Chapter 6
A/N: Someone reviewed and asked if Sasuke and Sakura are going to be a couple. The answer is simply, yes. When? Eventually :P
Sakura recognized the beast from class. This hunt was going to be far harder than they expected. While they could handle a few harpies a deadly monster like the manticore would make for a real challenge.
Naruto fired the first shot. The beast dropped to a crouch causing the bullet to miss its mark. The manticore snarled at him and charged.
Fear sunk into Naruto's being making him freeze. The blood soaked monster was closing in quickly, its gaze locked onto the boy in front of it. He fumbled with his gun struggling to reload.
As the manticore closed in, Sasuke leapt forward. While Sasuke was pretty big the manticore was much larger than he was. His jaws tried close around the creature's neck but the manticore's thick mane prevented him from doing much damage. The manticore was knocked off balance but managed to right itself by flapping its powerful wings.
The beast turned its head to snap at him, narrowly missing. Sasuke hung on tightly as the manticore began to thrash around and beating him with its bat like wings. Rather than wasting his strength on an attack that wasn't doing any harm he let go and pushed himself away. Luckily for Sasuke he released just on time to avoid getting impaled with the manticore's scorpion like tail.
The manticore shook itself, finally free of the leech that clung to its neck. By now Naruto had finally recovered and began to open fire on the beast. The manticore roared angrily as the bullets pierced its skin. Some blood splattered the ground but no real damage was done.
Ignoring the pain the manticore charged at Naruto. The fox boy was able to swiftly jump to the side avoiding the deadly claws that whizzed by. But he wasn't expecting one of the wings to unfurl. The manticore's wing struck him hard in the chest, knocking the rifle from his hand and sending him flying into a nearby tree trunk.
Naruto hit the tree with a sickening thud and collapsed to the ground in a heap. He groaned in pain and barely managed to stay conscious.
The manticore approached the dazed boy slowly. Its muscles coiling, preparing to pounce. The beast's ears flicked to the side picking up the noise of pounding footsteps. Sasuke's attack was thwarted when the manticore was able to easily dodge his initial blow and counter.
The manitcore jumped into the air, reaching the top of the trunk just below the canopy in a single jump. The height of the jump was greatly increased by a flap of its powerful wings. While the manticore's muscular body was too heavy for flight its wings allowed it to leap great distances.
From this position the monster pushed off the tree and shot towards Sasuke.
Sasuke was forced to retreat to avoid the maticore's slashing claws. He managed to maneuver himself between Naruto and the raging manticore. The depression in the ground showed how much power was behind the enemies blow. But now both of them were cornered. He snarled and snapped his jaws threateningly, but nothing deterred the beast's approach.
But the manticore was stopped once again from making a kill. This time sustaining major damage as a silver bolt sunk deep into its left socket. The maticore reared up roaring in agony and thrashing its head back and forth trying to dislodge the bolt that had sunk deep into its eye. Its wings flapped wildly, kicking up a thin cloud of dust around them.
Sakura held her crossbow up to her eye. Her arms quivered occasionally, showing that she still hadn't gotten completely over her fear. She was broken out of her stupor when Naruto and Sasuke had gotten themselves cornered. She struggled to hold her weapon steady, but she came through for them in the end.
While the manticore tried desperately to remove the bolt from its eye Naruto was able to recover from the blow and moved to stand next to Sakrua. Having lost his gun earlier he was forced to use the hunting knife that he had secured to his belt. Sasuke followed him and stood defensively before them.
"Thanks Sakura," Naruto said. She nodded in response and knocked another bolt into her crossbow.
One of the manticore's claws caught the bolt and pulled it out of the beast's eye. The silver shaft fell to the ground and was almost instantly smothered by a stream of blood. The entire left side of the manticore's face was wet with blood. Enraged, the beast turned to them. They could see its hatred and anger burning through them from its one good eye.
It roared angrily at them; the sound reverberating throughout the forest. The three of them jumped when another roar came from directly behind them.
They turned swiftly to see another manticore coming out of the forest. They were trapped between two deadly monsters.
Sasuke stepped forward and growled back at the approaching creature. While Sasuke faced off against the new comer, Naruto and Sakura turned back to the manticore that they were fighting a moment ago. They had faith that Sasuke could hold off the other manticore while they finished off the one that was already injured.
Behind them they could hear Sasuke and the manticore fighting. The sound of growling and snapping jaws filled the area.
