-With Naruto and Sasuke in the woods-
"Got you again, Teme!" Naruto shouted, tugging on Sasuke's clothes, still playing that game of tag they had bounded off in. Sasuke growled at the blonde who hung onto his shirt.
"You cheated! You can't pull my clothes!" Sasuke accused, yanking his black, high-collared t-shirt out of Naruto's grip.
"What!? You did the same thing to me, bastard!" Naruto screeched, folding his arms and scowling. Sasuke pouted. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Naruto was fast. He was basically asking for a minor game of tug of war.
"Did not!" Sasuke growled, his slightly high-pitched voice causing Naruto's blood to boil.
"Oh yeah you did, liar!" Naruto argued, shoving Sasuke a little so that he took a few steps back. "What, are we changing the rules in the middle of the game now, Teme?" Sasuke's look hardened.
"Don't push me, Dobe!" Sasuke shouted, accomodated with a slightly-harder shove of his own to Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto's jaw set, and his eyes narrowed. Oh, that was it. He pushed a little harder back. Sasuke pushed back even harder. He pushed back slightly more, before Sasuke shoved him fully onto the floor.
With a war cry, Naruto jumped up onto Sasuke, tackling him, sending furious punches to his stomach. Sasuke caught his punches and kicked furiously under Naruto. He was about to send a knock-out punch right into Naruto's jaw, before someone holstered both him and Naruto up into the air by the scruffs of their collars.
Sasuke turned his head slightly, to see a man with jade eyes - a lot like Sakura's, he noted - and neat, dark blonde hair. The man looked about in his late twenties, and also quite annoyed.
"It is quite a shame to see the youth of such a wonderful place attempting to kill each other." The man admitted, his voice smooth but deep and intimidating at the same time. "Would you be so kind as to explain to me what you two are doing so far out in the woods?"
Sasuke and Naruto's eyes met, both silently asking the same thing, their eyes clouded with confusion. In unison, they turned their heads all around, but Konoha's gates were nowhere in sight. Actually, when had they came this far out?
They both remained unresponsive, and the man dropped the boys onto the cold grass underneath them, earning a yelp from Naruto as he rubbed the tender spot on his backside.
"I have asked you a question. It is only common courtesy to answer." He pressed, his voice more threatening than it had been before.
Sasuke had no idea what to do. To say he was scared was an understatement - he'd never actually been out of the village before, and when Itachi went on missions outside of Konoha he always made it seem like such a dangerous place. Maybe the people were even more dangerous; besides, this man did not sound friendly.
He was once told by Itachi to never talk to strangers, and if he ever came across one that wouldn't give up to just shout for him so that he could help. However, they weren't near Konoha, so how was Itachi supposed to come running to their aid?
The raven-haired Uchiha was content with staying reticent, hoping that he would just drop the subject and leave them be if he refused to co-operate. Sasuke's gaze landed on Naruto, and immediately convinced himself that he recognised that look in his eyes.
Oh no, Sasuke thought, seeing the determination than shone in his cerulean orbs.
Normally, determination would be a perfectly fine emotion to have right now, but mixed with courage and mischief? Sasuke thought not. Plus, this was Naruto. He was an absolute moron.
"We were playing tag, old man." Naruto, the stupid, stupid loudmouth that he was, announced to this completely unidentified stranger, breaking their unforthcoming demeanours.
The man's eyes narrowed at the blonde who dared to call him such a brusque name.
"Now, now, little boy," The man seethed, his teeth gritted with the force of a thousand newtons. "That was quite an unmannerly nickname you gave me just then. Did no one tell you that you must respect an elder?" Naruto rolled his eyes, and at his next line, Sasuke felt like strangling him.
"Yeah, respect an elder - but you're ancient." Naruto dragged out his last word, making sure to make a mockingly exhausted face and pinching his cheeks to resemble wrinkles in an attempt to exaggerate his point.
"Usuratonkachi, shut up!" Sasuke berated; immediately regretting his outburst when the man's judgemental gaze fell upon him.
The man scowled as he tried to remember which prominent clan had features such as this boy's. Sasuke looked off to the side uncomfortably as he did this.
