Hey everyone. I am back with another chapter and I have decided to switch to the first person POV. Thanks for your help Zurrick; I hope I get it right! So let me know how I did! Chapter 10! ^^
(I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I only accept credit for the plot of this story.)
~Flashbacks~
~Thoughts~
{Previously}
Kenji greeted them with a bark as Sakura lay there. Slowly, Sakura's head turned to meet the noise. Her eyes locked with Ino's before flickering over to Temari. Ino stepped further into the room and gauged the two's reaction carefully. "Hey Sakura…this is my friends and former partner, Temari. Temari, this is my new friends and partner, Sakura." The silence that loomed over was suffocating. Neither seemed to pay Ino any attention, as they just seemed to be in some sort of internal battle. Ino began to speak before the silence was disrupted by Temari.
"I don't like you."
"Tch, ditto."
Ino gave an annoyed groan; she was screwed and big time.
Chapter 10
Ino's POV
What the hell was I thinking? Of course, my hopes of the two of them being civilized with one another just blew up right in my face. I had hoped Temari would have been the mature one here but again I had been proved wrong. Looking between the both of them, I rubbed the back of my neck tiredly. I had to break this and fast.
"Alright, guys we just met. No need for the hostility. We can all be mature here, right?" Both Temari and Sakura looked at me as if I had just grown a second head. Reaching up, I patted my neck, sighing in relief that there was no additional growth. Stupid thought, but whatever.
This time Sakura was the first to speak as she sat up. Long pink locks cascading down her shoulders, slightly messy from leaning against the chair. Her eyes met mine briefly before trailing over to Temari's as she gave a sigh. Standing up, she walked over to the both of us and I stepped closer in case I needed to intervene.
Sakura gave me a weird look before clearing her throat. "Look…" she paused and I noticed how serious her tone had gotten. It was a bit frightening and did not suit her. Despite how aggressive she had been to me in the beginning, seeing her child-like and carefree side just seemed…I don't know…more fitting? I shook my thoughts away as I listened to her continue.
"Obviously…we're getting off on the wrong foot here. Ino is right. We barely know each other and coming off as a snarky bitch isn't going to solve anything." I felt Temari flinch beside me as she clenched her jaw. She was clearly losing her cool and was not in the mood to hear any of what Sakura was saying. Scowling, I looked over at Sakura as she continued.
"Let's get straight to the point. We both have connections to Ino and if she plans to keep both of us then we need to at least attempt to get along. For her sake." I felt Temari relax beside me as Sakura finished. Sakura rubbed the back of her neck and with a groan, extended her hand in Temari's direction. Temari only stared at her hand before shooting me a look. Giving her a knowing look of my own, she huffed and quickly grasped Sakura's hand.
"Nice to meet you Temari. I'm Sakura Haruno." Sakura nodded and Temari did the same before reciprocating the gesture. "Ah, nice to meet you too Sakura. I'm Temari Subaku." I watched as the two of them shook hands. Upon further observation, I noticed how the veins beneath their skin seemed to throb as their knuckles turned white. Rolling my eyes, I intervened.
"Great. Now that we're all introduced…" I paused to push them apart. Grinning, I continued, "…Sakura…I'm gonna go get Temari settled in." Sakura seemed to be ignoring me as she and Temari were locked in a stare off to the death. Clearing my throat, Sakura broke the trance first and nodded. "Ah." Stepping away, I watched as she stiffly sat upon the couch.
I heard Temari snicker as I punched her none too lightly in the arm. "Enough. I'm not through with you. Let's go." I muttered as I brushed past her, knowing that she'd be following me. Taking the elevator, we entered the common room as I began unlocking the door. "Konoha's got money I see." I heard Temari whistle as she looked around. "Oh I'll definitely be visiting you more often."
Frowning I snatched her by the arm and yanked her in. Slamming the door behind me, I swirled around quickly to face her. "What the fuck is your problem!" I snapped at her and she rolled her eyes and fell back on my bed. "What?" I mentally slapped my forehead. "Don't play games with me. Don't come off as a total bitch right away!" Temari sat up as she scratched her head.
