Chapter Two
Sakura crushed her fist into the ground below her, sending the blond boy flying into the air to avoid her attack. Jade eyes narrowed as she tried to gauge where he would attack from next, barely throwing her weight to the left in time to avoid his fist. Falling into a backbend to dodge a roundhouse kick, Sakura used her momentum to backflip multiple times, tossing tagged kunai halfheartedly as a distraction.
She knew it was never good to engage Naruto in up close hand to hand combat, enhanced chakra strength or not, but she had to get her anger out somehow. Someone had tattled to Tsuanade-sama and told her that her apprentice was taking too much on herself. The notion that she couldn't handle herself made her bristle with anger, and her knee-jerk reaction was to punch something to impress upon her doubters that she was not weak. Unfortunately for Naruto, he was the closest.
Sakura succeeded in gaining some distance between the two of them, leaping into the treetops and landing in a crouch on a branch near the base as her tags exploded below.
She dragged pink locks away from her neck, redoing the sloppy bun that held them away from her sweaty face before tugging on the zipper of the jacket she currently wore. Being so eager to get to the training grounds in all her fury, she hadn't considered her sweater getting dirty. Normally, she wouldn't care, but the item had been a splurge last winter and she couldn't bear the thought of tearing it up already. By the time this thought crossed her mind, they were already there and she'd be damned if she had to sprint all the way back to her house to grab some training clothes.
Sakura had flicked her eyes to the man standing in front of her before shrugging and taking off her sweater. It wasn't like she was naked underneath; her layers of bandages binding her chest covered everything except the expanse of her belly. Besides, she was sure he had seen her in less before; it came with the territory of being the only girl on an otherwise all-boy team.
He had taken one look at her as she stood there completely unfazed in the cool morning air and raised an eyebrow before unzipping his orange and black jacket and handing it to her. Sakura didn't try to hide her amused expression as she pulled the ridiculous piece of clothing on and zipped it up halfway before bending down and cuffing her pants to keep them out of the way.
After sarcastically twirling for him to show off her new attire (which left him rolling his eyes and clapping even as he grinned at her) and finding a dry spot for her sweater and his scarf under a tree, the pinkette spun on her heel and punted him across the field.
Movement in the smoke below snapped her out of her revere as the branch beneath her was shattered into pieces under her feet. Sakura quickly jabbed one of her kunai into the base of the tree, using it to swing around to another branch above her before crushing it with her heel towards the blond figure moving towards her. The falling branch caused Naruto to change his course and gave Sakura the opportunity to drop down and land her foot directly in the center of his back.
She pushed, trying to make them fall faster before the boy below her could turn this to his advantage. Green eyes narrowed too late as Naruto twisted in midair, grabbing her ankle and anchoring her foot to his chest. The pink haired girl quickly began channeling chakra to her foot with the intention of kicking off of him but intense pain suddenly shot through her leg. With a quick movement of his hands, he snapped her ankle in his effort to throw her below him and gain the advantage.
A gasp barely had time to pass her lips before she was suddenly released; Naruto's failed attempt to swing her below him causing her to shoot out sideways instead. The pinkette took down a few trees before gaining her bearings and flipping to land on her uninjured foot against the side of tree she approached. Green light flared beneath the foot as it cushioned her from being bashed against another tree before the force of the chakra snapped it in half.
Sakura was finally motionless as she landed on her hands and knees on stable ground. She allowed herself to pause and catch her breath for a moment before the throbbing in her ankle incessantly brought itself to her attention. Pushing on her hands to land on her butt and stretch her legs out in front of her, she groaned at the sight of her mangled ankle.
Naruto's voice called out to her from somewhere in the trees above her, "Sakura? Sakura-chan!"
She listened as the leaves above her rustled before the blond landed a few feet in front of her. Sakura glanced at him and gave him a small smile of reassurance before stretching her hands out in front of her and grabbing her leg and foot. The bone slightly protruded from the skin and there was severe bleeding going on from the bulging wound, allowing her to see a little bit of her muscle tissue as it gaped open.
