A/N: Hello, people!
I don't own Naruto.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON.
-Sorry about the extension on this. I am still homeless. I now have
anti-depressants to take and they make me so tired. The internet I
have access to is terrible. My life is in shambles but I'm doing my
best.
TAGS: Drama, Sasunaru, Humor, Flirting, Friendship, Queer Themes, A bit
of a sexual awakening?, Angst, Brutal Honesty, Sadness, Suggestiveness,
Perhaps a bit of Hurt and No Comfort?
"Tora is the meanest cat ever!"
Yuuki rolled her eyes as she practically shoveled some rice and egg into her mouth. "You've seen the owner of that cat. Of course it doesn't want to go back." Obsessively needy owners were unappealing to most felines so of course the cat didn't want to stay around dealing with it. Any animal with sense would get the hell out of there the moment the chance presented itself.
It did not matter that the owner was the Fire Daimyo's wife, she was too clingy and the cat hated it.
It also said something that the poor thing had apparently been doing this for decades.
Naruto stabbed at his tonkatsu, chopsticks piercing the meat with ease. "Considering how violent it is, I think it deserves the treatment. Perhaps it was a villain in a past life or something. Reincarnation, as taught by Konoha temples, suggests where you end up in your present life is a reflection of what you've done to others in a past life, and is deserved."
That didn't sound like Naruto. One: He was usually too fluffy and adorable to ever bear such negative feelings for someone or something. Two: He didn't even believe in reincarnation. She cast him a wary look, trying to see if she'd perhaps overlooked something different in his character, body, or manner this day. Nothing seemed out of place though, which meant it had to be Naruto since very few people knew him well enough to mimic him so perfectly and none of them would even want to do it for a prolonged period of time.
"What exactly happened?" What could a feline who should have never been domesticated, have done to make the sunshine boy so angry?
He pouted. "Tora scratched Sasuke's face."
...
"...Are you fucking kidding me? You're peeved because a cat had a natural aversion to being picked up?" All huffy for his boyfriend's sake? Really? Was Sasuke, cat-lover extraordinaire, even angry about it?
"Sasuke got a long red line all down the side of his face because of it!" Naruto hissed in offense, hands coming up to mimic the shape of the mark. "A claw got caught in his lower eyelid and tore all the way down his cheek! He had to go to the hospital immediately and it was looking bad there for a while!"
Oh.
Ooooh. Ew.
The mental image that came to mind was appalling. She wondered if any of the medics took a photograph of it as an example for potential future injures that came into the Emergency Room. If so, she'd get to look at it some time in the future. There was no way Tsunade wouldn't make every medic-in-training stare at photos of disgusting injuries to prepare them for the worst.
That had to be a terrifying experience for a Dojutsu user on top of it all. Especially for one who was the last living "good" possessor of his family's specific Dojutsu. Sasuke was no doubt traumatized to a degree over it, whether he held a grudge against Tora or not.
"Is Sasuke okay?" she asked. He wasn't her friend, but she didn't hate him or anything. Besides, dealing with Naruto's ever-growing crush on him exposed her to more of his pleasant character traits, even if they were only relayed by an infatuated third party.
"Well… now he is, but at that moment he wasn't!"
Hm… "I get being pissed about your boyfriend being hurt, but remember that the cat in question is reacting to hostile attention it's been facing for years. Animals don't like being grabbed by strangers and defending itself doesn't make it evil. Yes, the results of the encounter suck, but it's no reason to be so pissy over a cat being defensive."
Naruto pouted into his ramen. "...He's not my boyfriend," was his sullen reply. It literally just ended up sounding like a complaint instead of a rebuttal.
"My platonic soulmate!"
Hinata's face turned an expected shade of puce as Yuuki wrapped her arms around the other girl. "Hi, Yuuki-chan. You're looking especially good today." Hinata made sure to aim a sly look in Shino's direction. She was delighted to see a light dusting of pink appear across the exposed bridge of his nose as he took in the form-fitting fabric of Yuuki's graduation clothes.
