Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Fire ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Sasuke walked up behind Sakura and wrapped his arms around her waist as he nibbled on her ear. It had been a few hours after the whole ‘door’ incident and the exhausted, but satisfied new couple desperately needed food. It took some persuading, but Sasuke managed to get her to cook him waffles for lunch.

It was strange… Sasuke had always ignored her when she spent so many years chasing after him unwaveringly, and now that he had finally given into her feelings along with his own… life just seemed better. He wasn’t so worried about the Jonin exams coming up in a few months, or Itachi or even Orochimaru… but now, one thing, and only one thing, plagued his mind mercilessly.

‘…who tried to kill Sakura?’ He asked himself, looking at the half asleep, yet grinning kunoichi at the other side of the table as she devoured her salad. She was wearing one of his shirts… only one of his shirts, and he was tempted to pick her up and throw her back down on his bed. But, unfortunately, he couldn’t. Whoever was going to show up would be showing up soon and before they did he needed to tell her about what he heard those guys talking about in the mall.

“Sasuke-kun, why are you upset?” Sasuke didn’t even noticed that he was glaring at his half eaten plate and blinked up at her slightly confused, definitely nervous though. Another odd thing about being in a relationship with Sakura was that now he didn’t really know how to act around her- before now it was always professional… but now it was much more than that. He sighed, leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

“I found out some information on who blew your house up.” Sakura, who had gotten up from her seat and had just stood behind Sasuke, paused in shock for a moment, before raising her hands and lightly slipping them around his neck, starting a massage in an attempt to relieve some of his stress.

“When?” She asked, a bit perplexed. Sasuke groaned a little, loving the sensation of her cool and soft fingers putting the perfect amount of pressure against his tired muscles.

“In the mall, there were two guys that were talking about it. They said that one of your neighbors saw someone sneaking around your house about an hour before we showed up, it was dark, so she couldn’t really see who it was, but…” Sakura continued with Sasuke’s massage, though nervous that he stopped. She had a feeling that what he was about to say wouldn’t be good.

And she was right of course.

“They said that the neighbor reported that who ever she saw was skinny, like a girl or something… and that whoever it was, was a ninja.” Sasuke winced when he felt her hand slip and nearly dislocate his shoulder.

“N-NINJA?! Why would there be a ninja after me?!” She cried. Sasuke snorted. She was definitely not going to like this part.

“They mentioned that it might have been jealousy.” Sakura scoffed behind him, not able to contain a giggle.

“No, seriously Sasuke-“

“I am serious- think about it, how many guys in this village say that they’re in love with you or whatever? On top of that- how many girls already hate you for just being on my team? I heard that you and Ino nearly killed eachother in the chunin exams a few years back!” Sakura sweatdropped.

“Sasuke-kun, there was a bit more to it that just you when Ino and I fought, but uh… yeah, I guess I get your point… but then… who would-“

Sasuke sighed and stood as Sakura rushed back into her borrowed room and threw on one of her new outfits while Sasuke slowly made his way to the door, giving her a few more moments to get dressed. He opened the large doors and was relieved that not as many people were there. Sasuke stepped to the side and let everyone in, ignoring the snickering, glares and passive faces as they entered. He frowned when he saw that Ino was gone.

Now, Sasuke being the noted genius that he is, put two and two together almost instantly. But, since he is indeed the ninja genius that he is, he thinks things over twice, slower in order to catch any mistakes. Now, what was he thinking about? Ino of course. Ino, the most jealous and competitive of the girls who had a crush on him, after he had just had a discussion about jealousy with Sakura. Ino was also skinny, and a girl… and a ninja…

Sasuke’s eyes widened.

“Hey Sasuke! It’s already cold in here! Close the door before my fingers fall off!” Naruto cried, snapping the Uchiha out of his daze. He quickly did as he was instructed and looked around the faces of his guests. Nope, no Ino.

“Where’s Ino?” Everyone turned their attention to Sakura when she finally came out of the room dressed and sat down on the large and comfortable sofa chair. Sasuke watched as Shikamaru shifted his weight and glared at him suspiciously. He’s on Ino’s team and Sasuke knew Nara liked Ino… could he be in on it too?

“After this morning she said something about throwing a party and she’s been at the mall all day.” He sighed exasperated. Sakura blushed and glanced over to Sasuke, but blinked when she noticed that her boyfriend was glaring death at that back of Shikamaru’s head and bit the inside of her lip. She suddenly got the feeling that Ino might not be shopping for a party…

“Right, can you tell us what happened from start to finish that day?” Asked the cop, pulling out a little notebook. Sakura looked over at Sasuke again a bit nervously and nodded to the cop when the Uchiha gave her a small smirk, signaling for her to start. The kunoichi took a deep breath and continued.

“Right… Well I woke up at around six and got ready to train with my team, and headed over to the bridge where we normally meet. Sasuke was already there half asleep up in a tree like normal, I said hi and looked over to the fish, but when I leaned up against the banister on the bridge it gave away- Sasuke barley managed to catch me and throw our weight so we landed safe before looking up at the banister to see how it gave way like that- turns out someone used a saw and purposely weakened it.” That got gasps from everyone. Sasuke paid close attention to everyone’s reactions. If someone was starting to look guilty he’d be the first to know.

“Then what?” Asked Tsunade, highly worried for her student. Sakura shrugged.

“Me and Sasuke went back to our own places for a minute because we were covered it mud, changed, and got back to the bridge in time to meet up with Kakashi and Naruto. We went on our mission for the day, but finished it early so Kakashi made us train. My arm was hurt so I kept messing up so Kakashi made me and Sasuke stay late until I got it right, then we walked home. Well, Sasuke walked me home. I invited him in for some tea but he smelled gas.” Sakura blushed when she got snickers and looks from her friends that clearly said ‘tea, yeah, right’ and looked down at her lap. The cop turned the page in his notebook and continued writing something while Sakura took the opportunity to take a deep breath to calm herself before continuing.

