Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ More Than Anything ❯ Possibility ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter Seventeen: Possibility

 

Sasuke felt his chest tightened in horror. He had done everything! He had preformed every stupid—or seemingly so—task that Uzumaki Naruto had thrown in his direction! He had suffered, damn it, and all he received in return when he finally managed to pull off what seemed impossible was, “what?”

 

“Sasuke, you—” Kagome gapped, “—um, I mean—”

 

The Uchiha's anger faded a bit, as he realized that the Higurashi girl was in shock.

 

“—well, that is—”

 

It was just so cute, the way her face turned absolutely red. Sasuke had not really noticed it before, but now he was proud to say that her face only turned that way because he was present.

 

“—um—”

 

Then again, another part of Sasuke brewed in the fact that she was suffering as he had not long ago. But, quickly, the shinobi-in-training squished that traitorous part of his brain and tightened his grip on Kagome's wrist to gain her full attention.

 

“Sasuke?” Kagome blinked.

 

“Will you go on a date with me?” he asked again.

 

Kagome felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Uchiha Sasuke had actually—! He had—! Her heart almost literally erupted with excitement and joy, while she stupidly stared into his onyx colored eyes.

 

“Please.”

 

“I don't know—” Kagome watched as his eyes narrowed, and added, “—I mean, I need some time to think about it. You can't just expect me to agree when there's so much that—”

 

Sasuke merely blinked in disbelief, the world forgotten as he tried to understand what Kagome was trying to tell him. She had not said she did not want to, but she had not agreed either. And—! And, why in the world did she have to pick the moment when he finally forced his tongue into action to torment him so?!

 

The mind and body were suddenly at war, as Kagome realized she had spoken without actually thinking about her answer. Her mind felt it was logical, that she really did not know all that much about the Uchiha boy to actually think about dating him, but her body disagreed with a simple skip in her heartbeat.

 

She had just—!

 

“Eh, I mean—” Kagome could not believe that she had actually, technically, turned down Uchiha Sasuke's proposal. The one boy that somehow managed to turn her into a puddle of goo whenever she thought about his handsome face being licked with red flames. The one boy that she had thought would never, ever ask her on a—! A—!

 

“You don't want to—”

 

“It's not that I don't want to!” Kagome corrected him. “Just, well—”

 

“What is it then?” Sasuke snapped. The damn girl! Every other girl would have fallen at his feet and begged him to tell them it was true, yet she, Higurashi Kagome, remained completely oblivious to the fact that he wanted her! She remained wrapped up in her innocent little world, yet—!

 

Yet, somehow, Sasuke found that it only made him want her more.

 

Caught underneath Sasuke's dark gaze, Kagome quickly turned her reddening face toward the ground. Then, in an attempt to clear her head, she shifted her footing out of nervous habit and pulled her wrist from his grip. “Sasuke, I just think t-that it would be best if I think about it first. I m-mean, we barely know each other and—I'm sorry!”

 

Shock raced up Sasuke's spine, as Higurashi Kagome suddenly turned on her foot and ran away from him. He sputtered for only a moment, before shouting, “Kagome, wait—!”

 

The Higurashi girl did not stop, quickly fleeing the alleyway.

 

“—wait.” Sasuke let his voice trail off, as he slowly lowered the hand he had raised in her direction. It fell heavily at his side, limp almost, while the shinobi-in-training found himself suddenly fighting with the moisture gathering in his eyes.

 

He knew he could chase after her. He knew he could catch her. He could, but he suddenly felt that there was no reason to. She had rejected him. She had told him—

 

“No.” Sasuke shook his head, quickly ridding himself of the depressing thought. Then, roughly, he wiped the moisture that stubbornly refused to leave the corner of his eyes. It was ridiculous for it to gather anyway, since it was quite clear that Kagome had not rejected him completely. She had said so herself.

 

It was stupid.

 

Completely and utterly st—

 

“Hey—” the quiet voice came from behind him, “—is she still around? What did she say?”

