A/n: OH! When I went to check my stats my hits for this fic was about…fifty people. My reviews were about…I dunno…four! People. Come on! REVIEW! Give me input! Inspiration! Motivation. I need your reviews! Please. I treasure them so much.
Sasuke: Just review so she can shut up.
Naruto: Yeah.
Magic: (glares, picks up chainsaw)
Sakura: You guys…
Sasu/Naru: …AHH! (runs away and tries tohave Magic not kill them)
Also I wanna give a special thanks to those who first reviewed this fic:
M well…uh…thanks for being reviewer number one.
KaiKaiCuite thanks! Love your lil' name. Too cute!
Hemotoxin Dude…your name worries me. But it's still cool. Thanks!
Hurley Girl Thank you for your review!
Slek Thank you too.
This chapter is dedicated to you all.
Sasuke: Stop yapping and go to the damn story.
Magic: (gets a mallet) You think you're too stoic to have me kick your ass huh? (Chases him)
Sakura: It's now the first chapter. This chapter is mostly about us. Yui and Kakashi-sensei are later.
Chapter 1- Jealously
"Bodyguards?" Naruto asked as Tsunade handed him the form with their latest assignment on it. "Tsunade obaa-chan can I ask whom for?" He raised an eyebrow. He was just a little curious as to who it was.
"It's a very wealthy family. There have been recent killings in the village, and they do not have any real protection." Tsunade arose from her chair and went through some more papers which sat upon her desk. "The village is south of the Thunder country. It's very prosperous for most wealth live there." Tsunade looked to them sternly. Her eyes narrowed on Naruto's image. "Do not mess up on this job. Do it well. Please understand and take note this is one of our highest paying clients. Such amounts of money can be put to good use." She walked towards the door. "Good luck."
Team seven headed out the door. Tsunade touched Kakashi's shoulder, as he was the last one to leave the room. Kakashi looked at the woman. "Yes?" He asked.
"It's the Yoshimitsu, Kakashi." Tsunade whispered to him.
"I'm well aware of that. Good Bye Hokage-sama." He stepped from her touch and headed down the corridor where his team waited.
Outside was fresh, and white. Another snow storm. It was extremely frequent since the season had begun. As the group walked through the 2 feet of fresh snow the three teens whispered amongst themselves. "Isn't Yui from that village?" Naruto asked.
Sakura shoved her hands into the pockets of her winter coat. It was extremely cold. "Yeah. So we will get to see her. Maybe."
Naruto looked at the silent Kakashi who walked ahead. His teacher had become very to himself lately. More than usual. Naruto frowned then turned to Sasuke. He touched his shoulder and whispered into his ear. "And Kakashi-sensei?" He asked.
"Kakashi-sensei will be alright. He's trained better than that, where his emotions won't interfere with the mission." Sakura told them as she leaned forward into the conversation. "Still he hasn't been himself since she left." Sakura looked to Kakashi. "I can it really did hurt him."
Naruto looked to the pink haired girl and frowned. Sasuke shivered slightly and held his black scarf closer to his neck. The winter cold was getting to him. His fingers were numb and red at the tip. He felt a bit lethargic as well. Since Yui's leave, he too, had not been himself. Things which never bothered him did. Things about Naruto and Sakura occurred to him, as they never would have before. "I'm tired," He mumbled. "and hungry."
"How about we go to your place and I make you guys something hot to drink?" Sakura offered. "'I'll even do dinner."
"Whatever…" Sasuke said as his heavy eyes fell.
"Okay, I'll go to the store and pick up some things." Sakura looked to Naruto who smiled.
"Yeah." Naruto said. With the behavior going on between them no one could tell it was hoax. Everything beneath it was all was a lie to keep unruly emotions held down. "Kakashi-sensei, Sakura is going to make dinner at Sasuke's. Want to come?"
"No thanks." He simply said and walked on.
The cold air made Naruto's cheeks and nose red. He sighed. "Yeah. Okay. I'll see you for tomorrow's mission then."
