Dear Cherry Blossom a.k.a Sweet Serenity
A/N: Okaaaayyyyy… This is half of a filler. This filler chap won't be as crazy as the last, but there is some important stuff here. So, enjoy! I'll try not to have anymore huge time gaps. Sorry, school beckons.
Recap: Sasuke got his leg broke, Naruto got his pride broke, and a feisty woman almost got her neck broke.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. BUT I OWN THE FREAKIN' WORLD!!! HA!HA!HA! (Laughs evilly while running away from the angry mob carrying torches and pitch forks.)
Filler Part 1
The night was still young…very young. It was dark out, but the bright moon and the stars left enough light to help guide two of the village's most unhappy ninja back home. The people of Konoha were just beginning to settle back into their homes for a quiet evening of recovery from the tedious tasks that they had faced that day. It was no surprise that Sasuke and Ino weren't following suit. They were spending their night arguing again. They didn't say very much to each other on the way home--the distance of a good 20 feet between them made it quite difficult to communicate -- but as soon as Ino reached the front step, all hell broke loose.
She stood in front of the door, searching for her keys and shouting for him to hurry up. Sasuke carefully balanced his weight on each crutch, trying to ignore the dull ache in his leg while refusing to look at the angry woman. He glanced at her every once in a while, but only for a split second. One harsh look from her burning eyes may cause him to turn to stone. The injured Uchiha was sure Ino knew he was deliberately pissing her off even more by walking slower than the actual speed he was able to walk. If she had a problem with the way he was walking… well… too bad for her! He wasn't going to allow her to intimidate him into walking any faster. There was no telling what exactly she was going do or say to him once he got in the house. It's not like it mattered. He'd just be blocking out about half of what she said away.
Slowing her edgily tapping foot, she bent down to pick up the newspaper from the front step. Once she got a good grip around the paper, she hit it violently against her other hand while waiting for her crippled husband to maneuver his crutches up the walkway. She was certain that he was intentionally taking his sweet time and was growing increasingly impatient with him. She desperately wanted to spit out everything that was gathering in her head on the way home.
"You've got one minute to get up here, or I'm going inside and locking you out!" Ino yelled out ferociously. Thunder was the only noise on the planet that could match the caliber of her angry voice.
"A lot of good that will do, I have a key." Sasuke said calmly in hopes of getting her to shut up at least until he got there. Ino released her sudden jolt of anger by hitting the front door with the rolled up newspaper. Sasuke looked up at her and smiled against her scowl. His calm disposition made Ino so angry that she was speechless for the moment. That was until he finally reached the front step, walked in the house, and closed the door behind him.
Anyone within a five-block radius of the Uchiha district could hear them. The combination of Ino's yelling and Sasuke's discouraged sighs made it impossible for even the heaviest of sleepers to close an eye for one minute before it was forced open again by the banging noise that was Ino throwing a plate against a wall. All Sasuke could do was sit at the table and tolerate his wife's rambling, occasionally getting a counter argument in whenever she paused to take a breath. He lightly knocked his fist on the table, ignoring a majority of what she was saying and thinking of how nice it would be to just get up a walk away. He wouldn't have been able to go anywhere just yet; Ino had taken his crutches. The plate that she chosen to enact her anger on laid on the kitchen floor, scattered in a million pieces around their feet.
"You knew EXACTLY what was going to happen when you got there didn't you?! Is that why you wanted to leave your room so badly?!" Ino yelled, slamming the newspaper against the kitchen table. "Makes me wonder what would have happened if he wasn't in there! You would have allowed that woman to keep feeling up on you! WOUNDN"T YOU?!! " Sasuke drew his eyebrows together. Where was this woman getting her logic? If Michio weren't in there, he wouldn't have been in there either. He didn't bother to waste what little sanity he had left trying to figure her out. It was a wise decision not to say a word because experience told him that saying the wrong thing would set her off like a time bomb. He was already treading on thin ice and one false action would cause the already paper-thin surface to crack…unless his next move was carefully planned. It was a little hard for him to plan out what to do or say next. He was too busy trying to fight off another feeling building up inside of him.
Sasuke used his thumb and middle finger of one hand to rub his temples and thought for a second, quickly coming up with something to say in his defense. "How was I to know his mother would be in there?" Shifting his weight for more comfort on his chair, the felt the tension in the air thicken. Why had Ino's glare upgraded into a death stare? He must have said something wrong.
"Don't give me that nonsense!" Ino anger soared even higher and her skin turned bright red to match her rising temper. "Her son almost died! Where the hell else would a mother be?!" So THAT'S what she was getting at! Oddly enough that kind of made sense…in a way…fuck it, she was making absolutely NO sense! Sasuke straightened himself up in his chair and looked her straight in her exposed eye.
"And you know all about that don't you?" he remarked, facial expression demanding that Ino hand over his crutches. Ino's eyes bulged at his comment and she drew in a deep breath. She threw her head to one side, trying to figure out a good reason to change the subject. Mostly keep it from heading in the direction that Sasuke was trying to get it in. The injured Jounin looked over at her steadily, waiting for a response.
Although her frigid stance told him that she had nothing to say, he clearly saw that her refusal to return his crutches and let him go meant that he had not won the argument. One of the crutches twirled on the floor like a slow moving spinning top underneath Ino's hand. The other leaned against the wall, much too far away from where Sasuke was sitting. Ino wasn't done with her husband yet and was not willing to give them back to him. She closed her eyes to think then opened them again. "You didn't even ask how things went with my client today."
He sank down a few inches into his chair, anxiously tapping his fingers on the table, watching Ino begin the pick up the shattered pieces of plate that she had thrown against the wall. After she had cleaned the floor, Ino looked up and noticed that something was off about him by the way he was trying not to look at her by focusing hard on his crutches. He was more than likely going to sit there without saying anything, so she handed them back to him and turned to leave.
