Chapter Title: Be Sure to Watch Your Friend's Backs
Words Count: 5,149
Author's Note: I know. I know. I'm the queen of procrastination. Do feel free to throw rocks at me for this really late chapter and please forgive me for my wretched laziness. It's just that for some reason, I found writing the whole breaking up scene with Kiba and Sakura terribly hard fro some reason. I don't know why. Probably because it didn't have any Sasori in it. Anyways, I'll just try to get the future chapters out faster. Thank you to all of those who are sticking with me and with this fic. Also the question whether this is a Sasori/Sakura fic or a Kiba/Sakura fic has been asked a lot lately by reviewers so just to let everyone know, this is a Sasori/Sakura fic! Not a Kiba/Sakura fic. I'm sorry if that's not want you wanted and now, here's chapter seven. Please tell me if there's like a major error in their somewhere because I'm just so paranoid even though I proof read it a bunch of times. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it and cookies for all of the people who review!
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'I think we should break up…'
Those six, little words that Sakura had just whispered, bounced off the surrounding trees before echoing around the small, shadowed clearing that was the training field; the place where both she and Kiba stood, facing each other.
"…What?"
Sakura took a tiny, shaky breath of the mild spring air before deciding to repeat herself once more. "I think we should break up," she said, trying her best to make sure that her voice sounded strong and confident as she spoke the words.
A slight breeze passed through the training field then, causing short, soft strands of pink hair to blow into Sakura's face. Brushing it back into place, she hugged her red coat tighter around her small form as she softly bit down on her bottom lip in anticipation of what was to come next. In silence, she watched the boy in front of her closely as he shifted from foot to foot with a confused expression evident on his features.
"…Why?" Kiba finally asked, his voice cracking on the single word.
Sakura licked her dry, chapped lips nervously. "Because…"
Because I'm scared that he's going to try and hurt you if we continue this relationship and that's the last thing I want. Because I don't know if I'm strong enough to protect you from him. Because you're too sweet and you don't need these kind of problems. Because if we break this off, you're safe.
"Because…" Sakura repeated the word again. "This is just for the better…"
"For the better…?" Kiba said her sentence over only his voice was filled with misunderstanding as he spoke the words. "I don't get it. What do you mean by for the better?"
"I-It's just…" Sakura trailed off in her sentence, trying to find the right words to say.
'Do you really think that any of your silly friends would believe you if you ever told them that me, a dead man was in your apartment? That's right. They wouldn't. They'd think that you lost your mind and you'd be locked up in that little hospital you work at for life.'
A small frustrated sigh escaped from Sakura's lips. "It's all just really hard to explain."
"But I still want to hear it," Kiba shot back while his dark and calculating brown eyes studied her face closely. "You can't just say that you want to break up and not offer a full explanation as to why."
"I-It's just…I don't w-want…" Sakura found herself stumbling over her words as her mind raced for something to say. Looking down at her feet, she tried to hide her face as her cheeks flared a slight pinkish color from embarrassment and frustration.
A few feet away, Kiba stood, still waiting patiently for her explanation. When several more moments of deafening silence passed, he decided to offer, "Did I do something to make you angry at me?"
"No!" Sakura denied hurriedly as her green eyes glanced back up to meet his own. "That's not it at all!"
Don't think this is your fault. That's the last thing this is…
"Did…Did I do something wrong?"
"No! Of course not!"
Please don't It's all his. Not yours.
Kiba's shoulders slumped slightly as he let out a heavy sigh that was obviously filled with confusion and exasperation. Sticking his hands in his jean pockets, he looked down at his own two feet. "Is this…" he started as he scuffed his right foot against the grassy floor, sending several pebbles skittering away. "Is this because of Sasuke? Because of the feelings you had…have for him?"
"N-No," Sakura breathed out. "…This isn't…because of him."
"Then what is this about?" Kiba asked harshly as he glanced back up at her. "What else is there?"
"I can't…I can't tell you," Sakura told him truthfully.
"You can't…tell me?"
"No."
"Why?" Kiba demanded as he took a few steps towards Sakura and in turn she took several back. "Why can't you tell me?"
"I just can't!" Sakura yelled as she continued to back up a couple more feet, trying to put more distance between them.