"Look, you told me how much she was being an ass to you. Can you blame me for not liking her?" She mumbled under her breath and I paused. I guess I really couldn't argue with that. Sakura had been acting like a complete jerk and that's all I told Temari. I never once mentioned how Sakura confided in me and tried to apologize. It still didn't change anything.
"Temari…I know what I told you but Sakura…she's….she's different now." Temari snorted at my comment and I resisted the urge to strangle her. When did she become so difficult to deal with? "She lost her partner and girlfriend who I just so happened to look like and it made her kind of flip off on me." I tried reasoning but Temari wasn't having any of it. "So I guess that's a perfectly logical reason for her to treat you like shit and slam you into her car. Bullshit Ino, I don't like her."
"Temari honestly. Ugh…I can't even deal with you right now." I threw my hands up in frustration. I wasn't getting anywhere with her. Sakura had been the one to initiate the act of maturity. Maybe talking to her would give me a peace of mind. Standing and making my way to the door, I wasn't surprised in the least when I felt Temari tug on my wrist. "Babe…" Nope. Whatever it was she was playing at, I wanted nothing to do with it.
"Let go." I grumbled none too nicely.
"Babe listen."
"Don't you 'babe listen' me!" I seethed. Unsure of where the sudden burst of rage had come from. Snatching my hand from her grip, I left my room to go see how Sakura was holding up.
Sakura's POV
Bitch.
First word that popped into my head the very minute that Temari chick opened her mouth. I had planned to act like a semi-decent human being. Honestly!
Probably would have introduced myself and gave a nice smile and all that annoying crap when you meet someone for the first time. But no. The minute she told me she didn't like me, I found myself with a serious case of the "fuck-its" and told her I didn't like her.
It probably didn't do me any good after I had just gotten on Ino's good graces. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she came down here and punched me square in the face. Something about Temari just made me suspicious. Her presence seemed to unnerve me and it felt like something was off. I didn't have any fucking clue as to what it was but it didn't matter.
"I'll figure it out soon enough." I whispered softly.
Or so I had thought. I was snapped from my thoughts to see Ino approaching my direction. "You'll figure out what?" She asked innocently. Gauging her appearance, she looked a bit irritable. Probably that stupid Temari's fault. Dismissing my thoughts, I shook my head as I folded back into the couch.
"Nothing. Just thinking about if there was something important I have to do before our evaluation in an hour." Ino gave me a look. I wasn't sure if she had believed me or not but she simply shrugged and took a seat next to me.
"So uh…that's Temari." She huffed, raking her fingers through her long blonde hair. Her normally bright blue eyes were a bit dull. She looked tired. I didn't dwell on it too much though.
"Came here to chew me out about my comment earlier?" I saw her lips twitch slightly in a half smile. "Not really. I actually…c-came here to check…on you." Her voice broke slightly as she rubbed the back of her neck with a sigh. I'm sure I was giving her some sort of stupid look so I averted my gaze to the TV. "Ch-check on m-me?" I gulped nervously. Oh yeah, real smooth Haruno.
She nodded silently. "What for?" I asked, this time the question came out more relaxed. "Well, I just wanted to make sure Temari hadn't gotten to you too much. She can be a bit much…at time." At this, I couldn't help but snort.
"A bit? You clearly weren't picking up on the obvious "I'm going to make your life a living hell" vibe she was throwing." Ino shot me an annoyed glare and I merely shrugged. "Ino…despite the fact that she initiated and I played into it a bit. I'm not going to disrespect her considering she's a close friend of yours. So this…is me apologizing."
I didn't meet her gaze and I didn't have to. What did eventually cause me to look over was the soft laughter that broke the brief silence. "Idiot." She giggled and I frowned, not sure what was so funny. Obviously, I wasn't doing a good job of looking menacing as she only laughed more. She stopped when she realized that I was still confused as shit.