"How did things go with your client?" Sasuke asked, stopping Ino in her tracks. She didn't look back at him when she answered.
"Terrible. He practically called me a tramp for worrying about you." She spoke a little harshly to ensure that her voice would convey how she felt.
"Let him call you that, you make everyone else stick to calling you 'stuck up'." Oops. Sasuke immediately knew he had just made the wrong choice of words. Ino's chest rose and her eyes widened before she turned to face him. "I take it back." He said in a low voice, although knowing that he had already ignited a deadly spark. Why didn't he just keep his mouth shut? He had just given her another reason to yell at him. He couldn't help it. He was able to remain calm for the first part of the argument, but he couldn't hold this growing feeling inside of him for much longer. It was those feelings building up inside of him that made him want to piss her off even more.
"Do you even care that everything went wrong today because of YOU!!!" Ino came closer to him, eyes daring him to look her in the face and say something else stupid.
Sasuke was aware that Ino was thinking he had gone too far, but at the same time, he was feeling that he had not gone far enough. Forget treading on thin ice. He had already crashed through the fragile surface and drowned in the cold waters underneath. This was a risky thing that he was doing, but taking risks was part of being a male Uchiha. Especially when his manhood was on the line. "Alright then." He sighed. "I'll take care of it. I can't have anyone insulting my wife."
Ino hit her hand so hard on the table that it shook. "I'm not in the mood for your sarcasm!"
The sensation was getting increasingly hard for him to control. It gushed from the depths of his abdomen to every square inch of his body, internally burning him in the process. His deep breathing lessened into irregular gasps for air, his body temperature rising with his Sharingan flashing off and on. He knew what was causing it and he knew that it would only be a matter of seconds. He lowered is head to hide the beads of sweat forming around his hairline. She just had one more negative thing to say before he would lose all control and act out on his feelings.
The seconds turned into minutes, and Ino leaned her bodyweight onto one leg, looking down at her husband, waiting for him to say something else: therefore justifying her urge to hit him. Had he been an enemy, she would have taken one of his crutches and mercilessly bashed him in the head with it. She wouldn't do that to her husband, though. She didn't have to. She knew her words hurt just as much as any physical thrashing. The argument was over now, but Ino, had to get in one last phrase. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at the mass of black hair on his lowered head. "Sometimes you can be a real jerk."
That did it. Using the kitchen table and his crutches for balance, he slowly stood up from the kitchen chair and grabbed her by the elbow. She gasped in shock as she aggressively yanked her arm out of his grip and smacked his hand away from her. He held both of his crutches under one arm for balance, leaving him with only one free hand to work with. He used that hand to take hold of her belt buckle and pull her even closer to him. She entire face tightened and she instinctively moved her head to one side to keep it out of the way of his warm breath blowing on her skin.
He brought his mouth to her ear, lightly brushing the lobe with his lips and then he trailed his lips down her jaw line to her mouth where he kissed her lightly. She managed to push him away and open her mouth to say something, but in order to shut her up; he put weight on her upper body, forcing her to bend backwards over the kitchen table. Dropping is crutches to the floor Sasuke supported his weight on his good leg and lowered his body, pressing it down hard on hers to keep her trapped more firmly.
Everything centered on her eye, the light blue orb like the color of the sky. Why she kept her other eye covered with her hair was anyone's guess. His hand rose, moving her hair so that all of her face was exposed. Sasuke felt his urge to ravage her ooze through his body, forcing all of his instincts to rise to the surface. Two heavy puffs of air escaped his lungs before shoving his tongue into her mouth. Sasuke could feel Ino gathering some chakra to strengthen her muscles to get him off, but he was too strong for her even without the aid of his chakra. Feeling her body weaken from the loss of chakra, she helplessly laid beneath him allowing him kiss her for a little while.
Her body was very still. Her muscles relaxed, and her breathing steady. But then she struggled, twisting and squirming from side to side. She placed each of her hands on either side of his shoulders and tried to push him off, but he took both of her hands into his and held them tightly. He carefully raised his bad leg and put one knee on the table and held her hands above her head. His fingers gathered both of her wrists and held them together in one hand so that he could have one free hand to unbutton the first few buttons of her shirt.
It was strange that she was acting this way. Her body was writhing for all its worth, but she never broke from the kiss even though she could have at anytime. He loosened his grip on her wrists to see if she would move. To his relief she stayed put, almost as if she was unaware that she could move out of his grasp anytime she wanted. He would never force her to do anything she didn't want, but he wasn't ready to stop engaging in foreplay. His dominate male instincts kicked into full gear and he was in complete control. That's the way he liked it. Sasuke raised his torso, his throbbing manhood pressing against Ino's leg through his pants.
He was certain that he could completely let her go without her trying to get away from him now, so he released her wrist and raised his head from her mouth, locking his eyes with hers. His sharingan pupils were bright and no longer sporadically changing from red to black. She had no expression on her face, making it hard to tell what she was thinking…not that he cared. As long as she appeared to be interested and he was getting what he wanted. Once he had unbuttoned the top half of the buttons on her shirt, he moved his head down to her chest area pressing his lips on the exposed skin along the way.
Ino contemplated the thought of submitting to Sasuke twice in one day, but then she remembered something. It was the valuable advice that her best friend had given her earlier that day. "Get off of me." she whispered even though she was running her fingers through his hair.
"Is that what you want?" He responded. "Tell me. Do you really want me to get off?"
"I…uhhhhhhhh…" She couldn't finish her sentence because he was licking her collarbone, making her body tingle all over. He trailed his tongue back up to her mouth and slowly pushed his hand up under her shirt. Ino whimpered slightly when Sasuke's fingers grazed her nipple through the smooth fabric that covered her chest. It was impossible for him to not feel a sense of pride; he was getting her aroused for the second time in a row. Three times if he counted the night before.
