The Turning Point
Sakura kept up a steady pace trying very hard not to stomp her feet like a five year old throwing a tantrum. She walked briskly through the dark streets of Konoha trying to put as much distance between herself and the Cherry Blossom Festival where Sasuke and the rest of Rookie 9 were.
"I don't even see why I should feel embarrassed! It's not like I got on my knees and declared my true love for him I just wanted to know where we stood" Sakura grumbled digging her nails into the bear at her side glaring at its smiling face.
She had her answer now Sasuke clearly wanted nothing to do with her in the way she thought and he played her for a fool. Sakura decided that was what she was most embarrassed about, how willingly she absorbed all the attention and connected the apparently obvious dots in her head which turned out to be nothing more than an over active imagination.
Some birthday this turned out to be now everyone thinks I confessed when I didn't really and I'm once again seen as a Sasuke obsessed weirdo, Sakura lamented and had the sudden urge to turn around and throw her bear into the river.
She knew it probably wasn't the most mature attitude to have on her fifteenth birthday but none of that seemed to matter much. Sakura wanted to run home and pack her things and leave the village to find her parents; she needed her mother and father to talk to. Where were they when she needed them?
"Sakura would you stop?" Sasuke asked appearing from nowhere, his long legs matching pace with her brisk walk easily.
"Sasuke stop acting like you ran a marathon to find me you've been sulking up in the trees for the past ten minutes probably trying to decide if I'll kill you or not if you try and talk to me" Sakura replied shortly and continued walking.
"Sakura you couldn't kill me" Sasuke said monotone.
"Oh right of course because I'm so madly in love with you and it'll tear me to pieces. I'm completely obsessed and my abilities count for nothing but being your personal cheerleader" Sakura shot back sarcastically.
"That's not what I-"
"Just leave it Sasuke hasn't tonight been enough embarrassment for me? You don't need to keep going" Sakura snapped turning around and jabbing Sasuke in the chest with her finger in frustration.
"Train with me" Sasuke said calmly grabbing a hold of Sakura's finger to prevent her incessant poking.
"What?" Sakura asked, thrown by the odd suggestion.
"You're angry and upset. You should train to let it all out and you suggested we train together" Sasuke elaborated a smirk playing on his lips.
"It's the middle of the night"
"Hn so? The training fields don't have a closing time besides it's a full moon"
"Fine but only because I really want to hit something and if I have to wait any longer I might rip the head off this homemade bear. Training ground in ten minutes?" Sakura asked.
"Ten minutes" Sasuke agreed shoving his hands into his pockets and was gone in an instant.
"No Chidori!" Sakura yelled in protest as she quickly dodged the attack which lit up the entire training field.
"That didn't stop you" Sasuke said dissolving the jutsu and nodding towards the huge craters that littered the ground.
"Fair point" Sakura said dropping back into a fighting stance "Again?"
"Hn no I think we're done. Two hours seems long enough" Sasuke replied sitting comfortably on the ground with his back against a tree. Sakura stood hesitantly off to one side picking up her kunai embedded in the ground.
"You were right though I do feel better" Sakura chuckled and Sasuke smirked relaxing his body against the trunk of the tree.
"We need to talk about what happened at the festival Sakura"
Sakura stopped picking up her weapons and looked at Sasuke who had his gaze trained on her seriously. Motioning for her to join him Sakura sighed and took a few small steps before sitting next to the Uchiha survivor.
"There is nothing to talk about Sasuke you answered my question perfectly in front of all our academy friends remember? I was hurt and humiliated and that's how we came here" Sakura recited the narrative trying to push aside how painful it was as she swallowed cool water from her canteen.
"You make it sound like I don't care" Sasuke frowned.
"Well you don't you told me as much yourself" Sakura replied and looked to her teammate for conformation.
"I don't really understand what's happening" Sasuke began uncomfortably "But I do care more than the dobe and Kakashi"
Sakura furrowed her brow in confusion, "So you're saying that you do care that you hurt me in front of our friends but you care more than Kakashi and Naruto? Sasuke I'm confused"
"Look Sakura what I'm trying to say is that I care about you. More as a simple teammate and friend and it's frustrating and confusing but I do" Sasuke explained running a hand through his hair and sighing loudly.
"I see so I was right all along" Sakura said teasingly.
"Hn" Sasuke replied and for a while neither one of them spoke.
