"The heaviest part of time are the ghosts of the past that one tries to forget."
Inside a sinister and cold darkness, Sakura ran as fast as her small legs would allow, alongside others doing the same. One of them stumbled over his own feet, falling flat on the ground. Only a few glanced back to see him pleading tearfully for help; none stopped, they kept running until the man's cries for mercy turned into chilling screams, then fell into eerie silence.
"Trying to escape?" Zabuza's voice cut through, appearing in front of Sakura and the others attempting to flee. His massive blood-stained sword lazily swung in his hand.
Sakura's heart pounded so loud she could hear it in her ears. Zabuza swung his sword directly at her neck.
Abruptly, Sakura opened her eyes, gasping deeply and rapidly. She reached for her neck, taking a couple of minutes before realizing she wasn't in the dark forest with other prisoners running for their lives. She was in the room Tazuna and his family had provided for Kakashi to rest.
"It's just a nightmare," Sakura repeated to herself with relief.
Once her racing heart finally returned to normal, she gazed at Kakashi-sensei's peaceful face, feeling a twinge of envy for the first time. He had been unconscious for three days, days she had spent sleeplessly.
On the first day in the house, the three of them had hovered anxiously around their teacher, unsure how to help. By the second day, with no change, the kids had decided to proceed with the mission. Naruto had wanted to remove Kakashi's mask to finally see what lay beneath, but Sakura had stopped him. Guilt gnawed at her for not aiding in the fight against Zabuza; this was the least she could do.
Furthermore, things with Naruto and especially Sasuke remained tense. On the second day at Tazuna's house, Sasuke said he didn't believe Zabuza was dead. Naturally, Naruto was the first to react, surprised and scared, until Sasuke spoke up.
"We all saw it, Sakura. He fell dead right before our eyes," Sasuke said, squinting. "Even Kakashi checked him, that ninja said she was hunting him."
Sasuke was right. Kakashi had declared him dead, but something made her feel uneasy, like something she couldn't comprehend was wrong. After that, they didn't discuss the matter further.
Tired, she rested her cheek on her knees and watched Kakashi. Since they arrived, Sakura had spent her time sleeping in a small corner of the room, pretending to watch over Kakashi, all to avoid sleeping in the same room as Naruto and Sasuke. Just eating together and exchanging a few words a day was stifling enough without sharing a bedroom.
She had devoured the book on medicinal plants she had brought with her over these three days, so now she had nothing else to read until she noticed the book that Kakashi always carried with him among his ninja gear. She hesitated for a moment whether to take it or not.
"He's asleep, he won't notice if we take it," Inner encouraged her.
Since she had nothing more entertaining to do, she took the book with curiosity. It must be really good for him to read it constantly, even neglecting training to read it.
She hadn't even turned five pages when she slammed the book shut and stifled a loud scream at the back of her throat. She almost threw the book across the room, but held back because making too much noise would bring Sasuke and Naruto running to see what was wrong. She caught a sidelong glance at the book cover and immediately blushed bright red.
"Kakashi-sensei is such a pervert! I can't believe he walks around the village with his nose buried in that book," Sakura exclaimed in her mind.
"Hey! Don't set it aside, I want to see what happens to Junko when she meets Princess Yukie now!" Inner protested with a pout.
Just glancing at the book made Sakura's cheeks blaze. If she was curious to know what else happened... No, she'd better do something else. She got up from her seat to go downstairs and keep watch. As she stepped into the hallway, she hesitated for a second, unsure in the dark and ominous atmosphere.
"If something happens, Sasuke-kun will come to save us," Sakura convinced herself.
She made a quick stop in the kitchen for some water while mentally reviewing the traps she had set around Tazuna's house as a precaution. While Zabuza might be dead as Kakashi said, there was no guarantee that that man Gato wouldn't send more enemies at any moment. Everything seemed fine until the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt the presence of a tall, sturdy person behind her.
"Zabuza! He's here to kill me, he's already killed Kakashi! I don't want to die!" Panic-stricken, when Zabuza's hand touched her shoulder, she dropped the glass in her hand and lunged ready to attack him with her eyes closed.
"Sasuke-kun!" she cried out.
"Sakura."
She opened her eyes in terror when Zabuza took her hands.
It wasn't Zabuza.
