-1The Heat of Summer Sunshine

Chapter 6

…

Side Notes: There wasn't a whole lot of inspiration going on for me these past few months. It was mainly spent brainstorming, writing, erasing, and then rewriting. But finally inspiration struck me when I was sleeping and I had to jot down this. So, after this long awaited delay, I bring to you this!

Oh, and the fight in the very beginning as well as others are credited to it'sSAOVADY, as well as the chapter's dedication. Thank you so much for all your help!

"Get the fucking hell out of here," he growled out, his black eyes never leaving Sakura's bright green ones.

Sasuke's words echoed throughout the rather spacious room, bounding off the walls and entering their ears. Neji, who had been practically on top of her, had sprung away from her rather quickly after seeing the enraged teen in front of him. Sakura settled a glare on the Uchiha, arms folded over her chest as if challenging him.

No other words were spoken for what felt like an eternity afterwards. Neji, still a little embarrassed form being caught, shifted his gaze from the female and her co-worker. It was as if he did not exist anymore and that these two were lost in their own little world.

He coughed, gaining their attention, and then said, "I'll be heading out now. Sakura, call me later."

She waved goodbye to him, and when he was no longer in sight--the entrance bell tinkling as he exited--she rounded on Sasuke.

She shoved him hard against the wall and hissed, "What the hell is your problem, Uchiha?"

"Resorting to last names now, Ha-ru-no?" he stated, stressing the syllables in her last name.

It served only as to tick her off further, her expression sour. But he was stubborn, more so than Sakura, and he was not going to back down anytime soon. She started this when she took Neji back here, and he was absolutely not going to lose this fight.

"Answer the damn question you prick!"

He furrowed his brows, trying his hardest to think of an answer. He really did not have one, more of a spur of the moment kind of thing. He just did not like the fact of her with Neji. Not that he was jealous or anything.

"You're supposed to be working. Not getting fucked senseless by some asshole pretty-boy!" He finally said.

Green eyes flashed, darkening with anger. She laughed bitterly, her eyes meeting his defiantly.

Then she spoke icily, "I should probably tell Ino the same thing."

"You really don't need to bring other people into this," he snapped at her at a loss of words.

"Sasuke, I'm pretty sure that you're the one that started this whole mess by bringing my best friend into this."

Sakura eased her mouth from a frown into a smirk when a thought struck her.

"Why'd you pull him away from me? Is the almighty Uchiha Sasuke, dare I say, jealous?"

Sasuke bit his tongue. He should have some retort right about now. But nothing came to mind. There did not seem to be a reason behind his actions. He just felt like it. Sasuke did not really like that stupid pretty-boy anyways.

"At a loss of words?"

If they were not fighting at this exact moment, he probably would have considered the smirk (his trademark smirk) she was wearing rather sexy.

"No, Sakura, I'd just prefer not cleaning up sex in the backroom."

SLAP!

The noise echoed throughout the tiny store. Somewhere in the distance, they heard the familiar jingle of the bell above the door. However, they stood frozen in place, just like they had been before they started arguing, except now there was a red handprint visible on Sasuke's pale complexion.

"I… Do you really think so little of me?" she whispered, green eyes losing their feistiness and settling into a dull shade.

Sasuke's gaze dropped to the floor, the expression on her face too much. Honestly, he did not think of her as some whore that slept around. But he did not get the chance to say that aloud because she had already stepped away from him and broke the silence.

"I'm taking the rest of the day off."

With those words, she stepped away slowly, her eyes never leaving his form, until she got to the door. She slipped out of the room quickly and quietly, and he just let her go.

Sasuke slumped against the wall, falling slowly to the ground. He leaned his head back, ivory fingers knotted in ebony tresses and tugging them. His eyes closed, sounds of angry customers feeling his ears. If he was guessing correctly, it was around closing time anyway. These people should get over themselves.

He knew he should probably get over himself as well.

"What have I done?"

The next couple of days at work went… fairly unwell.

Not in a sense that nothing was done or that there were customers complaining about a lack of service. They did not even argue. They only spoke when absolutely necessary and they did so civilly. They did not feel like wasting words on the other, both of them still sore from their last conversation. Sasuke physically (his cheek was still a little tender), Sakura emotionally (the "sex in the back room" comment still brought tears to her eyes). Even Naruto was having a strained relationship between the two.

Today, however, started a little differently.