"If it helps I feel the same" Sakura said quietly and Sasuke smirked, "I already knew that, you said it in front of everyone"
"Shut up that wasn't a confession" Sakura replied hotly and drummed her fingers on her thigh nervously, "So what happens now?"
"Itachi is my focus" Sasuke replied simply, Sakura sighed having half expected the answer in the first place. The drumming on her thigh picked up a frantic pace until Sasuke huffed and grabbed a hold of her hand and entwined it with his.
"Itachi is my focus" Sasuke repeated "and I don't really understand my feelings towards you fully but I'm trying to ask if you'll wait"
"Sasuke I don't know if I can do that. I don't want to be that weak little girl again waiting around for you to notice me and pay attention to me. The Hokage has given me a month's required stay in the village while other ninja look for my parents, if a month passes and there is no result I am leaving" Sakura explained squeezing his hand lightly.
Sasuke was quiet for a moment looking at nothing in particular. "Will you wait for me for as long as you feel you can?"
Sakura studied her teammate carefully and nodded slowly. "Okay Sasuke I'll wait for as long as I feel I can wait for you. Does that mean you'll wait for me too if someday things change?"
"Yes" Sasuke answered simply and adjusted their position so that his arm was around Sakura's shoulders and her head lay on his chest.
"This is really unlike you to be so easily affectionate" Sakura said supressing a smile.
"Hn I don't know what I'm doing really it's strange for me" Sasuke observed. Sakura laughed quietly "You're doing well it's all very relaxing and natural"
"I don't want this to be known publically" Sasuke said bluntly moving his arm to Sakura's waist and unconsciously tightening his hold.
"I thought you might say something like that but I agree with you" Sakura said stifling a yawn thinking about how relaxed she finally felt and how she wanted to sleep.
"Go to sleep Sakura" Sasuke mumbled noticing straight away. Sakura felt her eyes begin to droop and vaguely registered what felt like Sasuke's lips in her hair.
"We should have more training sessions together" Sakura whispered before her eyes closed and she could hear Sasuke's quiet chuckles in her ear.
Shizune knew something was up with Sakura when she walked into the hospital grinning like an idiot. Sakura was always known for her cheerful personality at work but it seemed like something had happened to kick things up a few notches. She happily dealt with even the most difficult patients and definitely didn't look as tired as she had been for the past few days. Speaking with Lady Tsunade, Shizune knew Sakura's parents hadn't been found after all the ANBU team had only just been deployed.
"It seems the Uchiha kid finally made his move" Tsunade said when Shizune related the strange behavior to the Hokage a couple of days later.
"So you think they're?"
"No Sakura is too focused on her parents. That's not something she's going to throw away like that for some boy even if it is this Sasuke kid. Likewise he still wants revenge for his clan. But I at least think he's said something about it"
"Oh that is a very strange place to be and they are trying to hide it from everyone? Must be difficult" Shizune commented.
"Well actually Team 7 have a mission briefing today and Kakashi won't be going with them. It's to the Land of Tea so it'll just be the three of them. I wonder if Naruto will catch on" Tsunade wondered aloud.
"HELLO GRANNY TSUNADE?" Naruto's voice called loudly followed by a few sharp knocks on the door.
"Naruto its Lady Tsunade or Lady Hokage you can't be so disrespectful!" Sakura reprimanded from behind the door.
"Hn the dobe doesn't care" Sasuke added.
"Send them in Shizune" Tsunade sighed and Team 7 filed into the room to stand in front of the new Hokage, Naruto still chattering.
"If this is a mission debrief then shouldn't Kakashi-sensei be here by now?" Sakura asked Tsunade cutting over the top of Naruto.
"He's actually not going to be attending this mission, our forces are stretching quite thin at the moment and a lot of Jounin are out on their own tasks including your sensei. So it's just you three" Tsunade explained.
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged slightly worried glances but Naruto happily bounced on the balls of his feet and grinned at Tsunade. "So what's the mission?"
"It's B ranked and an escort mission for someone important. I figure after you Land of Snow success that you three can handle it. Granted the mission goes up a level if you get attacked along the way"
"Who are we escorting?" Sasuke asked.
"I don't know Uchiha" Tsunade replied and Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "Lady Tsunade what do you mean you don't know?"
