell about it, the kunoichi would have to make a choice, to take a decision which can cause her to hate herself forever. Should she rely on feelings or sense? That was a question Sakura didn't want to answer, at least not now.
A loud shrill sound echoed in the coliseum and everybody silenced. Sakura turned her head in direction to the VIP baignoire, the Mizukage was standing up with an microphone in his hand. The Mist leader greeted the spectators and the participants, welcoming some new important guests. The man explained the rules of the fight again and then waved with a hand to the ANBU sitting next to the fenestrated double door, who unlocked it and the door opened with a loud creak. Sakura's body froze as she saw the prisoners, in a line of two, came out to the arena, facing the leaf shinobi. She could feel the emanating dark aura from them. And as she noticed, their chakra was fully replenished. The pink-haired girl jerked.
Suddenly a voice outcried the mumbling of the spectators, "Kick their asses, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei."
The kunoichi turned her head searching for the source of the scream. Her green eyes widened and she grinned widely as Sakura noticed Naruto being punch by the Hokage for stealing the microphone from Mizukage's hands. Her blonde friend stood up shaking and waved at her direction, the pinkie laughed openly and waved back. Her eyes searched for Kakashi's and she saw him staring at her. His coal iris was unusually lighter , and she could easily distinguish his pupil. He suddenly ruffed her hair and gave her an eye crinkle.
"Even if I didn't have Tsunade's orders to partner up with you, I'd still do it.", his voice was merely a whisper, "It's an honor fighting by your side. You've become a fine kunoichi, Sakura." The girl blushed and smiled a little, averting her eyes from his gaze. Kakashi rummaged in his pouch, pulling out a kunai and the metallic string, "Are you ready?"
The kunoichi let out her breath and nodded, "I am."
The Mizukage cleared his throat, "The fight is going to begin after the usual signal. Be prepared!"
The prisoners burst out in loud exclamations. They were jumping and grinning at the two leaf shinobi. Sakura studied their faces carefully. Their skin was pale white and their eyes were surrounded with dark purplish-black shadows. Some of them were missing a finger or two, some of them didn't have teeth. The kunoichi jerked as she saw them staring only at her. Kakashi was right. She was their pray and the girl knew that her life was once again in Kakashi's hands. But this time she wasn't irritated that her ex-teacher would be protecting her, she was glad to be partnered with him. He was the only man, she trusted completely. And Sakura knew that he would protect her, he always did, no matter of the circumstances, the Copy nin Kakashi always found a way to keep her safe.
A loud whistle echoed in the Coliseum and immediately Sakura saw Kakashi charging ahead, tying the kunai with the string. The kunoichi stepped back and bit her thumb, tasting the blood on the tip of her tongue. She made a series of hand seals and hurriedly placed her palm on the ground, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!", her voice was deafened by the battle cries around her. With a sudden poof a huge slug appeared in front of the kunoichi. It greatly resembled Tsunade's summon, Katsuyu, but its coloration was different, instead of white and blue stripes, the huge animal was light pink with black spots spread all over the body.
Sakura smiled, obviously proud of her. She had learnt the jutsu yesterday, after she walked out of Kakashi's apartment. The kunoichi pointed in her teammate's direction and shouted at the slug, "Mahi, please, assist him!". The slug immediately jerked, decomposing itself in few smaller summons, and it began to creep towards the prisoners. Sakura rummaged in her pouch and pulled out few shuriken, throwing them at some of the shinobi who managed to pass around Kakashi. The kunoichi saw him surrounded, with weapons flying at him from every direction. His movements were magical, elegant, fast, untraceable. The girl noticed that the shinobi didn't try to kill him but more like distract him so they can chase her.
The Copy nin swung the metallic string with attached kunai at its end and drove it into the throat of the man closest to him. A blood splashed out and covered Kakashi's chest and mask. The silver-haired jonin made a short series of hand seals and took a deep breath only to send the fire jutsu at his enemies. He counted the lying bodies on the ground, eight down, six to go. He panted and turned around, feeling a tremendous amount of chakra bursting in the air. A skinny, purplish haired prisoner charged at him with katana in his hand. Kakashi stepped back, trying to avoid the attack but his foot stumbled upon a small rock on the ground and the Copy nin lost balance, falling back. His body met the earth with a hard thump. The collision drove out the air from his lungs, making his mismatched eyes to widen. The jonin saw the attacker closing in. Kakashi's gaze searched for an escape route but the other five prisoners were blocking it, with wide grins on their faces. Suddenly their smug expressions faded away and their faces frowned into painful grimace. The silver-haired jonin noticed the small pinkish slugs on their shoulders. The tiny, needle-like thorns coming out of their open mouths were stacked in the prisoners' necks. The men fell on the ground motionless, breathing heavily.