Ignoring whatever Naruto was fretting about aloud, the girl briskly pulled and twisted on her ankle before she heard the snap of her bone falling back into place. Green light flickered to life between her hands as she began to heal the bone and the wound around it before realizing that the loudmouthed boy had gone silent.
Sakura craned her neck to look at him as she finished up working on her ankle. A frown pulled at her lips when she realized he was looking away from her with his eyebrows scrunched together. She knew that look. He was frustrated about something.
Pulling her hands away from the newly healed appendage, Sakura sat back against the shredded tree behind her as she eyed the boy standing stiffly in front of her, "Naruto?"
He didn't answer her and instead crossed his arms before shifting in place—another sign that he was truly upset. Green eyes narrowed dangerously at him before she uprooted some scarce dry grass and tossed it at him. His head snapped in her direction as she halfheartedly threw a twig at him, and anything else she could find on the forest floor.
He took deep breath before rubbing the back of his neck, "I didn't mean to break your ankle."
"I know you didn't," she let out a light laugh before pointedly moving her ankle around gingerly, "but it's okay." She knew better than to move it around too much, since the muscle tissue surrounding it was still sore.
Naruto didn't look convinced as he eyed the battered girl in front of him, noting her slight wince when she rolled her ankle too far to test its stability. The boy let out a deep sigh before collapsing beside her and sitting close enough next to her to touch her shoulder with his. Her head rolled to rest on his shoulder and they sat in comfortable silence for some time.
Sakura enjoyed these moments with him. She took comfort in the way she could feel him breathing next to her as the forest around them made soothing noises that lulled her into a feeling of safety. Sakura knew that these moments of peace were too easily taken for granted when she was younger and was determined to not let that happen again. Her hand reached out and squeezed his forearm gently, trying to convey that she was really alright and that he didn't need to worry.
Naruto lifted his lips in a slight smile before breaking the peaceful silence between them. "So what were you and Baa-chan yelling about earlier that made you so mad?"
She pursed her lips, "Did you tell Tsunade-sama that I wasn't getting enough rest?"
She said the words calmly, but that was most likely due to their quiet surroundings and the fact that they had just sparred quite heavily. He had a feeling that if this were not the case, there would be much more yelling.
Her head hadn't moved from the spot where she had laid it on his shoulder earlier, so he wasn't sure if she could sense his panic or if she had just taken his silence as a yes. Either way, Sakura's quiet voice once again rang out clearly in front of them.
"She has limited the time I can be at the hospital. Four days out of the seven in a week. 'Preferably not on weekends.'" Sakura mimicked her master dryly, causing Naruto to bite his lip to keep from laughing. He had a feeling that it would just get him punched.
A frustrated huff of air erupted between her lips before she turned to press her nose against his shoulder, "I just don't know what to do with myself. I don't want to slack with my medical ninjutsu but I also need to train and there's this new technique I was reading about but there's also the fact that spring is rolling around so that means an influx of missions." Her muffled groan came from behind the overly large jacket that swallowed her hand as she grabbed his shirt sleeve. "Which means an influx of patients as well. But should I be sent on missions or kept here to heal those that come back?"
Naruto put his free hand on top of her head and took a deep breath, "You put too much pressure on yourself. You're so worried about everything and everyone else but yourself, Sakura." The strain in his voice was clear, causing the pink haired girl to frown into his shoulder.
"You will literally work yourself into the ground if no one takes care to stop you. I thought you might listen to me or Sai but you weren't and just looking at you makes me worried and—"
He abruptly halted in his tirade, taking another deep breath to gain some control over his emotions. He glanced out of the corner of his eye when her presence was lost to him to see her sitting up and picking at the sleeves of the jacket she wore. The blond boys heart swelled to see her wearing his jacket, the crest on her back looking perfectly in place on her petite frame.
Naruto blinked when he realized she was looking at him expectantly. Apparently she had said something and was now waiting for his answer. He cleared his throat, "What's that?"
Sakura smiled lightly before dropping her gaze to her hands again, "I said thank you. For watching out for me."
Before he could respond, she was on her feet, "Now come on, I'm starving."
Blinking at her retreating form, he darted after her to try and race to grab the discarded sweater and scarf before she could. When he dove to scoop them up, she ran up behind him and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck as she laughed. Naruto quickly grabbed her beneath both of her knees and hiked her up so she wouldn't slip off his back.
