Thanks to everyone for reviewing.
no-maybee-okay: Thanks, I will once a week.
lyan king (guest): Thank you.
Chewie Cookies: A little more fluff, before the real thing starts.
kavya1506: I love that part too. Thanks again.
Redsox31: Shikatema in this one... but it's not very much I'm afraid. If you have an idea for their future interaction, let me know.
Arymed: No tissue yet in this one. Thanks for reviewing.
chrysant: I kind of love Kiba and Karui. I just think that's how they would be if they were in a happy relationship... Don't know if their in charakter, but I'll stick with it. Things will go down in the next chapter.
I don't own Naruto.
-9-
"I might have to leave for Suna for a while."
Temari looked up from her plate to shoot a questioning look at Shikamaru.
He shrugged,. "Hinata needs her sister to negotiate something and they picked me as her temporary replacement. It's troublesome."
"Why of all people would they pick you?" The blonde asked incredulously thinking of the laziness that was a constant in his life. Despite her best effort, one might add.
"Apparently because of you." There was no point in lying since she was going to figure something out anyway. Shikamaru still calculated that he could keep her from finding out too much.
"I don't see how this makes a lot of sense." She frowned. "There is something you're not telling me."
"Yes, but I am unable to tell you, I'm afraid." He retorted amused at her huffed attitude.
"A village secret?"
"Something like that."
"You're not going to tell me?"
"No."
Temari sighed, she wasn't going to force it out of him, even though she might could have. But this was a village secret and not his personal life, so she wouldn't pry.
"How long will you be gone?" She enquired casually.
"Depends, Hinata guessed something in between one and two months."
Her green eyes widen. "That long?"
"Presumably." He shrugged again.
Temari kept herself from interrogating him more, but two months were a long time. It wasn't the first time Shikamaru and her were apart for that long. The last time they had been apart for a considerate amount of time however, had been years ago. Since she had moved to Konoha, they had seen each other almost every day. Shikamaru didn't take a lot of mission, since his positions as Clan Head and Leading Advisor of the Hokage required his presence in the village.
"What? You'll miss me?" Grinning Shikamaru took his plate and set it in the sink.
She snorted in annoyance "Yeah, right. I think maybe some time apart will ignite the light again."
"Excuse me? Are you implying that we miss the spark?" Shikamaru crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes on her.
Temari smirked careful not to let him see her mischief when she bit her inner lip and put her plate down to join his in the sink.
"Temari?" His broad chest hit her back and he placed his hands on either side to cage her against the kitchen counter.
She really had to keep herself from laughing. He was way too riled up at her suggestion, even though he should know perfectly well that they were not lacking in the spark department.
Arranging her face carefully she turned around to meet his burning gaze, that definitely sparked the fire in her.
"Yes Shikamaru?"
"Would you like to repeat what you just said?"
"Depends… Would you like to prove me wrong?"
Shikamaru growled and picked her up; Temari's legs wrapped themselves around his torso in reflex. Pleased with herself Temari leaned down to kiss him. Their eyes met and she smiled. "You know, I think I really am going to miss you."
"You better and I will show you just how much." In one quick motion he rearranged their position and threw her over his shoulder.
Temari shrieked in laughter and the butterflies in her belly danced anew.
…
"That's it for today. I do hope you have a nice weekend." Choji said before a chorus of chair scratching and chatter drowned out his voice.
"Bye, Chouji-sensei!"
Chouji waved at the students who left the classroom and started to pack his things as well. He was supposed to meet Ino in 15 minutes in front of the Academy so he had to hurry.
"Hello Chouji-san." Chouji stopped on his way to the teacher's lounge and waited for one of his colleagues to catch up.
Arina was the only other academy instructor close to his age and they got along well. He liked the calm woman who just like him had a few pounds more on her body than what was considered optimal. Admittedly she had a lot less than him and she hid it well. Basically she was what some people would call a curvaceous woman, only not in the way Ino was. Chouji thought Arina was a beautiful woman, but no one could even get close to Ino in his mind.
She pulled back her brown hair with pink highlights and asked. "How was it today?"
"Well, they were more giddy than usual. The exams are coming up and most of them are nervous, it's understandable."
Arina nodded and together they chatted about their students until Chouji excused himself to meet Ino.
