Dear readers,
I would first like to apologize for being so neglective. I've been extremely busy with school work, but I have good news. Here in Australia school is coming to an end in a few weeks and I'll be on my summer holidays! And since I have no life what so ever, I will be spending my holidays writing chapters for Hit List…so…yay!
Secondly, we're fast approaching the anniversary of the day Hit List was first published! I Pinkie Pie promise that I will have an extra long chapter on the 11th of January! (Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!) So mark it in your calendars folks!
This chapter is dedicated to ILoveSxS for being such a dedicated reader and reviewer; your reviews make me want to write more. Big ups to everyone who has ever reviewed or read my story!
Much Love,
Cap'n Jackelback
And now, without further ado, I present chapter 11 of Hit List.
Sasuke was not staring. Uchihas do not stare. Especially at their pink haired team mates. No, Sasuke was merely observing...yes that's it...
And it wasn't as if he had no reason to. Sakura was acting very strange.
The pinkette was fidgeting uncontrollably and shifting her gaze to absolutely everything except him. Her whole body seemed tense and she looked as if she was going to bolt at any second. Through closer inspection (note that he inspected he did not stare...there is a difference) he noticed that her eyes had bags under them as if she had been kept up last night and that her usually manicured nails had been chewed down completely.
She was avoiding him...well she was avoiding him more than usual. His relationship with Sakura had not fully mended itself like it had with Naruto or the others. Sure, she was civil with him, but she wouldn't go out of her way to acknowledge him. In fact she would take whatever opportunity she had to ignore him if it didn't seem rude.
Sasuke understood that she had every right to avoid him. In fact he knew that she was paying him much more respect than he deserved. But he was still surprised. Out of everyone, he thought that it would be Sakura that would welcome him with open arms and that they would easily fall back into the way they were before...everything happened.
Maybe it was what she had said that night, that allowed him to hope.
"I …I love you so much that I can't stand it!"
Sometimes when he was training with Orochimaru or working with the Akatsuki and apprehension of what he was doing caught up with him, he allowed himself to imagine what could have been if he had stayed in Konoha ...with Sakura.
What would have happened? Would they have ended up together? Maybe...?
But there really was no use in imagining. He knew that he let go of that reality the moment he knocked her out and left her on that god forsaken stone bench. He was sorry for doing that, truly he was, but what else was he supposed to do? Take her with him? No way in hell. Sakura's innocence and purity did belong on his path of hatred and revenge. Sasuke would not allow himself to taint her.
Out of all the horrible decisions he had made, leaving Sakura behind was the only one he was sure he had chosen right. Contrary to popular belief, Sasuke did in fact care about Sakura.
And that's precisely why he was staring- no, no, no! Examining, her. Clearly something was wrong.
As he tried to pick up what exactly was bothering her, Sasuke felt someone kick him under the table, and not lightly either. He scanned the faces at the table until his glare landed on his stupid, blonde, male team mate.
Naruto sent him a mischievous grin and a meaningful glance. His eyes flickered to the medic beside Sasuke then back to the Uchiha, he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Sasuke realised maybe he had been staring and that he should probably stop before the blonde made a huge, unnecessary fuss. But not before he retaliated and landed a sharp kick to Naruto's shins.
"Gah!" Naruto shrieked.
The young Hyuuga girl looked at him in concern, "Naruto-kun? Are you alright?"
"Yeah Hina-chan" he laughed awkwardly "never better." the blonde sent a glare in the direction of the Uchiha.
"Well this has been fun." said Sakura, who had not spoken since the guys had arrived, "but I think I better get going..." she hurriedly grabbed her cold coffee and made move to exit the booth.
Naruto pouted, "Aww Sakura-chan, where're you going?"
The young medic froze.
"Quick, think of something!" Inner Sakura ordered.
"I'm going to the hospital." the pinkette lied quickly.
The blonde man looked at her curiously and cocked his head to the side, "But didn't granny Tsunade order you to have a holiday?"
"Shit! He's on to us!"
Sakura glanced at Ino, panicked and pleading. The Yamanaka girl just shrugged helplessly and gave her friend a pitiful look. Fortunately for Sakura, Tenten was there to rescue her.
"Oh yeah, Sakura said that she would get me a scroll from the hospital that I've been dying to read." the weapon mistress lied easily.
Sakura shot her friend a grateful glance. Sasuke's eyes were still on her and she felt that his gaze was burning a hole into her skin. She really didn't know how much longer she could last before bursting into tears. Thanks to Tenten she could finally make her escape.
