"Not to worry we've politely turned them away stating of course that she is already spoken for." Tusnade said with a smile that said you're still below me boy.
Monday: 9:30 am
"Why does he always take this long?" Naruto asked shifting his weight from foot to foot. Him along with Sasuke and Sakura were standing by the gates of Konoha waiting for their always-late-Sensi. Sakura paid no attention to him or Sasuke, who if she might add seemed quiet angry about something. But she didn't care too much to ask, the sun was already up and the leaves were glistening in the brilliant sunlight.
It felt so good on her face, she mused as she tilted her head so that the sun could touch her nose, her cheeks as well as her neck. The presences of someone made her turn to see who it was since the persons chakra levels were way higher than Kakashi's and besides it seemed familiar too. So when she turned around she wasn't surprised to see Uchiha Itachi standing in front of her.
"The Hokage has sent Hatake Kakashi on another mission and I've been assigned to go with Team Seven." So that was what Sasuke had been angry about, he'd known that his brother was coming on the mission. But why was he angry? Oh that wasn't her problem. They needed to get on the road. "Okay guys since we have everything in order it's time for us to get a move on." Sakura said turning around and quickly making her way towards Konoha's gates, tipping her head in acknowledgement to the guards as she passed them on her way out.
This mission was going to be hell she could already see that. Naruto was the only one she could stand, Sasuke was too stuck up for her to handle and she just couldn't stand Itachi's presence because it always seemed protective and that was one thing that she hated with a passion. "Hey Sakura-chan can I ask you something?" Sakura looked over at Naruto his cheeks were red. And she had a feeling that she knew what he was going to ask.
"Yea, sure go ahead." She said meeting his summer blue eyes he but determinedly looked away. "I-it's about d-dating..." he mumbled and she could see and feel his embarrassment. They were still trailing the path that led right up to Konoha's entrance gate. "Well you see...I wanted to know...i-if you'll go on a date...with me...j-" but a growl cut him off and both Sakura as well as Naruto looked to see where it came from. Neither Uchiha's battered an eyelid in their direction. Both their faces masks of granite.
"Sure I'll help you out." Sakura said dropping her voice to a whisper so the neither of the other two men could hear. Naruto gave her a foxy grin and slid his arm around her shoulder. "We should hasten our steps, so that we can find a place to rest by nightfall." Itachi said. They stepped off the trail using the trees so that could move a lot faster. Sakura kept pace with while Itachi led the way and Sasuke followed. They kept up their pace until Itachi said they should break for lunch and Sakura had a grudging feeling that it was because of her that he stopped the team.
'Maybe it's his view about women in particular?' Inner Sakura offered. Inner Sakura was the meaner, nastier and bolder side of Sakura. Sometimes she overrode the sensible Sakura and often tried to go on a rampage. But the saner Sakura had control over her pretty tight. 'Look at how he treats his mother.' Sakura's ego went on. 'It has nothing to do with his view of women in particular." Sakura snapped. She's seen it, felt it flowing from him like he couldn't help it especially when he was around her. That protectiveness just flowed unchecked.
'He thinks I'm weak just because I'm a girl.' She ranted on in the privacy of her mind while she turned up her nose at him. They had stopped just in a clearing. Someone had recently chopped down trees and telling from the slight discoloration of the stomps that were left she would say about two to three days earlier, but anyway it was the perfect spot to stop.
Naruto was sitting on one of the stomps, kicking at the brown leaves that were on the forest bed. She could see that he was thinking hard about something. Hinata. Any bet. Sakura knew he had the hots for her that's why she was willing to help. After all most of the times her matchmaking paid off. Ino and Shikamaru were proofs of that. Now she would add one more couple to her wall of love. Sakura thought smiling as she munched cheerfully on her Granola bar.
