They ran as fast as they could. Sirens wailed. Haggard, shallow breaths were all she could muster, despite reaching her limit she still willed her legs to push further. His hand in hers was her only reassurance. A little more. A helicopter hovered noisily over, it's blinding light focused on the two runaways.
He skidded to the right, his arm slightly yanked back as the female behind him was unaware of his sudden change in route. The car trailing dangerously close behind couldn't make a right fast enough and was now skidding to a stop a block ahead.
"N-Naruto!" The female gasped, briefly looking back at the cars that were a little farther away. "W-where… are w-we… going…?"
Though the cars were a little far behind, the helicopter that followed wasn't.
"Almost… there…" The male grunted, more to himself than to the female.
A man in the helicopter angled his body out of the copter and aimed a loaded weapon at the running male and female.
Then as if an act of God willed them to live another day, they came across a street where the buildings were narrow yet tall. They were distanced by a small, small alleyway, enough for two fugitives on the run to hide in.
"We're here!" Naruto cried and ducked into one of the alleyways.
The helicopter whizzed pass them in a blur.
Naruto stuck his head out and saw that the helicopter was starting to turn back. Quickly, Naruto yanked his female companion out of the alley and pushed her into the house on their right. They shut the door just in time before the helicopter could see where they ducked into.
Naruto heaved a sigh, his forehead resting on the cool wooden door.
"We're safe." He said, turning back as a click was heard and something cool was pressed onto his forehead.
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X
Have you ever been in love?
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Humdrum, Conundrum
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Oh honey, even love was jealous of what I had.
X
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"Bloody hell? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, lowering the gun she had pointed at the two intruders.
"I need your help." Naruto said, not flinching under the weapon.
"Who's this?" Sakura asked, jerking the gun in the direction of the doe-eyed girl who stared at the weapon in the pink-haired female's hands.
"This is Hinata, she's my girlfriend." Naruto grinned.
Sakura stuck out her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sakura."
The purpled-headed female took Sakura's in her own shaky one before stuttering out a reply. "N-nice t-to m-meet you, S-Sakura-san."
"You might want to put away the gun." Naruto said sheepishly.
"Oh right, sorry 'bout that." Sakura said. She made her way over to her coffee table and lifted the surface and disposed of the gun in there. Once she closed it, it looked like any other old harmless coffee table.
Hinata let out a huge breath once the gun was out of sight.
"Sit down." Sakura offered before taking one herself. "I thought the agency didn't allow relationships."
Naruto and Hinata simultaneously took their seats. "That's why we're on the run." Naruto answered sheepishly. Sakura could only sigh exasperatedly.
"And you'd think a twenty-eight year old man would know better." Sakura muttered getting up from her seat and made her way toward the kitchen. "What kind of help do you need?" Sakura asked, a hand on an overhead cupboard.
"Recon and a hopefully non-assassination mission." Naruto looked at Hinata as he said the last few words, the raven-haired female stiffened visibly.
Sakura rolled her eyes. Civilians, always so… civil. She opened the overhead cupboard and pulled out a walkie-talkie. She pressed a button and a soft static sound was heard, she held onto another button and spoke.
"Hey, you lazy pig, party like a rockstar." She smirked.
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:::
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"You said party like a rockstar." A male grunted.
"Your point?" Sakura asked nonchalantly, checking all of the weapons that flooded the back of the helicopter, a sinister smile spread across her lips as he brought her favorite bazooka. Aah… good times, good times.
"A stupid recon and a non-assassination mission, isn't worthy of a party like a rockstar." He growled. "And what the hell is a non-assassination mission?"
"I don't know, I just wanted to meet my old friend." Sakura replied as she stroked the bazooka. "Hello old friend, we had some awesome times didn't we?" talking to it as if it would answer anytime to reminisce their many dangerous moments together.
The male grunted before starting up the helicopter.
"Thanks again Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled over the rumble of the machine. The only sign of acknowledgment he got was a lazy wave of a hand.
A light squeeze in his hand made him look to the tiny girl beside him. She looked so scared and unsure… it was so cute. He smiled and kissed Hinata on the forehead before helping her up the helicopter.
Sakura sat beside the pilot and placed on her headphones. "I can't wait to shoot someone." She sang.
Naruto and Shikamaru could only laugh at her eagerness, Hinata couldn't say the same as she held onto the seat as the helicopter took off.
What did she get herself into?
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:::
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"How did you two meet?" Sakura asked, laying out the parts of some sort of weapon Hinata couldn't decipher.
They were situated on a roof across the building where Naruto was located in. Shikamaru was off flying about waiting for their signal.
"We met in college." Hinata answered.
