A/N: I'm back guys! This summer has flown by—and I regrettably haven't written much. I hope you forgive me. And what do you think is Sasuke's problem? Because I still haven't chosen an exact problem, I may take some ideas for consideration. ;)
Sasuke POV
(Friday—5:00 pm)
"You're here right on time." Unlike our movie date, Sakura is dressed casually. Her hair sways from her high ponytail, and she is wearing forest green tights as well as a grey tanktop which says "FE=Iron. Male=Man. Therefore I am Iron Man." Although it's the beginning of August, her home is unusually cold and it sends a shiver down my spine.
I shrug my shoulders to her comment. "I don't like to be late. Nice shirt—I didn't know you liked Iron Man." She lets out a light laugh. My shirt incidentally is a black shirt with grey lettering that says "Batman." She points at it and rolls her eyes. "I didn't know you liked Batman, but I guess he's more like you than Spiderman is." I bend down and remove my sneakers by the front door.
"Hmm. If you say so." She shakes her head at my response, then motions for me to follow her through her home. My house may be more extravagant, but Sakura's home is still lavish. Both of our families have money because of our fathers—mine is head of the FBI while hers is a leading surgeon. They became close friends after a case before we were even born, and they still meet up every week or two.
The layout of her home hasn't changed since I was last here five years ago, so I almost instinctively know where she is taking me. Her workout room. Once we round the corner I see that there have been a few equipment additions, but besides this the room is the same. Unlike a lot of girls, she is strong and resilient. She hasn't always been this way, though.
"I figured we haven't practiced together in forever and it would ease some stress from this week of school." She cracked her knuckles and I can already feel the sweat building on my forehead. Although the rest of her home is frigid, this room barely has the air conditioner turned on. She's always done this because she said that in the real world there are no air conditioners to keep you cool during a fight.
I crack my own knuckles and walk over to a punching bag. The worn down material is barely holding on to the physical bag, which makes it obvious just how hard she trains. She walks over to the other one, and gets into her stance. Her eyes close for a second, then she lets out a slow breath and starts to flawlessly punch and kick the material. It swings and bounces against her energy, and she is so focused you would think she had forgotten I was there.
"Don't worry about me. Get started—I know basketball isn't your only way to let go." Sakura keeps her focus on the bag in front of her, so I take my own stance and try to relax my brain. I close my eyes and let the darkness surround me. I make the sounds of her beatings become background noise, and I let out a breath, then open my eyes.
Instead of the punching bag, my eyes trick myself into believing it's the man who has hurt me—Itachi. I glare at him for a second, then punch him in his jaw. He swings back, but then comes forward again and this time I strike his stomach. I let this imagery keep me fighting so that one day, it won't be just an hallucination.
"Sakura, what are you doing?" She squeals as she jumps from my voice. The room that had been setup as our childhood playroom has instead become a room to train. There are a dumbbells, a treadmill, and a punching bag in the small room. Sakura is wearing basketball shorts and a loose t-shirt, and her pink bangs are sticking to her forehead due to sweat.
"Sasuke-kun! I-I-I.." Her arms flail around in embarrassment. I can see that her cheeks are red from exertion, and the punching bag is slightly quivering. I roll my eyes and walk up to her. "Why are you doing this?"
She avoids my gaze, and subconsciously rubs her arms. Then I notice a purple bruise under her jaw. As gently as I can, I hold her chin in my hands and stare at the mark. She jerks herself out of my grasp and shudders in pain.
"I-I got beat up today. This girl walked up to me and started saying how her parents hate my Dad. I tried to ignore her, but she pushed me and-and then more girls came up and.." Sakura's eyes start to water and she quickly wiped the tears away.
I push her bangs off of her forehead and our eyes meet. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you." I say quietly. She smiles to herself.
"No, I need to learn to fight for myself, Sasuke-kun." I watch a look of determination appear in the ten-year olds eyes, and a proud feeling hits my chest.
"Okay. Then I'll help."
"Sasuke." I turn to the side to see a bewildered Sakura. Her eyes are big and she is taking in large amounts of air. Her visible skin is glistening with sweat and her cheeks are flushed. Her punching bag is barely swinging on its chain.
"Sorry. I got into it." I look down at my throbbing knuckles to see multiple cuts and a small bruise on my left thumb joint. My legs are also pulsing from pain and adrenaline. She closes her eyes and snorts.
"Great excuse. Wanna tell me what you were thinking about?" She walks over to a small refrigerator and grabs two water bottles. Once she hands me one, she plops down on the mats and sprays the cool liquid into her mouth. I steady my breathing and then sit down next to her. My hands are sticky from sweat, but I hold on tight to the bottle and pour it into my own mouth. The fluid is refreshing and is gone within a minute.
I wipe the stray drops off of my lips and then look over at her questioning stare. I decide not to be too specific, but I do want to tell her something. "Itachi called. He'll be home soon." Her lips purse, and I can tell she knows that isn't why I would be so violent. Especially if she believed Itachi and I have a close relationship. Which she probably doesn't.
"You don't exactly seem thrilled by that." I shake my head, knowing the only joy I get from this is that he won't show up unannounced to ruin my life. I plead in my mind for Sakura to stop questioning me, but she is too perceptive for her own good.
"He's done something, hasn't he?" She murmurs, almost to herself. After five years, I feel my body retch at the very thought of Sakura finding out. I sit there in silence, wanting a mix of attacking the punching bag again and running away in fear. I look down at my now swollen hands and Sakura hesitantly places hers on top of mine. Although her hands are not as rough, they still have visible scars. I avoid her gaze and just sit there.
She clears her throat and pauses for a second. Then I hear her clear voice say, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."
