Note: as for the OC warning, it won't happen until some more chapters, don't worry, and the OCs won't be that important for the plot.
Thanks to all the people that reviewed me!
StarsOfYaoi: I noticed most of you are ok with some shoujo–ai, and since I wanted it in, I'll add it. It won't be major so if you feel uncomfortable with it or don't like, you will be able to evade it; the couple I was thinking, could be InoTen. I don't want to add InoSaku because, even though it's the most known, it's not my favourite. Be considerate with this, ok?
Also, maybe this chapter won't seem important to you, but I assure you it has interest with the plot.
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Rating: T
Summary: (SasuNaru, NejiShika, InoTen, eventually LeeSaku) Naruto is trying to forget his former team, busy in Chuunin missions. But as his past is left uncovered and many of his kind start to appear, old bonds are stretched to the maximum.
Warnings: yaoi, boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning as well.
Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–
……………………………………………
Normality
Chapter 03: Precious
Up to now, the two–week mission had been easy; the team had entered Kaze no Kuni with no problems at all, moving quickly towards the small village where the Ame nins had asked to meet them.
Naruto had never felt better ever before, filled with energy, regarding everything he met as if seeing it for the first time, and truth to be told, he was hoping for something to happen; everything was going on way too easily for him, but he kept silent, not wanting to make Neji angered with him.
After all, such calm, eventless mission was the dream of every shinobi.
"We are almost there," Lee had been once again scouting forwards, and coming back he pointed in front of the group, smiling ruefully as he did so. "Two miles, after a small hill, the village is there. It's not big at all, and it looks pacific –the perfect place to go unnoticed, but we should probably hide among the villagers".
Hearing such words being spoken by him, Shikamaru couldn't stop a grimace; with a Naruto and a Lee in their team, unnoticed was not an option. Not unless…
"Fine," Neji replied, thinking along the same lines as Shikamaru was. "We travelled faster than expected and thus we are a day earlier –we can replenish our food and water cans and get some rest, but firstly I think we should take our hitai–ate away, to prevent being recognized as shinobi".
The other three teens nodded and untied their headbands, hiding them safely in their pouches before turning their eyes again on the Hyuuga, who was carefully replacing his own Leaf headband with a while string. All of them caught a glimpse of the greenish mark the raven had on his forehead, but none commented on it.
Naruto, Lee and Shikamaru all knew what it meant, but there was no pity reserved for Neji; understanding, acceptance, but never pity.
The blond ninja felt a pang of guilt as he took his hitai–ate away, just like every other time he was forced to do so, because that simple piece of clothing held so much meaning to him, memories and promises and feelings –Iruka–sensei himself had given it to him, that faithful day when Naruto had discovered his curse.
Nonetheless the hitai–ate was carefully placed away, because this was a mission. Naruto knew Iruka was already proud of him, and that was all that mattered to him.
The group started moving again, this time at a slower pace as the four teens tried to appear innocuous and harmless, walking towards the village where they would complete the mission; the place was small indeed, smaller than Konoha itself was, but it was a nice sight. Half–hidden behind a hill, there was a forest right next to it, disappearing in the distance towards the mountains.
Fields surrounded the village on the remaining two sides, and morphed into green fields as they disappeared further away. It looked not just nice and peaceful, but completely different than anything they had seed before.
As the four approached the first houses, they noticed the stables and the cowsheds standing right next to some small fields, and they could distinctly hear the noises of horses and other similar animals.
Even though they were in the Kaze no Kuni, not all of the country was dull and filled with sand like the territory around Sunagakure; at the borders, the desert morphed into some nice landscapes, mixing and merging with the other countries, and the great part of the people lived in the borders, preferring the mild temperature and landscape of the forests and camps to the deserted and desolated centre.
That was why the corners were filled with small villages like this one, rarely controlled by shinobi, where people lived without a care in the world, but still connected to the main cities.
"Anyone knows the name of this place?" Naruto wondered out aloud, stopping to take a look around; the village itself was quite familiar, and he guessed that, not counting the mist and the sea and the dampness, Inari's village was just like this one.