One-eye's gaze flicked between the two teens before finally settling on Naruto. The boy knew immediately that he had been targeted and raised his hunting knife defensively. Fear still surged through his body, but he knew that he couldn't let it control him or it would mean certain death. He growled back at the beast, his eyes darkened to red and his canines elongated into long fangs.
Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of her friend. She knew about Naruto's past revolving around the demon fox, but this was the first time that she had seen him look so terrifying. She was used to seeing him with cute fox ears and a fully tail-not this.
She pushed those thoughts of her friend to the back of her and raised her crossbow. One-eye lunged at Naruto, claws unsheathed and jaw gaping. Naruto quickly jumped to the left, making use of the monster's blind side, and slashed diagonally with his knife. Unable to see out of its injured eye the manticore was unable to dodge the blade that cut deep into its shoulder. The blade of the knife easily split flesh, causing a spray of blood to splatter Naruto.
In a pained rage, One-Eye swung its tail violently catching Naruto in the gut. The blow knocked the wind out of him and threw him to the ground. The beast turned to look at him with its good eye. But before it could launch an attack another bolt sunk into its side.
While aiming for the heart, Sakura's bolt hurried itself deep into the beast's chest. When the manticore didn't die Sakura knew that she had missed her mark. The beast coughed up blood, its breath coming out in ragged gasps. She may have not killed the beast, but she was sure that she had at least pierced a lung.
Naruto let out a fearsome growl and threw himself at the beast. Caught off guard, One-Eye lost its footing and crumpled to the ground. The manitcore noticed a different scent coming from the boy. He no longer smelt like a human. A demon's odor was wafting from the boy.
Naruto used his weight to press down on the manticore's injured chest and struggled to hold it down. His enhanced demon strength allowed him to keep the beast pinned. He raised his knife above his head and prepared to end the beast's life.
Before Naruto could bring his knife down the manticore swiped at him again with its tail. Seeing the attack from the corner of his eye gave Naruto the few seconds he needed to avoid being impaled at the end of the scorpion like tail. The barb of the tail caught his shirt and created a huge tare in the shoulder area.
Naruto inspected the tare to see if the attack broke skin. The manticore's tail was laden with venom like a normal scorpions. Getting injected with its deadly venom could prove to be fatal.
While he inspected his shoulder the manticore chose that moment to strike. Naruto barely managed to raise his knife in time to defend himself.
He was forced onto his back while the monster pinned him down. The blade of the knife clashed with the manticore's fangs keeping the monsters powerful jaws from clamping down on him. The beast's horrid breath flooded Naruto's senses.
"Oh god! You need a fucking breath mint," he gaged. To make things worse saliva from the fangs began dripping down his arms and onto his face. The manticore pressed down on him, its fangs inching closer to his face.
Just in time another bolt stuck the monster's body. One-Eye reared his head back roaring in agony. The sudden movement yanked the knife out of Naruto's hands. But this was an opportunity that he wasn't going to miss. By throwing its head back One-Eye exposed its throat to Naruto.
He might have lost his knife but he still had another weapon. Sharp claws formed from his fingernails. Before he missed his chance, Naruto slashed at the monster above him. His claws tore into the manticore's throat the same time another bolt from Sakura's crossbow struck the beast in the head.
One-Eye's body stiffened for just a moment before becoming limp and lifeless. The dead body slumped forward and landed on Naurto who was still lying beneath it.
"Just great," he groaned between clenched teeth. Sakura dropped her crossbow and went over to help him. His enhanced demon strength allowed him to lift the dead manticore. But even then the corpse was heavy and difficult to move. With Sakura's help they managed to lift the body enough for Naruto to wiggle out.
The two of them observed their kill as they caught their breath. No words were exchanged, but Naruto couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. Their first real hunt was a success! He gave Sakura a thumbs up that was returned with a happy grin from the pink haired girl.
But their victory was ripped away from them by the sound of a pained yelp. The whipped around to see the other manticore attacking Sasuke. The beast's had him pinned, one paw was pressed on his chest while the other was digging into his flank.
The pair acted instantly. Naruto retrieved his knife and ran at the manticore with a loud war cry. Sakura quickly scrambled to load her crossbow and let out a wild shot. Naruto's shouting drew the manticore's attention away from Sasuke.
