A Better Fox Trap

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When Tsunade ordered Sakura and Sasuke into her office one Saturday morning, they hadn’t expected it to turn into a discussion of Naruto’s eating habits. That the topic of the day was not, in fact, the status of Sasuke’s curse seal—-which Tsunade, Kakashi, and Sakura had a hand in containing after he was dragged back from Sound only a bare month earlier-—but the fact that their team mate consumed large amounts of ramen and only ramen several times a day, came as a surprise to everyone. Still, Tsunade seemed quite serious about it.

“He’s developing a vitamin deficiency already,” she huffed, exasperated. “I’m sure you noticed that Naruto is not quite as energetic as he used to be.”

“We thought he was just settling down now that...well, now that Sasuke’s back and all,” Sakura explained, shooting a hesitant glance at the dark-haired boy beside her.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and muttered, “Guess it was too much to hope that he was gaining some maturity.”

“Yes, well it’s worse now that he’s not feeding so much off of the kyuubi’s powers,” Tsunade continued. “Before, I think he could have eaten nothing but raw steaks and it wouldn’t have mattered. But now...he might be in danger of getting scurvy if his eating habits don’t change soon.”

“You want us to get him to eat his fruits and vegetables,” Sasuke stated, flatly.

“Not so much the vegetables. I’ve spoken to the owner of the Ichiraku and he’s agreed to sneak some into the ramen he serves Naruto. But he needs vitamin C the most. You two,” Tsunade pointed at them, “are going to get him to eat it. Use whatever method you think has a chance of working.”

So Sakura and Sasuke ended up walking out of the Hokage’s office with a mission neither of them really felt hopeful of achieving.

“I didn’t come back to Konoha to become a nursemaid,” Sasuke complained. He wilted a little, however, when Sakura shot him a look.

“That’s not helping, Sasuke-kun. And you didn’t come back to Konoha. We carried you back. After I broke your legs. Repeatedly.”

“I remember,” Sasuke grumbled, absently rubbing his hipbone.

Sakura shook a closed fist at him and was pleased at the bit of respect that showed in his eyes.

“And I can do it again, so stop complaining and help me think of a plan.”

“What do you mean plan? I’ll hold Naruto down, and you can shove some apples down his throat or something.”

“What? No!”

“Fine, if you like, you hold him down and I’ll shove apples down his throat. But I bet you he’ll bite me.”

Sakura sighed and hung her head.

“Boys. You have absolutely no subtly.”

“Well what do you suggest?”

Sakura grinned and Sasuke shivered in spite of himself. That kind of face on Sakura only meant one thing.

“Oh no…”

“Oh yes.”

The return of Sunday Suppers.

--

Sunday Suppers had been a Team Seven tradition right up until Sasuke had decided to skip town. The idea had been to improve their teamwork, though most of the evenings degenerated into a fight between Naruto and Sasuke, with Sakura trying desperately to resolve the problem before Sasuke’s neighbours complained about the noise and the broken furniture.

Though, every once in a while, the dinner would end without any bones or plates being broken, and Sakura and Sasuke would have tea in the living room while Naruto washed the dishes and hummed along to the radio.

Naruto always did the dishes, because he was not allowed to cook. This was because the only thing Naruto knew how to cook was instant ramen, and Sakura had absolutely forbidden any ramen for Sunday Suppers, claiming that they had already had enough of the salty noodles and broth during the week and didn’t need any more of it on the weekend.

Naruto had sulked about this, but decided that if he really wanted to, he could go to the Ichiraku after the dinner was over with. He didn’t say this in front of Sakura-chan, however, because he was afraid she might punch him again, and not even kyuubi’s fast-healing abilities were enough to save him from a painful lump on the head these days. Sometimes, Naruto really resented Tsunade-baachan teaching Sakura her chakra building jutsus.

So, when Sasuke cooked they would have onigiri with fish, because that was his favourite food. And when Sakura cooked they would have odango with rice because that was her favourite food.

And sometimes Kakashi-sensei would drop by, late of course, and pick up the care package of leftovers that Sakura made for him before giving each of his students a pat on the head. This, Sasuke endured stoically, as if completely aware that dodging would only give incentive for Kakashi to add a hair ruffle to the ritual.

Sunday Suppers had, of course, stopped when Sasuke left, and they really hadn’t picked up at all since he had returned, mostly due to the awkwardness of having Team Seven reunited after all this time. It seemed, during the first few weeks, all too likely that during the course of the meal, something unforgivable might be said about creepy snake bastards or mass-murdering older brothers that couldn’t be taken back.

But, Sakura reasoned, the awkwardness had faded, and while Team Seven wasn’t quite back to the easy level of closeness they had obtained before Sasuke’s jaunt to Sound, in some ways she thought they might be closer.

