Lost in His World (A Sasuke Fanfic)

⇜Chapter 59⇝

"Mika, watch out!" Shikamaru yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping to warn me just in time to escape the thunderous wind that came from Temari-san's giant fan. But his effort was futile. Temari had to quickly send another gust of wind to stir the direction of her first attack to lessen the damage that it would cause me. She reacted as soon as she realized that I wasn't moving and didn't have any plan to move away from the path of her wind jutsu. Nonetheless, the "tail" of her first jutsu still reached me, sending me flying like a twig. I felt as if my body wouldn't stop being thrown violently if it wasn't for the towering wall of desert rocks that surrounded us. My back slammed against the hard surface and I fell face down on the dry, cracked, sandy desert soil.

"Gwarrk!

I spat the warm, iron-tasting liquid in my mouth and anchored my arms against the ground, pushing my body up to try to put distance between my face and the blood-covered soil.

"Mika, are you okay?" Shika asked as soon as he reached me. He had his hand on my back, gently giving it a rub to help soothe the obvious pain that I was in. Temari, on the other hand, was kneeling at my other side. She had her hand on my shoulder, concern clearly written on her beautiful face.

"I'm...okay..." I replied in between coughs. I brought my clenched hands to my chest as if I was trying to grab something that wasn't there. Then I spat another crimson-colored spit before I slowly sat straight, grimacing while doing it.

"You seem distracted. Is there something wrong?" Shika asked.

I turned to look at him for a second before answering.

"No," I said then bent my body forward, pretending to catch my breath. "Everything is fine."

"Every training is important, Mistress. It could mean the difference between your success and failure. It could also cause you your life. None of us will take it easy on you. If we do, then we would just be hindering you from reaching your true potential. So you better take it seriously..."

"I am," I snapped, cutting his words in a voice harsher than I meant it to be. But I did not apologize. I wasn't in the mood for one.

"Then why were you spacing out?" Shikamaru countered accusingly which fueled the building anger in my chest. I glared at him, not tearing my eyes away. I was sure he got the message but Shika never wavered. Not even for a second. I was the one who gave up, feeling more frustrated than defeated.

"I need you to stay focused, Mistress," he said after a minute of silence.

"Don't call me that," I replied, my voice lacking conviction.

Shikamaru remained silent but I could feel his eyes fixated on me. Studying me.

"I'm...I'm just...tired, I guess. Can we take a break? I promise I'll be more careful and focused on our next training," I asked in a calmer, almost pleading voice.

Shika looked at me a second longer before nodding.

"Of course. Let's continue your training tomorrow," he replied and then shifted his focus on Temari. "Would that be okay with you?"

"Yes," Temari answered simply.

I didn't say a word. I didn't even looked at them even after they stood up and started leaving. I stayed bowed down, still pretending to be catching my breath and nursing the pain. When I thought both of them were gone, I looked up to check. Seeing that I was alone, I finally sat straight and tore my sight away from where they should have gone to. My head lowered and, slowly, I began to take my hands away from my chest, revealing that same bluish glow that I first saw when Sasuke and I had a fight at the Snow Kingdom's Palace.