"K-Kakashi-sensei," she gasped. Tears streamed down her cheeks in relief. "I thought Zabuza... It's you... Kakashi-sensei..."
Kakashi watched his student pour out her relief before him. Truth be told, he was surprised. His little student had moved at a speed he didn't expect, although he still held her hands for safety, feeling them tremble like an autumn leaf about to fall.
"You're going to make this sensei cry for wanting to avenge my death," Kakashi said. Sakura had thought out loud before attacking, her gaze went straight to his hand holding hers with the piece of glass. "I think it'll become reality if I bleed."
Realizing the trace of blood dripping from his hand and hers, she immediately relaxed her arm and dropped the glass to the floor.
Two pairs of hurried feet could be heard running until they peeked through the kitchen door. Both boys arrived disheveled, Sasuke with a kunai in hand and Naruto more asleep than awake murmuring "what, what, where am I?"
"Correction, I'm going to cry tears of pride seeing how quickly you react, especially with Zabuza nearby," Kakashi said, wiping away an imaginary tear.
"Damn sensei, he's the one who nearly gave us a scare!" Inner shouted.
"Wait, did you say Zabuza?" Naruto yelled, waking up fully at once.
Both Sasuke and Sakura tensed.
"Ninja trackers are responsible for eliminating all traces of fallen ninjas from their villages to prevent their secrets from being uncovered," Kakashi said. "Think about the weapons he used to finish him."
"Senbon," Sasuke replied before realizing where Kakashi was going with this.
"Exactly, they weren't anything special," Kakashi said.
Naruto looked confused, not understanding what needles had to do with any of this.
"Zabuza is still alive."
Kakashi's words were more shocking. Sasuke and Naruto turned to Sakura, who was frozen. She was right—her heart stopped, but the needles could simulate death.
A tense atmosphere settled in the kitchen. With Kakashi badly injured, there weren't many chances of being able to finish off Zabuza if he came back for revenge. Meanwhile, Kakashi examined his hand lazily.
"Not bad aiming even when attacking in the dark," Kakashi said, raising his blood-dripping hand.
With a start, Sakura remembered that she was supposed to help bandage his hand, so she approached and took his hand to check for any embedded glass.
"Wasn't she the one who hurt you?" Sasuke frowned.
"Yeah, Sakura-chan, be more careful or you could hurt us," Naruto added.
Something inside her snapped. She threw the cloth in her hand to the floor and strode over to them. She couldn't take it anymore.
"Enough! You don't know anything! You're just... idiots!"
The two boys were stunned by her outburst of anger until Naruto broke the silence with a laugh.
"Haha! Sakura-chan called you idiots!"
Anticipating Naruto's imminent demise at the hands of Sasuke and Sakura, Kakashi stepped between the boys.
"That's enough," Kakashi said authoritatively. "You're a team. It seems you haven't learned anything from the bell test. You need to trust each other. From your expressions, I can tell Sakura suspected Zabuza was alive and you didn't believe her."
Sasuke hadn't finished speaking yet.
"She doesn't know us. What can someone who until a year ago lived with her grandmother and now wants to be a ninja know?" Sasuke said. He was still hurt by Sakura's words; she didn't know what he would give for his family to still be alive.
Secretly shaken by memories of his years "living with his grandmother," he couldn't help but mutter a few incoherent words before leaving the kitchen for a moment. Kakashi sighed and scratched his head. It wasn't his place to say this without Sakura's permission, but maybe a little insight wouldn't hurt.
"Nor do you know her. Sakura's grandmother died when she was just a baby," Kakashi said. They both looked confused. "She was kidnapped. That's why Zabuza recognized her."
Slowly, the boys' faces transitioned from confusion to understanding Kakashi's words, and finally, they were left stunned and unable to utter a single word in response. At that moment, Sakura returned with a fresh towel and a small container of clean water. She set them down on the table and turned to Naruto and Sasuke, feeling a bit shy under their intense gazes.
"I... Sasuke-kun, Naruto, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I should have insisted more about Zabuza, and I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, I'll be more careful tonight," Sakura said.
The three boys stared at the pink-haired girl who was bowing deeply to them. Naruto's face was pale with guilt, while Sasuke opened and closed his mouth repeatedly but no words came out. Unbeknownst to Sakura, the two boys no longer viewed her with suspicion; rather, they didn't know how to treat their teammate. Kakashi decided to bail them out this time.
