Keep Itachi: 15
Kill him: 18
3 votes…wow…
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"So…Hinata…how was breakfast?"
The young dobe inquired his date. The lovely Hinata smiled and whispered,
"It was pretty good, N-Naruto-kun…"
He smiled. After looking at his pocket watch, he gasped. It was already a quarter past eight. He was late for training with Kaka-sensei!
"I'm sorry, Hinata. I've gotta go. Kakashi-sensei is supposed to train us today!"
"B-But Naruto-kun, what about your paperwork?"
The blonde ninja turned and smiled.
"Oh that? It could wait! Me getting stronger matters more now. How else would I protect this village?"
Hinata blushed and smiled. Naruto, seeing this, chuckled and took off, calling behind him.
"Don't forget about our lunch and dinner plans! Now, go off, my youthful student, and confront that un-youthful beast we call Tsunade-Obaa-chan!"
Hinata giggled and struck the 'good-guy pose'
"Sure, N-Naruto-kun!"
Naruto smiled and ran off to the Team 7 bridge. He felt unusually warm inside, and he had to admit, Hinata was changing into a more confident person. He liked it.
As he made his way over to the bridge, he was surprised to see his two teammates sweating, and looking exhausted. He cocked an eyebrow and walked over to them slowly and cautiously. As he got closer, he noticed another person there. What the…? Who the hell's that?
When he finally arrived at the foot of the bridge, he was greeted by a chorus of Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura's voice.
"You're late."
They simply stated. Naruto sweat-dropped.
"Kaka-sensei, what are you doing here so early?"
Kakashi sighed.
"Training starts at 8. It's already eight thirty."
Naruto gaped. Kaka-sensei wasn't late today?
Sakura, as if reading his mind made her way over to him and whispered
"He was only fifteen minutes late today."
Naruto's mouth slowly formed an 'O', and he slowly nodded as if he understood the situation perfectly…which he didn't. However, when he snapped back into reality, he found his team several meters away. He ran to catch up with them.When he finally caught up, Sakura asked him,
"Where were you anyways? It's not like you to show up so late. Besides, didn't you tell me the other day that 'Hokages are punctual'?"
Naruto blushed. He didn't want to say that he was eating ramen with Hinata, I mean, then they'd think that he and Hinata were on a date! He smiled weakly.
"I…I got lost on the road of life…?"
Sakura slapped her forehead, and Kakashi and Sasuke instantly turned around.
"Oh really? Then why didn't I see you there, Naruto?"
Everyone sweat-dropped at Kaka-sensei's comment. Seeing this, the silver-haired jonin smiled. This time, however, it was Sasuke's turn to speak.
"Look, the dobe's blushing."
Hearing this, Naruto's cheeks grew redder.
"I'm NOT blushing, you jerk!"
"Uh, yah you are."
"Hey, Naruto! You really ARE blushing!"
And at that, Sakura innocently pointed at his cheeks. Naruto sighed, and Kakashi smiled.
"Sounds like something happened to me…so, who's the poor girl?"
Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief.
"What? How'd you know that I went to eat ramen with Hinata?"
Instantly, Naruto clamped his hand over his mouth. He did NOT just say that.
"Poor girl…" Kakashi sighed.
"What do you mean, 'poor girl'? I was eating ramen with Hinata, and if you ask me, she's the LUCKY girl!"
Naruto paused.
Oh wait—he DID say that.
"No one asked, dobe. Even I pity her. She'd be better off with that dog-boy than you."
Naruto growled.
"Hinata's a GREAT girl, and she's better off with me than that loser Kiba!"
Naruto slapped himself.
He said all that AND MORE.
Sakura, who'd been staring and listening to their conversation for quite some time, smiled.
"So you finally realized her feelings for you huh? Took you long enough."
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
Naruto whined. Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes. Kakashi, seeing all this smiled underneath his mask. He pulled out his ComeComeParadise book and walked over to Naruto. Bending over slightly, he flipped to a page that he had book-marked, and showed it to Naruto. Pointing to the page, he smiled.
"Here, try this one, it works all the time, and it NEVER fails."
Naruto eyed the book carefully, and giggled while blushing. This was what training with Jiraiya had done to him. Sasuke sweatdropped, and Sakura made a disgusted –looking face.
"Kaka-sensei, you're a GENIUS! I had no idea that Ero-Senin could come up with such GREAT ideas!"
