Chapter 7: His and His

Sakura thought it was strange that Sasuke insistently came over and took Kaz "to go spend time together". As she sat alone having a cup to tea, she realized it was a set up. Naruto and Sasuke were both working together to get her to talk about the things she's been avoiding ever since Sasuke returned. There was a knock at the door. Her heart beating, cheeks flush, Sakura answered.

It was Naruto. He wore a nice shirt and had his hair combed down. It was a valiant effort on his part, but he couldn't shake off that scruffy quality to him. Sakura laughed to herself, briefly escaping the moment.

"Sakura..." he whispered.

Her first instinct was to flee. Naruto was going to confess his feelings for her, which means he'll be making her choose. She knew this was coming and had been putting it off for as long as possible, but with Sasuke now cooperating with him, she couldn't avoid it any longer.

"Naruto..." she said her face contorted with anxiety "Please don't..."
"Sakura..." he said more firmly "You already know this needs to happen..."
"Naruto, please..."

Naruto looked at Sakura pleading. Please do this for my sake, his eyes seemed to say. Sakura took a deep breath as Naruto took her hands into his.

"Sakura… I know you love me, but is it the same kind of that I want?… Can you look at me the way you look at Sasuke?"

Sakura came closer to Naruto, burying herself in his arms. He was her rock. Without him, she wouldn't be stable. The very idea of having him gone terrified her. It's true that the feelings that he's asking for aren't the kind of feelings she has for him. And yet, she still needed him nonetheless.

"You're so unfair Naruto!" Sakura wailed "Choose between you and Sasuke? I can't make this kind of decision. Why does it have to be either or? "
"Because you're giving us only half the role that we each want to fulfill."

There was no bitterness in Naruto's face. He was not scathing, he was not frustrated. He only spoke in honest truth.

"Don't put words in my mouth, you jerk."
"But you know it's at least a little true. You're spreading yourself thin between both of us, I can tell."

Naruto held Sakura a little tighter.

"Really, I'm happy with whatever relationship you want to have with me. But today as a man going against another man, I have to make you choose.

Sakura felt as though everything in her world were falling apart. Naruto was restless to have his own emotional needs met, while Sasuke was getting agitated over the fact that Sakura can't seem to let him into her heart as she has done for Naruto. She didn't mean for things to turn out this way, but it's just as Naruto said.

"Either choice is a choice I don't want to make."
"I know." he said empathetically.
"Things are going to change and I don't want that."
"I know."
"You're such a jerk."
"I know."

Without saying anything more to him, Naruto already knows her answer. Tears burned down his face as the finality of his rejection set in.

"I will always love you, Sakura. Even if I move on, get married, and start a family… I will always be there for you if you need me. Always."

Uzumaki Naruto placed his heart on the line to confess to the girl he's always loved, knowing it was pointless from the beginning. Yet she remained there with him, sinking into his arms. For once she let herself look at him in the way he wanted to be seen. This man, this strong man, was messy, but handsome all the same. He had the bluest eyes she's ever seen. He was fun to be with and never once did she feel unsafe with him. Always protected, always loved by him. In another life, maybe she would have chosen him. If she weren't so selfish, if she had been strong enough or smart enough to make the right decisions, maybe she would have been good enough to make him happy. But that wasn't the case. She knew it. He knew it.

The possibility of their love slipped from Naruto's fingers slowly and sadly, but he was convincing himself that this was okay. He was okay with this, he told himself, even though he couldn't stop the crying.

Naruto gently kissed Sakura on her forehead and walked away.

xxxxx

Sasuke didn't need to ask anyone how the talk between Sakura and Naruto went. Naruto was gone by the time Sasuke returned with Kaz. Sakura was clearly shaken and almost immediately went to bed. He could tell how it went because she convinced Kaz to sleep in her room so she could hug him like a safety blanket. Sasuke stayed out on Sakura's porch.

"He's such a good guy..." Sasuke scoffed with a half smile.

In confessing to Sakura, he ultimately removed the guilt off of Sakura's shoulders. He let her know she could stop running and love the one she wants to love. And for Sasuke, he stepped down so that his raven haired friend was free to try to make things right. Naruto: the man who will always prioritize his friends. Once Sasuke figured things out, he would take Naruto out for ramen.

The hard part, then, was how to make things right... This sort of thing probably would have come naturally to Naruto, Sasuke imagined. But, god, what was he supposed to do here? Maybe he had enough insight to deal with things between himself and Sakura, but there's also the kid to deal with. Honestly, he didn't know what to think of Haruno Kazuo. He didn't know what to say to him, didn't know how to interact with him. Really all he could do was try.

Sasuke sensed the presence of multiple hostiles in the immediate area.

"Get them!" a gruff voice said from out of nowhere.

xxxxx

Sakura backed Kaz into a corner and stood in front of him in a defensive stance, a single kunai in her hand. Three pursuers closed in on her and Kaz. Sakura wanted to move to attack, but she couldn't get all of them at once and she couldn't let one get to Kaz. Kaz looked scared, but didn't cower away. His bright green eyes, looking as though they were glowing, watched the movements of his attackers.

Suddenly the room was filled with the crackling sound of thunder and flashes of light.

"CHIDORI!"