Arina grinned. "Missing your girlfriend much?"
He laughed and pushed the door open to let Arina get out first. "You know it."
Ino tapped her foot against the cold stone. She didn't like to wait. Nevertheless if it was Chouji she could forgive him, he was almost never late. If he was late, he had a good reason. Her beautiful rosy lips formed a content smile. A few years ago she wouldn't have thought that she'd find her soulmate in her teammate and best friend. Ino was aware that she had been stupidly shallow when she was younger. That was probably the reason it had taken her long to realize that she loved him. Never in her life had she been happier than right now. Chouji was simply perfect. He was always attentive and he was always there.
Her face lit up when she spotted her boyfriend, her feet set off in his direction. She stopped death when another woman appeared in her field of vision. Much to her dismay the woman was rather pretty. Seeing his large smiling face directed at this woman, his carefree attitude and his happy demeanor, made her stomach drop.
"Chouji!" Ino waved at him enthusiastically and sprinted over to him, very determined not to let this woman spent any more time with him. She jumped into his arms and kissed him.
As he let her down Ino latched onto his arm. And her eyes narrowed at the woman standing beside him. She brightened up only seconds later to make sure the woman did not catch on.
"I'm Ino, Chouji's girlfriend." She extended her arm and Arina shook her hand. The woman couldn't possible have overheard her emphasis on 'girlfriend'.
"I'm Arina. I'm also a teacher. Chouji and I work together"
"Really? Chouji why didn't you mention her?"
Chouji was momentarily confused, he never mention any of the teachers expect for Iruka. He looked a little unsure at Ino whose smile was unusually sweet and somehow he had a bad feeling about it.
"What do you teach?" Ino kept her smile plastered on her face. She really disliked the woman. How come that her boyfriend was working with an attractive woman and failed to mention it to her?
Of course it wasn't logical to be jealous but Ino had always been a little over-passionate. And this woman ticked her off.
"Ah, you know the general basics. Theory mostly, the chakra system and history, stuff like that." Arina smiled. She could understand why Chouji was so crazy for Ino. The blond was beautiful and quite in love with him. Arina almost laughed at her poorly hidden seething jealousy. Chouji didn't seem to catch on yet, though.
"Oh, I'm afraid I already forgot all of that stuff. I guess I just never thought of it as important." Ino said through clenched teeth, highly irked by the way Arina was amused of her behavior.
"Hey, that stuff is very important!" Chouji defended his colleague and Arina almost cringed. That was not the smartest move he could have made.
"So you're taking her side?" Ino snapped at him. She took a step back and crossed her arms, with blue eyes looking at him accusingly.
"What?" Chouji scratched his head. What sides? There were no sides.
In an attempt to save the situation Arina spoke up. "Well, Chouji-san you'll have to admit that the basics are pretty boring."
"Absolutely not!" He turned to her and smiled. "I think that you have a knack of making your lessons very interesting."
Arina beamed brightly. "You really think so?"
"Sure, I really wish I had you as a teacher when I was in the academy."
"Is that so?" Ino hissed. "Great then why don't you just eat alone or with her! I don't care!"
She turned on her heels and stormed away furiously.
"Well, that escalated quickly." Arina sighed.
"What in the world was that all about?" Confused Chouji stared in the direction Ino had stamped off in.
"Chouji-san, you might wanna go after her!"
"Right!" Chouji scurried away and Arina laughed heartily. She for her part already liked Ino.
Ino slammed her door to her apartment shut and breathed heavily. If Chouji liked that stupid oh-so-great-teacher so much then maybe he should just be with her. How dare they flirt so shamelessly in front of her! She stomped into her room and let yet another door shut hardly. Seriously she needed something to let her frustration out on. Ino fell down on her bed and screamed into her pillow.
She heard the door open and regretted that Chouji had a key to her apartment. Ino sat up in her bed and ran her fingers through her hair to comb her undoubtedly disheveled hair. She might be mad at him, but she didn't want to look disgusting in front of him.
"Ino?" Carefully Chouji stuck his head through the door of her bedroom. He gulped as he saw her stone-cold face framed by strand of her hair that were usually smoothed back in her pony-tail.
"What do you want?" Her voice matched her expression.
"What happened? I really don't understand why you're so mad." He got in and stood in the middle of the room awkwardly. He didn't dare to sit down next to her on the bed since she was already mad.
