I Do Not Own Naruto

Chapter 9

Sakura walked back to her apartment to find Sasuke reading on the couch, he looked up when she walked in and she smiled broadly.

"We have help," she informed him and he lifted his brow as he set aside the book and sat up from where he was laying on the couch, she dropped the paper of brainstorm ideas in his lap then and he looked it over as he followed her into the kitchen. She pulled out her dango, which she had been saving for a good day and today was definitely a good day.

"Ino?" he questioned.

"Do not question the women," she said between mouthfuls of her dango. "We're right, and if you want this to work, you will not read Icha Icha or ask Sai to help us," she said firmly.

"Sakura, why would I take Hinata to the summer festival, it defeats the purpose of setting her up with Naruto," Sasuke pointed out as she sat at the table.

"Because I am taking Naruto to the festival and we'll meet up and get separated from them leaving them together. Hinata's not allowed alone in the festival, and Naruto; even if he's as oblivious as a frickin' rock, will not leave Hinata alone; he's too nice like that. Then you and I part ways and you can do whatever it is you want to do on the night of the festival and I'll be hanging out with Ino and Sai," she smiled. The outline of the plan would work, but Sasuke had to not get Sai involved. Besides, it wasn't as if the festival would be disastorous and blow up in their faces in some catastrophe; it was the annual summer festival that the village held and nothing ever went wrong at this festival.

"Ah," he nodded.

"What's wrong?" she asked then seeing as how he wasn't interested in what she was planning. He looked at her and stood up, he returned a second later as he handed her the paper. Sakura looked at him and then looked at the paper as she slowly started reading it over. Her eyes widened and her jaw went slack as she stared at him then.

"When did you get this?" she sputtered out.

"It was in this morning's mail," he answered as he glared at the paper as if it were the bane of his existence.

"They can't be serious, that place has been abandoned since that night!" she gasped.

"Very serious, and if I do not have it up to standards to the Hyūga Clan's specifications within the month I will be fined the amount on the bottom of the page," Sasuke grumbled and she looked at the numbers on the bottom of the page then.

"Holy shit!" she yelped at the numbers then and then looked back at him. "Sasuke, my parents don't even have that is savings, and even combined we couldn't pay this fine off in incriments!"

"The Uchiha clan has this much and more in reserves, but I do not want to live there," Sasuke spat out and she sighed as she let the letter fall onto the table. She often times forgot Sasuke did not come from her class, he was in a class all of his own from a prestigious clan and everything. He was a prince living life as a pauper because her family had taken him in.

"Well, you're going to have to," she snapped. His eyes narrowed on her and she folded her arms as she scowled back at him.

"You know my family is not able to afford or pay for, this," Sakura pointed out.

"But I can afford the fine," he countered.

"I know, but for how long, and besides, you were always going to have to live there again when you started rebuilding your clan, aren't the old clans all about tradition and honor and family and all that nonsense?" she asked.

"And what about the new clans?" he challenged.

"Hey, don't look at me, I'm the first shinobi of my family; ever, and if I wasn't a shinobi I'd be a baker, and I'd be poor and on the street the moments my parents passed on," she pointed out flatly which had him smirking.

"Which is why you're a shinobi," he pointed out.

"No, I'm a shinobi so I could keep up with being able to kick your ass," she replied cheekily.

"I still do not want to live there," Sasuke snarled out.

"Sasuke, what if…" she pondered her next offer carefully as she mulled it over in her head. "What if I lived with you, at least until the wedding, or until Naruto and Hinata elope and then you don't have to live there," she offered.

"You want to live at the Uchiha compound?" he asked her icily.

"No, but I don't want to pay this fine," she huffed out as she folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. Sasuke groaned.

"Why the hell did it have to be a Hyūga?" he asked.

"That's a stupid question, especially with your kekkei genkai," she pointed out flatly and he glared at her as they sat there.

"This had better work," he grumbled.

"Well, there's a fifty-fifty shot at this failing, but we never know until we try," Sakura pointed out. "In the meantime, I'll alert my parents that we're moving again, and I'm keeping the apartment."

"Hn," he grunted as she stood up and walked to the door again.

"Sasuke, this will all either work out or blow up in our faces, but it could be worst," Sakura pointed out as she opened the door.

"How?" he snapped.

"We could be in the arranged marriage," she joked and left him behind as she went to notify her parents about the move. She took the letter with her and she jogged to the bakery before Sasuke could yell at her for her painful joke. He would never know that she loved him, and she was intending to keep it that way.


Sasuke stared at the shut door and he couldn't help but feel that there was something there he wasn't privy to knowing. He had known Sakura was hiding something behind that joke, he didn't know what she was hiding as he sat there and stared at the table and felt like banging his head against the wall with her and her secrets.

It was funny, the person he was probably closest to he didn't know everything about. She was easily the most baffling woman he had ever me in his life and he was usually left stumbling after her when he tried to figure her out.

However, it wasn't often that he was trying to figure her out, mostly because they had come to a sort of understanding that when they wanted to tell each other what was going on with themselves they would. With this in mind he reached over and picked up the paper which had Sakura's handwriting scrawled about it as he read over her writing as he thought over what was on this plane. She was at least helping him out with this attempt to get Hinata and Naruto together.


That's all for now folks!

Enjoy Rid of the Monsters! =)