DONT FORGET TO READ THE OTHER CHAPTERS FIRST!
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I'm back and posted them all simultaniously.
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Have fun ;)
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Hey guys!
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I'm so happy to see you like my story.
For me it's a good sign that I'm not as batshit-crazy as I thought, otherwise no-one would read my weird creations.
XD
We've reached the 5000 view mark(before I had to remove most of the story), you made me speechless.
I'm glad you guys follow my story here now!
Thank you for your support!
Thanks to my love, he's my source of inspiration ;)
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SquaMata
PS: Prepare some handkerchiefs for this chappy….
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17. Social Life
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At 10 a.m. sharp Sakura knocked onto the office door of the hokage.
"Come in!"
Tsunade was sitting at her desk full of papers and scrolls, also there were two ANBU standing in the room, one next to her desk to secure the window line. The other was located between the door and the desk.
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"Good morning, Shishou!"
"Sakura! Good to see you again. We'll have to wait for Kakashi. Do you want some tea?" The hokage signalled for her to take a seat in front of her desk and poured her a cup of tea.
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Sakura nodded and took place. She looked at the ANBU and their significant masks, it didn't take her long to recognize the two men underneath, which were Naruto and Tatsuo. But she couldn't say anything to them, otherwise the hokage would ask where she knew them from in full gear and she would have to admit she had secretly saved Tatsuo's ass once and Naruto's many times now. Also the blonde jinchuuriki had caved into her apartment a few times in full armour to frighten or to surprise her, depending on the occasion. It had always ended with more or less ripping each other's clothes apart and hot sex.
Both remembered some scenes as they looked at each other, Sakura smiled sheepishly, whereas Naruto's face was completely hidden underneath the white mask, but he tensed up and shifted a bit.
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The two kunoichi talked about her moving to Suna.
Half an hour delayed the great copy-nin finally showed up, Sakura expected a fuming Tsunade, but she was smirking friskily.
"Hatake, you're such an idiot!"
He just shrugged it off.
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Then the ANBU were told to leave, as Naruto walked past her and whispered steamily "Sakura" with an approving nod. She smiled at him innocently, her goosebumps betrayed her composure. She had always thought he looked drop-dead sexy and powerful in his ANBU gear. Uniforms and especially combat gear were her secret turn on. He left the room.
Tatsuo stepped beside her and halted for a brief moment to brush her underarm with his gloved hand, which earned him a slight tremble of her body. He squeezed it once, before he continued to leave the room as the hokage had signaled.
Tsunade watched the whole scene, she just shook her head knowingly and cleared her throat, then raised a brow at the copy-nin leaning on the wall opposite to her. In return he shrugged inculpably without looking up from his dirty novel.
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In a harsh tone the hokage broke their reverie "Report about the progress!"
Kakashi sighed and put his precious book back into his pouch. "Haruno Sakura has completed her training phase. She was a quick learning student, took all the classes and passed the exams very well. In my opinion she is ready for her practise phase."
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Tsunade smirked devilishly "Yeah I bet so."
Kakashi ignored her comment and crossed his arms on his leaning posture.
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In a friendly and proud voice she continued: "For your hard work I've a present for you two: I'll send you on a little mission together to cool down and relax. Tomorrow you'll be packing. You're going to leave at 8 in the morning the day after tomorrow."
He sighed. "A mission?"
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"You are going to deliver a simple scroll to one of my dear friends. He has built a new hotel and you'll stay there a few days to assess board and lodging. They have a wonderful spa area." Tsunade knew her former apprentice would like that idea.
"Ah, great! Thank you!" Sakura seemed happy.
The silver-haired Jounin cocked his head questioningly. Is she serious?
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"You'll get the details before you leave. You're dismissed, Hatake!"
Kakashi nodded and poofed away.
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"Sakura, today we're going to have a little goodbye-hospital party. So take the time and find a nice outfit. We'll see us at 8 p.m. at the Jounin bar."
The pinkette didn't expect that. "Hm, ok."
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"Dismissed."
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The hokage had reserved half of the bar. Shizune, Tsunade, Ino and other hospital employees were already there and waiting for Sakura to party together.
The pink-haired kunoichi showed up in a beautiful black dress at quarter past eight. It was decent and subtle, not showing too much cleavage, but skimming her assets in just the right way to be called sexy. Her hair was bound in an innocent ponytail, she wore simple pearl studs and a tiny necklace with a single white pearl in the middle highlighting her delicate neck and collar bones.