If she ate anything heavier than that then she would get stitches when they started out again. And she was determine to show the Uchihas that they weren't the only ones with a stamina of steel. Trying not to glare at the object of her hatred Sakura got up and hoped that, that hinted that she was ready to go. It did and they had the same formation as before. Itachi in front and Sasuke behind leaving Naruto and herself in the middle.
She didn't mind at all. She loved Naruto in a way that she didn't Sasuke. As a matter of fact if she admitted it she had never really paid any attention to Sasuke during their years of growing up together. Of course she did worry about him that was inevitable because it was in her nature to worry about people and she worried about both him and Naruto but that was just about how far her feelings for him went.
A muttered oat brought Sakura back to paying attention to her running. Looking to her left she saw that Naruto was okay. Itachi was alright because he kept his pace but as she looked back she could see that they were about fifty yards away from Sasuke. Sakura stopped and retraced her steps. Unknown to her that as she had made that dead stop someone else had felt it and also her slight worry.
Upon reaching closer Sakura saw that one of Sasuke's leg was caught in a bear trap. She frowned, a gentle furrow of her delicate pink brows. Who would put a bear trap in a tree? And how come only Sasuke had stepped in it? Instantly Sakura searched the area for chakra signatures and found none. There was no one around here for miles. Having accomplished that no one was around but them Sakura turned emerald eyes back to her teammate and they narrowed in on the claw-like-teeth that had Sasuke's foot in its grip.
It was very rusty but all the more dangerous. "Hold still you idiot." She muttered when he wrung his foot and tried to kick the trap off. Sakura took the couple more steps that it took to get to him and she squatted, so that she could inspect his injury. "I'll shatter it. That way you won't have to feel the pain of me prying the trap off your foot. What ever flints remain I'll removed them."
Upon saying those words Sasuke watched as Sakura pinched the rusted iron and it crumbled. She looked so fragile, yet someone who underestimated her would sink faster than a rock thrown overboard. He liked that about her. The innocence that she seemed to have no clue about. Of all the girls in the village he had taken to her mostly because she hadn't ran after him like a sex craved teenager. Come to think of it, he didn't think she'd ever had sex before or kissed a guy. Unless of Itachi had taken the liberty to rob her sweet mouth of its innocence that night that he had taken her home.
His fist clenched. It wouldn't happen. He wouldn't let Itachi have her. He had known her first. He was the one that had taken her home to meet their parents and it was about time he started acting on her. She needed to know how he felt. Naruto sat beside a tense Uchiha Itachi but he didn't seem to notice and Itachi was grateful for whatever it was that had the blonde's head up in the clouds.
Right now he had bigger problems to deal with. What if when they arrived at the Iron Village the Akatsuki member were still lurking there, would Sakura allow him to protect her? He'd seen her irritation when he had ordered that they break for lunch. And even though he couldn't get a grip on the emotions that seemed to be running rampant within him he had a much better facial expression and posture.
As always the Uchiha prodigy had a stoic expression that seemed to separate him from the people around him. Everyone that was except Sakura. He could still remember the days when she was no more than five years old and she was still able to lighten his mood with just one of her brilliant smiles after his father had delivered the news that he had to protect his clan even if it cost him his freedom.
He had thought fathers were suppose to protect their families not push them to a limit that not even a grown man could stand. But it was Sakura and her brilliant smile along with her captivating emerald eyes that had given him the strength to hang in there. It wasn't the physical weight that had been rested on his shoulders that had bothered him, it was the emotional troll that he couldn't bear and not having anyone to lay some of those burdens on had been tough. He had known then that he wasn't normal because though the jobs he had been assigned had taken a troll on his physical strength his mental strength had never once budged. And that had proven to him as well as his father that he was the prefect weapon for the Uchiha clan.
Now he watched the woman of his pride poke and fussed at his brother. She was mature enough to hold her own he knew that but he didn't trust it. And he knew that Tusnade-sama had asked him not to baby sit her your apprentice but she didn't know what Sakura meant to him. So she couldn't possibly understand how hard it was knowing that the one he had fought for since age eight was probably now in danger.
