Chapter Thirteen

  "So what happened between you guys anyway?" Hinata asked her best friend as all of the girls sat in Ino's room with their favorite cartons of ice cream in their hands. "I just was honest with him about how I couldn't be the only one opening up when things were obviously affecting us, and he basically said that wasn't necessary because our relationship is strictly about sex."

TenTen shook her head, "He's such a dick." Sakura shrugged with nonchalance, "It is what it is. We're done."

"I don't believe it." Ino said truthfully, making her friend roll her eyes. "I know you like him a lot more than you let off, and I think he'll come around."

"I just think we were best short lived. Now everything is so complicated." "Relationships are never easy, Sakura."Hinata said, making them all nod. "I know that, but I shouldn't be the only one to see a clear problem and want to fix it. Then he was so dismissive when I said it was an issue."

They nodded while their friend vented about a boy, that she claimed she didn't have romantic feelings for. They all knew she had liked him since their days together last summer, but they wanted her to realize it. Sakura's choice in guys had been questionable for the last two months, but all of her friends could agree that Sasuke was a great guy, even if he sucked at relationships like he seemed to.

"It's just so annoying because if this was me like a year ago, I'd actually open up more, and try and push him, you know? But I just don't care anymore. I shouldn't be the only one breaking my neck to get to know him."

"Didn't he tell you a lot when you guys hung out over the summer, though?" "Why are you all on his side?" Sakura asked while rolling her eyes.

"We're completely on your side, it's just that he's a good a guy, you know? You guys can get pass this." Ino said, "No, we can't because he's too arrogant to even acknowledge my feelings. I'm done trying."

Sakura spoke truthfully, she wasn't the type to chase someone, and that wouldn't start with Sasuke."You know what I think?" Ino inquired,"What?"

"I think you're afraid, Sakura. You're afraid to be vulnerable again, and it's understandable, we all get it. You're right, the ball is in his court, but I think we can all agree that you're blaming this on him to distract yourself from the fact that you're scared to tell him everything."

Immediately Sakura got defensive, "I'm not afraid to be vulnerable again, literally I told him about my Dad, you guys know how hard that is for me."

"We do, Sakura, and I don't want it to seem like we're pressuring you into opening up to him, but you've been struggling with your withdrawal symptoms, and if it's been affecting all of our relationships with you, I can't imagine what it's been like for him. Especially when he doesn't know what's going on."

"And it's not something to be ashamed about, because we are so proud of you. It's just that maybe something happened between you two, that you didn't even realize would affect him, you know?" TenTen said, making even Hinata roll her eyes.

"You guys are making excuses for him, I'm sorry, but no. If Sakura did something to make him act so stupid, then he needs to communicate that to her, just like how she communicated to him how she doesn't like Karin. I get what you both are saying, but this is totally his fault."

From there, an argument between the four of them broke out, with Hinata defending Sakura's action, and Ino defending Sasuke's. As they argued, Sasuke was in the boxing gym with his friend and his trainee. Sasuke never boxed for profit, or anything in that nature, but he quickly learned how to fight as a child to ensure his safety at his orphanage.

  Considering he only did it recreationally, he wasn't as good as Naruto, but he definitely gave him a run for his money whenever they boxed each other. After the other night, he needed to get out his anger. Sakura was his friend, and he wouldn't let anyone disrespect her; even after everything she had told him the night before.

Konohamaru continually became distracted by his rapid speed as he jumped rope. "Pay attention." Naruto said before lightly hitting him on the arm. "I am."

He rolled his blue eyes, "You're not, I knew I should've told Sasuke to stay home." "No, he's fine. I just didn't know he boxed." Sasuke could feel their eyes on him as his music blasted in his wireless earbuds.

"Only when he's bored, but I'm better, and I'm training you." He nodded, "I know, I'm ready."

"Alright, something I noticed the other day was how you're incredibly slow." Naruto started, making Konohamaru blush. "I-" he started, but Naruto cut him off.

"Show me your stance." He said, making Konahamru do so. "That's the problem, you need to shift your weight." He advised him, while mirroring him.

"You see how I move so quickly? It's because I move like my arms are connected to my legs by a string. So when these bad boys move, they move." He said while trying his best to articulate the point he was trying to get his point across.

"Try this drill." Sasuke said, while approaching the pair with his jump rope in one of his hands. Naruto watched his friend instruct Konohamaru, the same way he would've, and show him a drill that would definitely help him.

"Do that for ten minutes, and then we'll go from there." Naruto said, making Konohamaru sigh before complaining, "What does this have to do with boxing?" Naruto smiled while saying, "Get your footwork under control and you'll find out."

"Thanks for the drill, I forgot about it." Sasuke nodded, "No problem. I'm gonna head out soon, I have some last minute stuff to do with Hidan." Naruto nodded,

"Ah, try not to pull any guns on anyone this time." Sasuke rolled his eyes, "That was his fault. Shit was totally uncalled for."

