Don't Leave Me Alone: [SasuSaku fanfiction]

Chapter 3 (Sakura)-Old And New Wounds

Sakura stopped at a tree; it's rough chestnut brown bark, and it's crinkled autumn red leaves fluttered to the ground silently. It definitely was the time of autumn, the faint chill in the air that whirled around Sakura as she leaned against the tree, closing her eyes and inhaling the air.

'Why did Sasuke have to be in the hospital?' Sakura wondered, looking down at the dry grass, crunching under her feet. She felt a slight pang of guilt as she was reminded that she herself hadn't yet visited Sasuke, and she realized she wasn't planning to. She had passed by Yamanaka Flower Shop without a second glance, and hadn't even thought of the hospital once.

Sasuke, was, indeed, fresh out of mind.

'maybe it's the saying.' Sakura tried to convince herself she really did care about Sasuke. 'out of sight, out of mind.' She corrected herself that even if she didn't see him, she should still love him anyway.

Confused and frustrated by her thoughts, Sakura resolved that she should she train up in the far mountains; perhaps to help express her frustration.

Finally pleased on a decision she made, Sakura held her hand up and used the hand sign for Body Flicker Jutsu.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura stood on the top of the mountain, kunai and shurikens in hand, and looked around. Sturdy, tall, rocks, and a few withered trees that would be better off chopped down. Perfect for training.

Sakura dug around in her pocket, before laying her hands on two shurikens and an explosive tag. Dangerous, she knew, because they were going to go off at any minute, so she had to be quick.

Sakura slapped the explosive tag on, and quickly chose her target; a tall sturdy rock. She backflipped neatly, shurikens in hand, and she heard the shurikens whizzing through the air, and a loud explosive as the rock crumbled.

Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead and grinned in satisfaction, not bothering to check if her shurikens were intact. She knew they were going to be furiously hot and singed to the sides, dull and coal black, completely useless.

She picked up her bag and slowly pulled out a good handful of kunai with small bags of explosive tags and cherry blossom petals, and only one kunai with a explosive tag. She had to do this right; it wouldn't do to waste these.

Taking a deep breath, she picked a spot and jumped up high in the air and threw the kunai down, all cascading down in a cherry blossom bed, and then Sakura whirled around twice before striking down the regular kunai with the explosive tag.

A loud expolsion that rattled Sakura's ears took her off guard and she tumbled in the air twice before stopping herself with her foot that landed on the stone ground with a loud sound.

Pain rattled through Sakura's ankle, and she winced. She knew that she had probably gotten a sprained ankle due to the impact she gave herself on hitting the ground so hard. She looked over, and saw her favorite kunai; the one Sasuke had given her a while ago, had been caught in the explosive, and was singed and burned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"sakura." Said a voice behind her, and Sakura whirled around, only to come face to face with Sasuke.

"sasuke-kun!" sakura said. "What is it?" she asked cheerfully.

Sasuke looked away, flushed red in the face as he shoved something into Sakura's hand. "Take it." He muttered, ducking his head.