Note: So I had this done a few days ago and was thinking of waiting for some time to include a NaruHina scene but since this is a busy week for me, I figure, gosh, this is long enough to put in as a chapter so I decided not to make y'all wait. Thanks so much for reading and hope you enjoy this week's installment!
All The Difference 14
Sakura and Tenten walked back onto the main streets of Konoha. They had spent the afternoon in strength training with the 5th Hokage, and the two were tired and dirty. Despite that, they were smiling, talking, and laughing with each other. The late afternoon bustle under a bright sun on the Konoha streets matched their cheerful mood.
"So what did he say to you?" Sakura asked with a laugh.
"Well, you know Neji, he's so formal about everything, always about tradition and following rules. So he gave me this really serious look and was like, 'Tenten, I would like to ask you to be my girlfriend,'" Tenten responded, mocking Neji's solemn tone, "It sounded like a business transaction!"
The two girls laughed, the sound of their voices bouncing pleasantly off of the walls and buildings lining the street they walked on.
"So how did you respond?" Sakura asked further.
"Well, first, I laughed! I had to! Here he was asking me out and it was like he was all ready proposing or something!" Tenten laughed.
"And?" Sakura pressed.
"I hugged him and tried to kiss him, but he was kinda stiff, like he didn't know what to do after asking me to go with him," Tenten smiled and blushed a bit.
Sakura smiled and threw an arm around her friend, "Well, being with you is doing him good. He's loosened up a bit these days, and he smiles a lot more."
"Haha, thanks," Tenten added, "You didn't know him back at the Academy. He was worse then, like Mr. Perfect scores on everything."
"I'm sure," Sakura chuckled.
"Okay, well, here's my street, I'll see you tomorrow Sakura," Tenten said with a friendly smile.
"Ja, see ya," Sakura said, holding up a hand in goodbye.
Sakura headed for her own house. She planned to wash up and then hurry to the hospital to bring Sasuke a dinner her mom had prepared especially for him. She planned to stay at the hospital that night to keep him company and make use of the hospital's medical library for her own independent studies. Soon, she was coming up to Ino's family flower shop, and sure enough, Ino was outside with a full length, tan apron on. She had a spray bottle in her hand, and she was spraying water on some of the flowers on display.
"Hey Ino!" Sakura called as she approach.
"Oh, hey Sakura!" Ino smiled in greeting.
Sakura had noticed that in the last month or so that she and Ino hadn't been as antagonistic towards each other. Sakura thought maybe they both just grew out of their rivalry. It doesn't matter anymore anyways…Sakura thought to herself.
"I was going to go visit Sasuke later, did you wanna come?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, no, it's okay, I all ready have plans," Ino replied as she sprayed a few more red roses."
"Oh yeah?" Normally Ino would jump at a chance to see Sasuke. Sakura wondered what had changed Ino's usually effervescent attitude towards him.
"Tell him I said hi," Ino added as she continued with her work. Sakura sensed Ino was avoiding talking about something.
At that moment, the sharp barking of a pup reached their ears, and in no time, Akamaru had jumped into Ino's arms and was nuzzling her face with his wet, canine nose.
"Haha, stop, that tickles!" Ino exclaimed while changing the position of her arms to better cradle the squirming bundle of fur.
Sakura looked at Ino with an inquiring look and was just about to ask her when she became so friendly with Akamaru when Kiba smacked a hand rather un-gently on the back of her shoulder with a loud, vocal greeting.
"Hey! Sakura! What's up?"
"Kiba, hi…" Sakura said, still trying to make sense of the situation. But before a proper question could formulate itself in her mind, Kiba skipped over to Ino and hugged her from the side and pecked her on the cheek. Ino's whole body was slightly lifted in his embrace, and her face was turning a extremely deep shade of red.
"So, we're still on for tonight, ya?"
Ino nodded sheepishly, one eye on Sakura's shocked face.
"Cool, see you then!"
Then Kiba and Akamaru bounded away as quickly as they had arrived.
Sakura's jaw dropped. She was speechless. Ino continued on with being red-faced. Finally, Sakura pointed an accusing finger at Ino.
"INO-PIG! You got a boyfriend and you didn't tell ME?" Sakura scolded.
"Hey, you're the one who said we were 'rivals'…" Ino returned weakly.
