Chapter 3: Confused by his presence

RECAP:

Before she went to bed she looked at herself in her full length mirror. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw a figure that sat in her chair next to the window. She slowly turned around to face the mysterious person. The lights were dim so she only made out the persons figure and eyes, but she knew exactly who it was. Her heart raced in her chest as she stared at the person, unblinking.

"Sakura" he said in his usual monotonous tone. The tone she had not heard in two and a half years. "S-Sasuke"

She didn't know what to say to him. It had been almost 3 years since they had seen each other.

"How long have you been here?" she asked rather unpleasantly.

"I didn't see you come out of the shower, if that's what you're asking."

"I meant, how long have you been back in the village?" she asked as she looked away and blushed, surprised by Sasuke's words.

"I just got back." Why would Sasuke come to her first and act as if nothing had happened between them in the past? Sakura just couldn't understand.

"What do you want? As you could see, I was about to go to sleep." She unkindly stated. He stood up from the chair and walked towards her. He stopped a little too close for her liking. He simply stared into her jade eyes that he hadn't seen in almost 3 years. He made her feel unusual; she couldn't describe what she felt. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest if he moved any closer, then he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She froze at his touch. All of a sudden his lips collided with hers and luckily he had her against the wall so she couldn't move. Sakura stood in place too surprised to move. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Eventually she closed her eyes and put her arms around his neck. She leaned into the kiss; she enjoyed the feeling of his lips against hers. Their kiss was passionate. Both craved the others lips. Sakura felt a surge of electricity shoot through her body as Sasuke kissed her.

Sakura suddenly came to her senses and pushed him off and got angry.

"What the hell do think you're doing, surprise kissing me like that?"

"You kissed back."

"I know I did, but if this is some kind of trick to get me to forget everything that happened these past two and a half years it's not going to work. I think you should leave." Sasuke didn't say a word; he just stared at her and could see she had been completely serious. He took one last look at her before he disappeared into the darkness of night in the blink of an eye. Sakura fell to her knees; the events of that evening had been too much for her.

The next day had the best weather of that entire week. There hadn't been a single cloud in the sky and the sun shone. It was as though the rain of just two days prior had never happened, although everything was still wet and there had been a biting cold wind. Naruto and Sakura sat at Ichiraku's for lunch. There had been an uncomfortable silence between them. Sakura thought about what had happened the previous night with Sasuke.

"Sakura is everything okay, you seem a little distracted."

"Actually Naruto, everything isn't okay. Sasuke's back in the village and he came to my room last night." In all seriousness Naruto almost choked on his barbecue-pork ramen. To say the news had surprised him was an understatement.

"Sasuke's back in the village, are you sure?"

"Well considering the fact that he kissed me, I would say yes I am very sure."

"He kissed her." He thought in his head and felt his heart sink slightly.

After Sakura and Naruto had lunch, Sakura went for a walk around the village. She ended up at the bench where she had tried to stop Sasuke from leaving all those years ago. She laid down on the bench and just looked up at the sky. Someone had followed her.

"What do you want now?" she asked irritably.

"I just want to talk to you." he answered as he casually leaned against a tree opposite the bench.

"Well I don't want to talk to you. Now please just leave me alone, Sasuke."

"Listen Sakura-"

"No, you listen Sasuke. There is no apology you can say to me to get me to forgive you." she got off the bench and slowly walked away.

"Are you really going to act like this?" She stopped in her tracks, she was furious. How dare he get angry at her after all the trouble he had caused?

"You're just going to walk away from me. You're not even going to try to fix this." Her level of patience decreased, with each word he spoke. "What happened to the old Sakura, she wouldn't have given up this easily." She had reached her limit.

"SHUT UP SASUKE!" she screamed as she threw a kunai knife that just missed his face and sliced a single strand of hair then penetrated the tree behind him.

"You don't know anything about me anymore! You don't know what I went through trying to get you back!" Sasuke stared in shock; Sakura had never raised her voice at him like that nor had she ever tried to hurt him. She left him there as she walked away. Sasuke tired her out, he emotionally drained her and she couldn't keep up anymore.

Xxx

Naruto gazed out of his window and thought about what Sakura had said about Sasuke. He turned around and faced the person that stood in his doorway.

"So, you really are back after all." Naruto stated.

"I need to talk to you."

"About Sakura?" Naruto raised an eyebrow

"I need you to talk to her. You need to get her to forgive me."

"And why would I do that. She was doing so well without you around these past two and a half years. Then you decide to come back and confuse her again. We finally began moving on Sasuke."

"Oh please Naruto, you know that Sakura has always had feelings for me. You and I both know that she needs me in order to be happy."

"I'm not telling her anything if it means you hurting her again. I wouldn't do that to her."

"Wow, so you do still have feelings for her like I thought. You should know that she'll never be happy with you Naruto. As much as you care about her, and want to protect her there is one thing you can never change about her."

"And what is that?!" Naruto shot back.

"Her feelings for me." Naruto's eyes widened in surprise; he had never seen Sasuke this persistent in pursuing Sakura. He had a point though, as close as Naruto and Sakura were, she still loved Sasuke. She always thought about him and he always came up in their conversations. Sasuke smirked as he knew he had won the battle. He left the room without a single word.

The sunny day hadn't lasted long as Cumulonimbus storm clouds rolled in and devoured the last rays of sunlight. It drizzled for a while until it rained hard and hail crystals fell from the sky. Thunder and lightning accompanied the storm. Sakura went over to Naruto's place to visit. They sat at the kitchen table and talked and had tea.

"Sakura what exactly did Sasuke say to you when he came back?"

"He didn't say much when he was in my room, but earlier today he pretty much yelled at me for not forgiving him."

"What did you do after he said that?"

"I threw a kunai at him and lost my temper." Sakura took a sip of her tea.

"Do you think you'll ever forgive him Sakura? I mean you can't stay mad at him forever."

"I don't know if I will. Aren't you still mad at him Naruto, I mean look at all that's happened. How many times have we almost died for him?"

"I know but he's still our teammate and friend."

"I know he is, but where does he get off yelling at his friends like that. He doesn't even deserve us."

Their conversation slowly turned into an argument. "I get what you mean Sakura, but I think you're acting a little irrationally. Just a few days ago you were talking about him coming back and crying because you missed him, and now that he's back you can't even be with him for more than a few minutes."

"If I forgive him now, he's just going to hurt me again. I know he will!" she yelled back.

"I don't think it's about that Sakura, I think you're still angry at yourself for not being strong enough to stop him. If you had stopped him you wouldn't be in this situation right now!" Sakura couldn't believe what she had just heard; Naruto had never said anything like that to her.

"Excuse me, who did I ask to bring him back for me, oh yeah, I asked you. You failed just as badly, if not worse, Naruto!"

"All I'm saying is that you should forgive Sasuke!"

"And why should I do that?!"

"Because you still love him!" -Silence- Naruto's words stung the both of them. It had hurt Naruto to say those truthful words when he still had feelings for Sakura, and Sakura knew it hurt him to say it. She looked away from him and continued to speak in a low voice. "I'm surprised at you Naruto. I thought you would be happy that I'm mad at Sasuke, this way you wouldn't lose me to him." He stood up from his chair and sat next to her and put his arm around her. A single tear slid down her cheek.

"C'mon Sakura you know I'm not like that. I just want you to be happy."

She sighed. "I know. I'm sorry." She said as she leaned into him. "I'm just so confused by his presence."