Chapter 25 - Day 3

The third day, Sakura didn’t even bother showing up for training- there was no point. She knew perfectly well that their teacher wouldn’t be there. Luckily, she got herself up every day and got ready on her own; her mother wouldn’t come to check on her. She lay there in her warm bed for several hours, just staring angrily at the ceiling. As she lay there, her anger and frustration slowly welled up inside her until she wanted to scream. She jolted upright, the sheets falling in a pile around her lap. Sakura smoothed out the lump of fabric, then wadded it up in her hand, forming a fist so tight that her knuckles drained of color and the bones jutted out harshly against her pale skin.

She wasn’t going to take this lying down. Sakura Haruno was going to give Kakashi Hatake a piece of her mind.

--

“Sakura’s late,” Sasuke commented in a monotone.

“Thank you, Master of Deduction,” Naruto replied dryly, earning a solid punch to the arm from his teammate.

“Aren’t you worried? Your dear Sakura-chan, so adamant about punctuality, is late.”

“Tch.” Naruto defiantly looked away from Sasuke, his face burning. “Sakura’s a big girl. She can take care of herself. Why? Are you worried? The stoic Sasuke who doesn’t care about anyone is worried about Sakura?”

Another punch to the arm quickly silenced him.

--
Hisako woke up shortly after sunrise- her light green tent got kind of bright under the sun’s rays. She stretched, sore after her intense workout of a sparring session with Neji yesterday. After Tenzo had left, Neji had pushed and pushed until he come close to his limit, and although he hadn’t managed to land a single hit against her, Hisako was rapidly approaching hers as well. Eventually she had to ‘man up’ and call it quits for the day, ceding defeat to Neji- she knew quite well that he wouldn’t give up.

“Okay, Neji-kun. I admit defeat.”

“What was that?” The smug edge of his tone irked her to no end, but she just smiled blithely at him, albeit tiredly.

“You win, you win.”

After that, she made her way through town and picked up a sturdy tent and sleeping bag- she didn’t want another repeat of waking up to that storm. Hisako had foregone going back to her house, except to get some extra clothes- it was just more comfortable at that meadow. She wasn’t sure why, apart from the tension that always lurked in the back of her mind when she was at home.

After working out her sore muscles, Hisako decided to go visit Lee in the hospital. She had neglected going to see him for too long. There was a patch of beautiful flowers not twenty feet from her tent, and she’d pick some and arrange a pretty bouquet for him, she decided. The girl clambered out of the tent and set to work before heading to the hospital.

--

Sakura walked slowly through the village, allowing her anger to simmer just below the surface. She projected a rather scary aura- anyone unlucky enough to have to walk by her quickened their pace and cast tense, worried glances back in her direction. She couldn’t really blame them; she probably looked like she was going to commit a murder. No, murder was too merciful for Kakashi. If she was going to kill him, she’d make him suffer first. But before that, she needed to make it to his house before she snapped.

--

Today was the day. Tenzo had been promised a round of drinks by Kakashi. Whether or not Kakashi would hold up to his end of the bargain was still undetermined, but it was the best Tenzo was going to get. It was a pretty chill day. His mission two nights ago was a killer, and he had been passed up for today’s mission so he could get some R&R, which is exactly what he was doing. The man was sprawled on his worn couch, his eyes glued the nature channel on his ancient tv. He just never got around to replacing it. The thing even had antennas on it. Tenzo wasn’t really paying attention to the program- he was sound asleep, even though his eyes were open. It was a handy trick he’d learned in ANBU training- the enemy was less likely to attack if they thought you were awake. His main thing right now was to store up enough energy to stay out for what was likely to be an all-nighter with Kakashi, though he would try to make it shorter than that.

--

Sakura just barely managed to make it to Kakashi’s front step before her lid flipped. She knocked very angrily on the door, shouting, “Sensei, I KNOW you’re in there, I can hear your stupid movie!”

“….” No response.

“Dammit, sensei, what the hell is wrong with you?! You say, ‘Just forget it ever happened.’ It’s pretty damn hard to forget when you won’t even act like normal! Going so far as to avoid me… You’re just a jerk. A coward!”

“….” Still nothing.

“shoot… answer me, you bastard, or so help me, I’ll kick down this door-“

The door Sakura had just about to put her foot through opened with a harsh yank, and a masked, shirtless Kakashi appeared before her, his hand still on the knob. There were dark circles under his visible eye, and his face was devoid of color. His gaze was hard and flat as he looked down at her with that expressionless face she hated.

“What do you want, Sakura?” She flinched; his tone was harsh and unforgiving. Her temper wavered a little under his stony glare.

“I… You’re avoiding me, and you’re skipping training. Naruto and Sasuke are getting irritated…” She trailed off, her voice cracking as his expression refused to change.

“Go home, Sakura.” His voice was gentler this time, but his gaze remained as stony as ever. His guard was up, full-force. That hurt her somewhere deep inside. She didn’t want him to have to be guarded around her. As he turned to go back inside, she made a wordless cry of protest, but he just stepped inside, and the door slid gently shut in her face.

“Sakura… Go wash out your mouth. With soap.”

--

Hisako made her way up to Lee’s room, flowers in hand. Just thinking about the poor boy made her heart hurt. His dream of being a brilliant shinobi… In shambles. All because of that man… Gaara. She promised herself she’d get revenge for Lee. The next chuunin exams, she would humiliate Gaara in front of thousands of people- in front of his own people.

