Suguro sighed as he looked at his book. He looked back at the hospital bed where Konekomaru lay, peacefully sleeping. He ran his hands through his hair and groaned. His fingers fell down, pausing at his neck. He sighed and hung his head. Suguro could still feel the heat, or rather, lack of heat, from Sakura's flames. He couldn't lie, it proved that she did have a lot more control over it than her brother. But it also meant that she had already decided on his fate.
If she had truly wanted Suguro dead, he had a feeling he would be. There was something about her. The way she walked and acted, she had seen a lot more than any of them. Hell, she had probably seen a lot more than Mr. Okumura. He had seen her freakish strength. And, when Sakura had let her guard down, he had even heard a few things about her village.
Suguro was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Konekomaru stirring in the bed. The young monk turned onto his back and opened his eyes. He reached for his glasses and put them on.
"Hey, how're you feeling?" Suguro asked.
"Bon?" Konekomaru groaned as he slowly sat up. "Where am I?"
"The general hospital," Suguro answered. "How's your arm?" Konekomaru glanced down at it only to yelp in surprise when he noticed the cast was missing.
"What happened?" He looked at his friend frantically.
"She's knows you asked her not to, but Haruno healed your arm anyway." Suguro shrugged, closing his book.
"Why?" Konekomaru asked.
"What makes you think I know what goes through her head?" Suguro asked, rolling his eyes.
"Bon, how...how did I get here?" Konekomaru asked, looking at him in confusion.
"I wondered when you would ask that." Suguro sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You...were possessed by a demon named Gufu. Okumura and Haruno figured it out they got rid of it."
Konekomaru looked at Suguro in shock. "H...How?"
"Apparently, that redhead will do anything Haruno says," Suguro muttered. "He used his sand to get the demon away from you, and Okumura destroyed Gufu using his blue flames."
Konekomaru lowered his head. "I see."
"You know, you haven't answered my question. How're you feeling?" Suguro narrowed his eyes as he watched Konekomaru.
"I'm...fine...I guess." Konekomaru curled in on himself, his shoulders shaking. "Say, Bon. What do you think of those two?"
Suguro raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Okumura and Haruno, what do you think about them?" Konekomaru clarified.
"Well Okumura is an idiot, plain and simple," Suguro said. "He asks us to trust him, but I can't just do that as easily as he thinks I can. I don't care if he saved you! He's just so...gah!" Suguro growled and ran a hand through his head. "He can't control his flames, he never pays attention in class, and he tries to act so cool that it pisses me off! If he wants me to trust him, then he has to let us in!"
"You're not...scared of him?" Suguro blinked and looked at the bald monk.
"N-No," Suguro answered. "Like I said, he's an idiot. Sure, his blue flames can be scary, but he's so clueless that he has no idea what to do with that power."
"And...his sister?" Konekomaru asked. He grabbed a pillow and pulled it close.
"Haruno? Yeah," Suguro admitted. "She does scare me, a little. Unlike Okumura, she's smart. She knows what to do with her power, and she's not afraid to use it." He cleared his throat and rubbed his neck, still feeling the cool flames that had tickled his skin. "She knows her strength, and isn't afraid to show it. And she has those guards that respect her and would follow her orders in a heartbeat. She accepts who she is and she can use that power perfectly. But...she's just playing with us." Suguro took a deep breath and dropped his hand. "It sends a shiver down my spine just thinking about what she could do if she turned serious."
"They terrify me," Konekomaru admitted softly. "Just knowing that there are people like them that exist, it scares me."
"There's nothing to be afraid of, like I said," Suguro said. "Okumura's clueless and Haruno's playing around. But is that the problem?" Konekomaru flinched at his friend's voice. "Come on, you remember the stories don't you? You're mom gave her life to protect you on the Blue Night. She was pregnant with you and protected you with everything she had. She gave her life to save you! Are you just gonna quit and throw all that away? I thought that was why you came here!"
"It is!" Konekomaru shot up, looking at him desperately. "I don't want to quit, but right now..."
The two were covered in a tense silence. "Never mind. Forget I mentioned it." There was a knock on the door and it opened, revealing Sakura.
"You guys got a minute?" she asked.
"What for?" Suguro narrowed his eyes at her. Sakura reached beside the door and pulled Rin inside. She pushed him towards the bed, closing the door behind her. Rin stood there awkwardly, his tail twitching.
"Well go on!" She shouted. "I didn't drag you down here just so you could turn into some shrinking violet!"
"Well...I..." Rin rubbed the back of his neck, and refused to look at either of them. Sakura groaned and shook her head.
"Come on, hurry up you coward." Sakura huffed and rubbed her head. "If you don't start soon I'm gonna take away all the meat in the house."
"Okay! You don't have to threaten me like that," Rin muttered. He took a deep breath and looked up at Konekomaru. "You…can be terrified of me." Konekomaru raised an eyebrow at the statement. "I mean, there's nothing really that I can do if you are. But…I never wanted any of this." He kicked at imaginary dirt and sighed. "I just…I wanted to keep living at the monastery with Father Fujimoto and the others. I wanted to work and see Yukio become a doctor. But…all this shit that I didn't want was thrust on me. I never asked to be the bastard child of Satan. I didn't want this power, but now that I've got it, I'm gonna use it to help people."
