Nightshadow Dweller, lovefatedestiny, Shadowform, and hinatas-child: Thank you sooo much for giving good reviews…you have no idea how much it means to me. Glad you guys are enjoying the story.
Animegirl1000, itachi-is-mine, kc, lovefatedestiny (again), Nightshadow Dweller (again), and hinatas-child (again)Thanks for your opinions! It helps a lot to hear what the readers want.
Kattylin: I know it may have been hard to find any traces of SasuSaku, but for the beginning I wanted to introduce Katana's character more. And sorry, but I can't really understand your second review…
Ceritheya: It could, but I wanted I wanted a strong, outgoing kunoichi. Maybe I could've used Tenten, but when I started writing, I hadn't really worked out this person's background yet, and I didn't want to make anyone too OOC. Besides, I badly wanted to create one myself…
Disclaimer: Do we really need disclaimers?? You'd have to be pretty stupid to think that I own Naruto. I think some idiot just put a disclaimer in their story and everyone felt the need to follow suit. I mean is someone actually going to freaking sue us because we wrote FanFiction! Am I the only one who feels so strongly about this? I probably am. Okay, I should shut up before I end up writing about the disclaimer instead of this chapter…
…oh yeah…I don't own Naruto…hehe woops. Almost forgot that part.
"No…don't let mom and dad fall. Nii-san…please…save them…save me! PLEASE!"
Sasuke bolted upright so abruptly that he fell off his bed. "Goddamn nightmares…"muttered Sasuke, clearly irritated. "I need to get one of those dream catchers."
Sasuke stared up at his alarm clock. Two twenty-seven am…How the hell am I going to get back to sleep now? He got dressed and went out the door, into the cool summer air.
Sasuke loved simply strolling around Konoha before dawn as a kid, and doing so again brought back painful memories of the past. But still he could not deny the nostalgic happiness that flowed through him.
"Sasuke?" a disbelieving voice called behind him.
Sasuke spun on his heel. It was Sakura. "What are you doing here?" he questioned.
"I couldn't sleep, what about you?"
"Same problem"
Sakura and Sasuke began walking in a slow pace side by side. They were silent, but this time, it was not the awkward silence they had experienced before. It was a peaceful silence that they both found comfort in.
Finally, Sakura broke the silence. "Do you know the time?"
"We still have two hours before dawn."
Sakura nodded her head and tried to hide the smile that was threatening to reveal itself. He had said it as if he wanted to stay here with her…as if their time was precious. Unfortunately, her attempt to keep her smile hidden didn't work.
"What's so funny…?"
Sakura blushed. "N-nothing."
She looks beautiful when she blushes, thought Sasuke. Her pink hair now matched her pink cheeks, making her eyes stand out even more. Sasuke smirked.
"Now it's my turn to ask you," said Sakura, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," replied Sasuke in an oh-so-cool voice that made Sakura's heart skip a beat.
"Listen, Sakura…sorry about the other day," Sasuke said awkwardly. He wasn't accustomed to apologizing.
Sakura tried to keep a happy face and accept his apology, but she was at a loss for words. She was so caught up in the moment that she completely forgot about the other night. She slowly nodded her head, hoping that Sasuke would comprehend her action as 'it's okay' and drop the subject.
But Sasuke was no idiot. "Sakura, I'm sorry! I don't know why you have to be so upset," said Sasuke, his words not coming out as he intended.
Sakura was beginning to get a little pissed. "For your information, Sasuke, I'm upset because no matter how much I do for you, you always treat me like I'm a nuisance! I know you don't want to get close to anyone, but can't you at least act nice. You have absolutely no idea how much you hurt me everyday!" she cried, tears forming in her eyes.
"Goddamn it, Sakura! Have you ever considered that maybe I couldn't help but get close to you? Every time I'm near you I feel like I'm a different person. I couldn't act nice because no matter how hard I try, anytime I see you, I get more and more attached to you. You're hurting me just as much as I'm hurting you!"
"How's that?"
"Because you're making me fall in love with you!" he screamed.
Sakura gasped and Sasuke mentally slapped himself as they both realized what he had said.
Sasuke looked hard at her, his expression stoic. She tried to look him in the eye, but his intent stare was making her nervous, so she just kept her eyes down. Sasuke took a step towards her and, though Sakura was in love with him, her uneasiness caused her to step back. He began walking towards her, and she simultaneously backed up…until she hit a wall. Sakura, realizing that she could no longer back away from him, looked up at him with an tense expression.
He stopped right in front of her and put his hands on her face. Sakura's stomach fluttered. He reached towards her and their lips met. He slowly began kissing her. It was a long, gentle kiss. Sakura stood there, unable to respond, and then slowly, she began to kiss him back. With Sakura kissing him back, he grew more passionate and moved closer until their bodies met. Sakura's stomach now felt like it was inhabited by a colony of butterflies. She stood up on her tip-toes (since she was still a bit shorter than him), wrapped her arms around his neck, and began to kiss him back just as passionately. Almost a minute went by like this, and though he hated to end it, Sasuke slowly pulled himself away from Sakura and ended their kiss.
He looked down at Sakura and saw a wide smile on her face.
"I've got to go," said Sasuke abruptly.
"Uhhh…o-okay…" said Sakura, a bit confused.