"I think the name is Tanedori" Shikamaru popped some bones of his back before turning his gaze around as well, his mind recalling all the information he had memorized from the scroll. "The villagers are mainly field workers and shepherds".
Naruto nodded, slanting his eyes a bit (and thus assuming his usual foxy–face) with a thoughtful look; he'd never really seen a real cow or a sheep ever, and he had the childish desire to go see one.
"Where are we going to meet with the Ame–nin?" Neji demanded, his eyes busy scanning the surroundings. He had not bothered to memorize every single thing in the scroll because he had expected Shikamaru to do it, being the lazy teen the one with the sharper memory.
"It should be somewhere next to a shrine dedicated to the local Ta no Kami" Shikamaru answered, pointing towards the woods on the other side of the village. "In this period of the year the annual ceremonies regarding the purification of the houses and the offerings to the Kami should already have ended, so until the shrine is taken to the house of one of the main families of the village, the place will be deserted to allow the Kami to come from the forest and take the offerings".
Lee and Naruto stared at him and blinked, not really understanding all the things the Nara was saying before they shrugged and nodded, not really caring all the same; Neji on his part had indeed understood, and nodded as well.
"Naruto, Lee, I want you two to refill our flasks and buy us some food whilst me and Shikamaru will search for the shrine and ask around for some information" Neji motioned for them to go, and they simply smiled brightly at him before moving away towards the village.
As the blond and the green spandex disappeared behind a corner, talking animatedly about something the two prodigies could not hear (and truthfully did not want to), Shikamaru's shoulders slouched even more and his brown eyes fixed on the Hyuuga.
"We know already where the shrine is, and we don't really need more water and food right now" he commented offhandedly, raising one eyebrow. "You've got something in mind".
Neji allowed his lips to curl upwards in a smirk. "I want to fix their clothes" he replied, staring around. "Naruto's colours are too flashy and shiny for a ninja, and Lee… well, you understand".
They would need to wait for their return to Konoha for some decent shinobi clothes (that were created with much stronger and flexible material than normal civilian clothes), but for hiding purposes, green spandexes and orange jumpers were absolutely not fit.
He did not know the reasoning behind Naruto's choose with outfits apart his liking for the colour, but he would find a perfect excuse telling him a good ninja would not reveal himself to his opponents, and for Lee… Gai was to be accused of poisoning the teen's mind with such horrendous clothes.
"How do we manage to convince them?" Shikamaru asked. "Tch, how troublesome…" the teen muttered, lacing his fingers behind his neck in contemplation.
But he was smirking as he followed Neji towards the village.
……………………………………………
Naruto looked around with wide eyes, taking in the appearance of the village; even though the houses were old styled, and some were ruined and looked like they would break down at any moment, everything had an aura of… familiarity and warmth, something that Konoha was missing.
Maybe it was because no one was a ninja in there, Naruto's mind supplied.
At his side, Lee was smiling happily as he stared at some children running down the streets, laughing and chasing each other. Lee loved young children, because they were happy and innocent.
Some of the children stopped as the two teens passed, looking in awe at Lee's giant eyebrows and at Naruto's hair colour (blond was definitely not normal around there) before giggling and running away again.
"Naruto–kun, it's been a while and I really wanted to ask you something" Lee turned towards his friend, thinking of a way to ask him the question that had been bugging him for so long without sounding impolite or annoying.
Naruto's shoulders tensed up, thinking Lee was going to ask him about his decision to leave Team7, but was surprised when the question voiced out loud was something else completely.
"I have seen you fight a lot of times, though we never sparred together" Lee made a note to himself to ask Naruto later to spar with him, and continued "I noticed you keep on using the Kage Bunshin jutsu a lot as you fight, and I wondered why".
Naruto blinked, then his smirk took up half of his face. "That move kick ass, I say! It's one of my favourite jutsus, even though I didn't learn it conventionally…" he looked away, remembering the affair with Mizuki and the Forbidden Scroll. "Why do you ask?"
Lee turned to stare at Naruto, "because it's useless, that's why!!!"
Naruto's face turned red.
"What do you mean it's useless!"
