Valentines Day Avoidance
A/N: I'm So sorry to the fans that I promised updates, and didn't keep that promise soon enough. Quick note though, "Untitled" is now entitled "Like a Boss" So if you were reading it before, This is why it has said "Untitled/Like a Boss" for so long. I will be removing the 'Untitled' from the beginning as soon as the next chapter for that story is up. Thank you for your patience, please enjoy the chapter...
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM EITHER! Enjoy.
Sakura's P.O.V.
I leapt from my house onto the roof of a nearby building, then into the ally between it and the next door complex, then took a detour through the forest before arriving on an old path between the forest and town on my way to the hospital. Why go to such extremes? Because its Valentines Day, and I have a lot of Fanboys waiting in front of my house, as well as in front of the hospital. ~sigh~ And I was nagging Itachi for not taking the door yesterday... he is so never going to let this go...
"Sakura?" I looked up, hate filled eyes in the direction the voice came from. Only to find the younger Uchiha slowly backing away, hands up defensively and shock evident on his face. 'This is probably the path he takes to avoid running into me.' I thought as I continued to glare. "Uchiha." I grit out, good feelings long gone at this point. 'Now Sakura...calm down.' 'cage...now.'
"Gomen...I ...I didn't think you would be coming this way. Excuse me Sakura." And just like that, other Uchiha disappeared as though he were deathly afraid. I shook it off, and tried to get back into some semblance of a good mood. But it was no use. 'Oh well, I'm nearly to the hospital now.'
"Sakura? And here you have been scolding me for stealthily entering the Hospital." Itachi teased, showing up directly behind me in the narrow ally. "Such things may be overlooked if you are highly popular on days such as these." I replied coldly his frown deepened...if that is even possible. "Now I understand why Sasuke's chakra was so irregular. He must have crossed paths with you. That explains why he transported to Kage Mountain." Itachi explained, I only glared harder, not actually at Itachi. But through him. "Yes, I saw him." I replied icily.
"Damn that's cold. That explains why I ran into the stupid Uchiha moments ago. Sakura-senpai is only ever this frigid when she sees him." I tried to tone down the ice in my voice when I responded. "Hello Karin." ….fail. "Returning to our earlier topic. Am I to understand that entering the hospital grounds through subtle means is allowed on holidays similarly to today?" Itachi asked. "Yes, today is fine. But I expect you to use the door tomorrow." I replied, my tone nearly back to normal. "What do you two think about a race? To the exam room?" Karin suggested. 'Hell yeah! Race the Uchiha!' 'where did you come from?! Never mind.' Itachi seemed to notice there was now emotion in me, because his expression returned to normal. "Sure, I'm game. Itachi?" I asked, he smirked. "The one who loses pays for lunch." He suggested. "You are so on!" I said, good mood finally returning. "I'll send a signal when I get to the exam room." Karin said, then bolted for the hospital door. A few moments later we saw the signal, and took off in separate directions. I knew exactly how I was going to win. There was a door in the back for Medic Ninja use only that required your chakra signature to be opened. But the door was straight down the hall from my exam room. Once the door was in sight, I threw a chakra tag at it. The door opened before I even got to it. And I grabbed the tag still in a dead sprint so the door closed behind me. And I slid into the exam room 5,8 seconds from the start of the race. Only to find...
"How the HELL did I lose?!" I said in disbelief. As I saw Itachi sitting quite comfortably on the window sill. "As soon as the signal was given I leapt atop the hospital roof, made my way across to the far corner, then dropped to the window sill above this one, and slid inside our exam room." Itachi explained. "No worries Sakura-senpai. Uchiha-san only beat you by .8 seconds." Karin tried to comfort me. "5 seconds flat?!" I looked at him. "I'll have to mark that down in my chart." I told him, as Karin walked to her end of the hospital. "Of course Doctor." He replied with a smirk. And we fell into our routine.
Sasuke's P.O.V.
"And you're still alive?!" Tenten yelled once I'd finished explaining to her and Neji what exactly had me so on edge when I had accidentally interrupted they're spar in the training grounds atop Kage Mountain. "Do I look like a ghost Tenten?" I replied sarcastically. "Well, no. But you know what I mean! The girl has been completely... well not insane, but weird for two years now!" Tenten tried to explain. Neji and I just gave identical looks of, 'You high bitch?'
