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Post by Haruno Sakura on Aug 4, 2007 9:54:40 GMT -5
It was odd that Sakura had needed to go all the way to another village to find a moment for herself. She was sort of glad Tsunade had sent her on a mission to Kumo. This way, she had learned a new technique at the hospital here while helping around, and she could also now walk through the park to be all by herself.
No one knew here here, and that was refreshing.
She stopped in the shadow of a large tree and sat down in the grass, sidling up into the great trunk and pressing her shoulder blades against it. She felt really sheltered down there, even if she was so alone...
She needed to think on what she had been told lately... all those things about Ishi spotting Sasuke in Iwa, and the hopes that they could finally find him and bring him back... Sakura wished for that so much. She couldn't even express it with words.
Slowly, almost against her will, she felt a small tear roll down her left cheek. She reached a hand there and wiped it with the back of her palm, in tired frustration. She didn't want to be crying.
Yet, she felt like curling up on the ground and just staying there. But she didn't. She was stronger than that.
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Post by Uchiha Sasuke on Aug 4, 2007 10:06:34 GMT -5
Sasuke stood on the top of the park's only hillock, looking at the village he was planning to leave behind. It seemed oddly peaceful in the light of noon.
He had gathered all the information he needed from here, by himself, while Suigetsu and Karin were in Konoha. They had left Juugo asleep, so he shouldn't be anything to worry about this time, the way he had been when the three of them had gone to Kirigakure.
In fact, Juugo would be useful soon... His animal friends were sometimes really better at gathering information than any of...
The line of Sasuke's thoughts was suddenly cut when his eyes froze on a lone figure who was just dropping seated by an imposing old tree, a good distance away from him. There were fields and rows of flowers, and pathways separating him from that figure.
Still, she would have been impossible not to recognize.
Sakura.
The word pounded in Sasuke's head, followed by an incessantly growing curiosity. What was she doing here?
He was glad she didn't seem to be paying attention. He didn't mind being able to just stand there to look at her.
Not for long, though. Her presence was awakening memories that Sasuke didn't want to think of right now.
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Post by Haru Shishi on Aug 4, 2007 10:11:14 GMT -5
Haru left the village. Konoha was boring at this time in the morning. He needed some new scenery. "Maybe I should visit a different village..."
Soon Haru arrived at Kumo. "Wonder if anything is going on here." He headed in to talk a look. He soon saw a girl huddled against a tree and she look kinda sad. He landed next to her. "Hey what's wrong?"
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Post by Haruno Sakura on Aug 4, 2007 10:15:13 GMT -5
Sakura leaned her head back, pressing it against the rough surface behind and not minding that she was messing up her hair. She looked up, at the tiny patches of sky she could see through the richly leafed, solid branches above her.
The air was fresh and she felt a little better with each breath she took. She couldn't help having moments of weakness sometimes. But lately there had been so many of them...
She balled one of her hands into a fist, the same she had used earlier to wipe away her tear. Gathering only the tiniest amount of chakra and focusing it, she punched the ground, making a small hole, only a little wider than the size of her fist.
That seemed to calm her down a little more. She was going to be ready to leave soon.
She closed her eyes, and concentrated on feeling each distinct broken sunray that fell onto her cheeks and forehead. That was a good concentration exercise...
Suddenly, a voice startled her, and she almost let out a soft cry as she pulled herself away from the tree. It was only reduced to a gasp by her efforts.
Sakura looked up to the boy who was now in front of her, and forced a distinctly cheerful smile to form on her lips. She couldn't just let someone she didn't know realize she wasn't doing okay...
"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied, trying to be cheerful. "I was just relaxing. Sorry about worrying you."
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Post by Haru Shishi on Aug 4, 2007 11:08:36 GMT -5
Haru twitched. They were being watched from one of the hillsides. He reached for his shurikens. He had no idea who it was or what they were planning, but the sensei's always said be prepared.
He launched the shurikens in different directions.
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Post by Uchiha Sasuke on Aug 5, 2007 3:51:23 GMT -5
Shuriken.
Sasuke would have laughed at even the remote thought that such a basic attack could hit him, if his mind hadn't currently been so busy with another concern.
I cannot allow Sakura to see me.
With that being his only real point of focus, he thought of a move to make in only the blink of an eye. Easy. The same one he had used back then, on that night, to suddenly show up behind her and plunge her into unconsciousness before she could react.
Sasuke molded some chakra and turned it into raw physical speed, enough to make him quicker than even sound. With that, he hid on the other side of the hill, crouching beyond the top, on the other side than the one Sakura and the guy were on.
However skillfully thrown, no shuriken could have such a trajectory as to reach him there.
Who was that guy, anyway?
Sasuke felt himself almost begin to wonder if Sakura knew him. Or had he just decided to walk up to her for no reason?
Why did he care, anyway?
