Title: Seven

Pairing: SasuSaku; SakuKiba; NaruHina

Author: cherrizii

Rating: T

Genre: General, Romance, Drama

Disclaimer: NARUTO is owned by his creator Masashi Kishimoto. The definitions of the respective virtues and sins are taken from .

Authors Note: Alternate Universe, probably…

Seven

The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, are a classification of vices that were originally used in early Christian teachings to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen man's tendency to sin. The Roman Catholic Church divided sin into two principal categories: "venial", which are relatively minor, and could be forgiven through any sacrament of the Church, and the more severe "capital" or mortal sin, which, when committed, destroyed the life of grace, and created the threat of eternal damnation unless either absolved through the sacrament of confession, or otherwise forgiven through perfect contrition on the part of the penitent.

The seven deadly sins are as follows: Luxuria, Gula, Avaritia, Acedia, Ira, Invidia, and Superbia.

I. Invidia (Envy)

Sakura always was the center of attention. Being an only child, she was raised by her parents with the utmost care and devotion. She was used to getting what she wanted, no matter how expensive, no matter how exclusive, no matter how flamboyant. She just needed to beg her father (but considering how she would always get what she wanted in the end, she didn't regard it as begging, but demanding), act like the sweet and obedient daughter and Sakura-chan, my little treasure, would find herself with a new gift that she knew she would get.

Her childhood was as perfect as if it was just taken from a children's book with fairytales. Unfortunately, her grandparents lived in the Land of Whirlpool, but that didn't stop them from sending a little amount of money to her dear granddaughter occasionally. So, with getting this pocket money (that was actually quite much, but anything for our dear Sakura-chan) plus the pocket money from her parents, one could say that Sakura was rather wealthy. But as money isn't the only thing that kids nowadays need, Sakura was blessed with the love of her parents as well. In contrast to children like Hyuuga Hinata, who just got the money, but no emotion whatsoever from her parents (although Sakura didn't know that, she didn't even know that Hyuuga Hinata's mother was not alive anymore, after all, she didn't associate with such pampered kids), Sakura was fairly well off.

In addition to that, Sakura spent a lot of time with her parents. She decorated the house at Easter, Christmas and for her birthday with her mother. She learned how to work with kunai and how to hide in the forest from her father. If her grandparents payed her a visit, she would travel with them around, and therefore she had seen quite a lot of the Whirlpool Country and of the Snow Country as well. But there were also times when her parents had to work, and when her grandparents were unable to visit her. Well, Sakura still had her dear friends that she spent a lot of time with.

There was, of course, her best-friend-in-the-world-and-forever, Yamanaka Ino. Ino was the type of girl that you could do anything with, no matter how unusual and adventurous. She hated things that were boring and it seemed that her life did only consist of action. Sakura and Ino had known each other since, well, forever and this was also evident in their behaviour towards each other. They had nicknames for each other (not very nice ones, but they both knew that they really didn't mean it that way), and it was a kind of game for them to insult each other (especially if they were in the presence of others). But deep down they knew that if they had problems, the first person to consult would be their best-friend-in-the-world-and-forever.

Another female friend of Sakura was Kamiya Inari. Inari was actually a quiet girl… on the outside. The fact that she didn't talk much and was always smiling and being lovely led everyone to the assumption that Inari was trustworthy and could keep a secret better than everyone. But Sakura knew better. She had known Inari for a few years now and these years had assured Sakura that Inari was, like, the Queen of gossiping. She knew everything that was going on in Konoha, knew what everyone was up to and who was snogging whom right now. But she never told it anyone, except Sakura and Ino. Seeing as Sakura and Ino were quite gossip-addicted, they wanted to know everything. And they were not bad at spreading the gossip, either. The gossip that Inari had collected. But Inari didn't care, after all, no one blamed her for letting out the secrets. So she continued to be lovely and all that and assured everyone that if you have a problem, you can talk to me, it's alright, really. Smile.

Being quiet was also the speciality of someone else that Sakura knew: Nara Shikamaru. There wasn't much to say about him, except that he was, like, super-intelligent, extremely lazy and loved watching the clouds. Oh, and that Ino had the hots for him.