"What's my name?" Sasuke thrust his lower body, earning and shriek from the woman below him. His tongue teased her neck, leaving a warm trail of saliva that instantly got cold when the air hit it.
"Sasukeeeee!" the woman involuntarily cried out from the pleasure.
"You know I won't accept that as an answer." He stared hungrily at her, letting her know that he was reclaiming his masculinity. His hand moved from under her shirt, down her thigh and guided her leg up onto the table. Her warm skin felt good under his touch and a soft moan escaped her mouth as he rubbed circles on her leg. Perhaps he would be engaging in make up sex tonight!
Sasuke loosened his belt buckle and dug his arm under Ino's back to encourage her off the table. He was standing in an awkward position and his good leg was giving way from standing on it for so long. The couch was a nicer place to continue. She was complying, clutching the back of his head with her fingers and lifting her upper body slightly off the table.
All of their problems appeared to be forgotten until in a flash she forced her mouth away from his and pushed him back. He hopped back on his foot trying to catch his balance so not to land on his bad leg. He didn't notice her using her other hand to reach for the rolled up newspaper behind her. If he did, he may have been able to duck before she whacked him over the head with it. There was a pause as Ino closed the front part of her shirt with one hand and got off of the table. Finally she spoke again.
"Don't think that this is going to make me forget the fact that you let some strange woman put her hands all over you!" Ino pulled the hair that dangled freely at the front of her head behind her ear, enabling her to stare ruthlessly at her husband with both eyes. Sasuke stood on his one foot with his hand covering the spot where he was hit, completely dumbfounded, giving her a "Have you gone completely insane?!" look.
"Don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about!" She demanded. "I was waiting for your leg to start shaking like a dog's!" Sasuke was still in shock. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight!" She stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
A painful knot formed at the top of Sasuke's throat, and he swallowed it back down. She had gotten riled up, causing him to completely let his guard down. He was completely frozen from the shock of Ino's violent rejection and had no idea what to do next. Sasuke gathered his crutches and left the kitchen, his mind was going nuts from what had just happened, making it difficult to focus long enough to make it to the couch with stumbling over his own feet. He made himself comfortable on the couch and thought to himself.
A dog.
That's the first time she said anything like that. That had to have been one of the most insulting comparison that she ever made with him. "This is your life." He muttered to himself, using his hands to help get his bad leg on the couch. He curled both lips inward, thinking of how much he didn't what to sleep on that narrow couch tonight. He was about to get up but then he stopped himself. She was really pissed when she left him in the kitchen. Who knows what more she'd do while in this fit of fury. He still needed to get up the stairs to his bedroom…he had to brush his teeth. Yeah, that's a good reason to go upstairs without her chewing him out again. Why should he be afraid of her anyway? It was HIS house. She had no authority to kick him out of HIS bedroom make him sleep on the couch. Then he realized that he didn't have much of a choice now because his leg hurt too badly for him to try to make it up all of those stairs.
He still wanted to give it a shot regardless of his foot. Once again he reached for something to balance himself but halted once he heard Ino coming back down the stairs. "Good," he thought, "she was coming to apologize." Only this time he wouldn't forgive her right away…he'll make her beg. Not a bad idea. First, he'd tell her that her apology was not sincere enough for him. Although he wouldn't be cruel enough to do so, he entertained the thought of making her grovel at his feet. The best thing for him to do was nonchalantly tell her that he'd need the night to think about, but in his mind he'd be saying "On your knees, BITCH!!!"
He soon found out that she wasn't coming back to ask for forgiveness. How foolish was he to think that she was coming back down to apologize? She came back down with his blanket and a pillow…along with his toothbrush.
"Use the guest bathroom." She said before dropping the stuff next to him and going back up the stairs. Sasuke sat quiet for a few moments, trying to pull himself together. He continuously wondered to himself how this night would have ended differently had he not said what he said. He decided that it wasn't worth spending any more time and energy on her tonight and gave his mind a rest. He limped into the downstairs bath and emerged ready for bed.
Over on the small table next to the couch was the picture of Sakura and Ino. He picked it up as he had done the night before and stared at it while thinking about his encounter with Sakura earlier that day. He regretted being too caught up in self-pity and blowing that opportunity to talk to her alone. "The next chance I get…" he promised himself and rested the picture across his chest before going to sleep.
Ino paced back and forth around the room while brushing her hair, fighting the impulse to go back downstairs. She felt such a mixture of emotions that she wasn't sure how to describe whether or not she was upset. She followed her best friend's advice and refused to let Sasuke have the upper hand, but Sakura failed to mention how bad the situation between her and Sasuke would get before it would start to improve.
She trusted her friend, so there was no reason for her to be upset. She even smirked a little at the thought of her brief victory by not letting Sasuke's lust for dominance get the better of her. She still had her doubts, though. The argument was vicious--too vicious-- and the guilt started eating away at her insides. Hopefully talking to Sakura tomorrow will help her feel better.
She set her hairbrush on the nightstand and spotted the jewelry box that her father had given her a long time ago. Even though it is one of her favorite gifts, it was the thing inside that was far more valuable it her. She opened the little draw and pulled out a kunai. It was old, rusty, and the blade was chipped, but she didn't care. It was the only ugly thing she kept. After winding it between her fingers for a little while, she put it back in drawer and slid under the sheets. "Sakura," she said laying her head on her pillow. "I hope you're right."
The next morning, Ino woke up not it high spirits. She had spent much of the night trying to figure out if Sakura was right in telling her that Sasuke should be the first to apologize, but couldn't come up with a viable conclusion. It wasn't the first time he came on to her in that way before as argument was over and she feared that actually might be his sordid way of apologizing. She thought about it over and over again as she got dressed.