Slowly, still in his crouched position, he let himself slip down the slope, to the base of the hill. Only there did he revert to full height.
He needed to leave, anyway.
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Post by Haruno Sakura on Aug 5, 2007 4:03:26 GMT -5
The boy didn't say anything anymore and Sakura noticed him give a sudden twitch, then throw a few shurikens in a direction she hadn't been paying much attention to. She looked that way quickly, suddenly on alert.
Someone was actually there... and...
"Sasuke..." she began, but the name died on her lips and the last part was almost impossible to hear.
She had leaped to her feet in only an instant, staring at the top of the hill, but no one was there. And despite that, someone must have been, to cause that boy to throw the shurikens.
Sakura had no idea why she had felt the need to think of Sasuke being there. Maybe it was only because of all the things Ishi had told her lately, about seeing him. Did a part of Sakura really hope to see him again this much?
"What happened?" she asked, turning to the boy she didn't know. Maybe he was going to have a better explanation.
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Post by Haru Shishi on Aug 5, 2007 8:37:04 GMT -5
"Darn." The presence left to quickly and at too high of a speed. Haru turned to the girl. "You sure your okay? By the way, my name's Haru." And before the girl had a chance to reply or say anything Haru to off.
That was the weirdest and darkest chakra I've ever felt, he thought. Time to increase the speed. Haru concentrated his chakra, increasing his speed 10 times it's normal.
"Whatever or whoever it is, it isn't getting away from me so easily."
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Post by Haruno Sakura on Aug 6, 2007 3:11:24 GMT -5
"I'm Sa... hey!" Sakura was left almost speechless, not to mention that he had completely ignored her question and clarified nothing.
It seemed like someone had been up there on the hillside after all, but Sakura wasn't going to just let this Haru boy charge blindly after it. Not when they could both go and stand more of a chance, in case it was dangerous. There was only one thing she could think of doing.
Sakura gathered chakra onto her fist and quickly slammed it into the ground, with a clearly diagonal direction towards the hill. Cracks began to form quickly, chasing after the boy. Whatever strange speed he now had, that was supposed to catch up with him and stop him... she hoped.
She really wanted to know what was going on in there.
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Post by Haru Shishi on Aug 6, 2007 6:48:29 GMT -5
Haru looked back. What he could only describe as a crack in the earth was following him. Before he knew it, his foot fell in, and he was unable.
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Post by Uchiha Sasuke on Aug 6, 2007 13:35:04 GMT -5
A small glance behind clarified that the guy wasn't giving up the chase and was coming after him. His speed was impressive, but Sasuke's could transport him almost instantly from one place to another, much quicker than the eye could see.
Sasuke didn't much care about the pursuer. However... he wouldn't benefit from the time to calculate his moves in order not to be seen by Sakura.
He felt a frown creasing his forehead softly as he thought. He was at the base of the hill... there was a small group of trees just in front of him. This had to do for now.
Then, the earth shook and Sasuke noticed it was one of Sakura's highly chakra-imbued moves. Her cautious nature and her likely need for an explanation were coming in handy for him. There was no time to waste.
The same visually imperceptible way, Sasuke drifted from one tree to the other, not stopping to rest for more than the split second it took to focus chakra again each time.
If this didn't work as a getaway, he would have to cause a disturbance to distract the two.
And as a last act... he could always isolate himself with that space jutsu he had obtained from Orochimaru. Simply disappear from space and time for a while. But having to use that much chakra and to make that much effort just to get away would be a definite dent in his pride.
Gritting his teeth, Sasuke continued to drift away, in the direction of the park's limit. from there, he could jump onto a roof, then enter the crowd on the streets and easily lose his tracks.
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Post by Haruno Sakura on Aug 6, 2007 17:14:02 GMT -5
Sakura let out the breath she had been holding in, with relief. She had managed to stop Haru before he went in foolishly, without assessing the situation first. She thought she saw a figure getting away, but she couldn't be sure, it was only there for a second.
She lifted her hand from the ground and leaped gracefully between cracks until she caught up with Haru. There, she offered the hand to him.
"Here, let me help you up," she said. "I'm sorry, but I had to stop you... do you know who was up there?"
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Post by Haru Shishi on Aug 7, 2007 14:00:21 GMT -5
"No." Haru said as he rubbed his legs. "But from the feeling I got, it wasn't someone good."
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Post by Haruno Sakura on Aug 7, 2007 17:53:15 GMT -5
As Sakura looked at him, she started feeling sorry about having been so brutal in her attempt. But she hadn't seen any other solution.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, with a bit of concern. "I could heal you if you broke anything."
She held in a sigh as she scoured the area, still unable to see any trace of whoever had been there.
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Post by Haru Shishi on Aug 7, 2007 18:01:08 GMT -5
Haru began to loose sense of the person. "Crap. He left." Haru got up, the attack having not done much damage to him. "I'm fine as long as your okay." Who was that person?
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