"I hate you Sasuke Uchiha. I hate you and I really mean it."
Sasuke woke up with a start. He was breathing heavily and his clothes clung to his skin. "Sasuke!" he heard two voices exclaim. He rose to sit upright and saw Naruto and Sakura siitng on either sides of the bed, looking at him worriedly. "Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" the pink haired girl asked, concern clearly evident in her voice. "I'm fine," the Uchiha replied as he massaged his temples. "What happened? One moment you were practicing, then you screaming and shouting before you passed out," Naruto explained. "Is it because of the genjutsu I cast on you?" Sakura asked worriedly. "You cast a genjutsu on me?" Sasuke asked as he abruptly stopped massaging his temples. She nodded.
"I used the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique," she said. "What's that?" the blonde curiously. "It's a genjutsu which causes the target to see a horrifying vision. At first you're encircled by spinning leaves. After that, the vision begins to take place. The user doesn't control what you eee, it's simply about the target's worst nightmares," she explained. "Woah, that's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. "But Sasuke……" Naruto trailed. "What did you see?" Sakura asked. Sasuke looked away to face the wall.
"Could you please leave?" Sasuke said. "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun. I didn't mean to-" but she was cut short by Naruto who placed a warm hand on her shoulder. Sakura turned to look at Naruto who shook his head sadly. "Okay. I'll see you later," Sakura said sadly as she and Naruto stood up. They walked towards the door but Sakura stopped midway to look at Sasuke who was still facing the wall. She sighed before she went out of the room.
Sasuke released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. Sakura had put him under a genjutsu. Though he was slightly mad at her for doing so, he knew it wasn't the girl's fault. It was his fault for not detecting the genjutsu early enough. Besides he had underestimated her. She had clearly stated that she was used to being underestimated hence could easily catch her enemies by surprise. He was one of the unlucky. All he needed now was to relax and clear his mind of the vision. He leaned back in his bed and let sleep wash over him.
Sakura was walking back to her house. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of Sasuke. She felt extremely guilty that she had used such a genjutsu on him. It was one the few that Kakashi had taught. She remembered after completing all the genjutsus, Kakashi had told her the reason why he decided to teach her genjutsu. Sasuke had asked him to teach her genjustu. She was shocked!
Sasuke was actually thinking about her? He was concerned on how well she would fare in battle. She was delighted and was determined to show him what she had learned. After all, he was the reason why Kakashi decided to teach her genjustu. Sakura sighed in exasperation as she stopped in the middle of the road. "What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he halted as well. Sakura had almost forgotten that she was walking with Naruto.
"Oh sorry Naruto. My mind's just a little preoccupied," Sakura said with a weak smile. "It's about Sasuke, isn't it?" the blonde said. "Don't worry. He's going to be alright," he assured. "I know. It's just that I feel really bad. I didn't want to hurt him," the kunoichi said sadly. "Don't worry. He'll pull through, dattebayo," Naruto repeated with a thumbs up. "The big question is what did he see," Sakura said as they continued walking. "That's a personal issue Sasuke is gonna share with us of he wants to," the blonde genin replied. "Thanks Naruto. It was nice talking to you," Sakura said with a smile. Naruto grinned ear to ear as he blushed heavily. "No problem Sakura-chan!" he replied.
They walked a few metres before meeting with Hinata. "Oh hey Hinata," Sakura greeted the Hyuga heiress. "Hey Hinata," Naruto greeted. "Hie Sakura-chan, N-Naruto-kun," the blue haired girl stuttered with her face beet red, being in such close proximity with her crush. "What are you doing here?' Sakura asked. "I w-wanted to buy some kunai a-and shuriken but I lost my m-money so I'm searching for i-it," the girl replied. "Why don't you use your Byakugan?" Sakura asked. "I don't t-think it's wise to a-activate my Byakugan amidst t-the civilians. I d-don't want to start a f-fuss," the Byakugan user replied. "Oh," the pink haired girl said in understanding.