If only it had ended there. Being the devoted boyfriend that he is, Neji couldn't help but ask "What's this scroll about?"
"Umm..."
"Hormones!"
The member of the table turned to the now blushing Hyuga girl who was responsible for the outburst. Hormones? Hinata looked apologetically at her female companions. It was the first thing that had come to her mind.
"Ummm..." Naruto began uncertainly "why does Tenten want a scroll on hormones?"
An awkward silence covered the table. Poor Tenten felt like she was melting into the chair under the intensity of her boyfriends gaze. She would have a lot of explaining to do later, but right now she had to get Sakura out of her before she spontaneously combusted.
Ino cleared had throat and decided that it was time that she stepped in. "It's about lady issues" she said confidently, much to the horror of Tenten. "Now of you'll excuse us," she said grasping the frozen Sakura by the arm "we have to get going." And with that the pinkette and blonde raced out of the cafe with Hinata and Tenten close behind them, leaving the boys to wonder what the hell just happened.
"Was that strange for anyone else?" Neji asked his companions after they quickly lost sight of their female team mates. The other men just nodded in agreement, still very confused.
Naruto touched a finger to his chin and put on his thinking face "The real question is..." he paused for dramatic effect, "what's wrong with Tenten?"
"There is nothing wrong with my girlfriend!" Neji snapped.
"Oh yeah?" the blonde retorted "then why does she need a scroll on hormones, huh Neji? Why? Answer me tha-" a sudden realisation came over Naruto and he gasped dramatically.
"Holy shit...SHE'S PREGNANT WITH YOUR CHILD, ISN'T SHE NEJI! ISN'T SHE!" the blonde pointed an accusing finger at the Hyuga.
Naruto's outburst had gained the attention of many of the patrons at the once quite little café. A sound similar to a growl escaped from Neji's throat. "You idiot!"the Hyuga man hissed "Tenten is NOT pregnant with my child!"
"Oh yeah!?" the blonde retaliated "Then explain to me why exactly she needs a scroll on hormones? And Ino said that it had something to do with 'lady issues'! Clearly she has a mini Neji growing inside her uterus!" he screeched.
Shikamaru cut into the argument before Neji could strangle Naruto, "Clearly, that was all just an excuse so the girls could leave, but they're definitely hiding something..."
The Uzumaki boy blinked at his lazy friend "Well that would make a lot more sense" he muttered thoughtfully. " I mean, it's hard to imagine Neji getting laid..."
The Hyuga snarled and made a lunge towards the now terrified Naruto. Shikamaru managed to catch him by the collar.
"Naruto," Shikamaru droned "stop trying to image Neji having sex...it's disgusting."
The boy spluttered, "That's not what I meant!" he yelled indignantly. He cleared his throat and recomposed himself. "So what do you think they're hiding?"
The boys fell silent as they tried to recall their conversation with the girls, searching for some clue to what their secret was.
After a few moments Naruto groaned exasperatedly "Gah! I don't understand women! Why must they be so confusing?"
Shikamaru and Neji muttered in agreement. Realizing that his team mate hadn't actually spoken since they'd arrived at the café; the Uzumaki turned his attention to Sasuke.
"Yo, teme. What do you think?"
The Uchiha didn't reply, in fact he gave no recognition that he had heard Naruto at all.
Sakura was irritating him more than usual and not because she was clinging onto him like her life depended on it. In fact it was the complete opposite. She hadn't even acknowledged him! No polite "Hello Sasuke", there was no civil "How are you?"
That was their unspoken agreement. Sakura would be as polite as necessary and Sasuke would reply with his usual "Hn", at least until Sakura decided that they could go back to…whatever they were before, because it wasn't like Sasuke would make the first move.
But now instead of moving forward (like he had hoped) they seemed to be going backwards. He hadn't done anything against her recently; at least he didn't think he did. So why was she so against him now, all of a sudden? And why did he care?
"Oi teme!" Naruto tried again, still no response. The blonde hated to be ignored. He scanned the area until his eyes rested on a plate of pastries on the table next to them, occupied by a young couple
"Excuse me," Naruto said leaning across to the pair "may I borrow one of these?"
Before the stunned couple could answer, he grabbed one of the baked delights off their plate and hurled it at his team mates' duck-butt shaped head.
As the pastry made contact with his head, Sasuke snapped out of his reverie. "The fuck…?!"
Naruto snickered "Glad to have you back with us teme, now why don't you share with us what exactly you were so distracted by."
