A/N: I'll let the first chapter slide. But from now on, like my friend Shitakemushrooms says, "Reviews, reviews, and more reviews!" Oh, and sorry for the long update. :-D (*guilty expression)
Chapter 2- The Reality of Things
"Sasuke-kun!"
Uchiha Sasuke was a man who knew himself very well. He prided that a lot and as a result, he was significantly proud of his reasonability to accept what was reality and what wasn't. The reality of the situation with Sakura was unfavorable. And Sasuke knew this very well.
It had been about ten years since Sasuke heard that affectionate suffix attached to his name. There was a bright, but undeniably restrained smile plastered upon her face. He could almost see her blood boiling and her teeth grinding concrete. He was obviously interrupting something.
"Hnn," he acknowledged as he stood next to her.
She flashed him another bright, fake smile. "Have you met my team?"
His eyes narrowed in disapproval at her demeanor. He gave the three boys a once over and glanced back in her direction, "No need for introductions. I just came to see how you were doing."
She cringed internally. She had almost forgotten that the man was going to drop by. Looking at the situation now, she had dismissed it because she had assumed he thought the reality was insignificant.
"I'm doing fine," she said while giving him another flash of her pearly whites. She wanted to shrink into a puddle of her own blood.
His eyes scrutinized her once again, and then he said, "Don't let me interrupt you. I just wanted to visit you." He gave her a quick pat on her shoulder.
She almost shrunk right into her shell of a person. The heat from his insignificant touch burned on her shoulder blade, stirring an empty relentless nagging in the pits of her stomach. Snapping out of her reverie, she turned towards the boys and gave Yuki and point-blank stare. "Train."
Tenjou and Maki didn't have to be told twice. They immediately grabbed their katanas and leapt towards the woods, leaving marks of their battle in the terrain. Yuki, on the other hand, stood in the same spot, defiantly silent. Why the hell did this kid have to be so difficult?
Yuki smirked defiantly at her, as if he deemed to intentionally humiliate her in front of her ex-teammate.
Sakura could almost feel an incoming migraine. In this particular moment, Sasuke was beside her again as she sweetly spoke. "Sasuke-kun…"
There was that suffix again. Sasuke wasn't sure what was happening.
"…do you mind giving me a minute with Yuki?"
The dark-haired man scrutinized her carefully before he nodded wordlessly.
Once Sasuke was out of listening range, Sakura turned her attention on the Sasuke-wannabe. The lazy playfulness dissipated from her emerald orbs. .
"Uchiha Sasuke is someone I highly respect, so out of your respect for him, your superiors, and me, I suggest you do as I say…" Her voice lowered two octaves,"… or I won't hesitate to kill you." Her eyes flashed dangerously. And then she blinked. The lazy playfulness returned into her forest green eyes as if it had never left.
"Got it?" she asked behind a smile.
The boy blinked. Avoiding her eyes, he simply turned towards the direction that Maki and Tenjou were sparring and left without a glance.
Once the boys were gone, she turned towards Sasuke. "Lunch?"
"The kid reminds me of the Hyuuga," Sasuke commented with a tone of indifference.
"Maybe because they're related?" Sakura responded dryly.
Sasuke pondered the thought. "I'm talking about Matsumoto Yuki.
Sputtering as she attempted to swallow a bite of her rice ball, she laughed incredulously. "Funny. Because on the contrary, I think he reminds me of you."
"Hnn." Sasuke seemed indifferent to her comment. However, Sakura being Sakura knew Sasuke well enough that she could see he was annoyed by her observation. "I did not disobey my superiors so blatantly."
Chuckling, Sakura took another bite of her rice ball. "You never seemed so concerned about insubordination." She paused. "Maybe it's because you're seeing it through the eyes of a bystander this time around."
Sasuke glared. Deciding that it wasn't worth poaching the subject any further, Sasuke resigned to focusing on his tomato soup. As he was poking curiously at it with a spoon, a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Sakura."
