One Year

NaruBaby2496

Chapter 7

Sakura wiped her sweaty, sticky, balmy palms on her sweater, slightly disgusted on how musty she let herself get. She had finished her kicks last, as usual, but today she was not that far behind, losing to Naruto by about twenty. Kakashi situated himself on top of the three logs they had used for training, and asked pulling out his orange book, "Ramen after showers—yes Naruto; you have to take a shower." The official man in black and orange pouted. Sakura laughed at him, she just thought it was so hilarious that he would walk around in public, musty and wet, just to get his precious birthday ramen.

Sasuke brushed the now stringy bangs off his forehead, struggling to finger through the knots and tangles. He glanced at Naruto, who had green stinking smoke coming from every angle of his body, and scoffed, "You're such a dumbass." Rolling her big green eyes, Sakura rose from the grassy seat she was in and walked away, becoming more and more revolted with the growing layers of filth on her body. She waved her sore and tired arm, yawning, "Alright, you guys, I'll see you later." Kakashi waved his goodbyes, while the two male members continued arguing with each other.

"Oh, yeah, well you're a pansy! Look at you running your fingers through your hair like a girl!"

"At least I care about my hair—some people would rather it look like housing for a manifestation of sludge and grime."

"You know I don't know what those big words mean!"

"That's why you're a dumbass," His eye caught a glance of retreating pink, but focused back to Naruto, "and a Dobe."

Naruto groaned, "You fail! EPIC FAIL! Even I know!" Sasuke raised a natural perfectly arched eyebrow, and stared curiously at Naruto, because he had now idea what the idiot was talking about. Black studied blue for countless seconds, nothing making noise but a few birds chirping. Of course, Sasuke had a small idea of what Naruto could have been talking about, but he knew he didn't make himself that obvious. The fox's mouth gaped open in surprise at Sasuke's stupidity, "Sasuke…—Sasuke! Come on! Don't make me scream it out when Sakura is still in hearing range."

His gaze hardened, though a small blush was on his face, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sakura took the shortcut to her house, arriving within ten minutes, and took no time in hopping into the cool shower, first running the massaging water over her buzzing head. There were so many thoughts running through her mind that she could barely contain it all. Did she like Sasuke again? She lathered the shampoo in her small hands, and started cleaning her hair with the cranberry scented cleanser. It wasn't too out of proportion to believe that she had started liking him again. She sighed, "…Again…" She had not stopped thinking about him for a day since he came back, she could admit, but most thoughts were not so good. She was not used to his sudden presence around her all the time, and if not in body, in spirit. She had realized soon that he had changed, too, far more than she originally stereotyped him to be.

After hearing about him joining Akatsuki, making his own lethal group of followers to kill off everyone who got in his way, him breaking into the Kage Summit to kill someone else, and him ruthlessly and senselessly killing and fighting so many others, she had figured that he was plunged within the darkness, never to be saved again. She prepared herself, knowing she would never see him again, never think about him again, and probably end up with Naruto. She hated to admit it, but if she would put her friend at second best if, she had no choice but to do so. It made her feel reproachful of her actions just thinking about it, but honestly, she would not take anything back and beg for a redo.

If she had not followed Naruto, she, Kiba and Lee would not have been stopped by Kakashi's dogs. Those dogs, with the help of Kiba and Akamaru, finally found the scent of Sasuke, and he was being pummeled to near death extents by Danzo. It was scary and hard for her to just stay back and watch him get thrown to the ground without mercy, have his face knocked square in the jaw by some of his own family's secret Jutsu, and see the breath-taking Mangekoyou Sharigan Sasuke obtained. The blood red eyes screamed hate, death and pain, and with just a glance, Sakura could see how much bloodlust was contained in those evil eyes. She hated them to an unusual extent and she hoped that she would never see that again.