Sasuke shivered once more. Sakura noticed the male's chilled body and decided to help. She rubbed Sasuke's hands with her own, for they were fairly warm, being they had been in her pocket for a while. "I think this is the coldest winter we've ever had." Sasuke's cheek turned a bright red. One would think it was due to the weather, but only he knew that he was blushing. He and jealous Naruto who watched.
"Thanks Sakura." He said.
"You're welcome Sasuke." She smiled and Naruto frowned to the sight. A feeling of jealously danced over his shoulders. It didn't like what he was watching.
"Sakura-chan you need help with the grocery shopping?" He asked.
"Hm…sure." She blew on Sasuke's hands and rubbed them again. Naruto hated the fact that Sasuke seemed to be enjoying his special treatment too much.
Kakashi continued to walk. Each step he took through the snow felt heavier than his last. His latest mission would require seeing her again. To protect her. She was going to be his client. That was it. Nothing more. Nothing else would happen. He wouldn't let it. But what would she say when she saw him? How did she feel now? 'No. None of that matters. It is my mission to protect her. Forget everything else. My feelings don't matter.'
He entered his apartment and placed his things down as he walked into the kitchen to place a kettle on the stove. He entered the shower and turned on the hot water. The heated drops of water beat upon his back and woke up his cold body. Kakashi placed his forehead against the tile of the shower wall and sighed deeply. The hot water stilled beat on his skin. Despite its weak sound, he could hear the kettle whistle. 'My feelings don't matter…but hers still do.'
Sakura placed the bag of rice into the shopping cart as Naruto pushed it along in the supermarket. "Should I get tuna fish?" She asked him as they walked down the isle.
"Hm? Get what you want Sakura-chan." He said somewhat uncaringly.
"I just asked you a simple question. No need to respond to me with such a rude remark."
"I didn't mean to sound so mean…"
Sakura's eyes looked at Naruto. Somewhere in her , she felt silent guilt. "No, its okay. I asked you that question you don't really like tuna. I was just thinking about Sasuke's favorite.
'I knew you were.' Naruto frowned and then sighed. "That's fine. Tuna's okay."
Sakura looked at the floor then back to Naruto. "Do you want Salmon?" She asked.
"Sure. That's fine too." He said fairly saddened. Sakura looked to Naruto and frowned. She walked over to him and again frowned; even more bitter than the last. She brought her hands to his cheeks and squeezed them.
"What do you want?" She asked. Naruto's eyes searched her own and in them he saw true serenity.
"I want…I want…" He began.
"Yes?"
"I want you Sakura." A pink color burned Sakura's cheeks as she heard his words. She stepped back a bit, causing her to bump into the cart.
"I mean…uhh...what do you want to eat for dinner?" She turned her back to him and bit her bottom lip.
"Salmon is fine." Naruto stepped past her and pushed the cart down to the next isle.
Sakura stood there. She had found she bit her lip until it bleed. As she brought her fingers to the source of blood and touched she realized how red the color was. It was the same red she saw on Sasuke's numb hands earlier. It was the same color Naruto's cheeks were just a moment ago.
She touched the cold stone. Amazingly, despite the sub-zero weather it felt warm. Heated. Almost as if it was alive. Tears slid down her cheeks as she brought her knees to the snow covered ground and cried loudly "I don't want to see him, daddy. I don't want it to be him!"
A slender figure stood in the trees. His midnight blue eyes and black hair seemed like death with the image of pure white snow behind him. "And all the people will cry once upon her dead body."
Kakashi drank his tea. He sat at his desk staring at images. Pictures. The same ones they took in the photo booth their first date. Her smile was so pure. It was a wonderful feeling for him to have made her smile. To make her happy. He remembered…
" You've taught me something. To be happy…"
Another feeling returned. That same type of feeling he had since Obito's death. That same kind of feeling of him being foolish…the one which made him have regret. He didn't want to think his action against her was wrong. Painful, yes. Wrong? No. His goal was to keep her happy by keeping her away from him. 'It would have been better if she didn't love me. This all would hurt so much less. For her, and me.'