Kakashi immediately jumped up, avoiding the coming attack. The blade of the katana crushed the ground where he just lied a moment ago. The prisoner smirked and looked at the startled men, "This little slug was a nasty move; too bad I saw through it…", he reached his hand in front of him, showing the wriggling animal in his grip.
The silver-haired jonin immediately turned around to look at Sakura. The girl was kneeling on the ground with fixated eyes on her summons, controlling them. Slowly the kunoichi rose to her feet and murmured to the larger slug next to her, "Thank you, Mahi. You may go now." The slug jerked her body and disappeared in another poof of smoke along with its minions. The pink-haired girl smiled and walked in Kakashi's direction without averting her eyes from her opponent, "Surrender and I promise you painless death."
The man giggled madly and lifted his katana, pointing it at her, "Too bad I can't promise you the same for you and your friend over here…", his eyes were glistening.
Sakura stood next to the silver-haired shinobi, "Go take care of the other five. They're still alive, the poison is paralyzing, not killing. I'm not sure how long it will keep them down. I can handle him.", her voice was indifferent and cold.
Kakashi shook his head, "You should do it. My method of "taking care" is too… unpleasant… for the eyes."
The kunoichi knew that probably her teammate didn't want her to risk hurting herself by fighting with the last prisoner. Sakura only nodded, not wanting to argue with him in front of everyone's eyes. Slowly walking to the fallen men's bodies she sent a worried glance at the Copy nin. Something about that man was bugging her. His clothes were clean and he didn't seem tired at all. She instinctively checked what was left from her weapons in her pouch. Only one kunai, Sakura bit her lip. She'd better quickly finish here and go to Kakashi's side.
The Copy nin cracked his neck and brushed off some of the blood from his face. His senses were tickling, there was something odd about that man. He couldn't let Sakura face him. Something might go wrong. His left eye was getting blurry from all of the tension, put on it for the last few minutes. Suddenly without any warning the prisoner disappeared, and only thanks to his instincts he managed to block his attack. The katana clanked from the collision with Kakashi's kunai. The speed of this man was unbelievable. The Copy nin found it hard to follow him with his eyes. The silver-haired jonin closed his right eye, relying only on the sharingan. At one second he was before him and in the other the man with purplish hair was already somewhere else.
Kakashi stepped back unknowingly and he felt a sharp pain in the area of his abdomen, a sudden gasp for air and a silent groan escaped his lips, as the silver-haired man saw the blood pouring out from his sliced stomach. He fell on his knees, pressing his palms tightly at the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. It was impossible, soon the ground around him was soaked in the crimson fluid. His head turned in direction to Sakura, with his last strength he managed to call her name.
The pink-haired kunoichi kneeled beside at the last of the paralyzed prisoners, she pressed gently her glowing palm at his chest. She sent a sharp and strong chakra flux, making the heart of the man to stop. She closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Suddenly a loud cry made her chest hurt.
"Sakura!", the voice of Kakashi was shaking, weak and desperate. The kunoichi immediately turned around and her eyes popped out as she saw the Copy nin on his knees with paled face and eyes fixated on her. The pinkie stood up and her hand covered her mouth instinctively as she saw the amount of blood that was pouring out of his abdomen.
"Run…", Kakashi managed to say before his body fell completely on the ground, splashing in the constantly increasing puddle of blood.
Sakura screamed and rushed towards her teammate. Just before she could reach him, the prisoner confronted her grinning, "Why so sad?"
The kunoichi clenched her fists, chakra already flowing in them, "Move.", she growled with half opened mouth.