"Don't worry Hinata. I'll help you search for it, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed as he gave her a thumbs up. "Y-You don't have to t-trouble yourself N-Naruto-kun," the girl stuttered. "There's no harm in helping a friend," the blonde said as he waved his hand. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted as he went through the handsign. Fifty grinning Narutos poofed in existence. "Okay guys. I want you to search for Hinata's money. You got it?" Naruto commanded. "Yes boss!" they all replied in unison. "How much is it?" Naruto asked. "About 1000 ryos," the girl replied on the verge of fainting. "Search for 1000 ryos!" the original Naruto shouted. " We got it boss, dattebayo!" the clones shouted back before running all over the place, searching the ground for the money.
"That's my call to go," the blonde said as he turned to Sakura. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. He's the teme after all," he reassured her. "Thanks Naruto. Good night," she said. After waving goodbye to Naruto and Hinata, the Uzumaki boy sped away with the almost fainting Hinata. Sakura chuckled quietly to herself before continuing her journey home.
Her mind was still occupied even as she arrived home and went up to bed. Why did Sasuke call out her name?
Team Seven met on the usual bridge in the wee hours of the morning, even though Kakashi had still four hours to arrive. "Ohayo Sasuke-kun," Sakura greeted. "Hn," the Uchiha replied. "Are you okay from yesterday's training?" Sakura asked as she looked at him worriedly. "I'm fine. Just forget it ever happened," he said. Sakura nodded unsurely. "You better make sure you don't do that again teme! Sakura-chan was very worried yesterday" Naruto complained as he pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke. "You know dobe, you could do a really good job of shutting up," Sasuke snapped. "Who are you calling dobe?" Naruto asked, already preparing for a verbal fight. Sakura looked away from her two bickering teammates. At least, he showed he was fine.
1 month later
"Hey guys," Kakashi greeted lazily as he dropped to the ground. "You're late!" Sakura and Naruto shouted at their jounin sensei. "I met an old lady who couldn't carry her wood so I had to help her carry it all the way to her house near the Hokage Mountain," he explained. "Liar!" the two shouted. Even Sasuke was clearly annoyed. 'Old habits die hard' the raven haired boy thought. "So I came here to tell you of the upcoming chunin exams," Kakashi announced. "Chunin exams! I was wondering when they were gonna start," Naruto said as he grinned. "Chunin exams," Sakura muttered under her breath. Sasuke looked at her questioningly before turning back to Kakashi. "Now I've signed up all of you so you're to submit your forms later this afternoon, okay?" the lazy jounin said. They all nodded. "They are starting in a few days," he said. They all nodded in understanding. "Okay then bye!" and he poofed away. 'Typical Kakashi,' they all thought.
"Are we still meeting for training at your house?" Sakura asked Sasuke. He nodded. They had been holding training sessions late at night for the past month. Sakura had improved in her taijustu, though it still needed polishing and she was a master of genin level genjutsu. Naruto had improved in his accuracy with weapons. And Sasuke was perfecting his master plan. "See you later then," Naruto said as he looked like he was about to go somewhere urgently. "Where are you going?" Sakura asked curiously. "Oh, I'm helping Hinata train in stamina and endurance," he replied as he scratched his cheek nervously. Sakura smiled. "Have a great session then," she said. With that, he sprinted off towards the training grounds. It was good to see Naruto notice Hinata. "Goodbye Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. She didn't bother to ask Sasuke for a date. She has stopped that when Sasuke started to help her train. There was no point in trying to ruin their relationship because of her fangirl tendencies. "Hn," he said before turning to walk towards his home. She stared at his retreating figure for a while before heading towards her own home.
I'm done with Chapter 5. Sorry for the late update, I was really busy this week. Anyway, the chunin exams are coming up so expect the unexpected. Read and review.
Toonana
AfricanFire
