Blossoming Sakura

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and please continue. I do enjoy reading them. They make me happy, happy, and makes my muse do the happy dance.

~!~

Sasuke grunted as a hard fist landed in his stomach. Glaring up at the man, he spat, “Is that all you got, old man?”

An eye twitched at the word, 'old', but the man didn't show any other kind of emotion. Instead, he chose to respond to the taunt with a taunt. “For you, it's enough.”

Launching himself at the copy nin, Sasuke grinned when it looked as if he was finally going to land a punch, but to his dismay, the copy nin simply disappeared, causing the younger man to fall to the ground in a graceless heap.

As he was about to get up, a kunai was pressed to his throat and a deep voice said, “It's over. I win.”

Suddenly, the kunai moved away, and Sasuke rolled over and got to his feet. Glaring at Kakashi, he snapped, “How is it that you always manage to beat me?”

The taller man shrugged and quietly said, “I'm not as eager as you to shed blood. In the end, that will be your downfall.”

“Whatever.” Sasuke mumbled, his cheeks red. He hated it when Kakashi spoke down to him as if he was still the sensei. Glancing up, he noticed that Kakashi had whipped out his Icha Icha Paradise and was currently settling down to read it. Walking over and sitting down next to the man, Sasuke quietly asked, “Did you hear that Sakura has returned?”

Kakashi kept his eyes on his book, but nodded. “I heard that she made quite the scene with her father last night. Too bad that I could not be there to witness it.” He said, turning a page.

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, but then said, “She has.....changed. She isn't like the way she used to be. This Sakura is forceful, and doesn't mind a little violence to get her way.”

“It sounds as if Ino now has some competition.” Kakashi observed, his dark eye sliding over to his former student.

Sasuke shrugged. To be honest, Ino was alright, but too loud and bossy for him. “She had on these pants that hugged her in the right places, and she had this little shirt that showed off her cleavage, but didn't make her look like a tramp. She was beautiful.” He murmured, thoughtfully.

Kakashi didn't say a word. Clearly, the time away from Konaha had done Sakura a world of good. He knew that whatever Ino and Sasuke had was nothing more than just a fling. Asuma was ready with tissues and a shoulder whenever Sasuke decided to tell Ino that it was over.

“Are you going to be at the bar, tonight? Naruto said that he was going to try and get up with Sakura and drag her out. We could all have a drink together.” Sasuke said, his eyes turning to the silver-haired copy nin.

Shrugging, Kakashi mumbled, “I'll think about it. If I am not there, tell Sakura I said hi.”

Rolling his eyes and muttering a good bye, Sasuke got up and began to head home. However, when he approached his house, he saw that Ino was waiting on him, a large smile on her lips. Narrowing his eyes, he walked past her and heard her call his name, but didn't stop. Once inside, he got a drink and had taken a mouthful of water, Ino came up behind him and put her arms around his waist.

“I missed you this morning.” She whispered, already feeling how tense his muscles were. When he didn't respond, she sighed and released him.

After several minutes of silence, Sasuke calmly said, “I am going out tonight. Naruto is going to be bringing Sakura to the bar, and we are going to talk.”

Ino brightened. “Oh, that will give Sakura and me a chance to catch up on old times.” She said, her tone merry.

When her blue eyes took in the hardening of her lover's jaw, she stepped back and timidly asked, “What's wrong?”

“You are not invited.” Sasuke bluntly informed her, his tone cold. “This is a meeting for team seven and I don't want you there.”

Ino felt the tears come to her eyes as he turned his back to her. Biting her lip, she tried her best not to let her voice crack when she quietly said, “Well, I hope you have fun.”

Nodding, he left the room and she turned to walk outside. She could feel her tears sliding down her face as she walked and she never noticed two shadows following her. When she finally made it to the safety of the forest, she slumped down against a tree and let the tears and sobs run freely.

After a couple of moments, she jumped when a hand fell to her head, and when she looked up, she managed to say, “I guess you came to tell me that you told me so.”

