(Welcome back! This is the Ninth Chapter of a 10 Part Arc. Forgotten memories resurface as Team 3 makes its way back to the Hidden Leaf. I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
"Do you really have to carry me like this, Kuroda?" Kayo inquires through clenched teeth from her position over Kuroda's shoulder.
"It's your punishment for being defeated so easily," Kuroda replies, "You're lucky I had already escaped Kaneo's Genjutsu and was fully conscious. Otherwise our whole team would be corpses instead of the Smoke Ninja."
"What do you mean? What happens if the seal activates and you're unconscious?" she asks.
"The same thing that would normally happen," Kuroda replies, "Only I won't be awake and able to stop or deflect an incoming attack. I'll be a sack of meat just waiting to be cut up."
"So then it really would be a sacrifice," Sakura comments with dread, realizing the incredible danger Kuroda has put himself in.
"Yes, it would," he says gravely, "I'm working on a way to deal with it, but I haven't gotten any promising results yet."
"Huh? Where am I?" Jando questions as he wakes up on Kuroda's left shoulder.
"Hey, you're awake, finally," Sakura says, smiling in relief that he is okay and not in a coma or anything.
"Good, now I don't have to carry you anymore," Kuroda says, tossing him to the ground.
"Hey, what was that for?" Jando shouts as he rubs his hip.
"You were heavy," Kuroda shrugs, "I was getting tired of lugging you around."
"You could have set me down nicely, shesh," Jando complains, as he sits up and brushes the dirt off his shirt, "What are we doing here anyways? Last thing I remember was starting to fight that tall Smoke Ninja. Where'd he go? What happened?"
"You used up too much chakra and fell unconscious," Sakura explains, irritated by his careless use of chakra.
"The rest of us managed to defeat him," Kuroda adds, "But we're all in pretty bad shape. We thought it was best to head back to the village as soon as we could, in case they had any backup on the way."
"Oh, well then I guess that's another successful mission for Team 3!" Jando exclaims proudly.
"We're almost back to the village, so you don't have to walk that far," Sakura says.
"My body is a bit sore, so that's good," Jando comments as he stands and they continue on their journey home.
"Hey, I just remembered something," Sakura exclaims into the silence.
"Yeah, well if it is important then spit it out," Jando comments.
"Well, it isn't anything vital," she says, "But this isn't the first time Kuroda has saved my life."
"Well, duh, he saved you in the Snow Country," Jando points out.
"No, I mean this was when we were little," Sakura replies, "Before we were even in the academy."
"Huh? What do you mean Sakura?" Kuroda says, "We didn't even meet until we got into the academy."
"Yeah, we did," she counters, "I remember it clearly now. I was roaming around in the forest one day looking for…"
*Seven Years Ago*
"Oh, wow, look at the pretty blue flowers!" the little pink-haired girl exclaims, "There are so many of them." She runs over, in her white shoes and blue summer dress, to look closer at the patch of cornflowers. "I wish my dress was this color blue," she comments as she sniffs one, "Then I would be the prettiest girl in school."
Sakura pulls some of the flowers out of the ground and adds them to the bouquet that she is creating. Once she is satisfied that there is enough of the new flower she moves on to search for others she hasn't added yet. She soon spots a unique multicolored flower that she has never seen before, in life or in a book, and she heads straight for it. She stares at it, fascinated by all the colors flowing together in perfect harmony. Sakura instantly decides that this will be the prize of her collection and plucks it out of the ground. She looks for more around the immediate area, but there are none to be found so she decides to push through the bushes to see if any are hiding behind them.
She soon realizes this is a mistake when she pops out on the other side and there is a steep hill. She tries to turn around and keep herself from falling down, but it is already too late and her balance is gone. She closes her eyes as she tumbles down the hill, crashing through bushes and tree branches, picking up scratches and scrapes from sharp rocks and sticks. By the time she finally smashes into the earth at the bottom of the hill she is covered is dirt and blood. In complete shock from the experience she doesn't react to any of the pain from her injuries. But once she tries to stand up she immediately comes back to reality and grabs her right leg as a sharp pain shoots through it. All the hurt of all her injuries hit her like a flood and she cries out into the forest.
A young boy with pitch-black hair and bangs covering his face, strolls down the forest path humming to himself. His grey shorts and shirt are covered in dirt from a recent game of capture the ninja. With a youthful smile on his face Kuroda hums the melody that is his favorite, even if he can't quite remember where he picked it up.
"Somebody please help me!" cries a voice from somewhere in the woods.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Kuroda calls back, concerned and eager to assist.
"Hello? Is someone up there? Please help!" the voice calls.
"I'm here, where are you?" Kuroda shouts, putting his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound.
