Chapter Text
Tick…tick…tick . That’s all that passed through her head. The empty sound of the clock ticking,
“Is time linear?” A quizzical frown crossed her face.
Such a deep question for him to ask.
“That idiot asked me when we spar last time…what even is linear? Sounds like food.”
Of course, why would such a question come from his mouth.
“Well for one linear means straight, ongoing, forever if you will. As for the context of time, he was simply asking if you think time is forever moving…not just going in circles.” She flipped to the next page of her book. The kunoichi had been avoiding her edgy teammate since their previous interaction. She internally bit her lip worrying the edges of the page she was skimming over.
“Hm…what do you think Sakura?”
The girl sat and thought before offering a small smile, “I'm not sure Naruto,” Sakura closed the book with a small sigh. Flopping down on the bed next to the blonde he turned to look at her,
“Hn…What's wrong Sakura?” He stared at her, those bright blue eyes exposing her every thought.
“Naruto, how…how do you apologize to someone who has been nothing but kind to you, yet you said something terrible about them?” Naruto’s eyebrow raised,
“Just apologize, if they it’s truly bad at least you wouldn’t be lying to them and you would clear your concise.” She stared at the him,
“I see…Naruto, Im sorry-”
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The Chunin exams had left Haruno Sakura a complete mess, not just her hair… why had I cut my hair dumb move Sakura. She looked in the mirror, her fingers running through the tips of terribly cut hair. She sighed, “Maybe I could ask someone to cut it more evenly…so it doesn’t look too terrible. I wonder if Ino could do it, her mom is usually too busy.” Are we really going to trust that Ino-pig? Well whatever…maybe I should’ve asked Lee. The Ninja had been on her thoughts since the exams she had just gotten back from getting flowers for him per Hinata’s suggestion. She had gone with Shiki and her to find the best ones to get. Guilt wasn’t the only thing that ate away at her conscie, the flowers weren’t simply some pity gift they were something more than that. Whether Sakura would admit that was up for debate. His smile danced around her thoughts and she smiled before quickly clearing her throat. Oh don’t deny it, we totally like bushy brows! “Hush up brain not right now, not with our hair in shambles,” Gosh had we gone to see bushy brows with our hair so…so, disheveled. That word couldn’t even properly describe how it looked. Shiki and Hinata hadn’t brought it up. Maybe it wasn’t terrible? “ Let's both face it…they were both lying.” Well we did put it in a ponytail when we saw Lee right? But I suppose he was there when we had cut it off. A deep scowl crossed her face. It’s fine, we can fix it later. The hair wasn’t the issue. It hadn't looked bad no, not her hair, rather everything else. The uneven ends were fine fixable even, but the deep dark almost black circles that rested under her red eyes from sleep deprivation was what concerned Shikamaru and Hinata. The near death experience had kept her up at night, which entails crying herself to sleep before quickly waking up in a cold sweat. The phantom pain she felt was all too real, slowly they had manifested into night terrors. The experience with death was terrible, some nights she would see herself holding Sasuke’s lifeless body and trying to bandage it while Naruto tried to fight off Haku. Other nights it was Naruto trying to save Gaara or Lee fighting till his last breath against the kid. Over the weeks it had gotten better, the missions they had occupied her mind as slowly those fears had calmed. But there was still that lingering thought in the back of her mind. The only person she had told was Kakashi-Sensei, he had simply nodded and placed a hand on her hair ‘I see’ was all that he said. She could see that he saw right through her concerns and his eye gave way to that plotting look. Another thought crossed her mind at that moment. She had been too weak to save them, to defend them, to stop them from getting hurt and in the end she wasn’t the one to save them either.
A small sigh escaped her trembling lips. “Some Ninja I am,” She couldn’t protect her teammates or her own life. All she could do was cut her damn hair. She was lucky the others came to her rescue. She couldn’t stand the thought…others saving her, not being able to help. Kakashi-sensei had taken Naruto and Sasuke out for training and told Sakura to ‘rest up’ because she ‘needed it’ but she didn't. She needed to train like Naruto and Sasuke to get stronger to never allow something like that to happen again. Suddenly her face felt warm and wet. Tears, because all she could do was cry, when Naruto had passed out or when Sasuke was lying unconscious next to him. A fist meeting the sink was the only thing she could do before wiping the tears. A crash was then heard but it wasn't her doing. Another fight . With a sigh she dragged herself out of the bathroom and out of her room. Civilian parents were such a pain…I spent too much time with Shiki. “Ma, Dad! Stop fighting or- another crash…shit. Ma, Dad stop-
“Just what the hell do you need Sakura Haruno!? What is so important? Or do you think because you’re some fancy ninja now you can waltz in and act like you own the damn place. I pay for this house that apparently you’re too good for!”
