Note from the Author: o.O I'm momentarily going through a I-like-Sasuke phase. I'll have to go back and watch the show and listen to him angst so I'll start hating him again.
DemonRogue: Oh, how I love my soap opera fics:hugs soap opera fics: I try to write them so that they deal with, like, every problem a teenager could ever have to deal with … like, "Don't Be Afraid" was all rape and suicide, "Catch Without Arms" was … gangs and rape and suicide and homosexuality and running away and alcohol. -.- And this is turning into a lovely girl cheated on boy and got pregnant and is soon going to do something very, very, very stupid.
PIE IS FILLED WITH AWESOMENESS: Someone always gets left out of my stories. -.- So I wanted to bring everyone in to have a good time. :giggle fit:
Book-manga-freak: Damn you, CD-rom drive for being too small:shakes fist: Yeah, the same thing definitely had happened here that had happened in "Catch Without Arms" in which I randomly felt sorry for my main character who I actually hate.
Sasukelover911: Let's start a club: The We-Hate-Sakura-But-Feel-Bad-For-Her Club.
Furuido: You shouldn't admit to being lazy. That's Sloth and that's a deadly sin. We talked about that in American Lit. today. And yes – it was your fault.
Surrender all the hope that I lost you have found.
"I'm not going to forgive you."
Sakura blinked out of her bored daze, tilting her head to acknowledge his words.
"Naruto loves you." Sasuke sat cross-legged on the bleachers, watching with vague interest as their PE class enthusiastically interacted in a game of dodgeball, his calculus book propped in his lap. "He wants me to forgive you, but I'm not going to."
She frowned, eyes trailing after an escaped ball. "You don't have to tell me that, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly. "I know that already."
They fell quiet, and her ears filled with squeaking sneakers and bouncing balls, excited whooping and outraged yells. She smiled at Naruto as he argued with Gai-sensei about whether or not he was actually out.
"We can't be at odds."
She turned to Sasuke again. "What?"
"Naruto wants – and expects – this group to be together forever." He explained. "I want him to be happy."
"So," she wrapped her arms around her knees, then shifted to lean back on her hands, "no friendship, but civility?"
If she didn't know him so well, she would have missed his affirming nod.
"I can deal with that."
"Teme!" Naruto ran up, a grin plastered on his face. "Isn't this your free period?" he asked, leaning to kiss him on the cheek.
"You smell, dobe." Sasuke pushed him off, hand on his chest. "And yes. I'm waiting for Shino."
"Why?"
"Because we have to be somewhere." He frowned at the equation he was working on, erasing it and starting again. "We're going to lunch."
"Why are you telling your boyfriend you're going to lunch with another guy?" Naruto yelled, arms failing.
"Who's he going to lunch with?" Kiba walked up, running a hand through his damp hair.
Naruto glowered at him. "Your boyfriend."
"What?"
As the two proceeded to throw fits, shouting incoherently, Sasuke sat smirking unnoticed beside them, and Sakura chuckled. "You had to say it like that, didn't you?"
He leaned back against the bench behind him, resting on his elbows. "Would you miss this?"
"Not a chance."
Shino chose that incredibly convenient time to join them.
"You!" Kiba and Naruto were in his face in a second. "What are you doing going on a lunch date with Sasuke?"
"I never said it was a date." The Uchiha's tone was bored.
"It's a meeting for the Elite Math League." Shino explained. "Shikamaru's coming too."
"You didn't tell me that." Naruto muttered, his face red.
His boyfriend sighed, standing and kissing him lightly. "You didn't ask."
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"Sakura-chan!" Hinata ran up to her. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and I are going to dinner with Tsunade-sama and Shizune-chan. Would you like to join us?"
She smiled. "I'd love to, but Lee-san's coming in tonight."
"He can come too."
"Alright – sounds great." She waved, turning toward her car.
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Naruto frowned, sitting down on the end of his boyfriend's bed and staring at the lump in the blankets. "Are you really too sick to go, Sasuke?"
The Uchiha didn't emerge, mumbling incoherencies.
"Are you sure you're not faking because you don't want to go because you know Tsunade-obaa-chan is going to say 'I told you so'?"
Dark eyes glared at him over the edge of the comforter. "I don't care if she was right." He shifted, turning away from the other boy.
"Suit yourself, Sasuke." Naruto muttered, standing, and then to himself, he added, "I'm glad she was right."
Sasuke sat up abruptly, grabbing his hand. "I'm glad she was right too." He murmured, eyes deliberately averted.
Naruto smiled, tackling him onto the bed with a kiss. "She won't care if we're a little late, huh?"
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"I told you so!" Tsunade was either inebriated, or she had just won the jackpot in a poker game.
