Chapter 5

-Accident

Sunshine pours in through the leafless trees of the training field, illuminating the morning frost that covers the village. Bitter cold hangs in the air, nipping at every exposed piece of skin of Team Kari. The young girl of the squad, Toshi, shivers in response to the low temperatures. She wraps her cloak around her as tight as she can, crouching down to retain every bit of body heat possible.

Shozen stands still, ignoring the cold and instead, focusing on how tired he is. He constantly yawns, trying to shake the sleepiness off. Shizake silently chuckles at his comrade before turning to the entrance gate to the training field.

"Gah...where the heck is Shīttooo?" Toshi groans, rubbing her hands along her arms to create heat.

"Probably just late. Once we get going you'll warm up." Shizake says.

"Well then I hope he hurries the hell up...because I'm freezing!" She yells.

Footsteps crunching against the thin layer of snow on the ground fill the team's ears. They look up to see Shītto slowly jogging to the team, thick clouds of vapor coming from his mouth.

Shītto runs up to them, rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry...missed my alarm clock."

"Hm. Lets just get started." Shizake begins. "I still have the traps set up from yesterday."

Toshi's eyes squint, "You just left live traps sitting out here...?"

The Uchiha stops in his tracks, dropping his head and scratching it, "Yeah...forgot to come dismantle them."

"You're lucky no one died..."

"Lets just get started Toshi."

The four of them stand at the edge of the tree line, Shizake observing his traps set up. Some are obvious, meant to mimic routine trap dismantles. Others are placed in places that will require keen eyes to dodge. The captain nods his head at the other three, commanding them to begin...

*

A young Uchiha walks his way home, sighing as he rests his hands behind his head. A shadow from the skies consumes his sight, the sun setting below the horizon and the night beginning to settle in. The trials of the day have consumed his mind, eating away at his conscious and thinking of what the future might possibly hold. He sticks his hand out, placing it on the railing as he ascends the creaky stairs. He then reaches into the left pocket of his black pants, pulling out a key.

Quickly shutting the door behind him he turns to see a familiar face looking at him with one eye open from a mat laid out in the middle of the living room. Their gazes meet, Shizake startled at seeing his cousin.

"Where've you been...?" The boy on the mat asks.

"I uhm...was just...talking to Iruka. A-about what I'm going to do. Since I wasn't um...placed on a team." Shizake replies, deciding to keep his thoughts to himself for now. Ways of figuring out how to tell Sasuke what actually happened fail to come to him.

"And?" Sasuke spurs on, sitting up crossed legged on the mat.

Shizake grits his teeth and begins picking at his nails, internally panicking for what to say. For now he decides to keep with the lie.

"I'm just going to wait until next year I guess." He says shakily, battling the nervousness that seems to pour out of his every orifice.

"Hn. I see."

Sasuke stands up and proceeds to fix himself a glass of water. He stares out the window, looking among the lights that dot the village at night.

The other Uchiha looks awkwardly at his cousin who has dropped the conversation. His need to cut the unnerving silence quickly overpowers him as he thinks of something to say.

"So...how do you feel about your team?"

A laugh escapes Sasuke's mouth before he takes another sip of water, "That idiot Naruto is on my team and the other one is annoying."

"Well...I'm sure it will work out. W-what about your sensei?" Shizake continues.

"Hn. Strange. Whatever brings me closer to killing Itachi...I suppose."

"I'll catch up... don't worry." Shizake assures his cousin at the mention of Itachi.

"It's odd that you weren't placed, considering your skills."

"Just unlucky I guess...at least that's what Iruka sensei said."

The raven-haired boy places his empty glass in the sink, wiping his mouth with his arm. His shoulders lift into a shrug as he turns and heads into his room for the night. Shizake lets out a heavy sigh, relieved that his lie passed off. For now.

*

SHINK!

"AGH!"

Three ANBU burst from the tree line, coming to their captain's aid. A kunai has lodged itself into Shizake's shoulder as he lies on the ground while fighting the piercing pain.

"Shizake are you alright?" Toshi says while lifting up her mask.

She begins to place a hand on the kunai when the Uchiha puts his hand up before gripping the blade himself. He yanks it out with a grunt, blood soaking the fabric of his shirt. The young girl goes through her pouch, pulling out gauze to wrap up the wound.

"Didn't see that one coming?" Shītto teases his captain, lifting up his mask as well.

"I must have set one of the traps up wrong..." Shizake thinks aloud.

Nitatchi chuckles to himself, "At least it didn't get you anywhere lethal...you sure you're good?"

"I'm fine." Shizake says as Toshi finishes wrapping the bandage around his shoulder. "Now...back to what we were doing..."

The Uchiha team captain crouches down, and grips something in his hand. A trail of snow bursts up from the ground, leading into the forest in the blink of an eye. Without warning, the three ANBU are thrown into the air, each of them with wire wrapped around their ankles. At first they remained stunned, unsure of what exactly has just happened.

Shītto crosses his arms, swinging back and forth, "Oh ha ha...!"

Lips pulling into a smirk, Shizake internally laughs to himself, "That was for your comment last night. No hard feelings, right?"

Her arms flailing around, Toshi begins screeching at the top of her lungs, "THEN WHY DID YOU PUT US IN THIS TRAP ALSO!?"

The Hyuga boy admires the hilarity of the situation, pulling off his mask at he looks at Toshi hopelessly dangling around.

"Pft hahaha!"