He halfheartedly grumbled to himself but he couldn't wipe the goofy smile from his face. Naruto tossed the sweater and scarf on one shoulder while Sakura hooked her chin over the other.
"Hey, you owe me. You snapped my ankle like a twig, remember?"
Ichiraku's was quickly overtaken by the majority of the Konoha Eleven and Sakura found herself at a table with the girls while the boys piled in to the table next to them. The pinkette poked at her ramen while Ino retold the latest clan drama at the Yamananka's and tried to sort through her thoughts. She had slipped out of Naruto's jacket and handed it back to him before entering their go-to restaurant and now cozily bundled up in her sweater in the cool weather.
Sakura was so used to always doing something that the term "relaxing" hardly applied to her or her life. She needed to find something to do. Something to improve on while she was on this god-forsaken restriction. Maybe she could go by the library later and find some books on more jutsu's or approach Kakashi or Tsunade about learning another technique. She could always pester Naruto to let her look at his arm again. Her mood began to lift as more ideas began to flip through her mind.
"Are you alright Sakura?" A quiet voice rang in her ear, turning her attention to the Hyuuga sitting next to her.
Hinata looked at her earnestly with her milky eyes before daintily placing her chopsticks down next to her bowl, signaling that the pink haired kunoichi had her undivided attention. Sakura took a breath and smiled, "I just have a lot on my mind."
The girl nodded, glancing at the Ino and Tenten, who were apparently having a deep conversation over the differences in breaking a person's mind over their body. Naturally, Ino was attempting to talk over the weapon's mistress while Tenten scowled and continued to argue at a more level tone anyway.
"Naruto keeps looking over here like he thinks you're about to fall over. Did something happen?"
Sakura frowned as she scanned the table next to her, only to find blue eyes quickly dart away. She suppressed a smile and twisted her lips into a scowl, "He really shouldn't worry. It didn't even hurt that much and I healed it right away."
Confusion glittering in her eyes, Hinata raised a questioning eyebrow, prompting her to recount that day's training session.
"I was mad at being treated like a child by everyone and Naruto was just the unfortunate person to bear the brunt of my frustration." She shrugged, "I would have broken my ankle too." She laughed, stuffing her mouth with a piece of broccoli for lack of something to do.
Hinata smiled slightly and shook her head as she closed her eyes. "I don't think that's why he's looking over here so often."
A slim pink eyebrow rose in confusion, but Ino quickly trampled over her train of thought, "So Hinata, you and Kiba huh?"
A blush blasted across the dark haired girl's face, prompting Ino to laugh outright and Sakura's jaw to drop. Ino's hand slapped the table as a look of unabashed glee spread across her features, "Good for you! You're getting more than Forehead over here then!"
The pink haired girl growled, raising a very choice finger in her best friend's direction. Ino merely smiled while ramen bulged in her cheeks like a squirrel. Tenten shot a questioning look in Sakura's direction, "Why don't you go out on more dates, Sakura?"
She opened her mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by her the loudmouthed Yamanaka once again, "She's 'too busy.'" Air quotes were in full effect as she said this, prompting Sakura to roll her eyes. She tried not to let these things bother her, since she knew her friends were just picking on her for entertainment. Still, she couldn't help but feel slightly betrayed when even Hinata laughed at her expense.
Wishing they would just drop the topic of her love life (or lack thereof), Sakura directed her glare at the girl with the twin buns sitting in front of her, "What about you, Tenten? Have you and Neji finally stopped playing beat-around-the-bush and gone on a real date yet?"
Said girl choked on the water she had been drinking as Ino sarcastically beat her on the back while grinning mercilessly. Sakura smirked smugly as the weapons mistress caught her breath and sent her a damning glare.
"We all know what it's like to be attracted to the quiet, brooding type. There's nothing to be ashamed of Tenten!" Ino giggled into her hand and Sakura idly wondered how much she'd had to drink. "Sakura knows how hard it is to win someone like that over, especially."
