Suki: HAHA! I have returned with a new chapter! Who here loves me for updating so quickly? If you love me, wave your hands in the air like you just don't care! -is happy as a clam-. Ahem. ANYWAYS I'd just like to thank all my refiewers! 14 reviews for the first chapter, I'm so honored. I never thought people would like my story so much. So, THANK YOU! -glomps all her reviewers-.
Disclaimer: I still do NOT own Naruto, other than a Kakashi plushie and keychain and some DVDs of the series, I own NOTHING, you hear me you federal beurocrats? -shakes angry fist at said federal beaurocrats, glaring daggers at them-.
Also, THANK YOU KITTEN DICTATOR FOR BETAING MY FIC! -clings to her-
Oh, and I edited Chapter 1. Just wanted to let you know in case you want to see the updates -nods-
'italics' thoughts
'bold' Inner Sakura
"Normal text" talking out loud
Suki: So, Without Further Ado, ONWARD WITH THE FANFICTION! -does a cheesey Rock Lee nice guy pose-
How Love Blossoms Beneath the Sakura Tree
By: ToraYashaChan
Chapter 2: Hurt Feelings and an Unexpected Reunion
The 18-year-old kunoichi ran stumbling through the streets of Konoha, her vision blinded by the tears that were flowing down her cheeks.
Sakura didn't really know, or care, of the reason why she was actually able to navigate without her sight. All she knew was that she needed to get out of there and back home as quickly as possible.
'I got to get out of here! I can't let people see me like this, it would be so embarrassing. How would I explain myself?'
She just needed to be alone for a while to get control of her emotions again.
Why did Itachi have to be such a god damned jerk all the time? What had possessed him to say something like that about HER parents?
'What an asshole!' Inner Sakura screamed angrily, 'Get BACK there and kick his ass! That prick deserves nothing less than a good beating! Don't you have any backbone!'
For a moment, Sakura considered going back and doing just that, but, in the end, decided against it.
'I was only able to hit Itachi back there because I caught him off guard. If I were to try something like that again, I wouldn't be so lucky.'
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Sakura, miraculously, made it home without crashing into anybody or tripping over anything in the streets as she ran like the devil was at her heels.
When she finally made it home and burst through the door, Sakura immediately made a B-line to her bedroom and stayed there the rest of the night, crying like there was no tomorrow.
Sakura felt like shit. She hadn't felt this horrible since her parents died eight years ago.
"D-damn that stupid Itachi to hell! W-why did he have to go say that about my parents? They didn't do anything to deserve being bad-mouthed like that!"
She clutched her pillow, and began sobbing with all the sorrow and grief that was bubbling up from the darkest recesses of her heart. (A/N: God...that makes me sound like such a sap XD) She cursed the name of the man who had put her in her current state. Sakura had never cried this hard before in her entire life, not even when her parents died, she just hadn't.
"This sucks!" the pink haired kunoichi exclaimed in frustration, yelling as loudly as she could, "Damn you to Hell, Itachi! I hate you!"
Sakura knew that the Uchiha prodigy couldn't hear her, and even if he could, he probably wouldn't give a damn about it, but she wanted to let out her frustrations somehow, and yelling at the top of her lungs seemed to be the best way to do just that.
At least it was making her feel better. But it did nothing to cease the tears streaming down her face.
For the first time in a many, many years, Sakura cried herself sleep, a fitful sleep filled with nightmares about her parents' deaths.
Itachi's POV----------------
Itachi stood in the same spot he had been when Sakura hit him with a stunned expression on his face, like someone had slapped him in the face with a tone of bricks, which, ironically, was exactly what the medic's punch had felt like.
She had been the first person to hit him, not even the high-classed rogue ninjas he fought on missions were ever able to hit him, or take him by surprise like that girl had.
He stood there in the same spot for about ten to fifteen minutes until the shock had worn off and he walked back into town and headed for home, pondering all the while about the kunoichi who had punched him.