He stopped in the middle of the street, staring at Lee in disbelief. He wanted to tell Lee he was probably only jealous because he could not use his chakra for Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, but he bit back his return, knowing Lee did not deserve such cruelty from him –the older teen was a great shinobi even without chakra.
Naruto could be a prankster and often he spoke without thinking, but he did not like to hurt his friends.
"Naruto–kun please, don't take me wrong, but that's something Gai–sensei explained to me when I told him I envied you for your use of chakra" Lee's face turned a bit sad for a moment, but it disappeared a second later, though Naruto noticed and felt a pang of guilt. "He said your use of Kage Bunshin is exaggerated, because even though it is good to confuse the enemies and for some combo attacks, any high level shinobi would easily find out the real you among the clones, and dispose easily of the Bunshin because they are weak, and disappear if hit once" Lee told him.
Naruto frowned, flashes of all his fights until now passing before his eyes; even though he'd always fought happily with his Kage Bunshin, even using a thousand for his attacks, he'd never really stopped to think about it.
Truth to be told, all his Bunshin were easily disposed off in a fair fight, even Sasuke had been good enough to make them all poof away easily, not to mention the stronger shinobi Naruto had met –Haku, Gaara, Orochimaru, Itachi…
His eyes widened as he realized something else, too. His levels of chakra always dropped down considerably during the fights mostly because he used Kage Bunshin carelessly, just as Kakashi had said to him when declaring he had a horrible chakra control.
What Lee was saying was terribly true and that hit Naruto like a fist on his face. The fact that he relied on this jutsu was clear, and it was even more so when considering that he never did use anything else.
"I don't…" he murmured. Lee frowned and leaned over a bit.
"What did you say, Naruto–kun?" he asked.
"I said I don't know any other attack, apart Rasengan and Henge" Naruto repeated, this time a bit more loudly. "Kakashi never taught me any good move, and I don't have…" he looked sour for a moment. "I don't have family scrolls to look at".
Lee looked at him in shock and his smile disappeared. Even though Lee himself had never been able to work with his own tenketsu points, thus had not being able to use chakra, Gai–sensei had always trained him hard, making him learn Taijutsu special moves that would nullify his incapacity, and had always worked hard to teach him jutsus and moves.
Maybe he was starting to see why Naruto had wanted to move out of his team, even though this could not be enough of a reason to, and he knew Naruto was not the person to give up on his friends (such youthful flame and dedication to his friends!) and move away because of that.
"Well, I am sure that I can help you train on your Taijutsu Naruto–kun!" he smiled happily at the blond, giving him the nice guy pose. "And I am sure that Neji and Shikamaru–kun will be glad to help with your training too!"
Naruto looked up at him, suddenly feeling nervous. "You would?"
"Of course! Gai–sensei always says that good friends and teammates should take care of each other!"
Naruto stiffened a bit but did not reply. He was still kind of sour of his own situation, but he was not willing to let it depress him.
Giving Lee his own foxy grin, Naruto smiled ruefully, "then I can't but accept! Let's work together to make great ninja!"
Lee smiled back at him, and Naruto realized that wrenched apart from Gai, Lee was actually nice and pretty good on his own, so he just had to ask his own question.
"Fuzzy Eyebrows, say" Naruto started, ignoring Lee's whimper to 'please stop calling me that' with a pleading tone. "Why do you insist in copying off Gai–sensei for everything he does?"
This earned him a scandalized look from Lee, whose eyes were turning into flames. "Gai–sensei is the best ever! He helped me when everyone else thought I would never get anywhere and he encouraged and cheered me on, and I am proud to be like him!"
"But Lee, don't you want to be someone on your own?" Naruto asked. Truth to be told, despite his first attitude of fright and light disgust towards the two, he'd realized he quite envied their relationship with each other.
Gai really cared for his team and one could see it. Not that Kakashi–sensei didn't care, just that… Naruto wasn't sure. Maybe he'd hoped he would get trained a bit more by Kakashi, but that was in the past, and he held no more a grudge against him.
"I understand you admire him, I admire Iruka–sensei just the same, but I'd never start wearing the same as he is and act the same as he does" he commented, slanting his eyes in his usual fox–expression.