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean we're still not best friends!" Sakura said and walked up to Ino, lifted both hands to her friend's face, and pinched her cheeks.
"Hey, ow! Cut that out!" Ino said brushing her friennd's hands away.
"So, you're going to tell me all about it right now, RIGHT? And—" Sakura made a loud, melodramatic gasping sound "—you probably had your first kiss and didn't tell me about it!"
Ino's face had been cooling down a bit, but it promptly returned to a deep shade of red.
"It…it just sort of happened, I don't know."
Ino stopped and looked away, but Sakura glared at her, refusing to let her off easy, her turquoise eyes wide and demanding but at the same time full of laughter and playfulness. Ino was compelled to look back at her friend's expectant glare.
"Well, he just started to hang around me, walking me home and stuff. And one day we were arguing about something random, I don't even remember what, and he just grabbed my hand!"
Sakura raised an eyebrow and prodded, "And…?"
"And I didn't do anything! Okay? I was like, woah, where did that come from!"
"What about your first kiss? HMMM?"
"Well, we were just walking and he suddenly leaned near my face and asked 'Is it all right if I kiss you?'"
"GYAAAHHH! And you let him!" Sakura squealed and hugged her blond haired, blue-eyed friend, not caring about the dirt stains all over Ino's apron that were spreading to her own dress. The two girls laughed and almost lost their balance a number of times in the midst of the excitement. When they had finally calmed down, they both sat on the sidewalk together, arm in arm.
"That's really cool, Ino, Kiba's a really nice guy," Sakura said, "Hinata told me once that he carried this one little boy they found wandering in the woods for a whole day on his back until they found his family. Kiba and Naruto are pretty good friends, too."
Ino looked at the black and gray gravel beneath their blue sandal shoes. She pushed some of the loose pebbles with the tip of her shoe.
"I guess I had always thought he was kind of barbaric or something. But he's really sweet once you get to know him. He said that he and I are alike—only outwardly annoying!" Ino stuck her tongue out and chuckled.
Sakura smiled and gently knocked the side of Ino's head affectionately.
"I'm really happy for you!"
"Thanks," Ino beamed, then added "I guess this means we're not rivals anymore, ne (huh)? You can have Sasuke-kun all to yourself!"
To Ino's surprise, Sakura responded with silence and a pensive, far away look in her eyes.
"No, I gave up on him all ready."
Ino looked at her surprised. She saw a look in Sakura's eyes that reminded her of the time when they were still little kids and Sakura was still shy, quiet, self-conscious, and easily upset. She had been wondering why Sakura hadn't been so energetically into their 'rivalry' since Sasuke's return. During his absence, they didn't really talk about him that much, but when he came back, Ino thought everything was going to go back to the way it was. Now she understood why it hadn't.
"What do you mean? Why?"
Sakura's eyes softened with a look of wistful sadness; she looked as if she were visiting a distant memory.
"The night he left Konoha, I was the last person he talked to. I tried to stop him, keep him from leaving. I even told him how I felt. I mean, it's not like he didn't all ready know that I liked him, but that night, it was different from the way it was when we were all just kids back at the academy. It wasn't just a crush on the cutest guy in class anymore. Since he and I had been teammates, it had become more than that for me, I think. When I tried to keep him from leaving, it felt like I was pouring my heart out to him…"
Ino put an arm over Sakura, giving her a sympathetic hug. Sakura hugged her knees to her chest, some of her pink hair falling forward over her face as she looked down at the ground in front of her. It broke Ino's heart to see her like this. It reminded her too much of the first day she had seen Sakura, crouched in a ball on the floor, hugging her knees to herself, and crying while hiding behind the hair covering half of her face.
"And he just left. Just like that. Everything I said to him…it didn't mean anything to him."
For a moment they sat silently together, side by side, Ino still with her arm around Sakura, and Sakura still huddled in a little ball. Then, Sakura suddenly stood up. Ino looked up at her surprised. The sad look on Sakura's face had passed, and in its place was a cheerful smile, one with just a hint of the resolve to cover up the sadness Ino now knew lurked underneath.
"Well, I just decided it was time to take the hint," Sakura said with a smile, "I'm just really glad he's back here and safe." She held a hand out to Ino who was still sitting on the sidewalk.
"Sakura…" Ino took the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.
"I've got to go wash up and pick up the dinner my mom made for Sasuke."