"What's your name, boy?" The stranger asked, his eyes piercing and cruel. Sasuke refused to open his mouth, but it seemed Naruto was happy to take his place.
"I'm-!"
"I know who you are, Uzumaki-brat." The old man interrupted the blonde, wiping the excited grin off of his face entirely. "I've heard exactly who you are." The quiet venom in that comment did not go undetected by Naruto, who shrunk under the stranger's scrutinising glare.
Yes, he knew of The Fourth's son, he knew of Kushina Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze, and the dreadful Kyuubi attack. Of course he knew. There was barely anyone who didn't.
However, Kushina's and the Hokage's son or not, he was not about to bow down to some imprudent, audacious idiot child who failed to know his place.
Sasuke frowned at the man's crass behaviour. Yes, Naruto was an idiot sometimes, but the only ones allowed to berate him for it was him and Sakura. Not some churlish, ill-mannered nutcase that just happened to live in the woods of all places. Like, seriously, misanthrope much?
Naruto scowled at the man, his eyes taking on their usual squinted look as he bared his teeth and folded his arms defiantly. He growled, outsretching his tanned arm to point accusingly at the older man.
"Well you obviously didn't hear right, old man! It's Naruto! Not 'Uzumaki-brat'!" Naruto shouted, obnoxiously invading the man's personal space to give him a death glare. "Oh, yeah! I forgot that oldies lose their hearing! You losing it already, oldie!? Let me tell you again - Definitely not 'Uzumaki-brat'! No, no, no! It's Naruto! Say it with me! N-A-R-U-!"
"Shut up, Uzumaki-brat," The stranger growled once more, despite Naruto's protests on the man's name. "I want his name. Not yours." The man gestured towards Sasuke, and Naruto seethed.
Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but Sasuke held up a hand to stop Naruto. Luckily, Naruto didn't say whatever inappropriate remark he was predictably about to sputter out thanks to Sasuke's silent plea for him to let him speak. Sasuke decided that if he was to give his name, this absolutely crabbed grouch was too.
"Tell me your name and I'll tell you mine." Sasuke said with renewed valour, as the man turned back to him. He grunted.
"Why?" The man asked, dismissively.
"Well, why do you want to know my name?" Sasuke catechized, folding his arms. He knew that he'd caught the man when he scowled back at him - or maybe that was just the man's face. Who knows?
"Curiosity normally gets the better of me. I usually don't ask for little boy's names, so today is an honour for you, brat. I suggest you give me your name." The man growled, his teeth grinding together in frustration. When Sasuke didn't respond, he tried again, "Why do you want to know my name?"
When Sasuke's famous Uchiha smirk plastered onto his face, the man knew he had made a mistake.
"Curiosity normally gets the better of me. I usually don't ask for an old man's name, so today is an honour for you, Ojii-chan." Sasuke responded, taking a little too much joy in the miffed face of the older stranger. The man caved in, giving a very disgruntled huff and telling him.
"My name is Sorako Haruno, however, I do not consider myself a Haruno anymore." Sorako told them, and Naruto's eyes lit up, seemingly ignoring the last part.
Naruto bounced over to Sasuke and shook his shoulders, pointing at the man rapidly.
"Did you hear that, Sasuke-bastard? Haruno! The same as Sakura-chan!" Naruto enquired, as Sasuke gave a nod, meaning that he had thought that aswell. Sorako's expression turned into a bemused one as he overlooked the two children.
"Who is this Sakura that you speak of?" Sorako asked, the sudden interest that lit up his features eerily disturbing, and Sasuke was about to clamp a hand over Naruto's mouth to avoid revealing anything too sensitive about their friend, but it seemed that there was no need.
"Eh? Why do you want to know about Sakura-chan, you creep!? You better leave her alone, you hear me!?" Naruto cried, stomping towards the man, before he was held back by Sasuke. Naruto was punching the air and cursing under his breath at Sorako, calling him a pervert, a pedo, and every other name under the sun.
Sasuke did have to admit that Naruto had quite a short fuse, and for all of the wrong reasons. If Naruto pointed out that this man could be her family, then why was he so quick to shake him off when he had asked about her? How...idiotic.