Kibra was cackling off to the side, but wisely chose to remain silent on the matter, leaving Yuuki confused but not curious enough to ask about whatever was going on between the members of Team Eight.
As one body, all four Genin turned to the left upon feeling the slight disturbance in the air.
As if summoned, Kurenai-sensei appeared out of thin air, leaving a Shunshin with practiced ease. "Hello, there," the woman greeted Yuuki, "I've been informed that you're joining our C-Rank escort mission today. I'm Yuhi Kurenai, the sensei of these three troublemakers."
Hinata saw the moment Yuuki truly registered Kurenai-sensei's existence. Her void-like eyes trailed down the woman's frame very tellingly and for a moment, Hinata wondered if Shikamaru had lost his position as #1 in Yuuki's mind.
After all, her sensei was very... attractive. Even someone who wasn't as sexually fluid as Naruto would be affected.
"Hi," Yuuki nodded, a bit flushed, "I'm Yuuki, and I hope this mission goes well for all of us."
Once again Kiba devolved to snorting, and Shino sighed upon realizing that their sensei had gained another member for her fanclub.
If Shino had been wanting to get some of Yuuki's attention, Hinata was afraid that he'd have to fight their sensei tooth and nail for it. Poor Shino. His love woes were more sad than her own.
Naruto tore a piece of paper from one of his school notebooks and scribbled out a quick note for Yuuki to see whenever she got back from her mission in the next day or so. His team had finally been given a C-Rank mission and despite their client sucking all ass, he was excited to get out of the village and see parts of the world unknown to him!
Yuuki, Team 7 got a C-Rank to Nami no Kuni. Won't be back for at least a
week. I sealed all my perishables in that scroll you taught me how to make.
If I'm not back in a week you can have them so they don't go to waste. I also
sealed this month's rent payment into it as well. Please give it to the old hag
on time so I don't get kicked out. Thanks! -Naruto
The Academy had taught them how to properly pack for different weather conditions and missions. It was one of those subdivisions of Mission Prep and Naruto had actually done really well in it. It was fun to think about leaving the village and all the new experiences he'd have!
In Nami no Kuni, there was nothing but water and their biggest commodity was fish. The nation was just a small island that was decently far from the mainland. So the requirements for such a journey were a bit different than the kind that he'd need for say, a trip to Suna.
He packed flint and steel, a metal spile, seasoning for fish, a cast iron pot that could hold 4 Quarts of liquid, various packets of ramen seasoning that he had saved, a two-person wooden boat he'd gotten a steal on, waterproof goggles, a change of clothes, and an extra blanket.
No one could say that Naruto wasn't prepared. Just because he could walk and run on water didn't mean he should all the time. And his teammates didn't have his stamina in that regard so he was just looking out for them that way.
Yuuki would be proud. He was being mature and thinking ahead. He felt so responsible at that moment!
"You are going to heal this fish."
That had been the order. She hadn't been given any further instructions, but she knew it was an important test and that she had to follow procedure because that was how she was going to be judged. Once she fixed up the dead fish, she'd be allowed to work on a live patient and then the severity of the wounds would increase from then on.
According to her current scores, she was at Level 3. After just graduating, this was a big deal. Back when she'd realized just what she'd end up doing with her life, she'd taken the time to memorize the human anatomy from top to bottom, inside and out.
Most shinobi didn't know what they wanted to specialize in until years into their careers. She hadn't wanted to be a medic but since it was better than Genjutsu, she worked ahead of time. She improved her chakra control even more, worked on her nature transformation and shape manipulation, and began memorizing everything she could ahead of time.
She was ahead of her peers only because she'd been prepared for the life of a medic. Poverty and disadvantages all around made it so she couldn't afford to waste time planning for her future. Time was money, and free time was a luxury. For a poor teenager supporting herself on her own paychecks, she didn't have the luxury of waiting until she was on the cusp of Joninhood to decide what she wanted to specialize in.