"Okay, have fun tonight," Ino said, trying to muster up a cheerful disposition for Sakura's sake.
"No, YOU have fun tonight!" Sakura gave Ino a dramatic wink.
"You're silly," Ino laughed, "Go away now." Ino gave Sakura a playful push.
"Okay, okay, I know, you gotta get ready for your Kiba-kun," Sakura chuckled as she turned to walk away. She felt a spray of water on the back of her head and turned to see Ino pointing the water spray bottle straight at her face. Ino pulled the trigger again, sending a puff of water into her face.
"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise while wiping some of the moisture off.
"Just helping you wash up," Ino said coolly.
They both stuck their tongues out at each other, and then Sakura left for home.
Tired of lying down, Sasuke sat up in his hospital bed as the sun set outside his window. He looked out at the red-orange disk that was slowly making its descent towards the distant mountains. Thinking of nothing in particular, his eyes scanned the scenery of Konoha from the third floor hospital room he was in. He was still wearing the light blue, thin fabric hospital wear, and he sat with his left knee up while he leaned on it with his left arm as he turned to the window to his right. His room was almost directly above the front of the hospital entrance, and he could hear the occasional bustle of a nurse or doctor going past his door. Unlike the brightly lit hallway, he had kept the lights in his room closed after everyone had left from visiting him earlier that day. The whole day he basked in the natural light that poured into the room, calmly resting in the rather comfortable hospital bed enjoying the peace, quiet, and solitude.
As he looked out at the grove of trees that surrounded the hospital, he caught a glimpse of pink and red that caused his heart to pound just a little faster than before. Alert, he sat up further and leaned towards the window expectantly as he watched the bright hues of red pink pass through the gaps in the mass of green tree leaves making its way down the path towards the hospital entrance. Sakura stepped out from under the trees, body and face illuminated by the rays of a setting sun. Sasuke felt a slight pang inside his chest when someone else stepped out from under the trees with her. It was Rock Lee, and the two were engaged in animated and enthusiastic talk.
Sasuke's original resolve to share his feelings with her wavered as he watched the two of them talk and laugh. His face softened as a realization crossed through his mind. It was pompous of him to think that she could still had feelings for him, the same feelings she had poured out to him the night he left her alone in the cold and dark. He had, after all, abandoned her. He looked away from the sight outside his window. Maybe it was best that she moved on with her life with some one like Rock Lee who vowed to protect her till death the first time they met, he thought to himself. What had he offered? Years of cold shoulders, aloofness, and brooding silence. He had been surprised when he returned to the village that she and Naruto hadn't become an item during his absence. Even though she obviously detested Naruto back in their years at the academy, Sasuke had noticed that she, like everyone else, had grown fond of the mischievous number one surprise ninja of Konoha, the infamous failure from their academy class who was now an acknowledged great ninja of the village.
He lay back down in his bed on his left side facing away from the window, pulling the blanket over his body all the way up to his nose. Only the top of his head with its spiky dark black-blue hair and his eyes poked out from under the blanket. He stared at the empty seat that was pulled up near his bed for a moment, then closed his eyes to block it out.
A while later, there was light knock on his door, and then in opened a crack and a large, turquoise eye peeked into the room. Sasuke didn't respond. He remained motionless, curled up in his blanket with his eyes closed feigning sleep. Sasuke couldn't overcome the sudden black hole that had opened up inside his chest. It seemed to void everything in him and drain him of all his motivation to do anything. He just wanted to lie there and do nothing.
Sakura tiptoed into the room and walked over to the right side of the bed near the window. She carefully and quietly unwrapped the package she had brought with her and began carefully placing the food her mother had made on the metal tray next to Sasuke's bed. The aroma of the food filled the room with warm and delicious scents, making the hospital quarters suddenly homelier. Despite Sasuke's listless state, his stomach apparently wasn't depressed. It growled loudly as the wisps of delicious odors reached his nose.
He tried to pretend he was still asleep, but soon after his empty stomach had responded so eagerly to the smells of food, he felt something flicking at the black of his right ear, the ear that wasn't buried in the white, fluffy hospital pillow. His hand right hand came up instinctively to swat whatever it was away.
"Oi, your stomach's complaining so get up and eat," Sakura said with a hint of laughter in her voice.
He turned to see Sakura's right hand hovering near his head with her fingers poised for another flick. She gave his cheek one friendly flick.