It seemed to Sakura like the entire restaurant immediately quieted. She knew that this was just her imagination; the dull roaring sound in her ears making everything seem muted. Her stomach felt like it was flipping over, nausea building in her throat as the girls all stilled and stared wide eyed at her and Ino.
Sakura wanted to yell. She wanted to throw things and scream; she would never be rid of him. Never would anyone look at her and have another thought besides, "There she is. There's the girl who was in love with Uchiha Sasuke."
No matter how hard she pushed to make something more of herself, he was a ghost constantly at her back. Sakura was the Godaime's apprentice, she was almost on par with Tsunade and Shizune with her medical skills and could toss around men twice her size with ease. She was a veteran of the Fourth Shinobi War and had enough chakra to form the yin seal like her master. But that didn't matter to anyone. She was forever branded with that scar, that shame of having had a teammate that treated her like she was nothing while she tried to give him everything.
She was vaguely aware of someone calling her name, but she paid them no mind as she tossed a few notes on the table and calmly made her way out of Ichirakus. The air in there was stale and made her lungs burn. Maybe it was the close sitting space. Maybe it was the anger that laced through her heart.
A gut feeling in his stomach immediately snapped Naruto's to the girl's table beside them. Tenten was choking on water and Sakura seemed satisfied. Shrugging off the odd feeling he'd had, blue eyes turned to face Kiba once again.
"What's up with you man? You've been spaced out all night." Kiba scratched at his ear before hooking his hands behind his head, looking remarkably like his companion Akamaru.
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and grinned, "Ah, nothing! Just...tired." The excuse sounded feeble to his own ears, but he hoped Kiba would not care enough to press the issue. The girls at the table had gotten awfully quiet, and his eyes were practically burning from the effort to keep himself from looking over to make sure everything was okay.
No dice. "Yeah right, you're never tired." He leaned across the table towards him, flashing his canines in a toothy grin. "What're you hiding?"
"I...uh..." Damnit, he couldn't take it any longer. His eyes quickly swept over the table beside them, catching Sakura as she stood to leave. Her blank expression sent alarms off in his head. Ino called her name but his teammate ignored her and left the restaurant without looking back.
Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed, "So troublesome."
Before he really knew what he was doing, Naruto was pushing out of his chair and rising to his feet to follow her. A hand came own on his forearm, halting his movements. Resisting the urge to shake off the vice grip holding him, blue eyes cut to the lazy Nara who had halted his path. "Naruto, we both know the one thing that would make her act like that; let her be."
Shikamaru's mouth flattened as the blond shook his head and tore his arm away, marching off in the direction Sakura had gone.
Emerging from the small restaurant, Naruto's head swiveled side to side, finding no hint of the medic anywhere. Night had fallen since they met up with the rest of their friends, and her chakra signal was dimmed to where he couldn't pick it out. She had obviously gone somewhere to be alone. He sighed in frustration, his breath visible in the cold weather, and scuffed his shoe against the ground.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he glanced over his shoulder at the restaurant he had just left. There was no way in hell he was going back in there so Shikamaru could rub salt into the wound that he couldn't find her. With nothing else better to do, Naruto made his way to her house, hoping that by the time he got there, she would be too.
She wrapped her arms around herself as she approached the bridge they had so often met at when they were younger. Team 7—the team that uncannily resembled the three Sannin from all those years ago. They had been destined for great things as a team, and Sakura couldn't help but feel a pang of irony that one of them had defected in similar fashion.
Leaning so that her stomach pressed against the railing as her arms folded above it, she watched the water churn beneath her while her mind drifted. She wasn't so dense anymore to call the past the "better days." She might be inclined to do so if it weren't for her cringe worthy behavior towards Naruto and Sasuke's obvious betrayal.
Anger pulsed through her veins, making her face heat up even while the cool breeze whipped against it. He had ruined it. He had ruined their entire team. Not only had he caused never-ending gossip for her, but their reputation as a team was called into question.
When she was younger, she had been drawn to him. Sakura had always enjoyed a challenge, and though she knew little to nothing about the boy, she had practically declared her undying love at the age of twelve. She saw him as someone she could fix and make happy again. Someone who needed her to lean on and be strong. His constant refusal and hurtful words of her being useless and annoying did nothing to deter her. There she was again—wanting to be useful to someone, somehow.
