Chapter 104

She let out another sigh, knowing that Naruto was probably right; but this was going to be one of the first times that Sasuke was going to spend an extended period of time away from her—she couldn't help herself by being a little anxious, "Just take care of yourself."

"I will," Sasuke told her, sliding his wrist through her hand until his hand joined with hers. He held her hand for a moment longer before turning towards his best friend, "Let's go, Naruto."

Releasing her hand, he turned and departed from the back door; she watched them go, feeling a little agitated that Naruto would be too hard on Sasuke, but she figured he'd be fine for the most part. As they walked around the corner to the front yard, she could already tell they were bickering among themselves. Shaking her head slightly from side to side, she headed back inside the house to search for the shopping list she had been making that morning.

"Do you sense that?" Sakura asked him for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon.

He opened his mouth to give the irritated and usual response of 'no', when he found himself stopping. On the edge of his awareness he caught a trace of something—a presence: Sakura's chakra.

He closed his mouth again as he concentrated on keeping himself aware of the flow. Sakura gave a gentle laugh, and the chakra coming from her flickered with mirth. It was like a flame, he thought as he sensed her chakra fluctuate within her, as unpredictable as fire. Sakura's chakra felt warm on the edge of his conscious mind—and gentle, like the shyness of a candle's flame.

"See?" she said after a moment, her chakra flaring to reflect her approval, "I knew you would be able to do it. You just have to try hard enough."

Things were always easier said than done, Sasuke noted with irritation, as he stood perfectly motionless in Training Ground Three. He was concentrating to the best of his ability, and focusing his chakra as well as he could, but he could still not pick up the chakra signature of his teammate. From the time that they had arrived at the grounds, after Naruto had come to pick him up at ten that morning, the both of them had been training non-stop, and currently Naruto was in hiding.

This had to be the twelfth sneak attack that the fox-faced boy was attempting since training started. Sakura said it was still too early to expect to be able to sense signatures during fights because it was too distracting, so he still only had his basic sense to try and locate Naruto with. It was an all-out fight, anything goes—of course not to the death, but it was still a challenge nonetheless. When sparring with Sakura, he had refrained from using ninjutsu for two reasons: first of all, it was taijutsu practice and it would be unfair to use ninjutsu; second reason being was that he was afraid to hurt her.

He wasn't so worried about using basic ninjutsu in this fight however, due to the fact that he knew Naruto could withstand it. Having severely burned Naruto at their fight in the Valley of the End—something he now felt extremely guilty for doing—he knew that Naruto could survive. So far, a number of Kage Bunshins had met a fiery end as a result of his 'Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu'. When the fight had first started, Naruto had tried close proximity taijutsu, much like Sakura did—but after having all his hits blocked by Sasuke and almost catching powerful hit in the jaw, he had taken to going long range instead.

He could tell that Naruto was holding back on him as well, because he had managed to block every single blow thrown at him—something that wouldn't have happened if Naruto were going all-out. But things were more difficult—more challenging—now that the self-proclaimed future Hokage had gone and cowardly hidden in the foliage. The rustling of the leaves masked any movement, and he muttered a quiet curse under his breath.

'Concentrate…' he thought to himself, focusing on his surroundings. He just needed the slightest hint of a signature.

You just have to try hard enough.

How long had Naruto been hiding, he wondered dimly to himself, ten minutes? Fifteen? He expected that the loud-mouthed ninja would have tried another attack by now, but then again, he had been motionless himself over the last little bit. Naruto was probably equally suspicious of Sasuke's still form as Sasuke was of Naruto's duration of concealment.

…Try hard enough…

His fingers were folded into a seal that helped focus chakra, and he clenched them tighter, as if that would help in his concentration. Sakura had lowered her guard on her chakra specifically so that he could pick up on it, but Naruto, who knew nothing of the training with chakra, would have his guard raised completely. It was unlikely that he would be able to pick up on it at all.

Suddenly towards the back left, he heard Naruto leap from the bushes and come rushing at him. Sasuke growled to himself, but did not move. Naruto was attacking solo this time; additionally, by the sounds of the way he was approaching—ignoring the unnecessary battle cry—he had moved his fist forward to punch from behind. He held his position a few more seconds, letting Naruto get closer and closer, and then at the last second, he took a simple step to the right, causing the yelling ninja to miss. Sasuke only had a split second to react as Naruto unexpectedly came to an abrupt halt, using momentum to turn himself about and take another swing at Sasuke.

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