The beast abandoned its current target and charged at Naruto. It dodged Sakura's first shot and pounced at Naruto. The fox boy rolled out of the way to avoid the beast's claws and swinging tail. Naruto continued to dodge blow after blow. He didn't want to risk getting closer to a healthy manticore. Their last opponent was vulnerable and week due to its new blindness. But this monster would shred him to ribbons if he got as close as he did in his last encounter.
Sasuke struggled to his feet. His right leg had enormous claw marks gouged into his flesh. Blood flowed in rivers down his injured limb soaking his fur. By the time he managed to take one step Sakura was by his side.
"Don't move," Sakura instructed. She leaned in close to inspect the wound. She touched the edges tenderly but even the slight pressure made him whine. She motioned for him to lay back down to she could attempt to treat him. "I don't have much supplies with me to treat a wound this large. This will have to do until we head back." She pulled out a roll of bandages and a large patch of gauze and began quickly working to cover the wound.
Sasuke let out a growl as she pressed on the injury. When she was finished she pressed her face into his shoulder and ran her fingers through the fur on his back. She was very concerned, simply bandaging the wound wouldn't help. The depth and the size of the injury required stiches, and a lot of them.
A fierce growl rumbled in Sasuke's chest making Sakura looked up. Naruto barely managed to avoid another slash from the manticore. It was obvious that he was tiring. Sasuke tried to get up once again only for Sakura to hold him down. "Don't even think about it."
After making sure that Sasuke wasn't going anywhere, Sakura raised her crossbow again and began firing. A few of the bolt met their mark but due to the mobility of this manticore they didn't hit any vital spots.
They were lucky to take down the first manticore, but beating this one was going to be much more difficult. Sasuke normally didn't like asking for help, but this time he didn't have a choice. He sat up and threw his head back and let out a loud howl. The sound reverberated through the forest.
There was no other wolves around to understand what he was saying, but the message was still received. After a few more minutes of battling with the manticore the tide was finally going to be turning in their favor.
Sakura was out of bolts and Naruto had lost his knife when he stabbed the creature. The blade had stuck in the creature's wing and he was knocked away before he could remove it. Without weapons they were dead.
The manticore had cornered the three of them and was slowly stalking towards them. It was breathing heavily its body was spotted with minor injuries.
A small ball bounced into the area they were fighting and rolled to a stop between them. Sakura recognized it immediately.
"Flash bomb!"
The three of them instantly closed their eyes and turned their heads away. And not a moment too late. The bomb exploded filling the forest with a bight blinding light. The manticore roared angrily and stumbled. It shook its head back and forth trying to clear the spots from its vison.
While it was distracted a multitude of gunshots rang out in the night. The manticore wobbled and struggled to stay upright before finally collapsing. It was dead before it hit the ground.
The rest of their hunting party emerged from the brush their weapons of choice still raised. Each of them slowly lowered their weapons once they confirmed that the beast was dead.
"Holy shit! What is that?" Kiba shouted. He kicked the corpse with his boot. "This is no harpy."
"It's a manticore. The pair of them killed the harpy nest that was here," Naruto informed them of their find. His demonic features faded as soon as the threat was gone. Luckily for him no one seemed to notice the change.
"We need to head back now!" Sakura shouted while digging through her bag. She pulled out a pair of shorts from her field bag and tossed it to Sasuke. Sakura made sure to carry at least an extra pair of pants incase Sasuke had to change back into a human, less he run around in the buff. "Change back quickly. Let us help you walk."
Everyone in the area could see the blood already beginning to seep through the bandages. Sasuke needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Wanting to give him some privacy they turned their backs while Sasuke changed back into human form.
The change back was painful. The shifting and stretching of his muscles aggravated the gashes on his leg. Sasuke screamed and clutched his leg as his transformation came to an end.
Sakura worked as fast and efficiently as she could. His bandaged needed to be readjusted to fit snuggly on his much smaller human leg. Once that was finished she gently pulled him to his feet and helped him step into the shorts.
Sasuke had his arm slung around her shoulders allowing him to take his weight off his bad leg. When they started walking the others turned around at the sound of their footsteps.
Immediately Naruto came up to them. "Let me carry him." Sasuke was taller and broader than Sakura making it difficult for her to support him.
"You're hurt too," Sakura argued. While Naruto had suffered nothing too severe he had managed to get a few large scratches and a couple of bruises.