Sakura had already known it was to be a bad day when she fell off her bed. Then when she went to make her some coffee--sure that they had not run out--there was none to be found. If that were not a bad omen enough, she arrived at work late! She had never been late in her life.

In addition, when it could not have been any worse, Neji showed up just before her break saying, "We need to talk."

She smiled at him, told him her break started in five minutes and for him to make himself comfortable at one of the tables. He nodded, his face serious, and sat at the one closest to the counter. And in five minutes, just like she said, her break started.

Sakura followed Neji out of the store, her bad feeling growing worse by the seconds that passed.

She smiled at him the best she could manage and asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

Neji kept his back to hers and answered, "I… Sakura, I think that this thing between us has to stop."

He turned to face her at the end of his statement, and Sakura felt her insides sink. He was dumping her? But why? What had she done?

And as if he could read her mind he said, "You didn't do anything, Sakura. You're great, and if it weren't for the fact that there was another, I wouldn't mind being with you."

There was another…?

"So, you've found someone else?" Sakura asked, her lower lip beginning to tremble. She had to bite it to keep in the tears. She sucked in a deep breath, and as he was about to open his mouth to speak, she spoke quietly, "I hope you two will be very happy together."

"Sakura, wait!"

Sakura ignored Neji's words as she made her way back to the shack. Even though she tried to keep it from happening, the tears freely flowed down her face. It blurred her vision and made her feel weak.

This was the second time she had to experience this. She did not know if the reason she was crying was because Neji broke up with her or if she was having a delayed reaction to the whole Sasuke ordeal. She swiped at her face, trying to rid it of the tearstains, as she opened the door to her workplace.

She entered the cool room, immediately noticing the blond female preoccupying Sasuke's break. He did not seem to be paying much attention to Ino, but his eyes caught Sakura's and he noticed something was wrong. She sent a fake smile and made her way behind the counter to start working again.

She heard the tingle of the door and greeted as usual, "Welcome to the Shake n' Shake Beach House, how may I… Naruto?"

Her blue-eyed friend blinked at her, taking in her awful appearance, and exclaimed, "Whoa, Sakura, you look like shit. What happened?"

He rushed to her side, going as far as to jump over the counter in front of her. He gripped her shoulders to keep her from running away. She looked as though she had been crying for a while, not a couple of minutes. He hugged her to him, running his hands soothingly up and down her back, trying his best to calm her down.

He snapped his attention to the dark-haired male who looked onto the scene and stated firmly, "Sakura's taking a break, bastard."

Ino stood form her seat and asked, "Sakura, what's wrong?"

"She doesn't need your help right now, Ino," Naruto said, pulling his distraught friend to the back room.

Once there, he let go of her and leaned himself against the wall. Sakura sniffled a bit, trying to compose herself before she had to tell Naruto what happened. She supported herself against the wall a couple of inches away from her best friend.

"Sakura, was it Neji?"

She nodded and spoke, "H-he… Neji broke up with me! For someone else. I thought he was different, but it turns out he's just like that bastard in there."

Naruto shushed her and said, "I've been telling you for years that Hyuuga was an asshole."

That did not seem to help any as more tears leaked form her eyes.

"What's wrong with me, Naruto?" she demanded her friend. "Why is this happening again?"

Naruto stood shocked for a moment and then smiled softly, pulling her body to his in another hug, as he explained, "Nothing is wrong with you. You are beautiful, Sakura, even more than Yamanaka. They're just assholes and bastards, and if they treat you like that… are they really worth it?"

Sakura smiled to, despite her tears. Naruto was so sweet sometimes. She did not know what she would do without him sometimes. She pulled back from his embrace and gave him a quick peck on his nose.

Naruto shared the smile and queried, "Do you want me to finish your shift? I know how much this job means to you, and I don't want you to risk it."

"No," she answered shaking her head. "I'm going to retire early. Let Sasuke handle it by himself. I'll see you later, Naruto."

His smile grew. This was the Sakura he knew, and he was glad to have her back and laughing again. He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead before pulling away. He whispered a goodbye before he left, and Sakura took that time alone to think for a minute.

She felt like she needed out of this town for a bit. Her dad had invited her over, saying the invitation was to be used whenever she had the time. Maybe going to stay with him for the weekend would not be so bad. Give her time to clear her head.

She smoothed down her pink locks and walked back into the main building. Sasuke stood behind the counter, tiredly looking out the window. When he noticed her, he sat up a little bit straighter.