This was something that had developped in the last few years, probably around the time Ino was about 12 years old. Now that they were already 17, they still hadn't managed to hook up. But Sakura didn't care about that, it would happen sooner or later anyway, and until that, her own love life was much more important.

But it was just crappy at the moment. There was Uchiha Sasuke, her long-time crush. She fell in love when she was about 11 (but she doubted that it was 'love' that time), and she still couldn't forget him even when he left for that damn mission and came back after two years. There was just something about him (and she didn't mean his perfect body and eyes and face and hair… because they were just a nice plus) that she couldn't name, but whenever he talked to her, looked at her, walked beside her, she just felt it.

And she hated herself for it. Because she knew that the best she could do was to forget him. Entirely. To love meant that she was weak. 'A shinobi must never show his emotions.' By falling in love with him, she realized that her life had been flawless until now. She was popular, she had good grades, great parents and friends that she could count on.

But now, she noticed that there was something missing in her life.

The day that he had been placed on the same team as her (along with Naruto), she had been really happy. Of course, she was annoyed that Naruto was on her team as well, but after a while, she cherished Naruto's presence more than Sasuke's. Because having Sasuke on her team meant that she was confronted with him daily now, that she had so many possibilities to watch him, look at him, listen to him (when he would talk) and that it would be nearly impossible to forget him.

She wasn't sure if she had avoided being on the same team as him if she would've had a choice.

Then again, maybe that was fate. To show that her life wasn't all that perfect.

The day that Hyuuga Hinata had been beaten by Hyuuga Neji in the chuunin exams, Uzumaki Naruto had briefly wondered how it would be to have Hinata on his team rather than Sakura. How she would have behaved in certain situations. How she would have spent her training sessions. How she would have treated Sasuke, and more importantly, how she would have treated him.

He had pushed the thougt aside after a while. He didn't know her very well, after all. But something told him (and he was sure that it was not the Kyuubi) that it would not have been that bad to have her on his team.

After a while, their teams were sent out together on a mission to Rain Country to fight against the Akatsuki. While it was evident why Tsunade had chosen his team, Naruto had thought about Team 8 for a second. He knew that they were a great combination in spying and that they would help them a lot on the mission, but he still wondered if that had been the Hokage's only reason to sent Team 8 out with them.

It was unusual, to say the least. Not only was it the first long mission he had to complete with Sasuke again (after he had come back just one month ago), but there was also the death of Jiraiya that had hit him completely unprepared. Mourning in the few stops that the teams made on the journey (after Deidara and Sasori had successfully been eliminated), he would never have thought that the person to comfort him was no other than Hinata.

Somehow, she seemed to see right through him, to break the mask that he always put on to shield his real emotions (at least the negative ones). Naruto was amazed by that (and thought that there had been a time when it really would have been better to have her on his team instead of Sakura). And promptly decided to make her one of his 'most precious people'.

When he told her that, she flushed bright red and immediately fainted.

If he told her that he had already fallen in love with her at that time as well, she would probably have been out for a few weeks. So he decided to keep that little secret. At least until she was awake again.

He figured that if he trained the whole day (and night), he might as well rest for a few minutes. So Naruto let himself fall on the grass, right beside the stake that Kakashi had tied him to when he was still a genin.

Smiling a little to himself, he closed his eyes and visibly relaxed. He started to think of the recent events: the mission, Jiraiya, Sasuke, who finally decided to come back from his mission (though Naruto himself was away for three years to train with Jiraiya, so they wouldn't have seen each other even if Sasuke had stayed in Konoha), Sakura, and Hinata. So much had happened in such a short amount of time.

Breathing in the fresh air, he suddenly noticed another chakra presence. But, being the awesome ninja that he was (he really had improved by great means during the last years), he recognized it easily.

"..N-Naruto-kun..?" a quiet, bashful voice asked.

He would have recognized it, of course, by now, if he hadn't already known who was standing a few metres away. He smiled slightly, but didn't move.

"Hiya, Hinata-chan." he replied happily.

He heard her come a little closer, with tentative steps. Then, she was standing right beside him.

