Here is the sequel for His Only Exception that some of you have been asking for! I hope you all enjoy!
-SakuraUchiha4Eternity :)
Sakura Haruno was just coming back from her mission. She was tired and hungry and wanted to just hurry up and get to the hot springs so she could soak her sore muscles. Tsunade had been sending her on a lot of assassination missions lately and they all plagued her memory. Being assigned to kill people for missions was never going to be her forte.
A smile broke out onto her face when she saw the hot springs that she was looking for. She booked herself a room and quickly made her way to the bath. At first, she didn't see anyone in the bath and she was very happy for that, but then she noticed a girl close to the back with red hair and eyes that matched. Sakura shrugged. At least there was only one, Sakura thought.
Karin noticed the other girl right off the bat. Her pink hair did draw a lot of attention. Karin noticed her green eyes next and then her small petite form. She was hoping to be in the bath by herself, but one girl wouldn't really bother her. Karin turned her attention back to trying to see through the hole so that she could catch a glimpse of her handsome teammate, Sasuke Uchiha. It wasn't really working out for her though.
Karin jumped when she heard the other girl speak up.
"This is nice, isn't it?" the pink haired girl spoke softly.
Karin scrutinized her for a moment then replied, "I wish they were mixed baths."
Sakura raised her eyebrows at her and was too surprised by Karin's response to think up a good response.
Karin glared at Sakura and said, "What? Do you think I'm a slut or something?"
Sakura just merely shrugged and sighed in content while the water did wonders to her sore muscles.
"I don't know you," Sakura just said simply.
"Hummph," Karin mumbled.
Karin snuck another glance at the pink haired girl and couldn't help but feel that she was familiar somehow. Had she seen her before? Karin shrugged it off because if she had seen her then she would have surely remembered someone like her.
"So what's your name?" Sakura asked casually.
Karin looked over at her and couldn't help but be drawn into her emerald eyes. Karin couldn't help but wonder bitterly why she didn't have eyes like hers. Life was so unfair. She didn't become jealous though, because she saw something in those eyes. It was some kind of deep rooted sadness that Karin never wanted to ever possess. Karin couldn't help but wonder why the girl was so sad.
"None of your business," Karin said snootily.
"Well, that's a unique name," Sakura said sarcastically.
Karin glared at Sakura and yelled, "Bitch!"
Sakura just laughed and said, "No, sorry my name is Sakura."
"Either one fits!" Karin shouted.
Sakura started to giggle now and when she finally stopped, Karin was seething.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just been a long time since I have and it just came out," Sakura explained while she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Karin gave her a weird look and said, "You're really weird, you know that?"
Sakura nodded and answered, "So I've been told."
Karin watched Sakura as she closed her eyes shut in content and decided it was time to get out of the bath. Her skin was getting prickly and there wasn't any chance of seeing Sasuke.
As she put a towel around herself, she gave Sakura one last look. Karin has never met anyone who she has been mean to and has not responded in a negative way. The girl had been friendly to her, even when she had acted like a bitch.
Suigetsu was heading from his room, when he bumped into someone. The small form was definitely female. When he looked down, he confirmed that she was female and also a very hot one at that.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the girl announced apologetically.
Suigetsu grinned at her and noticed her pink hair. It looked soft and he really wanted to reach out and touch it. Her emerald green eyes caught his attention next. They instantly entranced him and all he could think about was that she was an exotic little thing.
"Oh, it's fine, really," he flirted.
Sakura immediately caught the tone in his voice and was really close to punching him. She had only been trying to be nice, and he had to go off and be a perv. He already looked like a creeper, but she had given him the benefit of the doubt. Idiot.
Sakura started to walk away when she felt a palm on her ass. She gritted her teeth and before Suigetsu knew it, he was being punched and flying all the way down to the end of the hall. He hit the wall really hard and felt a crack. As he slid down to the floor and felt blood trickle from his mouth, all he could think as the pink haired girl walked away was that she was hot and he liked them feisty.
Sakura decided to visit the garden that was at these hot springs. It was a very pretty one and she noticed a large man with orange hair sitting by the fountain. She was taken aback when she noticed birds resting on him and he seemed to be talking to one on his finger.
As she approached him, he looked up at her. He was also taken aback by her utter beauty. Juugo had never seen anyone with that color of hair or eyes that green.
"Hi," Sakura greeted cheerily.
Juugo smiled at her shyly and replied, "H-Hello."
Sakura smiled at him and he couldn't help but think that it was breathtaking.
"My name is Sakura," she told him.
He smiled at her and said, "That's a pretty name."
Sakura nodded and said, "Thank you."
She looked at the birds that were on him and said, "The birds seem to like you a lot. I have never seen wild birds flock like that to someone before. It's amazing."
Juugo blushed and said, "Thank you, Sakura."
Sakura nodded and sighed heavily.
"Well, I have to get going. I'm kind of feeling a little bit homesick," she admitted.
Juugo nodded at her and grew disappointed as he watched her retreating form. He wondered if he would ever see her again. She had been kind to him.
"Man… I'm really gonna miss that hot spring!" Suigetsu complained loudly.
Karin grumbled but on the inside agreed with her teammate. She never got to catch a glimpse of Sasuke. She was truly disappointed. When she looked over at him, she felt his words ring again inside of her head.
"Listen, Karin, I will never have feelings for you. So back off."
Those words still stung. She had actually cried that night and a lot of nights after that. But what really made the tears come, were the other words that he had spoken.
"I have only one exception."
Karin looked up at the dark haired male and wondered who the girl was. Who could have possibly won over his cold heart? And she really wanted to know how too.
Karin was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Suigetsu talking about a pink haired girl.
"I was really hoping to see that pink haired girl again…Man she was so hot and feisty-."