Working ahead of time in preparation meant no unnecessary charts to memorize and a ridiculously small amount of new medical terms to learn. The Lazy Man's Load struck again, proving its use once more!
So the issue with the fish was that it had been freshly killed so there was still some brain activity and it could in a sense be salvaged. So long as she tended to the veins that had been severed and then fix up the stomach, it would be fine. The fish had been filleted and as she knew perfectly well how to handle that and the whats and wheres of dealing with fish, it wasn't difficult.
Above all else, the veins came first because that was where the blood kept escaping from.
Shosen was among the easier things to do in her personal opinion. Calling upon her Katon Chakra and not burning shit down in the process was actually much harder from personal experience. The familiar green of the healing chakra was a relief as it felt light and cool, unlike elemental chakra that was thick, heavy, and energetic.
Only three veins had been cut through and as they were smaller, they were easier to handle. The body was a bit more difficult because it was more tough. There were no bones to fix though, which was a relief. In Iryo-Ninjutsu, the B&B were the most difficult of all body parts to heal.
B&B stood for Bones and Brains.
The brain was so delicate and still relatively unknown in the medical field that it was the absolute most dangerous thing to work on. Bones had minds of their own and did not like being ordered around. They took better direction from splinting a broken arm, than they would from the Shosen no Jutsu.
Basically, the exercise she'd been given had been one of the easiest a medic could ever get. The problem was that the difficulty would go up the more and more she passed.
Shizune leaned over the fish and watched as Shosen forced the flesh to knit back together. One thing Yuuki had learned was that the woman was critical of hand placement and finger movements. Also, the intensity of the chakra used in the process. There was a lot more to their line of work than just holding a hand over a wound and forcing chakra inside.
"It took little coaxing for the wound to heal," the Jonin noted, writing on her notepad as she stared intensely. "General color of the chakra is precise and the amount used is average, not overpowered. Form is good. Breathing and heartbeat are perfectly level, showing no strain. No sign of sweat or exhaustion."
When it was all over, the woman gave her a smile and presented her notes to Tsunade, who came over to inspect the fish as well. The Sannin ran a glowing hand over the fish, nodding to herself every now and then. "The handling of the veins was good. Not great, but good enough. The type that would keep the fish alive at least. Any harsh movement or sharp turn of the body might rupture them though. We'll have to work more on your visualization in the future, but you passed."
Fuck yeah!
"Don't celebrate yet. You still have work to do."
Fuck no!
"I suppose I could teach you each an elemental jutsu to prepare you to face Zabuza and his apprentice," Kakashi-sensei told them.
Sakura fidgeted. In the Academy they'd covered elemental jutsu and their Chakra Natures. She had Water, which was unusual in Hi no Kuni since Fire was literally the cornerstone of the land. Then again her family hailed from Mizu no Kuni so maybe it wasn't too shocking.
Anyway, she didn't personally know any jutsu outside what was taught at the Academy. She could manipulate a handful of Suiton Chakra though if it was necessary. Actually learning something new would be nice since all they'd done was 'build teamwork' since graduation. those exercises hadn't been fun in the least and usually had them walking away annoyed with their sensei.
After the Academy did a re-haul of their curriculum, students graduated with more knowledge than ever before. So there were no Tree Walking and Water Walking lessons from their sensei. He'd just made them do hours upon hours of teamwork exercises, as if they hadn't been given hundreds of those back in school. As if they all hadn't been forced to work together at some point or other.
Sakura had been on temporary teams with all of her classmates at least three times each. She knew how to work with all of them already. Privately she thought her sensei was lazy and just didn't want to do his job.
His disinterest in teaching them new jutsu kind of proved it.
She didn't have the guts to say it out loud though.
Naruto, as usual, was hyped for the chance to learn something new. Even if he wasn't the greenest leaf on the tree, he was always ready to learn and work hard if it was interesting enough. At least he seemed to have one positive trait.
