Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Sakura woke up early in the morning, the sun poking itself over the lush, forest leaves. There was a thick fog settling over the village today.
"Ugh... too early," Sakura moaned as she laid her head back down.
A sudden chill ran through Sakura's body as she opened her eyes and bolted up into a sitting position.
'What was that?' Sakura thought, looking out the window, her heart beating a little faster.
'Look to your left, hon," her Inner said.
Sakura turned her head and saw that it was a person wearing the akatsuki cloak. He had black hair, tinted with a little blue, with bangs hanging at the sides of his face and the rest in a ponytail. His gray eyes casted an intense gaze on the pink haired girl as he took a step forward. Itachi Uchiha.
The girl's eyes widened as she stared at him in disbelief.
"Sakura Haruno?" The older Uchiha asked, his deep voice echoing off the walls.
"W-why are you here?" The girl in question asked.
"Don't be afraid. I just want to talk," he said, his gaze softening.
'Well, he's a lot more talkative than your boyfriend... and he's hot!' Inner Sakura said, squealing like a fan girl.
Sakura felt her guard falling. She knew that he meant no harm. The pink haired medic slowly removed her blankets and sat at the edge of the hospital bed. "What do you want to want to talk about?" She finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Sasuke," was all the Uchiha said while grabbing a nearby chair at sitting down.
"What about him? Are you here to hurt him?" Sakura asked, looking at him with intense, emerald eyes.
"No, and I would never hurt him," Itachi said with a blank face.
"What do you mean, you would never hurt him? You killed everyone that he loved!" She spat, pointing a finger at him accusingly.
He was silent for a moment before responding with, "I killed everyone because I loved my foolish, little brother. You shouldn't accuse me without knowing the facts." His voice was now hard again, without any emotion.
Before Sakura could say anything, Itachi preformed the body flicker technique and disappeared in a puff of smoke. She then heard the echos of high heels clicking against the wooden floor before the door to her hospital room was opened.
"Oh, Sakura, I thought that you were still asleep. Well, as long as you're up, I want to tell you that you can go home today. I've sent a message to Sasuke and Naruto to be here at noon," Tsunade said, coming over to check the girl one last time. "Yep, everything seems OK. Now, go back to sleep, you're looking a bit tired."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said, taking her teachers advice and lying her head down, where darkness took her once again.
"Here, take it easy," Sasuke said while helping her sit down.
"You heard Lady Tsunade, Sasuke. I'll be fine," Sakura said.
"You worry too much," Naruto commented while placing his order for his first five bowls of miso-pork ramen.
"I care about the people I love. Is that such a big problem?" Sasuke asked, suddenly angry. Naruto glared at the Uchiha, the tension present in the air.
"Hey, no fighting, you two. Let's just enjoy our meal, OK?" Sakura said while glancing at her two teammates nervously.
'Whoa, what's going on with Sasuke? Why did he get so angry all of a sudden?" Sakura wondered to herself.
'I don't know, but isn't he super sexy when he's angry?' Inner Sakura said, drooling over Sasuke's sculpted, tense face.
'Of course that's all you care about...'
The two grunted and turned to their bowls and started eating.
'I'll talk to him later...,' Sakura mentally reminded herself.
After they were done with their meal, Naruto went home to collect his things to go train with Kakashi sensei. Sasuke walked Sakura home, although the village was unusually empty. The morning fog had lifted, but it was still a chilly afternoon, even with the sun shining down on the village.
"Can I ask you a question?" Sakura asked as she locked arms with her boyfriend, leaning into him as a gust of wind blew across the dirt road.
"Hn?"
"What happened when we were at Ichiraku's? Why did flip out on Naruto?"
Sasuke tensed, but replied, "Look, Sakura, it was nothing. I just... lost it for a while."
Sakura knew that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but didn't want to push him any farther.
"We're here."
Sakura looked up to see that they were now in front of her red front door.
"OK, I'll see you later then," Sakura said as she pecked Sasuke on the lips.
"Later."
Sakura watched him walk down the street to his own house.
'Hm... I'm still curious about Sasuke's attitude. Maybe I'll just go for a walk to think," Sakura thought, "I'll go see how Naruto's doing."
Sakura made her way to the training grounds, finding that Naruto was sitting on the grass, chugging a bottle of water. She was about to say hi when another voice beat her to it.
"H-hello, Naruto," a shy, soft voice said, walking into view. It was Hinata.
Sakura moved closer to eavesdrop, hiding behind a tree.
"Oh, hey Hinata! How're you doing?" Naruto said while getting up and wiping his hands on his orange pants, leaving a streak of dark brown dirt.
"O-oh, I'm d-doing well, th-thank you," Hinata stuttered, fiddling with her fingers while blushing madly.
'Poor Hinata. I should get those two together, don't you think?' Sakura thought to her inner.
'Yeah, that'd be nice. Stupid Naruto, he's so oblivious to the poor girl's feelings,' Inner thought back, giving a sigh.
"So what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, wiping sweat off of his face.
"O-oh, I was j-just... um, waiting for K-Kiba and Sh-Shino. We are tr-training today," Hinata said, glancing at her crush.
"Oh, that's cool. Well, I think I'm done for the day since Kakashi-sensei didn't show up again, so see ya," the blond said while collecting his belongings and waving a good bye.
"B-bye, Naruto," Hinata said, looking down at the ground. She had a disappointed look on her red face.
When Naruto left, Sakura stepped out from behind the tree and walked up to her friend. "Hey Hinata. What's up?"
The blue haired girl looked up and said, "Oh, h-hello, Sakura. I'm f-fine. H-how are you?"
"Good, but... I was wondering why you look so sad," Sakura said while looking at her with curious eyes.
"I-it is nothing," Hinata said, looking back at the ground.
"Come on, Hinata, you can tell me. We're practically sisters. Does it have something to do with Naruto?" asked Sakura while sitting down. She patted the area beside her, motioning for Hinata to sit down.
Hinata sat down and continued with a sigh, "Y-yes. I w-was planning on a-asking Naruto out, b-but chickened out a-again."
Sakura smiled at her shy friend while putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's OK, Hinata. How about I help get you two together?"
"W-would you? Th-that would really h-help," Hinata said, looking at Sakura with hopeful, light lavender eyes.
"Of course I would! I'll think of some ideas and get back to you, OK?" The pink haired medic asked.
"Thank y-you so much, Sakura." The two girls hugged, but Hinata said that she had to go.
"I don't r-really have t-to train today. I-it was an ex-excuse to be here," she told Sakura.
After the Hyuga left, Sakura stood up, getting ready to go back home.
"Sakura."
She turned around to find Itachi again, standing about ten feet away.
Chapter two is up! Thanks for the people who read the story.
E person :)
7-23-11