Sasuke lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "What did you do?" Sasuke questioned himself over and over. So much for not getting close to anyone…you flipping told her you loved her! Now you have to break her heart! Sasuke was not even sure what posessed him to do that, his body simply moved on its own. But those weren't the only problems for Sasuke. Though what he said about falling in love with her was true, he was also slowly falling in love with Katana. He did not know which one he wanted more, but if he were to pick Katana, would Sakura be able to bear the pain? Wait! Did I just think about choosing one of them?? I shouldn't be in love with either of them! Sasuke sighed. I need some fresh air to clear my mind. He looked over at his clock…twelve thirty-two. Well, I might as well go get lunch.
"SASUKE!"
"Naruto! I'm only three fucking feet away! How many times do I have to tell you not to shout like that!"
"SORRY!"
"Naruto…!" said Sasuke in a deadly voice.
"Hehe…oops…"
"So what do you want?"
"Nothing"
"…well then I'm leaving."
"WAIT!"
"Shut…up!"
"My bad…well, where are you going?"
"Lunch"
"Great! Come with us! The whole gang is having lunch at Ichiraku."
"No"
"Please…I'll shut up for a little bit, I promise!"
"Fine"
Sasuke and Naruto walked into Ichiraku, only to find it empty.
Naruto seated himself at one of the chairs and Sasuke, who had had the misfortune of watching Naruto eat ramen before, sat one away, just to be safe.
"So this is the whole gang, eh?" questioned Sasuke.
"No…there are three more people coming."
"And you consider that 'the whole gang'?"
"Well, I asked the whole gang, but Neji, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, and Kiba refused to come…"
"Imagine that."
"Let's see, Chouji and Lee are out on a mission and…well, I didn't ask Shino…he kinda freaks me out…"
"So I'm guessing two of the three who agreed to come are Sakura and Hinata. Hinata came because she's your girlfriend and Sakura came because she pities you, but who's the third?"
"Katana"
"Oh" Sasuke was not happy about seeing either Sakura or Katana, but it seemed like he didn't have a choice.
"She's pretty cool, isn't she?"
"Who?"
"Katana. I mean if your stronger than the Hokage by age seventeen, that's just awesome. She's also really pretty…" added Naruto, a visible blush appearing on his cheeks.
"And here I thought you were happy with Hinata…" Sasuke teased.
"I am!!! Stupid teme, I didn't mean I liked her! Hinata is the one for me."
"Touching"
Naruto laughed at his own cheesiness, silently pitying himself for being so damn weird.
"Naruto…Sasuke…" called a voice behind them shyly.
"Hey Hinata" replied Naruto.
She seated herself next to Naruto and they began having an animated conversation. Sasuke looked over at them. Hinata was smiling at Naruto and looked like there was no place else she'd rather be and Naruto was returning that look to her as well. Though it had been three years since they began dating, they never seemed to lose that fire. He'd never admit it to himself, but Sasuke was a bit jealous of their perfect relationship.
A few minutes later, Katana and Sakura walked in together, both of them were engaged in a deep conversation.
Well, they've certainly gotten to know each other, thought Sasuke sourly. For some reason this bothered him quite a bit. Unfortunately for him, Hinata and Naruto were sitting at the end of the counter, and there was only one space between Sasuke and Naruto. This meant that Katana and Sakura would have to sit on either side of him. Sasuke inwardly groaned.
Katana seated herself next to Naruto and Sasuke, clearly not wanting to be the one who was forced to sit by only Sasuke. Sakura, on the other hand, looked more like she wanted to be the one who had no one but Sasuke to sit by.
God I hope she doesn't mention the kiss…
"Hey, Sasuke" said Sakura happily as she sat herself down next to Sasuke.
"Hey" said Sasuke in a bored sort of voice, but it was rare he said anything to her at all so Sakura was content. Then again he did confess his love for me this morning, Sakura reminded herself. She began to feel jittery as memories of this morning came back to her. She couldn't believe any of it was actually real. Before today, it seemed as if Sasuke only existed to make her feel the pain of not having what she wanted the most.
Throughout the rest of their lunch, she tried to start conversations with Sasuke, and though nearly all of her attempts failed, she could not hide her extreme delight.
I can't believe it, thought Sasuke as he was walking home from Ichiraku, Sakura didn't mention a single thing about this morning. He had spent most of his time with her avoiding all possibilities of conversation from fear that she would openly talk about their kiss with everyone listening.
Even Katana hadn't reacted the way he had expected considering that the last thing he said to her was 'Why don't you stop acting like such a fucking bitch and let go of my goddamn shirt', which isn't exactly the friendliest conversation starter. She was her usual light and airy self, even towards Sasuke. But Sasuke knew that she was not the type to show her emotions. If she really was upset at Sasuke, she would not have shown it.
Holy hell! I sure am getting worked up over these two freaking girls! Sasuke realized. Oh dear god, what have I brought upon myself???
Sorry I updated later than usual. I was rollerblading with my friends and cut my lip. YOU HAD BETTER BE PITYING ME AND MY FAT LIP RIGHT NOW! Oh and for some reason FanFiction removed and deleted this chapter and all its changes after I had posted it which is kind of unhelpful...
When I began writing this story, I decided to leave out the "kun" and "san" and whatnot at the end of the names and not use too many Japanese words since I am not too well-acquainted with the Japanese language (I just know snippets of it from watching animes with English subtitles). I'm not even sure when to use the proper name ending-thingys so it seemed pointless to just put them in for the few I knew. But when I wrote Sakura saying "Hey, Sasuke" it just seemed so…wrong. I badly wanted to just write "Ohayo, Sasuke-kun". I don't know if any of you can relate to me but I thought I'd just share that…