2 Departure

Sakura stared at the apple juice in her hand.

"Just drink it, so you can go home. It's not drizzling anymore."

She ignored him.

"Sir, I'm sincerely sorry I caused you trouble last night. I was intoxicated. I don't know how to repay you for taking me in during that storm. I—"

"Cut it out. It's just like feeling sorry for a puppy in the rain. Even I have a heart for that."

"Thank you, sir."

"…And don't call me sir. I'm only twenty-five, probably not much older than you. Just call me Sasuke."

She took a sober sip, then abruptly stood up. She bowed.

"Pleasure to meet you, Sasuke," a soft smile played on her lips when she looked up, "I'm Haruno Sakura. I won't interrupt you any longer; I'll send your clothes back to you when I've washed them."

"Sure. When you come back, I'll give your clothes back to you—they're not dry yet right now."

She smiled and bowed politely again, grabbed her bag, and began to head out. He couldn't really explain the feeling, but he was kind of sorry to see her go. He inwardly laughed at himself. Yesterday, he'd wanted the crazy drunk woman out of the way, but now, she seemed like very good company to him.

She was walking away from him way too fast. He bore his eyes into her behind, willing her to stop, turn around, and give him her number. Which was, duh, impossible. Which was why he almost had a heart attack when she actually stopped.

"I-Is there a problem?"

Crap. I never stammer.

She turned around, her bright-green eyes shocked. She was pointing at a picture frame which stood by his door. It was a picture of Sasuke and some of his foreign friends, when they were vacationing in Thailand.

"Sasuke, you know Naruto? And Hinata?" she indicated towards a man with blonde hair and a beautiful woman with long, silky black hair.

"Yea, I do! They're my friends! You know them too?"

Nice. Very nice. I can get her number from them.

Sakura now hesitated. She looked unsure.

"I…not really. I went to high school with them once, but we never talked much."

Sasuke couldn't believe he was pouting inside his brain.

"Ah, I see."

There was silence for a moment, in which she looked very wistful, but that passed. She collected herself.

"Well, I'd best get going now, Sasuke. See you soon."

"Yes. See you soon."

Naruto couldn't believe Sakura-chan was doing this to him again—ignoring him, for no apparent reason at all! At least, he couldn't think of the reason. What did he do? No, he didn't make perverted jokes in front of her. No, he didn't comment on her weight. No, he didn't forget to buy her that special yoghurt from the outskirts of Konoha where he often went. So what was the problem?

"What are you doing, Naruto-kun?"

He felt a soft hand on his shoulder, and turned around to see an angelic-looking woman with long, silky black hair leaning over him.

"Ah…Hinata-chan. Sakura-chan's not talking to me again. I have no idea why," he sighed.

He was staring into his cellphone, staring at Sakura's number, wondering if he should give her a call. Hinata's pretty smile dropped a fraction.

"N-Naruto-kun, would you like to go out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant today?"

Her voice was too enthusiastic to be real.

"No, sorry, Hinata-chan."

"W-Why not?"

"Sorry, Hinata-chan. I really don't feel good today," he sighed again, putting down his cellphone.

Naruto didn't notice until two minutes later that it was completely and utterly silent in the room. He looked up to see his beloved girlfriend standing there, a look on her face that he had never, ever seen there before. Fury?

"What's wrong, Hinata-chan?"

"I-I don't believe you, Naruto-kun…You still like her, don't you?" her voice shook like a volcano about to erupt.

"W-What?! What are you talking about, Hinata-chan? You're my girlfriend; I only like you."

He moved to embrace her, but she shook him off coldly.

"S-Stop it, Naruto-kun! Don't you have any idea how I feel? I'm talking about Sakura-chan!"

"She's just a friend, Hinata."

Her eyes started to fill up.

"I-If she is, then why are you acting like this? Naruto-kun, I'm sorry, but however I look at it, this is not how friends act. She ignores you, and you are sad. You always ask for her back. This has happened before, and I've watched it happened, and kept silent," she paused to wipe away the tears that were racing down her pale face, "but I can't do this anymore, Naruto-kun. I just can't."

"So how do you expect me to act, huh? A friend is ignoring me. I can't just leave it at that!"

She broke down and sobbed. He tried to rub her back, but again, she pushed him away.

"Don't you see, Naruto? Don't you see how she feels about you?" she asked when she could gather herself enough to talk.

"Huh?"

Naruto had no idea. Hinata stood up and grabbed her things.

"Naruto-kun. You know that I really love you," she told him sadly, "but this cannot go on."

"What? Hinata-chan you—"

She put up a hand to stop him.

"Please, Naruto-kun. Let me finish. Until you sort things out with Sakura-chan, we are over," she turned around and started to walk away.

"And please, Naruto-kun. Please don't follow me."

He was left alone, confused. What was up with him and Sakura? He couldn't find the answer.