"I… I'm not disturbing you, am I? It's just… I-I was seeing you lying here, and.." she stammered. He thought it was really cute. He could have listened to her voice all day with his eyes closed.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the blush on her cheeks. He grinned. "I'm not doing anything." He sat up, and patted the earth beside him. "Sit down!"

She seemed a little unsure, but found herself pulled down next to him by a strong hand. Without her noticing, he had taken her hand and drawn her by his side. Surprised, she looked up at him (because now he was of course taller than she was), but quickly lowered her gaze when she realized he was smiling that dazzling smile again. Oh, how much she adored him.

Naruto just grinned even more. He loved catching her off guard.

"So, Hinata-chan… what have you done today?" he asked her cheerfully.

"Ah.. nothing much, I-I was just training with Kiba and Shino… the u-usual…" she murmured. She began fidgeting her fingers again, she felt so nervous around him. He probably wasn't even interested in what she was saying.

He shifted a little closer and took one of her hands (partly to stop her from fidgeting, partly just because he enjoyed holding it). "Ne, Hinata-chan… it's just me. You don't have to be so nervous, you know? I thought we were through with that whole business." he told her, smiling kindly. He wanted her to be as open as she had learned to be around him.

Seeing his smile, she was a little more confident than before. It was odd how easily he could make her feel so sure of herself.

And he was right. They went through that fainting-stuff already. She could be more self-confident around him. "I'm sorry. I'll try." she said, smiling.

"Don't apologize. It's okay. What are you doing after training?"

The question kind of took her aback. "I… nothing, honestly. I don't even have training today. After the training session this morning, I got the rest of the day off." she told him.

He grinned. "Great. Wanna eat some ramen with me? My treat." He placed his arm around her shoulders.

"Y-Yes, I'd love to. When..?" she answered. This whole dating-thing was still very new to her (and to Naruto as well).

"Hmm…. right now?" he said brightly and moved closer. She blushed a little more, but didn't move.

After another grin from him, he kissed her. Of course, it was not the first kiss they had shared. They had spent a lot of time together during the last long mission, and become even closer than before. Now, they were dating, more or less. Not everyone knew (they had to keep it a secret because of Hinata's family, of course), but Hinata had the feeling that they both thought it was still too early to tell everybody. So they just enjoyed spending time together, talking, smiling, laughing, kissing –

Like now.

She just felt beautiful in his arms. For her, it was wonderful to be appreciated by Naruto, and that he liked her as well was still like a miracle she couldn't quite understand.

But for now, she was just happy to be with him.

Eagerly, she returned the kiss, and felt him smile a little against her lips. Gently (he always was), he pushed her down on the grass so they laid next to each other. Kissing a bit more, Naruto drew back finally (and a bit reluctant), and looked at her. He smiled at her affectionately.

"Well, seems as if we have to delay our date by a few minutes.." he said, grinning slightly. She thought it was quite sexy (and blushed again at the thought).

She chuckled softly and snuggled closer up to him. "That's alright with me."

Just because Sakura sometimes wished that Sasuke had been on another team, it didn't mean that her bond with Naruto was any stronger. In fact, she liked Naruto it flattered her that he always protected her in missions, and it also made her really happy to be regarded as one of his 'precious people'.

…but he just wasn't Sasuke.

Considering that Sasuke was, ah, kind of asexual (as he was 19 already and after eliminating Itachi still hadn't bothered to find himself a girlfriend), Sakura had a hard time to convince him that it was actually his beautiful, pink-haired teammate who was his soul mate, future-wife and the child bearer of his children. While she was sure that in the end it would be her standing in front of Tsunade and wearing a beautiful white dress that Sasuke would later strip off, however, the problem was getting there. Little Sasuke-kun apparently decided to show none of his emotions to anybody.

(Not that he had done that before, but it had been kind of a common, silent understanding that after killing Itachi, at least the thought of repopulating his clan would bring a smile onto his face.)

So, seeing that Sasuke was as impassive as he was before, Sakura turned her attention to something else.

Correction: someone else.

(Because she had not only one teammate, but two.)