Shika and Choji simply shook their heads. Sitting down next to the heartbroken girl, Choji reached over and gently pushed her head against his shoulder, while Shika cringed as the girl sobbed. Clenching his fist, he silently vowed that Sasuke would never hurt her like this again. He'd make sure of it.

~!~

As she walked down the crowded street, she fumed as she recalled that brat's parting words.

“I hope you don't fall and break anything before tomorrow, granny!”

Oh, she was going to make him suffer in the morning. But, she was also going to have to deal with Kakashi and his lazy ass, so that meant that she would need to get to bed early, just to have the patience to put up with both of them.

“Sakura! Hey, Sakura! Wait for me!” A loud voice called, causing her to pause and look over her shoulder.

Suddenly, she was tackled by a very happy Naruto and felt her breath leave her as he treated her to a bone-crushing hug.

“Man, I can't believe that it's actually you. You finally came home.” He said, happily. “I wish we could have talked last night, but you were kind of busy.”

When he finally let up on his hug, Sakura laughed and shook her head. “It's good to see you, as well. I've missed you. And, last night would not have been the best time to speak with me.” She replied.

The blonde nodded and motioned over towards the ramen stand. “Well, since you are here, and I am here, let's get some lunch. I bet Iruka-sensei would be happy to treat us.” He said, waggling his eyebrows.

Laughing, Sakura followed Naruto, and sure enough, Iruka was sitting at a table and within a couple of minutes, offered to treat the two younger shinobi to lunch. As they sat with the older man, Iruka glanced over at Sakura and calmly asked, “So, what do you think of your team?”

Sakura's dark mood quickly returned. Naruto, recognizing the signs of her temper, smartly scooted away. “Ikki is a pain in the ass.” She muttered, her arms crossing over her chest.

Iruka nodded. “Yes, he is a problem, but then again, so was Naruto.” He said, motioning towards the blonde, who was currently shoveling in noodles. When he noticed that his companions were looking at him, he asked, “What?”

Shaking her head, Sakura quietly said, “I don't know that I'm going to be able to do this. I'm supposed to train them to become omegas, but I'm not sure if they are omega material. Ikki is too smart-assed for his own good, Shiori is so shy and I'm worried that she'd die of a heart attack should she be confronted, and Kin is too prideful, at least from what I can tell, and he has an arrogant streak.”

“Yep, and they are all yours.” Iruka said. Leaning forward, he quietly asked, “Do you know why they were put with you?”

When she shook her head, he grimaced a bit, but then said, “It's because this is the last chance for them. No one else will train them because of their track records, and you are their last chance to become shinobi. If they fail with you, it's over for them.”

Sakura slid down in her seat. Now she could understand why her dad was so anxious to get rid of them. He didn't want a bunch of trouble-makers under him, and tarnishing his name. So, now it fell to her to deal with them. Oh, joy.

“Just do your best, alright?” Iruka said, patting her hand. “Besides, as an omega, you've faced worse, right?”

Nodding, Sakura's head turned towards Naruto when he asked, “Your an omega?”

“Why else would she be wearing the uniform?” Iruka asked, his tone bored. “Didn't you notice that she is wearing an omega uniform?”

Naruto's eyes took in the outfit that adorned Sakura's body, and allowed his eyes to widen. Suddenly, he jumped up, pointed a finger at her, and yelled, “Who'd you steal that from?”

After several punches, and a bloody nose, Naruto wheezed, “Congratulations on becoming an omega, Sakura.”

“Thank you, Naruto.” She replied, her tone even. However, her eye twitched when he said, “Yeah, you're mean and scary enough to pull it off.”

Iruka shook his head and quickly said, “Naruto, shut up and eat your ramen.”

~!~

Gritting her teeth, she grumbled at her reflection before throwing the outfit away from her. Damn it, she used to be so good at this, and now, she couldn't even come up with a nice outfit to go out in.