 

His anger returning full force, the Uchiha boy rounded on Uzumaki Naruto as he neared. “What did she say?” he roared. “What did she say?!”

 

“H-hey!” Naruto raised his unharmed hand in defense.

 

His annoying face, blue eyes, childish smile—damn, well, everything—set Uchiha Sasuke off. “She damn well didn't give me the answer you said she would, that's for damn sure!” he yelled. He was not entirely sure why he was taking it out on Naruto, but he knew that, somehow, the outcome of his time with Kagome was Naruto's fault. Therefore, he deserved every ounce of pain he could throw at him. “I hate you, Uzumaki Naruto!”

 

“U-uh—!” Naruto started.

 

“You and your stupid direct approach!” Sasuke continued. “Direct approach, direct approach! Look where that got me! I'll be damn lucky if Kagome ever gives me an answer, let alone speaks to me again!”

 

“So,” Naruto asked, “she didn't say she wouldn't?”

 

“Who fucking cares!” Sasuke took a wild swing at the other shinobi-in-training, and watched in satisfaction as his fist connected with the Uzumaki's upper jaw. He lifted off his feet, slamming into a trashcan nearby, and Sasuke grinned sinisterly as the blonde coughed from the blow.

 

“T-that hurt,” Naruto coughed.

 

“I should dig you a grave,” Sasuke hissed, “and bury you in it.”

 

Realizing that Sasuke was advancing on him, Naruto scrambled back onto his feet. “H-hey, back off!” he shouted. “It's not my fault that Kagome didn't agree to go on a date with you! And, besides, we see her almost every day, it's not like you can't ask her again!”

 

His anger only growing in an attempt to shove away the rejection he felt, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by his collar. Once he was close enough that he could almost touch him, the Uchiha growled, “Do you think this is funny?”

 

“What?” Naruto blinked. “Why in the world would I—Ow!”

 

“Do you think it's funny that I—that she—that—?!”

 

“Sasuke-teme, you need to calm down!” Naruto shrieked.

 

His grip loosened, and Naruto hit the ground once more, but Sasuke did not really notice. “Why?” he asked himself. “Why didn't she agree?”

 

Naruto felt slightly uncomfortable, while he stared at the other boy. He had been positive, most of his life, that an Uchiha could not feel anything. That every Uchiha went through some clan ritual in order to rid themselves of worthless emotions. Yet, clearly, as Sasuke's pride fought off the urge to cry, he had been wrong.

 

“Why?” Sasuke whispered.

 

“You said yourself that she didn't say no.” Naruto felt it was his job to cheer the Uchiha up, despite how much the thought made him want to vomit. After all, it was—unfortunately—his fault that the Uchiha was currently experiencing some kind of pain. “So, you still have a chance. There's no reason to beat yourself up over it.”

 

Sasuke nodded in agreement, and said, “I know, but—”

 

“Don't worry about it!” Naruto cut him off. “I'll come up with something! No! No, I'll do even better than that! I'll go talk to Kagome myself, ok? That way I can tell you why she didn't agree and we can figure out where to go from here!”

 

The dark haired boy merely shook his head, and slowly replied, “Whatever.”

 

Naruto shifted uncomfortably once more, as Sasuke shoved by him in order to leave. The Uchiha's dark form appeared as perfect as always, not a strand of hair out of place, yet the way he held himself and walked caused Naruto's very stomach to tighten. Almost as if he was guilty about—!

 

No! That definitely was not the reason! Naruto would know for a fact if he felt guilty over accidentally causing the Uchiha pain, and he definitely did not feel that way!

 

After all, despite the fact he was helping him, Uchiha Sasuke would always be someone that he disliked with a passion! There was just no way that that would ever change.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Higurashi-san smiled sadly, as she watched her daughter through the window in the kitchen. The fact that she had situated herself beneath the blossomed Goshinboku could only mean one thing. “Boys,” Higurashi-san breathed to herself, continuing the tedious task she had long ago come to enjoy.