Her irritation came back and she felt the anger dwell up again. "So you don't understand, huh? I come to pick you up from work so we can go out and you go and flirt with your dumb co-worker. A woman who, I might mention, works with you every day. And you never even told me about her. And she just has to be pretty, doesn't she?"
"Wait Ino, What? I really don't get what you are saying. Don't tell me… - Are you jealous?" Chouji stared at her in disbelief. That was completely ridiculous. Ino was the one who turned every male's head when she walked by. She could literally have any guy she wanted to. If anyone had a reason to be jealous it should be him. She couldn't seriously think that there was something between him and Arina?
Ino had stopped ranting and bit out. "So what? I have every right to be."
Chouji shook his head; this was certainly not something he thought he ever had to deal with.
"Ino you know that this is laughable, right?" He finally asked.
"And why would that be?" She snapped at him.
"Because you really have no reason to be jealous! Arina and I are only colleagues. She's married you know?"
Ino bit her lip, that woman was married? Maybe there was a slight possibility that she had overreacted.
"Besides I'm not interested in anyone but you! I mean you are basically perfect." He stepped closer and smiled when she didn't step back but looked rather pleased. "You are definitely the most beautiful woman I have ever met. And you're smart and generous and loyal to your friends. Ino, do you honestly think that I would cheat on you?"
"Of course not, but there's nothing keeping you from falling in love with somebody else." She said quietly and stepped into his embrace. "I know that I can be challenging and I'm hard to deal with. And impatient and I have those stupid mood-swings that I always take out on you."
"Well, not all of your mood-swings are bad. I do remember some of them turning out rather pleasant." Chouji grinned at her blush. "I love you, for who you are, Ino. Mood-swings and all."
"I love you too. Sorry I lashed out on you and her that much."
Chouji shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Now can we please go and eat?"
"How about we cook something instead?" Ino asked.
"Great, let's do that."
…
"I can't believe I have never seen your office. It's so big." Sakura took in the bright room with the huge window front and the wooden desk.
Hanabi nodded and offered Sakura green tea. Primarily she and Sakura didn't get along too well, but somehow being in Suna together had made them friends. Sakura was on friendly terms with her colleagues in the hospital but she didn't have any particular good friends. By now she had learned that Hanabi was just Hanabi and knew how to take her. Their early experiences were long since forgotten.
"Ah, I'm feeling so much better since I'm in Suna." Sakura sighed and sunk deeper in the comfortable couch.
Hanabi's interest was sparked. While she didn't know the exact reason Sakura came to Suna she did know that Hinata had been worried about her and she guessed that it had something to do with Sasuke Uchia. Maybe his death had hit her hard? Sakura's relationship with him was not something she could understand. And like so often her curiosity won the internal battle of 'Is-it-appropriate-to ask.
"Can I ask you something? You can just say if you don't want to answer it or if it's inappropriate."
Calculating Sakura's eyes met with Hanabi's. It sounded kind of dangerous, if she took into account that the one asking it was Hanabi. "Sure ask what you want."
"Why do you love Sasuke?"
The question caught Sakura completely by surprise and she sputtered. "What are you asking that for?"
"I'm just wondering."
The pinkette didn't want to answer or even think about Sasuke but somehow when she thought about him, it didn't hurt has bad as it used to. "Well, I guess in the beginning it was because he was cool and it attracted me, but later… He was always lonely and by himself, I wanted to make him smile and I wanted him to be happy… – with me." She added after a little pause. "I felt like we had a special connection."
"You could have done all that as his friend, but why did you want to be his lover?"
"What I felt for him and the desperation that I felt it with… It was beyond the feeling of friendship." Sakura said in a small voice.
"But why did you love him for so long? Why did you fall for him?" Hanabi wouldn't leave it alone.
Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. I mean can people really point out why they fall for one another?"
"Mmhh, maybe not." Hanabi hummed, she poured some more tea and leaned back. "You know I once asked Hinata why she loved Naruto… If I hadn't stopped her, she'd still be naming reasons." Silver eyes watched the woman opposed from her attentively.
"I…I guess. I mean, it's different for anybody." Sakura answered unsure.
The brunette nodded again. "Do you want to know what I think?"