“Sasuke got out a flashlight, and looked through the window and nearly gave me a heart attack when he said that he saw a rig for the gas to blow. We were about to call the cops but then my dads stupid dog runs up to the door and sets it off. Sasuke barley got me away before the house blew.” A few people sweatdropped while the cop finished writing her summery for the day and looked up at her.

“Alright, now, I’m going to ask you a few questions, okay?” Sakura nodded.

“Was the bridge the first accident or were there more? If so, for how long?” Sakura sighed and shook her head.

“Oh man… at least fifteen. They started about a week ago. At first they were small things, like a Kunai in my front door, and a trap on the path that I took to get to the training area when that was where we met-“ The officer looked up at Sakura.

“Trap?” Hinata asked worriedly. Sakura nodded.

“Yeah- well, it was a bad one. Just a ditch with a grass mat over it. Whoever laid it down didn’t know much about agriculture- it was autumn grass.” TenTen blinked.

“Autumn grass?” Sakura nodded.

“Yeah, it was dead just the same, but the grass was thicker and shorter than the real grass around it. I probably would have broken a leg if I hadn’t seen it.” The cop stared at her.

“How would you know something like that?” He asked, a little shocked. Sakura stuck out her tongue and scratched the back of her head a little embarrassed.

“Well, I was never good at plants and stuff, which was really bad since Ikebana is a required kunoichi skill. So my mom made my help out at Ino’s family flower shop for a month. All Ino did was point out about how things grow differently through the seasons after I messed up a display with winter roses and summer lilies.” Sasuke frowned.

“So… Ino would immediately know the difference between the two types of grass…” He muttered quietly. Damn. If that was the case then Ino couldn’t be the one after Sakura… She’d never make such a lame mistake. Damn, he was back to square one.

“Alright, now, do you have any enemies?” Sakura sweatdropped.

“Um… well… you see-“ TenTen decided to save her.

“You obviously don’t hang out near ninja crowds do you Mr. Cop-man? From what I’ve heard Sakura’s pretty much hated by every girl in her graduating class. They’re all jealous because she got put in his team.” The cop followed TenTen’s finger and rose an eyebrow when he saw Sasuke standing behind the couch, clutching it angrily.

“Uchiha? Why is that?” He asked a bit confused. Naruto snorted and crossed his arms over his chest while all the other males in the room decided to glare at him.

“Somehow he’s got all the girls in the village in love with him!” Sasuke rolled his eyes in aggravation.

“I see… Ms. Haruno, are there any girls that have approached you before? Weather it be over Mr. Uchiha or not?” Sakura blinked.

“Um… no, not really…” Hinata blushed and gulped as she began to fidget with her fingers.

“B-But there was t-that girl i-in Ikebana class… S-she always picked on you…” Everyone turned to look at Hinata a bit surprised. Sasuke though, had his attention on Sakura.

“Is that true? There as a girl harassing you in Ikebana?” Sakura blushed a little embarrassed that she had forgotten and nodded.

“Yeah, her name was Ami, she always had it out for me because I was always really quiet and timid like Hinata. Then she got REALLY pissed when Ino and I started to hang out together. I think she was after Sasuke too.” Sasuke groaned in annoyance when the boys all shot him more glares.

“So, this Ami girl constantly approached you? What was it usually about?” Asked the cop. Sakura sighed and started to scratch her head in thought.

“Well… once because I started to wear a ribbon in my hair, then because she found out I liked Sasuke, then because I graduated- she said I was too weak and I’d get killed in no time. Then the last time she approached me was when I was put on Sasuke’s squad. She just kind of disappeared after that.” Sasuke frowned.

“Disappeared?” Sakura nodded.

“Yeah, well, she was a really bad ninja, she was the oldest in our class and I guess started picking on me because I moved along so fast at whatever I did. Then our three squads graduated and she had to go back to the academy for another year. I heard a rumor though that she finally graduated around the time Sasuke came back.” There was a brief moment of uneasy silence before the cop broke it.

“Okay then, is there ANYONE else who would target you? A rival, someone from another village even?” Sakura blinked.

“I have a rival but Ino would never try to kill me by sneaking around. We usually just have breakfast then spar on the weekends. Sometimes it get’s intense but we’re still best friends.” The cop nodded.

“Alright then, do you’re parents have any enemies that would target you?” Tsunade scoffed.

“Her parents are ANBU, any enemies they have would have been able to pick her off no problem. These traps and attempts are sloppy and almost always obvious, not ANBU level. I think it’s someone at a lower level, or much younger.” Kakashi’s one visible eye suddenly darkened as he looked towards Tsunade.

“You mean… like someone her age.” All eyes widened and turned to Tsunade in disbelief as she nodded.

“Yeah, I think so.” The cop frowned as he looked around the room.

“I’ll want to talk to you all individually at the station. I’m sure your sensei’s will all make sure you’re there.” They all nodded and watched as the officer stood, he bowed to Sakura, the Hokage and Sasuke before leaving the young Uchiha’s house. Sasuke glared suspiciously at the group of ‘friends’ in front of him. Trying to think of why each one of them would have a grudge against Sakura, and stopped on Naruto.

‘Sakura always turned him down and always hit him when he asked her out, he knew where she would stand at the bridge and there’s no way an idiot like him could ever make a decent trap- plus his Sexy jutsu could make him look like a girl!’ Sasuke’s eyes flashed red for a moment as his grip on the couch tightened.

Naruto.