For instance, yesterday, after one of Naruto’s kage bunshin had thrown her into the river during afternoon training, she had noticed that both Naruto and Sasuke had become intensely interested in the way that the water had made her top cling to her breasts. This pleased her so much that she had let them get away with it without comment or bruises.

And Sakura was certain that the admiration she saw in Sasuke’s eyes while he and Naruto fought each other had more to do with the way the other boy’s muscles shifted and flexed as they struggled together, than any regard for how much stronger Naruto had gotten.

Naruto, of course, was interested in anything with a pulse, and Sakura blamed Jiraiya entirely for the all too present leer on her friend’s face these days. Her life had become considerably more difficult (not to mention more interesting) even since Naruto had learned that he could make her blush just by saying her name in a certain tone.

And since Naruto had learned a few new manipulations from Jiraiya, Sakura had had to train herself to become even more devious. Anything boys could do, she could do better, after all, and she was considered the most intelligent kunoichi of her class.

Which is why, when her original plan to get Naruto to eat his fruit didn’t work as expected, she was more surprised than anyone.

Oh, the start up of Sunday Suppers was well received by Naruto, and he showed up on time and complimented Sakura on her cooking skills. But when it came time to eat the variety of pickled umi, sliced pears, and bright yellow yuzu, Naruto refused as usual.

“You don’t like it?” Sakura asked, letting her lip tremble and her voice waver strategically. “I didn’t make it well enough for you?”

Naruto held up his hands in a nervous gesture. “Ah ah, Sakura-chan, that’s not it at all! I’m sure it’s great if you like fruit and junk.”

He looked to Sasuke for help, but Sasuke had already been kicked surreptitiously under the table by Sakura and only scowled in his direction.

“Moron. You’re gonna make her cry.”

“Aw, crap, Sakura-chan you aren’t really crying, are you?” Naruto’s anxious question gave Sakura hope for her plan, and she gave one or two sniffles for good measure.

“I-If you d-don’t like my cooking…t-then you c’n just-just go away!”

Naruto’s eyes widened as Sakura buried her face in her hands and began to sob loudly. Immediately he sprang up from his chair and put his arms around her in a loose embrace. Inwardly smiling, Sakura increased the volume of her cries just a little and leaned into Naruto’s chest which was pleasantly warm.

“Sakura-chan, please don’t cry! I’m really sorry. Really,” Naruto begged, leaning down to nuzzle at Sakura’s cheek in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

Down at the other end of the table, Sasuke tried to pretend his eyes weren’t glued to the sight of his team mates embracing, and that all his blood wasn’t suddenly flowing to his groin area. And that he wasn’t so conflicted over who he was more jealous of at that moment. Oh yes, Sasuke tried very hard to pretend about that one.

Sakura snuffled into the sleeve of Naruto’s jacket and then eased her shaking shoulders.

“T-then you’ll eat the fruit?” she asked, blinking innocently up at him.

Naruto pressed his lips close to her ear as his hands wandered down her hips where they had previously rested.

“Nope,” he whispered as he groped her ass, “but let me know if there’s anything else I can do for ya. I’ve got a few ideas of ways to make it up to you Sakura-chan...”

“NARUTO!”

Her punch sent him halfway across the room, and it was a good distraction while Sasuke got his blushing cheeks under control and shifted uneasily in his chair. Obviously, wearing the skin tight black suit that he had been fond of before Orochimaru and his Sound Style Team had gotten a hold of him had been a bad move.

“YOU...YOU JERK!” Sakura yelled, face tomato red and hands adjusting her dress where Naruto’s groping had scrunched it up her thighs.

Naruto only laughed and picked himself up the floor, bouncing innocently on his toes.

“Oh come on, Sakura-chan, I think I know you well enough by now to be able to tell when you’re fake crying. That’s the exact same voice you used when you wanted Kakashi-sensei to buy you that kunai set.”

“Didn’t work then either,” Sasuke muttered, earning a wicked glare from his female companion that took him a few moments to recover from.

And so the first plan to get Naruto to change his diet failed utterly. Obviously a better fox trap needed to be built.

--

“I don’t see what’s wrong with my original plan,” Sasuke grumbled as he watched Sakura pace around the room.

She rolled her eyes in his direction and Sasuke wondered just when Sakura had grown the backbone she was suddenly showing around him. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. Certainly she was less easy to handle when she was hanging on his every word like he was a god, but the way she had clung to him was annoying as well. And somewhere along the way he had discovered that Naruto was actually right about something: Sakura was really hot when she was pissed off.

At that moment, her pale green eyes sparked with ire and her face was flushed prettily as she turned to rail at him. Sasuke actually missed the first half of her tirade because he was too busy staring at the way her lips moved.