"I'm afraid I don't. But go ahead anyway."
Hanabi laughed soundlessly. "Let's assume I understand why you fell in love with him and why you kept holding on even after he left. I guess I can understand that… to a certain point. But after that point I think I lose your reasoning at one point. I think that maybe it was no longer love, that kept you locked to him but fear. It made you keep believing you loved him."
Ostensibly Sakura's confused look was enough to make Hanabi elaborate. "Let me put it this way… Ah, I know. It's like anchor." Quite pleased with her metaphor she continued. "Your love for him was an anchor. It was safe because it kept you from drifting around without a purpose, it kept you from floating aimlessly. And somewhere inside of you, you were afraid to let go of that anchor. Because once you let go of the anchor you won't know what will happen or where you will end up. You're then going to drift and it's scary. Whatever you experienced with Sasuke must have left a scar on you, somewhere. Maybe because he was your first love and the way it ended, the way he left you, the way he trampled on your feelings – all of this keeps you from freeing yourself for another love. You don't know who your next anchor will be and you're afraid it'll end like the first time. Holding on to Sasuke, even if it was painful, it made you feel safe. At the very least you know what to expect." Halfway through her explanation Hanabi started to worry if she was even making sense.
Open mouthed the pinkette looked at Hanabi. She wasn't sure if it was crazy or spot on. She had never seen it like that, but she had always held onto Sasuke. His words of gratitude when he had left her on that bench, had always been a lingering hope for her, and even after he had tried to kill her, she couldn't bring herself to give up on him. – Because she had been afraid that if she allowed herself to be free to fall in love again, it would end the same way? Was it really like that?
"I'm not sure that's right, but strangely it does make sense." Sakura put her tea cup down. "Do you think I'll be able to get rid of my anchor?"
"I think you already have." Hanabi smiled and Sakura smiled back at her. "By the way, what was the commotion yesterday about? I heard you punched Kankuro through a wall."
Sakura snorted annoyed. "That guy, he dumped that poor girl in the middle of the street, in front of everyone! He's such a bastard, and impolite and childish and… Gosh I could spent the whole day complaining about that guy!"
She was so busy going into great detail about all his bad traits that she overlooked that interested smirk that crossed Hanabi's face. "The whole day, huh?"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, it's just that I haven't seen him with a girl lately."
"I guess she did say something about him not contacting her for weeks." Sakura mused out loud, trying to remember the bits and pieces she could made out in between the woman's sobs.
…
Hinata made her way through the already dark streets of Konoha. The preparations were finished and they could leave any time now. Her head was spinning from all the things she had to take into account. Naruto was still in his office, and their small apartment was empty.
Hinata was left alone with her thoughts. She went over the plan in her head, she planned out her speeches and what to tell who, but still Hinata knew that nothing could guarantee their success.
The young woman allowed herself to sink into the big blue cotton sheets of the bed and rested her back against the headboard. Her throat restricted and she found it hard to breath. Somehow it was too much; she hadn't allowed it to get to her for the past weeks.
All of this reminded her of the time when she tried to change her Clan, only this time it was ten times more complex. She brought her knees to her chest and tried to even out her breathing. But she couldn't help the first sob, tears gathered in her eyes and with her next sob they started to fall.
She had lost count of the time she had spent wailing in her self-pity and when she heard the door open, she desperately tried to wipe her tears.
"Hinata? I'm home."
She barely heard him over the sound of her pathetic breakdown. Frantically she attempted to get herself under control, but she only succeeded in making it worse.
"Hinata?" Naruto's footsteps approached the door.
After he saw the state she was in, he was in front of her in a matter of seconds. "What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere? 'Nata talk to me, what happened?" He caught her trembling hand and crushed her body close to his. "Please tell me what's wrong." His voice was coated in desperation and worry.
When he had seen her like this, he couldn't help a million thoughts and horror scenarios running through his head.
"I c-ca-can't do t-this." She forced out and hiccupped. She couldn't restrain her erratic breathing and in between her sobs she had trouble speaking.
"Relax, Hinata. Calm down and then tell me what happened." Naruto forced his urge to make her stop down. After he had understood that she wasn't hurt, giving her the time to calm herself was considerably easier.
So he resorted to the only comfort he could give her. He pulled her in his lap and took the position against the headboard. His hands caressed her hair and down her back while he let her cry in his chest and whispered soothing words in her ears.