At home, the Uchiha prodigy went directly to bed, not even bothering to change into his pajamas, and fell asleep almost instantly.
The Next day-----------------------
The next day, Sakura appeared in a puff of smoke in the clearing where Sasuke, Naruto, and she would train.
"I'm the first one here?" she said quizzically, sounding a little bit surprised.
Sasuke came out from behind a nearby tree, "Sakura, can I talk to you for a minute please?"
Sakura blinked in confusion, "Oh, good morning Sasuke! Yeah, sure. What do you need to talk about?"
The young Uchiha walked up to his female teammate, "My family is holding a banquet at the end of next week. My brother's fiancée is going to be announced at that banquet, and my father asked me to invite you personally, to make sure you would come. He said it's important that you do so."
The pink-haired medic of team seven blinked in surprise, "Why does your father want me to come?" she asked, looking puzzled.
Sakura was confused. Why would Uchiha-sama want to make sure that she was present at the banquet? But there was one thing she knew, if Uchiha-sama specifically asked for her to come, there was NO way she was getting out of it.
Sasuke just shrugged, "I don't know. I asked him, but he wouldn't tell me the reason why."
His statement just about settled the matter, there was absolutely no way for Sakura to get out of going to the banquet. She was going, and that was final.
"Yeah... tell your father that I'll be there." She said, doing everything she could to hide her disappointment.
Smiling, Sasuke handed Sakura a letter that was addressed to her, "Good. Here's the invitation with all the information on it."
Sakura took the letter and stuck it in her weapons pouch, "Thank you. Now, shall we spar until Naruto shows up?"
The young Uchiha nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," he replied, grinning at her, "and, unlike yesterday, I'm going to kick your ass!" he exclaimed jokingly.
The pink-haired kunoichi just smirked, "In your dreams pretty boy," she countered, playing along with her teammate.
Sasuke smirked as well, "We'll just have to see," he shot back, getting into his fighting stance and cracking his knuckles.
Snorting with false indignation, Sakura got into her own fighting stance, "Yes, we'll just have to see, pretty boy."
And with that, they lunged at each other, and the sparring match began. The pair was going so fast, they looked like a flurry of arms and legs. A person with normal vision wouldn't be able to keep up with their movements for very long. And even then, a person with superior vision would have a hard time keeping up with them.
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After a while, a man of medium height with silver hair came strolling into the clearing in a nonchalant manner. He was reading a book while he walked. Stopping suddenly, he looked over at the pair that was sparring, and the one eye you could see curved up, showing that the man was smiling.
Then, without warning, the silver-haired shinobi threw a shiruken into the flurry of arms and legs that was Sasuke and Sakura.
The sparring match stopped when the two noticed the alien weapon, they both looked up to catch the identity of the owner.
"Yo... It's been a while. How've you two been holding up?" the silver-haired ninja said in a lazy manner, eye still curved upward, showing that he was smiling.
Sakura's eyes nearly bugged out of her head in surprise, "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" She exclaimed in surprise.
Kakashi suddenly found himself tackled to the ground with a pink-haired kunoichi hugging his waist fiercely. He laughed heartily, finding the medic's antics quite funny.
"It's good to see you too, Sakura-chan," he said in an endearing tone, hugging her back gently.
'She hasn't changed a bit since I last saw her.' Kakashi thought to himself, still grinning under his mask. 'I'm glad.'
Walking up to the scene, Sasuke smirked, "Hey there Sensei... good to see you're alive. We haven't seen you in a long time, we were starting to think your old age was getting to you," the young Uchiha said jokingly.
Kakashi chuckled, looking up at his former student, "You two were worried about me? I'm touched Sasuke."
Turning his gaze back to his female student, "It's been what, 2 years since you went on to become a jounin, and you couldn't even write a card, or come and visit me, Sakura? I've been so lonely these past couple of years. I was beginning to think that you'd forgotten about me," he said with mock hurt in his voice.