Naruto was about to protest but Chouji and Shino stepped up. "Don't worry we got him," Chouji said cheerfully. He took Sasuke's arm from Sakura and draped it over his shoulder. Shino wordlessly did the same with his other arm.
Sasuke let out a disgruntled growl as they started to move. Sakura rested a hand gently on his back to quiet him. She knew that touching wasn't really his thing. But the faster they could get him to the hospital for treatment the better.
Their pace was low but Sasuke couldn't move any faster. Kiba and Akamaru ran ahead to give the hospital a heads up. They couldn't just walk through the front with Sasuke bleeding out like that. Civilians would surely come around snooping.
The rest of them moved in a protective circle around Sasuke, Chouji, and Shino with the exception of Sakura who stayed next to them.
Sasuke's gaze drifted from one person to the next. Their treatment suppressed him, he was never really close to them and considered them more acquaintances than actual friends. He had kept all of them except for Naruto and Sakura at arm's length. But they treated him like he was important to them, like friends. Maybe he misjudged these hunters. Or perhaps he wasn't able to think properly due to blood loss.
When they reached the edge of the forest there as a few cars waiting for them. It was some of the association's SUVs. "I already called the hospital," Kiba said while opening one of the rear doors. They carefully helped Sasuke into the car and hurried to the hospital.
Once they reached the hospital they took Sasuke through the back entrance down to the bottom floors. By the time they got him seated in the examining table the bandage on his leg was soaked through and small streams of blood flowed down his leg.
The bright light of the hospital sowed how pale and pasty his complexion had become due to blood loss.
Everyone else opted for either waiting outside or heading back to the base yard to report the success of their mission. Sakura was the only one to remain in the exam room with him. Naruto wanted to stay with the two of them but a few nurses forced him into his own exam room to patch up his few minor injuries.
After only a few moments of waiting the door slammed open, rattling on its hinges.
"Who is bleeding all over my floor?! We just got this place cleaned!" Tsunade shouted as she burst into the room. Sakura looked on dumbfounded and Sasuke scoffed. "Oh it's you. I'm assuming the hunt was a success?" she asked.
"Yes, but there was a few unexpected circumstances." Sakura answered, her gaze dropped to her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She knew that she was over reacting. Sasuke wasn't going to die from his injuries, but seeing him in so much pain really bothered her.
"Of course there was," Tsunade placed her hands on her hips as she spoke with her disciple, "You can't expect everything to follow the ideal procedure and go as planned. It's almost required that something unexpected occurs and sends your well made plans straight to shit."
"Yeah, your right." Sakura kept her head lowered, starting to feel a bit down. She strived to improve herself, to be better. She took everything to heart. Hearing such disappointment from someone she looked up to so much was hard to stomach.
Sasuke knew that Sakura didn't take harsh criticism well and decided to intervene. "Still bleeding here," he grumbled. His grouchiness drew the attention of the two other occupants of the room.
Tsunade blinked a few times at him, as if just remembering that he was there. The head doctor of the hospital swayed slightly as she made her way over to Sasuke.
It was then that Sakura noticed that her aunt's cheeks were slightly more rosy than usual. She stood up abruptly and shouted, "Are you drunk?!" All her meekness forgotten.
"Only a little," Tsunade waved her off with a few flicks of her wrist, "Now let's see what we have here." She leaned in a pulled away the bandages. Sasuke hissed when the wounds were reintroduced to the air.
After inspecting the damage done to his leg she made her way over to the cabinets and pulled out some surgical suture and a needle. "Nothing a few stiches can't fix."
"Aren't you even going to disinfect it first?!" Sakura was appalled at the misconduct that was happening before her.
Tsunade mumbled something that sounded like 'Oh, right' before moving back to the cabinet and pulling out the missing supplies and some anesthetic.
Sakura plucked the things from Tsunade's hands. "Maybe I should do it. My hands are a bit steadier than yours." One glance at Sasukue and Sakura could tell he was not about to let a drunk Tsunade get anywhere close to him with a needle. Tsunade shrugged and motioned for her to get started.
When Sakura approached him Sasuske raised an eyebrow curiously. "Have you ever done this before?"
Sakura smiled sheepishly at him, "Not really. I'm only a volunteer and technically I'm not allowed to be doing stuff like this."
"Great, I'm going to come out looking like Frankenstein." Sakura was about to get upset with him, but his slight smirk told her that he was only joking with her. Anyone other than Sakura would have missed the signs and would have been offended.