Her eyes glanced up to meet his, inhibitions forgotten, as her heart almost stopped at the sight of his obsidian eyes. Her mind raced to calm down, willing herself to remain composed in front of him.
"I need a favor." She indicated for him to continue. "Masaki would really like it if we could all go out with Naruto for dinner on Friday. She has always wanted the chance to get to know you better."
Sakura almost choked on her water. The man had the gall to ask her to dinner with his GIRLFRIEND. He had to be kidding. Quickly searching for an excuse, she was disappointed to find that she was in fact very free that Friday. It was almost nature's way of saying 'screw you'. She did what any normal person would've done facing this situation, she lied. "I'm sorry, I have a date."
His obsidian eyes froze, as she casually glanced down to pick up another rice ball. She refused to meet his eyes. Very leisurely, he interjected the silence, "I didn't know you were dating."
For some obscure reason, this comment irked her. It was as though he EXPECTED her to NOT date. Maybe she was looking too much into his comment. "I'm not. It's just ONE date."
"I see." Then, a rare flicker of emotion crossed through the stoic man's eyes. "Bring your date. We can triple. I'll tell Naruto to bring Hinata."
"Uh..." Sakura hesitated.
"Unless it's inconvenient for you that is…" Sasuke trailed off, leaving multitudes of implications floating in the tension-filled air.
Brushing pink hair away from her eyes, she stared the man straight in the eyes and responded, "Not at all. See you Friday night."
Shit…Shit…Shit…Shit……. That was Haruno Sakura's basic train of thought for the better part of the hour. Why did Sasuke's girlfriend want to get to know her anyway? Really, Sakura had nothing against the woman. She knew the difference between who she could and couldn't blame for her feelings. But why?! She shouldn't have to subject herself to spending an evening with Sasuke and his girlfriend. That was pure masochism.
Not only was that the problem, she had a day to find herself a suitable date to take to this charade. She had just royally screwed herself over.
Sighing, she knew she had just one option, as she dismissed the boys from their training.
"Captain," Maki addressed her properly, "What time tomorrow?"
Crap…she was so consumed with her ordeal that she almost forgot she had a responsibility to her jounin team. "I'm busy tomorrow. But meet here the day after tomorrow at 10:00 AM." Eyes piercing into Yuki, she emphasized, "Sharp."
Yuki seem unfazed as he strode by her, leaving a musky scent lingering in the air.
Sakura narrowed her eyes.
Pacing back and forth in front of the bar for the better part of the hour, she finally decided that she would indeed ask Aki to join her for her fiasco of a dinner. Now, not many things scared Haruno Sakura, but she found that this situation seemed to be an exception. It had been awhile since she found interest in a man other than the stoic idiot that put her in this situation. Of course, she'd been on plenty of dates; good ones, bad ones, average ones…
Whatever the case was, she hadn't thought much of them. Yagami Aki was a strange exception. Finally gathering up the courage, she walked into the bar. He was just as she remembered him, gorgeous and exhilarating. She had to admit, she was a bit nervous.
Aki was mindlessly attending to making a Kamikaze when he noticed a pair of mesmerizing forest green eyes focused on him. Tilting his head in mild surprise and flashing her his best grin, he motioned her to come sit at the bar.
She hesitantly approached the amethyst-eyed man. Suddenly, she felt twelve again; frigid and nervous about asking a boy out. Thoroughly disgusted with herself, she leaned against the counter.
"What can I get you?" Aki asked in between a smile.
She took a deep breath, and then another one. Why did she feel so giddy? "Um… a rum and coke. Light on the coke."
"Coming right up." With that, he turned around to mix the contents of her drink and slid it down the bar in one smooth movement. He was in front of her again, towering above her as she nursed her drink. "I didn't realize I would see you again." He almost sounded…hopeful.
