Title: Three Crossroads
Author: Cloudy Moonshine
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto :sob sob:
Dedicated to my dear friend Mikure. My best friend since I was 8. Hmmm...
Author Note: Trivia, the goddess of crossroads and the ghost queen. Greek name is Hecate. She is usually depicted with three faces.
Volume I: Sasuke
Sasuke rolled off of his back to look at the ceiling. Another day. He looked at a photograph on his nightstand. It was a picture of his mother, father, brother, and himself at a picnic. Itachi was ruffling Sasuke's hair, and his mother and father were watching on in amusement. Sasuke couldn't have been more than four years old. This was probably the only photo with Itachi that hadn't been ripped to pieces.
Sasuke got up and changed. Looking into the mirror in his bathroom, he saw a boy(which pissed him off) with messed up hair and a scowl. He scowled right back at the mirror, displeased at what he saw before deciding that mirrors were stupid anyway. He left the bathroom and walked to the kitchen for breakfast. Thinking for a minute, he decided he would settle with just his morning ritual today, a simple glass of milk.
A glass of milk was, to him, the elixir of life. Every day he would consume a glass, and it would brighten his day considerably. After all, it was no easy task dealing with his teammates.
Opening the fridge while wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he froze. The carton of milk that should have been there was gone. He backtracked to the trashcan. The empty carton of milk was there, looking back at him tauntingly. He growled for a minute before sighing. He might as well just buy another later.
He decided to go training. It was still early morning, and Kakashi would probably be three hours late if he was lucky. Sasuke wondering what excuse would be used today. It had been a while since Kakashi had used the squirrel excuse. Five days to be exact.
Packing up his kunai, he noticed one was missing. Going over them one more time, he noticed that his favorite one was missing. The one his father and mother had gotten for him on his sixth birthday. After that, he used that kunai every time he trained. Surprisingly it was still as sharp as ever. It was also the only memory he like to keep at hand. And he would use it only when he faced his brother. Until then...He slammed a hand to wall. Where was his kunai?! Today was not his day.
Deciding to look for that kunai later(he figured it was up in his bedroom closet after much thinking), he walked towards Team 7's training ground. He was already brooding which was somewhat unusual so early in the morning. Normally he had time to think and relax before meeting with his irritable teammates. Now he needed to vent off his steam before he killed someone.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't make it. He couldn't make it. Not with the stupid pink brat that suddenly appeared in front of him. He winced at the "Sasuke-kun" annoyingly coming from his lips. What had he done to deserve such a bad day? He cursed inwardly before settling on glaring at his teammate while walking towards their team's bridge.
Volume II: Sakura
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said sweetly, edging closer to her crush. "What kind of qualities do you see in me?"
Team Kakashi was standing at their bridge, waiting for their misplaced teacher to appear. It was the season of the sakura trees, their blossoms dancing gently in the wind. Sakura saw this moment as a dream come true. Standing at the bridge with Sasuke-kun with the petals brushing against their faces. A very romantic scene to be sure. And now she wanted her Sasuke-kun to flush her with compliments. Then everything would be perfect, ignoring the dumb blond in the background.
Sasuke, however, was in an incredibly bad mood. First he had run out of milk. Then he couldn't find his favorite kunai. After that he had decided to do some training, but the pink bimbo had come in his way. Now here he was, a bad morning created an aura of anger around him. The question directed to him gave him the perfect chance to relieve his stress. "You," he said coolly. "Are a pink bimbo who can't even throw a kunai even if that target was three feet away form you."
Sakura felt a chill down her spine. Had Sasuke-kun just insulted her in this perfectly romantic scenery? She moved a step back, a hand to her heart. However her unwanted knight with blond hair came to her rescue.
"Sasuke-teme, how dare you insult Sakura-chan? She may not be able to throw a kunai or have enough chakra for a single jutsu, but she cares!"
Sakura felt her anger grow. This stupid blond wasn't even defending her properly. Now it was her turn to protect herself! "I think—"
Sasuke interrupted, "She cares for what? She doesn't train. She only thinks about her hair, and her best friend is Ino. Ino of all people! You have to see her worthlessness."
"Hey, wait—"
"I agree that some of her characteristics are incredibly distasteful," Naruto conceded. "But she still contributes to the team. She's good at cooking."
Sasuke snorted. "Just because she can make soup doesn't mean she can cook properly. She can't even make ramen. I can make better food than her."
"You cook?" Naruto asked.
Sakura sighed as the conversation continued, ignoring her entirely. Apparently all the steam that Sasuke had was happily (well happy being an overstatement) being used to insult her. Now he was, what, peacefully carrying on a conversation with Naruto!
She stuck her nose up in the air. "Naruto, why don't you leave so I can talk to Sasuke-kun. I'm sure he's tired of your stupid conversational skills!"
Sasuke smirked. "You're one to talk. Talking skills? To have good talking skills, you have to have something good to talk about. Naruto here can atleast talk about training and jutsu. All you can talk about is yourself."
Sakura felt her eyes tear up. "Why must you—"
"Sorry I'm late. I was helping a poor squirrel. It was hanging from the tree, close to falling. I couldn't leave it like that." His eyes were turned up showing a smile.
Sakura felt her anger growing. "WHY ARE YOU ALL INTERUPTING ME?"
Sasuke just sighed. "You see? She even yells. She's not even worth the trouble we go through—'
THWACK!
Naruto and Kakashi looked at Sakura in awe. Sakura, the pink bimbo Sakura, had slapped her precious Sasuke-kun in the face. Sasuke himself was a little shocked. However he hid it quickly. He said coolly, "So she has some guts. So what?"
Sakura just huffed and walked away. Some days she might try, but some days just weren't worth it.
Volume III: Naruto
Sakura slapped Sasuke! Naruto froze completely. It was like… he didn't know. A dream come true or the sign of the apocalypse. Watching Sakura storm off, he decided it would not be in his best interests to chase after her, or he would get slapped as well. Instead he turned to Kakashi. "Hey, sensei. What're we doing since Sakura left?"
Kakashi's eyes twinkled. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I think since one of our members is missing, we can't possibly train today. Also since Jiraiya's new book came out, I have to rush to the store before it sells out."
"Sells out?' Sasuke spat. Naruto was equally disgusted. Those books should be illegal. Naruto shuddered at the thoughts that came to mind. He had been with his pervert sensei when that book was written. And those giggles! He was somewhat scared of what the newest book held.
Instead he turned away from Kakashi. "Oi teme!" he yelled at Sasuke obnoxiously. "Let's train."
Sasuke just smirked. "Like you could keep up with me."
Naruto scowled at the superior look on Sasuke's face. "You wanna fight, teme?!" Of course he knew underneath that superior look, way deep down, so deep that he would take a century to find, was a little (very little) friendship they shared. And if he looked hard enough (which he chose not to because it was too hard) he would see the same fire that was in his own eyes.
His mind wandered away, however, when his stomach growled. He absentmindedly said, "I'm hungry. Let's go get some ramen." He started walking away. Sasuke surprisingly followed. Maybe the milk he had desired would appear.
Team 7. Three paths that meet up. Three incredibly irritating paths. With a perverted sensei with nothing else on his mind. That's Team 7.
Thank you for reading! Happy birthday Mikure!