"Maybe I should let Aunty Tsunade work on you," she whispered. Sasuke's growl made her giggle.
With Tsunade supervising Sasuke's stiches were competed in a well-mannered fashion.
After Sakura finished cleaning up the dried blood from Sasuke's leg, Tsunade leaned in to inspect the stiches. "Not bad. Not bad. Now that you won't bleed out we need to replenish the blood that you lost. But we don't exactly have wolf blood in storage."
"Can his body accept a transfusion with human blood?" Sakura asked. They never had a situation like this before.
"We'll find out soon. We can give him a small bit to start off with and watch his body for any negative responses. Hopefully his body won't reject it."
"And if it does?" Sasuke scowled.
"A little bit shouldn't harm you but large doses may make you really sick." With that said she left the room to pick up some bags of blood.
"How does she manage a hospital drunk?" Sasuke turned to ask Sakura.
Sakura shrugged, "I don't know how she does it." For someone who spends most of her spare time, and even her work time drinking Tsunade was one of the best doctors around. "But you can't argue with her results. How are you feeling?"
Sasuke dragged a hand down his face and let out a deep sigh. "A bit lightheaded." Sakura leaned against the table and wrapped her arms around him and pressed her forehead to unto his shoulder. Normally Sasuke would stiffen up and reject physical contact such as this. But as always, Sakura was the exception. She avoided hugging and petting him in public because she knows it makes him uncomfortable, but when they were alone she was much less reserved.
"I'm sorry you got hurt. You don't benefit from these hunter things at all but you still help us out." Her voice cracked towards the end of the sentence, tears forming in her eyes.
Sasuke slowly unwrapped her arms and held both her hands in his larger ones. She was unable to hide the few stray tears that trailed down her cheeks. "Don't feel sorry for things you can't control. I would have gone with you no matter what the focus was. And I still would, because-"
Before he could finish Tsunade returned with as much enthusiasm as the first time. The door was bound to fly off its hinges soon. "Here we go!" She stared at them for a few seconds as she soaked in the scene that she had just interrupted. "What are you doing? Why is Sakura crying mongrel?"
"It's not him I'm just being over emotional," Sakura smiled and wiped the tears off her face. Tsunade and Sasuke glared at each other before they were interrupted by the squeaking of wheel against the tiled hospital floor.
A smiling nurse pushed a wheelchair into the room. "Here you go kid." Tsunade motioned to the chair with a smile. Sasuke's dark expression clearly expressed his reluctance to use the wheelchair. "If you don't stay of that leg for a while the stiches are going to come off," Tsunade scolded, "I will put a cone on you if you pick at them."
Sakura couldn't hold back a laugh as she imagined Sasuke with a cone around his neck.
At the threat Sasuke growled at her, "There is no way in hell I would let you put something so demeaning on me."
"Down boy, it was a joke," Tsunade laughed. "Now hurry up we don't have all night. The table isn't very comfortable so we're moving you to a room. We'll start the transfusion there."
With the threat of a drunk Tsunade redoing his stiches if they ripped open while trying to walk, Sasuke sat in the wheelchair while they moved him to a room. Sakura convinced the nurse to let her push the wheelchair and after a small growl from Sasuke she gladly agreed. She mumbled something about other patients to attend to as she quickly took her leave.
Once he was settled nicely in the bed they began the blood transfusion. He had machines connected to him to monitor his vitals. "How's it feel?" Tsunade asked.
"It stings a little but it dissipates as it passes my elbow," Sasuke answered. He winced a little as Tsunade prodded his arm.
"Everything looks normal. A bit more then we can take you off this thing. You heal extraordinarily fast so a little bit of boost should be all that you need to regenerate on your own." Tsunade smiled at him before waving and heading toward the door. "I'll see you in the morning. Call if you need anything. And Sakura needs to go to bed so say good night."
Sakura hung around a few minutes more to make sure that Sasuke was truly comfortable now that the transfusion was over.
"You better get going before she comes back and you're still here," Sasuke said.
"I'll come see you in the morning. Behave and don't cause too much trouble," Sakura teased. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her, making her giggle.
With Sasuke's healing ability he should be healed enough to be able to walk around without too much discomfort. If he was lucky Tsunade would even let him come home. When Sakura left the hospital she was surprised to see Naruto, Hinata, and Ino waiting there.