"All I know is that the Land of Tea has a dedication ceremony every four years at the Totoroki Shrine and our village is always asked to escort a runner to participate, but the messengers bringing the request were attacked before they could get here to deliver the request"
Land of Tea, didn't that obnoxious Lord in Snow Country say something about the Land of Tea, Sakura thought trying to recall what was significant about the land.
"Huh wait I'm still confused" Naruto began but Lady Tsunade shook her head, "The man you'll be meeting there will explain everything to you but you're officially late and you need to be in the Land of Tea later today"
"Right you can count on us!" Naruto said running out of the Hokage office, Sasuke nodded curtly at Tsunade before leaving, Sakura quickly bowed to her sensei and followed her teammates out.
Just as I thought Naruto has no idea, Tsunade thought smirking.
"What a coincidence that we found a Tea House on our way to the Land of Tea!" Naruto exclaimed happily taking a seat at one of the tables and grabbing the menu.
Sasuke and Sakura sat opposite their blond teammate and exchanged exasperated looks. Team 7 placed their order and waited for it to arrive, there was only one other person in the house. Sasuke snaked his arm under the table and grabbed Sakura's hand in his own while keeping his signature bored look on his face. Sakura blushed a little at the contact that was still foreign to her but managed to keep a straight face.
"Ehh Sakura-chan your cheeks look red! Are you okay!?" Naruto asked looking over the top of his menu.
"Naruto I'm fine it's just hot outside is all" Sakura said and nudged Sasuke with her elbow when she saw him smirking.
"So you're just sitting around in the shade drinking sweet bean soup? Easy life for a ninja isn't it?" The man who had been sitting in the far corner of the tea house remarked walking past Team 7's table.
"What did you say!?" Naruto demanded his temper flaring at the comment.
"Well you do look out of shape so I guess that either means you don't get that much action in the Leaf Village or you're just lazy" The man continued chewing on a piece of straw but his eyes widened significantly when his eyes landed on Sakura.
"Well hello there. I'm Idate Morino, you're a pretty young thing you are much too lovely to be a ninja that's for sure" The man said sweetly resting his elbow on the table and leaning in towards Sakura.
"Thanks but I'm not interested" Sakura said stiffly feeling Sasuke's grip on her hand tighten.
"Oh come on what kind of an answer was that? You should give up this stupid charade and leave here with me" Idate continued and winked for emphasis.
"Are you going to hit this guy Sakura or am I!?" Naruto demanded standing up and cocking his fist "If you don't stop hitting on her I'm going to start hitting on you!"
"I won't be going anywhere with someone like you. Now either you get out of my personal space or you lose your fingers" Sakura replied simply and reached for her kunai knife with her free hand, Sasuke smirked and let go of Sakura's hand to allow her a good shot.
"Whatever. I was only kidding around and it'd be cradle snatching" Idate said and seemed slightly concerned when he saw Sakura pull the kunai. "But I meant everything I said before; ninja are lazy good for nothings and you better go back or they'll be trouble!"
"Yeah I'd like to see you try!" Naruto shot back completely fired up. Great he's going to take ages to calm down, Sakura thought exasperated.
"Hn Naruto we haven't got time to waste with a loser like this" Sasuke said trying his best not to get annoyed.
"Yeah did you hear that we – oh hey he's gone!" Naruto exclaimed as Team 7 looked around to find Idate had vanished.
He has to have had some sort of advanced training to move as quick as he did and go unnoticed, Sakura thought and looked at Sasuke who seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Here we are sweet bean soup, dumplings and rice. Thank you for waiting nicely. I'll just leave these on the table for you whenever you're ready" The woman from the tea house said cheerily and placed two slips of paper on the table along with their food.
"Wait a second why do we have two bills?" Sakura asked holding up the other slip of paper.
"Oh right your friend from before said you would be paying for his meal. How gracious of you to do so"
"WHAT!?" Naruto yelled at ear splitting volume grabbing his ninja travel bag and bolting out of the Tea House.
"You've got to be joking!" Sakura exclaimed angrily reaching for her bag, tossing the money on the table and running after Naruto. Sasuke sighed and swallowed a few mouthfuls of rice before following his teammates.
"OH YEAH SOME GUY TRIES TO FREE LOAD OFF OF US THERE'S NO WAY HE'S NOT GONNA PAY!" Inner Sakura demanded as Team 7 flew through the treetops searching for Idate.
