OK, so I would like to dedicate this episode to Lucy! Because it is cheesy, and even if she doesn't admits it, I know she loooves it ^_^ [[Again to you, LONG LIVE ITACHI!]]
Now to all of you who like this fic, and for those of you who might not…
ENJOY!
Now here it is Chapter 4, Naomi's Opened Eyes! [[You'll get the title later… if not well if not you're free to ask, I guess… xD]]
-"Sakura…" he said in almost a whisper, gentle and slow.
-"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" she looked up, Sasuke's eyes staring directly at hers. Sakura saw something there… a sparkle, his eyes were happy…"Sasuke-kun… I… I have something to ask" he looked at her with curiosity, as Sakura never asked for permission to ask, she just went for it. She glanced at him for a second, quickly looking away.
-"Who… who's Naomi?" she softly asked, as she stood up and walked nervously around the room, looking at the floor, lost in her thoughts, fearing the answer she didn't wanted to her... Waiting for the worst she looked up, standing in front of Sasuke's bed, patiently waiting for his answer. He didn't seem annoyed, as he would normally be.
-"Sakura..." he said again, looking straight into her green eyes. Sakura freaked out. Sasuke was approaching her little by little; until their faces where close enough to kiss.
Must be the medicine… what is going on? This can't be happening… Sasuke… can't be true… must be dreaming… Sakura was confused; thoughts swam around her head and her face slowly started to blush.
-"Sa-Sasuke…Sasuke-kun…" she said, red as a tomato, Sasuke's personal favourite.
Sasuke looked at her deep green eyes, and sweetly pulled her closer. Then, a shadow appeared at the door, both of them immediately turned their heads. It was Naruto. Sasuke quickly crawled back to the bed, but Sakura froze. Her face was still red, and her sight was lost. She truly couldn't believe what just happened… Sasuke must have been still dizzy and drugged by the medicine...
-"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, patting her back "Eeh?" he stepped in front of Sakura's frozen self "Something doesn't seem right about her" he said analyzing her face.
-"She's frozen, you dobe!"
-"Mhmm… well what happened? I know Sakura-chan wouldn't freeze because of you, bastard" Sasuke made a little tiny smile. What a fool.
-"Naruto, go get some water for her" he ordered, without lifting his eyes from Sakura.
-"Why does it have to be me?" Naruto complained.
-"Just do it!" Sasuke said, seeming to lose his patience. Naruto glared at him and exited the room muttering something under his breath. Sasuke glanced at Naruto as he exited the room, then posed his eyes back on Sakura, who was still not moving.
Looking around to make sure nobody was around, he stood up and walked again to where Sakura was. He brushed her pink locks of her face, her beautiful, angelic face.
-"Hey, Sakura… " He softly said, almost as close as he was before.
-"Sasuke-kun…" she managed to say, though her stare was still lost. Sasuke stepped back, giving her some space.
-"It's none of your business who Naomi is." he told her, returning to his usual self; the emotionless, drop-dead gorgeous ice-cube. Sakura snapped out of her trance, blinked, and quickly turned her gaze to Sasuke.
-"I… why can't I know?" she asked, surprising Sasuke "It's always secrets with you! We… we are a team, Sasuke, you're supposed to trust us!"
-"I don't have to tell you everything, Sakura!" he rudely hissed at her, before getting back to his bed, where he was supposed to be.
-"Why are you always so cold to me?" Sakura asked. Outside the room, Naruto had just arrived, but stopped himself from entering the room when he heard Sakura's muffled voice. He hid behind the door so he could eavesdrop on the conversation.
-"Drop it off, Sakura… I won't tell you anything," Sasuke said, looking at the window.
--
Sasuke looked at the door, where a piece of Naruto's messy hair stood. By it, it was easy to know it was the blonde kid.
"Naruto's outside." he said, so Sakura would stop arguing. It worked. She immediately turned to look at the door where the hyper kid stood with a glass of crystalline water.
-"Hey Sakura-chan! So you've finally snapped out of it.," he cheerfully said, giving her the water Sasuke ordered to bring.
-"Th…Thanks, Naruto." the pink-haired girl lost herself again looking at the water. Sasuke's sudden change of humour confused her. The water moved with her, left and right, and over again. Like little waves… calmly from one side to the other…
-"Visit time is over!" a nurse announced, knocking and entering the room. Naruto glanced at Sakura, who didn't seem to have heard the nurse. Naruto left the room quietly and asked something to the nurse, making her close the door. Leaving, again, Sasuke and Sakura alone.
-"You should be going.," he said, once again looking away from her deep green eyes. Sakura blinked and raised her eyes to look at Sasuke, he knew she was staring, but didn't move his head. Sakura turned, looking to the floor again, laying her delicate hand on the doorknob.