"Go to bed," Kakashi said.
The two boys turned around without objection, lost in their thoughts. Now only Kakashi and Sakura remained in the kitchen. With nothing more to say, Sakura approached Kakashi and took his hand without permission. With great skill, she began to tend to the wound under Kakashi's watchful gaze until she finished.
"You're good at this," Kakashi remarked, surveying his carefully bandaged hand.
"I'm used to it," Sakura said before biting her tongue upon realizing her slip.
If Kakashi noticed, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, his gaze shifted to Sakura's ankle.
"You should have done the same for your ankle," he remarked.
Sakura's emerald eyes widened as she realized he had noticed she had sprained her foot.
"I... I didn't want to... After what Naruto said, I just wanted to move forward," she said clumsily. She didn't want to cause trouble or worse, disappoint her team.
Kakashi sighed softly before patting Sakura's head.
"It's okay. Next time, you need to speak up. Like I said, we're a team," Kakashi said. "Now, go to sleep."
Sakura nodded, putting away the materials she had used before heading straight to her room.
"To your room, not the corner of mine," Kakashi added.
She froze in her tracks before reluctantly nodding. Almost dragging her feet in an attempt to prolong the time, she went to the boys' room until she reached the door. She was almost relieved to see both boys already asleep in their respective futons, hers untouched in the middle. Careful not to wake them, she crawled onto her futon, feeling very uncomfortable between them.
The next morning, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura came downstairs to breakfast with Tazuna and his daughter. For the first time since their arrival, none of the three looked at each other. At least it was a quiet breakfast, though no less awkward. Luckily, Inari's arrival gave them something to distract themselves with. Once they finished, the three went to prepare for the rest of the day: Sasuke to his room for his things, Naruto following Inari, and Sakura heading out to inspect her traps.
Upon hearing footsteps, she turned towards the house and froze.
Kakashi was coming out of the house with crutches to help him walk, still not fully recovered, and in his hand was his book, Icha Icha Paradise.
No, he was smelling the cover.
Sakura let out a scream in her mind alongside Inner. She wished she had run the moment she saw him, but it was too late; their gazes locked.
She kept walking until she stood a few steps away from the intimidated Sakura. Beads of sweat began to gather in the stifling accusatory silence.
"Fine! Yes, I took it," Sakura blurted out, cheeks flushed. She couldn't bear the tension. "I needed something to distract myself, okay? Every night I wake up, close my eyes, and see him following me, tormenting me. I thought being away would end it, but no, even in my nightmares he haunts me. I finished memorizing my herb book and had nothing else but your book..."
She closed her eyes to avoid his reproachful gaze, but then widened them when she felt his hand on her head, giving her a couple of awkward pats. Summoning a bit of courage, she glanced sideways at Kakashi. He didn't seem upset or angry; internally, she relaxed.
Kakashi knew what Sakura was talking about; he too had his own demons.
"Kakashi-sensei," she hesitated, encouraged by Inner, "can I borrow it at night?"
Kakashi's hand jerked back in surprise. His lone visible eye blinked once, twice, thrice in owl-like disbelief. Overnight, his only student had asked him something he never thought she would, the mere thought of his student sharing the same -terrible- taste in literature baffled him.
"No," he replied.
"Ugh, selfish jerk," Inner exclaimed.
He started walking, with Sakura following. She began devising ways to persuade Kakashi to lend her his book until she stopped noticing he was scanning the surroundings. The hair on her arms stood on end with fear, thinking it might be Zabuza, until she saw exactly what he was looking at.
"Who put this here?" Kakashi asked.
Sakura swallowed nervously.
"...," Kakashi lazily stroked his chin. "Who put this here?"
Sakura turned blue. Before she could speak, Kakashi did.
"Naruto is dumb enough to plan it, and Sasuke is smart enough to do something stupid, so..." Sakura felt like she'd been stabbed with a kunai. Kakashi turned to look at her. "Where did you learn to set such pathetic traps? I didn't think Iruka was that bad at teaching."
Inner Sakura exploded, a vein popping on Sakura's forehead simultaneously.