"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING!? THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" She continues roaring, flailing around like a caught fish.

The black haired captain falls back on his butt in the snow, grinning at his teammates. These small moments are rare for our line of work. At least it reminds us that we're still alive. Still...human.

Shizake cuts the wire loose, allowing the three to free fall back to the ground. In her rage, Toshi is caught off guard by this, crashing to the ground with a loud poof.

Nitatchi cuts the wire off his ankle before looking at the young girl sprawled out in the snow.

"Hahaha!" He points at her, falling on his back while clutching his side.

The young girl leaps up from the ground, stomping over to the Hyuga and grabbing him by the collar of his armor.

"I WILL KILL YOU I SWEAR I WILL!!!"

Shizake stands up, putting his hand up in a fist to signal the team to gather around. Shītto does so after he too cuts the wire off his ankle. Toshi follows suite after she has shaken the living hell out of Nitatchi who stumbles over woozily to the group while holding his head.

"We'll end early today. I should probably go get this...injury...healed." Shizake says, placing his right hand on the wound.

"Sounds good. I have some things to take care of at the compound so I'll catch you guys later." Nitatchi says before bounding off in the direction of home.

Shizake splits up with his team for the time being. Heading to the hospital to get the wound checked out. After putting up his gear he makes his way to the bright white building. Patients walk around the garden, enjoying the peaceful time they have on the road to recovery. Families in waiting walk their children around as well, letting them play in the court yard. Even with the harsh winter that has swept the village, the magnificent flowers still live, their beautiful colors shining even more against the thin blanket of snow.

The sixteen year old checks himself into the front desk, lazily waiting for someone to bring him back to be patched up. He looks around the waiting area, noticing that there isn't much activity going on. Must be a slow day.

A voice suddenly fills the room, "Bring him to room 4b. Make sure he takes three of the white pills and one of the orange one- S-Shizake?"

The Uchiha boy looks up, coal eyes meeting magnificent green ones accompanied by a head of pink hair.

"S-Sakura? I-"

"What are you doing here?" She asks with the tilt of her head.

She still acts as if we see each other often.

"Oh um...nothing. Getting my shoulder fixed up." He says, looking at the bandaging around his shoulder.

Grabbing a clip board off of the front desk, Sakura scans the waiting list before looking at the receptionist.

"I'll take him now Kokoro."

The lady grabs the clip board from Sakura's hand, checking Shizake's name off the list.

"Okay!" She says with a smile.

"Follow me Shizake." Sakura says, motioning for the Uchiha to follow her.

Shizake stands up, following Sakura down the brightly lighted hallway. They stop at a random door, Sakura sliding it open and letting Shizake walk in first. She shuts the door behind them before sitting Shizake down in a chair while she too takes a seat next to him. Professionally, she rolls up Shizake's sleeve, examining the wound while grabbing some supplies as well.

"So...what happened to you?" She asks.

"N-nothing...I just hurt myself while training." He responds, wincing while she cleanses the wound with rubbing alcohol.

"So that's what you've been up to... huh?"

"Well...I suppose."

Sakura eyes him suspiciously while concentrating chakra into her hands. A green glow envelopes her palms as she places them on the stab wound. The Uchiha boy grunts at the occasional pain but for the most part remains tranquil.

"Nobody's seen you in a while. Sometimes I feel like you avoid us on purpose..."

Shizake's eyes drop down and to the side, avoiding her demanding glare.

"You know things have changed..."

A surge of chakra flows into Sakura's arms, causing the medical jutsu to flicker. Shizake tenses up in pain, forcing his eyes to lock in with hers.

"That doesn't mean you should dodge us. At least...at least not me."

The jaw line of Shizake's face flexes in thought, knowing that at all costs, he must keep his identity as an ANBU hidden.

"I'm sorry Sakura...things just haven't been the same since..."

"I know," The girl cuts in. "It still doesn't mean I don't worry about you," She continues.

"I know why you are always are worrying... you don't want me to leave. Like Sasuke."

Sakura sadly lowers her head, losing focus with her medical jutsu. Shizake continues to gaze at her before his free hand reacts on its own. He places it on her chin, lifting her head up to bring her eyes back to his.

"I won't leave. I promise," Shizake assures her.

The healing jutsu stabilizes, quickly finishing its job as Sakura's lips pull back into a smile. The skin where the wound once was looks good as new. Shizake lifts his arm up, rolling his shoulder around as if to test it out to see if it works. He gives Sakura a thankful nod before she leads him to the front door of the building.

"You know, I hear Naruto is supposed to come back soon."

"Is that so?" Shizake asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Mhm. I can't believe it's almost been three years..." Sakura ponders.

"A long three years. Different from how I imagined it would be..."

Sakura tilts her head confusedly, "How did you imagine it?"

"Just...different." Shizake answers with a shrug. "Well. I have to get going. I'll see you around Sakura."

Just before the Uchiha turns around to walk away, two arms wrap themselves around his body, bringing him face full to a head of pink.

"Be careful Shizake..." Sakura says although muffled by Shizake's shirt.

Unsure of what to do, Shizake lets the hug play out before he grabs Sakura by the shoulders and giving her a reassuring nod.

"And come around more often! It gets boring here!" She yells while waving.

Shizake lifts his hand up in the air, acknowledging her conditions. As he turns the corner, he lets out a sigh of relief for not blowing his cover. Each encounter makes it incredibly difficult to keep this secret hidden. One day she's going to find out.