AAAHHH!!!! 129 reviews!!! YES!! WOOT!
I was gonna update yesterday but I had a meeting to attend. Even now I'm kinda questioning updating since there's a 'Dave The Barbarian' marathon on toon Disney. God, I love that show! Thanks for the reviews, much love.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto yet –sigh- But I have successfully managed to kidnap Neji! Yes!
Oh yes, keep in mind that I am not very familiar with the Japanese culture. I don't know their foods, clothes, nothing. So… yeah. Heh heh.
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The following morning was incredibly awkward… for Sakura at least. Sasuke calmly seated himself at the table and ate his bowl of cereal. Sakura constantly fidgeted and stole glances at her calm husband.
He looked up at her in annoyance. "What?"
She blinked in surprise. "What?"
He glared "What?"
"What?" Sakura paused "I mean, what do you mean by what?"
"What's wrong with you? You're acting weird."
"Weird? I'm not acting weird! What would make you think that I'm acting weird?" she asked in a high squeaky voice. To top it all off she added a nervous chuckle.
He sighed before returning to his bowl. Sakura sighed in relief, that was close. She could only imagine the embarrassment she'd experience if he found out about last night. Her cheeks turned red at the thought.
Sasuke gave a smirk. He wondered if she was thinking about the incident. His smirk turned into a small grin.
A knock on the door interrupted both of their thoughts. "I'll get it!" they both jumped up.
"No, you finish your cereal!" Sakura cried.
"I'll get it!"
They both pushed past each other to answer the door. They reached the door in unison and swung it open as hard as possible. Unfortunately due to Sakura's inhumane strength the force of their pulls caused the door to be yanked off it's hinges and fly into the living room.
Naruto where the door once was with his jaw dropped.
"Um, hello?" he squeaked nervously.
"What do you want?" Sasuke snarled at the same time that Sakura said "Hi Naruto-kun!"
"Hi Sakura-Chan!" Naruto waved happily while giving his biggest grin. "Old Grandma Tsunade wants to meet Sasuke at her office. She said to bring Sakura while you're at it."
Sasuke nodded before swinging his arm to close the door. He then remembered that his door was currently lodged into the opposite wall. "Damn." He grabbed a couch and propped it up against the door frame.
"I'll see you then!" Naruto's muffled voice cheerily cried.
"Bye Naruto-kun!" Sakura smiled before turning to her angry husband. "I guess I should find a door repair guy, huh?"
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At the Hokage's office Sasuke noted the small gathering. Besides himself and Sakura, Hinata and Shino stood alongside them. He raised an eyebrow; he hoped that he wouldn't have a mission with them. Sasuke personally didn't mind the shy Hyuga; she was nice and not bothersome. However, he did feel a dislike for Shino 'bug boy' Aburame. His eye twitched at the mere sight of him.
Sakura on the other hand was just as happy to see them as she was to see everyone else. "Hinata-Chan!" she cried hugging her friend "Shino-san! How are you?"
"F-fine."
"We are well, and you?"
She smiled brightly "Just as good as ever!"
The Hokage cleared her throat to catch the attention of the group. She leaned forward on her desk with a smug smirk on her face.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino you three are to go on a mission to-"
"Wait a minute!" Sakura cut in "What about me?"
Tsunade motioned for her to be silent before continuing. "This is another typical escort mission. A rich ruler in the Village Hidden in the Grass needs you to escort his daughter back home. She was brought here a month ago for 'diplomatic purposes' so she needs a safe escort back. Especially since there are Ninja from the Sound abroad. You are to take her back home and remain at her home for a week to make sure she's safe. Understand? The rest of the details are in this scroll."
She flicked he wrist lazily sending the scroll spinning safely into Sasuke's hands. "Escort a girl huh? How hard can it be?" he asked casually.
Tsunade chose to ignore him. "Send in the client!" she yelled.
The door opened to reveal an attractive young woman with long black locks tied up in an elegant bun. She wore a blue formal kimono with silver butterflies embroidered in it. She held a matching fan up to her face.
"Thank you, lady Hokage." She bowed.
"People," the said Hokage caught the shinobi's attention "This is princess Ayu, princess Ayu meet your bodyguards."
