"Umm, guys? Is everything okay?" the raven-haired asked concernedly. The two ninjas were still clad in their ninja outfits. She had never seen the two ninja fight, except when Naruto did something stupid and Sakura would bonk him on his head. Apart from that, she saw genuine friendship between the two. This wasn't jest. It was really serious. Naruto had a Rasengan in his hand and Sakura's hand was covered in a deadly layer of blue.
No one really answered her. "Guys, are you ok-" Ichigo tried to speak but was cut short by Naruto. "Oh just SHUT up, you strawberry!" the blonde ninja shouted. Ichigo's mouth snapped shut. Sakura's face turned with anger, which was noticed by Rukia. "Naruto," she warned dangerously. "What are going to do about it? Head butt me with your ugly forehead?" he taunted. That was a low blow and Naruto knew it. The kunoichi seemed to steam with anger. "Naruto," Rukia started, sensing approaching danger but Sakura beat her to it. "Oh for the love of God, just BUTT out of our lives!" she practically and the room was filled with a sudden killing intent.
Rukia, sensing that there was no going about, turned to Ichigo. "Let's go. You wouldn't want have your head on their ninja platters," she said as she dragged him out by the hand. Ichigo didn't refuse and allowed himself to be dragged away. The two ninjas waited for the shinigamis to leave before continuing their conversation.
"And what was that for?!" Sakura almost yelled at the ninja. "What?" he asked, feigning obliviousness. "Cutting off Ichi-kun like that?!" she snapped. "Oh, so now he's Ichi-kun?" Naruto replied, mimicking Sakura's tone. Sakura turned red in embarrassment. "Oh see! You're even blushing, BLUSHING!" he pointed out with a snarl. "That doesn't count," the girl defended herself but it went to deaf ears. "Who's Sasuke gonna marry when he comes? Tell me, who in the world except you?!" he growled. "Psh! I'm not gonna get married to him," she snapped. "Yes you are!" the jinchurili shrieked. "You can't dictate my life. I'm not some orange fox living inside of you who you tell what to do!" the pinkette spat coldly.
Naruto fought the urge to fling his Rasengan at her but he couldn't because he knew that even though they were fighting and had said some harsh words to each other, they still held each other dear. The Kyuubi part was a bit rough but he had also insulted her forehead which was also touchy-feely topic so it was fair. "You're busy talking about me but what about you? Busy groping poor Rukia," she taunted. "I so do not grope her!" he defended himself. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Naruto, I'm a medic for crying out loud. Rukia's injury wasn't serious, even a toddler would know that. But noo, you chose to carry her. Not to mention she was enjoying it," she scoffed. "She was enjoying it?" he asked hopefully, his eyes shining with his cheeks dusted red. "That's not the point!" she exclaimed as she stomped her foot, creating a small crater. 'Oops,' she thought. "I caught you two almost kissing," the blonde said. "You were groping her," Sakura stated as a matter-of-fact.
Naruto deactivated his Rasengan and walked over to her. "Sakura," he said as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "You can't fall in love with Ichigo, you know that," he said in that mature voice she loved. She looked down at the floor. "We are not here to stay permanently, we have to leave. What if you fall in love then we have to leave and then you get your heart broken all over again?" he reasoned with her. She stayed quiet.
"Do you want him to leave you? Or better yet, do you want to leave him?" he asked quietly. "I would stay," she said so softly that it was barely above a whisper but she knew she was lying to herself. "You would leave everything for him? Tsunade-baachan, Kakashi-sensei, Sai, Ino, Sizune and even Sasuke?" he said. Sakura debated with herself and saw that there was no going about it. "I'd be damned if I let you stay here. What would I tell Granny, that I left her so that she could live a life with a shinigami? Heck, what would I tell Sasuke? He would have my head on a silver platter," he laughed at the last part.
"Okay, okay. I hear you. I won't fall in love with Ichigo," she said as she looked up, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Naruto pulled her in for a bear hug. She wrapped her arms around as she cried. "What about Rukia?" she asked, her face buried in his chest. "There's nothing I can do about it. I don't want either of our hearts to be broken by my own selfishness," he said, his head resting on top of her head.
She pulled and wiped away her tears. "You okay?" he asked concernedly. "Yeah," she nodded. "Now for your punishment for insulting my forehead," she said devilishly as she cracked her knuckles. "S-Sakura-chan," he said as he slowly backed away.
Rukia and Ichigo heard Naruto's pained screams from Ichigo's room. "I see they solved their problem," she said as she flipped over a magazine. Ichigo nodded as switched to a different channel.
The five friends plus the two ninja were sitting in Orihime's lounge. They had come together to discuss plans on defeating Aizen. The Konoha nin had read through a file on everything they needed to know about him, as far as the Soul Society knew. "He seems pretty tough," Sakura commented as she closed the file. "Yeah, it seems as though the fusions more, he becomes stronger," Naruto said. "So what do we have to do to defeat him?" Rukia asked. Sakura noticed that everyone was looking at her, even Naruto.
"Why are you all looking at me?" she asked. "Sakura, don't be so dense. We all know that you've got the most brains among all of us," Ichigo said. "Even more than Rukia," he added, which earned him a glare from Rukia and a blush from Sakura. Sakura pondered on the issue at hand. She had never been given such an opportunity before, creating a plan to save the world. That was always Kakashi and Naruto's thing, not hers. She looked at their expectant faces. It seemed as though their entire hope was on her shoulders.
'I won't let them down,' she thought determinedly. "Okay, the plan is like this…" she began explaining.
I'm done with this chapter. Long time no update. I was so busy at school I didn't get time to update. Anyways I'm back but I won't be for long. Hope you enjoy the chapter. I'm now getting into their fight with Aizen and how they'll get back to Konoha.
Read and review.
Toonana
AfricanFire