-"Sakura." Sasuke's voice stopped her from leaving.
-"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" she said, slowly turning without raising her sight from the floor.
-"I'll... see you tomorrow." Sakura looked up, Sasuke again looked happy, his eyes were sparkling and she was sure he wanted to smile. Sakura nodded and left the room. Sasuke stared at the door where his Sakura just stood, and he remembered her sweet smile, and those big, loving eyes, her soft pink hair, and her thin, delicate hands. She had saved him...
-"Oh, Sasuke. I see you're awake." Kakashi said entering the room "How are you feeling?" he sat on the chair beside his bed.
-"I'm fine," he answered, not giving it importance.
-"Sasuke… I came here to tell you something. I think you have the right to know." Kakashi lazily began talking as always, then got serious. Sasuke turned to look at him, patiently waiting for him to spill out whatever it was.
-"She's back," he bluntly stated. "She's not dead as we all thought, or so it seems" Sasuke's expression reminded blank.
-"What?"
-"Naomi Uchiha. That girl sure knows how to hide…" when Kakashi said "Naomi", Sasuke's eyes widened for a second. He was confused; why would she come back after two years?
-"Seems that she was the one who stole all that Akatsuki information, we don't know the reasons yet… She's a missing-nin, Sasuke. She joined Konoha's worst enemy, and killed an ANBU some days ago. She's not the little girl she use to be, isn't she?" Sasuke didn't answer. His thoughts were drifting away. It was true that Naomi never killed in battle; she used to be strong, but no more than him... yet she killed an ANBU, and also fought Chuunin and won. Naomi used to like showing her strength, but never killed in battle. She was peaceful, and hated fighting even more when Itachi massacred the entire clan. What had happened to the sweet, friendly Naomi he knew?
-"That's… no… she's not capable of killing, she…" he couldn't believed Kakashi's words. For all he knew, that was not Naomi.
-"People change, Sasuke. I thought you might want to know, after all she's all the family you have left." Kakashi patted Sasuke's head and left him alone. Out of the room, Naruto was waiting for Kakashi to come out, and, as soon as he did, he started asking questions.
-"Oi, Kakashi-sensei! What d'you told to Sasuke?"
-"It's Sasuke's personal stuff Naruto"
-"Ow, man! Why won't anyone tell me anything" he sighed and looked towards his friend's room. At the entrance there was a girl about to open the door. "Kakashi-sensei… who's that?" he asked, pointing at the girl. She seemed sad, and also troubled.
-"Mhm?"
-"Cute… cute girl" Naruto whispered, his eyes widening.
-"Let's get going Naruto." Kakashi placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders, though it seemed Naruto was having a fight with himself. In other words he was talking to himself out loud.
-"Should I go talk to her? Man, she is cute... What should I tell her? C'mon, get a hold of yourself… I am Naruto Uzumaki… Believe it!" Kakashi sighed.
-"Come on, Naruto." he tiredly said, dragging him by the shirt out of the hospital, as he kept talking to himself.
-"Sasuke?" Naomi said slowly entering the room.
-"What do you want." he rudely answered "I'm not in the mood, Sakura."
-"Mhm… very nice. Regrettably, I don't think I have pink hair and piercing green eyes." startled, Sasuke turned. He knew that voice, it seemed so familiar to him... he knew who she was. It was her…
-"You… what are you doing here?" he quietly said. He might have looked calm outside, but in reality he was really pissed.
-"I'm sorry… I… I guess I should have told you I was leaving," she said, but Sasuke remained silent.
-"I was coming back for you. You're like a brother to me, you're all I have left as a family..."
-"What stopped you, then?"
-"You. It was you who stopped me," she whispered. Confused, Sasuke turned.
-"You, and Sakura… That stopped me." she dropped her face down. "Here… here you're loved Sasuke, you have friends who care about you. When I found Sakura in the forest, she was so worried about you it was almost ridiculous. She intended to fight me in order to know where you were. You're not alone Sasuke. You have friends now... so what is the point in taking all that away from you? You looked happy again Sasuke"
-"I don't know what you're talking about" he frowned, looking out of the window. Naomi raised her head, still looking as emotional as when she first came into the room.
-"You're gonna act like you don't know what I'm talking about?" she sighed, "Ok then. I'm gonna have to explain it to you… See, she loves you very much, and I can see you do love her too." emotionless still, Sasuke turned to look at her. "You like her since you were five, you always looked at her in secret." she laughed quietly to herself.
Sasuke's Flashback
-"Sakura! Look what I just found!" a blond, big blue-eyed girl called out. The little green-eyed girl ran off to see which awesome discovery her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, had just found. She got closer and saw a bird's nest, lying on the floor. It had probably fallen from a tree.