"It was, but you've never been the type to be so impulsive, especially over a girl. We both know Danzo will have a lot to say when he gets back." "I don't care what Danzo says, if he gets out of line again I'll do more than threaten him." Sasuke said while packing up his gym bag.

"You guys are just friends?" Naruto asked his friend with a smirk on his lips, "Yes." Sasuke answered simply, making his friend laugh.

"Okay, call me if you need anything. I should be done in an hour." Sasuke nodded before saying goodbye to his friend, and leaving the gym.

Getting to his home, he went to his bedroom and tossed his gym bag on the floor, before stripping out of his sweaty clothes and draping a towel over his waist. As he left his room to start the shower, he noticed a white paper being slid underneath his front door. Turning the doorknob, he saw Sakura squatted in front of his door, with an envelope.

She seemed to had been on a jog by the way she wore a sports bra, and short athletic shorts. "What are you doing?" He asked, making her blush before standing up.

"I was in the area, and I realized I had this for you." "In the area? You live almost thirty minutes away, Sakura." "Yeah well it's a nice jog, lot's of things to see."

As she spoke she tried not to look at any aspect of the semi nude male in front of her. "Well do you want to come in?" She blushed even deeper, "I don't think you'll want me to once I give you this."

He laughed a little before shaking his head. "It can't be that bad." Holding out his hand, she bit her lip before handing it over. Her emerald eyes stayed on his face as his hands opened the envelope she had replaced with the old one.

"I think I may have seen him yesterday." His facial expression wasn't very readable, so she couldn't tell what he meant when he said. "Come in, Sakura." He spoke so conclusively it sounded like a command.

Walking through the threshold, he closed and locked the door behind her. "So, you think you saw him yesterday? Last night?" "Y-yeah, I was getting gas a few miles from the boxing gym, and I thought he looked almost identical to you, but I wasn't sure because I didn't know what he looked like exactly."

Sasuke nodded while scrolling through his phone, seeming as if he wasn't actually listening. "And I asked him for his name, but he didn't answer, he just asked what mine was." That made him look up from his phone, "He knows your name, Sakura?"

As she looked into his onyx eyes, she started to worry. "I mean yeah, is that bad?" Setting his phone down on the counter he asked her in a soft tone, "How'd you get this anyway?"

"This is the weird part, when I got back to my car, it was sitting in my passenger seat. My windows were rolled up, and my doors were locked so I don't understand how it could've gotten there."

"Should I be worried? You're stressing me out." He shook his head, "I won't let anything happen to you, but it is slightly concerning that he knows your name, and possibly your license plate number." She sighed deeply before leaning against the counter top with her head in her hands.

"I'm so dumb. He seemed like such a nice guy." She felt his hand against her exposed lower back before he said, "Sociopaths tend to have that affect on people." She wanted to roll her eyes as he said that, because she thought of Karin and their newfound friendship.

"Yeah, well I'm sorry for intruding upon what you were doing, I'm gonna go home." She said before leaning up from the counter, and turning around to face him. "Let me take you home? It looks like it's about to rain."

He said making her glance out the window to see that grey clouds had began to cloud the sky. "I don't know, Sasuke." She said making him laugh a little, "I'll keep my hands to myself if you do." She laughed cutely, "Well weren't you about to shower or something?"

"I'll take you afterwards. It won't be long." She nodded, "Or you could always just join me." He joked making her roll her eyes before smiling, "I'll just wait."

When he walked away, and into his bathroom, she watched his muscular back, thinking how he really seemed to be respecting what she said yesterday. She also thought about how he had little to no reaction to her news about who may have been his brother. Something in her gut told her that he just wasn't okay as she plopped against his couch. Thinking for a moment, she thought about how Sasuke should react to news this big, and contrasted it to the way he actually acted. With a sigh, she got up and walked toward the bathroom.

Sasuke stood underneath his water faucet, completely zoned out as he thought about what his next move was. He had gotten so much new information about his brother in the last twenty four hours, and it was overwhelming. He stayed cool, but really all he wanted to do was to fulfill a dream he had since he was a young child.

He wanted his brother dead, and he wanted to be the one to do it. In his mind it was only fair after everything he had put him through.

As he heard his shower door open, followed by Sakura's light touch to his shoulder, he turned around and looked into her gorgeous eyes. She wrapped her arms around his wet body, and hugged him tightly, making him wrap his arms around her hips. "I know what I told you can't be easy to take in, and you're going to act fine regardless of how you actually feel, but even I can't imagine what this is like for you. You'll figure everything out, Sasuke."

As she spoke, he didn't listen, he just sighed into her soft flesh, and pulled her body closer. "I've been trying to keep tabs on him, but it seems he's been doing the same, only he's been successful." He chuckled while thinking of his brother, "It's quite dissatisfying really, because once I find him, he will be ready, and I can't help that."