Tsunade was stunned, she hadn't seen her in evening dress for a long time.
"I'm glad you're back, Sakura!" She greeted her with an approving smile.
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The young medic-nin greeted everyone of the hospital staff, before she took her reserved seat at a table with Tsunade, Shizune and Ino. Then the waitress poured them all a glass of Champaign to celebrate the occasion.
After some toasts of her former colleagues and the hokage, Sakura was red as a tomato, but held one herself. She was so happy that everyone came.
They began to talk and laugh about old and new stories.
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After a while Naruto showed up and greeted them, he hugged Sakura and they talked.
"You look amazing, Sakura-chan! What's the occasion?"
"Oh, we just celebrate my quitting. I won't be working at the hospital any longer."
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"What?" The young Jounin looked shocked.
But before Sakura could respond Hinata came to their table with a fake smile and pulled him off to another table to sit with her and her relatives. The blonde sent Sakura excusing glances, but Hinata intervened and pulled his face to her to kiss him and sneered at the pinkette. Soon he would be a married Hyuuga after all.
Sakura shrugged it off smirking and downed the rest of her glass, then she dove back into the funny conversations with her colleagues.
Tsunade noticed the whole interaction and raised a brow at the Hyuuga, who went disturbingly pale and began to shrink on her seat.
Don't mess with the hokage and her apprentice! I see a boring long-term mission coming up for you. The highest ninja chuckled devilishly.
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Kakashi sat at a booth in the alcove reading his book with a blabbering Gai, a silent Yamato and an ever flirty Genma. One by one they all came over to greet them, but the copy-nin acted very aloof, he wasn't like during the last weeks.
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Act like nothing ever happened, and it never happened.
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Kurenai and Anko joined Sakura's table and they had a very funny night. Later the other jounin accompanied them, but one was missing.
Kakashi had vanished without a trace.
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On her day off Sakura slept until noon, then she started to pack her things for the mission tomorrow.
There was a knock on her door. The pinkette opened it and was surprised to find Naruto there.
"Can I come in?"
The young man stood there in his ANBU gear with his mask hanging loose from his brawny neck. He had the audacity to use the same sentence than back then, as he started to date that silly fangirl, but had still wanted to visit his teammate during some lonely nights.
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Sakura raised a brow at him.
The blue-eyed ninja noticed his faux pas. "No, I mean… Dammit… Could we please talk?"
"Sure." She shrugged and let him in.
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Naruto sat down on her couch. He had not been inside of her apartment for a long time now. Last time he had been at her door to ask her if she had seen his red scarf, he had forgotten it at Ichiraku's. Of course she had been kind enough to take it with her to hand it to him later. He remembered the scarf had been warm and smelled like her.
His eyes wandered around, nothing had changed. There was even that hanging basket with the beautiful plant he bought for her back then.
"Tea?"
"Yes please."
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Sakura came back with two big steaming cups and handed him one. She decided to better lean on her armchair and not to sit down in his near. At least she had learned from the very same situation from many times in their past.
The tall blonde man pointed at his cup, there was a fox on it. "You still have them, huh?"
"Why should I dump a gift?" She smiled and took a sip out of her cherry blossom cup.
Naruto returned her smile before enjoying his tea.
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After a few minutes of awkward silence the pink-haired woman broke it. "You said you want to talk?"
The young elite ninja returned to reality from his inward journey through their past together.
"Uhm, yes. I eavesdropped Tsunade said something about you'll move to Suna. Is it true?"
He leaned forward as he laid his underarms on his thighs and crossed his fingers.
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Imploring eyes met her contemplative ones.
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"I'm sorry, this is classified information, but yes I'll leave soon."
"And when did you want to let me know?" he was flabbergasted.
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Sakura raised a brow. "Why do you even care?"
He rubbed his head. "You're my friend, Sakura. Of course I care! I always will!"
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She smirked and shrugged.
Naruto looked hurt and asked in a chipped voice. "When will you come back?"
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"I don't know. Maybe I'll stay in Suna."
"What?! No, you can't do that!" Shocked he stood up.
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"Ehrm, Naruto I can do whatever I want. It's my life and my decision." She stated angrily.