She left the room and went past the couch where Sasuke had just woken up. He had no reason to wake up at the crack of dawn since his foot would be keeping him off the training grounds for a while. When he noticed that she was fully dressed and about to leave, he became curious. He raised his head, stretched out his arms, and yawned out a sleepy "Where are you going?" as she walked by him.
"Out." She responded, sitting a small area of couch next to him. "Remember to keep your foot elevated." She kissed him on the forehead and left the house. Sasuke drew in eyebrows together if confusion. After all of these years of being the surrounded by fangirls, one would think that The Great Uchiha heir would have a better understanding of women. Refusing to think anymore on the subject, Sasuke heaved a deep sigh and dropped his head back onto his pillow.
Ino couldn't get last night's events out of her mind. Sasuke, she mused silently, wouldn't understand why she didn't want to tell him that she was going to one of the only places where she could find solace…her former sensei's grave. He never knew about the little tradition that she and her former teammates started about one year after Asuma died. It was their little secret. The place where he's buried, a little secluded from the other ninja burials, had a relaxing but at times lonely atmosphere. She, Chouji, and Shikamaru would visit him on the anniversary that they all became a team to keep him company, sometimes telling him about everything that was going on in their lives.
A few feet from her destination, she could sense the chakra of her follow shinobi. The distant form didn't have to take full shape for her to figure out who it was. By the time she got there, Chouji was already waiting for the arrival of the other two. He smiled at her, but immediately frowned in dismay when he saw how down Ino was looking. He stretched out his arm and allowed her to walk up to him and rest her head on his shoulder.
"It's you and Sasuke again, isn't it?" He asked. She nodded without picking up her head. He stroked his hand through her hair and reached around her back to rest his hand on her shoulder. "Do you want me to talk him?"
Before she could answer, a tall male strolled to the gravesite, carrying his Jounin vest with one hand and the other buried deep in his pocket. As usual he had his brown hair pulled behind his head, the same look of indifference, and his eyes looking up at the sky.
"Don't tell me. You and Sasuke had another argument." Shikamaru speculated after walking in on the scene of Ino having to be comforted by her friend. Ino looked up at him.
"I'm sorry, I forgot the flowers." Ino's voice cracked. It slipped her mind to stop at the flower shop and grab something for Asuma's grave, but Chouji brought his own and divided his bunch between the three of them. All three kneeled in front of the head stone and placed their flowers on the ground. They spent about an hour conversing and joking, each of them reminiscing, talking about how good their Genin squads were doing, the upcoming Chunnin exams--basic ninja stuff.
When they felt that they said all that they had to say, the trio stood around the headstone, and bowed together. Ino and Chouji took a few steps away, but stopped and looked over their shoulders when they realized that Shikamaru was not following them. They looked at each other, each one waiting for the other to explain what Shikamaru was doing, then watched him pull something out of his vest and place it on the ground next to the flowers. Ino snatched it back up when she noticed what it was.
"Will you stop trying to give him cigarettes?" Ino fussed.
"Come on," Shikamaru beckoned. "It's not like he's got anything else to do."
"How much can he do? He' DEAD!" Ino shoved the cigarette box back into Shikamaru's vest.
"Well, at least we know they can't hurt him." Shikamaru stuck his hand back in his pocket and Ino placed her hand over her forehead, nodding in disbelief.
"Oh brother." Chouji rolled his eyes. "Hey Ino, is there anything we can do help you?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to him la…ter…" Something jumped into Ino's mind and she darted off quickly towards the village.
"Where are you going?" Shikamaru called after her.
"I'm um…meeting Sakura for lunch in a few minutes." Ino called back before she ran off.
"Lunch?" Chouji checked his watch. "It's still breakfast---too late, she's gone." Chouji said as Ino disappeared into the distance.
"It's a troublesome waste of time trying to figure her out." Chouji nodded in agreement. "So, do you want to go get something for breakfast?" Shikamaru asked.
Chouji's face brightened. "You don't have to ask me that twice."
"Good." Shikamaru flipped his vest over his shoulder and glanced at Asuma's grave one last time. "Afterwards you can help me find my squad. I shudder to think of what Naruto has done to them in my absence."
"About that," Chouji began with a chuckle. "Which one of them kicked your ass this time?" Shikamaru just rolled his eyes. The two gave one final bow to Asuma's grave and walked back to the village.
Ino ran straight to the hospital and hysterically searched for Sakura. Among all of the typical hospital clatter and commotion, it would almost be impossible to precisely pinpoint her best friend's location. She was about to ask the next person she saw where Sakura was, but then it suddenly crossed her mind where Sakura would be. She dashed down the hall, following the descending numbers on each door until she reached the number she was looking for. Just as she figured, Sakura was coming out of Michio's room.
"He's recovering so fast." Sakura informed, noticing how out of breath Ino was. "Why are you in such a hurry?"
Ino put her hand up to her chest, calming her lungs enough to talk without gasping for air. "Sasuke's going to be here to get his leg looked at and I know for a fact that he's going to check on his Genin."
"So what's the problem?" Sakura had an idea of what Ino was about to say because her little patient had already blabbed the details about last night's incident to her. She played dumb in hopes of getting more information about what happened.
"The boy's mother." Ino sighed. "She's a nut case!" Sakura bit her lip in disappointment. It looks like she'd have to be the one to drag the details out of Ino.
"Oh yeah. Michio had just told me about what happened." Sakura waited to see if Ino was going to continue the conversation, but Ino didn't comment. "He's very intelligent for a boy his age, yet he's a little naïve. What exactly did he mean by Sasuke giving his mother some?"
Ino shrugged and shook her head. "Not even I want to know. Will you please find some way to keep her away from Sasuke while I'm gone?"
"HELL YEAH!!!" Inner Sakura cheered. "I'll get her out of the way, all right…out of MY way!" Don't worry." She giggled. "I'll protect him for you.
"Great." Ino smiled, shoulders dropping in relief. "I'll see you for lunch then?"
