It's Always Been Us All
Our Silly Fights
Sakura had been shocked to hear that Naruto was back in the village. She wasn’t shocked that he was back, per say— she was shocked that she hadn’t even seen him! She had talked to Hinata in Ino’s flower shop… for some reason she thought that the shy girl had gone there for the sole purpose of letting her know that the blonde was back. The Hyuga girl had taken about twenty minutes to let her know the news, and had left without buying any flowers.
She had to admit she was nervous about the confrontation she was hoping to have. Scared that her blonde wouldn’t even want to look at her after what she had done to him. But honestly, did he really have a good reason to be angry with her? It wasn’t as if though she had ever promised to be his… Those were fantasy’s that the baka had thought up all on his own.
She knew where he was now though, and she was going to find him and settle things right away. Naruto was at the academy. After Hinata had informed her of Naruto and Kiba’s arrival, she had sought out the Dog boy herself. She wanted to ask questions she knew were not wise to ask Naruto at the moment. He was a feisty one, he would easily think that any attempt of her wanting to know how he was, was some sort of way to mock him, and once again it would all turn out to be some sort of betrayal on her behalf. She was no fool; she knew how things worked in that messy mind of his… She knew Naruto hadn’t forgiven her yet.
It had even been more shocking to hear that they had brought back a… souvenir, for lack of a better word, with them. And that was the reason why Naruto was at the Academy. Sakura wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. Naruto had brought back to Konoha a girl… a girl that had attacked them. Kiba had said that Ako was of no harm to anyone— she was too weak and had no real training. But still… she had attacked them! What the hell was Naruto thinking?!
Of course she didn’t really plan on letting the blonde know her true thoughts. First she planned on somehow managing to earn the blondes forgiveness before letting inner Sakura take over and beating the shit out of him for his recklessness!
“Sakura, what are you doing here?” It was Iruka-sensi, and she was happy for the familiar voice.
“Do you know where Naruto is?” She didn’t even bother on answering the old man’s question; she knew he wouldn’t get offended. The man should be used to their rashness by now.
“He’s showing Ako around… I think they’re on the second floor.” Iruka-sensi watched her silently and she became uneasy. She wanted to find Naruto before her old sensi started probing her for answers. “Arigato, I think I’ll go find him now.”
Walking around the corner to where she knew was an old elevator that would take her to her destination; Sakura prepared herself for the inevitable. She knew already that Naruto would be nothing less than rude. Hopefully though, she would be smart enough to avoid his attempts at getting away. He always did that, he always left when he was uncomfortable. It was rather annoying.
Small children running after their companions smiled at her as she passed by, walking through the old halls of her old school. She found herself wanting to be as careless as them once more; being a kid was really much better than constantly worrying about life… about people. She remembered being their age, and a small smiled etched itself onto her thin lips.
She saw a blur of orange walk around the corner and she knew immediately who it was. Smiling, Sakura felt a surge of relief go through her as she finally saw for herself that Naruto was indeed unharmed from the mission. That was good.
She followed the path that brought her to room 123. Frowning as she heard small giggles coming from inside the room, Sakura got closer. The girl, Ako, was sitting on one of the student’s desk laughing at something funny that Naruto had said. She wondered if the girl knew how annoying she sounded… or how horrible her dress was.
Sakura’s eyes widened somewhat as Naruto leaned in to place a small kiss on the girl’s cheek. What. The. Fuck? Why was Naruto touching that bitch?!
“Naruto-kun, you’re being too charming,” Ako’s smile made a knot build inside Sakura’s stomach.
“And you’re being seductive,” Naruto took the girl’s hand into his own, “We should find Iruka-sensi, you’re going to be helping him, after all. Not me.”
Sakura watched as they started walking towards her… and she saw the exact moment when Naruto registered her too. It was the moment when he stopped walking, let go of Ako’s hand, and his eyes widened into saucers. If she wasn’t so pissed she would have started laughing.
“Naruto… You’re back.” Well that was the stupidest thing to say, wasn’t it OBVIOUS that he was back?! Sakura wanted to kick herself as the girl beside Naruto raised an eyebrow at her— smiled at her!
There was an awkward moment of silence in which she absolutely had no idea what to say. She figured the same thing was going on with Naruto; and either Ako seemed to be waiting for one of them to say something, or she was enjoying the tension building in the room. She was starting to regret coming here to look for the blonde. This was stupid. It was all stupid. Why the hell was she here again?!