"Oh, hi Sakura," Sasuke sat up, rubbing his eyes and pretending to shake off sleepiness.
Sakura flicked on the lights, pushing the fading sunlight out of the room and flooding it with bright white light. Through his fake grogginess he examined the food that she was laying out. There were rows of sushi cut rolls in a large black, two level container much like the one Hinata's Naruto onigiri (rice balls) had come in. On the outside surface of these thin, wooden boxes were the rolling patterns of ocean waves splashing across the dark brown and red background. The sushi that were laid out symmetrically inside seemed all the more elegant framed by the beautiful container.
Sakura had put the top layer on the metallic tray and began to pour some steaming hot green tea into two red plastic mugs.
"You will not believe what I found out today!" Sakura began in gossip.
"Huh? Oh, um, what?" Sasuke said, trying to sound interested. He didn't know if he cared to hear about Rock Lee's ventures at that particular time.
"Well, I bumped into Ino earlier today at her family's flower shop, and I invited her to come with me to visit you, but she was like 'I've got plans.'"
"Oh?" Sasuke said uninterested, apparently not picking up on the significance of Ino's refusal to come visit him. Sakura pressed on anyway.
"Then Kiba suddenly appears and kisses her on the cheek! Apparently they're going out! Have been for like a month! Can you believe her? She didn't even tell me!" Sakura said with a laugh.
"Oh yeah?" Sasuke replied.
"Gosh, it seems like everyone's growing up. Naruto with Hinata, Tenten with Neji, Choji and Mimi, and now Kiba and Ino! Hahaha, or more like Inu (dog) and Ino!"
Sasuke smiled a bit at the alliteration. He watched as Sakura poured miso soup into red plastic bowls. He decided to hazard some questions into her personal life.
"What about you Sakura? Are you with anyone?"
Sakura had just put the thermos of soup back onto the bed stand behind her, her face turned away from Sasuke. She paused for a moment, and Sasuke studied the back of her head and her body language for some clue.
"No," she replied simply.
"How about that Rock Lee guy? He seems pretty nice," Sasuke pressed.
Sakura turned to him with a bright smile on her face.
"No," she said with a slight shake of her head.
She placed a pair of chop sticks delicately onto the container of sushi on the metal tray in front of her.
"Actually, I was just talking to Lee-san right now. He was asking me for advice on how he should ask out this one genin named Linda a year younger than us. She's really friendly and the two of them are always challenging each other to ridiculously impossible tasks. Just yesterday, they were making laps around the village on their hands! Match made in heaven, let me tell ya," Sakura laughed.
"I told Lee-san to just go for it! And he was like 'Yes, the springtime of youth comes only once!'" Sakura held a fist up and looked intensely upwards emulating Rock Lee's dramatics.
Sasuke laughed with a light-heart, partly because of Sakura's good-spirited mockery of Fuzzy Eyebrows, and partly because he was relieved to hear that Sakura and Lee weren't involved. He watched as Sakura put the metal tray over his lap. He stared down at pristine food displayed in front of him, the resolve that had diminished before returning in full force. It was now or never.
"Sakura—" he said with urgency. He looked up at her purposefully as she sat down in the chair to his left next to his bed. She had made her way around the bed while he was gathering up his resolve, and she looked at him puzzled.
"Hm?"
Sasuke was about to blurt out what was on his mind or kiss her or both, he didn't know what. He just knew he had to do something. But as he looked up at her, he saw that Sakura had wasted no time in stuffing some of the sushi into her face which was now puffed up much like a chipmunk who was storing away bits of nuts in her cheeks for the long winter.
She chewed and gave him a muffled, "What?"
He laughed out, thoroughly amused by the chipmunk version Sakura he'd never witnessed before.
"What? You don't like the way I eat sushi?" Sakura gave him a wry smile after she swallowed her food.
"You know, my mom likes to make her sushi rolls big, and it's hard to bite it little by little because it falls apart! So I like to stuff it all in my face at once," and with that she shoved another one into her mouth, her cheeks puffing up again like a chipmunk.
Sasuke smiled and started on his own food. Copying Sakura, he stuffed one of the large sushi pieces into his mouth, feeling his own cheeks puff out.
"See! It tastes better that way, ne (huh)?" Sakura said with a laugh. The two laughed and chatted as they enjoyed the meal. After the boxes were empty, and they were quite full and satisfied with their meal, they sipped their tea quietly as they digested their food.