"Well...weird for Sakura." she corrected. "I know." was all I could come up with.
"Well you damn well should know! My Sakura has been gone for two years, and all I see is this emotionless, murderous, freaking scary specter of her! And its your fault Sasuke!" Came an unhappy voice from behind to my left. "Good morning Ino." I replied. "Fuck you!" She said, as she came up and stood by Tenten. "Sorry to take her Neji, but she and I have an errand that she happens to be two hours late for." Ino said sweetly to Neji, while simultaneously glaring at Tenten for being late. "Oh...Ehehehe...oops?" Tenten tried. "Kami Tenten, I understand, really I do. But TWO hours, is a new record. Even for Naruto!" "Gomen Ino, I just..." "Yeah, I know. Forgot!" Neji and I watched them talk as they walked. I looked at Neji as if to ask 'The hell was that?'
"Tenten and I are a couple now." he said plainly. "Well good for you two. Congratulations Neji." I responded. "Thank you." he said,
"How long have you two been together?" I asked. "Do you remember that time your brother invited her over to give her a sword? And I followed her..." (If you don't get it, read my oneshot, 'Jealousy' a NejiTen story) Neji seemed somewhat embarrassed about the occasion. I thought back, that was only a month ago. "Yeah, I think so. What about it?"
"I followed her because I was jealously thinking she was interested in your brother." He admitted, not looking at me. I snickered at the thought. "Really? It was even obvious to Naruto that she liked you! And you thought she had fazed into one of my brother's fangirls?!" I asked, nothing short of amused. "He has that effect on the majority of females." Neji retorted, not happy I was so amused by this. "And since when is Tenten part of the Majority?" I asked, just to irk him further. "Whatever Uchiha. I'm going to continue training. You going to stick around? We can spar." He suggested. "Sure, why not." I replied, getting to my feet.
Neji and I sparred the whole morning, then went to lunch. Because we both had fangirl issues on this particular day. We went to a tiny cafe on the edge of town, near the main gate. Upon arriving at the cafe, I felt the familiar presence of my Aniki, which should have warned me as to what would happen next, as I knew he was supposed to be with her all day. However I failed to comprehend the message he was sending me with his facial gestures, and approached him anyway. That's about the same moment I heard it. Sakura's laughter, and although it filled me with some long dormant emotions at hearing her crystal laugh. I was also filled with sadness, and dread. Sadness because it was someone else making her laugh. Dread, because I knew she wouldn't stand for two run ins in one day. "Neji, I'm sorry to do this to you, but if Sakura sees me then that's it. She wont take it a second time today. Here is some money for lunch, I'll wait outside." I whispered to him, handing him the money. "Don't worry about a thing Sasuke. I'll try to keep her from noticing." he replied. I nodded in thanks, and ran like hell back out of the small diner. Neji, I was finding, is a great friend. When I no longer felt Itachi's chakra signature, I assumed the cost was clear, and dropped from the roof of the cafe only to land directly in front of Sakura. "Shit!" I cursed, and made to leave. "Uchiha..." she trailed off, although she sounded pissed. I stopped, if she was addressing me while I was in the middle of disappearing, then it was obviously important. "Hai?" I asked facing her now, still ready to take off at any given moment. "These are both coincidence, correct?" She asked icily. "Hai." I said again.
"Alright, I sent Itachi ahead of me because there is something I need to discuss with you." she explained, gesturing me to follow her. 'Okay two things, First, THIS WASN'T A COINCIDENCE THEN BITCH! Second, this is either really important...' 'Or we're going to die!' 'Thanks for the optimism Kuro. You are a great help. 'Hey, what are inners for? Now pay attention. I don't want to die today.' 'Bite me!'
Sakura and I walked to a painfully familiar path, with a stone bench to our right, then she walked over and sat on it. I made no move to sit next to her though, I wasn't about to push my luck.