This again…
“Oh so suddenly you pay for everything? who do you think covers the bills of your shopping sprees or when you complain you want to go on dates?”
Why am I always in the middle of their bickering
“So suddenly me wanting my husband to pay some attention to me is the same as food and groceries!?”
Couldn’t they handle this later.
She couldn’t deal with their bickering today, not right now. She walked back up the stairs before another yell followed.
“Hey don’t walk away when I’m talking to you-”
She didn’t hear the rest of her yelling, her ears buzzing. She needed to leave, it doesn't matter where, just not here. She went to her room, not bothering to close the door as she grabbed her duffle bag. It's almost routine at this point. Maybe sleeping in one of Naruto’s makeshift sleeping bags would get rid of those pesky night terrors and she wouldn’t have to sleep through her mothers drunken antics. It was not worth going downstairs hearing insults hurled her way as she sprinted to Naruto’s dingy apartment. Instead she climbed out of her window and began jumping across rooftops, a trick Naruto taught her. Even when she was trying to be strong alone somehow it always linked back to them. Maybe because she needed them to be strong. She was weak on her own.
Soon she had made it to his house, if you could call it that. She didn’t bother knocking or asking permission. They were past that it was her second home, though she would never admit that to them. What had basically become Sasuke and Naruto’s apartment was also becoming hers in a small way. Naruto was always welcoming and Sasuke seemed unbotherd by her presence though she could see the apprehension in his posture. She couldn’t blame him either; she had been obsessed with him throughout their entire time of knowing each other. She still found the man attractive but someone else had truly caught her eye not just because of his looks either. Though after the Chunin Exams he seemed to pick up on her new found crush and actually began to act somewhat pleasant to her. Speaking of him becoming pleasant even she had to admit Sasuke used to be a loner which added to his bad boy charm in theory but in practice. Total buzz kill. The only person he was ever soft with (if you could call it that more like less prickly) was Naruto. They were both extremely close whether or not they could tell it was not for her to decide, ‘they’ll figure it out…eventually’ Kakashi-sensei had told her. She gave him a questioning look, but his eyes simply just crinkled at the sides. After observing the two she finally understood.
She pushed up the window to his small apartment and slipped inside. She sighed as she dropped her bag to the floor.
“Sakura!” two voices rang out. It startled her before the two preteens ran up to grab either one of her hands.
“Sakura tell this Usuratonkachi he can’t just make up rules when playing cards.”
“Nuh uh, Sakura tell this idiot it’s not making up rules if you forget to establish beforehand,”
They both continued to bicker before Sakura rested a hand on her forehead “Will you two shut it!” A silence filled the air between the three of them. “Sorry Sakura” they both said in unison. A small grin spread across her face. The two boys let go of her hand as Sakura joined them on the floor. She looked at the two boy’s stack of cards, a small frown dressing her brows
Sakura settled down into the circle and began to deal out the cards, “Both of you have been playing wrong, I'll teach you the correct way.” Sasuke pinned Naruto with a smirk,
“Told you dobe,”
“You too Sasuke,” A grumble escaped his lips before a small laugh escaped Naruto’s mouth.
Maybe being weak without these two wasn’t all bad
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“hey Sasuke show Sakura what Kakashi-Sensei got for you!” Sakura was stirring a pot of food as Naruto filled up the rice cooker, “Kakashi-Sensei got something really cool for him.” Kakashi-Sensei giving out gifts, odd but not unlikely…hey wait gifts, where the hell is mine?
Sakura looked over curiously as Sasuke pulled out a wooden flute.
“It’s nothing special…I don't even know any jutsus I could do with it.” The flute was a light brown wooden one, though the valves and holes were placed in an interesting way. Sasuke looked over at Sakura and pinned her with a knowing smile, “Most flutes you see in books aren’t how actual ones are shaped or made.” Her face flushed a slight pink as she went back to cooking,
“I wasn’t going to ask about that…I was just surprised you knew how to play the flute.” Sasuke nodded and placed it back into the holster on his shorts, How hadn’t I noticed that before it’s in a massive holster.
“Kakasi-Sensei said he had something for you too.” Sakura nodded but looked at the soup she was stirring. Yes! I knew Kakashi-Sensei would get his favorite student a gift. She smiled, her eyes now overflowing with joy.
“Of course he got me a gift, Naruto, I'm his favorite,” She smirked at the boy, taking in his shocked expression.
“No way, really! I’ve got a bone to pick with that guy anyway.” He mumbled something off to himself before dropping down to sit next to sasuke. She looked over at the two boys and smiled. Naruto always recovered quickly but that doesn’t mean she still wasn’t concerned while Sasuke always bounced back but sometimes she needed to tell the two to take it more slowly.
I wonder what Kakashi-Sensei got me?