Normal POV
A deep sigh was heard over the sizzle of the meat as it cooked on the grill. It wasn't the first sigh, ever since the rest of Team Seven met up with Naruto and Sakura, sighs had been heard between them every few minutes.
"...So Naruto, how's training?" Haku asked as he chanced a glance at Sakura. The chopstick that was being fiddle with snapped from the sudden violent action her hand made. A deep frown appeared and the people on the other side of the window could practically feel her glare. This was practically a new sight of the girl who they had yet to see before.
"Good." Was all Naruto responded. He too had a frown, but that was ordinary for Naruto. He tended to frown lately from lots of things, pertaining to training, or Sasuke as usual.
Sakura was the one who rarely showed her negative emotions. They knew since the moment they found them standing in the middle of the road, that something was wrong. They were both so deep in thought that Haku had to physically gain their attention. The second sign of something happening, had been the kids. The kids who were there had a confused and scared expression. In the end, they didn't find out anything from them as they went who knows where running in a very fast speed.
"...That's good. I'll be able to help out for the remainder of the week." Haku offered, trying to lighten up the mood. An annoyed grunt erupted from Sakura's throat and that made the table become silent once more. Everyone was now in deep thought, all very different, but all connecting to the same problem.
'That red-headed guy...he hadn't even done anything and I could still feel the power he had...and more importantly, how does Sakura know them?' Sasuke thought as his glare intensified on the steak that was cooking on the grill.
'How could that guy be such a jerk to Sakura-chan! I thought he was her friend! And then the look that Sakura-chan had when they left...I've never seen Sakura-chan look so sad before...' Naruto thought as he grumbled out and glared at the little pieces of steak on the grill. His hands that were on the table had fisted tightly as many questions to only seemed to increase with time.
"...You think he hates us?" Inner asked sadly as she sat and pondered on what had happened earlier. A plush version of Gaara, that only she knew where she acquired, was cuddled in her arms.
'No...I think he's just confused. This meeting was so sudden for them and after what he's been through...it's probably hard for him to trust anyone again.' Sakura responded as her glare softened and she closed her tired eyes.
'I'm not thrilled at the way he handled the situation, however, I'm glad that they at least seemed close to each other...' Sakura thought with a sigh. She couldn't help think about what happened not even an hour ago. The hurtful memory still fresh in her mind.
~Flashback~
"...W-What are you doing here?!..." Temari asked with disbelief. Standing before their eyes was a girl they could never mistake for anyone else. She had been their first friend after all and with her unique features, it was nearly impossible to forget her.
After what happened in Suna, they believed they would never see her again. They were just children back then, so they didn't know the extent of what occurred that night.
They visited the park where they had played together and would hope she would be waiting for them when they arrived, but after a few days, she was nowhere to be found.
When they learned that people had died that night, they worried about Sakura. Gaara, who was the youngest and most emotionally traumatized of the sand siblings, took the news badly. He blamed himself and worried whether he had killed the only person who had taken the time to befriend him.
Gaara locked himself away, isolating himself from everyone besides his siblings. Temari and Kankuro treasured what little bond they had managed to acquire during Sakura's presence with their baby brother. They could never get close to him because both parties were too scared to. When Sakura had finally given them the chance they always silently wanted, they protected their bond even after the night of the disaster. Perhaps the bond wasn't as strong as it were with Sakura, but at least they knew that Gaara knew that they would be there for him.
It had come as a shock not only to Gaara, but to Temari and Kankuro about their uncle's betrayal. As the oldest, they protected Gaara and so the night when their uncle asked Gaara to have a talk with him, they found it awfully suspicious.
They had stayed back and heard everything he had told Gaara. Temari knew for a fact that their mother loved Gaara. She was positive because she had always had a close relationship with their mother, being the oldest and a girl.
On the night when Gaara was born, Temari had snuck out back and looked through the crack of the wooden walls. She was surprised no one had found her and was even more so when they placed Shukaku inside Gaara. She left after seeing her mother die with Gaara in her arms; but even with death near by, she still smiled lovingly down at Gaara.
It was a secret Temari had kept with her for a very long time, until she told Gaara and Kankuro to re-fortify their fragile bond.
And now, here in front of her stood the girl that helped initiate that bond.
Sakura looked at them for a few seconds, and took in their shocked expressions.