"Itachi's procedure will take place soon, I received word from the Hokage during lunch that his original body has been found, perfectly preserved. Therefore it hasn't even any sign of decomposition." she paused here to observe my reaction. "Please continue." I supplied, she nodded.
"As I'm sure you know, this procedure will require us to work together. Therefore we will need to train for it for the next few weeks. I intend to perform Itachi's restoration as soon as Hokage-sama, and Naruto return from Suna with his body. Any questions?" she looked at me with stone cold, emotionless eyes. Just as Ino had said, like she was a specter of her former self. "Um, as for the training?" I asked. "You will need to meet with Itachi and I on a daily basis. Dr. Shinwa will be joining us to help me keep up on my work with Itachi, while I work with you. Anything else Uchiha?" Although I knew it was a bad idea, I had to ask anyway. "Would it kill you to call me Sasuke?" I asked slightly aggravated. "Sasuke is dead to me. I'll see you tomorrow at eight am, training ground fourteen. Good day." After that, she disappeared to go meet with Itachi.
"Well that was indeed... oh how did Inuzuka put it? Ah yes, rather brutal." Neji said showing up beside me a few moments later. "Saw that huh?" I asked, even though I knew he had. He nodded in reply. "So...lunch?" he asked abruptly. "Yeah..." was my quiet reply. 'Dude, I'm alter-ego with all the bounce back mad skillz... and even I can't think of anything to do about this right now.' 'Gee, thanks for pointing out the obvious. If there was a comeback at that moment, you would have been shouting it at the top of your lungs, along with several insults directed at anyone, and everyone you could think of.' 'Yeah well... never mind, just let me think of a plan!' 'Oh sure...'
A short time after lunch, Neji joined back up with Tenten to spend the rest of Valentines day with her. I continued on my way home until I came across Kiba and Akamaru in the forest. "Kiba, Akamaru..."
"Dude! We saw what happened earlier. Sakura is seriously scary man!" Kiba announced skipping all formalities. "Yeah... I'll live." I said rubbing my neck, and trying to ignore him as I passed. This was not to be as he fell into step beside me. "So what now?" he asked. I gave him a look that clearly displayed 'The Hell should I know?!'
He continued to wait for my answer like the thick idiot he is. "I don't know Kiba." I said although My inner 'Kuro' is his name, pleaded that I knock Kiba unconscious and head home. "Well you have to spend a few hours with her everyday until the restoration Jutsu goes down, right?"
"Yeah, and?" I asked, getting increasingly irritated with the mutt.
"So why not try to make conversation, get her to open up little by little. Or however girls say it. My point is, if you can get her to accept you as a friend, she may start to love you again. er...eventually. Although if she liked you again, she wouldn't leave the village." I face palmed.
"Kiba, don't you think I had thought of that already? Sakura has found a way to entirely seal away her emotions. She said that I'm dead to her plain and simple. There is nothing short of divine intervention that could get her to speak to me on human terms again." I explained.
"I would never compare myself to a deity Otouto, but I am grateful for the compliment." I heard Itachi's voice from behind me. "Done already Aniki?" I asked quickly turning around to face him. "Itachi, been awhile, congrats on Naruto's team recovering your body. Must be nice knowing you don't have to be a zombie anymore." Kiba greeted. "It is, Thank you Kiba. Hello Akamaru." Itachi greeted back, and Akamaru responded with a happy woof. "And as for your question Sasuke. Sakura and I decided to finish early today so that I could relay the 'ground rules' to you." Itachi explained. ""Lovely."" Kiba and I said at the same time.
Sakura's P.O.V.
So Itachi and I wrapped things up for the day, and he agreed to lay the rules on Sasuke.
There will be a personal space perimeter that he may NOT, under ANY circumstances, enter.
While I am working with Itachi, he is not to bother me for ANY reason.
He may not ask about what happened to me that I am so different, for he SHOULD have realized already.
If he is ever late, Sakura is allowed to punch him with whatever amount of force she so chooses and he may not block.
I was satisfied with the rules Itachi had allowed. However, for Itachi to have tolerated the rules at all a sacrifice had to be made...