 

“Is that girl still beneath that tree?”

 

Turning her head a bit, Higurashi-san nodded in her father's direction. “Yes,” she said simply.

 

Higurashi Hisao shook his head, as a deep frown settled on his face. “I had thought I taught that girl better than that. Boys are trivial in comparison to training, and that is exactly what she needs to be doing.” His blue eyes darkened, as he added, “Why, back when I was young, I lost nearly a years worth of training because of some beautiful dame. I can remember it clearly, I can, because I remember that I nearly lost my position as an—an—Sayoko, what was I then?”

 

“A chuunin, father,” Higurashi-san chuckled.

 

“No, no.” Hisao frowned. “No, no, that can't be right.”

 

Higurashi-san did not bother to glance back, as her father muttered to himself and went to check the information. But, once he was gone, she glanced out through the window again and sighed when she realized her daughter had not moved an inch. Her head was still tilted back, so she could stare deep into the Goshinboku's branches, and her face was still as confused as ever.

 

Finally, unable to stand the sight of her child in such a state, Higurashi-san abandoned her task. She dropped the glass she held back beneath the white foam layer in the sink, and quickly wiped her hands on the apron she wore.

 

She, after all, had been young once, and she was positive that she could help ease the turmoil that her daughter felt.

 

However, Higurashi-san paused when she pulled the door open. Then, slowly, a new smile spread across her face, as she recognized Naruto's blonde head bobbing in Kagome's direction.

 

The door shut quietly. Higurashi-san knew that while Kagome would eventually need a woman's guidance, for now her best friend could easily pick her back up on her feet again. After all, who better to save her daughter than the boy that had saved the village twelve years ago?

 

Even without his knowledge.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

“Hey!” Naruto's scowling face was suddenly inches away from Kagome's, and he was surprised when she merely turned her face to one side. “What's with that upside down face, missy? You said you'd help me with my shadow clone technique, and I expect you to—!”

 

“Not right now, Naruto,” the Higurashi girl scowled back.

 

“Eh?” Naruto pouted. “B-but, Kagome—!”

 

“I mean it, Nar-u-to,” she growled. “Not right now.”

 

Settling himself down on the ground, Naruto made sure that his scowl was as annoyed as Kagome's looked. After all, there was no way he was going to give away the fact that he knew perfectly well what had upset her. “What's wrong with you? Higurashi-san tell you you're not gonna get any oden for the next year because some stupid fan girl attacked you out of nowhere and—”

 

A small smile forced itself onto her face, as she quietly said, “No, stupid.”

 

“Well,” he growled, “what's wrong with you then?”

 

“It's not important,” she mumbled.

 

The shinobi-in-training snorted loudly, saying, “Not important? Not important?! Of course it's important! The Higurashi Kagome I know wouldn't be moping underneath some supposedly ancient, spiritual tree if there wasn't something wrong!”

 

“Naruto,” Kagome sighed. “Do you think I'm a bad person?”

 

“W-what—” Naruto almost fell over, as he dramatically waved his good arm in shock, “—the hell kinda question is that?!”

 

“I was just wondering.” The girl buried her face into her arms. “I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you did. I hurt your arm, and I'm constantly being mean to you, and I take your friendship for granted, and—!”

 

“Who the fuck told you that, Kagome?! Huh?!” Naruto roared, suddenly on his feet. If that stupid, stupid Uchiha Sasuke told his best friend that stuff and then got pissed off because she refused to go on a date with him, well, Naruto was going to kick his ass! He was going to make sure that the blasted Uchiha was ten feet under ground, and then he was going to purposely help Hyuuga Neji gain Kagome's heart in order to spite his spirit!

 

“No one,” she whispered.

 

“Like hell—!” Naruto started.

 

“No one!” Kagome shouted back. She snapped her blazing blue eyes up into she was staring deep into Naruto's, and watched as he finally slumped in confusion.

 

“Then… why would you think something like that, Kagome?” Naruto asked softly. She was his best friend—and, being honest with himself in that moment, his only friend, really—and he could not think of a single reason as to why she would think that way.