With deep shuddering breaths Hinata finally calmed down by concentrating on the pleasant feeling of Naruto's hands in her hair and on her back. "S-Sorry."
"You don't have anything to apologize for." Naruto told her frowning.
"S-Still, I shouldn't have let myself go like that. Y-You were worrying o-over nothing." She insisted and leaned her head against his chest.
"Tell me why you were crying." He asked softly.
"I-It's just that this is all so much." She whispered. "I don't want to screw this up. And what if I can't do this?"
Naruto nuzzled her hair. "Hinata, I know this is a lot of pressure. And I'm sorry that you have to bear most of it. But I know that if someone can do this then it's you."
Hinata smiled sadly. "I don't want to disappoint anyone and it feels like I can't breathe. I'm so afraid of messing up, it…" She was fighting tears again and her breathing turned uneven.
"Hey, hey! Hinata look at me." His blue eyes forced her to focus on nothing but him. She relaxed in the strong hold his gaze had on her. "You are not doing this alone! Hanabi will be there with you and Kiba too. Shikamaru and Gaara are convincing the Suna council. Neji and your father will take care of the Hyuga council and I will help them with the village council. You are not alone in this and if you ever feel unsure I will always be there!"
"I don't want to go without you. I don't want to be apart for so long. I can't do this without you. I need you." She cried in his chest and he hugged her body painfully close.
Naruto's heart had jumped wildly at her words. Hinata was still crying but he couldn't help the small smile, hearing her say that she needed him made his whole body tingle and his heart soar. He had somehow thought that he was the only one who was going crazy over this.
"I know. It sucks. I don't want to be apart from you either." He mumbled in her hair. "I hate that you'll be gone tomorrow."
…
"I could get used to this way of traveling." Kiba grinned brightly and stretched his limbs. "You know this Hiraishin sure feels like getting caught in a whirl storm."
Hinata nodded and tried to get out of Naruto's steel grip on her waist.
"So when will you be leaving?" Shikamaru set down his bag and looked at Hanabi, seeing as Hinata was currently busy.
"I think we should be leaving tomorrow." Hanabi told him.
Shikamaru agreed silently and observed the interaction between Hinata's sister and Temari's brother. He had to admit that they were incredible discrete. If he hadn't known they were dating, there was no way he would have noticed the very few, unobtrusive glances between them. Or the casual brushes when they walked. Or even their distance that was always appropriate, yet strangely intimate. Personally he had thought at first that there were such a strange couple but after meeting them he had to admit they looked happy and content.
"Hey, Akamaru has to go out. We'll take a walk around. Is that a problem?" Kiba asked.
"I'll send one of my shinobi with you. Just in case." Gaara told him and sent for Matsuri so she could meet Kiba downstairs.
"Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked over Hinata's shoulder.
"Beats me. I told her to come" Hanabi shrugged. "Hey Shikamaru, you want me to show you around?"
…
"I bet you'll miss me so much. I can totally tell you have the hot's for me." Kankuro allowed a smug grin on his face.
Sakura snorted and turned back to finish her paperwork so that she could finally go and meet Hinata and Naruto. Kankuro leaned over the desk and peered over to see her scribble down something.
"Is it your plan to annoy me by leaning so close to me? Or can't you just get enough of me?" Sakura asked while keeping her voice as neutral as possible. But her heart was beating nervously and she fought to keep her blush down.
For a second his dark chocolate eyes met hers with her serious expression. "You smell really good."
"W-What?" She spluttered out. "You pervert."
"Just kidding, don't get your panties in a bunch." Kankuro laughed loudly and put his hands behind his head.
Sakura bit her tongue and turned back to her paperwork, ignoring the sting.
"Well, I will miss you."
Her head shot up, eyes wide. "You will?"
"Sure I mean who wouldn't miss being used as a punching bag the whole day. I'll definitely miss getting yelled at for every single thing I do." He rolled his eyes.
Every time he played with her like that the sting got worse. But once again Sakura forced the pain down.
"Are you done or what?"
Through clenched teeth she pressed out. "No one is forcing you to be here."
"Sakura-san!" A deep voice drew their attention to the right, where a young man waved at Sakura to come over.
