Chapter 6: First morning at the Hebi household

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, reviewers! :D Excuse the long time in between updates, everyone, so please enjoy this chapter! Yeah, I was going to add a bit more Sasusaku interaction in here, but I just kind of took it out at the beginning because I think it's a bit too early. (I mean, he just kidnapped her without bothering to explain why! Well, yeah, I know, that's my fault, but still…;) )

Anyways, unto the story! :D

Always an early riser, Sakura was the first to wake up. Just as she was about to dig into her simple meal of bread and milk in the kitchen, a stretching Sasuke strode into the room as if he owned it. Which, technically, he did.

He frowned at the kunoichi. He was usually the first to rise in the morning. It was a precious time of tranquility where there was no blabbering Katin and fanatic Karin.

Sakura was determined to avoid looking at him, pretending he didn't exist. She was still furious he kidnapped her and stole her chakra, which she still had not fully retrieved yet. She was equally determined not to think about his ruffled hair and his handsome looks. No matter what she felt for him before, this was not the same person. This was a missing nin trained under Orochimaru and who had kidnapped her to use her as a tool. This was not Sasuke.

Silently, the teenager in question made his way through the large kitchen, avoiding passing the side of the round, wooden table where she sat. After rummaging in the refrigerator for several minutes, he pulled out two tomatoes. Swiftly, he slid out a kunai from the top drawer of the wooden drawer underneath him and speared each tomato into flat slices.

Sakura, eyes trained on her bread in one hand and milk bowl in the other, vaguely noticed him sliding into the seat directly facing her. She munched on her breakfast as rapidly as she could without clearly displaying that she was doing so with the intention to finish her breakfast as quickly as possible.

Finishing the last of her bread, Sakura noticed he had also taken the last piece of his breakfast.

After a few seconds of debating with herself of whether this would seem that she was still listed under one of his fan girls (and deciding it was mere common courtesy), Sakura swiped Sasuke's empty tomato plate from beside his left hand on the way to the sink. She observed that it was lined with gold.

Not even bothering to glance at her, Sasuke got up and returned to his room, closing the door with a quiet clunk behind him.

How typical. She snorted inside her mind. Always arrogant as a prince and acting like one. Even though she consciously thought of this, her subconsious, knowing Sasuke, didn't exactly expect him to scream out "thank you" and kneel to the floor in gratefulness for washing his plate anyway, so she was content with his silence as he left.

As the pink haired girl turned on the water, humming quietly, a sleepy Karin, yawning widely and scratching the back of her head, staggered into the kitchen.

Her eyes narrowed instantly as her gaze fell on the petit kunoichi, busily washing her bowl and...

"How dare you wash Sasuke-kun's precious tomato dish?" She shrieked, waving her arms crazily and pointing a finger towards Sakura.

Calmly, the pink haired nin rinsed off the last of the milk off her own bowl and placed the bowl and the plate back onto the shelf. Drying off her hands on a towel hanging beside the sink, she ignored the loud, fuming girl and made towards the exit back into her room. It was way too early in the morning to start a fight.

Karin, suddenly smiling maliciously, blocked her way with her body. "You still don't have your chakra back, do you? If I kill you here, Sasuke-kun won't have anything to say about it, because he won't care. How'd you like me to test that theory?"

"I don't want to fight with you." Sakura said quietly and made towards the kitchen door again, only to be blocked once more by the redhead.

"Don't want? Maybe you can't. Are you scared? Afraid of competition?" She hissed malevolently in Sakura's ear.

The pink haired kunoichi, having had enough yelling for a lifetime during her rocky friendship with Ino, merely uttered a clear, "Excuse me, you're blocking the way."

Karin snorted. "But you're also blocking my way, aren't you, you little—"

"Get away from Sakura-neechan, you scary lady!" Katin yelled from the hallway, skidding to a stop outside his room and pointing a finger accusingly at Karin.

Taking advantage of her distraction, Sakura deftly edged around Karin's slim form and gave the little boy a sunny smile. "Slept well, Katin?" She left the furious red head staring wordlessly after her.

Katin scrunched up his nose distastefully. "No, actually! I had this really scary dream where this really ugly lady with red hair who looks like my grandma when she was taking a bath was trying to kill you!" He stuck out his tongue from behind Sakura at Karin.

"Why, you little brat! I'm going to kill you right now! A long, painful death!" Karin screamed at the kitchen door and charged blindly like a mad bull.

Sakura's eyes blazed instantly and she crouched protectively, a kunai flashing in her hand, in front of the little boy.

However, her actions were gone to waste as Suigetsu and Juugo's door opened suddenly and Karin stopped just in time to avoid banging into the hard wood.

The glare she gave the blinking, yawning Juugo, who had one hand still on the doorknob from the inside of the room, emitted furious lightning. Outside, dry thunder boomed, cutting a white strip through the clear blue sky.

Without a word, she stomped, again, back into her room.

The orange haired ninja stared, confused, after the redhead. "Did something happen?" He asked, confounded.

"Nah, she's just demonstrating to Katin what PMS looks like, for future reference." Sakura said dryly, giving the little boy a wink as she turned around. "No need to worry."

Suigetsu snickered as he squeezed past Juugo out the room's door. "Definitely something wrong with that girl. I think Sasuke just took her because she had red hair."

"My hair is considered red also." Juugo stated from the sidelines. "What is the problem with that?"

Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "Hello? Joke, buddy?" He turned to Sakura.

Sakura had raised her eyebrows far above her hairline and her lips parted slightly. "Karin and Sasuke? Oh, gosh. Ugh. Are they…?!"

Suigetsu noted Sakura's surprised expression and realized the direction she had taken off to. "Crap, no! That's not exactly what I meant, cheery blossom."