"But I want to become just like Gai–sensei!" Lee replied, closing his hands into fists as he stared at Naruto with determined and delighted eyes. "He's my muse and the person I want to be like, and he's strong and he believes in me!"
"But…" Naruto thought about it. He understood Lee's speech, and shared part of it, but it still felt wrong, in a way. "If you ended up being a copy of Gai, you would not express your true potential, I think" he searched for the right words, recalling what he'd thought about Sasuke, too –that with borrowed power he would not get what he wanted.
It was… similar, in a way. Not completely so, but partly it was…
"And I think none of you would be happy about this. For how much you want to be like him, you are Lee and he's Gai–sensei… you can't be him. You can be yourself without having to be a copy of someone else, and even though you can still look up at him, you should find your own nindo" he continued. "I bet Gai–sensei would be proud if you started growing on your own, not copying him but creating your own path…"
He stopped, hoping he had not said something too much, and looking at his side he saw Lee's dumbstruck expression, eyes staring in front of him unseeing; for a moment he feared he'd offended Lee with his speech, but then the older teen turned towards him, crying hard in his usual fashion.
"Naruto–kun, what kind and meaningful words you have! Your flame of youth is indeed burning fiercely! You are indeed smart, that you saw something I could not…"
Naruto gulped.
"Fuzzy eyebrows, I have to thank you" he commented, stopping him before he could go on. Lee blinked and stared at him, becoming serious again. "I could not focus on what I was doing wrong because no one had bothered to tell me before, and even though I should have realized it myself, I did not".
Lee felt something inside him tighten. What could that mean? After all, Naruto's sensei was Kakashi, the almighty rival of Gai. He should have realized something like this when training Naruto, right?
"Well then, I think I'll start acting like a real ninja" Naruto commented, continuing without really noticing what he was saying anymore, as if talking to himself. "I dropped my Team because we were hurting each other and I can't look back now. I wanted to be noticed, and I wore bright colours because so everyone would see me and know I was there… but it's wrong if you're a ninja. Ninja can't be seen, can't be noticed… " he smiled to Lee, who fought the urge to step back as he saw Naruto's pained face.
Yeah, it was true. Naruto had been hated and ignored because of Kyuubi, and it was just normal he had tried to have everyone acknowledge his existence.
"But now… I realized that maybe I don't want to be noticed anymore… I realized that maybe… I want… just to blend in" Naruto continued, starting to walk again. "Ignore everyone and move on… "
Lee did not know what had happened to Team Seven before, but he could understand what Naruto was saying. After so many years of hatred, Sasuke's betrayal and almost defection had shattered Naruto's trust, and also Naruto's need to be in the spotlights.
He wanted nothing more than disappear, this time, so no one would look at him with hatred in their eyes.
"You know, Naruto–kun, I understand what you did, because I did it too…" Naruto turned towards him in shock. Lee was smiling at him. "I was shunned because I could not use my chakra, you know, I tried so hard to make everyone see me, and they just laughed. Gai–sensei was the only one who looked at me and helped me develop what I already have, that's why I am so close to him".
In Naruto's mind flashed a picture of Iruka, and he smiled back at Lee.
"I know what you mean… if I hadn't met sensei, I wouldn't be there now" 'I'd probably be like Gaara…' Naruto's mind supplied. The thought pained him more than he could admit.
"So you and Kakashi–sensei are close like me and Gai–sensei?" Lee felt a bit of relief, surely he'd thought it wrong, surely Kakashi was a great teacher just like Gai was…
"What?" Naruto stared at him. "No, not Kakashi–sensei, I mean Iruka–sensei".
"Our academy teacher?" Lee frowned again. He recalled meeting Iruka with Naruto before they took off for the mission, and remembered Naruto's happy face, as well as Iruka's.
Naruto nodded eagerly. "He was the first who acted with me not by calling me a demon, but as a person… it's because of him I am still here now, and I owe him to become the best ninja ever, because he helped me so much" Naruto's face brightened up in a smile.
The bowl–cut haired teen stared at him in surprise. Naruto was really the most surprising ninja he ever met. He didn't care what others would think, unless they were his precious people, and he did not need to copy anyone, he was strong on his own.