He showed her a paper on his clipboard and she smiled while she started to scan it. The she only laughed friendly at him and gestured for him to look at something.
Kankuro gritted his jaw at their close proximity. With narrowed eyes he watched her smooth a pink lock behind her ear and watches as her green sparkling eyes turn to that guy. With long strikes he made his way over to them in haste once he realized that her hand was on its way to rest on his underdeveloped biceps. He barely made it in time to intercept her touching that guy.
"Can I help you?" Impatiently Sakura turned to him.
"Yes! We have to go!" He shot a quick glare at the male nurse and the poor man scurried away.
"What the hell, Kankuro?"
"You can thank me later for saving you from that creep."
"I won't because I did not ask nor did I want your saving. I quite like him." Sakura said. Honestly she didn't know the man too well, but the way Kankuro behaved rubbed her the wrong way.
…
"Shikamaru is getting unpacking in the guest room and Naruto is still hogging Hinata. They're still busy 'seeing each other off'. And I don't think Hinata will get away soon."
Hanabi informed Gaara as and found her way on his lap. She had straddled him and leaned her forehead against his. Then she breathed deeply.
"Rough day?" Gaara asked amused.
"More like anticipation of what is about to come." She left a lingering kiss on his lips. "I really don't want to go."
"I don't want you to leave, either." Sea green eyes locked with silver ones and a smile played on his lips. "I have something for you."
Gaara reached in the drawer next to her and pulled out a tiny glass jar on a black string. Hanabi observed it carefully in her hands and her eyes sparkled at the sight of a single grain of sand in the thin glass.
"Remember that grain?" He asked.
She tilted her head curiously. "I'm afraid I don't remember any specific piece of sand in your whole collection of grains."
"Remember when we were outside to picnic and this one flew in my eyes?"
"You kept it?" She brought her hand to her mouth and stared at him in astonishment.
"It made you laugh." He said simply.
Her breathing stopped for a second as she looked into his serious eyes. "I love you, Gaara."
Every time she said that his heart missed a beat. "I love you too."
"Will you put it on for me?" Hanabi asked.
Gaara took the necklace from her dainty hands and carefully put it around her neck. His fingers grazed her throat as he brushed her dark hair back. He let the soft locks spill through his rough fingers.
"I'll miss you." He brushed her lips with his.
…
"Suna is very beautiful." Kiba remarked nonchalantly to the young woman next to him who kept staring at Akamaru with terrified eyes.
Matsuri kept her eyes fixated on the giant dog and nodded fearful. Kiba sighed and finally decided to give it up, after his third try to make light conversation had gone down the drain. He even kept Akamaru close to his other side and told the dog to keep away from the brunette.
Kiba scrunched his nose when a familiar smell reached him. Akamaru barked and waved his tail in excitement, causing the brunette next to him to flinch. "Go, buddy. Let's find Sakura."
A pink blur had just passed the corner and Akamaru took off happily with Kiba in tail. "Sakura!" His deep voice roared and the woman turned in surprise only to hit the ground hard when Akamaru jumped on her.
"Kiba! Get your dog under control." Sakura laughed as she tried to pry the big white dog off of her.
Kiba grinned brightly as he lifted her off the ground and she dusted herself off. "How are you, Kiba?"
"Great." He frowned. "How are you? You look like you've been crying."
"I'm fine. I just had a rough shift at the hospital." She lied but she could already tell that he didn't believe her.
"Forget it. Doesn't really matter." She turned her head to the silent Matsuri. "It's fine Matsuri. I'll take them back."
Silently they walked back. Kiba secretly wondered what was wrong with her. He and Sakura weren't really close but they were still friends. Apart from that he was not looking forwards to Naruto's reaction at Sakura's swollen eyes. It was bound to trigger some bad memories for him. He really hoped it had nothing to do with Sasuke.
"Is this about Sasuke?" He asked cautiously.
"What? No!" Sakura looked at him stunned. "It has nothing to do with him. Don't worry."
They fell back into silence until Sakura spoke up. Her voice was so quite he almost missed her. "Do you think I'm not feminine enough to be attractive?"
Kiba blinked a few times, and then he shrugged. "I don't think feminine has much to do with this. I mean whether or not I'm attracted to a woman doesn't have anything to do with how much her nails mean to her. Personally I think you're pretty hot."