"Ah, hey...It's been a long time. And well, I'm herebecause this is my home village." She said with a smile. She took a glance at Naruto and the kids. They looked over to the sand siblings in wonder.
"You...this is your village?!" Kankuro asked with shock. Sakura rubbed her arm and nodded. She faintly wondered if it would have been better to tell them when they were younger.
"Yeah...Uhm...You guys look great!" She said trying to change the subject. She made eye contact with each one and smiled. When she looked at Gaara, her eyes immediately flew up to his forehead. The Kanji for love was there and his face portrayed no emotions. The only reason she was able to tell he had been surprised was by the slight widening of his eyes
Sakura looked back down to Gaara's eyes and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak but promptly closed it when hurt could be seen in his jade eyes. When he turned away she raised an eyebrow in wonder and quietly waited to hear anything he would say.
"Temari, Kankuro. Let's go." Gaara spoke, void of any emotion and Sakura's eyes widened. Temari and Kankuro looked in between Sakura and Gaara, unknowing what to do. The aura around Gaara was so oppressive that it felt like dense chakra.
Sakura looked at their confused expressions and smiled and nodded to them reassuringly. Tentatively they sent her a quick nervous smile before turning and following their brother.
"Sakura-chan, did you know them? They were pretty rude-!" Naruto's exclamation was cut short when he looked over at her. She was looking at the spot the sand ninja had occupied with a sad smile on her face.
"Yeah...they're good friends of mine..." Sakura stated as she closed her eyes for only a few seconds.
"Anyways, let's go practice some more. I can assure you that we're going to need it." Sakura said with a smile towards Naruto. However, to him, it didn't look like a happy smile that reached her eyes like it usually did.
~End Of Flashback~
Another sigh erupted from both Sakura and Naruto as they remembered what happened.
"That's enough. Both of you stand up and follow me." Zabuza commanded. Sakura and Naruto lazily looked over to him and raised their eyebrows.
"Zabuza?" Haku said looking up at him with confusion.
"Come on brats." Zabuza stated and both stood up from their seats.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Haku asked as he was about to stand from his seat only to sit back down when Zabuza looked at him. A silent understanding was passed between them as Haku sat back down.
"No. We'll eat later." He said and walked towards the door, not looking behind him to see if they were following him.
"Will they be alright?" Haku asked Kakashi who was reading his book.
"Yeah, there shouldn't be anything to worry about." Kakashi stated and lowered his book to look at Sasuke. He was glaring out the window with a large amount of intensity behind it.
"You wouldn't happen to know why they're acting like that, would you Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, since had hadn't been with them when they found Naruto and Sakura. Instead of an answer he received the glare the poor window had to previously endure.
"No." Sasuke replied and turned back to glaring outside. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and looked at Haku with confusion. Something was obviously wrong with all the younger members of Team Seven.
~*oOo*~
"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as they walked through the bustling afternoon streets.
"Just shut up and follow." Zabuza stated from up front. Naruto looked over to Sakura with a questioning expression. She in turn shrugged and turned her head back to the front with a pensive look.
Sakura's POV
"I wonder what he wants?" Inner asked as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion towards Zabuza.
'I'm not sure. I'm still thinking about what happened with the sand siblings...and Sasuke. He didn't come out like in the anime/manga. He stayed hidden on the other side of the fence...and he didn't bring up the topic in the restaurant.' I said and stopped walking when Zabuza stopped in front of us.
Without realizing it, we had entered a training ground with a lake. Looking around, I noticed it to be one of the least used grounds.
Deja vu hit me as a spike of chakra was the only indication I got before I launched myself towards Naruto.
Tackling him to the ground, was the only way Naruto and I could both dodge the sudden swipe of Zabuza's sword, the Kubikiribocho, in time.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto and Inner both screamed at the same time.
Zabuza straightened out and I saw the flicker of appraisal pass through his eyes. I stood up and pulled Naruto by the arm. My stance was already shifted into the Lightning stance, readying myself for his quick movements.
"Forget about everything. Everything that's been bothering you two and just fight." Our eyes widened at his words. Before we could get over our shock, he kicked Naruto who in turn came crashing into me.
We went hurling towards the trees, which we crashed into. I winced as the chipped bark of the trees bit into my skin harshly. I was faintly aware of the loud gasp of pain that came to my right; but couldn't focus as my mind felt like it was splitting open.
