What if you take a chance?
What if I learn to love?
What if, what if we start again?
"What am I supposed to do idiot," Sasuke growled in frustration. He was tired of Naruto chastising him about Mari. All he wanted was for Mari to try to get to know him, but that was nowhere near happening.
"I don't know but you have to stop expecting her to just come up and talk to you like she used to. Remember, she only did that because you two were constantly in competition with each other. She has no reason to see you like that now!"
"Why not? Why can't she just be the same as she used to be? Why is she even more complicated now?!"
"Because she wants nothing to do with her old life anymore!" Naruto shouted back in his face.
Two figures panted heavily, trying to catch their breath from their last blows to each other. Sasuke had a cut on his lips and a bruise on his cheek while Mari had a cut on her cheek and bloody knuckles. They were evenly matched once again, but both of them were too proud to admit it and call it a day.
"Is that all you got, Uchiha?" Mari said smirking
"Hn, I should be asking you the same thing. You hit like a 5-year-old," he replied, when in reality he knew the punch to the cheek hurt more than he anticipated.
"Yet you complain like a little bitch."
He twitched, and ran to kick her in the side when she disappeared and hit him in the side of the neck. He wasn't knocked unconscious, but he fell to the ground immediately and didn't get back up. She laughed, walking over to him and kneeling down to his level.
"Are you ready to admit I am the best at fighting?"
He glared. "You just got lucky."
"You're such a baby."
"You're such a nuisance."
"You like this nuisance."
"I hate this nuisance."
Mari's response was her crashing her lips onto his. Before he could even comprehend what had happened, she was gone.
"She's not as outgoing as before, Sasuke," Naruto continued. "She's shy but friendly. She's hyper but reserved. She doesn't even want to be a ninja."
Sasuke stiffened. "But she made that her whole life…"
Naruto shook his head, remembering his first reaction when he discovered the same. "She is completely against it. And if she's against that, something that was part of her being, what makes you think she'll try to remember you and whatever you two had before you left?"
"But what if I want her to remember?"
"What if its better she doesn't?"
Sasuke's gaze hardened. "Then I won't make her remember, but I know that I'm ready to pursue a proper relationship with her. Even if she doesn't remember me and even if she's changed, I know I still feel the same for her. I may like this new her even more."
Naruto was silent a moment, thinking over his best friend's words, then finally replied. "That's great and all, but I will tell you now. This will be more difficult than when you first had her attention years ago. You're not only under constant watch with Tsunade, but you're also not the only one with an interest in Mari now."
"Who else is there?" Sasuke practically spat.
"That doesn't matter, because this won't be a competition. Just know that Mari has a fleeting interest in people. She may think about you now, but she can become bored with you within a week."
Naruto didn't notice, but his words made Sasuke even more determined to get to Mari.