"I'll be there." Sakura said as Ino took off. Sakura's lips curved in a wicked smile when she realized that she'd be getting Sasuke alone that day. If Ino had the slightest idea of Sakura's true intentions, she may have noticed Sakura had a little too much enthusiasm towards Ino's odd request. Sakura squealed in her excitement and went off to finish her tasks before he arrived.
Sasuke usually woke up early -way early before any ray the sun's rays broke through the dark night sky- ready to meet his squad, take advantage of having the entire training grounds all to himself, or spar with another one of Konoha's early risers (Usually that overrated Hyuuga prodigy). But today he slept in. He had been ordered to keep off of his leg as much as possible and in less than a day later, the lack of any physical activity was driving him crazy. At least going to the hospital today to start the healing process on his leg gave him something to do for the first half of the day.
Sasuke sat up on the couch, his leg aching a little from lack of proper elevation. His stomach rumbled in protest of him not eating a thing since yesterday's mission, making him realize that he had to ignore the pain in his leg unless he wanted his hungry stomach to continue to serenade him with it's almost painful morning song. He carefully picked his foot off the couch and swung his body around so that his good foot was the first to touch the floor. His broken leg did not like this sudden change in gravity and let Sasuke know almost immediately.
"I hate you." Sasuke growled almost involuntarily. His leg responded to its ungrateful owner by sending another intense wave of pain. He felt silly, fussing at his own body part as if it could talk back to him. He may as well get used to being a little immobile--LIMITED-- because he'd be depending on his crutches to get around until he got his special walking cast. It wasn't a terrible break, but it was enough to weaken his significantly. Fortunately for him, the team of medic-nins had special ways of making broken bones heal a little faster. This meant going back to the hospital for the next few weeks and having them perform some new kind of medical ninjutsu. It's really impressive how their techniques had advanced over the years.
This gave him hope--hope of soon getting back to training his Genin before they became too slack in his absence, hope of being able to go back to the special care facilities so that he can make fun of his brother some more, and most importantly, hope of reclaiming his bedroom without the disadvantage of not being able to climb up all of those stairs after Ino kicks him out.
Sasuke closed his eyes a moment, then opened them again and picked up his crutch. He used it to stand up while grabbing the other one and hobbled into the kitchen. The only thing his leg permitted him to stand long enough and prepare was cereal. He didn't like the tasteless cereal Ino bought, but his stomach was in no mood for him to be particular. Propping his foot on the small stool next to his chair, he made a mental note of all of the things he had to do today…
1) Finish eating breakfast. (He must have been bored if he included THAT in the list)
2) Go to the hospital and get his leg looked at.
3) Visit Michio and see how well he was recovering…that was it. Damn.
What was he going to do for the rest of the day? He couldn't train, there was no one he wanted to talk to, no other places that he wanted to go…wait a minute. Sakura's supposed to be at the hospital today. Maybe he if were to run into her, she'd talk to him. Of course she would. He swallowed down the remainder of his cereal and as quickly as his crippled leg would let him, got ready for the day so that he could head out early. The sooner he got his leg checked on and visited his Genin, the sooner he'd be free to look for Sakura.
Sometime later, Sasuke came hobbling into the hospital. It took him a longer than expected to get there, because he had to deal with hordes of fangirls fawning over his casted foot, grabbing at his crutches, offering him their shoulders to lean on. He hopped steadily through the long halls (he had refused the wheelchair offered to him) to where he was supposed to go and waited for the next team of medic-nin to look at him. They spent an hour or two performing their medical jutsu and then he took another x-ray when they where done. He had a little time before he would find out the results of this session, so he ventured out of his room to check on Michio.
"Don't worry Sasuke- sensei." Michio assured. "My mom's at work." Sasuke was astounded at how this young child had picked up his adult sense of unease when he walked into his room. Young children had a special awareness that seems to steadily disappear later in life. Michio had no problem piecing together why Sasuke knocked first, then peered through the door before entering.
Michio sat up on his bed, holding up a little stuffed dog that was covered in white fur with big brown sad eyes and black spots. It was raggedy looking and covered with stains from years played with and slept on by the young child. "This is Mr. Wags." He grabbed the little tail and wagged it for side to side. "My dad gave him to me for my first birthday." He began to bounce the dog around and make yelping noises that almost simulated a puppy's bark.
A stuffed animal? Barking? He was acting way too much like a typical little boy. It shouldn't have been too much of a surprise since the child was only seven years old, but Sasuke was feeling uncomfortable with his superstar Genin acting so…childlike. Michio hugged the stuffed toy against his chest and looked up at his sensei with tears in his eyes. "I don't know how he died, but my mom says it was a red eyed monster. Someone with red eyes hurt me too."
"Red eyed Moster?" Sasuke thought, hating the idea of the boy's motherwas keeping him from reality by using words like "monster" to describe things she must think he's too young to understand. "She must have meant my brother's Sharingan. I guess it was Itachi that killed his father over two years ago. But who's causing trouble now?" Sasuke's mind retraced all of the events that happened on their special mission.There was still some vital information missing. "Red eyes, hand signs similar to my clan's for performing fire style jutsu, dodging everything I threw at him…something's doesn't add up."
"Oh yeah, I have something to show you." Michio exclaimed, breaking Sasuke out of his concentration. Since he was still considerably weak, Michio's body fell hard against the bed. He managed to gather enough strength to lift his shirt, revealing his first major battle scar on his belly. "Isn't it cool?" Only Michio would treat a disfiguring battle scar as if it were a medal of honor; a reward for surviving a life threatening situation. Proudly displaying the symbol of his bravery. This was the Michio that Sasuke admired.
