The second and fully (and finally) edited chapter is here!
I'm sorry I took a while to edit, I was distracted (family crisis), had school (online classes are my nightmare!QAQ) and there's been so much rain in my area that I haven't been online or been on my computer…there's a reason for that which involves the rain.
Anyway I got rid of the OC's in this chapter and decided I'll put them in more later when it involves Tsunade and missions. I got rid of one like I had mentioned in the author's note but the others I have will stay. I know Shino's presence in this chapter is off but please bear with me. Since I don't have my notes anymore (the ones in my destroyed flash drive) I'm going to be giving certain roles to some of the characters so everyone has a purpose in my story….including Pinky since she's evil!
Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, the Naruto Universe belongs solely to the creative genius that is Masashi Kishimoto….although I do question the crap of an ending that we got and therefore am pretending that anything after 699 didn't happen. But I do own the story and the OCs that will come out in here so it's not a total loss!
Before I go, I just want to say how highly disappointed I was with the ending and it practically broke my heart that it ended just liked that with the main pairings that didn't interact at all with each other. I raged and vented out my frustrations and then got really sad. I then disappeared within a lot of SasuNaru fanfics and doushinji's and omg I didn't want to come back to the cruelty of the real world lol
..So with that said, authors note is now gone and continue with Chapter 2!
After leaving the shopping district with a skip in her step and approaching the training grounds, Sakura was thinking about a plan to get Sasuke to drink the vile while also thinking about the effects the man in the cloak from earlier told her about.
Flash back
Walking into the shopping district, Sakura immediately searched for an herbal shop that was temporarily in the village before the business departed and headed out to another.
'I wonder why Lady Tsunade wanted me to deliver this letter to the owner? I better hurry; I have to meet up with my team pretty soon'. As soon as her teammates filled her mind, she started thinking about the one she knew she couldn't have but wished with all her might that she did.
'Sasuke-kun…even though you chose Naruto and appear to be happy, I can't help but continue to love you. Why couldn't you have chosen me instead?! I've loved you longer than anyone has, even when most of the villagers didn't fully trust you after you came back. I vowed I would bring you back but…it was Naruto that brought you back, not me. It was always Naruto…'
Stopping suddenly in a nearby alley of the shopping district, Sakura lowered her head still pondering about her teammates. The more she thought of one of her teammates in particular, the more her expression darkened without her knowing it.
'Naruto was always in my way in getting closer to Sasuke-kun, he was always strong enough to withstand anything Sasuke-kun threw at him and no matter what he did, he never backed away from him. Could it be that Naruto was trying to get Sasuke-kun all to himself? Did he just pity me when he made me that promise years ago? Was it all just a lie?!'
She clenched her fist so hard that it started to tremble with all that built of anger she was unconsciously releasing.
'If only… if only Naruto weren't around, we'd finally be perfect togeth-' she was soon broken out of her thoughts when she heard a cracking sound. She gasped as she just noticed that while in her thoughts, she had punched a nearby wall causing many cracks to form around her fist. She stumbled backwards in horror after realizing what she had done and started looking at her fist still trembling a bit.
'No! What was I thinking! I could never think badly of Naruto, he's helped me so much and he's risked his life many times helping everyone; he's a hero to many and a brother to me. A great and loyal friend. He made that promise to me so that he could save Sasuke-kun and we'd be a family again.' Closing her eyes, Sakura began calming down and trying to ease herself but she knew she couldn't after what she just discovered.
'I guess some feelings just don't go away no matter how many times I try but I have to face it no matter how much it hurts to admit it. Sasuke-kun chose Naruto, not me…' Opening her eyes Sakura left the alley after clearing anymore thoughts about her teammates but the bitterness feeling of rejection and betrayal remained.
After walking for some time, she soon made it to her destination and entered the dark building. Upon entering the shop, the smell of herbal incense immediately entered her nose. It was sweet and soothing at the same time, made her wonder what kind of herb was capable of producing such a sweet smell.
"May I help you?" a raspy voice asked making the pink haired shinobi jump, she hadn't noticed anyone in the room until the figure spoke (Wow, and she's supposed to be a ninja -.-'). Looking in the direction of the voice, she noticed it was a middle aged woman but couldn't really see her face since she was wearing a black hooded cloak covering her eyes; only her mouth and nose were visible.
"Yes, I have come on behalf of the 5th Hokage to deliver this letter to the owner of this shop" said the pinket while presenting a sealed letter from her medical pouch to the woman.