Naruto POV
(Friday—5:00 pm)
"I'm so glad we didn't have practice today." I grin to myself as I walk down the empty sidewalk. The sun is low in the sky, but not yet setting, so I have plenty of light to continue on my job hunt. I've just finished applying at the same coffee shop that Sakura works at, but I don't think I'm going to get the job. Next on my list is the restaurant that Hinata works at.
I start to whistle to myself as I see the building. There are a lot of cars in the parking lot, so it is obviously busy, but I decide to head inside anyway. I open the door and walk up to the front counter. The decorations remind me of an aquarium, and all I see on the menu is sushi and cooked fishes.
"Hello, how can I help you?" The girl behind the counter has black spiky hair, yellow eyes, and pale pink lips. She reminds me of a pufferfish. I swallow my opinions and put on a smile.
"Is the manager available? I'm wanting to see if there are any job openings here." She grins a toothy grin, which looks like a shark watching its prey. I gulp and stare wide-eyed.
"I'll let him know. Hey, Hinata! Come watch counter for me while I help this handsome man." She gives me a wink and seductively walks down the hallway. Instead of watching her though, I am met with the blue haired Hyuga. She is dressed in the worker's outfit that I must have thrown up on last week. I grin at her in recognition.
"Oh, hello Na-Naruto-kun. Wha-what are you doing here?" She has an angelic smile on her lips and I have to replay her question in my mind before I can answer. I scratch the back of my neck sheepishly.
"Well, I'm looking for a job. I dunno if this place is hiring, but I decided to check it out. Man, I'm glad to see you, Hinata-chan. That other girl was freakin' scary." At this comment Hinata chuckles. "Leiko can be rather...intimidating. Especially w-with guys she finds at-attractive."
I decide to tease Hinata and wiggle my eyebrows. "Do you find me attractive, Hinata-chan?" Before she can reply, though, I make a few goofy faces, and in return am rewarded with some giggling. "I knew it! I'm so attractive, women laugh at other men!"
After laughing at myself, I see that Hinata's cheeks are dusted pink. I don't linger on it long because I figure it's from laughing so much, and change the subject. "I wish you were free to meet up tomorrow, but I understand family stuff. And you'll do great at tryouts, too. I'm sure of it!" She gives me a big smile.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun." As I am about to say something else, the spiky girl comes back with a fat, bald man. He nods to Hinata and tells her she can be off now. We wave goodbye quickly, then she walks out the front door. The girl named Leiko raises her eyebrow at Hinata as she walks out, but doesn't say anything to me.
"Are you the young man looking for a job?" I nod to the large man and point to my chest. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I am in desperate need of a job to help my family. Dattebayo!"
He chuckles in response and sets his hands in his pockets. "Well, Naruto, I am not hiring at the moment but I do like your enthusiasm. Write down your number and name for me, and if something opens up you'll be the first I'll call." Although my excitement has died down now, I give a smile and nod my head. He hands me a pen and piece of paper, and I write down my information. I see the girl eyeing me suspiciously, so I lean in to whisper to the man.
"Can ya not let her have any access to it, though? She creeps me out." He chuckles again and accepts my deal. "Thank you, sir!" I wave goodbye and walk out of the restaurant. I inhale the fresh air and realize that the building reeks of fish, but I don't care. I've almost got a job, not not quite. I've got to continue looking. I encourage myself so that I don't get down, unlike my friend Sasuke who always seems down. As I start to walk down the street, I wonder about him and his attitude this week. That's when I hear a muffled cry not too far away.
I jog to the noise around the corner, and I realize it is down an alleyway. Once there I see two male silhouettes, both dressed in black flak jackets with blood red clouds sporadically placed, towering over a girl that has been pushed to the ground. The girl is Hinata Hyuga. In the back of my head I realize her car was still parked by the fish place and I should have known something was wrong.
I charge towards the two men. "Leave her alone!" The both look up in surprise, but then take action. I dodge their punches and am able to grab the slick-haired man into a headlock. The other man grabs Hinata's arm and holds a knife to her throat.
"All we want is her Hyuga wealth. You would, too, if you knew about it." The man I am holding goes unconscious, so I drop him to the ground. Meanwhile, Hinata's throat is just inches away from the knife. I glare at the man in front of me, and he glares back. He is wearing a mask, but his eyes appear to be gold orbs.
"I don't care about her money, it's her soul that is important." I make eye contact with Hinata, and she slightly leans her head back, away from the weapon. I take that as the go ahead and kick the man in the shins, making him let go of the knife. Hinata dashes behind me and I stand in front of her defensively. The masked man grabs his knife and gives a guttural laugh.
"My partner here would believe you, but I don't care about souls and people. Money is the only thing in this world that will last." He sounds like a mad man. Before he can do anything else, I grab Hinata's arm and we jog back to the safety of her car.
A/N: What is going on?! Do you think you know? Please leave a review and let me know what you think is going to play out. I covet good comments and questions from my readers. :)
I hope you enjoyed both the SasuSaku and NaruHina of this chapter. It's only been a week, so the guys can't be too attached yet. Naruto will be easy to win over, but Sasuke's been hurt so maybe he will finally give in to being cared for? Hmmm. :) And then the underlying story at the root of all of this.
I'm going to be going back and editing this story, so if you are interested in maybe seeing some changes I suggest reading them. I just tweaked chapter 1. :)
I'll be starting school in a two or three weeks, and I am working on five fanfics at once, so I don't think I will be posting here again before school. Maybe if I get a creative kick, but it's pushing it to have this next chapter up by then. if you read my other fanfics then I might have two up, though. Watch out for those—and thanks for reading this story!