"What's mine gonna be, sensei? I want something super awesome and unlike anything else! And then I can show it off to Yuuki! -ttebayo!"
"Mah! You'll get yours in order of birthdays and where they come in the year, so you'll have to be patient as you're last," the one-eyed Jonin said with false cheer.
Instantly, Naruto deflated and grumbled about how unfair their sensei was.
"Do I hear a desire for more teamwork training?"
"NO!" the three Genin screamed, the sound echoing through the surrounding forest and forcing several birds to take flight in fear. All sound from the house went dead quiet and their client's daughter stuck her head out the door in concern.
"Is everything okay, Kakashi-sensei?" Tsunami asked kindly.
"We're just having some fun team bonding moments, Tsunami-san, don't worry about us!" Kakashi said with a careless wave of the hand.
Though the woman sent him a dubious look, she returned to the house without further question and left them to their fate.
She found herself with Kakashi's full attention first. His favorite porn had been stashed in his pouch the entire time they'd been outside, which was a first since the man held no amount of common decency for the public.
"Sakura-chan," he said in a sugary tone that made her wary, "you will be getting a C-Rank jutsu one of my Chunin friends developed after he knocked over his partner's jar of syrup and got stuck in it. It's called Suiton: Mizuame Nabara. It's great for trapping weak enemies and for limiting the mobility of the stronger ones. The hand seals are Ram and then Tiger, and you will work internally to thicken the water as you move to spit it out. It'll take you some time to get the right viscosity so don't get discouraged."
He proceeded to demonstrate the jutsu by making a small puddle and telling Naruto to make a Kage Bunshin. Immediately, it couldn't get out and swore up a storm of annoying insults and promises for revenge before it dispelled.
When he moved on to Sasuke, Sakura knew this was her time for herself and she had to get this jutsu down immediately! If only to prove to Sasuke-kun that she was the Kunoichi of the Year for a reason!
She would accept nothing less!
"So what's this about?" Yuuki asked as she, Choji, and Shikamaru walked along the path to Shikamaru's house. The Nara Compound was rather large and each house got bigger and bigger the closer to the center they got.
"We realized we didn't celebrate your birthday any of these years so we'd have a belated dinner for you," said Choji around a handful of jerky. "Unfortunately we're the only ones of the friend group in the village right now."
She sent Shikamaru a look of confusion. "You got me earrings." She gestured to them just to get the point across.
"Yeah. For your last birthday. And they were late by a lot."
Oh.
"When is your birthday anyway?" Choji asked once they made it to Shikamaru's front stoop. "You said it was sometime in May, right?"
"Yeah, it's the first of May."
Both boys froze, and Yoshino, who had been in the doorway ready to greet them upon their arrival, joined them, her dishtowel held aloft.
"Your birthday is the same day as Choji's and you didn't even say anything?" Shikamaru demanded, looking a bit annoyed, though she couldn't understand why.
"It didn't seem important," she shrugged. "I've never celebrated my birth before, and no one else ever has. Plus, I've got no one who could, so it's not like I'm missing out on anything I've lost. It's just one of those things that happen and that's it."
"But you made Choji and I gifts for our birthdays."
Another shrug. "You both celebrate your birthdays. And I felt bad for not knowing about them beforehand so I got the info I needed and did what needed to be done. It's not a big deal."
Yoshino tsked, finally coming back to herself. "We'll just have to work on making sure all the following birthdays are celebrated."
"You don't have to do that," the girl reassured them all. "I'm too old for anything by now and have like five people who care so it wouldn't make much sense to bother with it. Seems like it'd be a waste of resources that way."
Her answer did not, in fact, make anybody less annoyed like she'd hoped.
"Come inside," said Yoshino. "Dinner is close to being finished and I made some great desserts for you all. There is homemade mochi in it for Yuuki as well."
YES! And yet Yuuki was hoping beyond all hope that the main dish had rice in it too.
It was sad that Naruto's team and Hinata's team would miss out on it though.