"Tell me who-"
"She's got pink hair, sparkly green eyes and she's super cute! She's so amazing!" Naruto rambled, fawning over the girl as Sasuke just stared at him in annoyance. What. A. Hypocrite. A complete 180° turn from what his previous behaviour suggested this man was.
Sorako seemed to tense up, and looked off in another direction. Sasuke hit Naruto over the head, calling him stupid when Sorako looked away. Naruto elbowed him in the gut, and so they went back and fourth, elbow-bowing each other even as Sorako turned back to them.
"I'm leaving now." Sorako told them, before sending them a stern look as they elbowed eachother. He put his hands together, forming a sign, before Naruto and Sasuke started pinching one-another's sensitive spot under the arm. They both hissed in pain. "And stop fighting. It's annoying." Is all Sorako gave them as parting before shunshinning away.
Sasuke immediately pulled Naruto's hair and Naruto slapped Sasuke, both falling on the floor next to each other. Silence overtook them before Naruto spoke up and broke it.
"Hey, Teme?"
"What?"
"Sorry."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too."
...
"Wanna go see Sakura-chan?"
"Yeah."
They stood up, and stayed silent.
...
"Hey, Teme?"
"What?"
"How are we going to get home?"
"...Are we lost?"
Blink. Blink. Blink.
"AAAAH! WE'RE LOST, TEME! WE'RE NEVER GONNA GET HOME! WHAT IF SAKURA-CHAN MISSES US!? WHAT IF THAT OLD MAN DOES SOMETHING TO HER WHILE WE'RE GONE!? WHAT IF-!"
"Hey, Dobe!" Sasuke waved over, and pointed to a mark on a tree that Sasuke distinctly remembered. "I think we're going the right way. I remember this." Naruto's mouth fell open, forming an 'o' as he nodded vigorously at the Uchiha.
"Yeah, I remember that too." Naruto agreed, beaming and pointing in the direction in front of them. He grabbed Sasuke's arm and tugged him along, exclaiming, "Konoha can't get rid of us that easily! Come on Sasuke-teme, don't make me drag you all the way there!" Sasuke just silently obliged, following Naruto until the Konoha gates came into sight.
The sprinted all the way over there, ignoring the scathing looks and unintelligible comments directed towards the blonde as they entered once more.
Naruto didn't seem to mind all of the mutters and murmurs around him, all of the horrid names they called him under their breath, as he was too focused on going to find 'his beloved Sakura-chan'.
Naruto had previously claimed that one day, he was going to be Hokage, and Sakura would fall in love with him along with every other female in the village. Needless to say, Sasuke begged to differ. To which part of the statement he doubted went unsaid, however.
When they had finally reached the hospital, Naruto loudly swung the doors open and made sure that everyone in the building was aware of their arrival, much to Sasuke's irritation.
"HEYYYY!" The blonde screamed, as nurses rushed over to them to either shut the boy up or get him out of the hospital. He resisted, dancing away from the swipes of annoyed hospital workers. "SAKURA-CHAN? HELLOOOO- SAKURA-CHAN? ARE YOU HERE!?" Naruto cupped his hands over his mouth to improve his bellow.
And then Ko arrived.
And Naruto was now shaking.
"Uzumaki. Why are you screaming in my hospital?" Ko hissed, her look a notch up from absolutely terrifying.
Naruto's eyes widened, his hands slowly falling back to his sides and a nervous smile planted on his face. He gulped, his eyes darting to everywhere but hers. His stutter was painfully obvious.
"H-hey, K-Ko-baa-sama...I'm j-just looking for S-Sakura-chan, y-ya' know..." Naruto anxiously explained, and Ko's scowl lessened. "We were going t-to play with her..."
"Did Uchiha-san not tell you?" Ko asked, an eyebrow cocked. Naruto looked confused, his own eyebrow cocking in a mirrored manner.
"Tell me what, Ko-baa-chan?" Naruto asked, his previous attitude dissapearing and substituted with his usual, fearless self. Ko's forehead ticked in anger.
"I've tolerated you calling me grandma already, Uzumaki. Don't push your luck and downgrade it from 'sama' to 'chan'." She growled, a fist raised menacingly to emphasise her point. Naruto's grin immediately faltered and he sweatdropped. Ko smirked in victory. "And Haruno-san is not allowed visitors right now."
