Author's Note: 4 weeks and, yes, I've counted. 4 long, busy weeks away from my last update and I'm on my knees right now, begging you'd forgive me. This is my first week off from the most hectic college life ever and I am now utterly relieved to say that PERHAPS, with your help, I may even manage to get chapter nine done before the break's over. Perhaps.
Anyway, enough babbling. I'd rather keep you updated via my blog (find it through my fanfiction profile page!) than waste your time with super long notes over here.
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Many thanks to 1Gaasaku vs 1SasuSaku, angelsgurl12, AshenMarsha, Sakura00017,sakurax9, Eilistraee, violentblossom, speedangel, Charm Caster-chan, LadyNorth76, AJlovesKakashi, Awsmness, EELON, Dark Paine, PeaceToTheStars, Cehmacc14, Nature Girl27, Sato Hoshiko, Victoblerone, sKyLaR KnIgHt, PleaseSirAccept, Cheyenne Uchiha, Kcoolkat24, NiGHTxRECONNAiSSANCE, savagebeauty1981, ThereNBack, zerOtonada, Xx-Silent Ookami-Xx, Dreamer's Ink, Lovetowritehannah, D, Miyabi Doll and amanda for all your love and support. Without you guys, this chapter would never be here; I mean it. And to those who read and follow my blog, I owe you big time. Much love. :)
Chapter VIII: Complications
(Sakura)
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan, where are you?"
The voice calling out to me from a nearby distance was none other than that of Naruto's, but instead of arising from behind the bushes and announcing my presence to him like I ought to have done, I instinctively found myself shrinking down even lower; trying to hide myself to such the extent of masking even my chakra signature so that I wouldn't give away my hiding spot.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's cries had taken a more desperate sort of plea. "We really should get going soon; we're already losing daylight. I mean, I know that most of this is my fault because I woke up late and everything, but still... we shouldn't be wasting any more time. Besides, Kiba's really worried about you."
At the mention of Kiba's name, my whole body froze and a creeping sensation of what I decided could only have been anxiety fluttered around in the pit of my stomach; sickening me. I found myself then swallowing a hard, painful lump down my throat as a thousand and one memories from the night before came flooding back to me like a tidal wave all at once—
-The squashing of bodies, the none-too-subtle gestures he'd make against my exposed flesh, the knowledge that I was being scrutinized in my position of feigned sleep all the while, and, most drastically, the fact that, when I had finally woken up the morning after from a very nervous slumber, he was still there; creamed up next to me so intimately that the hairs on the back of my neck rose on end and emergency bells rang loudly in my head like an enraged beacon, beckoning that I get the hell out of there.
Which was what I did, by the way.
And which action now led me to my current position; hiding behind a bush like some incompetent idiot.
'Oh, Sakura, you're such a coward,' hissed Inner Me for the nth time today, choosing to put on an air of utmost displeasure when acknowledging me; a reaction so unreasonably immature and as close to sulking as an imaginary voice can get.
Oh, Kami, I'm going crazy, all right.
It's one thing to be a so-called 'dignified' 21-year-old Jounin belly-flopped against the earth in humiliating attempt to get away from her best friend and future husband (with whom she still can't come to terms with being intimate with! Argh, stupid!), but a whole other thing entirely to be making bloody conversation with the bloody voice inside my head who was, just to add salt to the open wound of my situation today, currently mad at me.
What the hell!
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's last call for me was just as futile as the ones before, so when the fact finally struck him that maybe I just didn't want to be found at the moment, I heard him breathe a frustrated sigh and scuffle back to the camp. "Sakura-chan, just... don't take too long, okay?"
The sadness behind his tone was unmistakable, and as he walked off in the opposite direction, shoulders slumped and expression defeated, I was suddenly overcome by the inexplicable need to chase after him; to crush him in a hug and wail out all the injustices of my predicament to him.
But, of course, I couldn't do that. I still didn't have the guts to face his reaction, for one thing, and I wasn't at all ready for any sort of confrontation from Kiba's end either – no doubt I'd have some explaining to do for his sake, also.
Geez. The joy of being Haruno Sakura just doesn't let up, does it?
Not that that's the worst of it; because, trust me, you have yet to hear the worst of it.
The worst possible thing last night occurred only when I had finally heeded to the forceful edge behind my Inner's voice. In my victorious attempt to fall asleep, I dreamt of what had to be just the most awful thing ever; a dream (or should I call it a nightmare?) so horrible that I couldn't bring myself to stare my own image back through the mirror – because that's just how bad I felt.