The prisoner chuckled and disappeared. Sakura widened her eyes and looked around terrified. Suddenly she felt a stinging in her right arm. Her eyes immediately traced the source of the pain and her pupils moved chaotically as she saw the deep cut wound that had appeared. She heard a slight whoosh passing around her and her head turned in its direction. Another sharp pain spread, this time in her tight and she saw another cut appearing there. Her emerald eyes teared up and she jerked in fear. How can somebody be so fast? He even defeated Kakashi… she didn't stand a chance against somebody like him. Her gaze lied on the fallen silver-haired jonin. He was probably already dead. No, she couldn't think that way. He had been in worse condition before and he still survived. The kunoichi looked around her but couldn't see the other shinobi. Another whoosh and Sakura felt her knees weakening. A small trickle of blood flowed on her calves. The prisoner had torn the tendons on the back side of her knees. She couldn't move her legs anymore. The only thing left for her to do was to accept the death.
The prisoner emerged suddenly before her and swung the katana in his hand, grinning, "You ready to die?"
The kunoichi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, strengthening her back, lifting her chin, stubbornly. She wouldn't be afraid from him. There was one last chance for her but she wasn't even sure that that would work. Sakura released the tension in her mind, letting every thought to fade to black. The pink-haired girl heard the whoosh of the katana and gasped sharply for air as she felt him driving it in her stomach. Her eyes snapped open and she glared at the cold dark eyes on the smirking prisoner. The audience was quiet. There wasn't even mumbling or any other noise. The wind was the only thing that dared to break the deadly silence.
Suddenly her left hand gripped the blade of the katana and a devilish grin formed on her lips, "No, I'm not ready.", Sakura pulled back, letting the blade to slide from her stomach, still gripping it. Blood poured from the wound and continued flowing out. The prisoner was glaring at her terrified as he saw the kunoichi giggling, he made a step back, but then the pink-haired girl pulled the katana to her, forcing him to stumble. Her fist clenched and chakra ran into it. She drove her punch into his face, smashing the skull into pieces. The mutilated corpse of her opponent thumped on the ground.
The spectators burst out in astonished exclamations but the only thing that was occupying Sakura's mind was Kakashi. The medic dragged her feet to his body, falling beside it. She couldn't feel her legs anymore. Her fingers immediately pressed against the man's neck, searching for his pulse. The slight pumping sent warmth in Sakura's heart. He was still alive. There was still chance to save him. The kunoichi sighed and stoke her palms, letting out the breath she was holding. She gently pressed her hands at his stomach, they glowed in soft blue light, different than the usual green one. She knew that a regular healing jutsu won't work on him right now. He had lost too much blood. A sweat drops appeared on her forehead as she activated the jutsu. Right now she was grateful to Chiyo-baasama who gave her the scroll of her life-transferring jutsu. Without it she wouldn't be able to save his life. Her own wound was getting worse and Sakura was well aware of it. As she transferred her life force into the shinobi beside her, the girl felt the strength leaving her body. She heard the medical team along with Tsunade and the other Kages approaching but she didn't pay them attention.
The Hokage placed a hand on her shoulder but the kunoichi only jerked and continued healing him. The crowed was getting bigger and bigger. Soon Naruto pushed through the gathered people and dropped on his knees next to Sakura and Kakashi. His eyes were glistening but he didn't utter a word. The blonde only watched his friend saving the life of their ex-teacher. He remembered that jutsu, how could he forget it. The same jutsu that brought Gaara back to life. The same jutsu that Chiyo-baasama couldn't finish alone due to her weakened state and he helped her with. The same jutsu that stole away her life. The Jinchuuriki knew that doing that, the pinkie was putting her own life in danger but he also understood that she wanted to do it, she needed to do it. That was her ninja way, that was her purpose for living – saving her beloved ones.
Sakura noticed the wound on Kakashi's abdomen closing, a little bit more and he should regain consciousness. A tired smile appeared on her face. A slight jerk under her palm, made her eyes linger on the Copy nin's eyes. His right eyelid trembled and the jonin slowly opened it. A loud sigh of relief escaped her lips and Sakura cancelled the jutsu, caressing his cheek, "Welcome back." The man growled, not able to form an answer but his coal gaze gave her all she needed. His life was saved, he would live. The pink-haired kunoichi chuckled and the tears she had been holding up escaped her eyes. She cried out and buried her face in his palms. He was going to be OK.
The crowd started shouting, laughing and greeting each other. Tsunade smirked and gave her orders to the medics who prepared the stretchers for the leaf shinobi. Naruto was openly crying and crawled next to Sakura giving her a tight hug. The girl in his arms shrieked and a painful moan came out from her mouth. The Jinchuuriki glanced startled at her female teammate and cried out in fear, yelling at the Hokage and the medics.
Sakura had lost consciousness.
TBC