AN: Well, I see Temari was a real fascination. Anyway, now you'll see why…
Disclaimer: I'm getting tired of typing this… so yeah…
"Temari?!" The blonde girl landed her fan in front of the two.
"Yeah, got that right." She sneered and leaned closer so that she was face to face with Sakura. Sasuke kneeled down beside them, curiously… Temari placed a hand under her chin. "What's this I hear about you two going out huh?!" she asked angrily. Both Sasuke and Sakura's jaws dropped. They didn't expect that to happen. People actually gossiped about them? Word really does spread like wild fire…
Sakura waved her hands defensively in front of her face, with a sweat drop. "It-… uhh it was just a little rumor going around that's all!" She laughed nervously. "Really!" Sasuke was gagging slightly on the side. His eyes were wide. He rubbed his temples… 'This is bad, this is bad…' A million things ran through his head… and he summed it up with just one word. "Shit."
"Got that right!" Temari said loudly. "So, is it true?"
"Of course not!" Sakura and Sasuke said at the same time. Temari looked unconvinced. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Sakura. It was all her fault, and she's denying it? Probably for his sake and reputation… Always putting others before herself… sort of. Naruto's an exception of that rule… Sasuke was now thinking of that concept. So she put him before certain others… but she lost all her love for him… So she cares? He blinked… realization hit him.
"I don't believe it…" Temari ran a hand through her hair. "You two are alone in the woods together… and half the women of Konoha are mourning over the loss of their poor Sasuke-kun… Really, do you think I'm stupid?" They both shook their heads nervously.
"Believe me Temari, nothing's going on-…" Sakura stated.
Temari cut her off, "Oh really? If that's the case… Sasuke-kun, would you like to go out with me?"
"No." Sasuke answered with a slight crack in his voice. He looked away uncomfortably.
"Uh huh, see, why would he say no?" Temari questioned Sakura.
"Because he says no to everyone! Even me!" Sakura argued. Something dawned on her… "Temari, what are you doing here?"
"I was assigned to be a guard for Kazekage. The wind is really paranoid since the whole Orochimaru thing… Kazekage came to speak with your Hokage… and well, I didn't really get to do much while I was here, so I thought I'd tour around and let Gaara and Kankurou take care of the rest. That was until… I heard about you two… and here I am."
"Really?! Gaara's here too?" Sakura asked surprised and curious. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, why are you interested?" Temari asked back. Sasuke stiffened… what if she was?
"No, just shocked that's all. How is he?" The two girls continued at it. Sasuke on the other hand, was for some reason, relieved…
"Well, it's such a shame you two aren't going out." They got back on subject. "Are you absolutely sure?" Temari leaned in close to Sasuke looking at his eyes. Sasuke glared at her.
"Of course we're sure!" Sasuke growled. Sakura nodded.
"Positive?" Both Sasuke and Sakura sighed.
"We're teammates… besides it would be awkward. Isn't that right Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke gave her a weird look.
'She finds it awkward to be around me now?!' he asked furiously to himself. 'First you nearly kiss me and then you deny it, and now you say it's awkward if we were going out!? Make up your mind woman!' "Sasuke-kun?" Sakura glanced at him worriedly. Sasuke snapped out of his little self-debate, but then went at it again… 'Maybe it's her time of the month…' Sasuke felt himself freak out slightly. 'Something's wrong… Hmph, since when did I care about what Sakura did… or say… or act… or about her naked body coming out of the shower-… Stop it, stop it, stop it!' He cringed. If Naruto were here, he would be laughing his butt off.
"Sasuke!" Temari smacked him. Out of reaction, he almost hit her back, but stopped his fist an inch from her face. Temari didn't even blink. "What the hell are you doing?!" She asked angrily. He put his fist down and sighed.
"Something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked with concern in her voice. He shook his head. She could read him like an open book. She glared at him, "Typical Sasuke, always closed up." It was his turn to glare back. 'If your brother recreated the death of every family member in your head and told you to live in fear to kill him for the rest of your life, what would you do?! Tell the world?!' He snarled and looked away. Sakura shrugged and sighed.
"Sakura!" A voice shrieked. The trio turned their heads toward the voice. Ino came running at them, Shikamaru in tow. She smiled cheekily. "What's this I hear about you and Sasuke-kun?" They both sighed.