Sakura pushed healing as well as soothing chakra into the wound and tried not to get irritated at Sasuke's inconvenient accident. It would be better if she could fix him up fast so that they could move on. The more more grounds they covered the better it would be for them at night fall and would bring them closer to completing this mission. Being the only girl on the team didn't make her feel weak. No. Instead it gave her a sense of pride knowing that she was needed here. And Sasuke's little accident just proved what she was thinking.
And a measure of sense told her that being protective was part of Itachi's nature just as healing was part of hers. It was just around her and she was sure of that. It came naturally to him as did her healing to her. "Try to keep most of your weight on your left leg." She instructed while bandaging his foot. "We will travel for another hour then we set up camp. Naruto you will take first watch." Itachi did not mention that he had no intention of allowing Sakura guard duty. It would just fire her up and right now or as a matter of fact anytime, he didn't think he could handle her temper not without being forced to use violence...
They set up camp just as the sun's ray faded just as Itachi had ordered and while Naruto was ordered first look-out Sakura tried to finish the soup she was cooking but for all her efforts the fire could only cook the food so fast. And to beat off the inevitable feeling of being watched by Itachi, Sakura unrolled Naruto's bedroll for him. Then she went over to Sasuke and began unwinding the bandage she had placed on his right foot earlier. The injury had improved and though she could have healed it completely she had feared that the rusted bear trap could have easily infected his cut and she didn't want to heal him on the outside and kill him on the inside.
That was not the way a skilled doctor as herself would operate. Besides if Uchiha Sasuke were to die at her expense Sakura was sure she would not live to see the sun blaze over the next horizon because Uchiha's in all size and shapes would be after her. She checked then double checked his wound as best as she could with the moonlight and when she found no red-like lines springing from the wound to indicate infection she bandage it back up with a new bandage then went over to give the soup a vigorous stir. Seeing that it needed just a little more time Sakura decided to full Naruto's as well as Sasuke's water bottle.
Itachi would just have to do his own there was nothing wrong with him. She grabbed the bottles and walked to the running river they or more like Itachi had decided that they camp beside. Upon returning Sakura dished out food for Sasuke and placed it in his hands along with a spoon and then she handed him his water bottle. He murmured his thanks. Then she did the same for herself as well as Naruto deciding that she would cut him some slack and keep guard for him unknowingly to the older Uchiha.
He didn't comment when she left him to get his own food. 'Why would he?' Inner Sakura taunted. But Sakura pushed away those thoughts before they could form thoughts that she didn't want or images she couldn't control. The man was getting married for Kami's sake. She walked the fifteen meters that Naruto was then sprung with the agility of a cat onto the fat tree branch that he was sitting on. "Here." She handed him a steaming bowl of soup. "It's not ramen but it's good." Sakura said when he turned up his nose at the soup.
"Eat up. I'll stay guard so you can catch some Z's, I can see you're out of it." Sakura said handing him his water. He gave her a foxy grin the playfully leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Kay baby sis." He said and then the food claimed his attention. Sakura shook her head at his endearment though she had been born months ahead of him he still resorted to calling her baby sis when he was the baby. Literally speaking. She had been born first. In March, the Sasuke in July and him, Naruto, in October. She shook her head again the began eating her share.
"So," Naruto said in between spoonfuls of soup. "How's Teme? Is he whining yet?" Naruto grinned playfully and Sakura couldn't resist the infectious grin he was effecting. Who could anyway? Oh yea. Right. The Uchiha's could. That put a stop to her train or thoughts. Why did everything that happened always seem to be centered around the Uchiha's. 'Because it does.' Inner Sakura shrugged and Sakura ignored her, her inner had been trying to pick fights for a while now. 'Not happening.' Sakura reassured her and returned her attention to her food. 'Killjoy.'