Lee admired and worshipped Gai–sensei, but maybe he needed to start showing his own self as well… being a copy of someone else was not a good thing, not if he erased what he was to be like that other person…
"Naruto–kun, just as you said, let's become great ninja together! Friends stick with each other forever!" he exclaimed, smiling at him. "I'll show everyone my true burning self by changing as well! We'll to it together!"
Naruto smiled back at him.
……………………………………………
"Hey, Naruto, Lee!" Neji waved at them trying not to attract attention on himself; his eyes were already too noticeable in such environment, and he did not want to blow his cover, so he kept his eyes lowered on the ground as he called for his friends.
Naruto and Lee turned around, and almost died for the sight; they had been used to a white dressed Neji, in noble clothes (that much was apparent by his family status), but now he looked…
"Shit Neji, you look normal now!" Naruto commented smirking at the raven, staring at him up and down to see his reaction.
Neji had abandoned the ninja clothes for something less recognizable, simple villager's robes in dark earthy colours. Naruto was not fooled by this, because he could see the weapon pouch hidden behind the folds on his leg pants.
Shikamaru was similarly dressed, his fishnet shirt gone to be replaced with a more normal looking grey shirt.
"In order not to alert the Kusa–nin about Ame and Konoha's alliance, for the moment, we have not to make them recognize us as ninja, especially not during this mission" Neji explained as he handed some clothes to the other two. "Tsunade–sama recommended secrecy, and we don't want to start a war –that is mostly why this mission is so high ranked".
Naruto nodded in understanding, taking the clothes and smiling at Neji, "I'll go change out of the village, so no one will see –Lee, are you coming?"
"In a moment, Naruto–kun" Lee replied. "I want to ask something to Neji".
Naruto shrugged and moved away.
"Is there something wrong, Lee?" Neji turned towards him.
Lee shook his head; he didn't want to break Naruto's trust by telling the other two about their speech, but Neji and Shikamaru were also Naruto's friends, and Lee felt compelled. Besides, Naruto's slip when speaking about his former team would maybe help them understand –and Lee knew Neji was smarter than he himself was.
When he finished speaking, both the raven and the brown haired teen stood in silence for a moment; they were not stupid, they knew it had everything to do with Sasuke's attempted defection, and about what had happened between the two of them, Naruto and Sasuke, when no one else was there.
"We can't do anything if Naruto doesn't want to tell us, but we can be there for him" Neji assured the others. "He deserves our friendship".
Lee smiled and followed Naruto out of the village, feeling considerably lighter now that he'd expressed his perplexities to his friends.
Neji turned towards Shikamaru once Lee disappeared from sight.
"What do you think?"
"It's too troublesome. If Naruto wants to keep silent, it means he's not yet ready to face it himself. We can't force it out of him, or he won't trust us anymore" Shikamaru shook his head. "I suggest we finish this mission and go back home. We are his friends. That's enough".
Neji's lips twitched upwards for a moment.
"Yeah" he replied. Then he turned serious again. "Let's go".
The two moved towards their friends.
……………………………………………
"Yo!"
Sasuke turned a bit towards the voice, almost groaning out as he noticed who it was; Kakashi was standing there with his usual cheery smile, his mask hiding his face but not the curving of his lips. His single eye was sparkling a bit, but there was something in there that Sasuke could not understand nor recognize.
Something was amiss, but he decided not to dwell on it.
Kakashi had been visiting him for a while, just like Sakura had, but the raven had never said a word to them, too busy thinking and understanding and feeling guilty for his actions to even think about speaking to them; now, he'd solved out whatever his problems were, and he was determined in changing everything that had gone wrong until now.
He wanted to keep on fighting to get his revenge, but he was not willing anymore to lose some important part of his life; he didn't want anymore to die after Itachi was killed. It could take him all life to win over his brother, but he was not in a hurry anymore.
He didn't want to live only for the sake of revenge for his family; he wanted to live and for now, his priority had changed –he wanted Naruto's trust back.
He knew he would get stronger with time, because he believed strongly in his own capacities, but right now, nothing was more important to him than Naruto and their friendship.
"Kakashi–sensei" he stated.