Ayu smiled politely at Shino and Hinata, her lavender eyes lit up at the sight of Sasuke. Sakura inwardly groaned, 'Not again!'
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She cooed, extending her hand gracefully towards the bored Uchiha.
He raised an eyebrow at her extended arm and shrugged. "Hn."
Sakura felt a strong sense of gratitude for his attitude. She inwardly danced for joy. Shino watched interaction and smirked from behind his huge jacket. Hinata smiled.
Shizune piled more papers in front of Tsunade's desk "These just came in." she whispered apologetically. She paused at the sight of Sakura's face.
"Why did you call me in?" Sakura folded her arms while eyeing the Hokage angrily.
Tsunade shrugged "I figured that Sasuke could just drag you along for fun."
"Lady Hokage," Sakura stood at attention "I would consider it a privilege if you would allow me to lead this mission."
The Hokage gave a brief grin before shaking her head.
"WHY NOT?" everyone winced as Sakura's voice rose several octaves "I mean, you are sending these three anbu off without a captain? I'm a captain, and I'm not involved in any other mission."
Sasuke nodded at her logic "She got you there."
Tsunade gave him a fierce glare before turning back to her pupil. "I'm sorry Sakura, I need you here. I did call you here for a purpose. I'd prefer to discuss it alone though." The look she gave her pupil told her that there was no need for further discussion. "Sasuke will lead this mission and take the position as captain for it."
Sakura sighed in defeat. Ayu watched the events with interest. She wondered why the sexy Uchiha cared whether pinky came or not.
Sakura's looked at the anbu sorrowfully. She glanced down at her anbu uniform. "And I was prepared too…" she pouted while giving the puppy dog eyes.
Hyuga Hinata approached her sad friend "There, there…" she said comfortingly "You ca-can al-always f-fight off fan girls lat-later."
"You're right."
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Sasuke's team stood at the gates to Konoha. The Uchiha smirked; he finally got to lead an anbu mission. Word was that Tsunade saw that he had many qualities that she was looking for in an anbu captain. He hoped to prove himself in this mission. Doing so would place him one step ahead of the annoying dobe.
"Sasuke-kun," Ayu said in a small cute voice "shouldn't we be leaving now?"
He resisted the urge to pimp slap her. "No."
She tried imitating Sakura's cute pout. "Why not?" Sasuke hated to admit it, but there was no compare.
"I'm waiting."
Shino nodded from behind the soon to be captain. "Please be patient Ayu-sama, we will be leaving shortly."
She turned to the Aburame and sighed. Fine, she could wait. After all, she'd still be with her new-found love.
The sound of someone running towards them caused the whole team to turn. Sasuke smirked at the approaching figure. "Finally, took you long enough."
"Shut up!" Sakura panted "It's not my fault you left your stupid sword on the table."
Ayu watched the interaction in curiosity and confusion. "Are you two related or something?" she asked pointing between the pair. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged an amused glance.
Sakura raised an eyebrow and smirked. Hinata sighed; Sasuke was definitely a huge influence on the girl. "No, not at all." Sakura laughed, "We're married."
Ayu's jaw dropped "You're…married…?" she looked hopelessly at Sasuke who gave her a brief shrug. Sakura merely responded by standing on her tiptoes and giving Sasuke a peck on the cheek "Good luck." She couldn't help but smirk at Ayu's reaction.
The first half of the trip was spent carrying Ayu's unconscious body.
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"Why did you want to talk to me?" Sakura asked the Hokage.
"Yeah, what's up?' Uzumaki folded his arms impatiently "You cut in the middle of my ramen time for some stupid meeting. This had better be important!"
Tsunade's hazel eyes flashed angrily "It is important, so just shut up!" she took a deep breath and calmed herself before facing Sakura.
"You remember the patient that I assigned to you and Hinata, right?" Tsunade asked slowly.
"You mean the one that was all torn up?" Tsunade nodded "Yes, he's not dead is he?"
The blonde sighed sadly before nodding her head. Sakura's eyes softened sadly, "oh." The two shared a brief moment of silence before Tsunade glanced up at her student. "He gave us some interesting information that may prove valuable for the safety of the village. We taped our past conversations with him."