Ako cleared her throat, “Hello… You must be Sakura?”
Well, that had been unexpected. So Naruto had mentioned her, huh? She couldn’t help the butterflies that exploded inside of her at the thought that Naruto had mentioned her to that bitch.
“Kiba mentioned you— the girl with short pink hair.” Ako smirked as Sakura’s eyebrow twitched. “We were just going to go find Iruka-sensi, perhaps you could walk with us?”
The very idea of walking anywhere with that bitch made Sakura sick to the stomach. She wasn’t going anywhere. She had come to speak with Naruto, and that was what she was going to do. Ako could go find Iruka-sensi on her own. Damned bitch!
“Actually,” She let her voice come out smooth, it was time to be manipulative and get her way in this, and it worked on Sasuke all the time, “Perhaps you could give me and Naruto a minute or two? He’ll meet up with you down stairs.”
Ako looked at Naruto, as if though asking the blonde if that’s what he wanted to do. When Naruto didn’t even so much as look up at her, the girl looked straight into Sakura’s eyes once more, smirking.
“Actually, I think I really might get lost. If you need your privacy with him so much, then you could wait until he’s done here. Perhaps he’ll even go for you later on?” The damned bitch knew it was all bullshit. She was throwing it in Sakura’s face too! Naruto didn’t want to speak with her!
“Listen you… Ako. I really need to speak to him, if you can’t even find your way downstairs, then I’m sure you shouldn’t be working here.” Sakura’s fists clenched as Ako grabbed onto Naruto’s arm.
Oh no that bitch did not just grab a hold of him like that! I’ll crush her with one fucking punch!!! Inner Sakura was really irritating sometimes. Possessive too! Sakura had to use lots and lots of will power to control Inner Sakura at that moment…
“You heard her Sakura. Besides, I don’t want to see or even talk to you right now. And tell that bastard to not look for me either. I won’t tell you again.” Naruto shoved Sakura aside as he walked away with Ako in his arm.
She watched them go. She heard that bitch giggle again. She saw as Naruto’s arm went around Ako’s waist. Sakura watched him lean over and whisper something into her ear. She felt herself wanting to do nothing but go into her room and cry…
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Sitting in Ino’s flower shop, Sakura realized that she had no life. Aside from Sasuke, nothing interested her… well maybe that wasn’t completely true. Ever since Naruto had returned with Ako, they had been on her mind regularly. It was almost as if though she had become obsessed with that bitch… with them both. It was weird. She kept telling herself that she was just worrying for her friend… Naruto was after all one of her best friends. But then something deep, deep, WAY, WAY, WAY, deep, inside of her wanted to argue that…
Naruto was way more of a friend than Sasuke… who was supposed to be her boyfriend! What the fuck? You’d think he’d come up with ways to make her happy… but no, it seemed like he enjoyed making her suffer. It seemed like he never really ever wanted her around!
It was already three days into Naruto’s return and every time she tried to go near him, he simply turned his face on her. She was seriously starting to wonder if something was stuck up his ass! And that was usually Sasuke’s territory.
Speaking of which, she wondered if Sasuke had even tried to talk to the blonde yet. Oddly enough, he’d been brooding more and more lately, talking even less (which equaled to no talking at all), and staying inside his home at all times. He had even declined a mission. And that was saying something!
She knew this because Lee had so gentleman like gone to say goodbye to her in case he never got to see her again… When she inquired as to where he was going, he had said he was going to Sand because rumors had it that the Akatsuki were on the move and they needed to go talk politics and what not. Supposedly Sand was their next target, and if they got away with whatever it was that they were doing, Konoha would be where the S-Rank criminals would be staying for a while. Sakura was never one for such things, but when Lee mentioned that Tsunade had tried to send Sasuke at first, it really was surprising that the Uchiha had declined. After all, he usually was crazed when it came down to anything having to do with his brother. Especially when the younger Uchiha thought that his bastard of a brother might hurt his friends. Sasuke was really protective of the Leaf, even if he had betrayed it.
Not only that, but when she had brought the subject up, Sasuke had once again thrown her out. And this time literally. FACE fucking DOWN into the DIRT! It really made her wonder what was going on with her boyfriend… if he could even be called that! Sometimes she wondered if she had made a mistake by accepting to be his girlfriend. But even Sakura couldn’t lie to herself when it came to such a thing… She loved Sasuke. Loved him more than anything in this world… she would give her very soul for him— and if that meant she had to tolerate an abusive lover (okay he didn’t abuse her but he was always so damned moody! And she did like making herself out to be the victim… it was safer and she was always right like that), then she would do it.