"Put your shirt down Michio." A female voice said for the entrance of his room. They both looked in the direction the voice was coming from to see Shizune walking in. "I see that Sakura-sama has been taking good care of you. Sasuke, I have your x-ray." She pulled a dark sheet of an unidentifiable material out of a folder and held it up to the light. "We got it to start healing, but it's still going to take while before you can put any weight on it."
That wasn't what Sasuke wanted to hear and he outwardly let everyone in the room know it. "It's okay, Sasuke-sensei." Michio said with a mile wide grin forming on his face. "Mr. Wags will make you feel better!" That's also not what Sasuke wanted to hear. Michio laughed as he press his toy's cold plastic nose against his sensei's cheek and made a slurping sound. Sasuke cringed at the thought of where that stuffed dog has been for the past six years.
"Tell me more about what your mother told you." Sasuke said in an attempt to get Michio's mind off contaminating his face with that filthy stuffed animal.
"I don't know about the monster that killed my dad, but it was a person that stabbed me in the stomach." Michio's voice suddenly became so low that it was almost hard to understand. He cradled the dog closed to his chest and stroked its head softly. "I don't remember much. Just his eyes were glowing bright red."
"That's what all the Genin said." Shizune added. Sasuke tried to make sense of everything that they said. He couldn't figure it out.
"There you are." Another female voice said from the door's entrance. Sasuke didn't have to turn around to see who was standing there. He also knew who she was referring to. He heard her footsteps walk a little closer to everyone else and he held his breath when he felt a hand hovering over his shoulder.
"Mom, check this out!" Michio raised his shirt to show off his scar again.
"I see." The woman said slowly and turned to Shizune and Sasuke. "Do I have to look forward to my son coming home like this every time he goes out on a mission?" The two older shinobi didn't say anything. There was no way in existence to explain to a mother why she shouldn't worry about her severely injured child.
"Why are you getting mad, mom?" Michio asked innocently. "You said you wanted to be a ninja too. You even said the you wanted to train with Sasuke- sensei."
The boy's mother inhaled through her clenched teeth, holding in the sudden feelings of humiliation that were threatening to surface. "No I didn't."
"Don't you remember? You said last night that you would love to reach down his pants and grab his kunai!" Michio stopped and lightly scratched his head. "Or did you say gloss it?"
"OKAY. I think you misunderstood me…" His mother rushed to her son and wrapped her arms around him, covering his mouth with her hand. Shizune snickered while Sasuke grunted. He was feeling his face get hot and was hoping that his cheeks weren't getting flustered once his Genin started his little tell all.
"No I didn't!" Michio said under his mother's hand, voice muffled by the barrier. He put both of his hands on his mother's wrist and pulled her hand down to his chin level so that he could speak. "You said you'd be glad to bow down and call him master…although we don't call him master, we call him sensei-"
"That's enough out of you!" The woman's face turned bright red and she tried to hide her embarrassment by giggling and giving the two adults a "kids say the darndest things" look.
"What did I say?" In is efforts to defend his sensei, the poor Genin unknowingly proved to be an untrustworthy source to have nearby when talking to a friend about how the ultra hot sensei boosted one's sex drive. His mother had learned the hard way that before she spilled her guts to anyone, she had to make sure she was far away from the sensitive ears of her ninja son, even if he did look like he was soundly asleep.
"I think I should be going now." Sasuke got up to leave. It's a good thing Ino wasn't there. The only thing that would have kept Ino from strangling this woman was the fact that they were in a hospital with resuscitating equipment. Once he was out of the room, Sasuke put his crutches to work in order to get away as quickly as he could and see if Sakura was nearby. He barely made it five steps from Michio's room when he heard the woman's voice call his name. "Of course" Sasuke sighed and stopped trying to "run" away. He looked around the vicinity of the hallway, searching for anything to divert their attention. Luckily, he caught sight of Sakura coming down the hall, nervously glancing at her watch.
It was almost lunchtime and she only had a few minutes before she had to meet up with Ino. She knew she wouldn't have the time to speak with Sasuke if she found him, but kept looking for him anyway. She finally found him outside of Michio's room, once again getting harassed by a crazed fangirl. She walked up to them as normally as she could, so that her diversion would not look too obvious.
"So where's your wife? I feel awful about the way I acted last night. I hope there're no hard feelings, Sasuke-kun." The woman purred loud enough for Sakura to hear. "About what my son said. You know how wild a child's imagination could be…do I make you nervous?" She noticed Sasuke slightly turning his head to one side, which was a direct reaction to the woman bringing her face closer to his.
"I see what Ino means. This woman IS a nut case!" Sakura thought to herself. "I guess it's Sakura to the rescue." Sakura's facial muscles painfully quivered from between an evil glare and a visibly forced smile as she approached the two, earning a displeased look from the woman. "You're Matsushita Michio's mother aren't you?" The woman cocked her head to one side and Sakura continued. "I'm the one taking care of him (Sasuke heard that, right?) and I would like for you to come with me back into his room." The woman was disappointed, but she had no choice. She went back to her son's room with Sakura following closely behind. Before she went in, Sakura looked back at Sasuke who was shaking his head and grinning at her.
It was a shame that she wouldn't get to be alone with him that day but it wasn't a total loss. At least she got to score a few extra points with him.
Sasuke stumbled out of the hospital with his guard up in case his hoards of fangirls were waiting for him, ready to pounce on him in their efforts to be the first to get his attention. Envious of the fact that he was not blessed with the Hyuuga family's byakugan technique, he thoroughly searched the area, keeping his senses alert for the faintest trace of chakra. There was nothing. Most likely because it wasn't lunchtime yet and everyone was off doing their everyday things. With the coast clear, he stepped further into the shinning sun, still completely at a loss as to what he was going to do for the rest of the day. Sasuke would soon find out that annoying fangirls weren't all he needed to avoid that day. Why do loudmouthed knuckleheaded ninja always manage to show up whenever nobody wanted them around?