The pink-haired woman shifted her eyes briefly to Hinata before she started to assemble the parts. "College? Really now? Naruto hasn't mentioned you once. I kinda thought maybe he was gay, but then here you are. How long did you say you were dating?"
"Since college."
Sakura frowned, she spoke into her earpiece. "Naruto…" A slow growl made its' way to her throat as she threatened the man on the other line. "You've been going out with a girl for more than ten years and you never once mentioned her."
"I was busy!" The voice from the other line cried.
A whizzing sound was heard before it stopped at a click. Sakura had spun a nozzle on the tip of her now assembled sniper and it locked into place with a click. Just to make sure it was on tight enough, she turned it harder.
"And in the seven years of working together a little heads up wasn't in order?"
"Oh come on Sakura! Not now! I have work to do!"
"I'll shoot you later." She grunted. Then quickly added as she turned to Hinata who was now paler than she originally was. "Oh dear, not you, I meant your boyfriend. It's just that he didn't ever mention you."
"Sakura! Not now! Damn it, maybe Hinata's gonna think I don't love her or anything cause I don't talk about her. But I was protecting her cause you know how dangerous our line of work is. Oh my God. What if she's gonna break up with me now? Sakura! I don't know if my heart can take that kind of pain!"
"He says he loves you." Sakura deadpanned to Hinata.
The pale-eyed female blushed prettily and meekly said. "I love him too."
"She says she loves you too, now shut up and concentrate." Sakura growled into her earpiece.
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Fifteen minutes passed and Naruto still didn't give any signal for her to move, nor did she hear any static from the other end of her earpiece. It was getting boring. Sakura laid her chin on the sniper and glanced at the female beside her.
She was pretty, she could give her that. Naruto sure did know how to pick 'em. Long black hair, small face, adorably adorable facial features and smooth, fair skin. It was obvious that this girl was pampered.
"How were you dragged into this mess?" Sakura asked out of the blue.
Hinata turned to her. "We were having dinner when Naruto suddenly got this emergency call and next thing I knew we were being chased by cars and helicopters."
"The agency probably knows you're dating, they're probably gonna detain you for a few days for interrogation." Sakura answered nonchalantly.
"D-detained?"
"Yeah. But it's nothing serious, they're just gonna ask you a few questions, do a little background check, then a few tests. Then that's it."
"Then why did Naruto run?"
Sakura scoffed. "Even we're scared of our own interrogator."
Hinata gulped.
To lighten the mood, Sakura switched topic. "Did Naruto ask you the big question yet?"
Hinata blushed once again. "U-um, n-no."
Sakura raised a brow. "Really? And you've been dating…"
"Eleven years."
"Eleven years?! And he still hasn't popped the question? Ass to the hole."
"I'm fine with it, when the time's right, then that'll be it." She smiled.
"Oh, you two are so cute, so in love like teenagers!" Sakura cooed.
"What about you Sakura? Haven't you ever been in love?" Hinata asked. The question seemed harmless in her thoughts, but now she didn't think it was such a smart one. She opened her mouth to restate her question when Sakura beat her to it.
Sakura smiled. "Oh, I have, I have. I didn't think it was possible but he was a co-agent and the love of my life."
Hinata arched a questioning brow, all thoughts of fear replaced with curiosity. "Was? What happened?"
"Sakura, ready."
"Work complicates things." She said, double-checking her sniper rifle if she had put bullets before cocking it. She mounted it on the ledge and locked on the window where Naruto was at.
"Sakura, lock on." A voice from her earpiece said.
"Way ahead of you." She replied.
"How?" Hinata asked, trying to get Sakura to converse more. It wasn't everyday that she heard an assassin talk about their love life and just the thought of it was exciting. In its' own twisted romantic way.
"He had some… bad blood, no one really trusted him even though he worked at the agency for more than five years. We got close, people thought I was conspiring with him, the evidence agreed too." Sakura said, one eye on the sniper's scope the other closed.
"W-Were you?"
Sakura looked up from her telescope and turned to Hinata. "Did you know, photo-wise, that there is a hair strand thin line between dating and conspiracy?" She laughed before resuming her post. "And dating within wasn't allowed."
"So what happened?"
"To prove my loyalty, I did what any other agent would do…"
"Sakura, he's getting away! Shoot him now!"
"…I put three bullets through his chest."
Click! BANG!
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:::
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Sakura sat in the backseat of the grounded helicopter, polishing the sniper rifle she had just used an hour ago to kill someone. It wasn't as fun as before, but satisfying… for now. "You better tell Anko to add a little more in my retirement fund for helping you with this stupid mission." Sakura said.