 

“I don't know what to think right now, Naruto,” she smiled bitterly. “I'm so confused.”

 

Kneeling down, Naruto said, “Yeah, well, confused or not, you better not think that stuff anymore, you got that?” When she only nodded lightly, he snapped, “You got that, right?”

 

“I got it,” she replied.

 

“Good.” Making himself comfortable, again, Naruto tried his best to cross his arm over his bandaged one. “Now that that's settled, what is the matter with you? Why are you all down, and why did you suddenly start to think that you're a bad person, huh?”

 

The Higurashi girl muttered softly under her breath.

 

“Speak up,” Naruto scowled.

 

“Sasuke—” she paused, “—Sasuke—” again, “—he—”

 

Forcing himself to appear confused, Naruto made sure that he was not about to give away the fact that he knew what Kagome was about to say. “Eh?” he scowled a little more. “What in the world could that stuck up Uchiha do to make you feel like dirt? Tell you that he's better looking than you? Force you to say that his clan's technique is way better than your lightning one? Sick his father on you?”

 

She shook her head, saying, “No.”

 

“Then what?” Naruto encouraged her to continue.

 

“He—” a light blush appeared on her face, “—um, asked me to go on a date with him, Naruto.”

 

The master of disguise, Naruto's jaw dropped out of instinct once she spoke. Then, allowing himself a moment to gape at her in wonder, he stuttered, “U-U-Uchiha Sasuke w-what?!”

 

“He—” Kagome really did not wish to say it again, but it was obvious that she had to in order to make Naruto understand the seriousness of the situation. After all, it had taken her nearly an hour to stop trying to convince herself that he had asked something else entirely and she had misunderstood.

 

“No, no, no, no, no, no!” Naruto waved his hands. “There's no way—!”

 

“But he did,” she sighed.

 

“I m-mean,” Naruto shook his head, stopping. “I-It was obvious that Sasuke-teme was up to something, but I never would have thought… This is… Holy—”

 

“Yeah.” She smiled humorously.

 

“But, I was right!” he declared. “I told you he was up to something, do you remember?”

 

“I remember.”

 

Silence quickly settled around them, and Naruto fidgeted a little. Then, deciding it best to get straight to the point, he asked, “Um, as much as I'm going to hate to say this, Kagome, what is so wrong about that? I mean, it's not like I adore the fact that that bastard's a got a crush on you, but he had to like someone eventually, didn't he?”

 

“I know.” Tears began to gather in her eyes, again. “It's just, well, I don't want—I don't—!”

 

Watching her begin to cry, Naruto softly asked, “Kagome?”

 

“Naruto, if I told him that I would—” her body trembled at the thought, “—do you think that I'd just be turning myself into one of his fan girls?”

 

“W-what?” This was what the situation was about?! Naruto almost could not believe that Kagome would even think she could be grouped into those stupid girls that thought Uchiha Sasuke would date them when they stalked him everywhere!

 

“I like him so much,” she admitted to him softly. “But, what if I'm just obsessed with the thought of what he could be like—?”

 

“I-is this why you think you're a bad person, Kagome?” he shuddered.

 

She nodded, stating, “Yes.”

 

“Well, then, stop it!” he snapped. His friend looked up at him in surprise, but he refused to remove his suddenly harsh blue eyes from her face. “You're nothing like Sakura or Mayu or Asuka or any of those other girls, Kagome! You admitted it yourself! You like Uchiha Sasuke, and so what! All of them would say they loved him, but you're here fighting with the fact that you like him! There's a major difference right there, Kagome, and you should never think that you're anything like them!”

 

Though she was surprised with her friend's quick approval of her crush, a smile began to form on Kagome's face as she lifted her head up from her huddled position. “Thank you, Naruto,” she whispered.

 

“Eh?” the boy blinked. “Oh—” he scratched the back of his head, “—it was nothing, really.”

 

“Still, thank you.”