I grunted as I was pulled up by the arms.
"Stand up and fight." He said as he pulled Naruto up and walked back to his sword which he had stabbed into the ground. I grabbed my throbbing head and looked over to Naruto. He looked worse than I felt. He had blood dripping from the top corner of his forehead and scratches all over his visible skin. Since he wore his regular clothes when we didn't have missions or training, that meant his legs and arms were exposed. Though, without my usual attire, I'm sure that I didn't look any better.
By the looks of his unfocused eyes and the way he stood, he might have a slight concussion because of the hit he took.
When another spike was sensed, I quickly looked in time to see Zabuza charge forward. I narrowed my eyes and took out some chakra from my ankles and transferred them to my feet. Adrenaline that coursed through my body, fueled my speed further.
When he was close, I kicked the ground as hard as I could and watched as the ground trembled. I didn't create a crater the size of a house like I'm sure Tsunade could, but I was able to cause the ground beneath us to move. I took the time that he used to steady himself to quickly grab ahold of Naruto's body and run.
"S-Sakura-chan?" He asked in shock. He must be seeing things in a very distorted way, what with the speed we were going in and his concussion.
"It'll be fine. Just hold on." I said and continued to run until I had made it deeper inside the training ground. I set Naruto down on the branch we stopped on and moved his head so I could see his injury.
I charged up my hand with blue chakra which slowly changed into the visible green. I may not be so skilled as to mend broken bones or do surgeries, but I could make the big injuries less painful.
"Thanks Sakura-chan! It feels better." He said and I nodded. Moving my hand up to my head.
"Sakura-chan, what do you think is wrong with Zabuza?" Naruto asked as he stood up.
"...I don't know. Maybe it's training?" I said and watched his grin spread across his face. Truthfully, I had a hunch. I think he was trying to do something to get us to stop thinking about what was making us so depressed. He was trying to comfort us in a way that he knew best. Fighting your worries away.
"Alright! Then lets go!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped from tree to tree. I sighed and followed him back towards Zabuza.
I knew exactly why I was depressed; but why was Naruto?
"So you've returned? Tired of having to be the damsel in distress?" Zabuza goaded Naruto, referring to when I had carried him away. I arrived just in time to see Naruto frown and charge forward, clearly provoked.
I watched the outcome that I predicted occur before my eyes.
Naruto's rash charging had made his movements predictable to not only Zabuza but to me as well. Zabuza had allowed Naruto to hit him only to burst into water and reappear behind him. Naruto was kicked from behind and went flying towards the forest.
I had moved, prepared to get to Naruto and check on his injuries when Zabuza came jumping down from above me, intent on landing a kick on me. I jumped out of the way just in time to miss the kick from landing on my head. I moved my eyes to the left when I saw movement from my peripheral vision. Another Zubaza made his way inside the forest, most likely to deal with Naruto.
"How many times do I have to say it? Get up!" He said and swung his sword down at me. I felt my body get tugged and soon I looked at Zabuza from a different angle beside a tree. I knew without asking that Inner had performed a Substitution Jutsu to get me out of the way.
"That's pretty good brat. I didn't even see you make any hand signs." He complimented before a rustle was heard behind me. Out of habit, I pushed myself forward and landed on my stomach. I turned my head when a thud was heard as Zabuza's sword cut through the tree that had been beside me and fallen to the ground.
"He's serious!" Inner shouted as she covered her eyes from Zabuza's stoic face that would probably give her nightmares. I flipped my self over and looked around for any good idea's.
"Whoa!" I shouted as I back flipped to avoid being headless. I grunted as the tip of the sword had actually reached and nicked my arm. I ran away and stopped when I found myself a good distance away.
Unable to worry about the cut on my arm, I had to bend my body around quickly to dodge three Zabuza's. His clones were weaponless, seemingly preferring to fight hand to hand.
I didn't mind because that was one thing I was confident in. His punches and kicks had actual power put behind them, this was no spar. It was an actual fight.
Knowing that, I parried his advances with equal if not more forceful hits.
I mentally cursed when my foot slipped on the curve of the lake. I pushed off as far as I could and applied chakra to my feet.
I had trouble staying on top of the water when Zabuza came charging at me with full force. My concentration slipped a few times, earning him some good hits.