"IF he's allowed back inside after darting like a jack rabbit from Ibiki." Shikamaru said. "Don't forget mine too you little ball of earwax." Both 'retired' individuals snickered.
"You'll most likely be suspended for that stunt." Sakura said, setting down the now shiny sniper, casually throwing the rag she used over her shoulder.
Despite their unfamiliar topic, Hinata had to intervene. "Retired?"
"Pshh… I know Hinata. They're so old!" now it was Naruto's turn to snicker.
"Shut up, I'm only thirty-two!" Sakura cried.
"I'm thirty-six." Shikamaru grumbled.
"Really? I thought you were at least twenty-five." Hinata said to Sakura.
"Aww, you're too sweet. I'm blushing." Sakura said, a hand on her cheek to emphasize her embarrassment only to laugh like a retard the next minute. "Anyway, since you're done with your stupid mission, we can leave now." She slunk back in her seat and put her feet up the seat in front of her. "Home, driver."
"Not quite." Naruto grinned.
"What?" Sakura turned to him.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled before he started the copter once more.
"What?!" Sakura turned to the pineapple-haired driver, only to receive the cold shoulder.
"We're taking a little trip." Naruto grinned upon receiving Sakura's glare.
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:::
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They flew for hours, despite Sakura's angry cries and threats, (she threatened to bazooka the copter down), none of them spoke to her during the whole trip. Still despite the silent treatment she was given, Sakura was still hot on her threats, scaring Hinata all the more.
Longer into their journey Sakura's angry threats of mass murder turned somber as she slowly took in the landscape around her. As they flew over mountains of green grass that soon faded into a thick white blanket of snow, she could only stare at the familiarity. No, she wouldn't cry, she couldn't.
"This place…" She managed to speak in a soft distant voice.
The occupants of the copter pretended not to hear what the pink-haired assassin said.
"… It's been so long."
Soon enough as they spotted a long vertical trail of smoke the copter descended smoothly. Hinata closed her eyes as she held onto the leather straps of her seatbelt breathing quickly through her mouth as the helicopter wobbled onto the uneven landing site.
Following the smoke trail down to where it came from was a quaint cabin, it was larger than most in comparison. It was a strange color, for most cabins had the deep brown shade to it, this one was a very light shade of blue, Alice blue, as if it was designed to blend with its' surroundings.
Naruto threw off his headphones as he eagerly jumped out of the helicopter before Shikamaru fully killed the engine. Hinata eagerly left the copter as soon as its' engine died, not waiting to finally get on land. Sakura stayed glued to her seat, she looked at Shikamaru through the rearview mirror, coal met jade.
"Why are we here?" She spoke.
Shikamaru sighed, he didn't answer her question as he too got out of the helicopter. In fury, Sakura ripped out the headphones, yanked away her seatbelts, stomped out the helicopter and slammed the door shut. She glared long and hard at Naruto who was on the patio.
"What's the big deal bringing me here Naruto?" She hissed. "The fuck is running through your mind?" She pointed to the helicopter. "This is property of the fucking ARMY, they could trace this thing in seconds. For all we know they could be heading here right now and blast this whole fucking place sky high!"
"Didn't know you cared that much."
Sakura's eyes widened. Though she wondered why she was even shocked in the first place she should've expected him to pop out sooner than later. But she still couldn't get over her initial shock, slowly she turned back and saw him coming closer carrying an arm full of logs that stupid smirk still unchanged after five years.
"I was kind of expecting a kiss. By now I would've thought you found it hard to keep your hands off me." He said smugly.
Sakura approached him with less than foot of distance between them. She swatted the logs in his arms away, he didn't mind. "You're a smug little son of a bitch Uchiha." Sakura seethed. "Why the fuck aren't you dead yet?"
He only smirked in response before Sakura jumped into his arms. "Missed you too babe."
Sakura wanted to cry. She really wanted to. But she wouldn't because she was a trained spy. Just being able to see Sasuke was a whole mountain of emotion. She hugged him so tight that it was bordering on desperate, she didn't care. After five years she deserved this much.
"Get a room you two!" Naruto cried from the patio.
Sakura retreated her hold and stared up at Sasuke. "Five years." She choked.
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Judging by Sakura's exuberant reaction to Uchiha Sasuke, Hinata probably guessed that she was the man Sakura was talking about earlier. But then she mentioned that she shot him three times on the chest nonetheless. Now she was confused. Uchiha Sasuke could probably be another man that she met after she shot her ex-lover. Maybe. She was inclined to that theory now.