"Hn we're not going to catch up with him, his speed is unmatchable" Sasuke said. "Well we're not going to stop trying until we do! Lousy idiot thinks he can free load off of us!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Wait I think I hear something, it's this way" Sakura said leading her teammates down a small hill and into a clearing where they found Idate hanging upside down from a tree having fallen just a few moments ago.
"All the speed in the world can't help me if I keep falling over useless tree branches" Idate mumbled.
"Well it serves you right you lousy freeloader!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hn you have some nerve" Sasuke added.
"We have better things to do than chase around a common thief like you" Sakura said feeling annoyed that they had wasted so much time straying from their mission.
"I'm sorry okay! I couldn't help it I was mugged and all my money was stolen. Then you three walked in and I know it was wrong but I was hungry and what else could I do?" Idate whined and threw himself on his knees begging for forgiveness.
"Hn you don't really believe this guy right?" Sasuke asked Sakura quietly. "I don't know it's possible but he doesn't seem like a threat other than being unusually fast"
"Hey what's this?" Naruto asked picking up a decorated sheath for a knife that was on the ground next to Idate.
"That's mine!" Idate yelled and snatched the sheath back. All begging and pleading gone from his voice Idate stood up and unclipped the leg weights around his lower legs. Dropping them to the ground Idate immediately sprinted off in the opposite direction much faster without the weights.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE WE FELL FOR THAT!" Naruto exclaimed and shot off after him. Sasuke and Sakura followed at a slower pace knowing there was no way they would be able to catch up with the thief.
"Naruto stop there's no point he's long gone" Sakura said catching up to her teammate. Naruto pouted like a five year old and glared. "Whatever, the next time I see that guy he's dead"
"Before the festival used to be one of friendly competition but then it centred around the conflict between the Wasabi and Wagarashi families which are also rival gambling organisations. Instead of armed conflicts to determine who has control of the town, the race to the Totoroki shrine now determines it" Jirōchō the leader of the Wasabi family explained.
"So where do we come in?" Sakura asked.
"In the past four years we have learnt that the Wagarashi hired ninja to protect and assist their runner. They have done the same this year which is why we contacted your village for help. I beg you; please lend our family your strength and abilities. If the Wagarashi succeed they hold the town for four more years" Jirōchō knelt before Team 7 within the confines of the Wasabi family home.
"You can count on us!" Naruto said happily and Sakura nodded in agreement, she was glad they had made it to the Land of Tea on time despite their setback with the Tea House thief.
"So who are we escorting?" Sasuke asked voicing his affirmation for the task. "Wonderful you've taken the job, Idate please come in!"
"Yes boss you wanted to see me?" Idate asked stepping into the room.
"WHAT YOU'VE GOTTA BE JOKING!" Naruto yelled pointing his finger accusingly at Idate, Sasuke let out a low growl and Sakura rested her hand in her head. Idate seemed equally as shocked and annoyed to see them.
"Good you already know each other that will make this whole process easier! Idate please show our guests around the village!" Jirōchō instructed before bowing and leaving the room.
Idate and Naruto squabbled the whole way into the village square with Sasuke and Sakura trailing behind them observing their surroundings. Growing tired of the bickering the Uchiha boy motioned for Sakura to follow him and they began walking towards the central market place.
"These prices are incredible" Sakura murmured quietly to Sasuke who nodded in agreement.
"I am sorry; you must be tourists to our village. My prices are not normally this high and I don't like to charge people that much believe me but the Wagarashi sets the prices of everything sold in the village" The lady who owned the shop explained.
"How much control do they have over this village?" Sasuke asked but before he could get an answer a huge crash followed by loud voices alerted the ninja's attention.
"Do you even know who you're talking to? We're the Wagarashi and we run this village which means you've got to do what we say and no questions asked. I mean you wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for us!" A member of the Wagarashi family taunted a man fallen on the ground, his cart with fruit smashed and overturned.
"But you took it and didn't pay!" The man protested feebly. The Wagarashi clan members laughed and one of them stepped forward. "Looks like you just don't get it old man. We'll have to make a public example of you"
"Do you want to handle this or should I?" Sakura asked Sasuke as they both watched the altercation in disgust.
"Hn you can do it" Sasuke said smirking as more people gathered onto the street and the shop owner they had been previously talking to came out tentatively and stood next to Sasuke as Sakura nodded and walked forward. "What is she going to do?" The woman asked fearfully.