The sound of his voice and the rum made her feel at ease as she took a breath of air. This gulp seemed to have gone down the right way. She spoke cautiously, "You see, I have this dinner tomorrow…" His smile grew wider. "…and it's a couples' thing…"
"I would love to go with you," he interrupted before she could finish her sentence. She felt the tension roll away in relief. "But on one condition…" She knew it was too good to be true. "…that we have our own little date before we join your friends."
Relief swept her once again. "That sounds lovely," she said sincerely and flashed him a warm smile. And before she could react, he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against hers.
Pulling away to see her forest green eyes widen, he said, "I wanted to do that without an audience. But don't take it the wrong way Sakura, I'm definitely interested in getting to know you."
He didn't play games. So neither would she. "Me too."
"Why would you do that?" Naruto questioned his best friend curiously.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"Sasuke-teme, what's WRONG with you?! Why would you invite Masaki-chan and Sakura-chan to the same outing?!" Naruto snarled in frustration. It was obvious that Sasuke had the social graces of a cow.
"I don't see anything wrong with the situation."
Naruto sighed. "I guess for a genius, you really are dense. Or you're just in denial."
Sasuke glared.
"Sakura-chan is obviously still in love with you. Why would you do that to her?" Naruto muttered in exasperation.
Sasuke sighed. "I know dobe. But we're all adults here…" Sasuke eyed Naruto contemptuously, "At least for the better part, most of us…"
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING TEME?!" Naruto screamed in indignation.
The man cut off his best friend before he could go on his rant, "Look NARUTO, what I'm saying is we're all adults here. Sakura and I have been friends for a long time. Whatever there is between us is in the past, and we should move on from that."
The orange-clad man snorted loudly. "Really now?" Sarcasm laced his tone. "If that's the case, then what was with the hissy fit that you threw a couple of nights ago?"
Sasuke simply said, "Just remember to bring Hinata." And then he said nothing.
Naruto thought that Sasuke may have been the biggest idiot to have walked the earth. The irony was almost outrageous. Uchiha Sasuke was currently brooding miserably next to his girlfriend while she was having an animated conversation with Sakura and her date. Sasuke did not seem very happy with the intimacy that Sakura was sharing with her date. Uchiha Sasuke really deserved it.
Chuckling, Naruto bent down to whisper to Hinata how hilarious he thought the situation turned out. A hint of pink staining her cheeks, Hinata said nothing but nodded delicately to Naruto's comment.
"So how long have you and Aki dated? You guys seem very close," Sasuke's girlfriend, Masaki, inquired curiously.
Sakura and Aki exchanged secretive looks of surprise. "Really?" Sakura admonished earnestly, "Today is our first date." Aki smiled at Masaki, turned his attention to Sakura to give her a peck on the cheek. The pink-haired kunoichi smiled cheekily.
Sasuke slumped further into his seat. Masaki, Sakura, and Sakura's sorry excuse of a date seemed to click quite amicably. It didn't seem possible, but Uchiha Sasuke's mood was darkening by the minute.
Naruto gave Sasuke a hard jab in the ribs and grinned foxily at him when Aki gave Sakura a kiss. Sasuke was brooding even harder than before.
Standing up abruptly, interrupting the group's conversation, he excused himself. Masaki gave her boyfriend a happy nod before going back to chatting happily with Aki about Konoha's economic condition.
Sakura said nothing as she watched Sasuke's retreating back. Her eyes returned to the broody man's girlfriend; from her vivacious blue eyes to her pretty ebony hair.
After fourteen years, Haruno Sakura finally accepted that she would never be with Uchiha Sasuke.
After a few weeks of training with her new team, Sakura's team had a mission…
Sakura and Aki's relationship was blooming beautifully. Throughout these two weeks, Aki and Sakura had gone on four dates, Sasuke had moved in with Masaki and still very much brooding, and Yuki was still being well…Sasuke… except with better hair.