-"Huh?" hearing a slight sound, Sakura turned around to stare at the bush behind her.
-"What is it, Sakura?" Ino looked around, her eyes filled with curiosity about what called her friend's attention.
-"Uhm… nothing." she said smiling at her friend, turning back to the bird's nest.
She's cute… I wonder if she's as kind as she seems…
-"Sasuke! What're you doing?" a girl came from behind him, making loud noises and screaming the boy's name.
-"Oi!" the boy turned and quickly covered Naomi's mouth "Shush!"
-"Mhm… hey! Can't… breathe," she said, trying to free herself from Sasuke's grip. Finally, he released her, shushing her again just in case.
-"Spying again, are we?" she whispered in Sasuke's ear "I think you should just tell her! She likes you too, you know..." she managed to say before the boy shushed her again.
-"My… boys are so complicated!" she claimed as she came out if the bushes.
-"Wha… Naomi get back here, they're gonna see you!" little Sasuke whispered pulling Naomi's hand back.
-"Hey, Sakura!" Naomi greeted with enthusiasm. Immediately, Sasuke let go of her hand to hide again.
-"Eeh?" she turned "Oh, hey Naomi!" she greeted back, smiling widely. "Ino, this is Naomi Uchiha" Sakura introduced the two girls, Ino's mind snapping as Sakura said "Uchiha"
-"Uchiha, you said? Are you Sasuke's family?" she brightly asked.
-"No, I'm just his friend… we're like brothers" Naomi answered, grinning.
-"Cool!"
-"Yeah, cool… Erm, Sakura I was wondering, tomorrow's Sasuke's 7th birthday, would you like to come and join us? I bet he'd like that" she smiled at her. Sakura's face began glowing; her eyes sparkled, and her face was filled with amusement.
-"M-m-me?" she mumbled and pointed to herself with a finger.
-"Yep, would you like to?" Sakura just nodded, too excited to speak. "Great! I'll go tell him right away" she smiled at her and Ino once more and left.
-"Whoa Sakura, you're so lucky!"
-"I g-guess so"
End of Flashback
Sasuke smirked.
-"So you remember…" she smartly said, Sasuke's face returning to normal.
-"Remember what?"
-"Come on Sasuke, you were crazy about her! You swore that when you're training was done, you'll become a great shinobi and marry her… is that still part of your plans?"
-"I feel nothing for her, I never have."
-"You can fool everyone as long as you want, but you can't fool me. I know you far too well. I can see, by the way you look at her, that there are still feelings deep inside you."
-"This is nonsense."
-"Keep saying that Sasuke… She's really nice, you shouldn't let her go."
-"She's… my team-mate"
-"Right. Then, I suppose, you getting so close to her a few minutes ago was just something you would do with your team-mate. It was nothing, right? " She sarcastically said. Sasuke could feel the blood rushing to his face; he slightly blushed.
-"She… it's... nothing."
-"Keep denying it all you want, you know it's true as well as me." she smirked at him. "You're even blushing."
-"Gk… I'm not!" he screamed, his blushing becoming more noticeable.
-"Yeah, sure... Well, I have to go now; I'll see you around. Oh! Good luck at the Chuunin exams." she waved her hand as she left, leaving a blushing Sasuke alone.
Sakura…
Weeks had passed since Naomi had last set foot on Konoha. The Chuunin exams were coming. Kakashi was pretty much confident with his team.
-"What's this for, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked when he handed them the registration papers.
-"Chuunin exams?" Sakura added after reading it.
-"Yeah, you see, this exams determine whether you become a Chuunin or not, but it's on your own free will. If you want to give it a try, fill it with the information required, if not, don't" he lazily quoted.
-"Oh yeah! Man, of course I'm in!"
-"When you're done, go to the Academy and leave your registration card on classroom 3A" he eyed Sakura absently, who looked quite insecure while holding her card "Remember, it's on your own free will, so don't feel forced to enter of you're not ready. Your decision won't affect those of your team-mates," he added, slightly worried about Sakura. "Very well then. I'll leave it on you, think about it" and soon in a puff Kakashi was gone.
-"Alright! I'm totally in!" Naruto screamed, excited, before looking at his team-mates. "What about you guys?"
-"I'm in too." Sasuke coolly answered.
-"Yeah I-I'm in too!" Sakura added after Sasuke, not too sure of her answer. Sasuke cocked his head to look at her. Inside his blank facade, he was afraid of losing her.
-"Well, I'll see you latter then! I gotta train for the Chuunin exams!" Naruto happily went of to "train" which practically involved eating as much ramen as he could and practicing the shadow-clone jutsu.
-"Sasuke, are you training too for the Chuunin exams?" Sakura shyly asked.
-"Probably." he answered, walking past her.
-"Where're you going?"