"DAMN that Itachi! I don't WANT to speak to that insufferable brother of his!" I slammed my fist onto the table. I did not use chakra, as it was not my table. "Well look on the bright side. You only have to speak to him if Sas...er if the younger Uchiha speaks first, with a direct question or something." Ino tried to cheer me up, handing me a cup of our favorite tea as she sat next to me. "I just got extra pissed because it only just occurred to me that I forgot to make Itachi swear not to tell the idiot that, and to let him figure it out. Damn him! He's probably told that traitor by now!" I lashed out again. (No worries, she is only lashing out with her words.)
"Sakura... we've been over this! Sasu... The younger Uchiha isn't a traitor! And you know that." Ino said sternly. "Not an easy concept to grasp after so many years spent thinking he was a murderous traitor Ino." I replied spitefully.
"Oh well...although I will say that whatever effect on you Itachi has, I'm glad for it. I haven't seen you, let alone any emotion from you in months!" she stated.
"Ino, I was in here two weeks ago." I reminded her.
"YOU were not, your empty emotionless hollow Sakura form was."
"Oh yeah... that..." I said guiltily.
"Don't you give me that "Oh that" Shit Haruno Sakura! I was really afraid you'd turned into a zombie!"
"Pig... I think you read too much manga."
"CAN IT FOREHEAD! An Otaku can NEVER read too much manga!" she said, and we glared lightning at each other for a minute, then spontaneously burst into laughter.
"Oh I've missed this Ino. I'll miss it even more when I leave in a few weeks." I said sadly
"WEEKS?" she screamed dropping her tea on the floor as she stood abruptly. "You can't be serious Sakura! You weren't supposed to leave until the middle of April! How can you just drop everything and leave?!" She had started crying.
"Ino... come on, don't be like that. You know better than anyone that the only reason I'm still here is to heal Itachi. He will be fully restored in three weeks, maybe less time than that. Once he's restored to his own body, I only need to monitor his condition long enough for Shizune to take over..."
"But Sakura! You don't understand! We were going to throw a surprise Birthday party for you!" Ino explained, wiping her eyes of the last few tears. "Oh..." I mumbled, now feeling Very guilty. "Yeah ~sniff~ 'Oh' forehead." Ino mocked. "Gomen Ino... but on top of the fact that I hate surprise parties... can you really blame me for wanting to get away as fast as possible?"
~sniff~sniff~ "No...But I'm gonna miss you forehead. You want me to take care of your place while you're away?" she asked, a smile finally breaking through. "Would you really Ino? I most likely wont visit often... I don't want to inconvenience you at all." I asked hopeful.
"Actually... if you don't mind, could I just move in there? I've been meaning to get out on my own for awhile." she explained.
"Ino you're perfect!" I yelled, and hugged her around the neck.
"S-saku...ra... can't...breathe!" I quickly let go. "Sorry Ino..."
Ino and I said our goodbyes when Sai showed up unexpectedly early from his mission. 'For someone that lacks emotion... He certainly can make one hell of a romantic gesture!'
'I know! Running home as fast ass he could, with no chakra left, and picking wild roses for her on his way over. NOT EVEN GUYS THAT GREW UP WITH EMOTION CAN THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT!'
'~tears~ tell me about it... ~cries~'
'Why are you crying?' 'Sai has been with Ino for only a year, and already he understands the importance of Valentines Day. Whereas Naruto and Hinata have been married for three years, and the village idiot is away on a mission!' at this I began crying as well.
'Poor Hinata!'
'~still crying~ and I just realized... Tenten and Neji finally got together...a-a...and... we may never have someone to do something that sweet for us! ~cries harder~'
'STOP! you're making me cry on the outside too!' But it was too late... Tenten and Neji had seen me. 'I BLAME YOU INNER!'
"Sakura? Are you alright?" Tenten asked me.
"Yeah Ten, I'm fine. I just left Ino's. Sai finished his mission and ran home early to see Ino on valentines day. He only stopped long enough to pick wild roses for her, she was the first person he saw when he came home." I explained, wiping the last of my tears away. Tenten's eyes lit up with stars. "Kawaii!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "Tenten? Are you feeling alright?" Neji asked, feeling her head for a temperature. She swatted his hand away. "I AM a Girl Neji!" She stated sending him a halfhearted glare. "I apologize." I said smiling and wrapping his arm around her. Not wanting to interrupt their moment, I silently slipped away, and jumped from rooftop to rooftop until I got home.