"It's about time!" Ino complained, "So how is he?"
"A bunch of stiches but he's going to be fine. How is everyone else doing?" Sakura asked. Naruto had a few bandages here and there but was still as hyper as ever. Hinata had a rather large gauze patch on her cheek. Sakura started to feel bad. She had been so focused on Sasuke that she hadn't noticed that anyone else had gotten hurt.
"N-nothing really serious, just some small cuts here and there," Hinata answered and gently touched the gauze on her face.
"Those stupid bird brains! Scratching Hinata's pretty face!" Naruto shouted.
His ranting was interrupted when Ino smacked him in the back of the head. "Shut up! Do you know what time it is?! There are patients that are probably trying to sleep." That began a rather loud argument between the two blonds while Hinata turned bright red at Naruto's compliment about her being pretty.
Sakura checked her phone and was shocked to find that it was already past midnight. She wasn't too surprised that Naruto was still here and Naruto's presence also meant that Hinata would most likely be there too. But she never expected Ino to wait around this long.
"We should probably head home now, it's getting late," Sakura spoke up. She had to raise her voice a little so that Ino and Naruto could hear her over their bickering.
"Uh, about that," Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "I kind of hung around because I don't have a ride. Jiraiya dropped me off earlier and he's not answering his phone. He's probably fast asleep by now."
Hinata had to struggle to find her voice as she practically whispered, "I can give you a ride home Naruto."
Naruto's eyes lit up and practically sparkled. "Really? That would be awesome! Thank you!" He gave Hinata a big bear hug that made her face light up like a Christmas tree. Naruto chattered the whole way to the car while Hinata tried and failed to hide her blush.
"I think he does that on purpose," Ino said. "I mean he could have asked anyone for a ride and he waits until it's just the three of us left."
"I think it's cute," Sakura giggled. Hinata liked Naruto for so long but she's too shy to be more forward and Naruto is oblivious. Well, maybe not as oblivious as everyone seems to think. Hinata had a crush on Naruto since they were children but she could never muster up the courage to speak more than a few sentences to him. "He finally started paying more attention to her after we started high school. I'm happy for her."
"It was after Hinata started growing boobs," Ino commented. Sakura gaped at her friend. "Come on, you have to admit they're huge!" Sakura and Ino were a bit jealous that Hinata was blessed with a rather large chest. Sakura looked down at her own not so developed breasts and sighed. "I guess Tsunade took the big boobs gene and didn't leave you with much."
"Shut up Ino!" She didn't need a reminder how flat she was compared to her voluptuous aunt.
Luckily Naruto and Hinata were far enough away so they couldn't overhear the conversation the two girls were having. They smiled as they watched their two friends drive off. Finally, Ino had been waiting forever to talk to Sakura. "So how are you feeling? You looked kinds freaked out earlier." The playful air from just moments ago was replaced with a much more serious tone.
"Sasuke's going to be fine. I was just really worried about him, those were nasty lacerations."
"You're so lucky that you have Sasuke," Ino whined.
Sakura smiled, "Yeah we were. Without Sasuke those manticore would have probably killed Naruto and I."
"I wasn't talking about that Forehead. I meant his body! He's fucking hot and you get to see him naked all the time!" Ino covered her blushing cheeks with the palms of her hands as she began to giggle. Ino never did like serious conversations.
Now it was Sakura who turned bright red. "What do you mean by that?! He has to shift sometimes but it not like I see him naked each time."
"But there's other times you get to see that fine ass too right?" Ino waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Sakura.
"No! I mean were just friends," Sakura's voice trailed off at the end and looked shyly at her friend. It would be just like Ino to wait for her that long just to gossip and embarrass her.
Ino narrowed her eyes and smirked at her. "But you like him right? It's so obvious. And he probably likes you too. I try to be nice to him and all, but I would be lucky to get a few words out of him. He holds you on a different level than the rest of us."
"You really think so?" Sakura smiled, hope filled her and replaced the embarrassment that Ino was causing. She knew from when she was a child that she loved Sasuke, but she never thought that there was a chance that he would feel the same way. He saw her as family, someone to care for and protect. But did he love her that way?
"Yeah. It's like the perfect love story! A little freaky though…"
"Why would it be freaky?"
Ino paused and contemplated her answer a bit before answering, "Well, I don't know what you're into, but I'll pass on the beastiality."
Sakura never blushed that much in her entire life.