The dream I had (and God knows I hate to run through this and remind myself about it), whilst crushed up against Kiba – the hot and perfectly well-behaved man who would soon be my husband for life – was none other than (damn it, damn it, damn it, why am I even thinking about this?) one where Uchiha Sasuke played lead male protagonist to my useless, pathetic bitch of a self.
And, oh, God, do I feel like a bitch!
Who in their right of mind – oh, wait, scratch that – how much of a SLUT could I be to be dreaming of another man whilst in the arms of my FUTURE HUSBAND? How AWFUL am I?
And, not to mention, the dream-Sasuke still managed to run shivers down my spine and a rush of absolute delight just seemed to burst out from every bit of me from his untimely entrance; a feat not met since, what, years ago?
So, why now? Why him? Why of all times would Uchiha Sasuke, the ex-love of my life, be appearing in my dreams (his beautiful obsidian eyes clouded over with lust and his warm, experienced hands just accurate in their caresses on me) when I should have been fangirl-ing over the fact that my fiancé was positively fawning over me?
'Because you're an ass, obviously,' sneered Inner Sakura as answer to my troubled thoughts. 'You're an ass to continue stressing over this. If I were you – which I ought to be – I'd go up to that smexy husband of mine and glomp the magnificent creature out of him. Are you bloody blind? He's gorgeous.'
Her shallowness aside, I had to admit that "Yes," was my immediate mental reply to this. "But he isn't-."
I paused mid-sentence, realizing with dilated irises and gaping lips that what I was about to say next was exactly the reason behind my still crouched so childishly behind bushes.
...he isn't Sasuke, was the ugly truth of what I was about to say. He isn't the guy I loved for years, even after he left me in the dust. He isn't the guy I wouldn't think twice about throwing my life away for; the guy I imagined an entire life with; the guy who was, basically put, the very essence of my youth and innocence.
I didn't love Inuzuka Kiba; and as nice as he was to step aside when he thought I needed some time to myself, I don't think I'll ever—
"Sakura?"
This time, the voice to call out to me was no longer Naruto's. It was deeper, huskier, and it made my blood run cold.
Moving my eyes to where the direction of the voice came from, I realized that, through the leaves of the bushes I was hiding behind, said Inuzuka Kiba was staring straight at me; his lips upturned in a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, and a hand outstretched so that I would grab on to it.
"Sakura, you do know that even by containing your chakra, I can still sniff you out, right?"
I bit my lower lip, hesitance being the force keeping me down but logic urging that I stop acting like an inexperienced academy student and acknowledge defeat where it looked me in the eye (rather literally, might I add).
Logic winning my mental argument, I did what was sought of me and took his offered hand; rising to my feet and dusting the dirt off my medic-skirt and boots from where I lay crouched. "Is... Naruto...?" I began, my voice a smidgen shaky.
"I told him I'd deal with you and he's off moping somewhere by the tent," was Kiba's hasty reply before his eyes took a softer, more worried warmth to it and he asked me in more gentler words the question I yearned to run away from, "Was it something I did wrong?"
No! I wanted to scream, loud and fierce for all the world to hear and witness. No, Kiba, you're perfect! I wanted to grab him by the neck and shake the senses out of him. No, Kiba, you did nothing wrong, so stop looking at me with those heart-wrenching eyes and start realizing that the girl you're falling for is none other than an absolute jerk! Slap her! Hit her hard! Do whatever you want to her, just don't...
"I'm fine," was what I said instead, an extra-cheerful grin on my face to express the magnitude of how supposedly 'fine' I was. "I just... things are going too fast, you know?"
Deep down inside of me, my Inner Self was going stir-crazy; practically foaming in the mouth as she punched the shit out of the walls of my skull; screaming and lashing out at me for being so... so selfish as to keep this guy ignorant of my distress.
"Aah," said Kiba, nodding his head in a mixture of both satisfaction and understanding. "Sorry about that. But, Sakura, you just have no idea what I'm going through right now."
Oh, yes I do.
Kiba's sister, Hana, made it crystal clear exactly what he was going through when she pulled me over to one side and spoke to me in a brisk, confidential tone of voice the day before, "Sakura-san, you must understand, if my brother doesn't get his way with you – if you continue not allowing him to mate you – you both are going to suffer the consequences."
"And that would be?" I had said at the time, a hazy expectation coming to mind.
