A.n:-
Hello everyone!
Okay, there are a few things you readers should know.
First, this is a one-shot made purely out of boredom and pre-exam stress, please don't expect much from it.
Second, I am not a very big fan of OOC-ness, but if you find any of it in this fic, please forgive me.
Third, this is a drabble with no point whatsoever, because like I said, I made it out of sheer boredom (plus I was listening to songs while writing it, so I wasn't even thinking straight, tee hee :P)
Fourth I am not a writer, and it's not one of my best points, so if you find any mistakes or find the fic disappointing, I'm very sorry.
Umm, that's all I guess…..sorry once again for the pointless drabble. Enjoy your read as much as you can, review please, those make me happy. Flames are welcome too, I'm a beginner anyway…..
Disclaimer:- I don't own Naruto.
"Naruto!" yelled the pink haired kunoichi, as she angrily pushed aside the shop curtains and stepped into the Ichiraku Ramen shop to glare at the blonde haired ninja who jumped before visibly stiffening as he slowly turned around to face his angry team-mate. Ramen bowl held up to his face, chopsticks near his mouth, noodles dangling forgotten from his mouth and all.
"You were supposed to be at the training grounds half an hour ago" she continued to yell, furious at how scatter brained the idiot could possibly be, it was supposed to be their first straining session in a very long time and by their, I mean all of team 7 including Sai and Sasuke.
It was something Sakura had been looking forward to for the entire week, since it was her first time going up against her team mates in a battle after a long long time, seven months to put it vaguely.
Though it was understandable why Naruto forgot it, he and Sasuke had such frequent fights, either as training or from pissing each other off, it was nothing new to him unlike Sakura who had been coped up In the Konoha general hospital serving as one of the top ninja doctors in the whole village.
It was hard for her to find a decent fight in which she could go all out, she hadn't fought properly in a very long time. Seven months to be precise.
It had been seven months since they won the Fourth Ninja War, seven months since Sasuke returned their village as a hero alongside Naruto, vying for the position of the Hokage, which without surprise was still in the hands of the granddaughter of the first Hokage, Tsunade.
Another thing that had changed since seven months ago….
Naruto was officially dating Hinata Hyuuga.
That explained why the beautiful dark haired, fair eyed kunoichi was sitting next to him, with a startled and mildly annoyed expression on her face as she looked at Sakura, standing seething in the doorway.
"S-Sakura-chan" said Naruto sheepishly after gulping down his mouthful of ramen and scratching the back of his head a tiny look of guilt on his face, "I totally forgot, I'm sorry".
He turned around in his seat to face Sakura before continuing his explanation, "See Hinata had been away on a mission for almost a week, it'd been so long since I saw her that I totally forgot about the training, when she asked me out for lunch" he finished lamely, a faint blushing visible in his cheeks.
Sakura straightened up, looking down on Naruto, feeling a little of her anger ebb away as she saw the look on Hinata's face. She was staring at her hands blushing furiouly.
Yes, Naruto was developing feelings for her, although it had been a shock to everyone when he had announced to everyone that he would be dating Hinata about three months ago. Everyone knew he didn't have the feelings for her the way he had for his childhood crush, Sakura.
But to see what lengths he would go to make the girl who had been in love with him for almost all her life was heartwarming, like always Naruto had put others before him, everyone knew especially Sakura, that Naruto would try his best to love the Hyuuga, to return her feelings for him, even if it was hard, even if he had to force himself, even if it hurt him to see Sakura as not his crush, but only as his friend, his best friend, like Sasuke, or Sai. Despite that, he did it, despite his own feelings, he was ready to sacrifice his feelings to make one girl happy, and everyone knew, how much he pushed himself. Though that was all for the first month of their time together, from the second month onwards, the blonde hero's growing feelings for the Hyuuga increased gradually, and it warmed Sakura's heart to see him being happy, being loved rather than loving whole heartedly.
"Sakura-san, I'm sorry" said Hinata standing up and bowing to Sakura, "I hadn't known he had an appointment, and asked him for lunch".
"E-ehh, no Hinata" said Sakura quickly waving her hands frantically, positively shocked at the other girls politeness. "It's not your fault, you didn't know obviously, if any it was this baka's fault" she said turning and glaring at Naruto, who sweat dropped and gulped.