"Wait!" Kiba ordered, seeing what she was trying to do. Reaching out, he managed to grab a hold of her right arm, preventing her from retreating anymore than she already had. Seizing her other arm, he forced her to fully face him as he asked, "What's really going on here?" Why can't you tell me?"
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
Kiba's hard stare was too much for Sakura and she turned her head away from him. "Let me go," she whispered softly to him but there was no mistaking the solid command in her voice.
"No!" Kiba objected loudly and his grip only tightened instead of loosening.
Let go! Let go! Let go!
"Not yet. Not before you tell me what's really going on here!"
Putting her hands up against his chest, Sakura gave Kiba a halfhearted push as she demanded in a slightly louder tone than she had used before, "Let go of me!"
Her words and push barely had any effect though as Kiba held on firmly. "No. I won't let go. Not before you tell me."
Let me go or I'll have to hurt you myself…
Kiba's eyes hardened as he continued to press, "Tell me why!"
"Fine!" Sakura suddenly screamed as she looked back up to meet his gaze. "If you want to know so badly, I'll tell you! It's because I hate this! This stupid relationship! It isn't right! We aren't right! I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I agreed to go out with you. I hate this! I hate this! I hate this!"
As soon as all the words were out of her mouth, Sakura instantly felt Kiba's grip loosen until his hands left her arms altogether. Backing away, he put a several foot's distance between him and her.
"…K-Kiba?" Sakura asked softly, trying to get a good view of his face but his bangs blocked his eyes, preventing her from what she wanted.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
"Kiba?" she questioned once more with a louder tone. "…I-
"All right…" Kiba's voice cut her off as his eyes looked to meet her own. "It's alright. If you want to break up, it's okay," he continued, a small strained smile making its way to his lips.
Oh God. I'm so sorry!
"If you want to go back to just being friends…I'm good with that," he finished.
Sakura's mouth opened but she quickly closed it again when she found she didn't know what to say.
"It's okay," Kiba reassured, leaning to his left as he tried to act as casual as possible though it didn't work.
"I…I'm sorry," Sakura whispered hastily before she turned and took her leave from the scene as she started back up the beaten path that led out of the training field.
This is for the better…
Kiba's hard stare burned into her retreating back but she didn't have the nerve to glance back at him.
I'm so sorry…
Sakura could feel the slight sting of tears in her eyes and angrily she reached up and brushed them away quickly as soon as she fell out of Kiba's sight at the edge of the clearing.
But you won't get hurt this was. He won't get you. You'll be safe…I promise that I'll make it up to you someday and I'll tell you the truth…I didn't mean to hurt you…
A small rustling suddenly sounded from the right of the path caused Sakura to stop in her tracks. Glancing to her side, she watched as Ino who was pulling a red faced Hinata along by the arm spring out from behind a thick tree where they had obviously been hiding behind and trying their best to eavesdrop.
Sakura sent them both a stiff glare before continuing to walk away but her blonde friend was quick to fall into step beside her. Loudly, Ino groaned, "What the hell did you just do, stupid?"
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Sakura sighed heavily as she started down into the small glass that stood before her on the counter which was now only half full of its contents. A slightly confused look crossed her face as she wondered where the other half had gone so quickly.
Around her, conversation which came from near by tables packed with people filled the air, as did a seemingly never ending, crappy song that had a scratchy woman's voice singing along with it which played through the must have been decade old speakers. The place stank of grease from the food that Sakura hadn't dared to order and cologne from guys who were wearing too much of it but didn't notice since they were too busy trying to pick up girls.
Next to her, sat the two people who were responsible for dragging her to such a stupid place and both of them were waiting anxiously to hear how she had so easily managed to screw up her love life.
Another loud groan escaped from Sakura's lips as Ino who sat in the chair to her right screeched noisily in outrage, "I can't believe you broke up with him!"
"I-Ino…" Hinata whispered quietly as she noticed several people had turned to look over with interest at the blonde's little outburst. "I think…you're being slightly too loud."
"I told you to go and talk to the boy and see what was wrong with him," Ino continued with the same earsplitting pitch as before, ignoring her friend's words. "When did I ever say anything about breaking up with him!?"
Sakura did her best to drown out the blonde's yelling as she reached up to let her fingers massage her temples softly where she could fell a terrible headache starting to pound away.
"And I don't get it," Ino continued to nag. "You only talked to him for not even five minutes. I can't understand the amount of damage that you managed to do in that short amount of time. I swear that it's like a record!"