Now they were sitting in Uchiha Sasuke's cabin living room drinking hot cocoa. Even if they were assassins, no one could resist a good cup of cocoa. Hinata was situated between Naruto and Shikamaru while Sakura was sitting on the single sofa with her legs tucked under her feeling completely at home.
"So this was where Uchiha Sasuke was hiding all along." Shikamaru commented as he surveyed the interior. "I'm guessing this isn't your regular old forest wood."
"No it isn't. It may look like wood but it's actually aluminum." Sasuke replied as he came down the stairs shirtless with a towel draped over his shoulders.
Hinata squeaked.
"Hey teme! Not in front of my girlfriend!" Naruto cried, shielding Hinata's eyes. He only received an eye roll then Sasuke threw Naruto the remote to his TV.
"Sweet!" Naruto said, turning on the TV and immediately switching to a sports channel. "Awesome, you have cable." Talk about short attention span.
Sasuke sat on the arm rest where Sakura was sitting, his arm slithering around her shoulders. Sakura broke away from his hold and stood. "Anyone hungry?" She asked. Both Naruto and Shikamaru raised their arms lazily as their eyes were glued on the widescreen idiot box.
Sakura made her way to the kitchen with Sasuke following suit. She opened the pantry and found a bag of chips. As she worked her way through the kitchen with familiarity Sasuke could only watch in amusement.
"Don't give me that smirk Uchiha Sasuke, your guests are starving." Sakura said, not taking her eyes away from the food she was preparing. A bowl of chips and some salsa dip. She was cut off from whatever spice she was chopping when Sasuke pushed her onto the counter behind her.
"You don't see me for five years and you want to feed those damn pigs?" Sasuke whispered.
"You don't see me for five years and you haven't kissed me yet." Sakura retorted.
Immediately Sasuke lips were on her, attacking with so much want and need it was bordering on animalistic. Sakura slid her arms around Sasuke's shoulders, the towel slipping off easily, as she tried to pull him as close to her as humanly possible. His hands then made their way under her shirt just roaming all over her form. She moaned.
"You do know that food is prepared here right?"
Both adults halted and turned to the sound of the voice and found Shikamaru standing lazily by the entryway. He was muttering as he grabbed the bowl of chips and salsa dip. They could swear they heard him say 'Damn hormonal geezers, acting like teenagers.'
Sakura laughed while Sasuke slumped forward.
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"This is awkward." Naruto commented as he stared up at the ceiling.
"W-Why don't you j-just try going to sleep N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata suggested with a red face.
"Easier said than done Hinata." He replied, horrified.
It was hard to sleep when it was blatantly obvious that your two friends were getting it on in the basement. Sasuke suggested that the three of them sleep on the second floor of the house while he and Sakura take the basement quarters. And the three of them just knew what they implied and respected their wishes.
But now, Naruto wanted to strangle himself. Even though Sasuke and Sakura were two floors down he could still hear something thumping and on occasions a scream or two. An hour ago he thought everything was over when they— dare he say it— heard Sakura's orgasm, then another round of thumping began.
Naruto sat up as he cried exasperatedly. "I can't sleep dammit! I'm sure not even Shikamaru could sleep through that."
He was rewarded with a knock from the other side of the wall. "Amen." Came Shikamaru's muffled voice.
"U-Um, N-Naruto-kun, Sakura mentioned s-something about a past lover." Hinata asked, since they weren't getting any sleep she might as well get some answers.
"Past lover? Who?"
"I-I don't know I was just w-wondering if her past lover and Sasuke-san are the s-same person."
"Well if you're talking about Sakura's life before she joined the agency then I don't know anything about it."
"S-She said that he was an agent."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Really? She had another affair before Sasuke?"
"I-I'm not sure, she mentioned—"
She was cut short when they heard another orgasm. This time it was Sasuke's.
"You know what, let's talk about this another time Hinata." Naruto hurriedly said as he buried his head under the pillow hoping to drown the world out.
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"You people are animals!" Naruto cried, pointing a finger at the two adults preparing breakfast. Sasuke and Sakura shared a look of inquiry before resuming their morning task.
"Oh don't act all innocent. I'm sure even the whole mountain didn't get an ounce of sleep last night because of you two. You were going at it all night! What the hell?"
Sakura didn't even try to act innocent. She scooped a tiny dot of pancake batter on her finger tasting it. "Considering our stamina you'd be thankful that we're still not going at it now." She replied nonchalantly. "Needs milk." Immediately a carton of milk was beside her. "Thank you sweetie." She said kissing Sasuke briefly on the cheek.
Naruto's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that these people were being so vulgar about their relationship considering they've been hiding it for quite some time. But all kidding aside, he was happy for the both of them.