"Tell your mom I said thanks for the food. It was delicious," Sasuke said.
"You can tell her yourself tomorrow when you get discharged from the hospital."
"Aren't you going to see her before that?"
"No, I'm spending the night right here to keep you company," Sakura said with a friendly wink.
"Oh, no, it's okay, I'm fine," Sasuke declined the offer, seeing that there was no comfortable sleeping space in the room besides the bed.
"Well, that and I wanted to read some of the books from the hospital's reference library. I can't take them out of the building you know," Sakura smiled, and then added, "I've been here the last two nights. One more night isn't going to kill me."
Sasuke looked at her a bit surprised. He didn't know that she had been in his room the whole time of he was unconscious.
"Thanks…" Sasuke began.
"No, thank you for giving me an excuse to make use of the medical books here," she joked and stuck out her tongue at him. She got up and started to clean up the trays, cups, bowls, and utensils of their meal. She flicked the switch for the lights off, smiling over her shoulder, "Look, a full moon. It's nice isn't it? I brought a small reading light for me so you don't have to sit under the bright lights while I read." She stood by the window for a moment, looking out at the now darkened sky sparkling stars. The moonlight painted her face with a smooth, porcelain surface while her turquoise eyes shimmered in the twilight. A restful smile lay across her lips, the sight of a peaceful Konoha preparing for another night of sleep bringing a calm joy to her heart. Sasuke looked at her thoughtful expression as she looked out the window bathed in the natural silver evening light. Her red dress draped off of her athletic frame. Like the rest of her body, her bare arms were tone and cut, evidence of her incessant training since the last Chuunin exams. She wasn't the same giddy school girl of times past, yet at the same time she retained something of her basic spirit that had been apparent since they were children. She was a young woman in full bloom, determined to be a great ninja with a compassionate heart for those around her.
"Sakura…I mean, you know, you can't take life for granted…being a ninja and all…I was wondering… about you and me…how do you feel…" Sasuke stuttered on, making little sense even to himself. His thoughts seemed to be processing through his mind at an unintelligible speed as his heart pounded and his breath shortened, both normally rhythmic body systems suddenly sporadic and irregular.
Sakura's eyes softened and she looked away from the beautiful scenery down to the edge of the plain sterile window sill in front of her. She leaned the right side of her body against the wall next to the window.
"You and me?" she seemed to muse casually.
Then she turned to Sasuke, half of her face in partial shadow, as she smiled cheerfully and said, "We're friends…and teammates, right?"
Sasuke looked up at her, trying to make sense of what it was she was really thinking, but to no avail.
"The night I left, you…" Sasuke began, but Sakura gave him no time to finish, waving his voice away with her left hand and looking back out into the distant landscape view outside the window. The world seemed covered in a deep blanket of blue, clear and peaceful on another silent night.
"Oh, yeah, gomen (sorry), I'm sure it made you uncomfortable, me getting all mushy like that," Sakura said as she crossed her arms, slightly hugging herself as if a chill had come into the room.
"Well, about that…I…" Sasuke began again. But again, Sakura cut him short.
"You don't have to worry about that anymore. I can take a hint. I'm just glad you're back here and safe with all of us," Sakura said with a smile, still looking out the window. For a moment she paused, lost in the cold of that night long ago, paralyzed by the heart break she felt when she awoke covered in morning dew the next day to find that Sasuke had left Konoha…had left her. Inside, she tucked away the hollowness that was filling her chest and was about to turn and throw Sasuke the most cheerful smile she could muster only to find that Sasuke was out of bed and standing right next to her.
Sakura looked at him with wide eyes, not able to comprehend what was happening. He had a look in his dark eyes that was a mixture of regret, sorrow, and anxiety that Sakura didn't know how to interpret. His dark, ashen-blue hair glowed, perfectly matching the blue hues of the night-time light that illuminated it, framing his face in a sort of ethereal state. Before Sakura could figure out how to react, Sasuke had lifted his right hand up to her left cheek, sliding his rough, calloused fingers across the surface of her skin, sending chills up and down her spine. His hand gently pressed against her cheek and his fingers slipping into some of the pink hair under her ear, Sasuke leaned in towards her face. Instinctively, Sakura leaned her own head backwards away from him in surprise, bumping the back of her head slightly against the wall she was leaning against. He paused for a moment, searching her face with his concerned eyes, then continued to lean his face in towards hers. As his lips neared hers, he paused yet again, giving her ample opportunity to pull away or punch him or whatever. At that close proximity, he knew a strike from her would probably knock him out for a few hours. His eyes drooped and as he saw hers do the same, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips lightly against hers in a simple kiss that he held for just a moment, and then he pulled away.
