To Prove One's Worth
Chapter One: The Invitation
Disclaimer: I do not own Sasuke, Sakura, or Naruto at all.
By:KawaiiBunnyxD
"Sasuke-kun. You betrayed the Village, but you came back. I waited so long..." Sasuke looked around, wondering whose voice was echoing in his mind.
"Sasuke-kun, why didn't you tell me you were coming back?" Sasuke began running. Faster, faster.
"Leave me alone!" He yelled, beginning to sprint for his life.
"Sasuke-kun, I loved you..." He continued running and tripped. he realized that it was Sakura's voice.
"But now you're nothing to me." Darkness fell upon him.
Sasuke woke up, startled. It's been a long time since he had come back to the Hidden Leaf Village. Now eighteen, he had grown a tall, firm masculine body. Enough to make every girl fall in love with him at his will. Or not at his will. Fangirl numbers decreased as each of them got married one by one. Sasuke was a bit relieved, but felt loneliness.
"Crap... It was a dream, nothing else." Sasuke stood up and looked outside. People were walking up and down the streets, and the sun shone brightly outside, stinging Sasuke's eyes.
He walked into the bathroom and washed his face. Three years had passed since Naruto and Sasuke had their final fight. It was Sakura who had managed to end their feud. With no other option, Sasuke returned to the Leaf Village as though he had never left.
Wednesday
"SAKURA!" Ino's angry voice rang in Sakura's house. "YOU BETTER COME HERE!"
"Wha?" Sakura's sleepy voice seemed to make Ino angrier. "I'm... Still... Sleepy..." Her head fell back onto the pillow, but not for long. Sakura was now a medic-nin, who worked at the hospital whenever she was needed. Her hair had grown to her shoulders, and she had developed curves. Still, Ino would make men stare at her by just saying "hello" to them.
Ino grabbed a fistful of pink hair and pulled her head up. "Now.. Listen to me."
"Ouch!" Sakura yelped and slapped Ino's fist. How she hated having Ino for a friend sometimes. "Fine, fine. What do you want?"
"What do I want?" Ino's face contorted. "What's this doing on my doorstep?" She held up a white thong.
"What?" Sakura's face grew red. "I-I don't know. Umm.." Sakura quickly snatched the thong. "Well, what was your doorstep doing under my underwear?"
"Ok, this has gone far enough." Ino sat beside her on the bed. "Your underwear isn't that important... And I forgive you."
Sakura's eyes widened. She was smart enough to realize that Ino would need her to do some sort of ridiculous favor in order to receive Ino's forgiveness. "On what conditions?"
"Well.. Sasuke's been back for a month now." Ino's grinned, suddenly full of ideas. "We could, I mean, you could do sometihng related to him, you know?"
"So what?" Sakura sat beside Ino on the bed. "Sasuke-kun means nothing to me now." Her eyes looked down at her feet, cold and empty.
"What?!" Ino jumped back, surprised. "How can you say that? I mean, you've been obsessed with him for almost forever. You have a chance with him now that I'm with Sai. Sai is so much better than Sasuke."
"Well, consdering that Sai has never betrayed our village, you could be right. Sasuke's like a dead log. You could have girls all over him and he wouldn't react." Sakura stood and began leaving the room.
"Wait!" Sakura stopped and looked back at Ino.
"What now, Ino-pig?"
"Stop calling me that! Ok... I'll only forgive you if you come to my party this Friday!"
"Wha?!" Sakura widened her eyes. Ino's parties were full of disgusting games, including 7 minutes in heaven, snuggle bug, and spin the bottle. Who knows what happens in the bedrooms? Sakura was always invited but she never goes to those parties. "Are you kidding?"
"Well, you're still a virgin and all that... Forehead, you're a chicken."
Sakura could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. So she was a virgin, so what? She was proud to be one... "Who cares? And I am not chicken!" Sakura will not tolerate being called a chicken.
"Chicken."
"I'll go!" Sakura went through the door and slammed it, leaving Ino in her room.
From the distance, she heard Ino's familiar voice. "And don't forget to invite Sasuke-kun!"
Inner Sakura took over as Sakura ran to Sasuke's house to invite him."If Ino wants Sasuke-kun, she gets Sasuke-kun. Like I care. Cha!"
"Wait a second." Common-sense Sakura took over, it was still Wednesday. "I don't have to invite him now... Arghh I'm so stupid! This is probably another one of Ino's plans to get me to like Sasuke again!"
Inner Sakura responded. "Are you that over him? I bet you're not.. Those eyes, the hair, the body..."
Sakura blushed. "Shut up! Stupid inner me.."
People on the street were beginning to stare at her sudden outbursts. Sakura blushed even harder.
"Umm... Sorry." She walked to the training grounds to meet up with Naruto and Sasuke. Today was training day, like usual. Sasuke would clobber Naruto, and she would heal him... every week. It wasn't training for Sasuke, just Naruto. To Sasuke, it was like a game that he always won. Typical Sasuke.
As she reached the training grounds, Sasuke was waiting for her.
Training
"You're late." His cold voice shot through her like a bullet. He tried really hard not to let last night's dream affect him. However, he had been having these dreams a lot lately.
"So what?" Sakura glared (more like stared) at him. "Just be happy I'm earlier than Naruto." She sat down on a log, hoping that Naruto would show up soon. It was getting sort of awkward, being alone with Sasuke.
"Hmph." Sasuke sat down on the opposite side of the long, his back facing her.
"Invite him now, it's your chance!"Inner Sakura yelled.
