Summary: Sakura is finally trying to let go of her strong feelings for Sasuke while Hinata is trying to make Naruto realize her feelings, but what happens when they all get sent on a dangerous mission together? Will love blossom for Hinata and Naruto? What will happen when Sakura is forced to deal with her feelings?
A/U: I believe this is my first Naruto fan fic wow I can't believe I never got around to this. I've been wanted to write something for this for a while so I hope ya like~ this takes place like right after where Sasuke goes on his redemption journey. Keep in mind that the scene where he pokes Sakura's forehead and says "see you soon" will be mentioned but I altered it for the purpose I have in this fic because that poke to the forehead is supposedly like an ultimate form of affection from what I read somewhere and that can't happen yet XD. EEEEEENJOY!
P.S: Cover image was found on weheartit posted by Lady Sharingan.
The two were there next to each other. Blood streamed from the place where their arms used to be until the substances intersected and mixed. The war…the pain… it was finally all over. Sakura witnessed the two in their state and grief built up over the loss of their limb. She crouched down between the two and had begun to heal their significant wound.
"Thanks Sakura!" Naruto gratefully said to her.
Sasuke turned his head to look at her, now feeling the extent of his guilt when he saw her face. He carefully tried to come up with a sentence to say.
"Sakura I…"
"Don't," she halted his words.
"I need to concentrate," she added.
He paused for a moment but insisted in continuing.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Sakura spoke with her attention not drifting from the task at hand. Her eyes never met his.
"For everything I've done up until now," he said as sincere as he could.
There was a small silence between the three. He couldn't tell if she was going to ignore him or say something with her facial expression looking so lifeless. Suddenly her face softened and it seemed as if she was about to say something.
"You'd better…" she sighed.
She slowly broke down in tears from the emotion that was building up inside her body.
"You are…so much trouble...stupid."
The two boys formed a smile across their bruised and swollen faces. For the first time they felt that everything was going to be all right. Kakashi had watched the moment from a distance, smiling behind his mask.
After Sasuke was pardoned for his crimes, he decided to go on a journey for redemption. Sakura went on to further strengthen her skills in the medical ninja field. Naruto of course, continued to work on his dream in becoming Hokage.
"Ms. Haruno! Here's the chart you asked for," a nurse jogged over to Sakura with a clipboard in her arms and handed it to her.
"Thank you," the pink haired woman smiled, gratefully taking the chart.
"Oh and just to let you know um…Lady Tsunade has had Mr. Uchiha's prosthetic ready for quite sometime now," she added.
"Yes she talked to me about it. Well I'll let him know when he gets back," Sakura nodded to the nurse and watched her as she took off.
A sudden thought came to mind since the topic of Sasuke was spoken of.
Flash back
"So you're going off?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke and Sakura stood at the entrance door to the village.
"Yeah… sorry," he apologized.
"B-But Lady Tsunade is almost done with your prosthetic hand from Hashirama's cells."
"I…I need to see it for myself…. how the world looks," he explained.
"All those things I've overlooked, I have a feeling I'd be able to see them better now and if I miss this chance… I don't think another will come. Plus there's a few things that have been bothering me," he continued.
Sakura clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head slightly down. "Wh..What if I told you…that… I'd like to come too?"
"It's my road to redemption. You have nothing to do with my sins," he stated.
Sakura sighed., relaxing her shoulders as she threw her arms forward, hunching her back. "Nothing to do…you say…"
Sasuke sighed and put his hand on her shoulder, which made her look up at him with a confused expression. "I'll be back." He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze with his hand and walked off. Sakura looked back at him with a small smile, but it soon faded as she looked down at the dirt.
End of flash back
Sakura sighed, remembering that moment. After he had left about a month ago, she came to the conclusion that he was going to be in his own world and even though he was back he wasn't really there. Nothing was the same, but she knew it was never going to be. All this time she loved and loved and loved, but all she ever got in return was emptiness and pain.
She knew he was sorry for all of it and she forgave him, but what was she to do for love now? She thought about how Sasuke felt about her and from her perspective it was nothing more than a dear old friend at most. For her own sake she felt that it was time…to move on. Sakura knew that she could never let go of her love, but she figured she could move on to find someone who would return her feelings the way she always wanted.
The jōnin reviewed the chart in her hand and continued her usual duties in the hospital. She only worked part time so she could dedicate the other half of her day to training and sometimes missions. Today was a training day and when twelve o' clock hit it was time to go. Sakura hung her lab coat on her locker door and quickly grabbed her sleeveless red qipao dress and threw that on as well as tying her black obi around her.
