Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Playing For Keeps ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

The buzzing in the side of her ear woke her before the light had a chance to shine through the window. Turning onto her stomach, she reached across her bedside table and slapped the snooze button. Just 5 more blissful moments of sleep, she pleaded internally.

 

She hugged her pillow, trying to enjoy her last few minutes in her soft bed. The thick mattress gave comfortably beneath her lithe body; the blankets were warm and felt like a fluffy cocoon. The scent of it was familiar and comforting, and had it been any other day she'd have found an excuse to sleep another 15 minutes.

 

But, it wasn't to be. The alarm buzzed once again, snapping her out of her half-snoozing state.

 

“The good stuff never lasts,” she moaned, rolling out of the bed.

 

Padding over to her dresser she picked up her clothes and began to change into them. Her mind was still wandering, and wondering about the forthcoming mission. There were so many unknown factors. Reconnaissance would take forever. They knew little about the Lightning Country, despite the increasing number of missions there over the years.

 

Pulling on the last of her clothes, she sat on the edge of her bed and laced her boots. Her outfit wasn't terribly different than it had been when she'd been a chuunin. The low necked, form-fitting vest was the same sleeveless and maroon style she'd worn back then, only with some minor modifications in style. Her legs sported small khaki shorts, with a few hidden pockets, with the rest of her legs encased with common netting. The gloves she wore were a soft, buttery black leather that had been an 18th birthday gift from Tsunade, and her boots were similar. They may have been a pain to lace up, but they were soft, waterproof, and comfortable. And damn if they weren't hot.

 

Her refrigerator wasn't exactly a grocery store, but she managed to rummage up a bagel and some cheese. It'd give her enough energy to get going, but it sure as hell wasn't steak and wine.

 

Tearing the bagel in half, she munched on it and leaned against the counter. If all 6 of us are going on this mission, then stealth will be a little more difficult. Hell, even with a 4 man cell it's hard to stay undetected, especially in a situation as volatile as this. And Sasuke…

 

She'd heard whisperings in the Hokage's tower from time to time; some of the ninja had come back from the northeast claiming to have seen or fought a man described as Sasuke, but there was no way to verify it. The missing-nin had never been forgotten; at least not in her mind. Sakura had always thought of him, but not in the way she had as a gennin. Then, it was a childish, romanticized idolization. Now, it was a curiosity, and even a bit of anger. His absence had changed everything. Their team had broken up; Kakashi had gone his own way after awhile, focusing on more solo A and S-ranked missions. Naruto was still his effervescent self, but sometimes, there was a kind of loss in his eyes. And her? She'd gotten over him, sure, but she still missed him. Sakura was no longer a naïve young girl. She was a jaded woman, now, and understood that even if he came back to Konoha, nothing would ever be the same. The country couldn't just forgive someone who'd turned their back on their village, just for personal gain.

 

She shook herself from the memories, and checked her watch. The sun would rise soon, and the mission would begin. Grabbing the few belongings she'd take along, she took one last glance around her apartment. Wishing it a fond farewell, she went through the door and locked it behind her.

 

Her head raised to the still dark sky, where she noted the dark clouds and pulled her hooded cloak around her, preparing for a dismal downpour.

 

She neared the gates of the village and saw a few of the others standing there.

 

“Oi! Sakura-chan!” yelled Naruto.

 

Sakura sighed and made her way towards the boisterous boy.

 

“Morning, Naruto. Morning, Neji,” she replied.

 

Neji replied with a nod, his pale eyes scanning for the rest of the team.

 

On the horizon, the sun began to peak. The light continued to rise steadily, and by the time Kakashi arrived, it was already halfway up.

 

Kakashi looked around, taking a quick head count. All here, he thought.

 

“Good morning,” he greeted as he walked up to them. “Everyone ready to go? It'll take us a little while to get to there. We should go ahead and leave.”

 

Sakura nodded in agreement. Turning towards the village gates, she and the others began their walk out of the village. She waved goodbye to Kotetsu and Izumo, who were on guard at that particular entry. They gave her a mock salute and a smile. The two of them, who were often Tsunade's extra hands, had become like brothers to her over the years. Mostly because they were always around her and bugging her.