"Ino," Hinata piped in again, tugging at the blonde's shirt sleeve. "S-Some people are starting to stare…"
Ino turned towards the dark haired girl who sat next to her, annoyance marking her features before she glared over her shoulder at the small audience she had managed to attract within the bar. "Ah, just ignore them," the blond told Hinata as she faced forward in her seat once more. "If they want to stare, just let them, and you need to learn to relax more," she began to chide her friend. "You're in a bar! Instead of worrying about silly idiots who can't mind their own business, you should be drinking and having-
"Don't be stupid," Sakura cut in. "Neji would have your head if he knew that you ever even encouraged Hinata to drink."
The blonde, young woman glared at her friends words. "And as if I'm scared him," she scoffed loudly before picking up her own drink and taking a long sip of it. Slamming it back down on the table, she sighed before declaring, "I'm curious! Does this break up between you and Kiba have anything to do with Sasuke, hmm…?"
Now it was Sakura's turn to get angry. "No!" she denied, giving a nasty look. "Not everything in my love life involves around a man who isn't even here anymore!"
Ino eyed Sakura with a look that told her that she obviously wasn't buying it, but still the blond looked down into her drink as she continued, "Well if it's not him, then why would you break up with Kiba? He's a nice guy and he seemed to like you a whole lot. Not to mention, he isn't exactly lacking in the looks department…Why would you do it?"
"Because, this is just for the better," Sakura stated, sticking by her sentence.
"For the better…?" Ino repeated having the same reaction as Kiba had had earlier. "But…that doesn't make sense," she claimed, her voice laced with confusion. "There has to be more to it that that. Did you guts get into a silly fight or something?"
"No."
"Did he piss you off?"
"No. He didn't."
"Then why the hell did you break up with him?"
"Just because, okay!?"
"No!" Ino stated angrily. "It's not okay! I want to hear the reason!"
"Look!" Sakura snapped loudly. "I've had enough of being interrogated for the night so can we please just drop it for now?"
Giving a sideways glance to her friend, Ino sighed. "Fine forehead," she sighed. "I'll let it go but only for now and just because you look like hell, but you'll have to tell me sooner or later, got it?"
Sakura just grunted in response as she picked up her glass and finished off the rest of its contents, more than happy to be out of the limelight even if it was only for a little while.
To find something else to amuse herself, Ino turned around in her barstool and leaned back against the counter as her bright, blue eyes began to scan the rest of the bar until they stopped in the far corner. "Oh!" she exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "It would seem Hinata's found someone she likes! That's funny. I didn't even notice that she had wandered off…Take a look!"
Doing as told, Sakura swung around in her seat as well to see what her friend was talking about. Spotting Hinata, she instantly froze.
…No!
Standing with her back facing Sakura, Hinata was looking up at a young man with familiar red hair who was currently saying something to her.
No! No! No!
Looking past Hinata, Sasori's light, golden brown eyes met with Sakura's own emerald ones for a fraction of a second as he sent her a small smirk before returning all of his attention back on the dark haired girl fixed in front of him.
'And then…I'll escalate it a bit. Who knows? Maybe one of your friends will up and disappear with out a trace and be found dead in a ditch the next day…'
Those words that Sasori had whispered to Sakura over two weeks ago were coming back to the pink haired kunochi now as she continued to watch the two in front of her.
"This is good!" Ino said happily at her side with a small smile. "Hinata's been hung up on that silly idiot, Naruto for too long now. He's such a clueless dolt that he still hasn't noticed even a little bit that Hinata's head over heels for him. Plus this guy is pretty cute! What do you think Sakura?"
Sakura's response was to push herself away from the table and up from her seat as she started hastily towards the new found couple.
No! No! No!
"Sakura!" Ino called after her in confusion. "Why…What are you doing?"
The rosette haired, young woman didn't even bother to answer her friend's question as she continued to stumble forwards. "Hinata," she called out, loud enough to turn several curious heads. "Hinata!"
"S-Sakura?" Hinata asked, turning at the sound of her name and noticing her panicked friend coming to her side. "What's wrong?"
Sakura didn't reply and instead, stepped in between her friend and the puppet master like some kind of guard.
"Ano…this is…Ozona Kagari-kun," Hinata introduced, her face turning a slight reddish color as a small blush formed across her cheeks.