"Death." Her voice was sharp and ominous; reminding me of how insignificant I was when it came to the prestigious clan's inner workings and traditions. "In your case, because, trust me, when an Inuzuka loses control, anyone but himself would be on the losing end."
...So, yes, basically. I do know what Kiba was going through. I understood perfectly what was going on when he initiated more contact with me than he had previously tried before; when his eyes glazed over me almost affectionately, his fingers hesitant as they hovered over certain parts of me, as if contemplating whether he should break the sacred wall that stood between us.
"Very well, then, I'll do whatever is necessary of me," was my final reply for when Hana had jabbed me for an affirmation to the cause.
"Good," said Hana, giving me a curt nod not unlike Kiba's own just a couple of seconds ago. "Make sure you do soon, because I don't think my little brother is in the capacity to... withhold himself from his basic needs much longer."
A nod from me, a bow, a wave of goodbye, and the rest is history.
Even as I gave her my word, I knew in truth that I would never bring myself to do what she was asking me for – I would never allow myself to mate with Kiba anytime soon. And the dream I had last night pretty much confirmed it. The feelings I thought were no longer there still existed – my love for Sasuke, though not as obsessive as it was before (and I admit this to you now for the mere reason being that it is a fact), certainly remained throughout the progress of age. They were simply pent-up and hidden from everyone; from me, even; to such an extent that I had deluded myself with the belief that I had moved on.
"I'm going to die," I said to myself, almost resolutely, as I left the conversation I had with Hana the other day and bumped into Kiba, announcing that I was ready to leave. "Let's go. Pronto," I had snapped, pale-in-the-face and almost zombie-like as I made my exit.
"Die, die, die, you're going to die," the haunting mantra had played; over and over again like a blood-curling melody, all the rest of the way through our journey yesterday whilst Kiba seemed to be caught up in his own world and Naruto remained just as ignorant and gullible as ever. "Death before your birthday. Death before your dreams. Death before marriage, even. Haruno Sakura, you're going to die."
Despite having faith in my own abilities, I knew as well as any other that when it came to bloodline limit, I was no match – there were no geniuses in the Haruno clan, no long line of outstanding abilities, no impressive history to support my powers. What I had, I worked hard for, and while I was now finally acknowledged as a somebody in Konoha, when push came to shove, I had to face the fact that I would never compare to anyone as prestigious as the Inuzuka clan's most sacred technique.
"Sakura, are you there?"
Kiba's voice broke me out of my long reverie; snapping me to my senses.
"Wh—yes, yes, sorry, I guess I must've dosed off a bit," I offered him a little hastily. "What were you saying again?"
Kiba looked confused as he fixed me with a frown. "Are you sure you're alright? You're pretty out of character today, Sakura. I mean, not that I'm not used to stuff like this; but I'd usually expect this sort of thing coming from Hinata-chan, not you."
"I'm fine," I stressed further, stepping out of reach from the hand he was about to extend to my forehead. "I just needed some air – you know, to cool off from everything. But I promise, I'm fine now. So don't worry, you aren't going to have to turn back anytime soon and ask for a third member to complete the party."
"That's not what I was worried about, Sakura." The way he looked at me, that serene gaze that I never expected to see coming from Kiba of all people, made my heart ooze to the floor. With his frown still in place, he told me very sincerely, "Believe it or not, I – I'm really starting to care for you. And Naruto, he cares for you more than you can imagine. So... if you were to get hurt or something, I don't think I'd – he'd; WE'D – ever forgive ourselves. So... so if you're not okay, just tell me... alright?"
I froze in my place.
For Kiba to have said that; and the way he put it; it was like he was basically telling me that he...?
I gulped down the rising apprehension in my throat and switched to my defence mechanism-mode so immediately that it left me feeling a little dizzy in the head a while later. "We should go," was my habitual escape route; those three easy words that herded me out of sticky situations such as these. "Naruto will be waiting for us."
From behind me, I heard Kiba sigh, and, silently, the two of us made back for camp; both acting as if nothing had happened between us; like a new step in our relationship hadn't just transpired, Kiba hadn't practically confessed a new-found love towards me, and I hadn't just straightforwardly rejected him.
For six long hours, nothing out of the ordinary happened to break us out of our stride.
