(Sasuke x Reader) The Pain Of Love

CHAPTER THREE

The deafening sound of silence filled the air, only interrupted by the occasional bird and cricket chirps. The forest was eerily still– like if the creatures of the forest were aware of the game of cat and mouse going on.

Within a few minutes of the test starting, Naruto had managed to attack Kakashi, get completely subdued, and fall into a trap set up by the aforementioned man.

Sakura was nowhere in sight, and the little fight between Naruto and Kakashi was enough for me to understand both of their skill sets. And that drove me to the only conclusion possible— Kakashi was no match for any of us.

Which was how I found myself carefully wandering deeper into the forest to try and both put distance away from me and the fight going on— assuming Naruto, Sakura or Sasuke are in motion— and to also come up with a strategy.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention– ones too heavy to belong to any of the genins. So, instinctively, I ducked behind the first bush I could see, rolling to a stop and peering out of the gap between the branches to see who the owner of the footsteps were.

“What are you—” The sound that came from my right, almost startled me, and I looked over to see the one and only, Sasuke Uchiha also hiding behind the same bush as me.

I audibly groaned, rolling my eyes. “Of course it's you.”

“Hn.”

I had noticed how small the bush was till me and the Uchiha were connected by the shoulder, our warm breaths practically becoming one. I could see the sweat beads on his neck, and that meant I was WAY too close to him for my comfort.

“Can you scoot over a bit?” I whispered to him, tilting my body slightly to make sure it's not making contact with the Uchiha.

He raised an eyebrow at me, before furrowing them into a glare. “I was here first.”

“Yeah, but I'm here now, so scoot over a bit.” I exasperated, bumping him slightly with my shoulder. But he didn't budget and remained firm, turning his attention back onto the outside world.

Realising the Uchiha, in all of his headstrong glory, was not going to listen to me, I also turned my attention back to the outside. The sound of the footsteps got louder, and I instantly recognised the sandals to be Kakashi's.

The slight sigh that came out of his mouth, followed by the ruffling sound of book pages proved it even more.

It didn't seem like he noticed us, and if he did, he made no motion to indicate he did. Which was weird, because from what I knew, older jounins had the ability to detect Chakra? Surely he could, as well.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the tingling feeling of a thousand little legs on my legs. I could feel my chest cave in on itself, as the sight of a pitch black millipede weaseling and twirling its way up my leg, past my ankles caught my eyes.

My mouth parted, an involuntary scream about to escape. But, Sasuke was fast, as always, and quickly clasped his hands on my mouth, his other hand making swift work and using a kunai to pick up the millipede and toss it away.

His sudden movement had pushed us fully on to the group. His hand on my mouth, his body between my legs, and eyes wide in alarm. His face was so close to mine, that I could feel his hot breath tickle my cheeks.

Before we could recover from the shock and push each other away, Kakashi's footsteps came to a halt. If he did hear, or if he did know we were here, he was toying with us now— standing there perfectly still and allowing us to wallow in fear.

I could feel Sasuke's breathing stop, just as mine did, as the footsteps closed in on the bush— and had I not been so uncomfortable with the close proximity, I wouldn't have noticed Sasuke leaning more towards me, either.