“Sakura, did you hear?” Ino yelled from the back of the store, catching Sakura off guard.
Grumbling to herself, Sakura rolled her eyes. Ino always had new gossip. Always. “Hear what, Ino-pig?”
“Ako’s been flirting with Anko Mitarashi, like in public.” Ino came out of the back room, dusting her apron and taking her gloves off.
What?! Had she just heard right? Had she just said that Ako, Naruto’s bitch, had been flirting with Anko Mitarashi?! Anko Mitarashi from the chunin exams— wasn’t that woman OLD?! Better yet… wasn’t that woman a… WOMAN?!
“What the hell are you talking about, Ino-pig?” Sakura stared at her disbelieving. “No way would she do that, Naruto’s been watching her, she wouldn’t have the time to do it behind his back,” Sakura shook her head, thinking that maybe Ino really did come up with some of this stuff sometimes just out of boredom.
“Oh no, forehead girl, Naruto was there alright… He looked rather turned on by the whole thing too. I mean, who wouldn’t be, right? Ako and Anko are total babes… I guess it’s every guy’s wet dream. And I’m pretty sure they’ve been doing more than flirting too…” Ino smiled as if though what she had just said was perfectly normal.
“You’re saying that Ako-bitch was flirting in front of Naruto with another girl… You’re saying that they’re fucking, and Uzumaki doesn’t even care?!” She knew she was overreacting. It wasn’t even her business who Naruto dated… but somehow that sounded as if though Ako was taking advantage of Naruto. As if though she didn’t even respect him! That angered her. Naruto deserved so much better than a skinny black haired short bitch!
“I have to go talk to him. And this time he’s going to listen!” She threw an angry look at Ino who was about to start telling her that her shift wasn’t through yet… it was her fault to begin with! She was going to talk to Naruto now.
Ino sighed and rolled her eyes, “Go, go, I’ll cover for you.”
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Okay she supposed this was illegal, but she really didn’t have another choice. Sakura really needed to talk to that blonde idiot and he didn’t give her a single minute in public… so she decided to go for plan B. Which was breaking an entry— into a very, very, very dirty and stinky apartment, she mused.
Whilst waiting, Sakura found herself immensely bored and disgusted. So she figured giving the rotten place a nice clean up couldn’t hurt. Though she was really starting to regret doing it… things were growing under Naruto’s couch that she didn’t even want to think about.
Her mind traveled back to what Ino had said to her in the flower shop. Ino had made it clear that Ako and Anko Mitarashi were very much having relations… How Ino would have any proof of that, she had no idea, but she knew that Ino was always 91% right. She wondered why Naruto put up with such a thing! If Sasuke did something like that to her… god no, just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach. Sasuke was hers, and she didn’t plan on sharing him with no skinny bitch!
And oddly enough, she had to admit that she was feeling… jealous of Ako. Not jealous because she liked Naruto in that way, heavens no! But jealous because Naruto was supposed to be one of her best friends… and he wouldn’t even give her the time of day. Now, it wasn’t something she was completely sure of, but she was fairly certain that it was wrong to discard your old friends for the new ones. Why was he doing that to her?! It angered and pissed her off all at the same time.
Sometimes Sakura wished that things could go back to when they had been only students in the Academy— no worries! And it had only been the three of them: Sasuke, Naruto, and her. Always. It didn’t matter that they met new people, it didn’t matter that they trained hard and got into fights at all times. They had always been a team, they always had each other. Always.
But she knew it wasn’t that simple anymore. Sasuke had betrayed Konoha. Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya to get Sasuke back, and they had left her. They had both left her for power… and she had trained with Tsunade so that they wouldn’t think less of her when they came back. Because she had never doubted that they would come back.
Sasuke had left with Orochimaru to gain power… but Sasuke wasn’t evil, she had known this the whole time. She knew he’d return. And if he wouldn’t return on his own, she knew that Naruto’s strength would be enough to get him back. She knew that no one on earth would have been able to bring him back if it wasn’t herself or Naruto. Thank kami that Sasuke had realized on his own the mistake he had made.