Sakura rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Kakashi. "I sent you a post card last week you drama queen! You have NO room to complain," she shot back in a joking manner, smirking at her former sensei, still hugging him around his waist.
Kakashi's eye curved upwards again into a smile, "Yes, yes. I know, I was only kidding," he replied, his voice sounding quite amused.
The young Uchiha watched the scene going on in front of him, amusement showing clearly on his face. When Kakashi-sensei was around, things were always interesting
Smiling at her former sensei, Sakura let Kakashi out of her vice-like hug, grinning mischievously at him.
'She's gotten a lot stronger since the last time I've seen her. Sakura's strength is impressive. I guess that's what happens when you're trained by one of the legendary Sanin.'
Suddenly, Naruto came running into the clearing, panting hard like he had just run all the way there, "Sorry I'm late you guys! I got a little tied… KAKASHI-SENSEI!"
Kakashi was, yet again, tackled to the ground by another one of his former students in a vice-grip like hug.
"Heheh. Nice to see you again too, Naruto-kun. It's been a while," The silver-haired jounin said, amusement clearly showing in his voice. It had been over a year since he'd last seen his former blond-haired student.
Glancing up at Kakashi, Naruto smirked and hugged his former teacher even tighter, "No shit! I've missed you, Sensei!" the blond exclaimed happily.
Chuckling at Naruto's antics, Kakashi playfully messed up his hair more than it already was, an amused look on his face, "You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you."
The group reminisced about old times for an hour or so. Laughing and joking with each other. To Sakura, it felt like old times again.
An Hour or two later--------------------
On her way to work after training, Sakura stopped by the Yamanaka flower shop to get two bouquets of flowers for her parents at the memorial stone. When she was at the stone, she stayed and talked to them, telling them some things she had forgotten to talk about. After talking to her parents for ten to twenty minutes, Sakura left the Memorial Stone and went home. She strolled through the streets of Konoha, whistling nonchalantly as she headed to the hospital to where she would be working late into the evening.
At the hospital, Sakura had an unusually high number of patients that day. She had anywhere from fifteen to twenty patients, half of them had serious injuries that needed immediate attention, which made Sakura use up a lot of her chakra.
By the end of the day, Haruno Sakura was completely bushed. She was surprised that she was even able to make it home after work, she was so tired.
After clocking out for the night, the pink-haired medic trudged home, bleary eyed and exhausted from the days work.
Later that night---------------------------
After a long days work at the hospital, Sakura walked in the door of her house and collapsed on her couch. She took the invitation to the banquet at the Uchiha estate out of her weapons pouch that she still had with her and looked at it. She turned the card over in her hand, reading the amazing penmanship written on it.
It was a beautiful card. The penmanship was lovely, and the design on it was absolutely stunning. She read the card to herself
Friends, family, and residents of Konoha,
On March 20th at 6:00 pm, come to the Uchiha
Estate to celebrate the announcement
of Uchiha Itachi's fiancée.
"Why did I agree to this? What in the seven hells was I thinking when I agreed to go to this thing? I can't face Itachi again, not after I decked him!"
Sighing she cracked her neck as she laid down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Sakura yawned and stretched her muscles out.
'You agreed to go to the banquet because Uchiha-sama went out of his way to make sure that you would attend. And you don't say no to THE Uchiha-sama, simple as that. But still, why does he want someone like me to show up at this banquet? Why would he go out of his way to make sure I attend? It doesn't make sense to me.'
Heaving another sigh, Sakura looked at her clock and realized it was almost midnight. Yawning loudly, she headed to her room.
'Uhn… I'm too exhausted from training AND work. I can always try and figure out the reason behind this later when I'm not so god damned tired.'
Sakura changed into her pajamas, a pair of flannel PJ bottoms with butterflies all over them and a plain red spaghetti strap top, and climbed into bed. When Sakura laid down, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.