"Ah yes, I was expecting a letter from the slug queen yesterday but knowing her she put it off until the next day; probably to get more of her sake" said the woman while taking the letter and opened it.
"Huh? You know Lady Tsunade?"asked Sakura.
"Yes…I've known her for quite a while and even supplied her with some healing herbs over the years. I assume she's requesting more from me once again." answered the woman while walking behind the counter. It was then that Sakura noticed the vials on the shelves behind the woman, they all were in different colors as if the rainbow itself was sealed in each bottle. From what Sakura could make out from the small faded labels under the vials, they were potions. Ranging from healing potions, poison potions, sleeping potions and all other sorts of potions she could barely read off of from the faded writing on the labels but one potion in particular caught her eye. A bright red vile with a faded label that faintly read "Love Potion" was sitting innocently on the highest shelf away from the other vials.
"Excuse me mam! I was wondering about that red potion you have there" Sakura motioned to the potion behind the woman.
"Hm?" looking behind her, she instantly saw the potion and turned back to the pinket. "Oh that, it's just a potion; nothing interesting really" replied the old woman while still reviewing the letter.
"Is it really a love potion?" asked Sakura, her curiosity and a bit of excitement building up inside her.
"I suppose it is, I don't really remember; I made it long ago" boredly replied the woman hoping to end the conversation. 'I had forgotten to put that away instead of placing it on the shelf, I guess my mind is starting to slip away; how careless of me'
'A real love potion! I've always wanted one of those ever since I was a kid but I always believed that true love was always better than a forced love' Sakura happily thought but then the next thought darkened her mood again. 'I also thought that Sasuke-kun loved me and that we'd be happily together'. Looking back to the potion, she stared longingly at the vile as if it were the answer to all her problems. 'Maybe if I use this, Sasuke-kun will truly see that those feelings he feels towards Naruto are just brotherly and that they are really towards me. If I use this then everything would be the way it should have been'. "Excuse me mam but is that potion for sale?" asked Sakura while trying not to seem too excited. The woman on the other hand already knew of Sakura's greedy intentions.
As she was reading the letter, she noticed the pinket at the corner of her eye staring longingly at the red vile; everyone who has entered the shop always does. But the more she observed the pinket, she noticed a bit of uncertainty, a deep hatred and lust within the depths of her green eyes, 'probably from both the person she wants and the person who has what she wants to claim' thought the woman. 'All these girls ever think about are their own selfish desires instead of their loved one's happiness, there's no way I'd ever sell something like this to a selfish person like her'.
"I'm sorry young lady but that potion is NOT for sale" calmly said the woman while greatly emphasizing the 'not' in her words. She watched as the pinket's face filled with rage but was quickly wiped away with sadness. 'Trying to get me to feel sorry for her won't work, I've seen it all'. Glancing back to the vile the woman narrowed her eyes. 'Besides, it's not really a-' the woman was suddenly cut from her thoughts by the desperate screech of the pinket banshee.
"But I'll pay whatever amount of money you want for it, I-"quickly cutting Sakura off she called for her assistant to come out in which a hooded young man around her age came out.
"I'm sorry young lady but no amount of money in the world will ever get me to sell this potion. Now if your business is concluded, I kindly ask that you leave immediately" said the woman as she gracefully walked towards a back door and closed it softly ending the discussion.
'Great, now what do I do?! That potion's my only chance to finally have Sasuke-kun and a perfect life! What do I do now?!' her inner struggle rambling on in her mind. As she headed to the door, she was stopped by the voice of the other person in the room.
"Excuse me miss but I couldn't help but seeing you look so down after the old hag refused to sell you what you wanted. Maybe I can be of assistance?" asked the hooded man.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I'll sell you the vile but for a certain price of course" smirked the man.
Stunned by the window of opportunity, Sakura immediately agreed and handed over her money. At first she was worried that the old woman would be angry but the assistant assured her that he'd somehow make it up to her seeing that he's done several deals behind her back before. Before Sakura could lay her hands on the vile, the man suddenly became serious.
"In order for this potion to work, you must make sure that whoever your target of your affection is has to fully ingest the potion. You can put it in his water or food, either way works just fine. The effects should work immediately and when it does, he won't be able to keep his hands off of you which I assume is what you want correct?" said the man.
"Yes! Uh I mean, of course" blushed Sakura from her loud outburst. Chuckling from her response, he handed over the vile in which she cradled it as if it were the most precious jewel in the world.
"One last thing, all feelings that he has for the person he is or isn't with will be gone; it will be as if he had never fallen in love with them. Are you sure you would want to be the cause of someone's heartbreak?" asked the man with curiosity seeping through his tone.