“Oh, Hisako-san! Nice to see you again. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” A friendly medic-nin smiled at her.

“Yes, it has, Katsume-san. Too long. How is he?”

“He’s doing quite well, considering… But, we have had to resort to resort to tying him to his bed sometimes… He gets it in his head to overcome this ‘challenge.’ Poor boy.”

“Thank you, Katsume-san. May I see him?” A solemn expression framed Hisako’s features, and the nurse nodded quietly.

“Yes, but… He’s asleep.”

“I see, I’ll be sure not to wake him, then.”

--

Sakura was left drained emotionally from her outburst, and oddly comforted in his reaction. His voice tended to have that effect on her. But his eye… She shuddered delicately. She’d never seen such a cold look aimed toward her. He’d only aimed that look at foes he faced in battle. Never at his teammates, and certainly never at her. She walked slowly back through the village, unaware where she was even going; she let her feet lead.

--

The dried-out flowers Hisako had brought the last time she visited were replaced with the ones she’d picked that day, and stood next to Lee’s bed, enclosing one bandaged hand in both of hers. She spoke softly so as not to rouse him, but so that his unconscious may hear.

“Lee-san… You were an amazing teacher. I’m so glad I had the privilege to learn from you. You worked me like a dog,” she laughed softly, “but I’m all the better of a warrior for it. You’ll never believe… I actually managed to land a hit on Neji the other day!” Hisako imagined that a stunned silence rose from the sleeping boy. “I know, who would have thought! He was pretty mad about it, though, and worked us both to the bone yesterday. He’s a fierce opponent. I only hope I can make you proud, Lee-san, and that one day I can have the honor of fighting alongside you again… And who knows, maybe… Maybe one day I’ll be good enough to actually hold my ground against you!”

She leaned down and pressed her lips gently to Lee’s brow, brushed the hair from his eyes, and gave his hand one last squeeze before quietly leaving the recuperating boy to his slumber.

--

“Ouch!” Sakura rubbed her head gingerly as she stepped back to see who ran into her.

“Hisako-chan! What brings you to… the hospital?” Sakura’s confusion was obvious on her face.

“Yes, the hospital, Sakura-chan. Were you so deep in thought that you didn’t know where you were going?” Hisako teased her friend.

“Yeah, I guess so…” Sakura’s solemn response made Hisako take a closer look at her friend. She was emotionally distressed. Well, drained was the right word, really. She had obviously just let out a lot of emotion in a short period of time.

“I just went to visit Lee-san. And you, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, jeez. Where do I start?” Sakura rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips exaggeratedly.

“Well, why don’t you meet me at the teahouse in about an hour? I’ve got to change out of these clothes- I slept in them! Yuck. As for you- wash your face and put on some makeup. No offense, love, but you look like crap.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sakura mumbled, though her mood was marginally improved. She’d get to vent to somebody who knew about her situation. Finally!

--

About an hour later, when the girls had both freshened up, they met outside the teahouse, and headed in together, arm in arm. They both decided quickly that a table at the very back of the place would be best- not so many eavesdropping opportunities. In retrospect, this probably wouldn’t have been a very good idea, but they were girls. Girls knew how to gossip- and best of all, they knew how to keep eavesdroppers away.

As soon as they ordered their drinks, Hisako said, “Okay, girl, get me caught up.”

Sakura didn’t need telling twice.

--

“Whoa…” Hisako whispered, an awed expression on her face.

“Yeah…” Sakura echoed, blushing furiously.

“Your sensei… on the kitchen counter?” Hisako murmured.

“Yeah…” Sakura repeated, turning an even brighter shade of pink.

“That’s…” Hisako paused, looking up at the ceiling in search of the words she wanted. “That’s so hot! I wish T- I mean, someone would do that to me while I’m cooking them breakfast…” She trailed off dreamily, her eyes glazing over as she envisioned it.

Sakura glanced behind her friend’s shoulder at the opening door. Her mouth fell open, and her face drained of all color. She immediately scooted to the far corner of the table, out of the line of sight of the newcomer.

“Sakura-chan? What’s wrong?” Hisako turned to look, and her mouth flopped open as well. She looked back at Sakura, and had to suppress an astonished giggle. Kakashi himself had just seated himself at the bar, ordering himself a healthy glass of… well, Sakura wasn’t exactly sure what it was. She wasn’t well versed in alcoholic beverages. It looked strong, though.

Hisako noted that he looked pretty tense, and extremely sullen. “Speak of the devil…” She whispered mischeviously.

“I’m gonna go on home… I have some errands I need to attend to. I’ll leave you to it?” A wordless sound of protest came from her pink-haired friend, but Hisako waved her off. “You’ll be fine. Just sit here, enjoy your drink-“

“I didn’t order a drink.”

“Yes you did.” Hisako waved her arm, and a waiter appeared with a pitcher of sake and a small cup. “Don’t drink it all. You’ll get sick.”

“Hisako…”

“You’ll be fine! Promise. Really, I gotta go.”

And Hisako slipped out of her seat, quietly exiting the teahouse that, to her, just gained a very tense atmosphere.

--

Chapter 26: http://www.fanart-central.net/chapter-100942.html

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