Like the ninjas we were trained to be, we flitted across the trees with ease; Naruto leading the way, me and Akamaru in the middle, and Kiba, still gloomy from our talk earlier, taking up back flank. In a way, we made a good team – after losing a couple of unretainable hours from my little episode this morning, Naruto was eager to cover the extra ground; and the rest of us had no complaints; after all, I wasn't all that ready for the night time when Kiba would have to sneak in with me and a repetition of the night before would have to begin all over again.
"Stop!" cried Naruto all of a sudden, skidding to a halt in his tracks and forcing us to do the same; our every muscle tense in preparation for his next order. "There's someone in the forest."
Despite making a name for himself for being the loudest ninja in Konoha, among our circle of shinobi, we knew well enough that when the time called for it, Naruto could be awfully dependable. When he said that there was someone in the forest, there was most definitely someone in the forest, and more often than not, that someone had hell to offer, because Uzumaki Naruto didn't just stop for anyone.
"I know that scent," hissed Kiba, sniffing the air in with an upturned nose; his brown eyes narrowed in what I figured was disgust. By his side, Akamaru was taking defensive position and growling aggressively. "It's—"
Before sense could be made of the situation, I found myself being pummelled to the earth.
All around me, my teammates were yelling their own ferocious battle cries.
What happened then was so fast and so sudden that I hardly managed to comprehend anything. All I knew was that I was in trouble, my team was being attacked, and I had to fight back. My hands flying into seals I barely recognized in my haste, I released a fireball from my lips and blew it out to my attacker, screaming, "Katon, Gokakyu no Jutsu!" as I leaped into the air and did some complicated twists for a better angle.
His form covered in the darkness of a hooded sweater, all I could make of the enemy was that it was a definite male, and judging from how lithely he avoided the hot fire I had precisely aimed at him, he was, no doubt, very capable in his field of play – whatever that may be.
"He must be one of the rogue assassins!" I had just enough time to think before having to flip over again and dodge an incoming array of shuriken. "So much for just being a civilian!"
Cursing my luck and my mentor's bad judgement, I focused a shot of chakra down my fists and released it at the precise moment in time for the unleash of my greatest offensive skill – my raw, brutal fists.
BAM!
Instead of attacking the rogue-nin as I had intended to, the unfortunate tree to have taken the impact of my punch was blown to smithereens and a flurry of leaves and crushed bark started raining down on me.
"Hn, impressive," was my enemy's callous words as he escaped the harm of my smash with an almost liquid ease. "And here I thought you'd be useless."
Shivers ran down my spinal cord from the enemy's monotonous voice – something about the way he said it, the voice itself even, seemed to irk me as I gritted my teeth into my most fearsome snarl and shot back at him, "If you think I'm impressive now, just wait until you see my true ability!"
A strange sound came from behind the mask of my mysterious rival-nin; the sound of a sneer, most likely. "Go ahead then," he said tonelessly, though the dripping hints of doubt was obvious in his every word. "Surprise me."
'YEAH, show him, SHANNARO!' cheered Inner Me in my mind, punching her imaginary fists in the air in a show mock-enthusiasm. 'Show him how much of a pushover we're NOT!'
"My pleasure," I replied, drawing chakra down to the soles of my feet, springing forward in an unpredictable burst of speed, and tackling the masked shinobi down from where he wasn't ready for it.
In a mass of limbs and cuts and bruises, we were both then spiralling to the earth; his eyes, from even behind the mask, I could tell were now wide open – I had gotten his attention now.
"Don't call me weak," I hissed, the beginnings of a chakra-infused punch at the ready as I balled my hands into fists and steadied my aim to his jaw.
"Prove otherwise," he muttered, before he kicked me off with an 'oof' of pain on my end, drew up into the canopy of leaves up above, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
I hit the floor with a resounding crash; the feeling of skin ripping apart and bones crushing over marking an end to a terribly off day.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's voice approached me just a second or so later, his crystalline eyes filled with worry. "I saw you were attacked and I wanted to help you but I—SAKURA-CHAN, YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
Thank you, captain obvious! I so painfully wanted to spit at him, but chose not to for the sake of storing my energy. "Just help me up," I said instead, still broken and limp from the impact of my fall. "I can heal myself later."
Naruto nodded frantically and with great delicacy bent over to cup me in his hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he began mumbling in his usual panic. "I should have been there but I was attacked and I called out to you and the guy kept blocking me in my path and when I saw you made the Katon Gokyaku no Jutsu I figured you were doing okay but I-!"
"Shut up, Naruto," I wheezed between breaths, forcing a smile out of myself despite everything. "You did everything you could. Stop feeling guilty about yourself and let me down so that I can patch myself up."