 

Kakashi gave a signal, and led the rest of the group, bounding from tree to tree, the mission in mind. Rain began to fall not long after, making the trek an even messier, more miserable one. The group stayed focused, making no sounds as they made their way through the dense forest and woodland areas.

 

They'd been traveling for a few hours when Neji said, “Kakashi. Do you feel that?”

 

The older man nodded, and gave the gesture for them to stop.

 

“Byakugan!” he heard behind him as the Hyuuga prodigy activated his bloodline.

 

Neji scanned the area, and found a group of ninja on their way towards them.

 

“12 incoming,” he said, “4 cells with 3 a piece. About 30 seconds away, 12 o'clock direction.”

 

The others took their stances, preparing themselves for the oncoming attack. Moments later they caught sight of the ninja, and the headbands they donned, each graced a symbol not equated with any known village. Sakura slipped a kunai out of her holster and held it near her face. Naruto was right beside her, his actions not much different from hers.

 

“Be careful,” Shikamaru said. “Just beat these guys so we can get on with our mission.”

 

Kiba nodded in agreement, and began to form seals.

 

The foreign ninja came at them with full speed. Sakura blocked a hit with her readied kunai, pulled her arm back and shoved it towards her opponent, only to miss him by a hair. He came behind her and pulled her arm against him, holding her in a lock. “Stupid girl,” the enemy muttered, “Think I don't know who you are? You're Tsunade's little bitch, a damn carbon copy. We know your team, your strengths and weaknesses. Don't think you can take us.”

 

She smirked and thought to herself, Is this man as much of an idiot as he seems?

 

“Take this!”

 

The man turned around, shock evident on his face as Sakura came flying from behind, her fist ramming into his face. There was a satisfying crunch of bone and the `poof' of her clone as she turned to face her next opponent. He stood in the ready stance, his hands forming seals.

 

“Piercing Death!” he yelled, a stream of high pitch noised erupting from his chest.

 

Sakura grunted, her hand covering her ears in a fruitless attempt to block out the brain crushing noise.

 

From behind her, her first opponent lunged, screaming “Stupid bitch! Don't take me so lightly!”

 

Her fist swung around, hitting him squarely in the jaw. His body, breathless, went flying back towards a nearby tree. She had felt his ribs crack beneath her fist, and knew he wouldn't be getting up. With her attention back to the other man, she struggled to get up, the noise making it difficult. Her brain wanted to explode, and it protested as she removed her other hand from her ear and sprinted towards her current assailant.

 

“Shannaro!” she yelled, flinging a kunai at him, causing the foreign ninja to fault in his jutsu as he avoided the projectile. The noise stopped and she began a hand to hand fight with the man.

 

Kakashi had his own hands full at the time, taking on two other enemy fighters himself. One was currently coughing up blood, and the other was in midst of hand seals. Seeing it as an opportunity, Kakashi appeared behind the signing man, slitting his throat before the signs were finished.

 

Shikamaru and Naruto were working together, trapping four more of the ninja in Shikamaru's shadow bind technique, as Naruto carried out an assault on all four men. “Stop interrupting us, damn it! We have places to be!” the blonde yelled. With a quick roundhouse kick to one of the enemies, they knew they were in trouble. There was a `poof' as Naruto's foot connected with the other ninja's face. “Shit!” Naruto yelled. Shikamaru quickly let go of his jutsu, stepping back to search for the men.

 

“Behind you!” Naruto yelled, pointing behind his friend.

 

Shikamaru turned quickly, barely in time to avoid a kunai to the face. It still had managed to nick him, but a scratch was to be expected on a mission. He quickly formed more seals to catch the man, choking him with his own shadow. The ninja dropped to the ground, lifeless. As he and Naruto began on the other three, Neji finished off his second, with one of his trademarked chakra-hole blocking techniques.

 

Kiba had taken out his last one when he felt a pain in his gut. “What the fuck?” he asked, looking down. A crossbow arrow stuck out awkwardly from his abdomen, blood flowing from the wound. One of the nin that had gotten away from Naruto and Shikamaru had struck him. Akamaru barked, and Kiba knew he was telling him to end it quickly. Kiba nodded, and began a double-attack with his furry partner. Still, it was taking too long. The blood was flowing, and fast. His vision had begun to get fuzzy, and Kiba knew that if the next attack didn't do it, he wouldn't be going home to his girlfriend.