Naruto kept the two of them (meaning Sasuke and Sakura) more and more at a certain distance, and while he was as cheerful and annoyingly loud as always, he was also more secretive than ever and rarely told them something private anymore.

He would train with them, yell at Kakashi-sensei and challenge Sasuke, but after their training session was done, he would be the first to grad his things, shout a hasty goodbye and leave in an instant.

This, naturally, alerted Sakura's senses of gossip. Somehow, she knew that he was up to something and hiding something very important. Something very important that Sakura needed to know (because she was quite gossip-addicted an the thought of Naruto hiding something immediately let her senses tingle.)

So, being the magnificent kunoichi that she was (and labelled herself), Sakura set out to be a spy and to reveal Naruto's mysterious secret.

(She even bought some black leather-clothing to look even more like a spy… and because she thought they made her look sexy.)

Still, when she found out what Naruto's secret really was, she wished that she hadn't even bothered to find out.

When Naruto packed his bag, stuffed in his jacket (because it was rather warm today) and rushed away while shouting a quick "See ya tomorrow, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-teme!", Sakura decided that it was time to set her plan into action.

She stammered an excuse to Kakashi-sensei (who didn't even notice) and to Sasuke (who quirked an eyebrow) and hurried away from the training grounds. Soon, Naruto came into her view, oblivious to his follower as expected. He was strangely cheerful today, Sakura had noticed, and she kept in mind to investigate this mood a little bit later. Now she had to focus on trailing behind Naruto and not having him notice her.

This turned out easier than expected. Naruto stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trousers, and hurried off into a direction that was not his apartment. Sakura briefly wondered why he went there, even Ichiraku was at the other side of the town.

After a while, he arrived at a bridge, humming quietly. Sakura hid behind a tree and watched eagerly as Naruto set down his things and leaned against the railing. He seemed to wait for something.

Or rather someone, Sakura noticed as she saw Hinata coming up to him, rather quickly. What did she have to do with Naruto? Sakura allowed herself to come a little nearer so she could see and hear them better.

"Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let you wait.", Hinata said, apparently deeply sorry.

Naruto just grinned, from what Sakura could see behind her tree. Hinata apologizing was not a unique occurement, she was definitely more interested in the reason why they even saw each other.

"Geeze, Hinata-chan, it's alright, this is the first time. Usually I'm the one who is too late, so there's no need to worry!", Naruto laughed and beamed down at her.

Sakura saw her nod shortly and smile a little.

"That's a lot better.", Naruto was saying. "Now, what did we plan… the park?", he continued and they set off into the direction of the Konoha Park.

Sakura followed them quietly. What business did they have there? She guessed that Naruto was training Hinata, which would explain why she was so shy and why he didn't want anyone to know. After all, it was a common understanding that labelling Hinata as 'weak' would bring instant death to that person.

Sakura could hardly see them anymore, so she gained a little tempo and rushed after them.

When they came into view, she noticed they were holding hands. That was odd.

"You know, I really wanted to see you today! I hurried so much in the training with Sasuke-teme, I even had to let him win!", Naruto said to her, but he was smiling broadly. And he still wasn't letting go of her hand.

Hinata blushed, as always. "Yes, me too. I mean, I didn't let Shino and Kiba win, but I also wanted to see you.", she even grinned despite her timid nature.

Sakura was absolutely startled. Why did they want to see each other? And why the hell were they still holding hands?!

She was walking very quickly now, not even caring if they saw her or not.

Then Naruto lowered his head and, after whispering something to Hinata that Sakura couldn't hear, he kissed her on the lips.

Sakura tripped.

She didn't fall, she just gained her balance and stood there, not believing what she had just seen.

It was not possible.

Naruto couldn't date Hinata.

He was supposed to be in love with her, Sakura. He was supposed to admire her, to flatter her and protect her every time, and he was not supposed to love that damn shy girl that achieved nothing on her own!

It made her mad. How could he? How dare he?!

He was hers, damnit!

Apparently he didn't realize that.

She would make him. Oh yes, she would make him realize how much better he would work with her, after all she was beautiful, intelligent, strong, sexy… Hinata was stupid and shy and deserved nothing of Naruto.

Nothing at all.

Yeah, Sakura would make him her own.