'Kagari-kun' gave Sakura a warm smile before extending his hand out to her and saying in a sweet tone she had never heard him use before, "It's an honor to meet one of Hinata-san's friends."
Sakura's eyes narrowed into a glare and glancing down at his hand, she slapped it away rudely.
"S-Sakura?" Hinata gasped.
Turning towards her friend, Sakura grabbed Hinata's arm and gave a hard tug before ordering, "Come on! We're leaving!"
"D-Demo…"
"I don't think I understand," Sasori said, stepping in front of Sakura to block off her path while he faked a confused expression. "I'm sorry. Did I do something to offend you?"
"Oh! You're just quite the actor now, aren't you," Sakura accused, pointing a finger angrily into his chest. "Why don't you just go to-
Sakura was cut off by a sharp tug on her shoulder that pulled her off balance slightly. Glancing back, she saw Ino standing there with a disapproving look on her features. "Sakura, what the hell do you think you're doing?" the blonde whispered sharply. "You're acting like a bitch!" Looking past her friend, Ino smiled at the stranger. "I'm sorry about her. I think she's had a little bit too much to drink tonight. Please forgive her."
"It's quite alright," Sasori said, offering another one of his warm smiles to Ino.
"That's very nice of you," the blonde responded with a grin of her own. "I'm Yamanaka Ino by the way."
"Ozona Kagari," Sasori introduced himself. "It's very nice to meet you, Ino-san."
Sakura watched horrified as Ino's face was overcome with a slight blush. Looking back over at the puppet master, she gave him a sneer before grabbing her friend's hands. "We have to go," she declared. "Now!"
"But why?" Ino questioned curiously.
"Because," Sakura yelled, meeting Sasori's gaze. "We have to leave now!"
It's not safe here.
Ino sent Sakura an exasperated look. "I'm sorry," she said, turning towards 'Kagari.' "But I think we have to take our friend home."
"It's fine," he said kindly in response. Glancing at Hinata, he smiled. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime…"
"No!" Sakura objected before Hinata could say anything. "You won't be seeing her anywhere or anytime soon!"
For a second, Sakura saw Sasori's mask slip slightly as his usual darkness made it's way into his eyes but it was gone in an instant and replaced by his disguise. "But I think that's more up to Hinata-san, ne?" he told her.
Sakura gave him a hard glare. "Just stay away from her!" she ordered before grabbing tugging of her friend's hands. "Come on!" she demanded as she began to pull them away from the puppet master and instead, push them towards the door. "We're going! Now!"
"Oi!" The bartender called out after the three girl's retreating backs. "Don't forget to pay!"
Sakura glanced over her shoulder at the man angrily but still, she left her friends at the door to start towards the bar all the while reaching inside her pockets for any money she could find to pay the bill with. Brining out several coins, she prepared to leave it on the counter, but a hand beat her to it. Looking up, she was met with Sasori's gaze.
"Don't worry," he smirked down at her. "I'll get it. It'll be payback for whatever I did to offend you."
Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously. "…Suit yourself," she spat at him before pocketing her own money and turning around to start back towards her friends.
"Sakura!" Ino chided when her friend returned to her side. "That was rude!" Looking over the pink haired kunochi's shoulder, she offered Sasori a smile as she called out, "Thank you very mu-
She was cut off by Sakura pushing her out the bar door and forcing her, along with Hinata to keep walking until they were safe and alone out on the street. Stopping, she turned to face her friends. "Promise me!" she insisted, her voice shrill. "Promise me that if you ever see that man again, you stay the hell away from him?"
"But why?" Ino questioned, one of her eye brows rising up curiously.
"B-Because," Sakura stuttered, her brain racing to find a good excuse. "I-I've heard things about him! Bad things! He's a jerk!"
"Really?" Hinata asked in what seemed a disappointed tone as she looked down at her feet. A small, pink blush stained her cheeks as she said, "But he seemed nice though…"
"Yeah!" Ino agreed. "He even picked up our tab. If you ask me, the one who was acting like a jerk back there was you in my opinion."
"Just stay away from him, got it!" Sakura demanded on what bordered as a shout. "He's dangerous!"
Crossing her arms, Ino leaned slightly to her right. Letting out a sigh, she gave in. "…Yeah, yeah. Okay. Fine. Just stop bitching at me already."
"…Hinata?" Sakura asked, glancing at her other friend. "You promise too!"