'I heard that.' Sakura warned her inner then went back to her food. "If there's anything I'd rather eat other than ramen it's your cooking Sakura." Naruto said with a grin then he took a swing at his water. Sakura finished up then began settling into a grove between the tree branch and bark when she heard. "Haruno." One word. Her name had her straightening up with lightening speed.
"Yes Uchiha-San." she answered as calmly as possible.
"It's not your turn to keep guard, so get your pink ass down here and back to camp." She had to admit when Uchiha Itachi said jump your answer should be how high and though she hated that he had seen through her plan she could help the bubble of giggle that erupted from her when she thought of him saying "her pink ass". Had he ever seen her ass to know whether it was pink or not? "Night. And sorry. I tried." She whispered as she leaned in and kissed Naruto's cheeks. Then she was on the crunchy forest floor and staring in the face of Uchiha Itachi.
"I would appreciate it if you obeyed my orders rather than disobey them because trust me Haruno I have methods to make you obey me." He said and a shiver slithered down her spine. Okay, so she should have listened and she had to admit that she liked him better when he was being humorous and that wasn't quiet often. They walked in silence back to back to their camp and Sakura placed her dishes along with Naruto's, Sasuke's and Itachi's deciding that she would wash them when it was her turn to be the look out.
Sasuke was already out like a candle flame. She eased into her sleeping bag and settled in as comfortable as she could get and felt her eye lids suddenly become heavy. Maybe she really was tired after all...
Itachi kissed her forehead then sigh and braced back on the tree bark beside her bedroll to keep watch. The jutsu he had placed on her should last until they were ready to leave in the morning. He had to admit that he was being a little over protective of her but so what? She was a magnet for danger. So who could blame him for being so protective of her? But for now, knowing that she was safe and all he could plan their battle strategies for the village up ahead. According to the report that he had received from the Hokage.
The Akatsuki were after a forbidden jutsu that only certain families of the Iron Village possessed. Itachi looked down at Sakura and frowned, even a medic of her status couldn't find a cure for to the metallic cloud that was filled with poisonous gas and as if that weren't enough the flints of iron that were transported by the cloud were deadly when inhaled, the flints lodged onto your lungs as well as blocked the valves of your heart and resulted to bleeding through the nostrils as well as the mouth.
He didn't like to picture Sakura anywhere near something as deadly as that. Again he gritted his teeth at the Hokage's stubborn nature. Sakura was her apprentice and she should have had a little more compassion for the pink haired Kunoichi and taken her off this mission. He'd have gladly substituted himself in her place. But no, that blonde Hokage had to make everything difficult for him.
As if he didn't have that already, more specifically with a pile of soft pink locks. Itachi's eyes drifted over to his brother. He never rivaled Sasuke and he wasn't about to start either. He'd seen they way Sasuke looked at Sakura and he understood what drew his brother to her other than her beauty. Sakura among quiet a few and that few only depicted to two more girls and Sakura being the third one that hadn't picture themselves in love with his little brother.
And he knew that Sakura still didn't think of Sasuke in any other way other than being her teammate. Naruto on the other hand possessed a charm that was unlike his younger brother's stone cold attitude towards the unwanted attention that he was receiving. Naruto seemed to calm the people around him, Sakura, being one of those people. He saw the way she looked at him. With stars in her eyes, it was how he wanted her to look at him. But of course that was the kid in him talking because he hadn't been loved the way a normal child should be loved by both parents.
Instead of any of those he had a bunch of Uchiha council as well as his father breathing down his neck. Of course as he had grown he had put his foot down. Now his clan council as well as his father knew not to piss him off given the powers that he now possessed...
Friday 10:50 am
Their mission had been hell, Sakura thought as she left the Hokage's tower. Itachi had been over protective, Sasuke had started acting weird around her and as if it could not get any worst than it already was Naruto's head had been up in the clouds most -wait- all of the days that they were out on the mission. She sigh, Tusnade-sama had finally granted her,her long overdue leave. Three months of bliss.