"Well, if it isn't Ol' Three Legs Uchiha in the flesh." Sasuke pretended not to see Naruto appear in front of him and continued to hobble home, violently brushing against Naruto's shoulder as he passed him. "What are you so pissy for?" Naruto raised a curious brow at his former teammate and jumped in front of him again. "Oh I get it, you and Ino had another fight."
Either Sasuke was becoming more and more transparent everyday or his arguments his fights with Ino were almost expected. Sasuke watched dimwitted friend walk in circles around him with his hands behind his back, eyes separating from each other when Naruto walked behind him and then meeting again when Naruto came back around. "I bet neither one of you apologized. Why don't you be a man and apologize first?"
Sasuke stopped hobbling and gave Naruto a blank stare. He was trying his best to hide it, but Naruto knew that Sasuke was hurting. Being a bachelor without very much experience when it came to relationships, Naruto could only imagine how much worse a fight between a husband and wife was than any other type of argument. It's seldom a good idea to butt in to someone else's personal life, but nonetheless, Naruto felt compelled to do something to help out his troubled friend.
"What if I talk to Ino for you?" Naruto suggested in a slightly more caring tone. "I'll take care of everything." Sasuke once again ignored Naruto and tried to get passed him. Naruto grabbed his shoulder with one hand and reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone with the other. "Here. Call her up." Naruto offered Sasuke his phone. "And I'll tell you what to say. Trust me on this."
Sasuke only shrugged and looked down at his foot. "Do what you want. Nothing I say will make a difference." He moved his shoulder from under Naruto's hand and limped a few steps away from him.
"You're not going anywhere." The area that Naruto's body took up was replaced by a puff of smoke. In a split second, the smoke cleared leaving a very familiar image standing before Sasuke. "We're not done yet."
Ino was beaming from ear to ear when she met Sakura in the restaurant. Sakura had already been seated at a booth and took the liberty of ordering beverages for the both of them. Seeing Ino smiling after coming to her in a panic that morning made Sakura wonder what could possibly have such a positive effect on Ino that brought about this drastic change of mood. She had to find out what was going on. "Why are you in such a good mood?"
"He called me!" Ino answered jovially. "Sasuke called me!"
"Why are you acting like a giddy school girl?" Sakura's eyes narrowed in curiosity. What was the big deal about getting a phone call from her husband?
Ino sipped her tea, anticipating that the warm sensation would soothe her jumpy insides. "We got into another fight. But then he called me to see how I was doing!" She put her tea down and regained her composure, tracing the brim of the cup with her index finger.
Sakura cocked an eyebrow. This didn't sound like something Sasuke would do. A dreadful thought jumped into Sakura's head. What if her plan to ruin their marriage was backfiring and Sasuke was actually getting softer? There was no way- it was too soon. She needed to find out more. "No apology? Just a random 'how are you doing' phone call?"
"So what? At least he called." Ino got mildly upset over her best friend putting a damper on her temporary happiness.
"Have you forgotten everything that I told you yesterday? Why did you ask for my advice if you choose not to follow it?" She watched her best friend's hand tremble so uncontrollably in her excitement that she could barely hold onto her cup. Sakura lightly put her hand on Ino's, slowing down the shaking and bringing it under control. It did not faze Ino that Sakura was fussing at her like schoolteacher would a disobedient child.
"I did take your advice. I didn't let him think that he had the upper hand and it worked! He called to make sure I wasn't upset. He's got to be the most wonderful husband in the world!" Ino gripped her cup and held it tightly between her hands. "That reminds me. I never did tell you what he did for me two weeks ago…" Ino spent half of their lunchtime talking about her past with Sasuke. Before now, Ino held back on talking about her marriage because she did not want to get Sakura upset. Now that Sakura appeared to be completely over Sasuke, Ino was just glad to have someone to talk about her love life with. She didn't know that she was driving Sakura to the point of madness with every other one of her words being Sasuke's name.
Sakura scowled and began jabbing the food on her plate with the chopsticks enclosed inside of her fisted hand. Ino's mouth ran almost 1000 words per minute, making Sakura wonder if Ino would ever take a break to breathe…or eat…or bite her tongue…or something. Sakura had no choice but to cut Ino off in mid conversation. "So how is your squad doing?"
"We're doing pretty good." Ino answered, finding yet another opportunity to bring Sasuke back into the conversation. "Even Sasuke said that he was impressed by how well I had been training them. Sasuke also takes some time off to help me train. Did I tell you about that?"
"SASUKE, SASUKE, SASUKE!!! Goodness, does she ALWAYS have to talk about Sasuke?" Ino was too busy going on about Sasuke to notice Sakura drop her head to the table, hitting the surface with a loud thud.
Sakura had to end this insanity. She looked around the restaurant for anything that would be good for starting a new subject. A server walked by carrying a tray with some glasses of water. "Perfect timing!" Sakura discreetly stuck her foot out, causing the unsuspecting waiter to topple over and fall flat on his face. His tray flew across the nearby tables, sending water in all directions. Everyone in the restaurant stopped what they were doing to observe the chaos going on. "Oh look, let me help him up." She helped him up and helped him pick up the glasses. "These waiters are clumsy aren't they?"Sakura asked, climbing back up to her seat.
"Tell me about it. There was one time when Sasuke and I went to the restaurant outside the village, and this waiter there…"
AAHHHH!!! Ino had to find a reason to keep talking about Sasuke! At least that's how Sakura had just envisioned what would have happened had she tripped the waiter. She had dreamt the whole incident to see how things may possibly turn out. That was one plan that was more than likely not going to work.
For the time being, Sakura had to endure how everything somehow reminded Ino of Sasuke: the food on the menu, the table cloth, that guy standing in the front that looked a lot like Sasuke…huh? Ino turned her head to the side because someone caught her attention. "Isn't that your old teammate over there?" Sakura glanced around Ino's head and saw a good-looking dark haired male around their age walking into the restaurant. It was Sai all right.