Sakura thought about this and started to regret her decision but her desire for the last Uchiha becoming hers quickly won over her inter struggle. "They'll get over it eventually; they'll probably thank me for this later".
"If you say so, then have a nice day and I hope you get everything that is coming to you." Smiled the man. 'I wish whoever she has the hots for has bigger luck since this girl just screams bitch and I don't even know her'
"Thank you!" yelled Sakura as she ran out of the shop laughing like a manic once she was outside. It may have cost her at least two A-ranked missions money but she knew she had made the right decision. Practically running out of the building and into the crowd, the pinket never noticed the dark figure in a nearby alley watching her with narrowed eyes.
End Flash Black
"Well it's about time you got here Sakura"
"Huh?" snapping out of her thoughts, Sakura came face to face with Kakashi who was reading an orange book which made her scowl since she knew what it had contained thanks to her perverted teacher's giggling and his reciting of a certain graphic scene to his students when curiosity got the better of them when they were young, naïve genin. "Sorry Kakashi-Sensei, I had an errand to run for Lady Tsunade before coming here" explained Sakura while looking around the training grounds trying to find any sign of a certain raven but so far no luck. "By the way Kakashi-Sensei, where are Sasuke-kun and Naruto?"
"Well, you took so long getting here that I've decided to give you guys the day off. Sasuke and Naruto were about to leave the training grounds when they ran into some of the members of the other squads and headed off with them for a picnic near the lake" explained Kakashi while never looking up from his book.
"I see, well then I'll be heading there too" said Sakura.
"I'll be going as well, it's such a nice day out and a perfect time to catch up on my reading; I'll meet you there" said Kakashi while poofing from his spot.
"Catch up on my reading my ass, he's always got his face in that smut every time we meet up" muttered Sakura while quickly heading to the lake.
As she approached the shaded clearing near the lake, she could make out the large group of figures but as she got closer, she was finally able to make out who exactly was with her teammates.
A long brown haired plumpy looking teen who was practically shoveling food into his mouth while a girl with long platinum blonde hair was scolding him for eating so fast or something along those lines from what she could observe. Sitting near them was a quiet figure wearing sunglasses and clothes that looked too hot to be wearing even in normal weather.
Across from them was her perverted Sensei and just like he had mentioned earlier, he was calmly reading his book of smut in one hand and a stick of dango in another; how he managed to get away with eating and drinking without anyone seeing his face was a mystery no one was ever able to find out, though her teammate was still determined to find out and see his face.
Speaking of teammate, she could hear her blonde teammate from far away laughing loudly at something a girl with brown hair that was tied in buns had mentioned and was giggling with the blonde as well. Sitting next to the laughing blonde was the apple of her eye and keeper of her affections with a small smirk on his face; apparently he too found whatever was said amusing.
"Hey Billboard Brow, hurry your ass up and get over here already" yelled Ino with amusement in her eyes.
"Oh shut-up Ino-Pig, I'll get there when I get there! Sheesh!" Sakura yelled back with a smile. She and Ino had become close friends again and were constantly teasing each other with their old nicknames; it was something that never got old as they grew. As soon as she got there, she greeted everyone and took a seat next to Ino while getting an eye full of the Uchiha who was now quietly conversing with the equally quiet Shino. Ino offered her a bowl of food and a canteen of water in which she gratefully took.
"Hey Sakura-Chan!" greeted the loud blonde along with a small 'hn' from their other teammate.
"Hey Naruto! Hello Sasuke-kun! I'm surprised you guys are actually not training for once" said Sakura while taking a sip of water.
"Well the Teme here had other 'plans'" glaring at Sasuke while earning a smirk from the Uchiha and a slight flinch from the pinket, "but luckily we ran into Ino and everyone here so they invited us on a picnic and well, here we are" happily explained the blonde while taking a slurp out of his ramen.
'Same old Naruto' smiling softly at the blonde. "By the way, why is there another plate of food and water, are we expecting someone else?" the pinket gestured to the empty space next to TenTen.
"Ugh, Lee is here too but he's off running 500 laps around the field saying that "it's such a beautiful youthful day that it mustn't go to waste!", then he took off running but claimed he'd be back" explained TenTen with an annoyed face.
"Oh I see, how far along on his run is he?" asked Sakura before taking a bite out of a rice ball.