 

They tag-teamed the enemy again, this time breaking his neck. Kiba smirked as his vision went, and he managed to whisper “Nice job, buddy,” before falling to the ground.

 

Sakura wiped the blood away from her nose, watching her opponent take his last breath. She leaned down, and whispered as his life left him, “Just because you know what I can do, doesn't mean you can beat me.”

 

She heard a shout from Naruto, and turned toward the racket. As she did, she saw Kiba, lying on the ground, bathing in his own blood.

 

Shit, she thought, shit! She was by his side in a minute, her fingers on his neck to find a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. The arrow was still lodged in his stomach, begging to be pulled out.

 

“Naruto,” she said quietly, putting her hands near the wound.

 

“Yeah?” he asked, kneeling down beside her.

 

She put his hands around the base of the arrow, ignoring the others as they looked on. “When I tell you to, I need you to pull the arrow out at the same angle it went it. Do you understand? Any other way will needlessly damage even more of his internal organs.”

 

The kyuubi container nodded and gripped tightly, swallowing hard while watching as Sakura's hands glow, beginning the mending process inside of Kiba. “Now!” she shouted, watching him pull the arrow from their friend. They heard the gurgling rip as the arrow was pulled from Kiba's abdomen. She placed her hands over the wound, sending out chakra feelers to find each damaged area and began to repair them.

 

Nearly 30 minutes later, Sakura had done rudimentary repair of most of the damage. It was all she could do for now; they'd have to get him back to the village and into surgery.

As she went to stand, she could feel her whole body shaking. Her arms were like lead, and her legs were like jelly. Sakura managed to haul her body up, and turned to the others.

 

“He's okay, for now. We need to get him back fast, to the hospital. He'll need surgery to repair the rest,” she said.

 

Kakashi came beside her, a hand on her shoulder. “Well done, Sakura-chan.”

 

She nodded, and frowned “Sorry, Kakashi.:

 

He raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

 

She smiled. “I'm going to pass out,” she said, her vision going black and her body collapsing, Kakashi catching her before she had a chance to hit the ground.

 

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There were murmurs around her, and she could make out the sound of a fire crackling.

 

Her eyes still felt heavy, like someone had attached weights to them. Even so, she opened them to slits, blinking away the fuzziness left behind. Sakura took a mental inventory of her body, mapping each bruise, cut and pain she felt. Not too bad, she said to herself. Just a few minor problems. Nothing I can't heal on my own.

 

Opening her eyes fully and clearing the sleep from them with her knuckles, she looked at the fire in front of her. Around it were Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Naruto. Neji and Kiba were nowhere in sight.

 

Kakashi tuned his head toward heard and smiled, his only visible eye closed. “Evening, Sakura. Feeling any better?” the copy-nin asked.

 

“Sakura-chan! You're awake!” Naruto shouted, running over and sitting beside her.

 

She managed to push herself up into a sitting position, running a hand down her face. She felt disgusting. Boy, did she need a bath. Her body was sore, and still weak from overusing her chakra on Kiba. Kiba!

 

Her face tilted up quickly, her eyes on Naruto's. “Kiba? Is he alright? Where is he?”

Naruto put his hand on his teammate's shoulder and said, “Don't worry, Sakura-chan. You did a great job on him. Neji took him back to Konoha. He should be back soon. We'll rest until dawn, and then get back into the mission. Get some more rest, eh, Sakura-chan? You used up so much chakra on Kiba, we were worried about you.”

 

Sakura gave a small smile and patted her friend's shoulder. “No worries, Naruto-kun. I know my limits. But I think you're right, I'll grab a little more rest.”

 

Curling up in her sleeping bag, she dropped like a stone into sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hm, forgive me for updating this, but just as in chapter 1, I have altered ch2 slightly to fit more with the canon manga storyline. Ch 3 is currently about halfway done and will be posted either later tonight or by tomorrow evening, for anyone who cares :D