Yuuki's class at the hospital saw her among the likes of Hyuga, Yamanaka, and Nara students. There weren't many civilian-born students, let alone orphans that could be found in the group. Some of her classmates weren't very friendly, or they believed that being in a big clan made them more important than their fellows. Unfortunately, this kind of attitude wasn't anything new.
Typically this was something she saw from the Hyuga primarily. Both Main and Branch parts of the family were annoying to deal with but for different reasons. Yet both managed to spark the same amount of annoyance in people. It happened with others too.
It was like, congrats! Your privilege affords you an easy life where you have to do little of anything to get by. Too bad that Tsunade, despite being from the very founding clan of the village, didn't care about that shit. So despite having fancy names, money, and maybe clan cheats on their sides, a lot of the clan students weren't any further ahead or favored above the less privileged.
It had to be eating some of them up inside. Especially as Yuuki was third best in class and was Shizune's Apprentice. And just because she was the woman's Apprentice, didn't mean she got super special treatment. Having the woman as her shishou basically saw Yuuki following her around a lot and helping out with menial tasks that were really gross and not fun at all.
Yuuki not being squeamish was a blessing in this line of work because a lot of it was vomit, pus, and diarrhea. And it all smelled terrible. And it was usually all around at the same time!
In the early morning, Yuuki had to run the perimeter of the village five times. She hated it quite obviously because running sucked. On Wednesdays and Fridays she would then have Taijutsu practice with Shizune in Training Ground 17. This was where she was taught things like Chakra Scalpel which she was actually really good at because it was very similar to her Taijutsu style already. She learned how to apply medical knowledge in hand-to-hand combat and sometimes Tsunade would be there in her niece's place to give Yuuki some pointers.
Knowing that maybe one day she could collapse a whole ass building with one punch, made her feel like a future badass. Naruto would flip his lid if he saw it!
Their most recent exam results had come in and Yuuki was in the 90th percentile, which was good for a class of sixty-three students currently in the Beginner course.
Ever since Tsunade had returned to the village, the amount of people training to be Iryo-Nin had doubled in the village. She imparted all the knowledge she'd learned in her years away, and they re-hauled the entire program at the hospital. Tsunade's life-long dream, mirroring that of her deceased lover, was to have one medically trained shinobi on every team in hopes of raising the chances of everyone coming back alive.
It was something she cared very deeply about, which was why she had come back and stayed. The Kato Foundation's efforts had tugged on her fragile, old heartstrings just enough. And there were results pretty quickly!
Learning the basics in the Academy set everyone up equally for a chance to continue on at the hospital if they wanted to. And the courses weren't only available to those who intended to become medics. If someone wanted to learn more just for the sake of being prepared for a mission to go wrong, then they were welcome to come in. Turning away someone wanting to learn how to save lives sounded stupid. Tsunade would not accept a refusal from any of the hospital staff to teach someone life-saving skills when they'd done nothing in violation of the medic's code.
The courses were free and any money acquired was through donations to the Kato Foundation and the portion of the 50% tax taken from every mission payment the village received. They could probably afford to teach the entire village if it ever came down to it.
Things at the hospital were going very well in her humble opinion. Even when some people were nothing but annoying, the work was worth it. And Tsunade was awesome and used her privilege the right way, which made the hoity-toity clan kids throw the biggest tantrums ever!
Yuuki was actually super glad she chose this profession!
Training with TenTen was pretty cool! Especially since her senpai was super into weapons of all kinds and was willing to give tips on how to use anything Yuuki had never touched before.
TenTen beamed as she watched Yuuki launch two hatchets at the same time, whistling as both struck dead center in the target she'd set up. "That's pretty cool! They'd do a lot of damage to a human body."
Yuuki yanked both weapons back by the string of chakra she'd looped through the holes on the handles, and they came soaring into her waiting palms with ease. It was totally badass! She couldn't wait to show Naruto how she'd perfected the move!
"Chakra strings are gonna be super useful with this!" Not having to go over and pick up her weapons herself would save so much time! And energy! The less walking she had to do, the better.
