"Go!"
Raicho seized Sakura's wrist and pulled her, as they dashed into the nearby woods. Sasuke, as expected, wans't far from the right mark and disappeared into the forest, some distance away from the girls.
"Where is Naruto--"
"Oh, no," Sakura cut off, face palming. Raicho looked back and stared at Naruto yelling at Kakashi Sensei.
"I'm gonna take you straight on!"
Raicho blinked in disbelief at his outcry. She could literally feel Sasuke's mood, despite being so far away, dropping to zero at the stupidity their teammate was showing right now.
Sakura's face scrunched briefly together in a show of disgust at Naruto, but it vanished as quickly as it came.
"Come on, we don't have time to waste. We need to formulate a plan to get the bells," Raicho whispered hastily to her partner-in-crime. "Otherwise we'll--"
"Repeat the Academy!" Sakura gasped, remembering the consequences. "Let's go find Sasuke-kun!"
"But there are only two bells," Raicho hissed, grabbing her arm before she could look for her crush. "Listen, do you want to pass or not?"
"But three people would be better than two," she reasoned. "We need to get at least one bell!"
"No, we can't," Raicho disagreed, causing her to frown. "Listen, if we get Sasuke, then we'll have to pick two people to pass and two people to repeat. If there's just you and me, we both pass because we did the work."
Sakura's eyebrows had scrunched downwards and her eyes narrowed angrily at Raicho. Her jaw was clenched and her body stiff with fury.
"Sasuke-kun--"
"If you want him to pass so badly, then either I give up my bell, or you give up yours," Raicho threatened.
"That is, if you can even get a bell at all," a new voice sneered, causing the girls to jump, throughly startled.
"Boo." Kakashi Sensei appeared in front of Sakura, lifted his forehead protector covering his left eye, causing her to scream then faint promptly.
Raicho immediately put distance in between Kakashi Sensei and herself, watching Sakura fall to the ground with a thud. "Do you have so little faith in our abilities?"
"Well, why don't you prove it to me?" He replied, covering his eye. "Let's see just how good you really are."
"Oh, I'll show you!" Raicho lunged at him, ready to take him on.
Raicho wasn't a fool.
She knew he was just...taunting her.
Playing with all of them.
As Raicho kicked, punched, and ran after Kakashi Sensei with everything she had, she knew he was on a completely different level than the rest of them.
Hatake Kakashi
The Copy Ninja
Kakashi of the Sharingan
Hero of the Sharingan
Cold-Blooded Kakashi
Friend-Killer Kakashi
...All of these were titles he had earned a young age. He is one of Konoha's most talented ninjas, skilled in leadership, and in control of the water, earth, lightning, and fire Chakra elements as well as the yin and yang releases.
Raicho had researched her sensei as soon as she had gotten home, taking in the basic background information of his identity. Her mother had long taught her how to look for detailed information about people...especially ANBU.
He had joined the ANBU and even became captain, proving himself worthy of leading a team without flaw. Although Raicho did not find any medical history available, she was able to learn he had lost two of his closest friends and showed signs of decreasing mental health. It seems that by taking the duty of a sensei, teaching became his own form of therapy...
A dead father...deceased friends...a heartless captain...
He wanted them to rely on each other more, to work together, to take him down as a team.
To be a team.
That's what he wanted.
Soon enough, Raicho understood.
Kakashi Sensei defeated Raicho easily by knocking her to the ground, hitting several pressure points, causing her body to slacken and crumple to the ground. "You're not so tough after all," he sneered, looking at her.
"I'll take you down one day!"
Suddenly, Kakashi vanished, while Raicho lied on the ground, letting her head rest on the ground.
After a long moment, Sakura seemed to regain conscious, and Raicho was gaining back some feeling and control back in her body. "How are you doing?" Raicho asked, watching Sakura stand up.
"What happened?" She asked, rubbing her side. "I don't remember much..."
"Kakashi Sensei is what happened," Raicho snorted. "Could you get me up?"
"Oh! Of course. We should find Sasuke-kun. We need to make sure he's alright as well. Maybe he defeated Kakashi and has a bell!"
"I guess so. Help me now?"
They had barely walked ten steps with Raicho's arm draped over Sakura's shoulder when the two spotted Sasuke covered in blood and kunais.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gasped in horror, her eyes blown eye and her jaw quivering.
"R-run!" Sasuke rasped weakly, falling to the ground.
"Sakura, it's only an--" Raicho began, but Sakura paid her no mind.
"AHHHHH!"
"Woah--OW!" Sakura shoved Raicho forward, and seeing that Raicho had yet to gather the rest of her strength, she was flung to the ground with Sakura slumped on top of her. "Sakura?" She did not respond.
As soon as Sakura fainted again, Raicho watched as Sasuke's heavily injured body disappear in several leaves. "I knew it. Now I have to wait until she wakes up, and who knows how long that will take."
Raicho sighed at the hopelessness of it all. This might take awhile.
YOU ARE READING
Forked Shadows
Fanfiction"I'm leaving." Her eyes were slightly glazed, the once strong resolve shattered to pieces, and her shoulders hunched over in defeat. Her head tucked in, away from the accusing looks and mocking threats, and her entire appearance was that of a war s...