After lunch, Naruto had, somehow, managed to convince her to come out with him to the bar, and since she agreed to his request, he agreed to help her move her stuff from her mom's house to her new apartment.

Now, as she stood in front of the mirror, she made a face at her reflection before muttering, “Fuck this.” Grabbing a pair of loose pants and a halter top, she quickly dressed and then rolled her eyes when a loud banging was heard at her door.

Gritting her teeth, she quickly moved to the door and opened it just as Naruto was about to knock again, and caught his fist in her hand, and squeezed.

“Ow, ow, ow....Sakura, let go!” Naruto said, his face showing just how much she was hurting him. Smirking, she released him and shook her head. “Keep banging like that, and your going to upset my neighbors.” She replied, dryly.

Letting the young man in, she closed the door and sighed. “Sorry about the mess. After you left, I got busy on thinking about tomorrow, and time got away from me.” She said.

“Don't worry about it, Sakura.” He grinned. “My place is just as messy.”

“Yeah, but you have the cleaning instincts of a goat.” Sakura replied, and ignored his shout of protest. She reached over and grabbed a pair of boots. Once she had them on, she glanced at her friend and asked, “Are you ready?”

Naruto gave his former teammate an appraising look-over and bit back a sigh. He just knew that he was going to be getting into fights at the bar. She was beautiful, and the fact that she wasn't trying to flaunt anything just made her beauty stand out even more. He knew her better than anyone, and knew that she had her faults, but the fact that she seemed so comfortable in her skin, well, it made her seem so much more appealing.

“Yep, let's go. Oh, by the way, Sasuke is going to meet up with us. We want to have a little reunion, and he said that Kakashi-sensei might even join us.” Naruto said, as he watched her lock her front door.

Nodding, Sakura followed the young man down the steps and out into the cool night. Neither noticed that a door closed softly after they passed.

Kakashi had heard Naruto's voice, and cringed when he waited for the expected pounding on his door, but he wondered how the young man found out where he had moved to. But, when the pounding began on another door, Kakashi quietly got up and moved to his own door, cracked it open and watched as the door opened and a hand covered Naruto's.

He grinned when he heard Naruto's painful request, and then narrowed his eyes when Sakura appeared and moved aside to let him in. Her hair had grown and was longer than what it had been when she cut it during the time when she was his student, and her body looked as though it had filled out, but he could not see her face since she had turned her back to him.

When the pair emerged from her apartment, he watched as she moved to walk beside Naruto, and due to his larger size, her face was, again, blocked from seeing her face. Sighing, he decided to just go ahead and go to their little get-together. After what Sasuke had said to him, he was curious. After all, he was a grown man, in his prime, and seeing a pretty girl would do him some good, even if he couldn't touch her. Besides, Genma would be there and would probably hit on her, thus causing his former students to defend her honor. He should really be there to make sure that nothing got out of hand.

So, that was how he came to be standing in front of the bar, in a pair of slacks and dark blue button down shirt. Opening the door, he saw several people look up and wave at him. However, he was more interested in finding his students.

“NARUTO!” A loud voice yelled, catching his attention, and then a slap was heard. Moving towards the direction of the slap, Kakashi was treated to the sight of Sasuke holding Sakura back as she attempted to lunge at the blonde, who was now cowering in the corner of the booth.

“Let me go!” Sakura hissed. “I'm gonna put him out of my misery!” She tried to lunge again, but froze when Kakashi calmly said, “Now, children. That is no way to behave in public.”

Sasuke gave him a slight nod, while Naruto waved at him in greeting. Sakura, still glaring at Naruto, turned to face him, and he was blown away. The years had certainly been good to her, filling her out in the right places. Her eyes were clear and gentle, and her skin appeared to be unblemished. She was beautiful.

“I know how to behave, Kakashi-sensei, but Naruto needs a lesson in how to speak to a lady.” She snapped, her eyes darting over to the hokage-wannabe.