"I promise," the dark haired girl settled immediately.
"Good," Sakura said, allowing a small smile to cross her face. "Thank you."
"…Well," Ino started as she let a small yawn escape from her mouth. "Since that's all taken care of, I guess I'll head home then."
Turning to look at her friend, a new worry started in Sakura's gut. "Ino, Shikamaru's home right?" she asked. "He's not out on a mission or anything, right?"
"No…" Ino answered. "Why?"
"No reason," Sakura said, brushing the question off but a small sigh of relief came from her. Ino was taken care of then. There would be someone with her and Sasori hadn't quite shown as much interest in her as he had with Hinata. Looking towards the Hyuuga, Sakura ordered, "Come on. I'll walk you home."
"Ah! Are you sure?" Hinata inquired. "Isn't it out of your way?"
"It's fine," Sakura assured with a smile. "Come on. We should get moving."
Saying their goodbyes to Ino, the two girls started in the opposite direction of the blonde. Together, they walked in complete silence; the clacking of their shoes hitting the pavement as they traveled making the only noise. Sakura barely noticed though as all of her attention was focused on what could be lingering in the shadows where the light from the lampposts couldn't reach. For all she knew, Sasori could be there, watching and waiting for the perfect time to strike. Her little paranoia busied her so much that she would have kept walking right on by the Hyuuga household if not for Hinata grabbing her arm and telling her to stop.
"S-Sorry," the rosette haired woman apologized, fully embarrassed.
"N-No! I should be the one apologizing," Hinata said. "You walked me all the way home when I knew it was out of your way. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I offered to, remember? It's fine," Sakura reassured. "But…Hinata, promise me one more time that if you ever see that man back there again, you make sure to avoid him."
"I promise," Hinata said instantly.
Sakura smiled. "Thanks."
"Oyasuminasai," the dark haired girl whished as she opened her door to go into her house.
"Dewa mata!" her friend said in return.
Seconds later, the door closed, leaving Sakura in the dark. She stood there in silence, refusing to leave from her spot until she was sure she heard the click of the door locking before even daring to turn around and leave. Starting down the street, she rounded a corner and immediately came to a stand still when she saw the shadowy figure leaning against a building's wall a little ways up the road near a lamppost.
At seeing her, the shadow stood straight and turned her way, giving her a better view of the puppet master's face. "So you walked her all the way home, huh?" he smirked at her. "What? Don't tell me that you were afraid that she was going to get snatched by a monster..."
"No," Sakura denied. "I was afraid of something worse than that."
Taking a step forward, Sasori challenged, "Are you saying that I'm worse than a monster?"
"There's no doubt."
Sasori's eyes darkened a small tint but his sick smirk still lingered. "You're very rude, you know," he chided. "Here you are insulting me when just minutes before, I paid for your tab."
"And what do you want? A thank you card?" Sakura shot back.
"That would be the proper thing to do," he told her. "But since I know you won't be giving me that, maybe I could just take that little friend of yours."
Sakura glared. "You stay away from her!" she shouted.
"But she is quite interesting," Sasori remarked, his smirk now lighting up his features. "A Hyuuga right?"
"What does that matter?"
"Byakugan, hmm…? What a nice commodity that would be for my collection."
"Just stay away from her!" Sakura commanded again. "Hinata's a sweet girl who has nothing to do with what's going on between us!"
"Well if you feel so strongly about it, I guess I could always go for that little blonde friend of yours…" Sasori stated. "Yamanaka Ino, right? She seemed to take a bit of a liking to me as well although she's a bit too loud for my tastes but that could always be taken care of easily." A small malice filled smile crossed Sasori's lips as he finished his sentence, chilling Sakura to the bone.
Still, she got the courage to shout back, "Listen! This fight is between you and me. No one else, got it? So don't you dare go and try to drag my friends into this you sick bastard or I' swear, I'll-
Sakura was cut off by Sasori as he quickly disappeared in a blur before her eyes and reappeared in less than a second, inches in front of her. The surprise from his sudden movement had Sakura stumbling backwards a few feet and almost tripping. She flinched slightly, expecting a hit to come from the puppet master but he made no further move to do so. Instead, he was looking over her shoulder, his full attention focused on something behind her.
A small frown took it's place on Sasori's lips as he calmly told her in a low tone, "It would seem that we have some company…"