She sucked in a deep breath before finally saying, "I'm going to call it a day. I'm going home. You can close up shop early; I suppose what with the lack of customers today. Goodbye…Sasuke."

Later that night, she had called her dad with her plans. She could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke over the phone. She and her dad had been very close before the divorce, and then afterwards he had disappeared. However, he wanted to make up for that by inviting her over so that they could hang out.

At first she did not feel like going what with work, Naruto, Sasuke, and not to mention Ino's arrival. Now it was what was best. She had not told anyone but her mom and her dad so far that she was going, and did not plan to tell anyone else except Naruto.

And as she was about to pack, deciding to call him afterwards, her phone rang.

"Hello."

"Hey, Sakura, feeling better?"

Naruto. He must have sensed this was coming.

"Yes, a lot actually, thanks to you," she replied smiling to herself.

He laughed and said, "There are only two reasons people have friends. To annoy the hell outta them, and to make them happy when they're all gloomy-like."

"And ninety-nine percent of the time you're doing the first one."

"Hey!" he cried indignantly and she had to stifle her laughter.

She rolled her eyes, propping the phone against her shoulder so she could continue packing. She could hear her blonde friend huff on the other side, and she could just imagine his face.

"What are you doing anyways?"

She stuffed her last shirt in her bag and replied, "I'm going to my dad's house for a while."

"WHAAAAAAAT! You can't go. What about work?"

It was best she told him now.

"I… Naruto, I don't work there anymore. I quit."

There was a silence over the phone.

Then she heard his voice, uncharacteristically sad, "Oh, okay. I'll see you when you come home."

Click.

Sakura sighed. She did not want to make Naruto feel bad, and she was definitely not leaving because of him. All she wanted was a breath of fresh air, and with the way things were going… she was not going to receive that here.

As she put the last of her things in her suitcase, she heard a car door shut outside. She lifted the bag off her bed, and raced down the stairs to get to the door before he even knocked. She quickly opened it to be greeted with the sight of a slightly older version of her father. He engulfed her in a hug, one she willingly returned, and smiled.

"Oh, it's been such a long time, Sakura. How have you been?"

She pulled back and answered, "I've been doing fine, Dad. Just fine."

For the past day Sakura had been feeling great. She did not worry about Sasuke or Ino or work--something she did not have to stress about going to. Nothing.

She had also found out a lot about her father. He was the reason she was such a coffee addict. Her sense of humor. She really wished that this could happen again and soon. Sakura had missed her father and felt as if they need to make up for lost time.

"Okay, o tell me… are there any boys in your life?" he asked over a steaming cup of coffee.

She laughed and replied, "I am NOT having this conversation with you!"

He laughed alongside her, a twinkle in his dark green eyes. She lifted up her mug, trying to contain her smile. He raked a hand through his brown hair and suddenly his expression grew serious.

"I've had a lot of fun bonding with you, Sakura. And there was a reason I invited you over."

She nodded, her way of telling him to continue.

He smiled at her and said, "As you know the summer is drawing to a close." She again nodded. "And… I would like very much if you would… stay for a while."

Sakura tilted her head to the side, placing her hand over her father's. and said, "Dad, I'll visit again. Don't worry. I love it here."

"Sakura, I don't want you to visit again. I want you to stay here… permanently."

…To Be Continued…

A/N: Oh, my. It's been an awfully long time. I am very sorry, but the inspiration has been lacking as of late. But I got an idea from one very special reviewer that lead me to come up with many more ideas.

I'm kind of iffy about this whole chapter. Sakura had to be the main focus because Sasuke really doesn't need the spotlight for right now. He'll become prominent again next time. Neji is not entirely out of the story either, he will actually pop up quite a bit more. And if you're wondering, Sakura took Neji's words the wrong way. He was referring to Sasuke as the someone else, and that Sakura hadn't entirely gotten over him. He probably should've tried to been more clear with her, huh?

Also, I have no clue as to when the next update will be. Hopefully soon as I have many more ideas that I would like to happen. As well as this story is soon to end. A few more chapters maybe, but not any more than ten for sure.

I would also like to thank everyone for their words of encouragement. And if you haven't already, you may want to read the edited parts of chapter five. They may be a bit helpful for you.

Thanks again. Hugs and kisses with lots of love!!!!!!!!!

-Sweet Bliss