“But, you're not a lady....you're Sakura.” Naruto said, and shot underneath the table to escape the onslaught of pain that Sakura was about to deliver to him. However, he was saved when Kakashi grabbed Sakura around her waist and calmly said, “Sakura, let's go order some drinks and let Sasuke talk to Naruto.”

Turning, Sakura flipped the young man off, who was peeking out from under the table, but then followed the older man to the bar. Naruto slowly slid back into his seat, and glanced at Sasuke.

“I told you, didn't I? Mean and scary!” He said, motioning towards the bar where Sakura was standing.

“You're such an ass.” Sasuke muttered, and shook his dark head.

“What did you say, bastard?” Naruto snapped, his tone challenging.

~!~

“So, how do you like being back in Konaha?” Kakashi asked, ignoring the stares and whistles that were currently coming from the table that held his friends.

Sakura blushed when she heard someone call out, “If you don't want her, I'll take her.” Kakashi glared over at the speaker, but then turned his eyes back to Sakura, who said, “To be honest, I don't want to be here. I liked it over in Sajai.”

Nodding, Kakashi quickly told the bartender their order, then said, “I heard that your father volunteered you. I guess that you also know that you'll be working with me. Does that bother you?”

“No, it doesn't. I guess we'll just have to deal with the situation the best way we can.” Sakura replied. When their drinks were ready, they moved back to the table, and Sakura noticed that Naruto was glaring at the table, while Sasuke was smirking.

Sliding in next to Sasuke, Sakura asked, “So, what happened?”

Both males glared at each other for a moment, but then shrugged. “We have come to a small understanding.” Sasuke said, his tone cool.

“Understanding, my ass. You threatened to tell Hinata that I wore women's underwear. We both know that I only put that on for the last Halloween party.” Naruto growled. “And, to make things worse, he has pictures.”

Sakura began to laugh as did Kakashi. When they finally were able to calm down, Sakura turned to Sasuke and said, “I'd like copies, please.”

Naruto's face was a study in horror, and it caused Sakura to break out into laughter once more. As the night progressed, they caught up on old times, and it was clear to all three men that not only had Sakura changed in appearance, but her attitude had changed as well.

But, if they needed proof of just how drastically her attitude had changed, they got it when a man walked over to their table and slammed his fist down on the hard wood, right in front of Sakura, causing everyone to grow quiet.

“I understand that your going to be the one to teach that daughter of mine how to be a shinobi. Good luck with that. She's worthless.” He sneered, his break reeking of alcohol.

The men were about to speak their minds, but Sakura beat them to the punch. She was out of her seat and in the man's face before anyone had time to react.

“You know, I met your daughter today, and with you as her father, I can understand why she is so damn shy. You've killed any kind of confidence that she ever held, and take pleasure in it. If you ask me, I'd say that you're the one who is worthless.” Sakura replied, her tone cold as ice.

The man snorted and shook his head. “Big words from a little girl.” He jeered, missing the twitch that Sakura's eye made. “And, I can't believe that you are going to teach them anything. Hell, you don't look like much to me, except for something to fuck. Tell you what, why don't you let me butter your little muffin. That should take some of the fire out of you.”

Several chairs slid back and knuckles cracked, but Sakura quickly moved to kick the man's feet out from under him and had a knife to his throat before he could blink. When he noticed his new position, he glanced up at Sakura with his eyebrows raised.

Nodding, Sakura calmly said, “It's true that I'm not that big or tough-looking. But, I am strong enough and smart enough to put someone like you to the ground without even breaking a sweat. To answer your question, no. I am not training your daughter to be a shinobi. I am training her to be an omega shinobi.”

“Yeah, right.” He snorted, but then gasped when her knife cut his skin, causing a thin line of blood to run down his neck.

“You are messing with the wrong woman.” She said, ignoring the way he tried to struggle underneath her. “I am well-aware that your daughter is now in the dorms, and that you are not to have any contact with her. Let this serve as your only warning. Come near her, or my other students, I'll kill you and do it with a smile on my face.”