“Sasuke-kun it was a stupid plan,” she said, bluntly. “We can’t force fruit down Naruto’s throat. He’d just choke on a grape and then I’d have to save him and I don’t want to spend all my time using up my chakra to heal him and you after he recovers enough to come after you for trying to force feed him fruit.”

Sasuke looked offended for a moment, but conceded the point. “You’re right; he’s way too stubborn and too stupid to know what’s good for him. But how else are we going to get him to do it?”

“If only there was a way to make him think it was his idea,” Sakura said, racking her brain.

Then, Sasuke stiffened and he caught Sakura’s eye. “Sakura...just how good is your genjutsu these days?”

And Sakura started to smile.

--

“Well that was a complete failure,” Sasuke sighed as he picked watermelon seeds out of his hair. “Maybe you should have tried a smaller fruit.”

Sakura fumed. There was a red stain on her blouse that was never going to come out. The next time she saw Naruto, he was a dead-man.

“I couldn’t find a smaller fruit,” she growled between clenched teeth. “Today isn’t a market day, you know. And that watermelon was expensive!”

Sakura tugged at her blouse and then started to take it off. Her sports bra provided enough coverage to act as a top anyway, and she didn’t want to be sticking to her shirt all the way home.

Also, she liked the way Sasuke’s eyes suddenly glued to her fingers as she unbuttoned the shirt and shrugged it off her shoulders in one graceful motion.

“I’ll reimburse you for the watermelon,” Sasuke offered, sounding a bit distracted. “It was my idea, after all.” He watched Sakura slide her thumbs under her bra straps as if to make sure they were still in place and swallowed hard.

Sakura gave him a dazzling smile and tied her soiled shirt around her waist.

“That’s so sweet of you, Sasuke-kun!”

He mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and looked away from her, but not before she spotted the tell-tale flush that had risen in his cheeks.

“It was a good plan,” she said, “it’s just too bad that genjutsu doesn’t mask taste. He really did think that slice of watermelon was a bowl of miso ramen.”

“Up until the point where he bit into it,” Sasuke said, shaking his head. “Now we’re back to square one.”

Sakura scowled and kicked at the grass, pretending the dandelion at her feet was the blond head of her team mate.

“Stupid Naruto. Stupid stupid stupid stupid Naruto.”

Sasuke watched her send the head of the weed flying into the air, eyes narrowed as if he too wanted to kick something.

“You noticed, didn’t you,” he asked her, quietly.

Sakura seemed to deflate, her shoulders slumping as she stared at the ground. “Yeah...I noticed. He’s moving slower. And his heal-time is getting slower as well. That bruise I gave him two days ago is still there. At this rate, he’s going to get sick...”

Sasuke felt his nails bite into his palms and forced himself to calm down. “That idiot. He doesn’t even see what his stupidity is doing to u…you.”

Sakura twitched. ‘Us, he was going to say us. Oh wow, does that mean...?’

“Um, Sasuke-kun,” she started, cautious, “you care for Naruto, right?”

“Of course I do,” Sasuke said with a snort. “I wouldn’t be running around playing nursemaid for the damned idiot if I didn’t.”

“No…no, I mean,”—Sakura swallowed hard—“I mean you care about Naruto. You lo…like him, don’t you?”

Sasuke scowled and glared at the ground as if it had personally offended him. “What? No way! You...what makes you say that?”

Sakura smiled softly, trying to reassure Sasuke with her eyes alone, since he looked like he’d jump a mile high if she actually touched him right then. “Just the way you look at him sometimes. Like you’re relieved—no...grateful. Like you’ve been given something you really appreciate but have no idea what to do with it. And you’re fussing.”

“I am not!” Sasuke protested.

Sakura glared right back at him. “You are too,” she said, raising a finger to poke in the direction of his chest. “Don’t even try to deny it, Sasuke. I see right through you.”

Sasuke blinked in surprise at the dropping of the usual honorific to his name. Then he made his expression carefully blank. “I suppose you don’t approve,” he drawled, tonelessly. It wasn’t a question.

Sakura’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “I don’t...Sasuke you don’t need my approval for something like that.”

“Yes I do,” Sasuke muttered, and evaded Sakura’s attempts to meet his eyes. “I…don’t want you to think that I’m tainted or anything.”

‘Tainted? What the hell…?’ And then Sakura watched him trace the edges of the curse seal with long pale fingers and understood. She didn’t know whether to hit him or hug him.

“You mean by Orochimaru?” she asked, gently, ignoring the way Sasuke flinched at the name that had been taboo ever since he had come back to them. Her hands groped for his arm and she gave a sharp tug, bending him down to look her in the eye.

“I could never think that you are tainted,” she said, seriously.

He remained silent, but the tension in his shoulders eased, and she felt comfortable enough to lean her head against his chest.

