Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Child at Heart ❯ Mission ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer:Unfortunately I don't own Naruto. ::sobs::
Title: Child at Heart: Mission
Notes: Gosh, this chapter totally sucks…I had so much trouble when I wrote this, no change in this chapter.

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Many hours passed by and team seven was still making their way to the Naruto Bridge. Everyone was silent, even the crickets were silent, and everyone would keep the silence due to the ongoing mood swings shared between teammates.

Walk and walk was all they did. No one dared to break the silence; so on they went to the big Naruto Bridge in the Village of Mist, maybe once in a while quickly glancing at each other, listening to their surroundings like a good shinobi, and walking at a steady pace. Soon the sun began to set and the stars began to twinkle.

Sakura followed her teammates through the forest floor. That's what she was good at, to quietly and quickly follow behind her stronger teammates. No matter how much she trained she was never at their level. There was always one strong, one idiot, and one helpless in a team. She of course was the helpless. She trained and trained, day in and day out, but she was still behind her teammates. She hated herself, she hated her hopeless life, and she started to hate everything in life.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke's back, and the pain in her heart deepened even more. If only she was stronger back then, no one would have suffered, especially Sasuke. She shook the thought out of her head, but for some reason she found it more inviting than the silence that engulfed her teammates and her surroundings.

Maybe he deserved some of the pain he received after becoming a traitor to the Leaf. He made me feel like such an idiot crying my heart out to him, but I guess I also deserved the pain he caused me, after all I was such a stupid naïve little girl. Even after all the hard work I went through just to try to cheer him up, and what did I get? A fucking cold glare and harsh words...but I've changed. He should have figured it out by now, even Naruto saw the difference in me, but I guess he just sees me as the same pathetic girl. I thought maybe the reason he didn't enjoy my company was because I was weak, so I trained hard every single day, but it was still the same cold stare. I even stopped chasing after him, I wanted to be a good friend, I just wanted to be close to him, but I still received the same cold empty stare. That's when I decided to move on with my life. If he didn't want to be my friend then so be it, at least I still had Naruto to cheer me up. I stopped crying after I gave up on him, crying made me feel so helpless. Even though I moved on with my life I sometimes still feel sorrow creeping in my veins every time I glance at him. His eyes, the same cold onyx eyes, which somehow seem to see right through me, which manages to shatter a piece of my already crumbling heart.

She stared at her hands for some time before concluding that she had not had a manicure over a couple of years. She had stopped worrying about her looks; she didn't care anymore. It could be because she just didn't have time anymore to worry about her appearance, she was after all a Leaf shinobi. She received a lot more compliments from the opposite sex after letting her hair grow. Her inner voice began to leak out into the surface and more men began to be attracted to her. She began to be recognized by the villagers after she graduated from being a genin, to chunin and finally into a jounin.

Now, no one could resist her charm, she was beautiful, independent, and a strong kunoichi. Anyone who let her go would have had to been foolish and Neji was not someone to be made into a fool. He was determined to make her his, because if he didn't he would be an idiot to let someone so precious slip out of his life.

She glanced at the sky. Many stars were splattered all over the dark sky glimmering beautifully every second. She heaved a sad sigh and once more looked at her hands. Her once porcelain hands had now become slightly calloused and damaged with scars over the years due to hard training. She sighed again only to catch Sasuke's attention.

"Sakura is something wrong?" he asked only to have surprised her and Naruto who quickly looked up at him.

He really did want to show her he cared about her, but he was never the type to show emotions towards others.

She thought a little before answering flatly, "I'm fine."

She then turned her gaze from Sasuke back to the sky. Naruto, who had not said anything since the morning, began to worry about Sakura. He had never seen her in such deep thought, well he had before, but this time was different because Sasuke had noticed her discomfort.

"Ano Sakura-chan, are you sure you're ok?" Naruto asked, hoping to get a better reply from his female teammate.

She kept her gaze at the sky, still keeping her steady pace before simply saying, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Naruto then turned to Sasuke and was about to speak to him but was interrupted.

"It's getting really dark, we'll camp here tonight. We'll start our mission tomorrow at the break of dawn," Sasuke said.

Sakura abruptly stopped and gave Sasuke a quizzical look and then made her way to Naruto who had begun making a fire.

"Nee Naruto, do you need any help?" she asked while peering over his shoulder.

"No, I got it...ano Sakura-chan do you have something on your mind that you want to talk about?" Naruto asked with a strain of hope that maybe she would speak what was plaguing her mind. Everyone sat down by the fire, Naruto still waiting for Sakura's reply.

"...nothing is wrong, I guess I'm just a little confused," she said.

Naruto breathe a sigh of relief. He had somehow expected her reply to be more complicated. It was silent once again; Sakura who was again in deep thought did not realize that she had whispered Hyuga Neji under her breath. Sasuke jerked his head up to see Sakura and found her in a dreamy state. The same dreamy state that used to invade her all the time when they were younger, but it was different back then because she was always thinking about Sasuke. Sakura felt she was being watched and slowly lifted her head only to see Naruto and Sasuke staring at her. She felt a blush creep onto her face.

"What?!" she demanded.

Naruto had a wide grin plastered on his face while Sasuke had more of an irritated look.

"Ano Sakura-chan, so when did you and Neji become an item?"

Her blush deepened and she began to tug on her red dress.

"We're not a couple," Sakura said, which made Sasuke smirk, "...at least not at this moment," she finished her sentence only to make Sasuke's smirk turn into a frown.

What the hell does she see in him?

A beaming Naruto interrupted Sasuke's thoughts.

"Did you hear that Sasuke-bastard?! Sakura-chan is dating!!!" he happily yelled to Sasuke.

Sasuke brought his hands up and rested his chin on them.

"Yes, I'm aware, but I never thought Sakura would go so low to date Hyuga Neji."

The last statement caught both Naruto and Sakura in surprise.

"What the hell is your problem Sasuke?! Since this morning you have been giving me dirty looks, and I don't fucking appreciate it!!! And for your fucking advice Neji-kun comes from a respected family, and not to mention he's willing to do anything to make me happy unlike some people!!!"

Sakura yelled at the top of her lungs at Sasuke. Sasuke stayed silent; he didn't move. He noticed Sakura had added the -kun at the end of Neji's name, he became a little sad. If he didn't make his move soon he was going to loose Sakura to Neji.

"I never said I didn't want you to be happy, I just never thought you would be likely to fall for someone like Neji, especially since he has every girl in the village throwing themselves at his feet," Sasuke nonchalantly said.

Sakura stayed silent, trying to register what Sasuke had said. If she wasn't mistaken, but it could have just been her imagination, it sounded like Sasuke was jealous.

"Neji is not the only one that has girls throwing themselves at their feet," Naruto murmured only to receive a harsh glare from Sasuke.

"We should get some rest before we start tomorrow," Sasuke said trying to change the subject.

Sakura nodded and Naruto was confused with the sudden mood change.

I don't understand these two!! Why is Sasuke even upset that Sakura-chan likes Neji...wait a minute...Does this mean he likes Sakura-chan after all? It does!!! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! Sasuke-bastard likes Sakura-chan, but she likes Neji!!! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

Naruto began to giggle like a little girl and suddenly stopped when he saw Sasuke and Sakura giving him a questioning glare.

"A-ha-ha...ha...goodnight guys!!" Naruto chirped. Both Sakura and Sasuke grunted 'goodnight' and all three fell asleep under the stars.