"You…Sakura Haruno…are a complete contradiction." She grinned and I raised an amused brow, urging her to continue as I shifted in my seat. "When I first met you, you were brash, completely irrational, stubborn and immature." Geez, and here I thought she was here trying to check and make sure I was okay. Not make me sound like a complete ass. I started to retort smartly but she cut me off as she pressed a finger to my lips.
Widening my eyes, I relaxed as she pulled it away slowly. The scent from her hands lingered in my nostrils and I suddenly found myself missing it. "But…you're always apologizing for things." Well that wasn't what I was expecting her to say. "It's like…I don't know…it's admirable and sad at the same time."
Did she just call me sad? Bitch.
Rolling her eyes, she flicked me in the forehead. "Not like that idiot. What I mean is…you always seem to be beating yourself up over things that you have no control over. Sometimes you just have to accept that things happen. You don't have to apologize if it wasn't your fault."
I sighed. I really didn't want to go back to that conversation. I still needed to accept that it wasn't my fault that Reika died. Thinking about it too much just wasn't good for me right now. Suddenly, Ino's presence wasn't helping anymore. Standing I made my way over to the elevators as I felt her eyes watch me.
"Where are you going?" She called softly from behind me, realizing that she had followed me.
"To get ready for our evaluation. You should too." I felt her tug on my wrist as I cast my gaze back towards her, watching as she chewed her lip nervously.
"Meet me outside the simulation room in fifteen minutes?" She asked, gaining the courage to face me.
Chuckling I nodded as I patted her head.
"Ah."
Ino's POV
For an unbeknownst reason, I was excited. I grinned as I shrugged her hand off my head, huffing slightly. Sakura only chuckled more as we rode up the elevator in silence. As we stepped off, I heard a slight noise. Grumbling? No…more like growling? I glanced at Sakura who seemed to have heard it too, brushing past me and rushing into our common room.
"Kenji?" She called out.
That's when I noticed. The large wolf that would've been hard to miss wasn't downstairs when I went to go see Sakura. He must've been went up to her room when I was arguing at Temari. But that didn't answer why he was growling.
I watched as Sakura scanned into her room before cursing loudly. Rushing in, I paused as I took in the scene before me. Temari was there. She was standing by Sakura's desk, slowly removing her hand from one of the drawers. Sakura stood at the foot of her bed. One of her fists were clenched tightly as the other clenched the silver chain that was wrapped around Kenji's neck.
Kenji was barking furiously, tugging at Sakura's grip but to no avail. She didn't even budge. It made me wonder just how strong she was. I took it Sakura's expression as her eyes were narrowed dangerously and she had her teeth clenched. I rushed to her side standing in front of her as she shoved me aside.
"Please tell me why the fuck you are in my room? And why I shouldn't let Kenji tear you to fucking pieces!" She snarled, Kenji jumping, as he tried to tug out from Sakura's hold. Temari's eyes met mine as she smirked. "There you are Ino. I was wondering when you were coming back." She took a step towards me as Sakura stepped forward, yanking Kenji back and mumbling something as she laid down, still growling.
"Don't ignore my fucking question!" Sakura was getting heated and whatever Temari was going to say next better be good if she wasn't trying to die today.
"I don't answer to you." Temari scoffed bumping Sakura's shoulder as she tried to walk past before Sakura pinned her to the wall. My eyes widened as Sakura gripped Temari's throat, squeezing mercilessly and Temari whipped out a small dagger, aiming it at Sakura's abdomen.
I had to stop this before someone really did end up dead.
"Guys that's enough! Both of you! Calm down!" I was heaving; it took about half my oxygen capacity to scream at them. "Temari, put your knife away! Sakura, let go of her!" For a second I thought they hadn't heard me. That was until Sakura shakily pulled away and Temari slipped her dagger into the holster on her jeans. They both looked ready to snap but slowly Sakura backed away. For another second, I thought that they had calmed down.
Temari just had to push it as she took a challenging step towards Sakura and slapped her roughly across the face. The resounding crack scared me and I almost thought Sakura's neck was broken the way her head shifted to the side. "Just cause your bitch died doesn't mean you can go around treating everyone else like they're your bitch." Temari practically spat at Sakura as my jaw hung loosely.
