Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though I wish I did.
Woah. It took forever for me to update, huh? Sorry! I tried to make this chapter long and interesting, with some other characters thrown in to add to the story effect. Yeah. Anyways, read and enjoy.
A new day, a new time with which to sit boredly in the Yamanaka Flower Shop and gaze out through the window waiting for customers to sell the trademark beautiful flower arrangements to. Ino sighed as she gently rest her chin against her palm, elbow propped up on the counter top as she stood in her somewhat soiled apron and waited; she nearly dozed off several times before starting awake once more, only to return to her solemn thoughts. How long had it been since she'd been insulted by the Haruno?
Too long.
A small sigh escaped pale lips as Ino stood straight once more and removed the apron, dropping it to the side and exiting the shop after changing the sign from 'open' to 'closed'. She deserved a break. As the Yamanaka walked she thought silently about her pink haired friend; as strange as it was, Ino missed being called 'Pig' all the time, just as she missed calling Sakura 'Forehead'.
Well, Ino realized she could call her that but it wasn't exactly appropiate, now was it? Ino sighed as she walked, glancing toward the hospital before stepping toward the double doors.
I'll just go and see her. It'll get my mind off my boredom and I haven't seen Sakura in a few days anyways. It will be nice to see her again, even if she won't talk much at all to me.
-----
Emerald green eyes peered up as the blonde entered the room, staring silently at her before a small smile crossed her lips as she murmured the name that came instantly to mind: "Ino." She was getting better; she could remember the names of her former friends when they told her, and now Sakura could easily pick out each out of the group when a name was called. That was actually one of her exercises. The Yamanaka forced a smile at the site of the pink haired girl sitting silently in her bed with the blankets drawn up around her. "Hey Sakura. Are you doing alright? I came to check up on you," Ino stated slowly, wanting to make sure she understood as sometimes Sakura became confused as to what she was being told.
She nodded at the comment, turning away to stare out the window once more.
"Sasuke?"
"He's not here right now, Sakura. But he'll probably come by soon."
"Alright."
Ino couldn't help but feel pity for her friend, noticing how dependant she was on the dark haired boy now; ever since he'd proved that he wasn't going to hurt her in any way, she had never wanted him to leave her side as if he was the her lifeline now. Poor Sakura.
"Well, I should probably get going. Sakura, I hope you get better soon."
With that the blonde turned and walked out the door with Sakura staring after her for a moment before her gaze once more turned toward the window; however, if the pink haired girl had been more observant of her friend, she might have noticed Ino lift her arm to wipe away the tears that had fallen there.
-----
The wind lifted into a sudden roar, wiping the dark locks of hair around a pale face without mercy as, with a grunt, a kunai was thrown with great might toward a nearby tree where other nicks circled a center spot - the place where he was aiming for. A bired shrieked as it lifted into the air, startled, and disappeared on the horizon. The kunai had not only missed the mark but also the entire tree. Sasuke growled.
His aim wasn't getting better. It was getting worse.
Silently the Uchiha retrieved his failed kunai, returning it before onyx black eyes lifted to peer up into the gray colored sky with a solemn look. Why couldn't he hit his mark all of a sudden? Everytime he tried to train now his thoughts drifted to Sakura, and then Sasuke found that his aim was off and usually missing by more than a few centimeters or inches; what the hell was wrong with him?
Sighing, the dark haired ninja turned and, shoving his hands into his pockets, began to walk silently through the forest back toward Konoha. Why was Sakura affecting him so much? She seemed to do that alot now, ever since she'd disappeared for so long after all. Taking another pause to stare up at the sky once more Sasuke scowled, noting that it looked like it was going to rain soon.
Great. Now I'm going to get rained on. Just what I need.
Simply scowling at the thought, Sasuke began to walk back toward Konoha once more when a sudden snap in the forest made him pause and glance back, glaring into the bushes; an abrupt sweep of chakra passed over him, indicating that the other was no longer hiding their presense by masking their chakra. "Whose out there? Stop being a coward and show yourself." His voice was cold; he didn't have time for this. After a moment the chakra died away again, and in the distance a bird called as the Uchiha scowled again and turned, walking back toward Konoha.
He was so worried about getting back before the rain started that he didn't notice a pair of red eyes watching him walk away, before they disappeared in the shrubbery once more.
-----
"C'mon Shikamaru! Sakura-chan's going to be asked questions again, so we have to be there!"
"Too troublesome."
"But Ino'll be there! C'mon!"
The Nara sighed as the Uzumaki continued to practically beg for him to come and visit the pink haired girl, blocking his out as Naruto asked repeatedly while Shikamaru merely stared up at the gray clouds.
How troublesome. Sakura's not even one of my close friends. Gah. Will you shut up already Naruto? You're making my brain implode.
"Fine, Naruto, I'll go and see Sakura with you if you'll just be quiet."
The Uzumaki grinned before he replied with a: "Yeah! Now c'mon, Shikamaru, before we're late!"
-----
The heiress to the Hyuuga clan glanced about; almost everyone who had been here before was here now. Shikamaru, Naruto, Lee, Ino, Chouji, and Kiba, at least. Where was Sasuke? Hinata glanced about before suddenly catching Naruto's eye and blushing, turning away to look at Sakura once more. The specialist was here again, and their meeting was similar to before except that when the woman with the clipboard asked Sakura what had happened, she was more willing to reply. It was as if she felt safer now.
"Bad things. Bad, bad things."
"Can you tell us who did this to you, Sakura?"
"No."
"They can't hurt you, so it's safe to tell us."
The pink haired girl hesitated, glancing around the room forthe dark haired boy so that he could save her from the questions; they frightened her. Sakura seemed to panic upon noticing that he wasn't here, that Sasuke was no where near her and couldn't protect her from the endless questions. However, just as her panic turned into blind fear the door creaked open slightly; all eyes turned toward the Uchiha but he regarded the looks with a cool stare back at the group. From the look on Sakura's face, she was relieved that he was here.
"Sakura?"
"Hai?"
"Can you tell us who did this to you?"
Once more she hesitated and emerald green eyes flicked instantly to Sasuke, asking him to save her from the questions before noticing the look he gave her. It was a cross between eager and anxious and worried; the look told her that she was safe, that he wouldn't let them hurt her.
Yet still she was hesitant.
"A-"
Another pause, another glance toward Sasuke before she continued.
"Akatsuki..."
A sudden snarl leapt from the Uchiha's voice upon hearing the word, and with a killer look in his eyes he turned violently on his heel and moved toward the door. One more reason to kill Itachi, all of them. Sakura leapt from her bed and sprinted after Sasuke, jumping infront of him and holding her hands out to keep him from going; there were tears streaming down her face as, with a shaky voice, she cried out: "No Sasuke! You can't go! I won't let you! I won't!" The tears increased into a pitiful sob as the Haruno threw herself at the Uchiha, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his chest.
Surprised, he merely stood there for a moment until slowly, ever so slowly, Sasuke wrapped her arms around her as well and crying died down until it was almost inaudible.
"Fine, Sakura. I won't go after them."
Relief swept over her as Sakura relaxed instantly, peering up with joyous eyes at the dark haired boy before her eyes closed and a smile crossed her lips. "Thank you, Sasuke..."
If only the pink haired girl could read minds, then she might have heard him think silently:
Today.
I hope you enjoyed; I'd love to hear what you think, as well as ideas for this story. Keep reviewing!