She swiped at some stray hair flying in her face in frustration. How horribly embarrassing to look back at how she had acted towards Naruto in favor of the dark-haired asshole. She squeezed her eyes shut as the wind picked up and blew bubblegum strands around her face messily. Sakura's mind flipped to multiple occasions when Naruto would ask her the very questions she asked Sasuke. And, true to form, she had rejected him in the same callous manner the Uchiha had done to her. Instead of taking the higher road and being the teammate she was supposed to be, she had continued to make Naruto feel lower than her.
That had all changed when he had nearly died protecting her on one of their failed attempts to return Sasuke to Konoha. She remembered that night like it was yesterday even though it was coming on two years since then. In fact, she still had nightmares about it today. Her arms were elbow-deep in his chest cavity after he had shoved her out of the way of one of Sasuke's attacks. She had been distracted while she attacked one of his snakes and hadn't snapped in time to move. The Uchiha had faltered after landing the blow against Naruto instead of her, and had disappeared shortly after Kakashi made a lunge for him.
Sakura stayed with him the entire night, even after other medics arrived to help, pouring all of her chakra into his body to keep him breathing and alive. She would never forget the momentous effort dragging herself from his bedside for a few moments to wash the red staining her forearms. How she sobbed as she scrubbed it off. Her eyes finally opened to the realization that she would die for him, and that he would do the same for her.
She was trying her damndest now to make up for those pivotal years of cut downs towards him. Idly, she bent down and snatched a stray twig from the ground and snapped it into pieces before tossing it into the current below. She knew that she was one of those who caused him the most pain back then, and vowed to never do that again. She was now never one to reject him when he reached for a hug and was quick to accept his invitations to go eat or hang out together. The medic was determined to be the teammate she should have been all along.
She knew that Naruto would probably never show her or anyone else how much it had hurt him for Sasuke to turn his back on everyone. Naruto had viewed him as a brother, someone who understood what it was like to be orphaned at a young age, and probably still saw him as such. It just made Sakura that much angrier at the bastard. He could hurt her all he wanted, she knew now how to pick herself up, but Naruto deserved better than to be treated in such a way.
After the war, Sasuke left before Naruto could say anything and had yet to return. He gave no inclination of his planning to return at all, and a part of Sakura was glad for it. Sasuke was alive and free from those who he thought could put him on the quick path to power. He was a grown man now, and the only danger he had to face out there was himself. She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself before wandering over to the other side of the bridge to watch as the little pieces of twig raced away from her.
She knew that, but if the pain on Naruto's face at the mention of his other teammate was any indication, he would not allow Sasuke to wander the countryside searching for gods-know-what for much longer.
Green orbs looked up with a huff of air, flipping so that her back and elbows pressed against the railing as her head rolled back to gaze at the stars above her. She blew hot air out of her mouth and watched as her breath curled up and away from her. She still remembered the promise Naruto had given her swearing to bring Sasuke back and felt her heart lurch.
She wasn't sure if she wanted him back anymore.
Sakura could tell by the dampness of his hair that he had used her shower and gave a light smile as she tip-toed around him to make her way to her bedroom.
After walking around the village a bit more, Sakura had finally decided to head home and get some rest before her shift at the hospital the next morning. All she wanted to do was go home, throw herself in the shower, and fall into bed. What she hadn't been expecting was to find Naruto with his head flopped back as he sprawled against a corner of her couch with deep, even breaths coming from his frame.
Emerging from the shower a few minutes later, she donned a large long sleeved tee and shorts before padding back out to her living room. Grabbing a blanket off the back of her couch, she draped it across the blond before pulling another off her bed and wrapping it around herself. Sakura sidled up against him and leaned against his chest before he shifted to get more comfortable, his heavy arm sleepily draping across her waist.
He didn't seem to mind her using him as a heater and she snuggled closer to him, breathing in his comforting scent as she drifted into sleep.
1. This chapter feels kind of slow to me, but it was really necessary to get the background settled a little bit.
2. Thank you so much for the lovely reviews, I hope I don't let you guys down!
Let me know what you think about it all.
Please review!