As he gave her what she wanted, and actually talked about what had been going on his mind, she just listened as she got butterflies in her stomach. They seemed to be making progress, and she couldn't of asked for anything more from him. It may have seemed like the bare minimum, but it meant a lot to her.

"I'm sorry for getting you caught up in this, tell me if anything else weird happens, okay?" He asked her while pulling away from her hold to look at her face. She nodded while cupping his face in her hands, "Okay." The warm water from the shower head cascading over both of their nude bodies as they embraced each other, brought Sakura back to their time at the lake. Her thumbs caressed his cheek as she looked into his eyes, and his eyes wandered down her beautiful body. He bit his bottom lip, but didn't touch her, he waited for her to make the first move because she seemed so adamant for them strictly being just friends.

Everything her friends and her had talked about went out the window, like it always seemed to as she kissed his soft, awaiting lips, and before they both knew it Sakura's back was against the cold tile, while her lips parted from the moans that left them. Sasuke kissed the delicate skin of her neck while his hips met hers with every gentle thrust.

With her legs around his waist, and his hand in her unique colored hair, they looked at each other with pure lust in their eyes. "Fuck." She moaned into his ear as his hand palmed her ass, before she began to suck the skin of his neck, leaving a red bruise, that made him throb from inside of her clenching core.

"Sakura." He spoke her name, as her legs shook and her head fell back against the tile, from the intense sensation she had just experienced. "Y-yes!" He bit his lip, before thrusting one more time, and emptying his liquid inside of her.

  They're foreheads rested against each other's as they tried to catch their breaths. Sakura smiled a little, "So much for being just friends." She said, making him laugh a little, before putting her down. "I'm sorry for making you feel that I don't respect you, I do, Sakura." He said honestly, she nodded while looking into his eyes.

"Thank you for apologizing." As she looked at him, he felt as if there was more to say, only he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. At that moment, though he had never thought about it, he realized that he had more intense and genuine romantic feelings for Sakura than he could even fathom.

Watching him blush, she giggled. "Aw, you're adorable. You still blush when you see me naked." Her hand ruffled his wet hair, before taking the bottle of body wash Naruto's girlfriend had left behind the night before. As she lathered herself in soap, Sasuke tried to act as though a million thoughts weren't running through his head about their relationship.

"What's on your mind?" Sakura asked him with a smile on her face, while lathering his chest with soap. He looked into her eyes, practically hypnotized by their beauty.Clearing his throat he said, "Keeping you safe."

At the Hyuga's, Naruto sat in Hiashi's home office, waiting for Hinata to get dressed for their date. "Can I get you some scotch?" He asked while pouring himself the drink in one of the two glasses on his desk. Clearing his throat, Naruto straightened his posture nervously. "I'm fine, Sir."

A smug smirk came to his face as he said, "I saw that you've been doing well in your last few fights, how's training going?" He smiled his boyish smile, "It's great actually, I'm sure you saw Hanabi and Hinata at my fight yesterday. They actually want to learn how to box, well Hanabi does at least."

Hiashi just sipped his drink while watching the boy talk with a bright smile on his face. "That's nice, but I want to ask something of you, Naruto." "What's up?" He asked, making Hiashi lean forward while interlocking his fingers.

Naruto noticed that a ring he assumed was his wedding ban, sat on his ring finger. "As you know, I play poker every Friday at the club, with the other respectable men." He started, "I'm sure Danzo wouldn't mind you working as our bust boy."

"You want me to be your bust boy?" Naruto asked, extremely disappointed by the request. A laugh left Hiashi's lips,"Yes, but only because I feel as though someone is plotting something, and I can feel it coming. I want you to find out as much as you possibly can, Naruto."

A knock to the door just as he nodded, ready to agree to the plan. "Daddy, you're ruining our date." Hinata complained, while opening the door. "I'm sorry, I will see you Friday, Naruto." He nodded, "See you then, Sir."

Hinata glanced at the two of them,"Friday? Are you playing poker with him?" Her father laughed, "He's just helping me out."

"By doing what?" She asked them, and Naruto wasn't sure if Hiashi actually wanted his daughter in the mix or not, so he stayed silent. "He's just gonna help clip cigars and such."

Her eyes met his, with her arms crossed she asked, "Oh?" Naruto nodded with a smile, "That's all I'm doing." Rolling her eyes she turned around while saying, "Come on."

The pair walked to her theatre in her basement, where her projector had a movie ready to play by the click of a button. "I can tell when you're pissed off, what's up?" He asked his girlfriend as they sat down on the reclining couch. "What are you really doing Friday with my Dad?"

  "It's nothing illegal, if that's what you think. Just some good clean poker." Naruto tried to reassure his girlfriend, "Are you sure? My father has a tendency of crossing the thin line of legality. I just don't want you caught up in anything serious, you know?" He nodded with a smile, before kissing her forehead, "I'll be careful, Princess."-Thank you for reading!