"Well, he's on his..." before TenTen could finish, a green blur ran by yelling youth before disappearing into the trees. Sakura sweat dropped while everyone looked like they were used to it. "He's now on his 358th lap. Honestly! Why can't I ever go on a normal outing with my team if he and Guy Sensei always have to be so competive" huffed TenTen in her seat. "I'd rather have a cool looking Sensei than one who encourages ridiculous stuff all the time!"
"What makes you think Kakashi-Sensei is cool? All he does is read those perverted books, makes us constantly wait for long hours and occasionally make smart remarks" gestured Sakura to Kakashi as he started to giggle at a passage in the book.
"The fact that he acts "normal" and doesn't try to force you into wearing those full body spandex" TenTen shuddered at the mere mention of the clothing and tried to suppress a memory of the last time her Sensei had tried to get both her and a certain Hyuuga into wearing them, something she prefer to forget.
"I guess your right" sighed Sakura but then looked irritated as soon as she heard the perverted giggles again. "But still…"
"Don't mind Kakashi-Sensei Sakura-chan, you know he's always been that way and won't ever get rid of Ero-Senin's books. It's best to just ignore him at those times and let Iruka-Sensei handle him" Naruto said while grinning at the now alert Sensei when said lover was mentioned.
Everyone started to laugh and continued on with the picnic with Sakura and Ino immediately chatting away about any gossips they have heard while Ino occasionally swatted Chouji's hand away from her food whenever he thought she wasn't looking which caused the girls to giggle and a lovable blonde to laugh. His laugh was cut short when some hands encircled his waist and hoisted him up onto a certain Uchiha's lap who had silently deemed it 'cuddling with my dobe' time.
"Teme!" yelled Naruto with a blush while Sasuke just smirked back and proceeded to embrace his dobe.
"Aww! They are just sooo cute together! They make the best couple ever, right Sakura?" Ino asked while gushing and taking pictures of the lovers in front of her. Anything unexpected happens, always bring a camera and boy did that come in handy on many occasions for her.
"..Y-Yeah, they do" Sakura said with a forced smile, she did everything she could not to cringe or show any bitterness to the display in front of her; as far as anyone knew, she "supported" her teammates when in fact she held the key to breaking them up. Speaking of key, Sakura discreetly patted the pouch that contained the love potion and breathed a sigh of relief. 'This will all be just a funny memory that we'll all laugh about in the future' With those thoughts in her head, the Pinket grew confident and decided that now was the perfect time to set her plan into motion.
"I think I'll refill everyone's canteens since we're getting low on water" suggested Sakura earning some nods of appreciation from the group. She grabbed the ones that were near on empty or just empty and went behind the trees to the nearby lake and started refilling each canteen until only the ones from her teammates were left.
Looking around and making sure there was no one around to witness what she was about to do, she stealth fully took out the red vile out of her pouch and emptied it into Sasuke's canteen and then quickly put the vile back in her pouch in case anyone had come by and noticed anything suspicious she had done. Holding the canteen which contained the love potion, she couldn't help but give it a little kiss before gathering up all the canteens and headed back through the woods to the clearing.
As soon as she got back, she handed everyone their respective drinks before placing the ones belonging to her teammates in front of them since, too her dismay, were too occupied with each other and anxiously awaited for what will happen next.
"Teme! Can you at least loosen up so that I can get my water?" Naruto slightly whined while trying to wrestle out of the Uchiha's sudden vice grip. 'Seriously, are his arm's made of steel?'
"No, you'll just take off the moment I do; I'll get it" smirked Sasuke after hearing an 'I'm not a baby Teme' mumble and reached down to grab the canteen in front of him; the one that contained the love potion.
'YES! This is it! Soon Sasuke-kun will finally be mine!' Sakura smiled while not clearly hearing what the Uchiha had just said, too busy being in her own world.
"Here's your canteen Dobe" said Sasuke while giving the item to his blonde earning a 'Teme' back in response.
'WHAT?! I THOUGHT THAT WAS SASUKE-KUN'S CANTEEN! NO! NARUTO'S NOT SUPPOSE TO DRINK IT! HE'll FALL HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH SASUKE-KUN! I'VE GOT TO STOP HIM BEFORE HE DRINKS IT!' "Naruto wait! I-"
"THERE! 500 LAPS AROUND THE TRAINING GROUNDS COMPLETED! GUY SENSEI WOULD BE SO PROUD!" yelled a green blur nearly scaring half of the occupants if they weren't already use to his antics.
"Lee! How many times have I told you that it's not polite to suddenly burst out in front of people like that?! What if someone was training and someone got hurt! What about that incident in the neighboring village with the elderly we were looking after?"