"No, you… you can't leave, Sakura. Please!" The blonde's eyes went wide as he beseeched her.
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He inched closer, Naruto's whole body language told her he was pained through and through.
The blonde man pinched his nose again and sighed loudly.
"And what the hell happened between you and Tatsuo?"
She wasn't sure if was anger only in his voice or a hint of jealousy.
"None of your business."
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The jinchuuriki braced his arms on his waist and shiftet his weight to his left side.
"Is he going to accompany you? Is he the reason why you want to leave?"
"Still none of your business."
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"He's bad company, you know? You can't go out with him!", he looked ready to kill.
"Why not?", she snarled at him.
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"Trust me!", his tone became more gentle.
"Not with love matters!" Sakura's words were supposed to stab him.
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"Oh come on, Sakura, that's not fair!" He shifted his weight to his right side and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Why not?" Her attitude cut him deep.
He broke their eye contact and pinched the bridge of his nose.
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Some minutes passed by before he began to speak again in a steady tone. "He's a player and a goddamn killer, Sakura! I've seen him in combat."
"THAHA! And what about you?" she countered angrily.
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He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "He's not the right man for you!"
"And who do you think would be right for me?"
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Blue honest and pleading eyes found her fuming emerald ones.
In a calm and plain voice she got her response.
"You know the answer, Sakura." It has never changed. Please don't go, please don't leave me.
He stepped closer, his enchanting azure eyes fixated on her wide green orbs. Again she felt as if they right touched her soul. As the blonde stopped in front of her, he held her upper arms to save her from escaping or even exploding further.
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"What do you want, Naruto?! What the fuck do you want?!"
She screamed on top of her lungs and tried to break from his strong grip.
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The ANBU inched closer and leaned down slowly. She thought he would kiss her like he used to do when they had argued back as they had been kind of together. She missed his near and his touches. She missed him so much. The young kunoichi closed her eyes and craved for him to kiss her, to save her, to save her from herself…
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Instead he kissed her forehead and hugged her.
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N: I knew we'll never be the same, but damn I can't do this anymore. I have a nice girl who truly loves me now. We are engaged, she's a clan heir. I can't, it's not right. Not anymore. I wasn't adequate for you then and I probably never will be. You broke my heart too, but I can't deny that I still love you.
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"You're like a sister to me, Sakura. I don't want to see you heartbroken. Please understand I only want the best for you!"
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S: I am heartbroken, can't you see it you damn idiot?! You caused it! How silly am I? Of course his light isn't burning anymore, he's with HER now and it's my own fault, and the damn Uchiha's. But really, Naruto, a sister? A SISTER! After all we've done and been through? WTF? Why has everything to be so fucked-up?! My life is a mess! A fucking mess! I miss you so much, you idiot…
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"Are you going alone to Suna? Do you need me to escort you?" His voice more like a whisper, as he laid his head on hers.
"Kakashi-sensei will accompany me for as long as I need him there." Sakura susurrated softly.
His response was a simple hum.
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The pink-haired kunoichi applied the side of her head to the hard planes of his chest she missed so much. She closed her eyes to listen to his heartbeat. It had never failed to calm her down in their past and so did it now.
Due to her more relaxed contact, he hugged her closer and pressed his warm, muscular body as near as he could. They needed to feel each other, even if just for a brief moment.
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"Please promise me to take care of yourself. I just want you to be happy." …Even if it won't be with me and it will break my heart.
"I promise!"
Sakura inhaled his scent deeply, it had changed a bit since he had been living with her, but she knew underneath all this Hyuuga coating he was still her Naruto. Also he had become beefier, he was one of the guys who compensate their emotions with sports and dangerous missions. She knew him well, she could read him like a book. He wasn't that happy everyone believed him to be. He had it all, a luxurious life with a caring family and a woman who loved him with all her heart, he had his adventures of every kind outside of Konoha on his missions, soon he would be married and would create an own family, but deep inside he suffered from his decision.
To her his actions had always said more than his words.
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After he had left her apartment, Sakura went into her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She sat down on the cold tiles as every memory washed over her and forced her to cry the tension away.
She was glad to have a day off. Nobody would see her little breakdown, not like back then as she had cried her eyes out right into the hokage's coat after she had set Naruto free for that damn fangirl Hyuuga.
That had been the last time she was crying like that until now.