Sakura watched him with interest, eyeing the way he interacted with the greeter and then threw his head back in disdain after learning that he'd half to wait for an available table. At first it looked as if Sai was about to leave, but then his head did a double take when he saw the both of them. Sai smiled a little, waving his hand after confirming the familiar faces were indeed those of his fellow shinobi. Ino excitedly waved back while Sakura half waved, finding it hard to concentrate on the new plan formulating in her head and trying to look uninterested at the same time. It's wonderful being a genius. Ideas just popped into her head in a matter of seconds. She remembered how Ino had become mildly infatuated with him when they first met. "I wonder if he'd mind terribly if I were to make him a pawn in my new game."
"Sakura, wake up!" Ino moved her hand from one side to another in front of Sakura's face. "Why are you looking at him like that? You're not-" Ino gasped "falling for him are you?" Ino's smile became a devious grin and Sakura knew that she had to come up with a quick excuse for her momentary lapse from reality.
"Don't even joke like that Ino-pig!" Sakura's eyes went blank and she raised a scolding finger to Ino. "I'm just amazed at how much he looks like Sasuke. It's almost a shame how much of a jerk he is." Sakura relaxed in her seat, confident that she had convinced Ino that she had no interest in the shinobi artist. Sakura almost regretted scaring Ino off of the subject the way she did, but a friendly squabble over whether or not she was falling for Sai was a welcoming change from Ino's declaration of her husband's greatness speech.
"You might not want to talk so loud." Ino cautioned. "He's coming this way."
Sure enough, Sai was walking towards them. Sakura slid her hand down her face in disbelief and brought it to the table. She didn't hate him, but he was one of the last people that she wanted to talk to that day. Ino kept smiling at him, though his eyes were clearly focused on Sakura. Sakura's eyes remained glued to her plate to avoid contact with his own. Strangely, with only a few more steps to go, Sai suddenly clutched his stomach with one hand and put the other over his mouth. His face flushed furiously crimson, and his cheeks puffed out to twice their normal size. He made kind of a gurgling noise and ran into the restroom.
Ino's jaw dropped. "What the heck was that?"
Sakura was also shocked. Shocked, yet relieved. "We're not sure yet. All we know is that he's been having a problem with keeping food down for the past few days." Sakura glanced back at the restroom door that Sai had just run through. A few seconds before he turned purple, he really looked almost as handsome as Sasuke and Ino's reaction to seeing him was priceless. The wheels in Sakura head turned rapidly as she finalized her new plan involving Sai.
Ino placed her chopsticks across her plate and pushed it aside, indicating that she was finished eating although she still had about half of her lunch left over on it. If the reason wasn't her fear of weight gain, then it was the image of Sai upchucking in the bathroom that might have had something to do with her loss of appetite. "So you still think he's a jerk." Ino remarked. "But what about Naruto?"
Sakura looked coldly at her friend and shoved her plate of half eaten lunch to one side. The mere mention of Naruto's name wasn't enough to make Sakura lose her appetite, but Ino annoyingly trying to get Sakura to talk about him certainly was.
"Why do I put up with you?" Sakura sighed. Ino responded with an evil smile and Sakura couldn't help but smile back. When their plates were cleared, they ordered more tea because they needed a reason not to leave. They slowly drank their tea, talking up a storm and enjoying each other's company. Sakura was even successful in steering the conversation away from Sasuke every time Ino tried to bring him into it. When they were so full of tea that neither one of them could take another sip without gagging, they knew it was time to leave. It was at that very moment that the restaurant fell completely silent.
All eyes turned to a devastatingly handsome man with blue eyes so pale, they appeared white from far away. He walked in quietly, pacing himself not too fast and not too slow, his extremely long jet-black hair rippling behind him with every step that he took. He walked right past the greeter without saying a word and then planted both feet on the ground once he entered the restaurant's main area. Among the silent whispers of the other occupants, he surveyed the area, mentally shouting, "What the HELL are all of you looking at?" His gaze wandered to every table, until he finally located his target.
Ino and Sakura sat still, unable to blink since the first man came into the restaurant. Ordinarily, they wouldn't have cared too much, but the way his gaze had locked onto Ino made them both freeze in place. No one expected the well-known Hyuuga to give a place like that a second thought, let alone walk into it. It was almost like some kind of high-class movie star walking into a fast food restaurant when one would expect him at some place a little ritzier. Not that any of them had ever seen Neji in a ritzy restaurant—or any restaurant at all for that matter.
"Um, excuse me sir." The greeter tapped Neji on his shoulder. "Would you like a table for one?" Neji cranked his head towards the nervous man, then focused back on Ino.
"Yes." He answered calmly, staring even harder at Ino. As soon as Neji sat down, his hypnotic spell over the crowd was lifted off of everyone and they were able to continue what they were doing before he came in. Ino and Sakura were far too entranced to do the same. Ino had to force herself to look away in order talk to Sakura.
"Why is he looking at me like that?" Ino shifted uncomfortably, finding herself drawn back to the Hyuuga's haunting eyes. Unlike a typical shinobi spy, he was being very obvious with his actions. This must have meant that he wanted Ino to know that he was eyeing her. Neji picked up his menu and ordered, barely taking his eyes off of Ino to see what they actually served.
"I think we need to order another pot of tea." Sakura suggested. Ino head quickly bobbed up and down in agreement. Neither one of them noticed the waiter bring the pot to them, nor did Neji pay any attention to the food was brought to him. Some invisible force held all six eyes together. Four of them locked dead onto each other. The waiters, not knowing what was going to happen, wisely watched from a safe distance. For them, hard stares from three skilled warriors were never a good thing.
Until the next half of the filler! By the way, thanks for all of the suggestions (those of you who e-mailed me too!) I'm going to use them ALL! Keep 'em coming!