When I arrived home I saw not a mountain of gifts, but only one Bouquet of red roses which had cherry blossoms strewn through it, and a note from my land lord stuck to the door. The note from my land lord was only to tell me that he had disposed of the flowers and candy that had piled up in front of my door, as promised.
The bouquet I took into the house with me, and threw on the counter. They were going in the trash regardless, and I knew exactly whom had brought them, for the chakra signature was still lingering on the flowers. But curiosity got the better of me, and I opened the card from the disgusting Uchiha anyway.
To Sakura,
I know this changes nothing, and that I probably owe you about a decades worth more of these for all the things you gave to me that I ignored. But even though you hate me now, I ask that you accept these, and allow me to tell you that I am sorry. Though I would have preferred to do so in person.
I sincerely hope you like these,
Sasuke.
I put the flowers in a vase, and tossed the note into 'the forbidden drawer' with a sly smile on my lips. "Well played... Uchiha."
The following morning I was at the training grounds at dawn. Knowing that the Uchiha would be here for some early morning exercise. When he arrived in the clearing I currently occupied, looking slightly surprised by my presence, I motioned for him to sit down. "Good morning." He offered. "Do you realize, that had I not noticed it was from you, you may have very well gotten your brother killed Itachi?" I asked, an evil smirk playing on my lips.
"Sakura, I haven't the slightest inclination as to what you are referring." Itachi replied cooly, though I could see the amusement behind his eyes. "Itachi, I was on a team with him, and I've seen all his records... he is not the type to even know how to use the word 'sincerely' in a sentence correctly." I replied. "Although the rest of the note sounded like things he might come up with. Also the handwriting was slightly faster paced. You may want to slow down by a half second when you forage his handwriting in the future." I explained to him.
"And here I firmly believed that it would work. Sasuke didn't even realize I had slipped the note into the bouquet when he left to deliver them. Yes, I foraged the letter Sakura, but as you pointed out. Everything except the end of it came from Sasuke. They were things he said to me when he asked me to figure out your favorite flowers." Itachi confessed, and I grew somewhat angry...
"Have every one of our conversations up to this point been nothing but you subtly gathering information on me for your idiot brother?!" I asked icily, anger rising with every word. 'Now Sakura, calm down, let the man explain...' 'Shut up Bitch! CAGE!'
"Now Sakura, you know that isn't true at all..."
"Do I Itachi?!" I yelled, interrupting him. "You know I hate him! You know I want nothing to do with him! And you know that if I see an opening I Will kill him! So why try so hard to believe the opposite could ever be possible!" we were both standing now. I knew without inner free to hold me at bay I was likely to attack Itachi, which would be bad, considering in his current condition I would kick his ass into the dirt in about five seconds. And it looked bad on my resume.
"Because you loved him once before Sakura, and you may love him still..." He was cut off as I threw a chakra infused punch at his face. However, he wasn't the one who blocked it. "Uchiha." I ground out facing the younger brother as he lowered his arms from their guard in front of him. "It was only this one thing that I asked of him. He hasn't ever done it before, and I had to beg him, as well as swear never to ask him to do this again. Please forgive him Sakura." The younger Uchiha explained, almost pleaded. "You! Don't speak to me. I'm in a foul mood. I may forgive Itachi later. Right now, I am going to postpone training until this afternoon. Itachi, see Doctor Shinwa for today's tests." I had started to walk away when at the same time inner popped up, and eavesdropped on there conversation. "You didn't need to do that Sasuke, this body would have regenerated, and Sakura would have eventually forgiven me... I believe she would have anyway." Itachi said.
"Yes I did have to, that body regenerates yes. But with it De-generating as quickly as it has been, I wasn't about to take that risk." Younger Uchiha replied.
"Sasuke. Your left arm is broken in five places, and your right arm in two." Itachi said, matter of factly, as though that proved his side of the argument.
"I'll go see Shizune-san, and... make up some training accident or something." at this point, inner took over with my better judgment as a good person, and made me turn back around. And just as slowly, if not slower I walked back towards the Uchiha brothers.
