(11/13/14) edited
Thanks for reviewing: Gaaraslover30240, Salekdarling
I will be typing jutsus in Japanese and then putting the English translation in parentheses next to them. The explanation will be at the bottom of the chapter.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto…..GIVE ME NARUTO NOW! …No?…fine then ;_;
Chapter 3: Nothing Ever Changes
A scream was heard.
Then there was silence.
Suddently, the world was ablaze. Red, yellow, and orange were all she could see before her. The fire started burning closer and closer to her, licking her delicate skin. Where was everyone?
Try as she might, she could not escape this deadly inferno. It was as if she were trapped in hell, free to see everything happening, but helpless to escape her fate.
"HELP ME! SOMEONE! PLEASE!"
But there was no answer. There never was. How many times had she burned already? A hundred? A thousand? A million? She couldn't remember, but she knew the feel of skin slowly melting off of muscles. Muscles peeling of bones and dripping down to the ebony abyss. Bones turning to ash as, finally, the world turned black. Then it began again.
A scream was heard.
Then there was silence.
Sakura woke up in a sweat, her forehead covered with dew and her clothes sticking to her skin. She threw the bedcovers off and ran to her bathroom, making it just in time empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet. It was that dream again.
It started a few months ago, after a simple mission gone wrong. Team 7 had been sent on an mission to bring a scroll to Gaara, the Kazekage of Suna. It all started going downhill when they were ambushed. The shinobi wore no headbands and no signs that led them to a specific village, but they were all high level shinobi with a considerable amount of training. Sakura remembered it as if it were yesterday.
"Sakura, take those four out while we handle the rest." Kakashi stated calmly as the tugged his forehead protector up, revealing the sharingan. Sakura nodded and faced the four when the first stepped up and smirked, as if mocking Sakura. Her eye twitched, and she clenched her hand in preparation for a punch. The shinobi settled down into a fighting stance, beckoning her forward. Sakura charged and took a sharp left turn, rebounding off one of the trees sending her fist into the side of the shinobi's head. He dissolved into dirt.
"Shit! A clone." She hopped onto a tree branch and readied herself for a counterattack. Her senses had sharpened over the years, and she closed her eyes in order to hear the movements of the shinobi. The other three seemed content to just watch the fight between the unknown man and Sakura.
…There!
Sakura turned and heard the enemy yell "jouro senbon (raining needles)" (1) She took out two kunai and skillfully deflected most of the senbon sent at her, but a few struck her. She managed to avoid any vital organs and veins, and hurriedly pulled them out of her while jumping away from a goukakyuu no jutsu (grand fireball technique) (2). Sending chakra into her leg, Sakura smashed the tree the man was standing on and sent her fist into his face, breaking his cheekbone and nose. "Hell yea!" she screamed, looking around for the other three guys. But they were gone.
Sakura looked to her left, and she realized why they had disappeared. Naruto was surrounded by a bubbling, glowing, gelatin-like layer of red substance, and the image of three tails could be seen, even from her distance.
"Naruto! No!" She heard Kakashi scream. But it was too late. Something had sparked Naruto's intense anger, and his mind was gone to the fox's. He started attacking everything and everyone, be it friend or foe. Sakura was rooted to the ground, but Sai pulled her out of the way and started running away with her in his arms.
"Naruto is lost at the moment. All we can do is hope that Kakashi-sensei can get a seal on him in time. We cannot risk him growing anymore tails."
The forest broke and changed into sand. They had reached the desert too late. In such a barren area, they would've seen the enemy coming from far away, but they had been in a dense area of the forest.
Sai put Sakura down and a few minutes later they finally heard the sounds of battle die down. They sprinted back into the forest and ran over to Kakashi and Naruto. Sakura tended to Kakashi first. Nothing too bad, a fractured bone in his calf and a second-degree burn on his right hand and wrist. She healed the fracture and wrapped his hand in bandages after putting a balm on it.
Then she saw Naruto. It was too horrible to describe with words. Running a few paces away, she emptied her stomach and dry-heaved for a little while. The sight that greeted her was not comforting at all. Naruto's skin had been burned off, and he now lay in the grass unconscious. She knew she would have to bandage him, lest leave his body open to the germs in the air, but she didn't want to touch him.
A twinge of guilt flooded through her. This was Naruto. The Naruto that laughed and ate lunch with her every day. The Naruto that had finally given up on asking her out. The Naruto that was still oblivious to Hinata's love. She owed him too much to be squeamish at this moment.