"Wait, you met a pink haired girl too?" Karin asked curiously.
Suigetsu nodded and answered, "Yeah. She even punched me into the wall for touching her ass."
"You touched Sakura like that?" Juugo asked taken aback.
"Oh, so that's her name…nice," Suigetsu said while fantasizing things he should not be fantasizing.
All three of them stopped talking when they noticed their team leader freeze in his tracks. Without even turning to them, he asked coldly, "What are you all talking about?"
"We all met a girl with pink hair and green eyes named Sakura-," Karin started.
She stopped talking when she noticed his whole body stiffen. He looked like a statue and she felt a rain drop fall down and land on her cheek. Soon the rain was falling heavier so that it was a light drizzle.
"Are you sure about all of that?" Sasuke asked evenly.
They all nodded and Juugo said, "Yes, and she was very kind."
"And hot," Suigetsu added.
Karin just rolled her eyes and wondered why her leader was so interested anyways. Something was up.
"Dammit…!" Sasuke cursed.
The other members of his team watched him curiously while he had an internal battle with himself. His head was telling him to just go on and forget that he was that close to her, but another part of his anatomy told him to go after her. How could he not, when she was so close? It didn't help that he had been thinking about her non-stop lately. He also knew that if he went after her, she would only try to persuade him to go back to the village like she did all those years ago. It had been hard for him to not listen to her last time, and he didn't know if he could do it again. He gritted his teeth and made his decision. He would only watch her, that's all.
"Karin! Track the girl!" Sasuke ordered.
Karin was about to protest, but the look Sasuke gave her quieted her instantly. Karin pointed in Sakura's direction and Sasuke instantly took off with the others following behind him. All of them were immensely confused.
It did not take them long to reach her. They already had their chakras concealed and they hid as they watched her sneeze from the rain. She was walking at a leisurely pace and humming to herself. She seemed to be lost in thought.
Karin snuck a glance at Sasuke and could not read his face. He did not look at her though because he was too busy staring at the pink haired girl. Juugo looked away from Sakura and at Sasuke. His eyes widened when he saw that same look that he had seen before; that look of regret. Everything clicked for Juugo then. Juugo smiled as he realized that the kind Sakura was his only exception.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and his hands instantly formed fists. It took everything in him not to go to her. It was Sakura alright. She looked like she had back at Orochimaru's hideout. Before he had been too focused on Naruto and making sure to not get captured and taken back to Konoha to notice the changes in her. Her scrawny body had filled out perfectly in all the right places and she had kept her hair short. He personally liked it that way. She had traded in her long dress for a red sleeveless shirt and black spandex like shorts and a pink skirt. He also noticed gloves on her hands and pink arm bands. The boots she now wore shaped her long legs perfectly making them seem endless.
He wanted to get closer to her and see her reaction. He wanted to see those big green eyes widen in complete surprise and see her full lips quiver. He wanted her to throw her thin arms around him and hold him like she always used to.
But he knew that he could not let any of that happen.
His onyx eyes saw movement and almost left his hideout to go to her defense, but stopped himself when he saw that it was just a small boy with dark hair and dark eyes. He looked like he had been crying.
Sasuke watched with trained eyes as Sakura bent down next to him and asked him with that beautiful voice of hers, "Are you lost?"
The little boy nodded.
Sakura's small hands wiped the tear stains from his face and Sasuke couldn't help but remember the feel of them touching him. He remembered how soft they were.
Sakura saw that the little boy's knees were skinned up and she instructed him to sit down so that she could heal him.
"Are you a ninja?" the little boy asked.
Sakura nodded and gave him a smile.
"I'm going to be a ninja when I grow up," the boy pronounced.
Sakura finished with his knees and helped him back up. She ruffled his hair and said, "I bet that you'll make a great ninja when you grow up."
The little boy grinned at her and took the hand that she offered.
"You know what?" Sakura asked him.
Sasuke strained to hear.
They both started walking and she said, "You remind me of someone."
Sasuke and his team silently followed Sakura and the little boy as they walked to the village that was close by.
"Who is it? Is he really cool?" the boy asked curiously.
Sakura smiled at him and said, "Yeah, he is. He is one of my really close friends and he looks a lot like you."
"He must be handsome then," the boy said arrogantly.
Sakura laughed and replied, "Yes, he is."
Sasuke watched as she changed to a serious tone and she asked, "Promise me something?"
The little boy nodded eagerly.
"Promise me that you will never choose revenge or a lonely path and that you'll always protect your friends?" Sakura asked intently like everything relied on this little boy's response.
Sasuke's blood ran cold when he heard her say that. So the whole time she had been talking about him, he wondered. He gritted his teeth. She still thought about him.
"I promise!" the boy proclaimed.
Sakura smiled and said, "You know that you can't break promises right?"
Something clenched around Sasuke's frozen heart. Her words hit him down to his very core. How does she have such a hold on him still?
The boy nodded and Suigetsu and Karin whispered for him to stop because a village was nearby and it would be too dangerous to enter it. It took everything in him to stop. He wanted desperately to follow her and watch her all the time. He could not help but wonder why though. Why couldn't he break his bonds?
His heart clenched as she disappeared into the distance with the little boy holding her hand. How long would it be until he saw her again? Days, months, years?
"Do you know that chick or something?" Suigetsu asked finally.
"She was a part of my old team from Konoha," he answered numbly.
Karin now knew why that endless sadness had been inside those green pools of hers. She didn't want to believe it, but the way that Sasuke looked at Sakura was a way that he never looked at anyone else. It was a deep longing and regret. She could not admit what else she seen.
They all knew now though. Sakura, with the pink hair and green eyes, was Sasuke Uchiha's only exception. She was the girl that had melted her way into his cold exterior and implanted herself to him forever.