His voice was a bit rough, raspy, because he'd spoken rarely and only with Tsunade and some ANBU guards. They still didn't trust him enough to let him roam free, not before locking completely his curse mark.
The silver haired shinobi was a bit startled by finally hearing Sasuke speaking to him, but he couldn't say he was displeased. With all the things that were happening, at least there was also something good.
Kakashi had always been good in telling what people thought, even if he'd been wrong with Naruto, and had been wrong with Sasuke, not managing to see the truth behind their acting before it was too late, and now wasn't an exception.
He could not read Sasuke's stare towards him. It was unreadable and Kakashi didn't like it. Before, Sasuke had been easy to read, and he wanted things to go back to that time. Kakashi wondered if his own blindness had hurt his students so much it had forced them to close off from him.
"Sasuke, it's good to see you speaking to me again, I was feeling neglected" he smiled again, but his sarcastic words had some truth behind them. he was glad and guilty Naruto did not hate him, and he was now glad Sasuke was speaking to him… and even more so in hearing Sasuke call him sensei.
Sasuke had never showed any respect for him before.
Kakashi could still hope everything would solve, even if slowly.
"Kakashi–sensei, I…" Sasuke bit his lip and looked away. It felt wrong for him, the words he wanted to say were not coming out.
But this time, Kakashi understood.
"Get well soon, Sasuke, will you? And I am not the one you should apologize to" he smiled again, but this time his tone was serious. Sasuke knew what he meant.
Kakashi was warning him, subtly, and he got the advice.
The two stared at each other in the eyes, and Kakashi could see it. This Sasuke was not the same one that abandoned the village for power. This Sasuke was guilty for what he did, and wanted nothing more than get back Naruto.
Kakashi hoped he could get his friend back, because Naruto deserved it.
"See yah!"
Kakashi poofed away. Sasuke was left staring at the place his sensei had been, feeling relieved. Kakashi was not acting with him like nothing was wrong, but at the same time he was not shunning him out, and it felt good, at least someone was giving him a second chance.
"I was really stupid…" he muttered. "Giving up myself was not worthy it".
"Sasuke–kun!"
Sasuke flinched, but he could not move, for how irrationally he wanted to run away from her; it was true that Sakura was his teammate, and that she cared deeply for him, but he didn't think of her as anything but an annoying bother.
She was just like every other girl in Konoha, childish and fixated over him in her stupid crush. She could not see he didn't like her in the same way, and she could not take the hint and leave him alone. She would have been a great person, but she was selfish and arrogant.
Besides, she hurt Naruto too, and even though Sasuke knew the major blame was to be put on him, she had her part on that too. She had done nothing to help the blond, not even with words.
All she cared about was win over Sasuke's heart, but the Uchiha could not care. He didn't have any feelings for her more than a possible friendship, she was not important to him… not enough for him to love her.
If anything, with her current behaviour she was making a fool out of herself, and he hated her. The fact that she never spoke of Naruto when she came and remained for hours was even more taxing on Sasuke, because he'd not heard a single word of his teammate ever since his reclusion.
More so, Sasuke felt anger towards her because she didn't blame him for what had happened.
Sasuke was not a masochist, nor a sadist (even though he was a bit emo, or had been before snapping out of his delusions) but he knew he had wronged his friend in the worst way.
Kakashi knew, and even though the Jounin had spoken to him in a way that assured the teen he was being forgiven, the silver haired man had showed Sasuke he expected him to work hard for get back Naruto's trust.
Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, knew, and her glares towards him were enough that even someone like Sasuke was afraid of her.
Iruka knew, and even though Iruka (just like Naruto) had never hated someone before, his eyes had told Sasuke just how much he despised his actions.
But Sakura… Sakura treated him as if he had been the one wronged. Not Naruto, but him. As if betraying Naruto, and Konoha, and trying to take off to Orochimaru were not deathly mistakes but simply misinformation, or something trivial.
Once again the pink haired girl had acted like a child, ignoring the obvious truth for her own crush. She was weak, and blind, and obsessed.
Sasuke would face every punishment he was to get because he deserved them.
"Good morning, Sasuke–kun!" the pink haired kunoichi chirped entering the room, a huge plate filled with cookies in her hands. "I have these for you, I hope you will like them!"