Black shorts, elbow and knee protectors, gloves, and shoes were all thrown on. She waved goodbye to all her fellow co-workers and dashed off to the training grounds. Nearing the grounds, she saw Naruto already there from her distance. It wasn't to her surprise that Hinata was there either. She had been trying to strengthen her bond with Naruto from time to time, which Sakura caught on to it.
"Ah Sakura! Hey!" Naruto waved to her.
"How are you two doing?" she asked them.
"We're great! Hinata and I were just kicking some log butt," he chuckled.
"Logs? But that's academy level training Naruto I know you both are better than that," she put her hands on her hips.
"Yeah well…I uh didn't feel right about going against each other," he shrugged.
"Well then Hinata why don't we have a match? Just hand to hand combat nothing more," Sakura suggested.
"Huh?!" Naruto looked at the both of them in astonishment.
"I wouldn't mind that," the sweet ninja replied with a smile.
"Are you sure Hinata?" The boy knew she wasn't weak, but considering the amount of training Sakura had and not to mention the monster strength she possessed, he feared for her. After seeing her nod he decided to let it be and back away. Who knows maybe Hinata would win. The two women gave each other some distance and waited for Naruto to call it. He raised his hand and looked at the both of them to make sure they were ready.
"And…begin!" he slashed his hand down and backed away instantly.
Hinata channeled her chakra into her fists and dashed towards Sakura. The pinkette pulled her fists up as a green aura surrounded them. The Hyūga threw the first punch in which Sakura dodged and tried to counter. Naruto noted how strategically they were trying to fight. The girls clashed fists, creating a loud sound and jumped back.
"You've been practicing," Sakura said with a smile.
"So have you," Hinata tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Clearly I'm going to have to take it up a notch," Sakura clenched her fists, building up some chakra before making a dash towards her.
She took it up to the air and came in for an aerial attack. Hinata dodged this, causing Sakura to make a crater in the ground. This gave her a chance to make a counter attack by attempting to kick Sakura up into the air. Hinata succeeded at this but this was as far as she could get since Sakura made it up into the air and flipped behind her and roundhouse kicked her, causing her to stumble away instead of falling.
"Whew! Almost had me there!" Sakura panted.
Hinata channeled her chakra into one fist and created something less harmful and destructive, but similar to her Gentle Step Lion Fist. She swiftly turned around and sent a blow to Sakura as fast as lightning. The woman was sent flying into a tree. After impact, she slid down to the ground and slowly looked up at Hinata. Naruto looked at the woman in astonishment.
"H-Hinata… where did that come from?"
"D-Did I over do it?" She ran to Sakura's side.
Before she was able to crouch down though, Sakura jumped up and instantly got behind her. She did a half back flip, catching Hinata's neck between her ankles and sent her into the air when she got into a hand stand form. The pinkette charged her foot with chakra and did another roundhouse kick, cause Hinata to get sent to a tree opposite from them.
"Now we're even," she smiled.
Hinata slowly stood up and charged her hands once more. Sakura did the same as they both started walked towards each other. They both picked up the momentum to run to the point of no return. They both clashed fists together, creating a 'boom'. They both fought for strength dominance as Naruto watched in suspense. Hinata's feet slid back a little from Sakura's power. Funny thing was that she wasn't even going full throttle on Hinata. Strength and power was her specialty so for her to lose over that was not an exception. All of a sudden, Hinata was sent back as Sakura let her have it for real this time. The Hyūga sat against the tree she fell back on, panting.
"You're very good Sakura…" she said out of breath.
She wanted to give the match to her but because Naruto was watching she couldn't do that. Hinata needed to show her power and determination to win. She hoped this was something Naruto would appreciate. As she was getting up another voice was heard.
"It was an interesting fight ladies, but I think we should call it a tie for now," Kakashi spoke.
"Kakashi sensei? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke was also seen next to him, which caught Sakura's eye.
"How long were you two standing there?" she asked.
"Since the beginning of the fight actually," he responded.
The three walked up to the men. Hinata and Sakura dusting themselves off. Sasuke was supposed to be gone still from what they all knew so something must've happened.
"I went and called Sasuke back because I have something serious I want to talk to you all about," he explained.
"There have been rumors about a mysterious ninja…"
They all looked at Kakashi with concern. What mysterious ninja?
"How should I put this…. a synthetic ninja," he explained.
"Synthetic?" Naruto asked.
"Someone is up to no good, using Orochimaru's hideouts to create something that is going to be used for evil. The ninja is said to be extremely dangerous and powerful and whoever created this thing is considering creating an army of them," he explained
"But who would do this?" Hinata asked.
"This is something I'm sending you all to find out," Kakashi replied.
"I'm sending all the teams out to find out more about this… I know we survived the last war, but to do it all again… we might not come out the lucky ones."
"There's going to be another war?!" Naruto yelled.
