I Do Not Own Naruto


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Secret Blossomings


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"Itachi," he greeted his brother as he held the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Why do you do this?" Itachi asked as they started walking into the village again.

"Hn?" he lifted his brow.

"You do know the Hokage was prepping a team to go after them," Itachi stated flatly.

"Aa," he nodded. "But do you think we'd have kept Sakura here when she knows Kakashi's out there?"

Itachi looked at Sakura then and then scowled at him, Sasuke smirked in triumph.

"It was better that we went with her rather than her going it alone," Sasuke pointed out. Sakura would've gone whether they wanted her to go or not, for there was nothing she wouldn't do for Kakashi. Everyone in the village knew this, it was why it was so painful for her whenever Kakashi was in trouble and she couldn't help him.

"Sasuke, next time keep her here," Itachi said softly.

"Just because you are in line for the next Hokage does not mean I can keep her here in this village when her family is in trouble," he pointed out flatly. Besides, it was painful to be between her and her family, it was better to go with her so she didn't decimate mountains.

"Sasuke," Itachi growled.

"Itachi, she's been this annoying since Itachi brought her back, and use going with her kept the Sound in one piece," Sasuke pointed out flatly as he walked her towards the Hatake residence.

"Fine, and just so you know the Haruno Family is coming for the summer festival," Itachi stated.

"Hn?" he lifted his brow then. The Haruno family was a well-known; reclusive, wealthy family from the Land of Mist, they had a son, Haruno Haruki and four daughters, Haruno Tsubaki, Haruno Yuri, Haruno Rina, and Haruno Hana. But no one had ever seen them, they had turned reclusive in the war when it was said one of their daughters; Haruno Misaki, was rumored to have been killed in a raid on their family estate. No one even knew what a Haruno looked like, they were so reclusive, it was said they were of the few families to walk amongst the poor and never be recognized.

"Aa, they come to speak of an alliance between their family and the Leaf, they were betrayed by the Mizukage," Itachi explained. "They seek refuge from the Mizukage. And marriage to the finest shinobi families for their daughters."

"Ah," he nodded.

"Tell Hatake because you and she are to attend the festival. You both are of some of the finest shinobi families in the Leaf. The Inuzuka, Nara, Akimchi, Aburame, Yamanaka and Hyƫga families will also be presenting suitors for the Haruno daughters and son."

"Hn?" he lifted a brow.

"They have hopes to marry their eldest son as well," Itachi explained. Sasuke tightened his hold on Sakura as they walked, this Haruno Haruki was no more worthy of Sakura than he was, and Sasuke would be damned if she was married to this Haruno.

"Good," Itachi grumbled. "I will speak with the Hokage, you speak with Sakura," Itachi and he looked at each other then at the pinkette then back to each other.

"Good luck," they simultaneously stated as they parted ways.


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"I know you're awake," Sasuke stated when she heard the door shut behind them.

"Thanks," she smiled as he released her.

"You heard all that?" he asked.

"Yes Sasuke, I heard," she sighed as she pulled her short hair up and they walked to the kitchen table, she flopped in her seat as Sasuke took his customary perch across from her.

Sakura didn't dare to speak, she was fuming at this news, and if she spoke she'd start screaming, and when she started screaming she would start punching things and when that happened this village might not be standing when she was finished. Instead she leaned on her hands as she hid her face from Sasuke and tried not to scream.

It wasn't the idea of her marrying which pissed her off; though that was second on her fury list, it was the idea of a Haruno floozy getting Sasuke and they weren't worthy of him. And though she was not Sasuke's lover, but rather one of his best friends, she was in love with him, and she hated it when other girls wanted him. She despised it so much that there were times Kakashi would wake up and just spar with her because she was so hurt and mad and she couldn't tell Naruto or Sai because they'd tell Sasuke and then Sasuke would hate her.

And the mere thought of Sasuke hating her was enough to have her trembling with fear.

Kakashi knew this, which was why he never fussed at her for not dating, or for not trying to have other boys, or for her love of Sasuke. She knew he wasn't happy that she loved Sasuke, but she also knew that he backed her all the way.

"You don't have to marry him, you know," Sasuke pointed out and she looked up at him.

"I'm not worried about me getting married, I'm Hatake Sakura, I am the finest medical kunoichi of our generation and one of the best ANBU shinobi the Leaf's ever had," she smirked. "I'm worried about you marrying some brainless floozy then showing up at my doorstep needing help to dispose of her body."

Sasuke smirked then.

"Who said I was marrying one of the Haruno daughters?" he asked her darkly.

"You own a mirror, right?" she asked flatly. They both grinned then, he leaned back on his seat and she stared at the ceiling.

"They aren't my type anyway," Sasuke said suddenly which had her rousing from her depressing thoughts.

"Oh? And just what is Uchiha Sasuke's type?" she asked, she asked mostly out of curiosity to see what she was competing with, and she asked because she wanted to go beat up whoever his crush was and walk away whistling. Yes, she was petty, and yes she was mean; but not all girls could be good girls. Some had to be the bad girls, and Sakura put herself in the bad girls' category just off her temper alone.

"Smart," he stated and she laughed. Elusive as always.


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Smart, pink, green eyes, temper of a natural disaster, strength of a thousand, good humored, easy to be around, and unbelievably annoying; that was his type. And since he had only met one woman in all of the world who met all that, he was stuck. The worst part was she was his best friend, and preactically a sister to two of his other best friends, she was like a neice to his brother, and she was his mentor's daughter; see the dilemmas of liking Hatake Sakura?

Hatake Sakura was family, she had been since he had met her when they had been three years old and he had declared her annoying. It had taken them parting ways to train for him to figure out he liked her, but when Itachi and Kakashi had been teaching him about his Sharingan as Sakura traveled with Tsunade he figured it out.

He figured out he liked her as more than a friend with how his brother talked about Izumi, or how Kakashi spoke of Rin, there was just a way they spoke which enlightened him about the feeling of liking someone.

"Well, in that case we'll have to wait until the Haruno family gets here to gage whether or not they are or are not your type," she mused.

"Aa," he nodded. They weren't. There was no one else with pink hair that he knew of, so he was forever hung up on the one girl who would never see him as anything but a brother. Which was pathetic and sad.

She stood up and he tracked her movements into the kitchen when she reappeared with tomatoes and dango for herself. How could he not like a girl who just got the damn tomatoes for him and didn't shove sweet things down his throat because that's what she liked?

"Well, thank you for going with me to get Kakashi and Hinata, that helped a lot," She said as they ate in silence.

"Kakashi's family," he said simply and she smiled sweetly which had his heart twisting.

"It's good to know you, Naruto and Sai all feel that way and backed me; though I'm pretty certain we're in serious trouble. Again," she mused.

"Aa," he agreed. The rest of their afternoon was spent in silence as they read and unwound from their little recovery mission before he left her for the night. She was sound asleep when he left which was a good sign for if Kakashi got home.

Walking through the Leaf he looked around at the village and then he looked at the sky. There were gods, he decided, and they hated them for making him endure the coming marriage meetings. He'd be lucky if he didn't murder Haruno Haruki for being near Sakura.


That's all for now folks!

Enjoy Blooming in Darkness! =)