Sasuke coughed and choked, although he was silently curious as well. (That closet pervert!)
Sakura, on the other hand, TOTALLY paled. She was disgusted. I mean, who wouldn't be, after seeing her teacher and friend gloating, chuckling, and huddled around a porn book?
Boldly, she walked up to the two "men", and snatched the book away from their hands.
"Naruto! Don't you DARE defile Hinata by using the methods in this book! Have you no shame?"
She ripped the book in half, and walked over to Sasuke. When she was out of ear-shot, Kakashi leaned over to Naruto and whispered
"Don't worry, I already memorized the contents of that book with my sharingan."
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At the end of the day…
Team 7 was wrapping up their training with sparring matches. Sakura and Naruto had finished their spar, and the victor was the Hokage, much to Sakura's dismay. On the other hand, Kakashi and Sasuke were merely wrapping up their spar.
It looked like Kakashi was gonna be the victor, but within a blink of an eye, the entire situation was completely reversed. Within seconds, the silver-haired jonin was flat against the floor with a kunai held at his throat. Smirking with satisfaction, Sasuke got off of Kakashi. Kakashi, surprised at Sasuke's sudden improvement, got up, and patted his protégé on the back.
"Looks like you've improved quite a bit."
"Hn."
Inwardly, Sasuke was beaming with pride. Who was he gonna take down next? After looking at his hands, The Uchiha prodigy clenched them.
I really am…getting stronger…
Who was he gonna take down next? The Hokage himself, no doubt. With Naruto's inauguration coming up, Itachi would probably be showing up to "pay his respects" as well.
But then again, the entire Akatsuki's been dead for a while…Who knows what's next on his agenda?
Suddenly remembering that, Sasuke groaned. It was very possible that his brother had been behind the death of the entire rest of the Akatsuki—and that only served to discourage the young prodigy. Soon, his smirk was replaced with a frown. He didn't have all the time in the world, and yet, here he was, still not strong enough to defeat his brother. He may have beaten Kakashi in a spar, but that was still nothing, knowing that Itachi had easily defeated Kakashi.
Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away from everyone else. Instantly, Sakura knew that something was wrong.
"Sasuke-kun…"
Right away, Sasuke turned to look Sakura in the eye.
"I'm fine."
Naruto bore a questioning/clueless/confused expression on his face.
"Yo, what just happened here? I think I'm lost."
The teacher then silenced his student and pulled him away to give Sasuke and Sakura some "alone" time. Instantly, they found themselves behind a tree, and from that tree, you could see Sasuke and Sakura perfectly without having to worry about getting caught.
"Those two understand eachother perfectly, Naruto. They don't have to say much in order to carry a conversation. They already understand where the other is coming from."
He then crossed his fingers and held them in front of Naruto's face.
"They're like this."
Naruto was, well, stunned.
"Oh…"
Was all that he said.
They really must be close…
Naruto sighed. Surprisingly, he didn't feel his heart break after everything that he was told about Sasuke's and Sakura's closeness. And it wasn't like he was left out or anything. Naruto was close to Sasuke. They shared a brother-like bond…and Sakura…he had to admit that he never really saw her as anything more than a good, close friend. An image of Hinata flashed across Naruto's mind, and a smile found its way on his lips.
Sometimes, you just never know…you'll always find love in the most unexpected places…
"Hey Naruto…"
It was his beloved, silver-haired sensei speaking. Kakashi's voice was urgent-sounding, but it was barely above a whisper. Kakashi jabbed his finger towards where Sasuke and Sakura WERE a while ago.
"Hey, Kaka-sensei…weren't Sasuke and Sakura just there a minute ago?"
The silver haired face-hider nodded.
"Then where are they now!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes.
"That's the thing—I don't know…my mind was occupied….elsewhere."
Naruto looked down at Kakashi's hands and saw that the jounin was hiding a ComeComeParadise book poorly.
How many of those books does he have?
Kakashi gave Naruto a stern look.
"Since I wasn't paying attention, you'd think that YOU would. You ARE the Hokage, are you not?"
"…"
"So…where was your mind? Was something on your mind? I'd normally expect more from you, dobe or not dobe, you ARE the Hokage."
"I'm NOT A DOBE!"
"…"
Kakashi cocked his one eyebrow at Naruto.
"Well…then what was on your mind?"
"…"
"…Naruto…it's me, your sensei."