"Really?"
"Sure."
"Thanks, Kiba."
"There you are!" Kankuro marched over to them, he had been looking for Sakura for quite some time now. The he measured Kiba with cold eyes.
Kiba lifted an eyebrow at this, wondering if he was the reason Sakura was depressed. Naruto had mentioned that there was something going on with them.
"Kankuro, what do you want?"
Kiba's suspicions were confirmed. Sakura went rigid and her eyes threw knives at Kankuro.
"We have to talk." He stemmed his hands in his sides and fixed his eyes on the small woman.
"I have nothing to talk to you about." She sneered at him.
Kiba exchanged a look with Akamaru who whimpered in discomfort and they backed away slowly. Luckily they were already close to the Kazekage building.
"Yes I think we have and we can either do this the civilized way or I will drag you inside?" His dark eyes blasted with suppressed anger.
"I do wonder how you would manage that!"
"Sakura please, I'll leave tomorrow. I really don't want to leave while we fight." Distressed he ran his hand through his hair and looked at her pleadingly.
Sakura bit her tongue to keep herself from lashing out at him. She wanted to punch him, scream at him and hurt him but most of all she wanted to cry and wallow in self-pity.
"Fine."
He winced at her ice cold tone. They made their way into the building and she let him in her apartment after having refused a talk in his room.
"What do you want?" She tapped her foot hard against the white tiles clearly pissed off.
"Sakura, would you look at me?"
"I don't see any reason to."
"Listen. I am sorry I was out of line and I didn't mean it." He took a step closer to her and her green eyes darted to him.
"Whatever. It's not like I care what you think about me." She gulped down the lump in her throat that dared her to lose it and start crying.
"I didn't want to hurt you. Honestly I am sorry." He said helplessly. Usually he was very good with women but Sakura was different. She was special to him and he regretted saying idiotic lies like he just did. He had just been so pissed because she was flirting with that male nurse.
"Sakura, will you please just punch me?"
She almost lost her balance there. "What?"
"Just do it, if it means you'll stop with this. Please, I am very sorry."
Sakura laughed bitterly, "You shouldn't apologize. You were just stating your opinion after all."
"Sakura that isn't true." The next step brought him right in front of her. "I was just pissed off. I don't think you're not attractive."
"Well, that's funny, since you made it more than clear that my body resembles more of a teenage boy than a woman. You can stop pretending to care whether I'm mad or not. Just go!" She pushed him away and stormed to her room.
"No! - Wait!" Kankuro grabbed her wrist and spun her around barely avoiding her punch. "I didn't mean that! I think you're actually pretty hot. Happy now?"
Taken aback she stared at him. "Right. And I'm supposed to believe that."
"I don't care if you believe it or not it's the truth." He sighed audibly. "Look I'll be leaving tomorrow anyway. How about you stay mad at me while I'm gone and when I'm back, I'll make it up to you?"
She crossed her arms. "How do you plan to make it up to me?"
"How about dinner?" He offered.
"You'll pay?"
"Of course I'll pay! That's the whole point to it." He rolled his eyes and made his way to the door.
"I'll pick the place and I will order the most expensive dish on the menu."
"Great, it's a date then. I'll be looking forward to it." He left and Sakura raced after him and tore the door open.
"It's not a date!" She yelled after him and closed the door.
"It's a date!" She squealed happily and bounced towards the kitchen.
…
"N-Naruto you really have to let go." Hinata moaned softly and tried to pry herself away from him, but didn't put too much enthusiasm behind it. Naruto smiled against the soft skin of her neck. His hard chest pressed against her back and she relaxed herself against him as she ran her fingers up and down his lower arm.
"When will you be leaving?"
"Sometime tomorrow and I promise to write as much as I can." She turned to face him. "I love you."
"I love you too. Please promise that you'll be careful and avoid any and all dangerous situations."
"I promise but you'll have to promise to do, too."
"I promise." He pulled her in a deep kiss and she moaned as he pressed her curvaceous figure up against his tall muscular body.
"I will miss you." He said seriously and with one last smile he disappeared.
Hinata bit her lip, she was going to miss him so bad, but she couldn't allow herself to give in to her sadness and beg him no to leave.
Let me know what you think.
By the way if you want to read about your favorite couples more, give me a suggestion.
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