Both looked genuinely surprised I had returned. "Let me heal you." I ordered, kneeling down beside him, and putting both hands before me. "Uh.. Thank you." Sasuke said awkwardly.
"Tch." I said spitefully. 'Hell yeah! Just throw that at him! Just like he did us all those years ago!'
I mentally smirked at her mood swings. 'I guess you have your moments.'
"Sakura.. can we talk?" the loathed Uchiha asked me. "No." I said spitefully. "Why?" he asked as he and I continued to practice the necessary maneuvers for the Jutsu that would be used to heal Itachi. Well, the first several movements anyway.
"Because." I smirked, "You're annoying..."
"He..!" - "Is what I'd like to say. But that seems a little Too ironic, don't you think?" He said nothing, only shot me a quick glare. "Because Itachi will be restored ahead of schedule, will you be leaving early?" He asked suddenly, almost sadly. 'What an EMO!'
'Bitch, please... Think back to you and me a year ago tomorrow.' 'That is so totally different!'
'I fail to see how... Now stop trying so hard to get into my good graces.. because its starting to actually work.' 'I love you too!'
"Yes, I plan on leaving in roughly three or four days after the... surgery for lack of a better term." I replied somewhat coldly, but a little triumphantly. If that's even possible...?
"Oh but the good Doctor will write to her patient, wont you Sakura-hime?" Itachi asked, walking up behind me. "I'll write to you if you never call me Hime again." I hissed at him.
"No promises Sakura,the title suits you well." Itachi responded amused.
"That's what my father said when I was twelve, so I let him call me that." I explained.
"Oh?" both Uchiha's asked.
"Yeah, then He and my mother died six months later. Right after one of my teammates defected, and the other took off to train." I finished hatefully, as I stood and began to walk away. "I have a lunch date with Ino. I'll be back in two hours. If I'm not, go home." I stated then transported to Ino's.
When I arrived at Ino's... "SAI GET YOUR WORTHLESS ASS OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW YOU EMOTIONLESS ASSHOLE!" ….well, its pretty self explanatory. "Ino please! You know I didn't mean it!" I heard Sai plead from where I stood just outside eye-shot near the doorway to Ino's home. "I SAID OUT BITCH! NOW!" next thing I heard was the sound of something shattering. 'Now, I must get involved!' I thought dramatically. 'Mwahahaha...' inner chuckled. 'Not that kind of involved, the good kind, where we save Sai's life.' 'Oh, right. I totally knew that!' 'Whatever.' Something else shattered, so I walked in, hands up, and a whistle in my mouth. Where the whistle came from, I have no idea, but I was blowing it like a referee at a hockey game. "Hey! Whoa! Foul! Time out Bitches!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, totally and thoroughly enjoying this. "Ugly/Sakura." They said at the same time. To which I punched Sai in the head, and then proceeded to hold Ino back from murdering him while he was down. "Sai, you best leave now, Sakura can't hold me back forever." Ino threatened. Now, I'm not one to judge, and I know Ino has taken a lot from Sai what with his... disability if you will. But I had never seen them fight this violently. Argue, yes. But that never really escalated to a screaming level... let alone a name calling level. Whatever Sai said to tick off Ino, it had obviously touched home. 'Dear Kami-sama, I know I'm not exactly the one best deserving of a favor, but if you could please just allow Sai to not get killed by his currently psychotic girlfriend, it would make a lot of people very thankful. Amen.' I rolled my eyes at inner, though she probably had the right idea, I was losing grip on Ino and pretty soon she was going to...
…...there she goes.
I fell backwards onto my butt, and watched silently as Ino full force punched her boyfriend in the face. I saw tears streaming down her face. "Get out." She said simply, it sounded more like a threat to me though. "But Ino I..."
"Get out Sai. And don't come back." This time Sai said nothing, and did as he was told. He silently left a crying Ino and I in her house.
'Did they just... ….Break up?' I asked inner, and her intelligent reply was '…' 'Gee you're mighty helpful.'