Sasuke had entered the room and attacked two of the intruders at once. Sakura immediately went in on the third attacker and incapacitated him. Looking down at the victim, Sakura's eyes widened at the Sound emblem on the ninja's headband. She looked back at Kaz, who was still in the corner. Sakura went by his side to hold him. Much to her surprise, Sasuke followed behind her.

The sound of more footsteps can be heard coming from the hall, with more attackers appearing on the premises. They were surrounded. Sakura looked at Sasuke. Both took a defensive position, again with Kaz in the corner. Waves of pursuers entered the room through the door and window. Sakura and Sasuke fended them of, but couldn't do more than defeat the ones in the front even though there were more to come behind them.

"How many people are there?" Sakura exclaimed.

Sasuke said nothing, continuing to fight. Kaz watched him wide eyed, his head straining. This man had taught him many things and was using those things in battle right in front of him. Bodies fell. Some were knocked out, some were seriously injured, and some may be dead. Kaz watched in awe and in terror. He was mad at himself because his mother was protecting him again when he wanted to be the one protecting her. This man was protecting her. Couldn't he be more like this man?

The last attacker fell at Sasuke's feet. He turned around to face Kaz who had been watching him the whole time. Sasuke felt like he needed to say something to the child.

"You okay?" was all he could manage.

Before he could answer, the child widened his eyes as Sasuke doubled back as though he were falling. A single kunai already pierced him in his chest. Two more Sound ninjas appeared behind him, both holding him down. Kaz looked to his mother and found she was in the same position.

"I was really aiming for Sakura," said a man with white hair emerged from the shadows "but to have Sasuke here was an added bonus!"
"Who are you?" Sasuke spat, struggling to free himself.
"Call me Shiro." the man said "As you can see I am from Sound. I'm sure you can imagine why I'm here, Uchiha Sasuke-san."

Naruto story rang in the back of Sasuke's mind.

"Fifty people came with me to kill all of you today. Now there's just five of us." the man began to chuckle "I wonder if you noticed that you were the only one who went on to kill people. Sakura-chan here only knocked people out. But you, you really don't know when to stop, do you?"

Shiro looked at his companions who responded by stuffing cloth into Sasuke's and Sakura's mouths.

"Everything in Sound was destroyed because of you. I'm here to make you suffer, Uchiha Sasuke-san. This girl seems to be the key... How should I do this? I could rape her." Shiro said bending down to lick to curve of her neck, causing Sasuke to struggle even more "Or I could just put her in more pain."

Shiro held the handle of the kunai piercing her chest and shoved it in further. Sakura's screams were muffled by her gag. Shiro smiled and in response wiggled the kunai in place, causing blood to seep from her wound.

"-uo-su-uv-itch!" Sasuke tried to cream.

Sasuke struggled to break free, but the battle to take down 46 in a row tired him out. Shiro wiggled Sakura's kunai again, causing her to yelp. I can't do anything! Sasuke thought desparately.

"STOP!"

An invisible force swooshed forward and caught everyone by surprise causing all of them to fall. In that instant, Sasuke grabbed both Sakura and Kaz and fled through the window. On their way out, Sakura threw a smoke bomb into the room. In addition to smoke, the air filled with an irritant designed to slow down the enemy.

"Get them!" Shiro screamed, but Sasuke had gotten a good lead from them.

Sasuke carried both Sakura and Kaz five miles away from the village until he no longer felt their attacker's presence. Sasuke surveyed the area while Sakura started to heal Kaz's wounds. Sasuke had saw the boy when they were in the room. It was Kaz who yelled stop and knocked everyone down. It was only for a moment, but he saw Kaz's eyes glow red.

Haruno Kazuo. It sank in.

Sakura sat on a large rock as she held Kaz in her arms, telling him its okay to close his eyes.

"What do we do?" Sakura asked Sasuke.
"Right now we need to get out of here."
"I think you're right."

Sasuke realized Sakura still had the kunai in her chest. Sakura likely left it in to keep the blood from rushing out.

"Hey." Sasuke said kneeling down next to her "You need to take care of yourself."

Sasuke pulled Kaz out of her arms and into his own. Kaz's eyes shot open, startled, but he didn't resist. Sasuke held Kaz tight, getting used to the weight of him. His son. In turn, Kaz observed what it felt like being in this man's arm. They're as strong as he imagined. Even though this man scared him, Kaz felt safe.

Sakura looked at Sasuke holding Kaz confused and oddly jealous. The two looked back at her, mirror images of one another except one had green eyes while the other had black eyes. Maybe this is okay, she thought.

Sakura pulled out the kunai wincing and began the healing process.

"I'm only going to heal this enough so I can keep moving." she said switching into survival mode "Sasuke, are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine. You need to conserve your energy for the trek."

Sakura summoned a medium sized slug to send a message to Tsunade about the attack and that they will need to go into hiding. Based on what she knows, this attack was probably started by the one who got away when her daughter was killed. She, Sasuke, and Kaz needed to flee to Tsunade for their own safety. Then she and Tsunade can talk over what's happening. The agreement in place was exile and she adhered to that agreement this whole time. If this attack was the result of one person wanting revenge, this needs to be discussed with the Sound village.

Sakura looked to Sasuke who nodded back at her. She stood up, gave Kaz a kiss on the cheek and did the same for Sasuke. Kaz watched processing this information.

"I'll hold him and keep him safe." Sasuke said "You cover me."
"Right." Sakura replied.

xxxxx

Author's Note: The turn around time on this chapter was much faster!