Ko was choosing her words carefully, knowing that Shisui had not told them for a reason. Naruto whined loudly in argument.
"Awww, please! You can't keep her chained in here forever doing your boring hospital work!" Naruto moaned, and Ko had to suppress a smirk. Shisui had told them that she was working for them? "She knocked over that thing by accident, you know! She probably didn't do it on purpose!" Ko shook her head.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. However, as I have already told you, Haruno-san is not allowed visitors." Ko reiterated, her gaze softening a little at the boy's obvious fondness of her. The Uchiha next to him didn't look happy with the result, either, but she supposed that he had a little more self-control than the boisterous Uzumaki and would stay silent if unprovoked. "On that note," She took Naruto's hand, "Out." And shoved him and Sasuke outside of the doors.
Naruto screamed profanities at the Head Medic but got up off of the ground otherwise unscathed. His annoyed look was quickly overrode by one of mischief, and Sasuke inwardly cursed. Just what was that idiot planning?
"Hey, Sasuke-teme," He whispered, although for Sasuke's standards, that was still loud. "Let's sneak in, yeah?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes accusingly at the blonde before responding,
"I don't have a choice, do I?" Sasuke sighed, and by Naruto's cheeky grin he could confirm that he had guessed correctly.
"Nope. Come on, Teme."
Naruto lead them around to a window that was positioned next to a patient's room. The patient inside was sound asleep, but was not Sakura. They walked around the building for a bit before spotting a window with a hint of pink located in it.
Naruto's beam, that had previously disappeared due to their seemingly awful luck, returned full-fold, and he ran to the window, opening it.
"This is stupid. You are stupid." Sasuke mumbled, observing Naruto as he climbed inside the window. Naruto peered down at the Uchiha, a smug look adorning his usually perky features.
"What are you? Chicken?" He mocked, his mouth pursed, as he raised an eyebrow sceptically. The Uchiha sent a scathing look towards Naruto. "Can't you do it? It's only climbing in a window. You're supposed to be a 'super cool Uchiha', and you can't even sneak inside a window? Scaredy-cat! Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat!" Naruto taunted, prancing around the hospital room and making mocking gestures.
"Shut up, Dobe! You're going to let them know we're here with your big mouth!" Sasuke seethed from outside of the window, before climbing in and putting Naruto's provoking chants to rest.
"Finally! I thought you were gonna wuss out or something." Naruto rolled his eyes, before turning and seeing that Sakura was asleep on a hospital bed. "Sakura-chan's sleeping on the job! HEY, SAKURA-CHAN! WAKE U-!"
Sasuke quickly slapped a hand over the blonde's mouth before recoiling at the moisture, repulsed.
"Are you an idiot!? Keep it down, will you? Want to let everyone know that we're-" Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, the room's door was flung open, revealing a very, very, very angry Head Medic.
"Uchiha. Uzumaki," Ko started, her tone low and intimidating. Naruto and Sasuke began trembling at the mere tension hanging thickly in the atmosphere. Her eyes narrowed into slits, as she assessed the two boys. "What are you doing in my patient's room?"
"Uh...uhm...I...," Naruto gulped, sending a look to Sasuke. "QUICK SASUKE-TEME, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Naruto screamed, to which he dove head-first out of the window, with a cry of "SHIT! MY ANKLE!" immediately afterwards.
Sasuke sent a cautionary glance to the window and one at Ko, as if he was debating which outcome had worse consequences. That was when Sakura began to stir, and opened her eyes, a groan of pain startling Ko, her eyes wide.
"Haruno-san! You're...awake!? How is this possible!?" Ko's expression was one of awe, but also immense confusion.
Sakura merely smiled.
So, that's that. I just wanted to let you guys know that this story will be based more on the plot and development of characters and all that rather than romance. But still, I wanted to know;
If Sakura did end up with someone in the story, who would you want it to be?
Again, I love reading your reviews, so keep 'em coming! I keep thinking that no one likes my story when I get no reviews. It's sad.
Anyway, comment your answers and I'll make sure to read them!