[AU, fluff]
Sakura wasn't a clumsy person, yet somehow she had managed to get herself into all sorts of trouble, it was common knowledge to the kids at Leaf Middle School. So when she slipped on the muddy terrain of the mountain while hiking, she assumed that one of her classmates would realize she was gone. However, two hours later, no one had come and it was getting quite cold. She looked up at the cliff she had somehow fallen off of and sighed, it was small enough that she survived the fall. Her ankle, however, wasn't in the best shape.
Back at the camp, the supervising teachers were frantically looking around for the missing pinkette. It was only the first day of their week long excursion and they were already having problems.
"I'll go look for her!" Naruto Uzumaki, a close friend of Sakura, shouted out. He quickly grabbed his jacket and ran out of the cabin, leaving a few stunned teachers behind.
Sai, Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga were quick to follow him, each with concerned looks plastered on their faces. Sasuke Uchiha stayed back a bit, walking out slowly, unlike the other four. He wouldn't say that he was close to Sakura like they were, but he had talked to her enough for them to be considered friends.
Sasuke knew that Sakura was last seen on the hiking trail, so he went there first. On his search, he came across a few footprints dried into the mud, barely visible in the dim light of the evening. He slowly crept to the edge of what looked like a cliff and peered down, if his eyesight hadn't been as good as it was, he would have missed the flash of pink camouflaged by the branches sticking out from the foliage around them.
"Sakura?" He called out, attempting to lean forward.
The spot of pink twisted a bit and Sasuke could soon make out a face, streaked with a small bit of dirt. "Sasuke? Be careful, it's really muddy-"
Her warning was a bit late, because Sasuke came tumbling down. He let out a groan as he finally made it to the bottom. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" Sakura shouted, limping towards him.
"Yeah," he said, rubbing his head. "What happened to you?"
Sakura sat down next to him, "I kind of slipped and fell down the cliff, I think I sprained my ankle too.." she said.
Sasuke shook his head. "Only you would do something like that."
"Hey! What does that mean?!" Sakura shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"Nothing, let's try to get ba-" Sasuke had tried to get up, but fell back down as a sharp sting went through this leg. He looked down and saw a long cut running along his calf.
Sakura hissed as she saw the cut, as if she could feel his pain. "Here, use my scarf to wrap it up." She offered, realizing Sasuke had only come with his jacket and a pair of gloves.
Sasuke took the pink scarf from her, tying it tightly around the cut. With Sakura's help, Sasuke managed to get up and they began heading down the mountain in silence. Sakura knew Sasuke didn't like talking much, but the silence was driving her insane.
"Did you come looking for me alone?" She asked, trying to start a conversation.
"No, it was Naruto's idea." He replied, adjusting the arm the was looped around Sakura's shoulders as he limped along with her.
"Oh," she mumbled, trying to think of something else to talk about. A question suddenly popped into her mind and before she could stop herself, she asked it. "Do you like anyone, Sasuke?"
If she had known Sasuke for just a bit longer, she would have realized that he stiffened. "No, why would you ask?" He replied.
"No reason, it's just that I thought you had a thing for Naruto." She teased, poking fun at the boy.
Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead he opted for beating her at her own game. "There is someone that's caught my attention, actually." He said, Sakura snapped her head towards him so quick she swore she almost broke her neck.
"You like someone?" She questioned, not believing him.
"Yeah, I haven't known her for a long time though," He said, turning the other way to hide his smirk.
"A-are you close to her?" Sakura asked.
"No, but she says and does things that amuses me." He explained.
"I see.." Sakura mumbled, ending the conversation as she thought about what the strange feeling she had in her stomach was.
They were eventually found by a couple of teachers once they were close to the camp, immediately being brought in and to a heater. They were given blankets and ordered to stay there until they were warm and their injuries were treated. They had their cuts and Sakura's twisted ankle looked at before they were left alone, sitting in front of a heater. Sasuke got up a few minutes after, saying that he was warm enough and wanted to talk to Naruto.
Before he left, he turned to Sakura and said one sentence that flushed her face red. "The girl I was talking about, was you."
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Written by konohaguild