With a nod and the same worried expression lining his face, I was set gently down against a tree; Naruto crouched down next to me for accompaniment, staring at my healing process like he himself was in the process of recovering from a ghost-encounter. "Sakura-chan, I'm sorry," he would mumble every now and then when he saw I would wince from the pain of my recovery. "I should've been there..."
I bit back the yell that threatened to escape my lips – the scream that wanted to tell this boy off for being so god-damn worried about me all the time. The scream that wanted everybody to just stop treating me like I was some pathetic damsel in distress. Really, was I that useless?
The words of the masked shinobi had sparked an animosity in me earlier. When he had called me weak, I just wanted to go ballistic on him; and only when I saw his eyes widen in fear did I feel a mounting satisfaction. For a second there, before he had disappeared from me so unpredictably as he did, I had caught him off guard – I wasn't just a mop of pink hair and feminine features. It felt so... good to feel in control for once.
With one hand still nursing the bones that protruded out of my kneecaps, the other tightened in fury. "I'll grow stronger," I said to myself while Naruto was preoccupied with his own guilt. "I'll grow even stronger than I am now and prove to them – all of them – that I'm no weakling. I'll show that ninja, and Naruto and Kiba, too, that I'm no pushover. Even if I have to die in the process."
With the last sentence came a flash of what I imagined to be the nearby future: me and Kiba, face to face; though his face wasn't one I was typically accustomed to. It was fierce and animalistic and it bore the need to rip me apart and leave me as a bleeding pile of has-been human on the floor.
Speaking (or, in this case, thinking) of Kiba however, where was he?
I paused in my fury, sitting up with a straight back to survey my surroundings.
Worry started to flood my senses and my mind began working on overdrive. There was so much I could do to help myself from getting up and hysterically searching the area from top to bottom, regardless of the pain that shot up through my limbs like tiny explosions, and the blood that leaked from every inch of me, staining my attire.
KIBA! My mind screamed frenetically. KIBA! KIBA!
"Here..." muttered Kiba, almost like an answer to my mental calls; just as broken and as in bad condition as I was – perhaps even more so – as he limped into our viewpoint supported by a wounded Akamaru and collapsed against an opposite tree bark, his dark lids fluttering to stay conscious and his chest rising and falling in desperate heaves.
"Kiba, what happened?" cried Naruto, rising to his feet and helping Kiba lift himself up to a more proper position.
"Here..." continued Kiba, his voice so deadly close to a whisper that my whole being went numb at the anticipation of his incoming words. "He's... here..."
"Who's here, damn it?" Naruto egged on, angry and impertinent as usual.
Dark brown eyes lifted to meet my own frightened green ones in a clash of epic proportions. A strained pause lingered in the air before our eye-contact was finally broken and Kiba turned to glare at the ground in front of him instead. Barely any time was given for me to register the situation and allow things to better sink in before his lips ripped apart and a growl so bestial escaped him; the first sightings of Inuzuka Kiba's dark side that I would forever look back at with fear;
"Uchiha," he rumbled, not daring to look up and bare to me his dilated pupils and canine fangs. "Uchiha Sasuke."
And if there was ever a more suitable choice of words to describe how I felt at that moment, it was always bitter and always sarcastic -
Why me?
Author's Note: Dun, dun, dun! And so the true plot begins whereby Uchiha Sasuke makes his appearance, Sakura is as torn and confused and as messed up as ever, Inuzuka Kiba is in love and jealous and Uzumaki Naruto is, umm, lost? Not only that, but the clock is ticking for our two mismatched lovebirds to get 'things done' or else face the ugly consequences.
Will a mating scene ever happen? Will Sakura finally just drop the whole Sasuke ordeal and deal with her priorities? Will humor still somehow be incorporated into the mix?
Like I've said earlier on in the author's note before, please take a look (as well as follow!) my public blog for some updates on how far my story has gotten. Also, I'm thinking of doing an in-depth analysis on my current progress, so do look into that later as well. My blog can be found on my fanfiction profile page.
And before you get on about it, yes, I know, the ending was rushed, the characters were a little off, and, I do very much realize that I tried too hard to squeeze in some plot to this chapter; but can you blame me? The burden of trying to get an update done was seriously taking a toll on my normal life. No exaggeration here, people – I suffered some major bouts of depression every time the thought came to mind (and trust me, it came often) that I hadn't kept my promise. Argh. Stress.
Review, please!