Sakura was betting on the former. "Hi, guys." She smiled as Naruto walked into the restaurant, dragging Sasuke – who had just attempted escape – behind him.
"Hi, Sakura-chan!" The blonde leaned down to kiss her and hugged Tsunade. "Oh! Fuzzy Eyebrows! You're here! Hi!"
Lee grinned. "You haven't called me that in years, Naruto-kun."
"Kind of brings back memories." Sakura laughed. "Do you remember the first time you asked me out, Lee-san?"
"I do." Sasuke murmured, still pouting. "You made him cry. It was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen."
Naruto snorted, throwing an arm across the back of his boyfriend's chair. "If I remember right, Lee kicked your ass because Sakura-chan told him she would only accept you."
Shizune, who had been quiet until then, giggled. "Is that true, Sasuke-kun?"
He scowled in response.
Tsunade slammed her hand on the table. "So tell me, Sasuke-kun."
He glowered at her.
"Why did you come back to Konoha?"
"Because Orochimaru went to jail – why do you think?" he grumbled.
"But you could have gone anywhere!" she persisted, words slurred as she threw her arms wide to demonstrate. "Why'd you come back here?"
His face darkened further. "You know why." He growled.
"What do I know?"
He muttered under his breath; Naruto managed to catch "fucking shit-faced bitch."
She leaned forward. "What was that?"
He chose to answer her former question: "I came back because I'm in love."
Everybody at the table stared at him, silent. Sakura was the first to look away, her heart twisting. Lee caught her movement, frowning at her obvious discontent with Sasuke's statement even as he laced his fingers with hers.
Tsunade smiled. "I knew it." Sitting back, satisfied with the fact that she got him to say it, she added, "You've loved him all along."
His arms folded over his chest, he sank into his chair, blushing furiously, and murmured, "I never denied it."
Naruto's expression was soft as he drew his chair closer, wrapping an arm around his waist – without comment for once, because none was needed.
"So what's your story?" Tsunade cut through the tender moment loudly, turning to the other couple. "Having a baby, huh?"
Sakura crossed her arms over her stomach protectively, as if her words could hurt the child within. "Yes."
"When's it due?"
"December."
"How was the sex?"
She blushed and, before Lee could jump to save her honor, Sasuke said, "Does that qualify as your business?"
Naruto stared at him.
Tsunade's head swiveled to face him. "What – is it your kid?"
He looked away.
"Hinata!" Naruto yelled then, waving manically and giving the needed distraction.
The girl smiled shyly, hurrying toward their table. "I'm sorry I'm late. Kurenai-sensei needed help at the diner. I tried to call."
"It's okay, Hinata-chan." Sakura cut in before she could reprimand herself further. "Sit down here." She patted the seat beside her.
She did, nodding at the older women. "Hello, Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san."
"Where's your cousin?" Tsunade asked immediately.
"What's with you and meddling in our love lives?" Naruto shrieked.
Sakura couldn't help but to laugh. Everything he said made her feel like things would be okay and that was why she adored him. No matter the words that came out of his mouth, they were positive. She was jealous of that.
"Neji-nii-san is at school." Hinata answered, giggling at the look the doctor and Naruto were giving each other.
"Where does he goes?" Shizune asked, rolling her eyes at her friend.
"Harvard." She said it so proudly, like she herself was attending the university.
"A smart one, huh?" Tsunade broke her glaring contest with the blonde boy, who shouted in victory. "What does he want to do with his life?"
"He wants to be a historian or a chemist. He says he either wants to help teach about the past or affect the future."
"And what do you want to do?"
Hinata shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. "A nurse, maybe."
"That'd be a good job for you, Hinata!" Naruto yelled encouragingly.
"I was looking into being a nurse too, Hinata-chan." Sakura commented. "Where do you think you'll work?"
"Konoha Hospital." The timid girl seemed to be shrinking beneath all the attention.
"Maybe we'll work together then." Sakura smiled and immediately diverted the focus, saving her friend. "What about you two?"
"I want to be the President!" Naruto declared. "Teme can be my secretary!"
Any affection from the Uchiha blew out like a candle and, if looks could kill, his boyfriend would be dead. "You better find a new boyfriend, dobe." He stated icily, sliding his chair out of his reach. "I know your ideas about secretaries."
Sakura did, too. "Not all secretaries are the whores of their bosses, Naruto."
Lee agreed fervently, naming the subject inappropriate to discuss in front of ladies.
Shizune and Tsunade laughed.
Hinata just blushed.
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Additional A/N: Mostly pointless chapter – written for the sake of writing/updating and because I miss you guys. I'm doing my best to finish this; I'm just having a rough time jugging school and fan fiction. Haha.