When she removed the knife, and stood up, the man quickly found his feet and glared down at her. “Let's see you do that when I am completely sober.” He snapped.

Raising her eyebrow, Sakura replied, “Oh, go home and let your alcohol muscles deflate. Besides, don't you have anything else better to do than to prove to everyone in here that you like to pick on girls. Giving him a saccharine sweet smile, she returned to her seat and took a dainty sip of her drink.

Snorting, the man stomped out of the bar, ignoring the fact that he was still bleeding from the cut on his neck. Naruto stared at Sakura with his mouth open and said, “Wow.”

“Indeed.” Kakashi murmured. He had been ready to step in and defend Sakura's honor, but when he saw her deal with the situation, he knew that his student no longer needed him to rescue her. In some ways, she had left all of them behind.

Sasuke smirked. While he would have enjoyed a good brawl, the fact that Sakura proved that she could handle herself told him that she was exactly what he was looking for to help him rebuild his clan. With her as his wife, and mother to his children, the Uchihas would be unstoppable.

However, his pleasant thoughts stopped in their tracks when the door opened and Ino walked in. Shikamaru and Choji were with her, and when his eyes met hers, they narrowed, causing her to look away.

Shika had seen the small exchange, and decided that it was time for Sasuke and him to have a talk. Leading the blond woman over to their former sensei, he made her sit down and told Choji to order them drinks.

Once she was distracted, he casually moved towards the table and stopped beside Sakura, who gave him a bright smile, to which he nodded.

“I'd like to have a word with you, Uchiha.” He said, his tone bored. When the young man glanced at him, he lifted a brow when Sasuke said, “So, go ahead.”

“Leave her alone.” Shika said. “Ino doesn't deserve to be treated like this, and she loves you. Now that something better has come along, you feel that it is alright to throw her away, and I'm not going to let you hurt her. Just stop coming to her when you feel you need to get laid.”

Sasuke felt Sakura stiffen, but snapped, “Ino and I are not together. We dated, but have nothing firm. Besides, she acts like she is my wife, and I wouldn't marry her if she were the last kunochi in Konaha.”

A loud gasp was heard, and all eyes at the table turned to see Ino standing behind Shikamaru with Choji. Her eyes were filled with tears and before anyone could say another word, she turned and ran out of the bar, her sobs reaching their ears.

Asuma quietly got up and bent over to kiss Kurenai on her cheek. “Well, it looks as though that box of tissues will be coming in handy tonight. I'll see you later.” He murmured, and took off after his distraught former student, giving Sasuke a glare in passing.

Glaring at Choji, Shika snapped, “You were supposed to keep her at the table with Asuma-sensei.”

Choji shrugged and said, “She didn't want any trouble to be started and was coming over here to get you. I think that we need to go, Shika.”

Nodding, the slimmer man turned to glare at Sasuke before addressing Sakura. “Don't get too close to him, Sakura. He clearly doesn't care who he has to step on, or who he hurts, as long as he rebuilds his precious clan.” He snapped, his eyes moving back up to Sasuke, who was shooting him glares meant to intimidate.

Turning on his heel, he threw over his shoulder at Kakashi, “What a great job you did with your prized pupil. His ability to destroy someone emotionally is to be envied. I'm sure your proud.”

When he was gone, Sakura slowly turned to Sasuke and quietly asked, “What exactly is going on?”

Shrugging, Sasuke glared at Naruto when he began to talk, but then said, “Ino got it into her head that we were meant to be together, forever. I don't desire a future with her, and never started a relationship with her. We hung out, and had sex a few times, but it was never more than that.”

Rolling her eyes, Sakura muttered, “I see.”

Kakashi sighed and stood up. “I'd like to have a word with you, Sasuke.” Moving towards the door, he didn't bother to look behind him to see if Sasuke was following. He knew that the younger man would. When they were both outside, and out of earshot, Sakura leaned over, grabbed Naruto's shirt and snapped, “Ok, spill it and it had better be good.”