I watched carefully as Sakura stood there. I don't know how long I waited for her to do something before she finally did.
She turned to face Temari, her breath evening out as she sighed silently. Temari smirked and I knew that she had just signed her death wish. "Don't tell me you're gonna cr—" Temari was cut off as she crashed into the wall behind me. I jumped out of shock as noticed as Sakura walked over and punched Temari again square in the jaw.
"Sakura stop!" I screamed. Scared couldn't even scratch the surface of how I was feeling. Temari struggled getting in a couple of hits but Sakura clearly had the upper hand. They tussled around on the floor as Sakura managed to get up and toss Temari off her. Scrambling over to her desk, she yanked open one of the drawers and yanked something out.
The minute she pulled it out, my blood ran cold.
Sakura's POV
Screw it all to hell. I wasn't going to sit here like some bitch and let her talk to me like that. I had ways of settling my problems. They hadn't failed me before, and they weren't going to fail me this time either.
I heard Ino gasp in shock and I pulled the silver pistol from my drawer. Sure she pulled a knife on me…I was fully aware of the fact that a gun wasn't a fair fight. But what did I care? Oh right…I didn't.
Ino looked like she was going to have a heart attack. Quickly she bolted from the room and I couldn't bring myself to care. So I walked over to Temari slowly. I grinned with a sadistic satisfaction as she shakily stood to her feet, her jaw swollen and skin bruised with a bit of blood dripping from her lip. Yanking her forward by her shirt collar, I winced.
She had managed to get me too. Not as bad as I got her but it still hurt. My cheek stung and it's throbbing was becoming a nuisance. She had twisted my arm painfully and it burned too much for my liking. Noticing my pain, Temari had the audacity to laugh in my face.
I guess I didn't fuck her up enough.
Smirking, I took my pistol and swung it clear across her face. Pointing it at her chest, I flicked the safety off. Temari spat the blood from her mouth and breathed heavily. My eyes narrowed as I assessed the situation. Was this really a good idea? Was I really going to sit here and shoot her? Sure I was. Why not right?
Temari choose that moment to open her mouth. A rather unwise decision if you ask me. Chuckling she leaned her head back, resting it against the wall. Scowling, I pressed the gun further against her chest. "What are you waiting for Haruno? Go on, shoot me." She spat coldly, her tone changing drastically. It was at that moment that Ino came back.
Unfortunately, she wasn't alone.
Sasuke and Tenten stood there, eyes locked on me and Temari's little war scene. Sasuke sighed as he stepped slowly into the room, pushing Ino behind him. Tenten walked over as the both of them stood to my left and right. "Sakura…put it down." Sasuke said slowly, his normally cocky tone replaced with one of complete seriousness.
Tenten nodded as she gently gripped my wrist. "It's not worth it Sakura. Enough." She tugged my wrist down slowly, releasing it as she felt me doing the same. Sasuke walked around in front of me. "Breathe." The one word statement fell from his lips as I nodded.
My hands dropped to my side completely. The gun hung loosely as I grudgingly obeyed. Sighing, I glanced at Temari as I inhaled deeply. Sucking in a breath of oxygen, I relaxed before exhaling and nodding.
"Better?" Sasuke asked, I found myself nodding silently.
Ino chose this moment to walk around to try and get to Temari, but she stopped. I hadn't really noticed why before I felt myself tackled into the ground. Wincing, I heard Ino scream along with Tenten and Sasuke's curses. I felt one good hit at my stomach as I coughed up blood. I thrusted my back up, launching Temari off of me as I tried to reach my gun that had slipped from my hands. I heard voices urging me to stop but they droned out as it just became her and me. Our limbs tangled together before we both grabbed at the gun.
Minutes later, a single gunshot rang out through the room and I felt a piecing pang in my shoulder.
Well, I hope it wasn't a complete fail. That was my first attempt at a first person POV for this story. I hope it was to your liking. As always, read and review! ^^