Naruto walked back to his apartment with a large grin on his face. This could be the best day of his life. He entered his home and fell on his bed, deciding that he needed a nap.
A puff of white hair appeared outside his window. Jiraya grinned and climbed into his pupil's room, contemplating whether he should leave him… or wake him up here and now. He placed a hand under his chin.
Naruto was drooling… a lot. A small pond was forming around his cheek. Jiraya briefly wondered if he was going to drown. The hermit sat down, deciding to wake his pupil up, but if he were going to… it would be with style… Jiraya grinned.
He filled up a cup of hot water and dipped Naruto's fingers into it, expecting the boy to pee. Unfortunately, for the next hour or so of watching him… that didn't happen. Jiraya grumbled irritably. Isn't that trick supposed to work all the time? He scratched his head. Naruto grumbled something about 'ramen' and rolled over knocking the cup down and spilling it's hot contents all over Jiraya. The hermit wailed and panicky ran around the room. Now, it looked like he peed instead. Jiraya grumbled.
After that, he tried everything and still, Naruto would not wake up. He lifted Naruto up by the collar and punched him in the face, which resulted in a large black eye for Naruto but still he wouldn't wake up. "Probably knocked him out even further…" Jiraya muttered and sighed. Suddenly, a light bulb flickered. He snapped his fingers and ran into Naruto's kitchen, grabbing a cup of instant ramen. He kept the noodles dry and grinned evilly. Jiraya turned the cup of ramen upside down. Slowly, its contents began to fall.
Naruto twitched. Was that… ramen? He sniffed slightly; his eyes snapped open. "Jiraya-sensei!" He yelled and jumped out of his bed and slid onto the floor catching the dry ramen before it hit the floor. "What the heck are you doing?!" Naruto looked down at his precious ramen. "This stuff costs money you know!" He mourned over the noodles, mumbling curses to his sensei and saying he would avenge the poor ramen. Jiraya clobbered him.
"Naruto, it's just ramen." Naruto glared at him. "Come on, make yourself decent. If you're going to get any training in today, you'd better hurry."
"Yeah, yeah… what's the rush?"
Jiraya's face glowed bright red, "Gathering data…" Naruto desperately wanted to punch his instructor. He growled. Jiraya grinned.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered as they walked toward Sakura's house. He looked at her, expecting her to say whatever it was that she needed to. "Thank you… for helping me. It… means a lot you know." He shrugged, and decided not to respond. He didn't have anything to say anyway. He stiffened up slightly. What if he helped, but she ended up dying anyway? He shook his head. It was her fault for being to weak, he reasoned with himself. The entire time Sakura just glanced at him worriedly.
She couldn't help but think that stunt she pulled before was a little over the top. Maybe Sasuke will never be interested in her… or any girl for that matter. She was starting to feel for him again, and she didn't mind. At least… she could try to enjoy these moments with him because perhaps within the next few moments, she could die… She felt like crying.
They finally reached Sakura's house… with awkward silence surrounding them. "Sasuke-kun? Do you want to come in for a while?" She asked shyly. He shook his head. It would be weird anyway. It was worth a try. Sakura opened the door and stepped in. She froze. Sasuke glanced at her weirdly.
"Sakura…" He placed a hand on her shoulder shaking her slightly. She didn't react. She was just mumbling incoherent words. "What?" She was looking at something. He followed her gaze and gagged. His eyes widened. "S-…Sakura-…" She was quivering, her eyes wide, she choked, but couldn't pull her eyes away.
Sakura spewed over and vomited blood. She was still trembling. She could feel pressure building up inside her, everything was turning… and then she collapsed. Sasuke caught her before she fell, muttering curses. He was trying to keep his gaze averted from the hideous sight before him. He looked down worriedly at her… 'This is not good…'
Slowly, he turned and directed his gaze into the room. There, was her mother's body, ripped apart, her blood spilt all over the walls, part of her dead body hanging from the ceiling, clothes torn apart. It reminded him vaguely of the Uchiha massacre, only in one body. Her mother's eyes were still open, and they seemed to be staring at Sakura.
The pink haird girl was trembling in his arms… he hugged her close to him… There wasn't much more he could do for now…
TBC…
AN: Well, cliffhanger! Sort of… My summer job is beginning… things might slow… but I'll see what I can do… =)