No Need for Love

C h a p t e r 14 - The Blushing Uchiha

Once the battle was over, Tazuna led us back to his home, where Kakashi Sensei could finally rest. Stating that he had over used his Sharingan and tired himself out tremendously. In an attempt to help Kakashi Sensei, I offered to heal him with my sutomi chakra, but he politely declined.

He knew it'd be best if I saved my strength. I knew it as well, but couldn't deny help to someone who might need it. The next day, Kakashi told us how Zabuza could still be alive. Especially since the so-called "tracker ninja" that showed up, took his body instead of dealing with it right then and there.

The fact that Zabuza is still probably alive, means that we'll have another encounter with him. Meaning that this entire ordeal is far from over, which is exactly what I want it to be. Instead of wasting our days away, Kakashi's decided to train us.

Though I don't see why, since he's not in good condition. Even so, here we are waiting in the forest for his instructions. As he begins to speak, Kakashi sensei tells us that we're going to climb trees... without the use of our hands. Once explaining how to do the task, he demonstrates an example by "climbing" the tree himself.

Immediately after we are told to complete the task ourselves.

'This shouldn't be too hard. Thanks to my sutomi chakra, I'm used to concentrating chakra into my hands. So simply moving chakra to my feet can't be difficult.'

Concentrating, I collect enough at the bottom of my feet. Moving towards the tree, I easily begin to walk up it. Reaching the tallest branch, I stand on top and see if anyone else made it to the top of their tree as well. Looking to the left, I notice Sakura sitting on a high branch of her tree. Peering back down, I stare at both Naruto and Sasuke having trouble.

Getting off the tree, Sakura and I land on the ground at the same time. Turning to face her, we smile at each other when Kakashi sensei suddenly praises us on our excellent performance. Naruto and Sasuke gape at us before glaring at each other and resuming their training. Sakura and I decide to stick around and watch as our two teammates continue to struggle.

Kakashi sensei left a little while ago, so it's only the four of us. To pass time, Sakura and I end up having a conversation, though it's mostly just small talk. Now that I'm thinking about it, we've never really spoken to each other. Even when we were in the academy, and if we did speak it was only little things like "Good morning" or "Can I borrow a pencil?"

I don't even know why we didn't talk, Sakura's and nice girl but I guess I just found her to be annoying. She would always compete with Ino over the smallest of things. And her constant swooning over Sasuke really ticked me off. But I can't figure out why, even now it still bothers me sometimes.

I can't possibly have feelings for Sasuke, and if I do it wouldn't matter. I'm pretty sure he's not interested in anyone. Besides, I have no need for something like love. Although that's the least of my problems. I really need to figure out what I'm going to do about my dad and his plan against the leaf Village.

I need to tell someone, but I'm scared. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I quickly shake my head trying to get rid of the thought.

"Are you alright, (Name)?" Sakura asks me appearing concerned.

"Oh yeah! I'm okay, don't worry." I try to reassure her.

Afterwards, I watch Naruto come closer to us. Turns out he just wanted to ask Sakura for help on how to control his chakra better. Since I was already there, I decided to give Naruto a few tips as well.

'The sun is setting, it'll be dark soon.'

Standing up, I stretch my limbs before turning around.

"Hey Sakura, I'm gonna head back. Are you coming?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'll go with you." She replies while getting up.

As soon as we begin to walk, I feel a gentle tug on my wrist. Swiftly turning around, I see the person holding my wrist captive is Sasuke. Sakura looks back to see why I stopped walking.

"Uh Sakura, go ahead without me. I'll see you there, okay?"

"Oh...okay." She says before leaving reluctantly.

Facing Sasuke once again, I ask "What do you need, Sasuke?"

Finally letting my wrist go, he leans back while shoving his hands in his pockets. Turning his face to the side, Sasuke looks away, breaking eye contact with me. Staring at him boredly, I wait for him to say something.

"Could you help me?" Sasuke softly asks with a hint of hesitation.

There's only silence because I don't immediately reply. My brain is still trying to process what my ears just heard.

'Did he really just ask for help?!'

Still not uttering a word, I continue to stare at him with wide eyes. Sasuke faces me and is surprisingly shocked by my expression.

"Well?" He questions impatiently.

The air is soon filled with my laughter. The fact that Sasuke actually asked for help is hilarious. And he asks me of all people. As I continue to laugh, I place my arm on my stomach trying to catch my breath.

"What's so funny?" He says glaring at me slightly.

"You." I say while trying to hold in my giggles. "You asking me for help, that's what's so funny."

"Whatever...are you going to help me or what?"

"Alright...but you have to say please." I suddenly state, with a grin on my face.

"Forget it." Sasuke answers turning away from me.

"Just do it!" I shout.

The surrounding area becomes quiet for a minute or two, until I hear Sasuke barely mumble a soft "Please."

"What was that?" I innocently ask, leaning closer to his face.

While doing so, I happen to catch a light shade of pink appearing across his cheeks. Is Sasuke Uchiha really blushing! Watching in amusement, I slightly narrow my eyes while plastering a devious smirk on my lips. Moving even closer, I see his blush grow darker.

"I'm waiting." I whisper to him.

Sasuke nervously takes a step back, trying to create some distance. Still avoiding eye contact, Sasuke lets out a deep sigh before attempting to speak the one word he seems to have so much trouble with.

"Please." Sasuke clearly states, looking back at me.

Giving him a closed eyed smile, I say "Let's get started!"