She turned the shower water off and stood there, air-drying for a few seconds. She saw so much hate in his eyes that day; she never even knew it was possible for a person to be that detestable towards someone you barely knew. Now, though, she saw almost the opposite of so many years ago. Sakura guessed his coming to so many near death situations, and so many crossroads heading to different directions—he had to choose between good or bad, life or death and light or darkness. That would cause anyone to either grow up or grow down in a fraction of a second, and Sakura knew that, or at least hoped that, Sasuke had chosen the better option during the Fourth Ninja War. She never saw the fight between him and Madara, but when she saw Sasuke's broken body, she could barely contain herself. He was broken, like a doll or puppet that a toddler threw out of an attack. Sasuke was wrecked, and she could not help but wonder how he could breathe, blink, or even talk.

His pulse was going painfully slow and there were so many IV cords, breathing tubes, bandages, and blood transfusions taking place at once, it made her choke on her breath the first time she saw him, crying inside but refusing to let it out, afraid she'd wake the peacefully sleeping injured Sasuke. Tsunade was with her during her visit, and while Sakura begged and begged her to let her heal Sasuke, she just shook her head, pulling her student into a hug, letting her cry in her shirt. Sakura knew Tsunade felt the same way she did, for she had lost most of her friends in the same manner as well.

Sakura shook her head, clearing her head from her crazy thoughts, and stepped out of her shower, wrapping her hair in her ivory towel. She pulled on her dark blue skinny jeans, and tried to avoid making a bigger hole in the knee than what was already there. Her feet went all the way through with one more jump, and buttoned her pants, leaning down to pick up her blue t-shirt with a big smiley-face on it. Starting to pull on her sock, the doorbell rang, making her slip onto her butt. She yelped in surprise of the fall, but the big boom casted soon after. It didn't hurt her any, since she automatically ran healing chakras in her own body now, and she skipped to the door with one sock on and on sock off, and her hair wrapped in a towel to the door, calling, "I'm coming!"

She skidded to a stop at her front door and yanked it open, only to have a big shock and her face l resembling a deer in headlights. Sasuke smirked, his hand up as if he was ready to ring the bell, and asked, "Ready?" The asked girl still stared with her eyes wide and alarmed, until she stammered uncontrollably, "U-Uh...umm, I-you—I'm not—Ye-Y-um…" He cleared his throat and forced his way into Sakura's small but cozy home, slightly nudging her shoulder in the process. The teen spread himself out comfortably on Sakura's loveseat. He laid his head on the arm of the seat and concluded for her, "You're not, right?"

She composed herself and threw her wet towel at the lounging Sasuke. He caught it with one hand, and tossed it into something that resembled a laundry basket. It probably was not one, because who keeps a laundry basket in their living room? Sakura pouted and then stomped away to her bedroom, "Stay there—I need to do my hair and pee and stuff." He grimaced as he grabbed the television remote, "I really didn't need to know that, Sakura." He heard her laugh to herself and he smirked as her flipped through the different channels her TV had to offer. He found a good sports channel and kept it there, because they were going over the highlights of the last baseball game. He, for the most part, was a normal guy that loved his sports.

Sakura strolled down the hallway, her high ponytail bouncing with each step she took, and she opened a pantry, seemingly looking for something. Sasuke turned from the television and asked, "What're you looking for? Aren't you finished? It's been ten minutes." Sakura turned her head quickly and glared at him, "No—obviously. I'm looking for my blue headband."

"What's that in your hand?"

"A blue headband."

"Okay, why don't you wear that one?"

"It doesn't match!"

"You look great either way—headband or not."

She stared at him blankly, not able to believe what she swore she heard. She blinked twice and popped her lips, "Alright, um, let's go then. You want to do your therapy thing while we walk?" He almost smacked himself for saying what he said aloud, but he decided that would have to wait for later, and he flicked off the television and opened the front door for Sakura, his face frozen. She walked out into the cold, and asked, "Well?"

He shook his head, shutting the door and following her to the ramen shop, "No…I've had enough therapy already."

I don't really have a lot to say….so….

Review and Junk, I guess!

~NaruBaby2496