She stretched out her hand; in it she held two tapes. "He was in such bad condition, that we could barely get him in the interrogation room. We had to hold it in his hospital room, the sound might be off but you'll get the full mean. The first one isn't that important, it's just basic questions like the time of the attack. The second however hold some very important information. Shizune!"
Her assistant hurried in and readily set up the tape player. She turned on the small television.
The Tape
On the screen there were three figures inside a hospital room. One on the bed, the other two standing. Sakura identified them as Ibiki and Tsunade.
"Tell us more about the attack," Tsunade said softly "Who did it to you?"
The figure on the bed groaned before leaning up slightly. "S…sound ninja… two of them…"
"Describe them for us." Ibiki's cold voice cut in swiftly. Tsunade turned to him before slowly nodding her approval.
"One… wore a mask…" the man's voice was small and weak. "The other… was a demon…."
Tsunade approached the man; her hands glowed as she activated a healing jutsu. "There, you should be able to speak a little more clearly. Please, describe this demon."
The man's body trembled visibly as he spoke. "He was… half man half demon. T-the right side… of his face was normal. He had silver hair…and dark soulless eyes… but the other half…" he trembled more.
Tsunade activated another healing jutsu which slowly calmed his spasms. "The other half?" she urged, her voice holding a hint of impatience.
"It was a monster!" the man yelled with sudden strength "His eye… oh his eye… it was golden, like a snake's." Tsunade and Ibiki exchanged a brief glance before nodding for him to continue. "Long…black hair… his ….he…. it was… Orochimaru."
"But you said half of hit had silver hair and black eyes." Ibiki pointed out "Please clarify."
"It was half Orochimaru… and half someone else…"
"Kabuto, Half Kabuto." Tsunade murmured.
The man's body stiffened before he collapsed. The tape quickly went to an end.
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"Well," Tsunade asked, "What do you two make of it?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes "Not much… it seems that h-"
"It's Kabuto alright." Naruto growled, his fists clenched and his eyes wide. "We met him when we went to retrieve Sasuke. This was after Sasuke killed that snake, remember?"
The other two slowly nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Kakashi sensei, Hinata-Chan, Shino, Kiba, and I met up with him when we split up. He said something about me helping him to change. Then he revealed that he did something to keep Orochimaru living on."
"Infused DNA?" Sakura asked.
The Hokage shook her head "I don't know, Orochimaru always did have those weird jutsu. He must've taught them to Kabuto somehow."
"No," Naruto cut in "It was all Kabuto. He wanted Orochimaru to live on in him."
"He what?" Sakura asked, her green eyes wide in amazement.
She listened as her friend quickly explained how they ran across him and almost engaged in battle. As she listened to the story she tapped a finger to her chin and looked skyward in her thinking position. Once finished she shook her head. "That's weird."
"Just keep an eye out for any information pertaining to the Sound's possible invasion." Tsunade spoke warningly "We don't know what those guys are up to, but we will stop them!"
"Roger!" With that, both Shinobi disappeared out of her office.
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"Ummm… hey Sakura-Chan?"
"What is it Naruto?"
"Do you…" the blonde scratched his head awkwardly "Want to go out for ramen or something?"
Sakura paused to stare at him. Naruto inwardly slapped himself. Here he was asking his MARRIED teammate out in the middle of the street like a moron. He watched as her face changed expressions.
"Uh, okay."
"REALLY?" his whole countenance brightened at the prospect of Sakura accepting a date.
"Naruto-kun…" Sakura sighed, "It's not like we've never gone out before. Just this time it's a-" she paused, searching for the right word "it's a FRIENDLY date. Got it?"
Naruto grinned as hard as he could "Yeah, yeah I got it!" he grabbed her arm "Let's go!"
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The next morning, Sakura groaned as she awoke. That night was one of the strangest nights ever. Her date with Naruto went fine, they kept their conversation casual and joked around for a while. Going to sleep was the strange thing. It felt weird sleeping without Sasuke's presence. She hugged herself, if the house was lonely before it was even lonelier now.