I wasn't stupid, I knew what had just happened. Ino's heart had been broken. The tone she had used moments ago, was the same tone I used when Naruto tried to convince me that Sasuke wasn't really a traitor. "You might as well go to Sakura. You wont be here for me pretty soon anyway." Ino said coldly as she tried to walk away. I jumped to my feet, turned her around and smacked her across the back of her head. Can you say WAKE UP CALL! "The HELL kind of heartless bitch do you think I am Ino! There is NO WAY I'm leaving you like this!" I yelled at her. She, instead of arguing with me, burst into tears and hugged me. "Calm down Ino." I whispered as I rubbed her back. Whatever had happened between those two, was both Sai's fault, and unintentional as far as I could see. However he was still getting his ass kicked, I told him if Ino ever got hurt by him, or by any kind of indirect fault of his, that I would kill him. However Sai is still my friend, so therefore I have decided to leave him beaten and bloody on either Shizune's or Karin's porch...
Karin just had her porch detailed, and the steps repainted though... so Shizune's it was.
About an hour later Ino had calmed down, and we were reciting our favorite movies while drinking warm tea. And we were perfectly fine with this. She would talk when she was ready, and even if it took her a year, I would be ready to liste... "It started out like any of our normal arguments..." 'Well shit, that was fast...' 'Y'KNOW!' "Uh-huh.." I mumbled and nodded my head.
"That's just it, one of our normal arguments. He called me a ditsy blond, and I ignored him. I was stressing out about you coming over here today, being stressed cuz of the Uchiha bastard. And I guess he was trying to tell me something... But I wasn't paying attention. He had one of his stupid 'emotion' books in his hand, so I assumed his question was likewise going to be stupid." She explained.
"A safe assumption Ino, I would have done the same." I encouraged her to go on.
"I know right! Well anyway, I was still jumpy, cuz I knew you would be here any minute, when out of the blue he just yells at me. Like literally yelled my name! I of course, freaked out, and yelled 'WHAT'.
He just looked so mad Sakura. Well, he had my full attention then and like I said, he was mad. He yelled at me that I was a horrible listener. And then said it was no wonder people hardly talked to me, called me a bad friend, and said I was hopeless. And dumb. Sakura he called me all those things in one breath!"
I stared at Ino dumbfounded, whatever Sai had wanted to talk to her about had to have been important if he blew up that badly. But that still is no excuse for the things he said, and I should make sure to shatter his jaw when I beat him up later. "Go on Ino, take some calming breathes, then tell me what happened next." I said to her soothingly, a tone my mother used to use on me when I had a nightmare and was telling her about it.
"Well, I got so mad I just snapped at him. Told him he was a bastard, and then screamed at him to get his..."
"Worthless ass out of your house, and called him an emotionless asshole? I had already knocked on your front door twice about then." I explained.
"Well, yeah, and you know what happens from there..." She finished, and we both remained silent a few moments before she spoke up again. "Am I really a bad friend Sakura? Am I a horrible listener?" She asked, and started crying again. "Ino, No! Listen to me now. You were there for me when the bastard broke my heart, albeit in your own way. But still you were the only one that understood what I was going through, and you listened better than anyone else could have. You are a wonderful friend Ino, and I'm happy to know I have you. And you can rest assured knowing you will always have me.
Yes, I'll be going away. But I never intended to stay away for forever... well maybe. I don't know yet. UGH! My point is, all you have to do is call me, and I'll come. I'm here for you Ino."
I told her, still in that soothing tone of voice.
"Thanks Forehead... When you go looking for Sai later... don't kill him please. I'll probably eventually forgive him." Ino said, laying her head in my lap and slowly drifting off to sleep.
"You better Ino-pig. What other guy in the universe do you know of the literally runs six straight hours, and picks wild roses for his girlfriend on V-day?!" I joked. She giggled tiredly.
"You're right.. you always are..." and with that she yawned and fell asleep on her living room couch.
I left her a note saying I would be back after taking care of a few things. I met up with Itachi...and the other one. And let them both know I had more important matters of which needed my immediate attention, as I cracked my knuckles. They didn't ask any questions, and Itachi assured me he would be at the hospital by eight in the morning. I told him to use the door and I then set off in search of Sai...
