Passionate Misfortune (Naruto Fan-Fiction/ SASUXSAKU)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

3rd Chapter!

{I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I only own the awesome OC}

...

Atsune hopped up onto the tree branch above her. She looked at her heels with a frown. She wished she had given a little more thought to her footwear, even amidst all the rushing in the morning. She bit her lip as she recalled the night before. She couldn't remember his name but the things they did were definitely memorable. When she had woken up, she realised she was late for her meeting with the Boss, and once she was finished with that meeting, she was already incredibly late for her meeting with the team from Konoha. She heard them jump up onto the trees behind her and immediately turned around.

They definitely did not look like much, and the blonde was annoying, but the Hokage and the Boss had chosen them, so she would wait and see. The Sensei of this team was an exception, even with that annoying mask covering half of his face; she couldn't wait to rip it off.

"I apologise in advance for the long journey ahead, you've already travelled so far from Konoha, but the Boss is a very secretive man."

Atsune set off before any questions could be asked and any more time was wasted; she wanted to return to her bed as soon as possible.

...

Sakura remained at the back of the group, following behind Naruto and Sai, who were "discussing" the former's lack of reading. She twisted her body in different ways, each branch she passed more curved and oddly grown than the other. As they headed deeper into the forest, the branches increased and began to overlap even more, and the blue sky above could barely be seen.

"Sensei, this forest, there's something strange about it" Sakura shared, her eyes glancing around.

She saw Kakashi smile, the material over his mouth outlining the shape of his lips. "I'm impressed, Sakura... you're right" he replied. "There are rumours that this forest is the home of a Dark Aura, powerful enough to force every man and woman to face their destiny. In worst cases, a man's destiny is death."

Naruto and Sai had started to listen, their argument coming to a pause. "It's no longer a part of the Land of Waves since the people felt it would impact their reputation and scare of travellers."

"Then Atsune-san and her Boss must have been destined with something. I wonder what we'll be destined with?" Sakura thought aloud.

"I don't think they're rumours, I can feel the Dark Aura. It feels like this forest has known many deaths" Sai said, his face expressionless, as it mostly was.

"I feel it too" responded Kakashi.

"Well whatever we're destined for, we'll be together and we'll protect each other. We're Team Kakashi" Naruto shouted, turning and showing a thumbs up to Sakura.

Kakashi and Sakura laughed while Sai smiled. "You're right about that, Naruto" Sakura rejoiced.

...

Atsune smiled as she heard Naruto's words. She had listened to their conversation and they were right; she had been destined with something.

She turned her head to look at Kakashi, who had noticed and met her gaze. Atsune lowered her voice, so only they could hear. "I think my first impressions of your team may not reflect the full picture."

Kakashi smiled with his eyes. "They're a surprising group" he said before falling back and turning his attention back to the branches. Atsune did the same, while continuously replaying the moment Kakashi had smiled at her.

...

Sakura wondered what she was destined for; the question had started to worry her. She never really thought about destiny or the future. She never really gave it much notice, unless it was her imagining herself as a strong kunoichi or her imagining herself being with Sasuke.

Sakura sighed, swallowing hard as she thought.

In the past, she hadn't realised what she truly wanted from life. She had "loved" Sasuke but for all the wrong reasons. But when she was put into the same team as him, she realised that he was broken and haunted by the past. He had only one goal; to be the avenger. And being on missions with him, training with him, she was sometimes able to sense some of his pain, his loneliness, even though he hid it very well.

She had fallen in love with Sasuke all over again, and this time, for all the right reasons. She wanted to help him. Every moment of his life mattered, only because he was fuelled by the need for revenge. Naruto too, was broken. They both had witnessed loneliness and pain from a very young age. To her, Sai had seemed broken and impossible to heal. He was taught to not feel, to not express any emotions, and when he had lost his brother, he was unable to feel sad because the expression itself was unknown him.

The only one with the painless background was her. But she had vowed to herself that she would try and help her comrades through their pain. She had been too caught up in her own world to come face with reality. But she had changed; she had become stronger than she was.

"A person can never be weak. The only difference between you and other people is that the roots of your power are different. That is why a person can always be strong, no matter what obstacle lies in their way."

Sakura remembered Tsunade's words, said to her on her first day of training. After hearing her master's influential speech, she had cried. Sakura remembered being so moved that day, that all the hurt and frustration she had felt vanished along with her tears. She felt better about herself and felt her inner-strength swelling with pride. On that very day, she realised that no person could ever be weak; not even herself.

Suddenly, Sakura heard a thump. She stopped and looked around. Atsune and her team had disappeared. She started to panic. She knew that they couldn't have gone far, so she closed her eyes and entwined her fingers together. She began to focus her chakra around her, images of different parts of the forest flashing up in her mind. And then she felt it. A familiar chakra but she couldn't determine whose it was. Sakura opened her eyes and parted her fingers. "I'll go first, it will save time."

Sakura determinedly headed off towards where she had sensed the familiar chakra.

-few minutes later-

"Where are you?"

Sakura had been searching and searching, but there was no one to be found. She smashed her fists against a tree in anger. "This is hopeless!"

She rested her head against the tree and closed her eyes, feeling annoyed that she was now lost in a forest with a dark aura looming around to decide her fate; she was pretty sure that it wasn't a rumour.

"Great, just great" Sakura mumbled.

"Sakura..." came a voice from behind her.

---

I wonder who that is.

Next Chapter- The mystery person revealed.