Another ninja war would be a devastation to the lands and the people. Everyone looked at Kakashi with a serious expression and some dread for the future.
"I don't know, but I'm counting on you all to prevent that. I've heard many disturbing rumors about what this synthetic ninja is capable of and it sounds beyond powerful...you need to stop whoever is doing this before they try to create more," he sighed. "My team seven… you are the power team… you are the team that saved us before… I know you can do it again. Hinata join them as well," the older sensei said.
She nodded and with that Kakashi turned around to walk back towards the direction he came from. "Prepare for tomorrow," he said before disappearing.
"Could it be another…Kaguya…" Naruto said.
"Don't think of it like that! It's not Kaguya… probably some cheap knock off of her from someone who's just crazy," Sakura said.
"Whoever is starting this obviously needs to be stopped before something big happens," Sasuke spoke.
"Sasuke…why did you decide to respond to Kakashi and come back to help? Weren't you doing something for redemption?" Hinata asked kindly and respectfully.
"I was but that can wait. This is a bigger matter that has to be taken care of. I figured I couldn't go solo with this so I came back," he explained.
"Well alright then! Team seven is going at it for one last rumble!" Naruto cheered.
"We all better get some rest," Hinata suggested.
Naruto agreed and said his goodbyes to everyone and then decided to walk with Hinata towards their homes. Sakura and Sasuke stood there in silence. The wind played with their hair and clothes.
"Why don't you go to the hospital and I'll fit your prosthetic," She suggested.
"…. Alright," he nodded. He wanted to say no, but he figured he might need the arm.
…
Sasuke sat with his shirt off in the exam room. It was dead silent with him being the only one in the room. There was a knock on the door before it opened, revealing it to be Sakura with a cart. His prosthetic was on it as well as some tools. The whole time she was feeling extremely uneasy about being around him since she was not fully prepared to face him just yet. Well she'd better get used to it quick since she was about to embark on a journey with him the next day. She decided to remain calm and cool the whole time she was with him…. even with his shirt off in front of her.
"Lift up for me please," she instructed him, tapping on the shoulder where his prosthetic needed to fit.
He did so as she slipped the object on him to see if it fit well first. She then fit it and tightened it completely and then pressed something on the arm.
"Try moving it slowly," she instructed.
He thought that it was odd that she didn't do anything else. Didn't she need to connect his nerves or something? He decided to follow her instruction and attempted to move his arm. To his surprise it moved as smooth as his human arm. Oh how technology has progressed.
"Does it feel nice? Run smoothly?" she asked.
"It's good," he replied, making more movements with his new arm.
"The sensors in the prosthetic read your nerve signals that are left in your arm so it can move smoothly. It's designed to feel like you never lost a limb in the first place. It can withstand just about everything since it is also designed for combat so you shouldn't have a problem with it. If anything should go wrong on the mission I'll be able to fix it," she explained.
"Thank you," he looked up at her.
She looked at him, stunned for a bit. She realized she was staring and immediately shook her head. "Uh Lady Tsunade added a nice feature to it too…. Wherever you are touched, the sensors send a signal from that area all the way up to your brain and you'll be able to feel it…." She placed her hand on his prosthetics forearm and gently rubbed it.
His eyes widened from the feeling he thought he'd never feel again. It truly felt as if he never lost his arm. He felt her hand warm on his new arm. Sakura took away her hand and clutched her wrist.
"Well…that's all there is to it," she turned around to push the crate.
Sasuke looked at her in confusion. "Hey…Sakura," he spoke.
She stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around to face him. "Yes?"
"Is something wrong?" he asked, his tone not sounding overly concerned, but curious.
"Nothing's wrong," she turned her head to smile at him. "I'll see you tomorrow," with that she left the room.
Sasuke stared at the door with some thoughts running through his mind. 'What's up with her? I figured she would be her old usual self just fawning over me,' he thought. Of course he knew something was wrong because the kunoichi never acted this way when he was around. Fake smiles? Distant behavior? He looked down at his arm and placed his hand over the area Sakura touched and started rubbing it. He felt his own touch, but he felt difference between his and hers.
…
The kunoichi sat in her bathtub that night, scrubbing away the dirt from the day. If only she could scrub away her thoughts and feelings. "Why now…when I was just about to get over him," she sighed. "I just…Sakura play it cool and don't let this get the best of you. These are just feelings that shouldn't be existent anymore…just do this mission and come back…that's all…you can do," she sunk more into her bathwater.
Nothing but the moonlight was seeping through her window.
A/U: I really hope I portrayed Sasuke alright because I've read a lot of fan fictions where Sasuke is just not portrayed correctly and it bothers the hell out of me…anyways thanks for reading! If you enjoyed the first chapter please review it!