"Maybe I should learn chakra strings," TenTen murmured, eying how Yuuki was able to maximize the use of her weapons without having to exert too much effort. A safer way to be a long-distance fighter for sure. And a way to make certain she never lost her specially commissioned weaponry.
Hatchets were just plain fun! That was why she preferred them over shuriken and kunai. It was much more satisfying to land a hit with a hatchet versus with a kunai.
"An Iryo-Nin who uses hatchets as their long distance weapon of choice. It sounds so weird when you say it out loud," TenTen laughed. "Yet it works out for you. You can keep enemies at a distance and then if they manage to get too close to you, you'll unleash your monstrous strength and break their rib cage!" She looked so excited while saying it.
"YEAH!" It'd be totally awesome!
"I would pay to see that happen. The shock. The terror. It'd be pretty cool. A momentous occasion even."
True. If someone tried to get in close she could burn them with her nature chakra or cave their entire rib cage in. It would be a beautiful sight too. She could just imagine the sounds of the bones breaking and the organs being crushed in the process.
Yuuki was secretly a morbid fucker, huh?
She shrugged. Oh well. Such was life.
"Wanna practice on moving targets now?" TenTen asked, holding up a bit of ninja wire. "Hanging the targets from this and then shaking it back and forth will make it super challenging!"
"Is that how you train?"
"Yep!"
"Let's do it!" Yuuki agreed, feeling pumped.
It was nice to have a friend who liked pointy things just as much as she did.
"Maybe you can enroll in the medical courses at the hospital," Naruto suggested to Sakura when their team finally got a break from training. "If you don't feel like you can contribute anything right now, learn something new. You're smart, you could totally do it if you just try."
Sasuke and Kakashi remained silent but did watch their interaction with interest. It was kind of obvious Sakura didn't like Naruto and that Naruto liked her a bit too much. She wasn't always kind about it either. But he still attempted to be nice because he wanted their team to work out.
If they were interacting directly though, without Sasuke as the buffer, it was usually something to pay attention to.
The pink-haired girl huffed and folded her legs under herself as she sat. "Yuuki's in those classes though." Her arms were crossed defiantly, leaving her bento just sitting on her lap.
"So?" he couldn't really see what Yuuki had to do with anything. She wasn't a part of their team and wasn't even on the mission with them. He was pretty sure Sakura hadn't even seen her since their team assignments.
"So she'll be all angry that I'm in them too 'cause she doesn't like me."
He had no idea where Sakura got these thoughts about his friend, but he definitely wouldn't stay for her to keep thinking these thoughts. Not even from his crush would he allow that.
"Yuuki's too… I don't really know the word I'm looking for but she's got logic out the ass. She also says personal bias shouldn't even interfere with one's duty. The village needs as many Iryo-nin as it can get and she's too aware of that need to care about if someone she doesn't like is in the same field as her." It'd be stupid, according to Yuuki that is.
"She's practical," Sasuke clarified helpfully.
"Yeah! That word! Thanks!," he grinned at the boy. He then focused on Sakura again. "Yuuki is too practical and calls herself a realist because where we came from gave us a different perspective on how the world works for people like us. As long as you do your best and commit regardless of personal feelings, she really won't care if you want to work at the hospital. She can push aside her own feelings when she has to, don't worry," Naruto told his kunoichi teammate.
"But I didn't even do anything to her so I don't know why she doesn't like me!" the girl hissed, using her chopsticks to stab at her bento in frustration. "I've never even spoken two words to the girl!" She looked especially angry about it, which, in his opinion, wasn't deserved.
The entire team kinda went silent upon hearing her words, and Naruto took a deep breath.
"I mean- I know why she's not a fan of you. It's not an answer you'll want though. Just know that you don't have to do something to someone personally for them to decide they don't like you," he told her, feeling the maturity pile onto his shoulders as the seconds passed them by. "That's just how life works." He had personal experience with that fact.