Sakura's insides were melting in a smooth flowing sensation. For that moment, she let go of all her fears and anxieties, all the sad and painful memories, and let herself just be. As Sasuke pulled his face away from hers, she reopened her eyes to look into his anxious ones. Sasuke searched her eyes for the next emotion that would replace the mild shock she showed, having no idea what her reaction would be. To his own surprise and dismay, they welled up with tears that broke free and streamed down the corners of her face. They weren't tears of joy; the furrowed brow and look of pain that played across her features attested to that.
"Gomen (I'm sorry), I shouldn't have…are you okay?" Sasuke said with concern painted all over his features.
"No, I just…I just…" Sakura said, sniffling and wiping away her tears, "I just don't understand what's going on here. Why…why did you just do that?"
Sasuke instinctively brought his hand up to wipe away a tear streaming down her face with the back of his finger.
"I just…wanted to show you…how much I care about you," Sasuke said weakly.
"But you left me, that night, you just left, I just don't understand…" Sakura said.
A pained look shot across his countenance.
"Gomen (I'm sorry). I hope…I hope one day you can forgive me for doing that."
He put both of his hands up to her face and placed his forehead against hers.
"Gomen," he said again. One side of him told him he should just leave the poor girl alone and stop torturing her with his presence, but he couldn't bear to leave the tears she shed unattended, tears that he had caused. He wrapped his arms around her and with one hand, cradled her head against his left shoulder. Firmly in his embrace, Sakura let out an unfettered sob and she began to cry uncontrollably, her body shaking. Sasuke held her as her body convulsed. It felt like a dam had broken, and all the feelings that she had been holding back for so long poured forth in a deluge of salty tears.
After a while, Sakura calmed down and Sasuke grabbed some tissue and handed it to her. She cleaned her face and regained her composure, occasionally hiccupping slightly.
"Gomen, I shouldn't have just kissed you like that…" Sasuke said, placing one hand on her shoulder to comfort and steady her as she sat down on the bed sideways facing him as he sat facing her.
"No, it's just, I don't know, I guess I'd been holding in so much emotion and it all just came pouring out," Sakura said as she steadied her speech and tried to rid her voice of the nasally sound that stifled it.
"So," she said with a hiccup and a weak smile, "you can't just go around kissing girls like that, you know. You'll have to be my boyfriend or I'll have beat you up for being a sleezy playboy."
Sasuke smiled at her half joke and half serious statement.
"It's a deal," he said, his heart fluttered with happiness that mixed in with the regret he felt for putting her through so much grief.
She put a fist up to his face.
"I'm serious you know! That was my first kiss, and I hate sleezy guys!" she joked and gave a nasally laugh.
"Ah," he replied, putting a hand over her fist and pushing it down. His other hand went up to her face again, holding her cheek and brushing away the wetness on it with his thumb. Sakura blushed as he leaned in towards her and kissed her again. She hiccupped in the middle of the kiss and they both laughed awkwardly, embarrassed and red-faced, but happy nonetheless in their newfound intimacy.
Note: Yay for SasuSaku! Okay, got the NaruHina coming up, and some more Kyuubi development. I'm glad people are enjoying the Kyubi's growth! I'm also toying with the idea of just throwing in some shorts on the Choji x Mimi OC (I think OC is for Original Couple?), Neji x Tenten, and Ino x Inu. Since they're out of sync with the story's chronology, they'll just be extra little scenes thrown in, so I guess if you're not fond of the pairings, you can skip them and it won't affect the plot, which is of course heavily reliant on the NaruHina and SasuSaku at this point. Also, I haven't forgotten about Shikamaru and Temari…Shikamaru cracks me up! I'm looking forward to the Chuunin Exams! They'll be hard to write, but lots of fun nonetheless! Please look forward to the next chapter!
Random Note: For those in the Hidden Village of San Fracisco, check out the anime fair in Japan Town this weekend!