“What are you doing in my apartment?” Naruto’s voice was low, she could tell he was angry. Gulping, she turned and was shocked to see Sasuke staring at her with his usual bored expression… next to Naruto.
Well that was a big shocker. She had expected Naruto to be alone…damn! Don’t get her wrong, Sakura loved Sasuke with all her heart… but whenever he was there he made her nervous and she never did seem to speak correctly when the Uchiha was around.
“… I needed to talk to you.” She quietly responded, looking over at Sasuke and trying to see if he was angry.
Sighing, Naruto looked at Sakura for a moment before relenting and taking a seat on his surprisingly clean couch. “Yeah… well, join the club,” He mumbled as he rested his feet on the wooden table he usually ate on.
“I didn’t expect to find you here Sakura,” Sasuke silently accused. Well, to most people it would have sounded like nothing at all, but Sakura knew better— it was most definitely an accusation.
“Yes, well we both need to talk to him and I guess it’s now a good time.” She stood directly in front of Naruto and frowned as she realized that he had his eyes closed, head leaning against the couches arm.
“Naruto… you can’t keep avoiding me.” She started, but knew that it had been a mistake as soon as the blonde’s eyes opened and she saw the anger reflected in them.
“You can’t really tell me what I can and can’t do Sakura. I choose my friends… Don’t get offended if you’re no longer one of them.” Naruto’s words hurt. And oddly enough, she was surprised by that fact.
“You don’t understand Naruto—” Sakura tried again in vain, the blonde only interrupted her rudely.
“No Sakura you don’t understand. You know what I realized while away on this mission? I realized that you guys have always been jerks to me… and I have always put up with it! But I don’t need you. I never have. And you guys obviously don’t need me… so just shut the fuck up and leave me the hell alone!” Naruto stood up furiously, sending an accusing glare towards Sasuke. “And you Uchiha,” Naruto spat the name out like dripping acid, “I don’t know why the fuck you’re even here… Maybe Sakura I would have expected… but you, who the fuck are you trying to fool? Both of you are not worth my friendship… and fuck you if you think I’m going to forgive you for what you did! As if you even care, bastard!”
“Listen Naruto, I know we should have told you… but you can’t just say we’re no longer friends just like that!” Sakura cried.
“Oh yeah? Well it’s said. I don’t need you anymore.” Naruto looked at Sakura, and she felt lost.
What was she going to do?
“Get out, the both of you,” The blonde’s voice was low— threatening even. And suddenly Sakura was angry. She knew exactly why Naruto was acting like this! He’d probably been brainwashed by that bitch he was dragging around everywhere now! Well she wasn’t just going to take it. Oh hell no!
“Listen here orange boy! You have no right to end our friendship like this! We didn’t have to tell you shit about that if we didn’t want to! That was our personal life, and if we chose to keep it to ourselves then there is no reason why you should be acting like this!” Sakura screamed and she knew then and there that she had messed up, just by the look in her blondes eyes. She was hurting him… and she was starting to feel sick. She needed to lay down… now.
“Yes… you’re right. It really wasn’t any of my business…” Naruto looked down, clenching his fists at his side, “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still in my apartment.”
She stared at him. At the way her usual loud and brash blonde seemed to have lost all his happiness. He looked beat down and tired, he looked as if though nothing mattered to him anymore. He was sick… but then again, weren’t they all? She didn’t know what to do. She was clueless and didn’t know what she wanted anymore… she didn’t know if whether Sasuke was worth loosing Naruto’s friendship.
Was it really worth it?
“That’s enough dobe,” She looked up and met Sasuke’s eyes. He looked indifferent to the whole situation… like always. He was looking at her though, telling her to keep her mouth shut with those big black orbs that she could just drown herself in… The idea was too tempting. It was weird how the Uchiha could express no emotion in his eyes, and yet she always knew what he wanted.
“That isn’t what’s really bothering you… is it Naruto? It’s not that we kept it a secret from you…is it? Tell me Naruto, do you really like this Ako? Do you have any idea what sort of rumors I’ve heard about you two?” The jealousy was completely unmistakable. It was there. And Sakura found herself stepping away from the two. She had a feeling things were going to get bloody.
“So what if I do like Ako, what’s it to you?!” Naruto spat, shaking his head back and forth furiously. “It’s not like the two of you ever cared! Stupid asshole! Get out of my fucking apartment!”