If this whole ordeal was a means to help us forget about what happened, then it was working. There was no way I could think of anything else when he was attacking me from all directions and on top of the water. My whole attention was on him and this battle.
~*oOo*~
Normal POV
The fight had dragged on until night fell upon them. With Naruto, his fight had ended when he was knocked unconscious by a blow dealt by one of the multiple Zabuza clones. They had started with one on one fighting, and eventually it had turned into ten and then twenty clones of each other.
The fight had been mostly Taijutsu with a minimal Ninjutsu here and there.
Naruto was able to over power Zabuza with the immense amount of clones he created. He had centered his attention on the lone Zabuza near the back who hadn't moved and merely observed.
He threw a giant shuriken which Zabuza dodged and then poofed into four Naruto's. Each with their own kunai's, they threw them at him and watched as they impaled him. Water flowed out of the places the kunai had struck and Naruto shouted his complaint.
"The same trick doesn't work on me twice boy." Zabuza's said from behind him. Naruto had no way of escape and so he could not dodge the swords dull side from slamming into his stomach. The blow had taken the air from his lungs momentarily before he slammed into another tree and lost conciousness from there.
Sakura, had lost a lot differently. Instead of being knocked unconscious, she was finished when her chakra had depleted and gave Zabuza the chance to get her stuck between his sword and a tree.
Sakura had decided that she wouldn't finish the chakra in her weights, so that left her with only her regular chakra. Because of all the tree jumping and chakra enhanced attacks and water walking, her chakra was being used rapidly. The only reason her chakra had not been used up sooner was because of her proficient use of it. She did not like wasting it when she could use it to her advantage. She also didn't have the amount of chakra like Naruto or Sasuke, but she was better at them in her control. She could make it last for a long time, were as they would use it up without caring how much was wasted.
Not only had she been able to keep her chakra from depleting quickly, but she was able to keep up with Zabuza when he had held back...even though she had also technically held back.
What Sakura liked about Zabuza was the way he hadn't underestimated her. He may have when they had first met but he hadn't seen her fight then. Now, he was careful of how much his hands or legs lingered in her arms reach. Her monstrous strength impressed him and so did her quick wit, he knew that she could deal a lot of damage if she so wanted to.
When Sakura's chakra had finally depleted to low levels, she was about to use herself as a distraction, while the clone in the water would finish the fight. As soon as the clone came up above the water, it promptly poofed away and Sakura's feet sunk into the water. Before she could practically drown herself, she pushed away with some chakra from her weights and bumped into a tree. As she slid down, Zabuza's sword was slammed against the tree she was on, and rendered her escape useless and the fight over. The semi-circle on the blade where he would decapitate his enemies, was big enough to fit Sakura in between it and hold her in place with the tree behind her.
With labored breaths, she looked up at Zabuza who leaned down with a hand on the blade and the other on the tree for support. He, along with her, were soaked from the water and sweat. Dirt covered their clothes and blood dripped off many cuts along their body. Sakura was satisfied as she watched his quick rise and fall of his chest. Although not as much as her, he too was out of breath.
Too tired to keep looking up, Sakura lowered her head and looked at the blade that had her up against the tree. She was sure that anyone else in this position would be completly terrified. However, Sakura couldn't feel that, instead she felt grateful that with it she was able to get her mind off of the mornings event.
"Thank you." Sakura whispered and allowed her eyes to close and welcome slumber with open arms.
Zabuza turned over to his clone who held Naruto's body under his arm. He looked back down to Sakura and withdrew his sword away from the tree and sealed it in its scroll. He quickly caught Sakura's body from sliding further down the rough trunk of the tree. He picked up her slumbering form, and began to walk out of the training grounds with her in his arms. His clone followed behind him as they made their way towards the hospital.
He faintly wondered why he was doing something he never would have thought of doing before. One answer came to mind as both real and clone Zabuza looked down to the small bodies in their hold, a ghost of a smile spreading across their bandaged faces.
'...Stupid brats...'
I know you guys probably wanted a better reunion; but they will meet again before the exams. Next chapter will give you more of an insight as to why Gaara acted the way he did. Remember, he was really young when that happened and he has to destroy the village he just found out was where Sakura lives. I'm sure I would be confused in a situation like that...not that I would ever dream of destroying an entire village
hope you guys enjoyed!!
💖💖Love and kisses😘😘