"I know TenTen but I just couldn't help it, after all the beautiful Sakura-chan is here! What a youthful and wonderful day it is to see you here in all your beauty!" greatly exclaimed the sudden new comer that came out of nowhere.
"L-Lee, it's good to see you too and everything and all-"quickly stated Sakura but was cut off.
"Ah Sakura-chan, my beautiful blossom, how I've missed you!" "You saw her just yesterday Lee, don't over exaggerate!" "I've trained extra hard every day in order to be able to protect you" said Lee while doing a nice guy pose with TenTen sighing and shaking her head at him.
"That's great Lee but-"a coughing fit quickly interrupted her and causing her to full out panic inside her mind. 'OH NO! HE DRANK IT!'
"Dobe, are you okay?" asked Sasuke with a slight concern written on his usual emotionless face while patting the blonde's back, the coughs were becoming more violent causing tears to escape his eyes.
"I d-don't..know *cough* I-I feel a bit hot a-and sort..of…dizzy all..of a sud-"Naruto collapsed against Sasuke's chest before he could finish his sentence.
"Dobe!" cradling Naruto into his arms, the Uchiha was trying to wake his fox up. 'What's going on? What happened? He was fine a minute ago so what brought this on?' pondered the Uchiha.
"Naruto! Is he ok Sasuke?" a concerned Ino asked while hovering over them along with the others.
"I'm not sure, he's not responding no matter how many times I shake him awake" the stoic raven said while lightly slapping Naruto in the face murmuring his name.
"Sakura, Ino, use your medical jutsu to see what's wrong with Naruto" ordered Kakashi who was now alert and worried for the boy.
"Right" exclaimed Ino as she approached Naruto while Sakura robotically made her way towards them. After moments of examining the unconscious blonde, Ino concluded that she couldn't find anything wrong with him while Sakura remained quiet while nodding occasionally to each diagnosis.
"Maybe it's Kyuubi's doing? He has pulled Naruto into his mind scape out of nowhere many times before" suggested Kakashi while trying to find out was wrong. 'If it is Kyuubi's doing, it's going to be a bit tricky to restrain him since Tenzo isn't here'.
"But that doesn't explain why he said he felt dizzy" said Sasuke still cradling Naruto in his arms.
"Maybe it was food poisoning?" suggested TenTen but that was quicky dismissed by Chouji who didn't taste anything wrong within the food, the Akamichi family did have strong stomachs and were able to with stand small amounts of poison so even a small taste would have had him alerting everyone.
'No, that's not it. Now I'll never get Sasuke-kun, my plan is ruined' bitterly thought the pinket.
"If not the food then what about the sun? Maybe the heat got to him?" asked Lee.
"We've all been in the shade this entire time and it's nice and brisk today so I doubt he'd have been dehydrated, especially without Sasuke or one of us noticing" said Ino.
"…..ngh…"
The sudden noise from the blonde got everyone's attention allowing them to sigh in relief that he was starting to come around. As the blonde gained consciousness, the cough was back but not as violent as before and was slowly receding. As soon as he was able to breathe without the coughs, the blonde slowly opening his eyes. Naruto took in everyone giving him worried and relief looks.
When Naruto had opened his eyes, Kakashi and Shino had noticed something that everyone hadn't even noticed yet; Naruto's beautiful blue eyes were now a dark and menacing violet color.
'That's peculiar, don't Naruto's eyes turn blood red whenever Kyuubi is involved?' thought Shino.
"Dobe, you had me worried. Don't do that to me again" said Sasuke while hugging Naruto to him.
"…of me" muttered Naruto.
"What was that Dobe" asked Sasuke while reluctantly pulling back from the hug.
"I said Get. The. Fuck. Off. Of. Me" uttered Naruto with so much venom in his voice while giving the coldest glare that anyone has ever seen him do to the Uchiha holding him.
To say everyone was speechless was an understatement but those words coming from the happy blonde in a tone that made hell freeze over was beyond frightening.
The only thing going through everyone's mind was 'What the fuck?!'
So what do you guys think so far?
Oh and FYI, I'm not ever abandoning this story and will finish this; one of my goals to accomplish. Also during my disappearance and my searching for my scorched flash drive, I ended up coming up with several stories, one of which I want to start posting but my main priority is The Anti-Love Potion so maybe later on when I'm at a good place where I can balance everything.
Any questions, suggestions, comments, etc.. let me know.
I'll post the next chapter hopefully next Saturday so keep an eye out for it, until then see ya!