"…exactly."
Kakashi sighed.
"Naruto…we've known each other for years."
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"I know, that's why I can't tell you."
"The Hokage must show and demonstrate the ability to trust his fellow shinobi."
Naruto flinched involuntarily.
"Now, unless it was life-threatening, or strictly confidential information, then you should be able to trust me with whatever it is you were thinking. I too, am a Konoha shinobi, and I've been in service for this village for years."
NAruto paused. He hated it when Kakashi was "right" or as he would rather put it, "as right as a man that covered half his face with two masks could possible be."
"I…was thinking about……Hinata."
Kakashi dropped his ComeComeParadise book…only to pick it right back up, brush off the tiny particles of dust, smooth out the covers, and keep it neatly.
"Wait….what?"
Naruto inhaled deeply and exhaled.
"I was thinking about Hinata."
A grin found its was across the covered half of the jounin's face. Naruto felt his heart stop beating. It looked like Kakashi had an idea, and that was never a good thing. Feeling the need to change the subject and direct the conversation elsewhere, Naruto gulped and spoke.
"So….where do you think Sasuke and Sakura went?"
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Elsewhere with Sasuke and Sakura…
The two of them were covered in sweat, cuts, and bruises, and were both panting heavily. They had just finished sparring and training. The entire area was covered with shuriken and other weaponry, along with blood and other various random things. Rocks were split, and trees were singed and disintegrated.
Sasuke, done panting, stopped and smirked. Sooner or later, he'd have to test his newfound strength against a stronger opponent—not that Sakura wasn't strong enough, mind you—it's just that Sasuke wanted to test himself against different opponents.
"Sakura…we should get back now. It's getting late."
Sakura picked herself up off the ground and smiled.
"Okay!"
After a brief pause, she spoke again.
"Oh yah, Naruto's inauguration is in two days!"
"…"
"You know…"
Sasuke turned to face Sakura.
"Back when we were Genin…if you told me back then, that Naruto would become the Hokage, I'd never have believed it."
"…Hn."
Sakura turned to face Sasuke and was shocked to see him looking at her. She smiled, and Sasuke, after feeling a blush creep across his cheeks, turned away.
"And…if you told me back then that you and I would end up being engaged…"
"…"
Sakura tilted her head up and smiled.
"I'd laugh and say that that's ridiculous."
"…"
Sakura sighed.
"…why would you say that?"
Sakura looked surprised for a minute, and after pondering a little, smiled and answered.
"I used to think that you really hated me…"
"…"
"I heard from Naruto that after your fight against each other, you spared his life, and that you guys consider each other brothers…and you guys really did share that type of bond…"
"…"
"…but then, when you left that night…all I had left from you was a 'thank you.' How was I supposed to know what that meant?"
"…"
Sakura sighed.
"But it didn't matter. You were and always will be the one that I love….and it didn't matter to me back then, that I didn't know what you thought of me. I was concerned, and all that really mattered to me was that you got back safe and okay…and not Oro-like."
Sasuke smirked.
"…and what if I was like Oro?"
Sakura turned to look Sasuke in the eye.
"If you had a tongue like Orochimaru, I'd probably forget about you in a heartbeat and fall for Naruto instead."
Sasuke growled, causing Sakura to giggle a bit. And before they knew it, they were right before Sakura's house.
"Goodnight, Sasuke-kun."
"Hn."
Sakura smiled sweetly at him and leaned over to give Sasuke a gentle peck on the cheek. Before Sasuke could protest, she was in her house.
Sasuke smirked and whispered.
"Sakura…thanks."
Little did he know that Sakura was right on the other side of the door…and that she had heard his word of gratitude. Unlike what had happened about three years ago, Sakura now knew what he meant by "thank you." A smile graced her lips and she silently whispered back
"Anytime, Sasuke-kun. Anytime for you."
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OMG! I'm like, uberly sorry about the late update! And I don't think that any of you guys care at all, but I have an excuse-er, reason! I got lost on the road of life! Okay, just kidding! I was loaded up on last-minute projects that my teachers decided to assign me…and this month was just really busy because I also had rehearsals and sports on top of everything else. So yah, please, just remember that it's not my fault! It's my teachers'! Anyways, please, please, PLEAAAASE!
Remember to REVIEW! And remember that I have a fire-extinguisher, so NO FLAMES ALLOWED!