Inhaling a big breath of air, she steeled herself and walked back to Naruto. Sai was crouching down next to him, checking Naruto's pulse.
"His pulse is strong, and it seems that the Kyuubi's chakra is already beginning to heal him. We will need to bandage him however. Kakashi is sending word to the Hokage to inform her of what has occurred. We should move as quickly as we can."
Sakura and Sai bandaged up Naruto, and the four (Sai carrying Naruto) ran back to Konoha as quickly as possible.
Though Naruto healed and bore no scars from the incident, Sakura could never look at fire again without breaking out in a cold sweat. Then the nightmares began. She could never get a good night's sleep without experiencing that horrible dream.
Sighing, she walked out of her bathroom and looked out the window. Dawn was breaking, and she didn't have to be up for another two hours. She knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep though, so she dressed and made her way to the Memorial Stone. She knew she would find Kakashi there.
"Yo, Sakura-chan." Kakashi gave Sakura a nonchalant wave as he continued to gaze down at the stone, his eyes tracing every teammate, every friend, every loss. The two stood in silence for a good fifteen minutes before Sakura spoke up.
"How are you, Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, probing into his life. She knew he hated being asked questions like this, but she was genuinely concerned. She saw his face yesterday when they had found her. He looked devastated. And now, seeing him once again put up a mask to everyone, feigning contentment, was killing her. She knew something was wrong.
"Are you sure you should be up this early Sakura? You look like you still need some rest. Besides, I want us to get back into training as quickly as possible."
It was so like him to avoid the question, trying to steer the discussion into a different direction, preferably one not concerning him.
"I'm fine sensei. You really should answer my question."
Another silence overtook them. Not uncomfortable, yet not so comfortable. The silence was empty, each waiting for the other to say something. Sakura was just about to huff and leave when Kakashi finally looked at her. His eyes were angry, yet an undercurrent of understanding passed through them.
"Sorry, Sakura. I'm not sure I can answer that question just yet. Perhaps…in a few years…"
Sakura sighed and sat down on the grass, linking her fingers and placing her chin on her hands. Kakashi would always be Kakashi, hiding his past even from his students, whom he claimed to be the only family he had left.
"I guess I'll have to be content with that answer for now sensei. It's unhealthy though, bottling it up like this. And I would know, being a medic and all."
The corners of Kakashi's mouth tugged his mask upwards, revealing a small smile.
"Don't worry too much about me Sakura-chan. You still need to heal before you worry about others. Only Naruto and Sai will be training today. You'll be sitting out until I get the OK from Tsunade."
Sakura pouted but waved goodbye to Kakashi as he walked away. After sitting for another hour, she got up and slowly made her way to the training grounds.
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
Sakura grimaced but waved at Naruto…who was squirming frantically because he was tied to a wooden pole by ropes made from ink?
"SAKURA-CHAN SAVE ME! QUEER HERE TIED ME TO A POLE!"
Sakura looked at Sai, who was sitting comfortably on the floor eating his breakfast.
"He kept bugging me, so I had to do something," Sai said without looking up.
Sakura sighed. What a way to start out a day.
"Sai, let him down or he won't shut up."
He seemed to think for a moment, then snapped his fingers. Naruto hung in midair for a few seconds before landing on the ground with an 'oof'.
"Queer! Why did you do that to me?"
"I believe I already answered that question. Besides, dickless, if you were a man you could've escaped quite easily. This further proves the theory that you are indeed dickless."
Naruto's eye began to twitch as he continued to yell at Sai. Sakura buried her head into her hands.
Why me?
"Oh sorry….am I late?"
Kakashi had made his entrance by poofing into existence behind Sakura. She glared at him.
"I suppose nothing does ever change." She mumbled.
"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!"
Sakura and Kakashi turned to see a sweat-laden Kiba running towards them.
"Kiba-kun? Is everything ok?"
"It's Hinata! She's been kidnapped!"
(1) Jouro Senbon- Raining Needles: a barrage of needles that are sent flying at the opponent
(2) Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu- Fire Element, Grand Fireball Technique: a technique where the user builds up chakra in their chest and blows a large ball of fire from their mouth.
Lamest…ending…ever T^T I'm sorry that I couldn't come up with anything longer, but I thought that I should at least update. Don't worry guys! I know where I'm going with this! Sorry for the really short chapter D:
Please R & R!
:] ~sakuya