Date: December 6th, 2006.
Pairing/Characters: SasuSaku. Implied one-sided LeeSaku. Mentions of Gaara. Sai.
Author's notes: First of all, a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ;D Secondly, thank you muchly for your reviews!!
I noticed that part II and III were in past tense, unlike the first part, so I fixed that by changing tenses on part I (because it's easier to change tenses from present to past and keep the same flow than from past to present... uh, yeah...). Uh, also, if you feel like the ending is a bit off in this chapter that's probably because it's not the real ending. Part II and III were originally the only sequel for Jealousy, but I cut them into two chapters because it got insanely longer than the first. So yeah, that's my lame excuse. Now, I'll leave you to read if you will, and of course, you can leave a review before leaving!
See you soon and happy holidays!
Standard disclaimer applies.
Jealousy
by hikari yuuko
PART II: The Jealousy Continues
The trip to the Inuzukas was somewhat awkward. Sakura had decided that, most definitely, Sasuke was feeling unwell because he was acting too weird. He was being too nice to her and going out of his precious routine just to accompany her. The young man in question, though, paid no heed to the worried glances his female teammate had directed at him throughout the fifteen minutes it took them to arrive at Kiba's home.
They were let inside by Kiba's mother and instructed to wait in the backyard. Kiba was immediately with them, having rushed down the stairs with the now rather large dog in his arms. He looked flushed from the run but glad that the pink-haired medic-nin was there.
Their time there hadn't turned out to be that bad, actually. Sasuke had been more miffed about the glares he'd been given by Akamaru than about the hug that Kiba had enveloped Sakura in as a thank you. Or so he liked to think. That dog looked totally ready to launch at him and eat his head. It was almost as if the formerly cute pup had been jealous of him. For God's sake!! What was there to be jealous about!?
But… yeah, it hadn't been that bad.
Unfortunately for Sasuke, Sakura seemed far more popular with the male population that he would have liked, as much as he was adamant to admit so. First, it had been a few of her colleagues at work shamelessly flirting with her when he happened to stop by to pick her up. Then he'd seen the flowers on her doorway wrapped up in a vicious green paper and not so far away, hidden behind a few trees that lined up in front of her house, was that Gai's student. He had encountered that Lee guy more than once after that. And exchanged a few punches too.
And then, on Gaara's visit to the village, he and Sakura had been assigned to walk the redhead boy around town. That hadn't been pretty. Gaara had as much as looked at Sakura for a longer period of time than Sasuke thought was appropriate and he was ready to claw the guy. He was a jounin preparing to become ANBU and Gaara was the Kazekage, so it brought way more attention when the two teenage male had almost broke into a fight after exchanging a number of snide comments. Sakura had been livid that day and Sasuke had not spoken to her an entire week. Only Naruto and his weekly ramen at Ichiraku had been able to bring them together days later and Sakura had reluctantly talked to him. He'd mumbled a sorry to the hesitant girl after Naruto parted with them and another few days later they were back to the usual friendly treatment.
It had not stopped there, though…
-
He met her two mornings later, after they'd just made up from the recent Gaara incident, sparring with a stranger in Team 7's training grounds. He tried his best to stop the twitch in his eye.
"Oh," she came to a halt, feet dragging against the ground. There was dirt on her face which she cleaned with the back of her hand. "Sasuke-kun, you arrived early."
"You told me to meet you at ten," he scowled at her and the other person as he quickly recognized who the stranger was. "Sai."
"Sasuke-kun," the other one smiled at him after jumping down from the tree he had been standing at. That smile never failed to unnerve the Uchiha heir. "It's been a while."
He frowned and grunted, glancing away. In all honesty, he would have rather extended that 'while' if possible. "Sakura," he began, frown growing darker, "if you weren't going to be ready you shouldn't have called me out this morning. I have other things to do."
"Ah!" she looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun! It's just that Sai just came home from a mission and I met him on my way here. So we just…"
"Whatever," he cut her off, "I'll be going now."
"But…" Sakura stared at him, taken aback by his behavior.
"My, my, Sasuke-kun," Sai called out, a merry glint in his eyes and smile this once sincere, "I didn't think you'd get jealous over a simple sparring session."
Sasuke turned around to glare at him heatedly. "Say that again," he hissed.
"Sai, stop it!" Sakura demanded, stepping in-between both pale-faced boys. She turned to her brooding teammate, equally stern. "Sasuke-kun, you too, please calm down."
"Hn." Calm down, yeah right…
"What? I was just saying… It surprised me, you know," he looked at her, innocent act all over his face. "Sasuke-kun, you should keep Ugly here some company," he pointed his thumb at the not-so-happy cherry-haired girl, "I have to go anyway and meet the Hokage and give her my report."
"Hn," he huffed, still visibly exasperated. He thought Sai was an idiot, and still people dared to compare said idiot with him. That painter-wannabe was leagues away from his level.
"Well then, ja ne, Sasuke-kun," he smiled pleasantly while turning to the female, "Ugly." Sai jumped back onto the tree and shifted on the branch before jumping away.
"SAI!" Sakura yelled, raising her fist in the air as Sai disappeared into the thickness of the forest. Her shoulders slumped down and she sighed, "Ah, that guy is so annoying sometimes."
Sasuke regarded her with careful eyes. "Let's train, Sakura."
Sakura straightened up and looked at him with clear, green eyes. "Huh?"
"That's why you wanted to meet me in the first place, right? To help you practice your new jutsus?"
A vibrant smile slipped into her face. "Un!"
-
"Sasuke-kun, are you feeling alright?" she asked worriedly during one of their breaks. She was leaning against one of the trees and Sasuke was directly in front of her.
Sasuke gulped down his water and closed the bottle's cap as he turned to look at her, brows furrowed together. "What the heck are you talking about?"
"Well, you've been acting… strange lately," she fiddled with her own bottle of water, gaze straying to the green grass below her feet. "…Not like yourself."
"Hn," he grunted. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" she insisted.
He tried to glare at her but failed upon finding her frowning face. She had that look on her face like when she was treating a patient in the hospital, determination to heal present, and something else, that sincere concern over him that sometimes overwhelmed Sasuke.
He sighed this time. "I'm fine, Sakura."
"Oh, alright," she looked somewhat convinced. But not entirely so, "But if you ever need something…"
"Hn." He rolled his eyes at her and stood up. "Come on, I'll treat you to ramen if you shut up."
"Sasuke!" she yelled, stomping angrily after the smirking young man.
Sasuke thought the ramen was particularly good that day.