The pink haired kunoichi relaxed visibly, though she didn't say anything else.

I still wonder what her relation with Sasuke is. Suigetsu thought absently.

"Have you eaten, Sakura-chan?" Juugo asked politely from the sidelines.

"Yes, I have, Juugo. You three can go. And call me Sakura, please." She smiled back, stepping out of their way as the two teenagers and one boy made their way to the kitchen.

"Come with us, Sakura-neechan. You can just sit and watch, please?" Katin begged, widening his large brown eyes.

Sakura gazed down at the little boy and grinned. "All right, then. Why not?"

At the wooden table, the kunoichi sat down for the second time that morning and watched the scene before her.

"I want sugar in my milk!" Katin cried randomly, jabbing a finger at his milk-filled bowl.

Sakura stifled a smile, watching Suigetsu sigh and roll his eyes. "I have no idea why the hell you'd want it in your milk." He started, but then saw Katin's bright face crumble.

Defeated, he took the sugar jar from the shelf and handed it to him. "Whatever. Take all you want, kid, and stop bothering me." He said, annoyed, as he flapped a hand in Katin's direction.

"Yay!"

"I believe it is not polite to talk with your mouth full, little Katin." Juugo said, as quiet as always, from the side of the table.

"I'm not little!" Katin whined.

Shaking her head with a small smile, Sakura watched, her mind drifting back to her genin days.

-O0O-

"Lunchtime, Sasuke-kun!" She heard the familiar sickly sweet voice call again.

Hopping down from the window where she was sitting, Sakura opened the door and peeked outside. Karin, wearing an old-fashioned orange apron, was knocking at Sasuke's door with what she considered as a sweet smile pasted on her face. It didn't suit her. It made her look like a toad in pain.

The kunoichi turned to give Sakura a death glare brimming with static.

Sakura bit down on her bottom teeth and stared back defiantly, green eyes blazing. Inside, rage was churning up in her stomach. I never did anything to her. What's her problem? Three time's enough. I'm not going to play nice anymore.

Suigetsu and Juugos' door opened and the white haired ninja, followed by his companion, exited to find themselves in the middle of an optical war between the two.

Sasuke also, thankfully, chose this moment to open his door, breaking Karin's concentration. He briefly glanced at the four crowded in front of their rooms' doors before Karin tried to throw herself on him again.

"Sasuke-kun! Lunch is ready!" She purred as she latched her arms around his arms.

Sasuke glared at Karin but didn't move out of her grasp.

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned away from the revolting scene. I am not jealous. I am not jealous. I don't like him. I don't like him. She repeated to herself.

-O0O-

Katin rushed to the washroom, his small face turning purple almost immediately after he swallowed the first mouthful of Karin's cooking.

Suigetsu gagged on the first spoonful. "What is this stuff again supposed to be again?" He choked out, gasping for breath.

"Chicken soup." Karin glared back, daring him to say more.

"It is not so bad." Juugo said quietly as he swallowed, though he was looking a little blue himself.

Karin beamed for once. "I knew my cooking had improved! What do you think, Sasuke-kun?" She turned an admiring glance to the silent shinobi.

Sakura thought Sasuke would surely refuse. She had turned pink, then red, then blue as she swallowed her first spoonful. Was that even chicken? She wondered, disgusted, as she felt the mushy substance descend in her throat. It gave off the scent of rotten cheese and tasted like jello.

To her complete surprise, Sasuke slowly raised a spoonful towards his mouth. He closed his eyes and swallowed painfully. When he reopened them, there was a trace of red Sharigan retracting as he suddenly stood up and pushed his bowl away.

"I have to go train." He said bluntly, turning slightly green, as he hurtled out the open window, not even bothering to use the stairs.

"And I have to go grocery shopping." Sakura cut in, also vanishing out of the window.

"Me too! Wait, cherry blossom!" Suigetsu leaped out after her as if his life depended on it.

Juugo and Karin were soon the only ones left in the room. (Katin was still in the bathroom.)

A minute later, Juugo was pulling on Katin's waist as the small boy struggled to climb out the window too.

"Sakura-neechan!" He howled in a whine, scrambling for the open window. "Don't leave meeeee!!!"

"How about one more spoonful?" Karin asked pleadingly. "Come on, you two. You're the only ones left. And we have to finish this whole pot!"

"Noooo!" Katin screamed as he broke free of Juugo's grip and started to run around the kitchen, chased by Karin with her red hair flying. "Why me?!" He sobbed as tears flooded from his eyes.

-O0O-

Sakura sat cross-legged on a high branch of an oak tree, meditating in the forest nearby. From her position above ground, she could no longer hear Sasuke and Suigetsu training, and she had decided to attempt to regain as much of her chakra as possible. Sasuke had said two days. That would be today.

She closed her eyes, sinking deeply into herself and her inner chakra supply. She could feel it glowing inside her.

Blinking open her eyes in surprise, Sakura realized it was already more than half regained. Even as she was thinking this, she was dimly aware of it increasing slowly but surely inside her core.

Smiling, Sakura guided a touch of green chakra to her fingertips and watched it shimmer. Her jutsus and super strength were back.

A/N: Soo... the end of Chapter 6. Chapter 7 might take a while, just because it's the starting of an action part and I need to write a few chapters ahead to make sure my idea works out in the future and they don't just all die because I have no clue what to write next. ;) Yes, that would be very depressing.

Chapter 7 basically has to do with Karin and Sakura. I bet you can figure it out. :) When you have two women inside a household who are (even if one of them doesn't admit it) in love with the same guy, sparks are gonna fly...

And, as always, please review to communicate your opinons about the story. If there's a weird/nebulous part, I'll attempt to change or explain it later on. Thanks for viewing! :D