Naruto grinned his signature whiskered grin. "I'm happy for the both of you."
"Charmed, now go set the table you idiot." Sasuke said shoving placemats in Naruto's arms.
"Good morning everyone." Hinata yawned.
"Good morning Hinata." Sakura greeted.
"Hinata-chan! Here, help me set the table."
"Okay, I'll get the plates." Hinata said as she made her way toward the cupboards in search of the plates. A stack was then presented in front of her as Sasuke held it out for her.
"Here." He grunted.
"T-Thank you." Hinata replied flustered seeing as Sasuke was shirtless yet again. But then she was quick to recover from her flustered state when she saw something interesting.
"Teme! I told you not in front of my girlfriend!" Naruto cried.
Sasuke just rolled his eyes and continued to toast some bread.
After the table was finished setting Hinata and Naruto sat eagerly waiting for the food. As soon as the food was done they set it on the table and sat themselves down.
"Where's Shikamaru?" Sakura asked.
"Still sleeping probably, you were pretty noisy." Naruto replied taking a heaping pile of pancakes on his plate.
Sakura shrugged.
Then Hinata saw it. She hid a smile the second she saw it.
"…love of my life."
"Work complicates things."
"…three bullets through his chest."
There it was, three bullet scars on Uchiha Sasuke's left chest, just barely grazing the area of his heart. Sasuke noticed where Hinata was looking and his hand unconsciously lifted to graze the three scars.
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It was five years ago, both he and Sakura stood a hundred meters from each other. His hands were tied unceremoniously behind his back while Sakura held him at gunpoint with their supervisor beside her. For years they called him a bastard, a mole and a traitor; but she was different, it was clichéd but Sakura was different. They kept their relationship hidden, but not hidden enough. They were caught and forced to suffer the consequences.
He knew getting shot was the lesser evil, if he were in Sakura's place… he couldn't think of it. He saw the gun in her hand tremble. He didn't dare close his eyes, he wanted that the last thing he saw before he died was Sakura. He deserved that much. He heard their supervisor, speak…
'Shoot him'
She hesitated but shot. He felt that but it didn't hurt as much as he expected. Their supervisor spoke again
'Once more'
She didn't hesitate and shot again. That time he felt it, the burn of the bullet piercing his flesh. He staggered but stood his ground.
'Just one more, Sakura.'
He heard her choke but shot nonetheless. He saw white then he crumbled. He fell to his knees and fell ungracefully to the ground. The last thing he heard before blacked out were the clacking of Sakura's heels against the floor as she ran toward him.
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He looked at Sakura and saw her chatting animatedly to Naruto. His hand went over hers, she stopped her chatter and looked over at him.
"Sasuke-kun?"
He looked into her eyes and everything just clicked.
"Thank you."
He was rewarded with a small smile.
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:::
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"'Copter's ready." Shikamaru said.
"We'll go ahead, alright Sakura-chan?" Naruto said as he and Hinata made their way to the helicopter.
Sakura only stared at the helicopter the whizzed loudly outside. This is it. This temporary high was about to end as that helicopter was going to bring her back to reality. Again tears threatened to fall, but they didn't.
"You know where to find me." Came Sasuke's voice.
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When Sakura got to him, she gathered him into her arms and just held him tight. She didn't cry, she couldn't, not when their supervisor was watching. Her eyes widened when she heard him speak.
'You suck…'
She looked down and saw his smug look, the blood on his shirt quickly spreading. She lowered her head and gave a kiss to his forehead. Their supervisor spoke…
'Take him away.'
'You know where to find me.' Came Sasuke's raspy breath before he closed his eyes.
Later that day Uchiha Sasuke's body was never found.
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She turned to him and all that was written on her face was heartbreak. "I'll come back. I don't know when, but I will." She said.
"Not too soon babe, they might catch you." Sasuke said.
"I'll find a way I will." Her voice trembled.
He stared at her face and saw that she was holding everything in. "Sakura…" He solemnly said as he gathered Sakura into his arms. It was then the tears fell.
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:::
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Hinata stared at Sakura who was leaning back in her chair looking out the window with not so much as a peep from her. It was heart breaking to see, it was obvious that to her Sasuke was everything and just one day couldn't remedy five whole years. She couldn't bear to think how much Sakura must be holding in.
Then she saw something that glinted in the sun. On Sakura's finger was a ring. When had that got there? She was positive that wasn't there before. Hinata peered over at Sakura's face and saw that she seemed to be in peace, looking out the window with a small smile on her face.
Maybe Sakura could hold on for a little bit more.
SP/n: Found this and written in 2011. Patience is key.
Tell me what you think! :)