Both Sasuke and Sakura were looking at him now, and while Kakashi hadn't looked away from his porn, he hadn't turned a page in four minutes. Since the discussion began. He too was listening in. All of them seemed very interested in what he had to say which wasn't normal for their dynamic.
"You know what," began Sakura, hands on her hips in frustration, "I want to know why she's got a problem with me! Just tell me, Naruto!"
Well… she asked for it. It wouldn't be pretty.
He set aside his now empty cup of ramen, took a deep breath to settle himself, and said plainly, "You romanticize the slaughter of Sasuke's family."
Jaws dropped. Even Kakashi's. Naruto could tell through the fabric covering most of his face when it stretched out more than normal all of a sudden. People just didn't talk about the Uchiha Massacre because it was a mess and something terrible!
A dark spot in Konoha's history. It was considered bad taste to talk about it, which made Sasuke's Fanclub even worse for bringing it up so often.
"The whole Sasuke Fanclub did it of course, but as you and Ino were the leaders, it's especially bad. You followed Sasuke home a lot. You touch him without consent. You start rumors about other girls who won't be in your fanclub for him, and yes, Yuuki was a victim though she doesn't know to the extent you all went to. You like to lay hands on people for literally no reason. You mock Choji's weight despite the fact that he's perfectly healthy and just following along his family's ways. You mock Shino's family for their Hiden techniques and gossip about him where he can hear it all. You've mocked Hinata's eyes because she apparently looks blind to you. The list goes on, do I really need to continue?"
Naruto had less of a crush on Sakura as a person these days, and more of a crush on her face because she had a pretty exterior and that was enough to get the heart pounding obscenely. After being exposed to Yuuki long enough, he'd formed his own opinions by now and could say he didn't like her much as a person either.
There wasn't much there for him to like.
The look on Sakura's face went from defiant, to shocked, to mortified, to embarrassed, to heartbroken all in the time he took to speak. Tears were literally gathering in her eyes and the sclera were turning pink already. It didn't look good with her hair color.
"What other reasons are there?" asked Sasuke with a straight face, though his expression looked a little pinched. Pained maybe. "There are many more."
Naruto sent Sakura a look before adding, "Not taking all of our classes seriously when she has the privilege of attending the Academy. Obsessing over unimportant things like beauty and weight and neglecting her training. Bad mouthing her parents and being ungrateful for being able to have parents just because she gets punished when she does wrong. Pretending to be helpful when she just wants to get on a teacher's good side and generally talks shit about them behind their back. Flaunting her high grades in everyone's faces. Mocking an orphan(me) for being an orphan and not really trying to be subtle about it. The list really does go on."
And all throughout, Sakura's head bowed and remained that way. Eventually, Kakashi had to step in, the porn put away in his trusty pouch and his demeanor filled with false cheer. "Okay, my cute little Genin, I think that's enough of the heavy stuff for now! I think Sakura-chan and I need to go and have a talk. Boys, I want you to spar for now, with no chakra. Keep going until we return."
As the two walked away, the blond sent the Uchiha a look and asked, "Why did you want me to continue?"
"'Cause she needs a wake up call," said Sasuke, standing up and dusting off his white shorts. "If we're going to be stuck on a team with her for who knows how long, I want her to become a teammate worth something. Maybe breaking her heart with the truth will finally get her off her ass and kick her into high gear. I'm so sick of being harassed for dates and my feelings being invalidated in place of her own." There was a distant sort of look in his eyes. As if he wasn't even there in the present.
It was the longest answer Naruto ever gotten from the other boy. But he had a point. And it was a heavy one that made Naruto's skin itch with concern.
"So I guess we're sparring now?" he asked with uncertainty, not liking how stilted the subject change was. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond a different way to Sasuke's words.
Sasuke smirked then, as if he didn't just get more vulnerable than ever before. "Try not to get pinned, dobe."
"I wouldn't be if you'd stop moving to do only that, teme!"
A/N: Another chapter is done!
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