"I don't know, I fell down the hill," the voice calls back.
"Are you hurt?" Kuroda asks as he tracks the location of the voice, frantically searching through trees and bushes to find it.
"I'm bleeding all over!" the voice cries, "And my ankle hurts. I can't get back up the hill."
"Just hold on a minute!" he shouts as he finds an area where the plants seem to have been disturbed, "I'll find you."
"Please hurry, I want to go home," the voice sobs.
"I think I found where you fell," Kuroda calls as he pushes his way through a few bushes, noticing a pattern of footprints on the ground.
Sakura looks up to a see a black-haired boy around her age pop up on the top of the hill. "You found me!" she says as she tries to wipe the tears off her face.
"Okay, just hold on, I'll go get some adults to help," Kuroda says as he starts to turn around.
"No, don't go!" Sakura screams, panic and desperation filling her voice, "I don't want to be all alone again."
Kuroda turns back and apprehensively glances down the large hill. Not wanting to leave the sad and scared girl all by herself he works up his courage. After a moment of nervousness he leaps off the top of the hill. His feet hit the ground and he slides down the slope. He flails wildly as he tries to avoid hitting sharp rocks and tree branches sticking out in the path. At last he lands at the bottom, only accumulating a few light scratches.
"Wow, that was amazing!" she says, the fear starting to go away.
"Thanks," he replies bashfully as he stares at the girl. He can tell that underneath the torn, bloody dress and the mud covered face that she is actually really cute, "So how is your ankle?"
"It hurts really bad," she says as she shows him the bruised, red, swelling ligament, "It hurts even more if I try to walk."
"It must be broken then," he guesses, scratching his chin as he tries to think of a way to get her up the hill with her ankle in such bad shape, "Well, that will make it harder to get you out of here."
"I tried to climb up," she explains, pointing to the hill, "But it is too steep."
"I don't know this area well, so we would probably get lost if we tried to find another way up," he says, "I'll just have to carry you on my back."
"Are you strong enough?" she questions.
"I'm really strong!" he says proudly, showing off his arm muscles, even though there aren't any muscles visible.
"Okay then," she says cautiously.
"Here, get on," he says as he turns around and squats down.
She slowly climbs up on him, wincing a bit when one of her injuries hurts, and secures her arms around his neck. "I'm on," she announces.
"Okay, then hold on tight," he warns as he locks his arms around her thighs and stands up.
"Don't drop me," she cautions as she clings tightly to him.
"Don't worry, Kuroda Taishi would never drop anything," he promises.
"Is that your name?" she asks.
"Yeah, what's yours?" he inquires.
"I'm Sakura, Sakura Nagana," she replies.
"All right then, Sakura, we'll be up this hill in no time!" he declares. She tightens her grip and closes her eyes as he surges forward up the hill.
Kuroda sits patiently outside the hospital room waiting until the nurses finish tending to Sakura's wounds.
"Is she going to be okay?" he asks as soon as a nurse exits the room.
"She'll be fine," the nurse replies politely, "She just needs to rest. But you can go in and see her if you want."
"Thanks a lot!" he says, relieved.
"Oh, hi!" Sakura says as soon as she sees him.
"The nurses said you were going to be okay," he responds.
"Yeah, I just have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks," she replies, gloomily.
"It's not that bad," he assures her, "I had to be here for a month when I broke my leg."
"Really?" she questions.
"Yeah, everyone was really nice and I got to eat lots of ice cream," he explains.
"Wow, that sounds cool," Sakura replies, with a smile, "Thanks for cheering me up."
"Well, I should be getting home now," he says, "My mom is probably worried about me."
"Do you really have to go?" Sakura asks.
"I'll come back and visit you tomorrow," he declares.
"You promise?" she asks.
"It's a promise!" he assures her before running off.
*The Present*
"You promised to come back, but you never came," Sakura says, frowning at the boy who has saved her life multiple times, "What happened?"
"Oh, I must have gotten into some sort of trouble with Ichimaru," Kuroda lies, "You know what a goof off I used to be. Sorry about that."
"That's okay, it isn't a big deal," Sakura replies, "I was just thinking that if you had come back we could have become really close."
"Yeah, I'm sure we would have," he replies.
"But we're together on Team 3 now, so I guess everything worked out," she says cheerfully.
"I remember that day," Kuroda thinks, a feeling of dread overwhelming him as he recalls that painful memory, "And I remember why I didn't go back. It was because of her. That woman."
(Well that is the end of the chapter, what did you think? Why did Kuroda forget about meeting Sakura when he was younger? And who is this mysterious woman that caused pain in his past? Read the next chapter to find out. As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)