"Well since you're having a good time now, I can't force you. Maybe some other time Naruto" said Sakura waving "And I'm sorry for interrupting your date, have a good time" she winked before exiting the Ramen shop, not before catching the blushing face of Hinata and Naruto choking on a fish cake as he blushed too.
Chuckling Sakura turned to walk down the street wondering if the training would still continue without the star of the team, Uzumaki Naruto. She sighed, her shoulders slumping as she made her way to the training grounds, she'd have a hard time explaining this to Sasuke who would obviously not be pleased. Sai would understand though. That or he really wouldn't care.
Either way, Sakura was disappointed. Not that she just that she just wanted to have a spar with Sasuke and Sai as equals, but as a team and that included Naruto, she wanted to have their first training session to be as a team, not with her best friend missing. Why didn't things usually go her way?!
Still in her depressed state she found herself in the training grounds in the next fifteen minutes, as promised Sasuke and Sai were waiting for her and a certain dobe. She sighed wondering how best to put about Naruto's absence for the day without annoying Sasuke much, as she made her way towards them.
Sai noticed her first and smiled his usual fake but somewhat genuine smile at her, as Sasuke turned to glance at her from the corner of his eye.
"Good evening Sakura, I see you made it here on time" Sai nodded to her, Sakura tilted her head to acknowledge his greeting and gave him a smile returning a greeting. Sasuke not bothering for formalities stood up and looked at her then over her shoulder as if searching for something or rather, someone.
"Where is Naruto?" was his greeting.
Sakura cringed slightly, before steeling herself for his disappointment as she broke the news of his absence to him shortly.
"Naruto…..won't make it today" she said lightly looking away from Sasuke's intense gaze. She felt his eyes narrow at her and Sai's expression turn curious.
"Why?".
"W-well, he's kind of busy" she stuttered, not sure why she was doing so. Was it because she didn't want him to hate her more than he already did? How was she even sure he hated her? She wasn't sure. There were a lot of things she was unsure of about the young Uchiha.
When Sasuke said nothing for almost ten seconds, she turned to look at him slowly, wondering what kind of expression he had on, only to be surprised.
He was gazing at the mountains visible at the end of the horizon, the thoughtful expression on his face quite unlike the angry one she expected him to be wearing.
"Sasuke-kun?".
He started before looking at her as if just realizing she was standing there, before clearing his throat and stretching his arms behind him in a pre-fight warm up gesture. "So then, shall we start?" he asked.
Sakura stared at him with her eyes wide, mouth slightly open.
What?
Had she heard him right?
Was he saying that he was ready to carry on the training with just the three of them and not Naruto who, she had always assumed was Sasuke's main training rival.
"Y-you want to train without Naruto?" she blurt out before she could stop herself.
Sasuke looked at her with a mildly amused expression.
"Why not? Are you two not members of team 7?" he asked her as Sai smiled at Sakura.
Words failed her, she couldn't even think of what to say. Was this the same Sasuke who had once tried to kill her? Threatened to wipe the whole of Konoha village from existence? The one who seemed to live only for revenge, hate and murder?
She couldn't even remember, it was almost like he never left. This was the Sasuke that had been their team-mate before he had gone off running after a certain rogue Sannin, seeking more power, driven by his thirst for revenge.
This was the old Sasuke, the one who cared for his team mates, the one who had now been through war, hardships, experienced heart break and been saved by the same people who stood before him now, plus another one who was a little way off gorging on his seventh bowl of Ramen. His team mates, team 7.
She understood now, he really had changed, he was the same kind and caring Sasuke she had always loved as a child, he hadn't changed, she was glad he hadn't. She smiled.
"Of course we are! Let's do this" she exclaimed with her newfound vigor as Sai nodded in agreement.
Sasuke turned around, he knew what was bothering Sakura, he'd known it all along. And this time he wasn't about to sit by and let her suffer, she was a member of team 7 after all.
"Let's begin then".
A.n.:- Well that's all….haha…. how was it? bad? very bad? horrible? LOL
please review, they really do make me happy…(^_^)"
Until my next work (which I promise will be better), take care everyone….(^3^)/