"Just watch" Sasuke replied as the Wagarashi man lined up his arm to take a shot at the villager only for Sakura to catch his wrist and hold it there strongly.
"Who the hell are you?" The Wagarashi man asked.
"You need to leave this man alone and better yet leave the whole village alone. Get lost" Sakura said applying a little chakra pressure to her opponent's wrist making him grunt in pain.
The other two Wagarashi men turned around and quickly came to the defence of their leader. Sakura jumped quickly to avoid the attack and landed a punch squarely in one man's jaw and a kick to the other. A series of quickly calculated martial arts manoeuvres left the leader man on the ground with a broken jaw. The other two men remained standing but were severely bruised and beaten in the face.
"You're lucky we let you live this time round" One man said to Sakura as the picked the leader off the ground.
"Hn is that right?" Sasuke asked from where he stood and Sakura cracked her knuckles loudly. A shiver of fear shot through the Wagarashi men and they quickly sprinted away almost leaving their leader behind.
"Thank you young lady" The older man said clutching his now returned money bag with his days earnings in it.
"Not a problem" Sakura replied cheerfully and helped him up. Sasuke rubbed her shoulder and nodded to indicate she'd done well. The shop owner looked at the men running off in awe.
"That was impressive just look at them run away like the cowards they are! Now if the Wasabi can just win the race we'll be safe for the next four years. I can finally go back to charging people properly!"
I have a feeling it isn't going to be that easy, Sakura thought.
"Man I didn't think these races were such a big deal!" Naruto said looking at the masses of people who had gotten up before sunrise to see the runners off.
"Well it is and it's a pretty long race too. From this map you can see they start here at Degoroshi Harbour and then travel by boat across to the Motoroki Shrine which is the midpoint. Then the runners pick up the jewels from the Motoroki Shrine and the first one to get to the Great Totoroki Shrine is declared the winner" Sakura said showing Naruto and Sasuke the map Jirōchō had given her.
"But there are no rules in terms of conduct and anything goes. That's why runners can hire ninja" Sasuke clarified.
"I get it but where are the ninja for the other runner? I mean we're guarding Idate in the open so why aren't they?" Naruto asked scowling when he mentioned Idate's name.
"They probably want to keep a low profile which isn't a bad idea. But we still need to be aware of them" Sakura decided stowing the map away in her bag.
"I don't care what you three do but you better not get in my way. I have a race to run and I don't need you screwing things up for me" Idate said fixing his sandals.
"Hey you better show some respect! We're risking our lives to make sure an ungrateful idiot like you doesn't die!" Naruto said hotly.
"Feel free to leave at anytime I don't need you hanging around!" Idate replied angrily and Sakura stepped between them.
"Naruto we're on mission so we can't just leave you know the deal. I think you both need to try and get along because we're all going to be together for a few days"
"Not with him I can't!" Both said in unison and turned away from the other stubbornly. Sakura rubbed her temples and tried not to let her temper rise, it was going to be a long race there was no doubt of that.
"Attention everyone the race is about to begin! Running for the Wasabi family is Idate Morino" A voice from the speaker above the start line announced.
I didn't even notice it before when he introduced himself in the Tea House. Idate Morino? As in Ibiki Morino our proctor for written component of the Chunin Exams? Sakura thought and looked at Idate curiously.
"Runners take your marks"
Idate and his opponent from the Wagarashi family got into the starting position as the gates in front of them opened to reveal a long jetty with two boats at the end.
"GO!" The voice over the speaker shouted as both men took off running through the gates. Team 7 prepared themselves to follow Idate onto the boat when they noticed him suddenly peel off from the other runner and head in a completely different direction.
"What does he think he's doing?" Sakura wondered aloud as the ninja sprang into action following Idate.
"I don't know but it's getting on my nerves" Sasuke replied clearly annoyed.
Naruto shouted loudly that he was going the wrong way but Idate grinned widely and ran faster with Team 7 on his tail towards the mainland and away from the race start point.
Hey everyone,
Sorry I'm late with this update but I've had a few personal issues and quite a bit of university time consuming assessment. Nonetheless I hope you like the new chapter, let me know what you think! Yay for the Sasuke and Sakura relationship progress (small is a start!)
The update days might vary a bit because a lot of my assessment is coming up at the same time *sigh* but it'll definitely be one update a week as it is now, the days just may differ depending.
Anyway I shall see you all next week with the next chapter! ^^ xxx