What more did she want? Ahh...nothing else. From tomorrow -no wait- make that from the day after tomorrow because tomorrow she had to talk to her parents. They had something important to tell her. Sakura yawned. She was tired, though having slept every night that they were out on that mission she still felt tired.
Itachi had said that being a medic she had had to have rest because no one really knew when she would be needed so she hadn't been assigned guard duty. And true to what he had said they had had to fight and she was left to watch on from the sidelines as they fought. Ordered by Itachi not to join in the fight because she would need her chakra to heal them afterwards.
But though she had been trying to explain to him that her chakra reserves were way more than him, Naruto and Sasuke combined he had refused to let to let her fight along side them. It couldn't have gotten anymore ridiculous, she had thought, then he had placed Sasuke to guard her as if she were a baby. Itachi being over-protective was an understatement. Of course they had found what they had been sent for Uchiha Itachi never failed a mission and this one was no exception. They had gained the information they were after within two days of reaching the village
Then spent two more days fighting off enemies from countless villages all after what they, themselves were after. Sakura sigh again and sped up her pace. Her apartment was a ten minute walk from the Hokage's tower and she was starving and her eyes were fighting each other to stay open...
Saturday 7:05 am
It wasn't the sun that work her this morning, nor was it the chirping of the yellow canary that sang from right outside her bedroom window. It was the fact that she was meeting the man she had to marry today. Her parents had said that he was eight years her senior. She didn't have a problem with that. What she did have a problem with was her parents forgetting to mention to her that she had had an arranged marriage arranged for her since the day she had been born.
What if she had gone and fallen in love with someone that she would have wanted to spend the rest of her life with? What would have happened then? She had asked her parents those questions and they didn't seem to have an answer to gave her. She could already see it, feel it, this was going to be the worst Sunday of her life. She got out of bed taking the bed sheets with her so she wouldn't have to come back for them later.
Sakura walked into the kitchenette an hour later after finishing her chores around the house and taking her bath. Her mother, Suna Haruno, had asked her to dress her best today. Not that she needed dressing up to show her beauty. But what the hell? She spent the next three hours looking for her best Kimono and in the end she found a white one with green dragons as the pattern. She would have to go shopping for a Shiromuku (White Kimono robe worn by Japanese brides).
She spent the next two hours piling all of her wayward soft curls on top of her head. Her make-up was but a touch of mascara and cherry-lip gloss. Her mother had offered to let her dress at their house but she had refused . She wanted to make an entrance that would make the guy she was about to marry drool. And though it was a bit disappointing that she couldn't get to chose the man she was to marry, she found that she didn't care. At least her wedding would keep her mind off Itachi Uchiha's and his bride.
Promptly at five Sakura left her apartment stopping now and then to talk with her friends. Naruto was the hardest one to get raid of. "What's the occasion Sakura-chan?' He asked as he walked with her to her parents house. "Nothing's the occasion Naruto. Now beat it before I cut into so many million tiny pieces that even Hinata won't recognize you." She told him with a death glare and he pulled up short and left.
Everyone knew not to mess with Sakura when she was upset. She reached her parents house a few minutes later. "Mom I'm here," She called out as she entered the house. "Sakura sweetie we're in the garden come on through." Her parents house was a two story and to get to the garden one had to walked through the living room. Her father had had it made that way so that their guests could see what a great job her mother had done with the garden.
Now Sakura picked her way through the living room already over flowing with presents and walked towards the glass sliding door and slide it open then froze in place as her gaze swept the garden and landed on the man that stood up...
TBC...
Word count 4,622
So here's another chapter up guys I hope you guys like it. And thanks for all those reviews I loved them a lot. :) There were really nice.
So before you ask. I don't know whether I have Naruto's birthday month correct I know that Sakura's is in March and Sasuke's is in July but is Naruto's own in October? That's all I hope u guys review