Rolling out of bed, she put on some slippers and thumped downstairs. "Forehead girl?" she heard someone call.
Racing down the rest of the stairs she was greeted by the sight of her best friend standing in the living room. "What are you doing in my house?" Sakura demanded "Can't you at least knock?"
"Um," Ino scratched her head "Okay." She walked over towards the door which was propped up against the opposite wall and knocked twice. "Happy?"
"Very funny."
Ino shrugged "What did you guys do anyway? Did you get into a lover's quarrel or something?"
Sakura's face turned red as she quickly shook her head "N-no we just… well never mind, what are you doing here?"
"Seeing how you cope without your precious Sasuke-kun."
"Huh?"
Ino plopped down on a sofa "I just wanted to see how you're doing, that's all." She shrugged casually.
"…Okay…" Sakura seated herself beside her blonde friend and yawned loudly. "Sorry, I'm just so sleepy."
"You should be." Ino said teasingly "I guess you're happy that you can sleep without doing any EXTRA activities." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"What do you me-" Sakura blushed as she caught the hidden meaning behind her friend's words. She glared "No, we're not like that at all."
Ino looked unimpressed "Uh, huh… oh yeah there was something else I wanted to tell you…" she said stretching "But I can't remember what it is… what was it now…?" she dragged out her words playfully causing her pink haired friend to glower.
"Ino." She said warningly.
"Shush, I'm trying to remember." The blonde poked her friend's forehead "What was it now? Was it about me and Tenten going shopping tomorrow? No. That wasn't it…." She enjoyed watching her friend get impatient "Or was it the fact that… SHIKAMARU PROPOSED!!!" she squealed the last part out. Sakura's eyes grew wide before she joined her friend in squealing.
"He what?" she yelled squeezing her friend's thin body to her "Oh my God!"
"Yeah!" Ino grinned and extended her left hand.
Sakura 'oohed' over the beautiful ring, the diamonds sparkled in the morning sunlight. "It's so pretty." She whispered.
"I know! Who would've thought that Shikamaru was a romantic?!?"
"Tell me all about it!" Sakura leaned forward eagerly.
"It was about midnight," Ino began "I was out walking when he approached me and told me to come with him. He brought me through the park towards the lake; the moonlight reflecting off the lake was the most beautiful thing. Suddenly he turns around looking all serious and starts' talking about missions and the things team 10 has done together. I was starting to get bored when he goes down on one knee, grabs my hand and says 'Troublesome woman, I mean, Yamanaka Ino will you marry me?'"
Both girls threw their hands in the air and squealed. "That's wonderful!" Sakura exclaimed happily while clapping her hands "Do you want any tea?"
Ino shook her head "Tell me, how have things been with you and Sasuke?"
"We-we're good." Her gaze averted to the floor "We're actually getting along pretty well. Sasuke-san is actually a lot nicer than he pretends to be. He can be a real pain sometimes but other time's he's… dare I say, sweet."
Giggling softly the Yamanaka shook her head "So how've you fared without him?"
Sakura's eyes widened "It's weird, but it's hard sleeping without knowing that he's here. The house seems so empty." She put a hand to her chest "I feel empty too."
Her friend did something unexpected. She threw her head back and laughed.
"W-what's so funny?" Sakura sputtered angrily.
"Easy." Ino pointed to her friend "You. Miss. Him."
"I what?"
"Don't be embarrassed, I think it's cute." Ino smiled brightly "You know what I think you looove him!!!"
Sakura's entire face turned pale. As soon as her friend said that she felt her heart skip several beats. "N-no I d-don't lo-love him at all… do I?"
"I don't know…" Ino admitted while shrugging her shoulders "But I'm pretty sure you feel SOMETHING for him."
Sakura's gaze softened "Yeah, you're right."
End Chapter
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It was a dumb chapter, but I needed to add some of that stuff in because it will prove valuable later on. Trust me on this! Now I'll never update again! Bwahahahaha!!!! Sike, thank you guys so much for 130 reviews! I heart you so much!!!! YAY!!!
This time's goal is 150 or more. Thank you in advance! Next chapter will contain a few surprises –cackles-