All four dates had been a wonderful success much to Naruto's delight and Sasuke's dismay.
Sakura and Sasuke had not spoken since their "triple date". Sakura intended to keep it that way.
The mission that Sakura's team had been assigned to was an A-classed recon mission that lasted a month. Sakura had neither informed her team, her two ex-teammates, nor Aki about the mission.
For one, she had trouble getting an Uchiha Sasuke-wannabe to behave.
Two, though telling Naruto wouldn't be a problem, she couldn't just ignore Sasuke and leave Naruto to do her dirty work.
Lastly, she simply couldn't expect a civilian like Aki to understand the complexities of being a shinobi and expect him to understand her various extended absences from Konoha.
She simply was in quite a pickle. She had no idea who she should tell first. As she was watching her team spar, she wondered if she'd ever get Yuki to behave. She knew she wasn't Kakashi. She didn't have that kind of stick-up-the-ass patience that he was so famous for. She sighed quietly to herself.
Guess I'll start with my team…
Hyuuga Hinata always saw people in a way most people didn't. So when Sakura turned up on her doorstep that night, she saw through the façade the pink-haired woman was attempting to put up.
When her boyfriend came to the door to see who had dropped by at such an untimely hour, she immediately saw the blond's anxiety at see his pink-haired ex-teammate.
Soundlessly, she retreated to give Naruto and Sakura privacy. A flash of displaced emotion crossed her eyes as she watched the beautiful pink-haired woman.
Naruto hurried anxiously to the door to greet the pretty woman. "Is there something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Sakura shook her head. "I have a mission in Mist. I'll be gone for a month."
A flash of concerned crossed cerulean eyes. "When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
Moving forward to give the pink-haired a woman a warm hug, he discreetly breathed in her scent. "Be careful."
"Will you tell Sasuke for me?"
Naruto contemplated her request for a moment. She was still within his embrace as he savored the feel of her skin against his body. "Sure."
And just like that, Haruno Sakura had passed on the dirty work to her best friend.
Hyuuga Hinata watched the entire exchange quietly. Naruto thought she was back in their bedroom. She knew who would come first in his heart. And she knew that she would always come second…
"I'll be gone for a month."
He seemed a lot more understanding than she initially thought. He gave a worried smile.
"I'll be here when you get back," he replied sincerely as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
Sakura scanned the man critically before she decided to lean in and press her lips against his. Aki smiled into her lips, closed his amethyst eyes and inhaled her scent.
"Be careful," he whispered.
For that moment, all thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke escaped the pink-haired woman. Gorgeous amethyst eyes filled her thoughts and for the first time in a long time, she thought that just maybe, she could do this…
I will…
Naruto had come to the conclusion that just maybe Sasuke was dating Masaki because of her cooking. As he slurped up another bite of ramen, curious cerulean eyes scrutinized the table. His girlfriend was quietly eating her ramen while Sasuke was broodingly poking at a tomato with a chopstick.
"Why isn't Sakura here today?" Sasuke's girlfriend asked curiously.
The dark-haired man seemed to snap out of his reverie to search for recognition to his girlfriend's question.
"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed in between bites. Hinata sent him an affectionate smile, happy to see her Naruto-kun so excited. "She left on a mission this morning."
A flash of emotion crossed dark eyes as Sasuke carefully placed his chopsticks down. "Is she coming back tonight?"
Masaki glanced from Naruto to Sasuke, but kept quiet.
"She told me to tell you that she'd be gone for a month with her new team," Naruto said happily oblivious to the dark-haired man's reaction.
"When did she tell you?"
Thoughtfully, Naruto caught Sasuke's eyes. "Last night."
Sasuke said nothing as he picked up his chopsticks and continued to eat. Bright cerulean eyes surveyed the man, as Masaki excused herself from the dining table. She needed to go get some air.
I think I might want somebody to co-write this story with me.... Anybody interested? *hopeful smile