"Neither of us really asked for this," Sakura said, crossing her arms. "But it happened, there's nothing any of us can do to change the past. Genetics are genetics, but just because we're related to the guy, doesn't mean we're gonna end up like Satan. Rin was raised to be a good little Christian boy, and he still is. I was raised to be a force for my village, and I still am. Just because we have this new power, it doesn't change who we are. It changes what we can do. So just try to keep that in mind, okay?"
"Is that all?" Suguro asked.
Sakura looked at Rin. "I do believe that was all."
"It was," Rin said in confirmation. He walked towards the door. "See you guys in class tomorrow." With that he quickly left the room, leaving the door open.
"Oh, I did have one more thing to say," Sakura said. She walked around the bed and stood next to Suguro. She placed a hand on the top of his chair and leaned down, glaring at him. Suguro leaned back, his cheeks heating up at the pinkette's proximity. "Next time, my flames will be hot." She smirked and stood up, waving as she left the room. "See ya!"
"What did she mean by that?" Konekomaru asked quietly.
"Nothing important." The way Suguro rubbed his neck didn't escape the young monk's notice.
Sakura stretched her arms and yawned as she entered the classroom. "Morning everyone."
"You sound tired," Izumo muttered.
"You look tired," Shima added.
"Kankurō's a slave driver," Sakura muttered. The puppet master behind her laughed.
"Come on, my master was much tougher on me! And so was yours."
"Have you grown weak since you came here?" Temari teased, poking Sakura's cheeks. The pinkette blushed, swatting the hand away.
"O-Of course not!" Sakura shouted. She crossed her arms and pouted. "C'mon Gaara!" The redhead chuckled and followed her to her seat.
"Man, you sure have him wrapped around your finger," Suguro muttered.
"Of course I do," Sakura suddenly said. "I would hope so anyway, he is my ex after all." The entire class was stricken with silence as they looked at the two of them.
"It's not fair!" Temari pouted. "You were supposed to marry him and become our cute little sister!" She laughed and hugged Sakura from behind.
"Wait! What did you say?" Shima asked suddenly, looking at the two of them.
"Gaara and I dated for about a year before he became Kazekage," Sakura said.
"My position is actually what made us break up," Gaara said. "If we had continued to stay together both Konaha's and Suna's councils would have insisted that we get married right away. If only to build a bridge between the two villages."
"I like Gaara and all, but not enough to get married when I just turned 15," Sakura said with a chuckle.
"Likewise," Gaara said. "They can build that bridge with Temari and Shikamaru."
"No fair!" Temari cried, pouting. "And neither of you will let me."
"There there, we can still convince them," Kankurō said, patting her back. "And we're just giving him a hard."
Temari scowled at him. "Jerks."
"No you can't," Gaara said. "We like each other, but neither of us were after marriage."
"It's the same reason that I broke up with my last boyfriend," Sakura said with a sigh. "His mother was so eager to have us 'mate' the moment she found out we were together. Neither of us could take the pressure. Marriage is one thing, but marriage and a pregnancy, no thank you!" Sakura sighed. "I wish the elders would understand, it's a new generation. And thanks to Naruto, we're in an era of peace. We don't have to worry about having kids as soon as possible anymore, or at least not for a long time."
"You're village wanted you to get married and have kids at 15?" Shiemi asked in shock.
"Isn't that a little young?" Suguro asked in disbelief.
"No, they'd have us do it at 14 if they could. They'd tried to with Hinata, didn't go over so well with Lord Hiashi and Neji." Sakura chuckled as she thought back to the threats the two had made. "Her father had a fit, but it was nothing compared to her brother. Neji threatened to kill them all if they married her off. It was hilarious! A fifteen year old teenager yelling and threatening the elders? Priceless!"
"Just what the hell kind of place do you live in?" Suguro shouted.
Sakura's expression turned dark as she looked at him. "The village's survival is all that matters. That's what we were taught since we were young. I'm pretty sure, if his family had been alive, they would have married Sasuke off as soon as he turned 13. That's just the way things are."
"You probably would have been a candidate for him too," Temari said. "The way those old guys go, he would have either married his cousin or his female teammate, if she was deemed worthy. I have a feeling, that if the choice was his, he would have probably gone for you, just to piss off his dad."
"His mom and brother would have been happy." Sakura waved her hand with the offhanded comment. "He even told me that himself. He'd rather marry me than one of those girls from his clan. Even if it meant that that wouldn't survive."
"Once again I say, never take us to your village," Suguro muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Oh, that reminds me," Sakura said, straightening up. She turned towards the Kyoto trio. "I forgot to say this in the hospital yesterday! Konekomaru," the boy flinched at his name being called. "If I had wanted you dead, you would have been. So your fear over me is quite justified. Your fear of Rin, however, well I'll overlook it for now." Konekomaru's face paled at the statement.
"Making idle threats doesn't suit you," Gaara said with a sigh.
Sakura's eyes widened and she turned to Gaara in anger. "Idle!?"
"You'd never hurt them," Gaara said. "You're loyal until the end, even after that person is dead, you'd still be loyal."
"Am not!" Sakura shouted, glaring at him
Gaara gave her an even look. "Sasuke." Sakura's bit her lip, her ears turning bright red.
"Sh-Shut up!" She shouted. "Man! You're so not cute anymore!" She swung her fists, trying to punch Gaara but the sand blocked her punches. Sakura huffed and crossed her arms, pouting like a child. "I hate you." Gaara smirked and rolled his eyes.
"Konekomaru," Suguro said quietly.
"Yeah, Bon?" The bald monk watched as Suguro sighed and shook his head.
"Forget what I said about her," Suguro said. "She's as stupid as her brother."