-"I'm taking a walk" he stopped and turned to look at her "Mind to join me?" Sakura's eyes widened hugely; Sasuke was inviting her to take a walk! Just the two of them; together and alone.
-"Uhm… sure" she said and quickly caught up with Sasuke. Both of them resumed walking together. It sure was strange for Sasuke to ask her on a walk, but he wanted to give something to Sakura. More likely, to return her something it once belonged to her. He had never wanted to when he was little. Maybe because it was all he had to remember her. But coming for Sasuke, you never knew.
-"Where are we going Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, breaking the strangely comfortable silence. She was kind of living her dream. Sasuke and her, all by themselves, no Naruto, no Kakashi, no the usual hurry of a mission. Just the two of them, alone. Time was on both their side.
-"I want you to see something," he answered, not even looking at her; for him, it was hard to do so. He used to be able to control himself, but since Naomi came, and talked about Sakura... everything was messed up, and the necessity of seeing her just wouldn't leave him alone. There was a weird feeling inside him that didn't allow him not to think of her. That weird, yet comfortable feeling, he guessed, was what people called love.
When they arrived at Sasuke's apartment, he told her to wait for him outside. He entered leaving Sakura alone, with curiosity almost killing her. She wondered about how his place would look like... So many things she wanted to know about him. Moments later Sasuke opened the door and closed it behind him. He was holding something behind his back, hiding it from Sakura's sight.
And then he pulled out his hand, letting her see a bright red ribbon. "You dropped this once when you were little," he told her.
-"This… it was my favourite. I thought I had lost It." she took the ribbon from Sasuke's hand, her cheerful eyes looking nostalgic as she held to it. "It's not really mine either... it's actually Ino's" she muttered. Sakura looked up at Sasuke, who was still staring at her. She blushed the moment their eyes collided. His night black eyes, so cold yet so warm. There was something about his eyes that was just irresistible. That gave him a serious, mysterious look that made your knees tremble and your heart race. That's how Sakura felt around him. She nervously shifted her gaze, trying to avoid his stare. He smirked. That malicious smile she loved so much, the one that made her melt, like wax set on fire. Her knees started shaking for real, and she felt like passing out; everything moved around her and her sight was blurry. Her porcelain face got paler, and for her everything was getting hotter and hotter.
Sasuke noticed.
-"Sakura, are you feeling ok?" he asked placing his cool hand on her forehead.
-"Sa-Sasuke-k-kun" she placed both her hand on Saskue's shoulders to steady herself. "Is it me... or is everything moving?" she asked the two Sasuke's she saw now. She began slowly closing her eyes, and before she could do anything, she collapsed in Sasuke's arms.
-"S-Sakura." he said shaking her gently. Sasuke shifted her weight to one of his arms and opened his apartment door, then carried her bridal-style to his bed. He placed her gently and slowly on it.
Sasuke sat on the bed, and placed his hand on her forehead again, she was way too warm. He exited the room and when he came back, he placed a cold-wet towel on her forehead so the fever would go down. He stayed there, watching her. The fever was going down by the time he had changed the towel four times, it was gone. Sasuke brushed the pink locks off her forehead, and decided to let her rest. Standing up, he left the room, closing the door after him.
Sasuke fought hard with the idea of kissing her, the need he had for it was way too extreme. Naomi had opened his eyes. He loved her. But no matter how strong his love for Sakura was; he couldn't let her in. The path he followed was that of an avenger, and allowing her in would mean to lose her too, as he lost his parents and his whole family. He once saw everyone he loved getting killed on front of his eyes. He trusted Sakura's strength and knowledge, yet he couldn't bear to watch her die. If he couldn't fight Itachi, Sakura stood no chance against him.
It was true, everything Naomi said was true… Deep inside him, once dead feelings of love were now healed because of Sakura. It was getting over him; he couldn't control himself properly anymore. And he knew, that feeling would eventually grow stronger… no matter how much he tried to push her away, no matter how rude he was, she just kept coming back. He needed her, as he needed air to breathe. He was falling in love, and no matter what he knows... he is won over. Nothing had ever made Sasuke feel warm and happy again, yet just one pink-haired girl and a big forehead brought him back to life; and that was Sakura...
And again I repeat,
**Naomi has no romantic intent with Sasuke, as you can see they see each other as BROTHERS, nothing more, and nothing less**
Also I would like to make some points before I continue with this:
**This story contains, or will so in a future, NaruHina, NejiTen, and probably ShikaTema pairings**
**This story also contains, or so in a coming future, extremely anti-Karin treatment [[Yes I'm gonna go till Shippuuden, but I'm not following the original story line]]**
**Naomi is a basic character in this story, she will appear quite a lot, and will help Sasuke realise lots of things in a coming future**
-_-_-_-SHSUL18-_-_-_-_-