"Pathetic traps! Just so you know, I learned it all by myself from a book, I barely made it into ninja class towards the end," she imagined in her mind pulling Kakashi's silver hair alongside Inner. "And don't you dare judge Iruka-sensei. You should question yourself first, always reading that book instead of teaching us. Who the hell said you could be a sensei?"
Kakashi placed a hand on his chest.
"Oh, my favorite student just insulted me, and here I was teaching you that self-learning is the best kind of learning," he said in a lamentable tone as a fake tear fell from his eye.
"My favorite student, my foot! You're just a lazy sensei!" Inner accused angrily.
While her mind was in chaos, Sakura merely huffed and crossed her arms.
"If it's so bad, dear sensei, why don't you teach me then?"
"If my dear student asks, I can't refuse," more veins pulsated on Sakura's forehead. Kakashi turned to inspect the traps before pointing at one.
"What are the cans for?"
"To signal when the enemy is near," she frowned.
"Even a wild animal could activate them."
This time, Sakura puffed up with pride.
"I can track objects with my chakra, as long as they're on surfaces. I learned it from my brother," she said confidently. In reality, she had learned by eavesdropping on Sakuya and Soku's training sessions, with lots of trial and error, but Kakashi didn't need to know that.
Kakashi pondered for a moment. Tracking objects with chakra wasn't listed in Sakura's skills report, and Soku had often mentioned her sister—more times than he would have liked—but never mentioned teaching her that skill. She must have picked it up after overhearing it, which wasn't bad at all, considering her photographic memory. Perhaps there were other things she was hiding. He continued asking questions about the various traps scattered around the area, with Sakura explaining their function and why she had placed them that way.
At the end, they fell silent.
"I want you to give me seven ways to disable your traps," Kakashi said.
Sakura gasped. "Seven! That's too many!"
"Your traps can be seen from a distance even by a civilian," Kakashi pointed out.
Indignant, Sakura gasped. "Don't you think you're exaggerating, sensei?"
"I can spot fifteen with just a glance," he shrugged.
Sakura and Inner were left speechless. They looked at the traps with heaviness and annoyance; Kakashi had pricked their pride.
"Damn sensei," Sakura muttered.
"And since you're my favorite, I also want a plan to improve them," he said sweetly.
Sakura exclaimed, "You'll see, I'll leave you impressed!"
That day, Sakura focused on working on her traps, and for the first time, she didn't have nightmares because she was too busy thinking about how to improve them.
Extra Scene / Omake 18:
The door to the room swung open, allowing Zabuza and Haku to enter, seeking refuge from the torrential rain outside. They both came in soaked with blood and water.
"Well, that was boring. I bet we just ran into some rookies," grumbled Zabuza. He had hoped the hideout they found was the right one, but instead, they ended up with men who weren't worth their time, and to top it off, the rain caught up with them before reaching shelter.
He grabbed a towel from the table and began wiping his face. Sakura squealed nearby and approached them, clearly angry.
"I told you not to use those towels! I barely got the blood stains out from two days ago! If you want towels, go wash up first!" she scolded furiously.
Zabuza raised an eyebrow. It was almost comical to see this girl, who could be his daughter in age, fearlessly scolding a wanted criminal among the ninja nations. No one had ever scolded him like that before, and it wasn't going to start now. He gripped the hilt of his sword until Haku intervened. Frowning with displeasure, he noticed Kisame hidden in the shadows of a corner. Kisame's deep black eyes gleamed in the darkness, his smile widening as he was noticed.
Annoyed, Zabuza recalled that this brat was under Akatsuki's protection. He sheathed his sword and headed to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Don't slam doors like that!" shouted Sakura from the other side.
Bossy brat.
Upon exiting the bathroom, clean and dry, Zabuza saw the girl happily feeding Samehada as if nothing had happened. In recent days, he had discovered that her bossy and grumpy demeanor vanished whenever Itachi entered, just like now when she eagerly approached the aloof Uchiha with shining eyes, even offering him a clean towel to wipe off blood stains from his face!
"Oh, you're out! Dinner's ready," Sakura exclaimed. She squirmed in Itachi's arms as he set her down, then she went over to Zabuza and extended her hand, offering a pill. "Want one? They're good after a mission."
"No, brat," Zabuza replied with a disgusted grimace. This girl was indeed strange. Kisame chuckled quietly, amused by Sakura's disappointed expression upon being rejected.
