The Red Maelstrom

[29] In the Most Vacant of Spaces...

Kohana stretched her arms out with a loud groan of satisfaction. Although an exaggeration on her part, the moment she stepped out of the hospital felt like the first time she'd gotten a breath of fresh air in weeks. Oh, how she'd missed the outdoors; she'd spent most of her days in enclosed spaces—the Forest of Death barely even qualified as an exception. Team 7 hardly had a taste of sunlight; the forest only seemed to get colder and colder as time passed; and they were on their guard for the majority of the second phase. At one point, Kohana even caught herself forgetting that they even had a time limit to beat before Sakura gave her a well-deserved clout to the back of her head. In Kohana's defense, the stress from Orochimaru's attack, the ambush, and the delirium that came with all the blood and sleep she'd lost was getting to her. She had done more far more than she probably should have, but there was one person on the team who went to even greater lengths for them all.

Sakura may not have been stabbed, thrown around, or received a curse mark, but the normally uncertain and defenseless young kunoichi ended up carrying her entire team in the end. If anyone deserved all of Kakashi's praise, it was Sakura, the one who refused to abandon her teammates and even went the extra mile to ensure that they all didn't fall into the direst of conditions.

Kohana's lips curled up at the corners as a very familiar pink-haired genin rounded a corner. Speak of the devil.

As if she'd heard Kohana's thoughts, Sakura chose that exact moment to look up. Green eyes practically sparkled with barely concealed joy that left Kohana's greeting scrambling back to the darkest recesses of her mind. "Kohana!" There was a tiny bouquet she kept cradled in her arm, pretty little flowers in vibrant splashes of royal blue and yellow as bright as Naruto's hair.

The young Haruno stopped in front of her teammate, grin so wide and sincere that Kohana could hardly bring herself to feel bewildered anymore. Kohana returned the smile before cocked her head to the side in inquiry. "You visitin' Sasuke?"

Sakura shook her head. "I can't see him without Kakashi-sensei around. Besides, I already visited..." The smile on her face dulled for the briefest of moments. Kohana couldn't blame her; after all, she'd seen Sasuke just a few minutes ago and could barely hold her tears in. Even more interesting, however, was the way Sakura visibly shook her head and pasted on the same smile she'd directed at Kohana. "I was on my way to visit you, but..." this time, Sakura looked away sheepishly, looking almost as pink as her hair. Slowly, she began to shift her arm around to hide the bouquet.

Holy—was the bouquet for Kohana?

Again, Sakura jerked her head to the side and heaved a deep breath. She shoved the bouquet in Kohana's direction. "I'm glad you're well! They told me this was the day of your release, so I got you something. It's a good thing I managed to make it in time."

If Kohana was rendered speechless when she first saw Sakura greeting her like they'd been friends all their life, she sure as hell forgot words even existed as she eyed the flowers that seemed to stare her down. Kohana didn't know anything about flowers, but she knew pretty things when she saw them.

It was stupid, but Kohana found herself blinking at the bouquet, then at Sakura, the bouquet, and again at Sakura. "M-Me?" she spluttered. Sakura was pink now, but Kohana was fairly certain anyone who could see her right now wouldn't be able to tell the difference between her face and hair. Years ago, she'd received a little flower from Sasuke and Itachi, but never in her wildest dreams did Kohana expect someone to offer her a damn bouquet. Small as it was, it was a bouquet. A bouquet! Not to mention it was a bouquet from a girl she'd disliked just a few weeks ago.

Shaking ever so slightly (Kohana hoped Sakura didn't notice—she trusted the Haruno not to point it out, but Kohana losing her composure over some cute little flowers was embarrassing), Kohana accepted the bouquet with an abashed incline of her head. From this distance, Kohana finally caught a whiff of that earthy, yet light aroma surrounding the flowers. She touched the petals, feeling cool velvet sliding against the skin of her fingertips. The yellow flowers were spread open, fully bloomed and resembling the sun, while the blue petals curved over like miniature curtains. Kohana couldn't fight the smile growing on her face.