He changed everything back to what it use to be. The simple shuriken sheets were back. His bathroom was plain and simple. His room looked the way it always use to. Like he never had a woman in his life. Like she had never been there. Like she never existed…how he almost wished it was true. Almost wished…almost. If she never existed then it would not hurt. None of it would.
Of course his life never gave a moment without pain. It came with being a shinobi. It was mandatory in such an existence.
The two chuunins sipped their hot chocolate together as Sakura was in the kitchen. Sasuke's eyes meet Naruto's and they both took another sip of the hot beverage. "Too hot for you Naruto?" Sasuke asked, as he watched the blonde place his cup down on the table.
"No. What about you?"
"It's fine." Their eyes traveled around the room and meet each other once more. "Sakura's almost done cooking."
"Yeah. Maybe ten minutes more."
"Or less. You know she's a great cook."
"I know."
"Once we tried this cooking class at the academy. It wasn't all that great being that the teacher was always absent. The one day there was a teacher it wasn't even anyone who could cook. It was Gai, so the class was horrible. Everyone did terrible accept fuzzy brows." Naruto smirked and stared into the hot chocolate. He watched as the one marshmallow in it slowly sank down. "But even though the class sucked…I still had a good time. And Sakura and I made a great dish. You should see her. She's so good with her hands."
"I know." Sasuke replied somewhat smugly. Naruto looked up and him and glared. "I've experienced such first hand. No pun intended." He grinned. Naruto stood up and slammed his hand on the table causing the hot beverage to spill on his hand.
"Ouch!" He cried as it came into contact with his skin.
"I thought you said it wasn't too hot."
"Shut up, you bastard." Naruto ran into the kitchen and turned the cold water on from the sink. Sakura looked to him with worry as she saw him gritting his teeth.
"You okay? What's wrong?" She looked to see his red and burning skin. "How'd you burn yourself?" She asked as she grabbed the dish towel and took his hand from under the water. "Come here." Sakura dragged the blue eyed boy into the bathroom and sat him the edge of the tub. She went through Sasuke's medicine cabinet and soon found some ointment.
As she rubbed some on his hand Naruto's cheeks began to turn a pink color. "I was being clumsy again."
"That's obvious. It's not that bad. This should stop the burning and let it heal, okay?"
"Uh-huh. Thanks Sakura-chan."
"That's fine."
"Hm…hey! Can you kiss it and make it all better?" He asked with a childish pout. "Please…"
"Wha? No!"
"Please Sakura-chan?" He formed big puppy dog eyes and blinked to her cutely.
"Fine. Okay." She gently kissed his palm and Naruto smiled as her lips came in contact with his skin. "Better?" She asked.
"Yes. So much better."
"I gotta go finish dinner now. Just sit with Sasuke. And don't hurt yourself anymore." She headed out the bathroom and left Naruto there. He looked at his hand and then looked in the hall to see a jealous Sasuke.
Yui sat down before the fireplace. A sleeping Yume was in her lap. She stroked the child's hair and looked at the clock. Minutes to twelve. She brought her eyes back to the flames of the fire and sighed. The fire before her eyes reminded her of that day…the day her father was killed. And also the day he broke her renewed sprit. For some reason she smiled when the thought of watching his happiness burn came to mind. But it was followed by a frown…for she saw her own happiness burning with his. 'Kakashi…I hope this hurts you as much as it hurts me…no. More.'
A/n: It's like the end. (Please forgive me for the typos. I'm too lazy for spell check sometimes…most the time)
Sakura: End of this chapter. Yes, we know. No why don't you begin the next?
Naruto: Yeah.
Magic: Unlike you kids I gotta go to school til I'm like almost thirty! Okay! School is not just some three to fours years and you're out for good but three to fours broken up into different levels. It's like…Elementary, then middle, then high school, then college, then grad school…it doesn't end! Geez…I'm tired already.
Sasuke Then take a nap and do the next chapter when you're done. (Rolls eyes)
Magic: Uh...OKAY! Later dayz!