The Uchiha growled and dusted the crumbs off his hair "None of your business, dobe."
"Were you thinking about Sakura-chan~?" the blonde sang "And about how much you love her~?"
Sasuke snatched the fallen pastry off the floor. He grabbed his infuriating teammate by his obnoxious collar and forced the soiled delicacy into the squirming blonde's mouth.
It shut the idiot up at least…well apart from the choking sounds…
Neji rolled his eyes at their immature behavior, he and Lee were absolutely nothing like them, "Simmer down children." he muttered.
Shikamaru nodded in agreement, "Getting back to what we were talking about, those four were in a real hurry to get out of here."
Spitting out the remnants of the pastry Naruto yelled out indignantly "I NEED TO KNOW! THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!"
After the blondes' outburst silence overcame the café. Most of the patrons, including the couple from the table over, had left out of fear of the strange four boys.
The curiosity was really getting to Naruto, and the little mouse that was powering his brain was working overtime.
.
.
.
And then it came to him.
…Good work little mouse, have some cheese…
"I've got it!"the blonde exclaimed "I know how to find out what the girls are hiding!"
The three other boys glanced at each other. This definitely did not bode well for anyone. "What?" they all asked uncertainly.
The Uzumaki boy grinned "A good old fashioned stake out!"
Neji raised an eyebrow "You want us to follow them?"
"How cliché." Shikamaru droned.
Naruto spluttered, "We're not going to just follow them. We're going to track them down and uncover intel, you know, like NINJAS! Think of it as a training exercise." His blue eyes sparkled with mischief "Don't tell me you don't want to know what your girlfriends little secrets are?"
And just like that, Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji, two of Konoha's best ninja, were hooked into Uzumaki Naruto's hair brained scheme…
How the hell did those two pass the jounin exam?
"What nonsense." All eyes turned to the Uchiha who had spoken, "I'm not interested."
Naruto let out an amused chuckle "Teme, teme, teme, that's exactly what you said about finding out what Kaka-sensei's face looks like. And remember what happened with that."
"Yes I do remember. We wasted almost an entire week following him and we found out absolutely nothing and in the end he even caught us." Sasuke said, crossing his arms over his chest "What a great success that was."
"We were little kids then!" Naruto countered "now we're matured and skilled ninja!"
"Yeah and so are the girls" Neji put in.
"He's right" Shikamaru agreed, "they'll definitely be able to sense us."
A mischievous grin spread over the Uzumaki boy's face "Well then, we'll just have to enlist the help of some of our LGSL brethren."
Yeah…this definitely wouldn't end well…
The Yamanaka flower shop is one of the most tranquil and serene places in all of Konoha. But the peace was thoroughly interrupted when the four girls came barreling through its doors.
"God dammit Hinata! Hormones!? What the hell were you thinking, god anything would have been better but…but… HORMONES!?"
"I'm sorry Tennie-chan, it was the first thing that came into my mind."
"And Ino just had to go add that it was about 'lady issues'. Oh god, now Neji's going to think there's something horribly wrong with me."
"I'm sure Neji-nii won't think that at all…"
"Would you two be quite, hey forehead, are you all right?"
Sakura didn't answer Ino's question, she was too busy banging her head on the store's counter.
Stupid, stupid, STUPID! How could she be so pathetic?! She had completely frozen in front of Sasuke, like she was no better than she was when they were genin. And it's not as if she still liked the guy…she didn't think…UGH! Why was everything so confusing!?
Her friends exchanged worried glances. Sakura was usually very level headed and it was very unsettling when she freaked out. Especially about Sasuke.
"Hey forehead," Ino yanked her friend away from the counter and saved her from losing anymore brain cells, she really needed the ones she had left "Listen to me forehead girl, what you need right now is to take some time out. Somewhere that the boys and Sasuke can't disturb us, alright?"
"Yeah Sak," Tenten added to the hesitant girl "We need to get you back to normal so we can figure all this out."
"They're right Sakura-chan. I think it's a good idea" Hinata chirped.
The young medic let out a sigh, "What do you suggest?"
"The hot springs" the blonde stated matter-of-factly. Hinata and Tenten nodded in agreement and smiled caringly and their pink haired friend.
Sakura smiled weakly in return. She might as well, what did she have to lose? Maybe all that steam would be able to clear up her senses and maybe she could sort through the inner turmoil and start her journey to mending the broken bonds between her and Sasuke.
Or she could just drown herself. That would probably be easier.
…and less painful…
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