“Besides,” she continued, “if lo-liking Naruto makes you tainted, then I’m tainted too.”

“…What?”

Sakura giggled at the astonishment in Sasuke’s voice. “Well you have to admit, Sasuke-kun, he’s grown up quite a lot, even if he refuses to be mature about his diet. I mean, did you see him yesterday when he took off his shirt to show Iruka-sensei his seal? Now that’s tasty.”

Sakura watched Sasuke’s eyes grow wider and wider until she was certain they were going to fall right out of his head. Grinning wickedly, she moved in for the kill.

“You know,” she mused, voice low and husky, “I bet all that enthusiasm Naruto shows on missions transfers over...elsewhere.”

That got a reaction, but not the one the pink-haired kunoichi was looking for.

“Oh…” All of Sasuke’s breath was expelled in that one shuddering exhalation and Sakura watched, mystified, as he struggled to speak again.

“I see,” he said, and Sakura could tell from the tone that he didn’t see at all. “You two, while I was gone…I had thought…” Sasuke’s lips thinned into a line and he started walking away from Sakura at top speed. She had to move quickly to keep up with him.

“Sasuke…”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, his face a perfect blank expression. “I’ll just leave you two alone. I wouldn’t want to get in the way. He’s loved you forever and…you’ll be really happy I know so congratula—”

“Sa…SASUKE.” Sakura caught him by the elbow and wrapped her arms around his waist, pinning his arms to the side the same way she had when Orochimaru’s seal had first reared its ugly head. She had been afraid of losing him then too.

He stilled in her grasp, like before, but his body vibrated with tension and his voice was something colder than she had ever heard.

“Sakura...let me go.”

“NO dammit,” she growled, gripping him tighter and burying her face in the back of his shirt. “You are not doing this again. You are NOT running away from us again. I’ll kill you myself, if I have to. Or Naruto will. But you aren’t leaving. Not like this.”

“…Sakura.”

He felt the back of his shirt grow wet and winced openly. He had made her cry again. Would he ever stop making her cry? Maybe it was best that she loved Naruto. Lord knows he would make her happier than Sasuke ever could.

“NO. Shut up,” she ranted, “You’re so stupid, Sasuke. Did you think Naruto and I would get together and not tell you? Did you think I was lying when I said I loved you? That I would follow you anywhere? Did you think we were happy without you? Why the hell would we have searched for you all that time if…if we didn’t want…Sasuke we’re a team.”

Sasuke said nothing, but he didn’t run away when Sakura’s arms slipped from his waist and she stepped around to face him. The hurt expression in his eyes made her want to kick herself for not saying it more clearly.

‘Obviously I need to be as blunt with Sasuke as I would be if I were talking to Naruto.’

She brought a hand up to cup his cheek and smiled as he turned in to her touch.

“Sasuke,” she whispered, “did you think we would leave you alone? Team Seven is a three person group. Have you forgotten our first lesson?”

“No,” Sasuke mumbled. “But it’s not the same.”

“What’s not the same?”

“I know you guys l-love me and we’re a team and all that. But if Naruto and you are together…look, it’s just not that kind of love.”

‘Boys are so dense.’

“And who says it’s not that kind of love?”

Sasuke froze and stared at Sakura, unsure of what he was hearing.

“But…you can’t seriously want—”

“Both of you?” Sakura interrupted, blushing faintly. “Yeah, I do. I’m greedy that way. And you want both of us as well, don’t you?”

Sasuke scowled but he didn’t deny it, which Sakura took as a good sign.

“And Naruto—”

“Naruto wants you,” Sasuke stated flatly. “Not me.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Sakura said, smiling. “No one was more devoted to getting you back to Konoha then he was. There were a few times when I thought I would never see you again,” she continued, softly. “But Naruto never gave up on you. He was so sure he could get you back and I just had to believe in him. He was…the only one I felt really understood what it was like. We both lost someone…really precious to us.”

Sasuke breathed deeply and lifted a hand to Sakura’s cheek, brushing away a few stray tears that hung on her dark lashes.

“We missed you,” she whispered, “both of us did. So you can’t leave us again, Sasuke.”

“...I won’t. But Sakura…that still doesn’t mean that Naruto thinks of me…that way.”

The pink-haired kunoichi giggled and took a step back, shooting Sasuke a wicked leer.

“Well, there’s one good way to find that out,” she said.

Sasuke glared at her and said, accusingly, “You’ve been planning something.”

“Yep.” She grinned. “And if this plan works, and it will because I am brilliant that way, not only will we get Naruto to agree to a...mutually beneficial agreement, but we’ll get him to eat his fruit as well.”

Sasuke lifted an inquisitive eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.

“I’m listening,” he said.

--

To Be Continued.

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