"Not now, you dummy!"Sakura fought the urge to punch herself, but sadly, lost. Her sudden movement caused her to lose balance and tip the log over.
Sasuke and Sakura both fell to the ground, bodies accidentally touching. Sasuke was still, not aware of what had happened except that two soft objects were on his chest. He realized that Sakura was on top of him and he tried to push her off desperately.
"Wha-" Sasuke rolled over so that he was on top of Sakura. His voice was firm and cold. "Don't ever do that again. It's annoying."
Sakura's face was now a shade of tomato red (kind of like Hinata when she sees Naruto). "Like I did that on purpose! I-I.."
"You're stuttering. Hmph."
"S-So? Why are you still sitting on me?!" Sakura was not able to move, but tried to push Sasuke off in vain. She could feel something under his pants pressing into her thighs, and it only made her blush harder. Sasuke quickly got off without a word, with an unnoticable pink spot on his cheek.
"Hmph."
"Is that all you ever say?" Sakura stood up quickly, the blush was fading slowly. "No wonder why I got over you so quick..."
"You're not."Inner Sakura was ever so persistent.
Sasuke turned around as Naruto appeared in front of her. "Sakura-chan! Sorry I'm late!" Naruto brought along Sai for training sometimes, and it was one of those days. Sakura was relieved that Naruto showed up at the best times. Sasuke simple muttered a "Hmph".
"Why's everyone so quiet?" Naruto looked at the two, who had their back to each other. "Well, Sasuke is always quiet... But Sakura.."
"Don't worry Naruto. We just had a little fight." Sakura assured Naruto that everything was under control. Sai who was behind Naruto, walked in front of Sakura.
"A lover's spat?" asked Sai, smiling. Sai had discovered his hidden emotions and was now a full fledged normal human.
"No.." Sakura proceeded slapped Sai's face. "Not a lover's spat. Just a normal spat." She turned around to face Sasuke. Black eyes glared at her jade-colored eyes.
"Hmph. Quit staring at me. That's annoying."
"Sakura-chan's not annoying... All the time." Naruto grinned. The grin vanished when Sakura glared at him. "Just kidding..."
POW!
Without a warning, Naruto was knocked sky high and out of sight. Sasuke stared as Naruto's body hit the roof of the Hokage's office. Sai whistled a little. Sakura brushed some dust of her gloves. "Oops. Just kidding, Naruto."
"Now, now, Sasuke-kun, why are you staring at me?" teased Sakura, smiling.
"Hmph. I wasn't." Sasuke turned to Sai, who was watching with increasing attention. "Why are you still here?"
"Don't change the subject. You were watching me."
"I wasn't. I was only watching because... You were being annoying."
"No I wasn't!"
"Yes you were."
"No!"
"Hmph."
Sai smiled. "This is a lover's spat."
"Shut up Sai. Training's over." With those words, Sasuke left. Sai now turned to face Sakura.
"I saw you two earlier, Ugly."
"What?! You were watching us?" Sakura glared at Sai, her face reddening. "And don't call me ugly."
"No. But do like to be very early for training. I just met with Naruto along the way to slow him down in case he would stumble across the scene."
"Well Sai, I just happened to be waiting for Naruto to interrupt that awkward moment."
"I didn't want to spoil it, that's all. You seemed to be enjoying it."
"What?!" Sakura blushed. "I wasn't!"
"Listen Ugly." Sai walked towards her. "Ino has a lot of 'those' books in her room. I've read them and it was obvious that you enjoyed that. Sasuke seemed to too."
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura laughed. "Yeah right, like that block of ice could enjoy anything involving love."
"Well, did you think I could when you and dickless met me?"
"No..."
"I believe that Sasuke could change like I did."
"Maybe he's right." Sakura put her fingers on her lip, thinking about how Sasuke could ever change. "But Sasuke is a challenge. He never notices me, so now I.. Wait a second. Sasuke-kun could never take losing a challenge... So what if I become one?"
"Great idea! Let's go! Cha!"
"Right Inner Sakura... But think of this as a game. I don't love him anymore."
"Cha right! Yes you do!"
"I don't! We'll use Ino's party."
"Cha! Let's do this!"
"Why do you look so sneaky?"
Sakura opened her eyes. She noticed that Sai was still there.
"Oh... Nothing. Hey, are you going to Ino's party?"
Jade eyes sparkled as an idea formed.
"Of course. I'm Ino's boyfriend. Don't tell me you're going?"
"And why would it be bad if I went?"
Sai pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
"Would you like me to draw the things that happen in those parties?"
Vivid pictures appeared in Sakura's mind. Then Sasuke appeared. Combine those two and--
"Uhh..." stammered Sakura, shaking her head. "No thank you, Sai."
He put the items back in his backpack.
"Only go if you're sure you can take it. I mean, everyone but you and Sasuke goes."
She smiled. Her lips began forming a curve.
"Oh. I'll make sure Sasuke-kun goes, Sai."
Sakura then disappeared, with pink smoke flying past Sai. She knew this was the perfect chance to challenge Sasuke. But how do you make ice melt? You have to...
Warm it up a little.
Ok, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! There may be lemon in the other chapters, as I try and figure out how to melt Sasuke. I always thought Sasuke would try to win a challenge, no matter what type it was.
Ino's parties sound like fun, but it would be Sakura's first time going to those parties. Now strong, I'm sure she'll be able to take it.
I'll try to put more physical contact in the second and third chapter, but I'm focusing on the plot for now. Oh, and I love reviews and what people think about my story, so go ahead and push that button.