Sasuke's P.O.V.
When Sakura showed up twenty minutes late to the training grounds, and looking more murderous about something than I've ever seen her before, I knew not to ask questions. I was slightly shocked to find that her anger was not (for once) directed at me. Though she didn't say who it was directed at, and like I said... not asking any questions.
I later ran into Sai on my way to Ichiraku, he asked to join me so I let him tag along. He seemed unusually on edge, and somewhat down. But mostly on edge, at every little sound he would jump a little, then look around like crazy. ~internal imaginary light bulb~
"Sai... are you by chance hiding from Sakura?" I asked to test my theory.
"Hai." he responded quickly, then everything clicked.
"Dear Kami have mercy on your soul. You broke up with Ino didn't you!" I accused coming to a stop in the middle of the street and facing him.
"Actually, it was she that broke up with me. But it was my fault, I lost my temper, and said some untrue things, and... how would Naruto put it..? screwed myself big time... and it was very... uh...not cool." Sai finished the last part scratching his head, and completely missing the fact that I was trying to warn him that...
"Well I'm glad to see you know exactly why your getting your ass kicked Sai." came the sickeningly sweet voice of Sakura whom was standing behind Sai full ass kicking geared up, and aiming to kill. "It was nice to have met you Sasuke." Sai said, accepting his fate. I smirked,
"Likewise Sai." I then took cover a few meters from them, and watched as well as eaves dropped.
"So Sai-kun... you thought you could escape me by hiding with the Bastard Uchiha? Isn't it just a shame that I know you so well?" She taunted him while putting on her fighting gloves.
"Sakura may I defend myself?" Sai asked, obviously sweating bullets.
"From my fists sure, but I already know what happened. You needn't worry about Ino twisting the story, she told the whole truth, and although yes she should have been paying more attention to what you were saying to her. You have no right telling her she is a horrible listener, bad friend, and dumb." Sakura's voice was so filled with malice, I was afraid of dropping dead, and she didn't even know I was in the vicinity. What was also very shocking was what Sai had said to Ino. Now that was worthy of death at the hands of the best friend.
"You should just be happy that Ino will forgive you. Because Ino loves you so much, I promised to let you live. Count your blessings Sai, just think if I had been her father." Sakura was back to using the scary sweet voice as she walked closer to Sai while speaking. Once she reached him, she pulled a chakra laden fist back, and punched Sai directly in the jaw shattering it. I heard it breaking, and it was a sickening sound.
Sai did little in the way of defending himself, if anything at all. And I could see Sakura was not enjoying beating the crap out of her friend, let alone her friend that refused to defend himself. After about a half dozen or so pulled punches (not including the first one.) Sakura knocked Sai out, and then picked him up. Faster than I could blink she materialized in front of me. Sai slung over her shoulder.
"Uchiha, do me a favor and drop this off on Shizune's front porch." Her aura all but demanded that I obey. "Hai, I'll do that right away."
"Good, and when he comes too, tell him Ino is Not real big on chocolate, and that her favorite flowers are white lilies." She instructed.
"er...Okay." I answered awkwardly as I picked up the unconscious shinobi at my feet. Sakura had already begun walking away, then as an after thought added. "And tell him she's always wanted a kitten." with that she disappeared. "Well Sai, she's right... you are blessed that Ino's dad is with Kakashi."
~Somewhere in Suna, Yamanaka Inoichi and Hatake Kakashi both sneezed~
TBC
A/N: So a little shout out peeps. Yes I am now officially a bad Author! (I cried for weeks over this fact... well this fact among other things. There have been two deaths effecting my life since I promised chapters, and a family member is in the hospital)
Anyway, a HUGE shout out to CherryGirl164 for being the only fan to suggest ideas for 'Untitled'.
I had been majorly ticked at not being able to come up with a title for it, and thanks to your suggestions I was inspired with all sorts of ideas, I was honestly about to name the story 'Badass' but I actually don't know if that's even allowed for a title... I'll check. Anyway, thanks to your ideas, I was inspired, and able to come up with 'Like A Boss' So I sincerely thank you.
Gintsuki saying...
...I'm out. PEACE!