It happened so fast that Sakura wasn’t sure how it exactly started. One moment Naruto was yelling at the top of his lungs for them to get out… and the next moment, Sasuke and Naruto both had bloody noses. They were actually fighting in front of her and she couldn’t even find her voice.
Sasuke aimed a well trained punch into Naruto’s kidney, causing the blonde to cough up more blood. And just as Sasuke was going to lean over and probably cause more pain with his hands, another Naruto appeared behind Sasuke— kicking him into a wall. She watched as they exchanged hits, more and more blood spilling before her eyes.
They had never fought like this before. With so much anger… The time that they had, Sasuke had betrayed Konoha! Never had they sought after so much blood over a stupid fight! And even though she was angry at them both for letting it get so out of hand… she couldn’t help but notice as Naruto’s muscles rippled and stretched and were very much shown through his torn black T-Shirt! She couldn’t help but notice the sweat that caressed the Uchiha’s forehead as he concentrated on summoning his Chidori… Wait… what?!
Sakura’s eyes widened as Sasuke’s Chidori crackled and prepared itself to attack. She couldn’t let it get this far out of hand! Naruto’s apartment would be completely destroyed!
She watched as Sasuke ran towards Naruto and it was as if though something had completely possessed her. Her body moved of its own accord. She placed herself between Naruto and the Chidori, hoping that it didn’t hit the blonde.
She watched as Sasuke’s eyes widened in fear, as it was obviously too late to stop the attack and his Chidori had been meant to hurt Naruto… She was no fool, she was not at Naruto’s level at all… and she was starting to wonder if maybe this had been a bad idea. Naruto could take care of himself, after all!
She didn’t have much time to think of it though, because she was suddenly thrown against a wall, painfully, as the Chidori made contact with one of Naruto’s ribs. He had taken the hit for her. And she felt like an idiot now. Because thinking of it clearly, Sasuke wasn’t trying to kill Naruto! Naruto was by all means capable of defending himself… he would have found a way out of it and would probably have not gotten hurt at all… but she had stepped in his way, and thanks to her the Chidori had hit him at full power! And it was all her fault…!
Sasuke’s Chidori dispersed from his hand, and the Uchiha immediately went to Naruto’s side. “Dobe…?” He was worried, she could tell.
The blonde muttered something unintelligently before passing out. Sasuke picked him up gently and carried him to his bed, motioning for Sakura to come to his aid. “Take his clothes off and fix him,” Sasuke said as he left.
Sakura watched as the Uchiha retreated, leaving her alone with the blonde. She was shaking and she couldn’t stop herself from doing so. She looked down at Naruto and a wave of guilt rushed in on her. She should have let them settle things the way they always did— fighting. She shouldn’t have gotten in their way. It was all her fault!
Fighting down the tears that were threatening to spill, Sakura cleared her head and focused on the job at hand. She was a medical-nin, and right now she needed to be professional if she was to help Naruto…
Allowing her hands to hover over the blonds ribs, Sakura summoned her chakra and got a quick analysis of the blonde’s current condition. Surprisingly, he wasn’t hurt too bad. He’d just need to rest a little bit, and with his healing ability, he’d be up in a few hours.
That could only mean that Sasuke had lessened the power of his Chidori before it made contact with Naruto… because really, if it had hit him full force, it wouldn’t matter if Naruto had the kyuubi sealed within him, Naruto would have been in bed for at least three or four days!
Sighing in relief, Sakura made her way to the kitchen so that she could wet a rag and place it on the blonde’s forehead— to prevent him from developing a fever. If all went well, he’d be up and kicking her out of his apartment in no time…
Her sadness rushed in once again at that thought.
---- End Chapter-----
AN: Oh god that took forever to beta AND write! But yay for updates! No actual smut… but I’m working on it! Jeesh! You guys are such perverts! Naruto is going through a lot and all you want him to do is fuck! *pushes bad, naughty images out of head*
*cough, cough* LOL, whatever. Anyways, thanks a lot for those that stayed throughout this whole chapter… It was a bit long, but I think we needed to hear someone else’s POV besides Naruto, huh? And Sasuke is hella hard to write, especially while I’m always thinking… “Oh shit, is he in character?!” Hope you guys liked it, please, please, please, pretty please review! If you want more, honestly, reviews are what keep me writing! They help tons, tons, and tons! ANNNDDdddD it only takes like 30 seconds of your time… *smirks*
Till Next Chappie—
~GOTD~