Sasuke did not want her here.
He wanted Naruto.
It pained him to know that he would be blocked under surveillance for an entire month, and he would not be able to see Naruto, but he could wait.
He would wait.
Sasuke was going to get Naruto's trust back, even if it would take years. Naruto was the only thing he deemed worthy in Konoha. He would give Naruto all the attention he had not given him before, he would help him and he would apologize, to hell with his pride. Naruto was more important than his pride.
Sakura was still happily chatting next to him, and Sasuke stared at her. He didn't like her. He had barely accepted her as a teammate, but he could not make himself like her as anything more, not even a friend. Not now. Not if she kept on acting like this.
"Sakura, shut up" he told her.
Sakura stood frozen for a moment before she squealed in delight, happy Sasuke had spoken to her. He was glaring at her, yes, but it was probably because he had a headache and she was talking too loudly.
"Sorry, Sasuke–kun" she smiled at him, ignoring his glare.
She'd been training with Ino for a hour before she had decided to come back to Sasuke, cooking him something good. She knew he cared for her, after all, she was sure her true love would soon see her the same way.
"How is Naruto?"
Sakura blinked at the question and shook her head a bit, not knowing why her Sasuke would bring up that kind of subject. She did not care, Naruto was good on his own, and even though he'd taken Sasuke back, Sasuke was still stronger.
Probably it wasn't even Naruto the one who took Sasuke back, probably Sasuke had thought about what Sakura said him and he returned on her behalf… yeah, it was surely that way.
Naruto was strong, Sakura could admit that, but he was stupid and childish and he was weaker than her Sasuke–kun, and besides, that jerk never came to see if Sasuke was ok… Sakura felt furious about that 'and he calls himself Sasuke's friend, stupid Naruto'.
"You shouldn't care for him Sasuke–kun, care for your health," she told him sweetly, smiling in a way she thought to be seducing. "He's not here, after all, but I am! So, tell me, how–"
"Sakura, how is Naruto?" Sasuke stressed his name, feeling angered at her.
"I… I don't really know, Sasuke–kun," she smiled again, even though her smile wavered a bit at his dark glare. "I didn't see him since he went off to take you back".
Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her in shock. So it was real, she went to see him every singly fucking day, but she hadn't even spared a glance for Naruto, the one who took Sasuke back.
"Go away" he growled at her.
"Huh?" she stared at him with surprised eyes, that slowly turned into a hurt expression. "Sasuke–kun" she tried to smile, a bit unsurely, but his growl intensified.
"Go away, I don' t want you here" he spat out.
He didn't care if no one would come anymore until he was out, but he could not stand to be in the same room with someone like her. He had thought Sakura would grow out of her stupid crush for him and start acting like a friend, but it was not happening.
He didn't want someone like her.
Sakura sniffled, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "But Sasuke–kun, why would you care about him? I come here every day to keep you company, and he never, not even once–"
"I'd prefer to be alone rather than with someone like you" he replied.
Seeing her run away crying was not as satisfying as he thought it would be, but he was furious with her; his head felt clear and he could think now, and he realized he was feeling protective over the dobe.
Sighing, Sasuke looked outside the window of the room again. he had not meant to be this mean, but there were things that still needed to be settled.
Closing his eyes, he fell in a restless sleep.
He would wait. It hurt him to wait, but there was nothing else to do.
……………………………………………
StarsOfYaoi: thanks for reading, now what about dropping me a review? And sorry if this was so late.
Someone asked for this to be an Mpreg later on. I don't think I will do it, but you're still free to comment on this. Maybe I will write one in another fic if I get enough positive feedback.
Shamelessly publicizing of my own works, I've started a collection of ItaNaru lemon shots on AFF. The link is in my BIO page if you want to have a look... XD
Ta no Kami (田の神) – Spirit God of the Field. As opposed to the Yama no Kami (山の神), the Spirit God of the Mountain. Kami are gods for the Shinto religion, and in ancient Japan smaller villages usually created a shrine to devote themselves to the Kami; I won't go into detail, but if you want more info on this, you can ask. I studied this at univ and it was one of my favourite lessons.