Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Sweetest Victory ❯ Libra: A Natural Born Diplomat? ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: Err, don't hate me? *sheepish* Cockkage-sama is the intellectual property of the wonderful and awesome Myrafur and was borrowed with her blessings. PLZ TO NOT BE COMING AT ME WITH PITCHFORKS THNX. :P

Warnings: awkwardness, discussions of sexuality

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters as it is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I do, however, think team seven needs to just jump each other and get it over with. :3

 

The Sweetest Victory

Chapter 6: Libra: A Natural Born Diplomat?

 

 

As the three of them stood in the alley, awkwardly shifting their gazes amongst themselves, Naruto couldn't decide what he thought of the situation. No one had spoken yet, and he was mildly disappointed there was no sudden gust of wind blowing fallen leaves between them - for dramatic effect - as they each waited for someone else to break the uncomfortable silence.

 

Sakura looked more tired than anything, but he didn't miss the way she nervously chewed her bottom lip. Naruto could only imagine what she was thinking right then. He didn't think she was doing an inner victory dance or anything, since that cute, little smirk she gets when she shows him up was absent.

 

To Sasuke's credit, he hadn't taken off yet. Naruto wasn't too sure he'd be able to do the same if their positions had been switched. Well, except for the fact that he lacked the uptightness his teammate possessed and that none of this would even be an issue if he'd been the one caught in the jutsu. There would probably have been some eye rolling and name calling, and then everything would've gone back to business as usual. He'd be a little offended if he really had the time to think about it.

 

But there Sasuke stood, even if he looked a bit like a caged animal. `At least he's not sporting wood anymore,' Naruto thought morbidly.

 

“Okay,” he blurted out, effectively cutting through the tense silence and drawing the attention of his teammates. His voice echoed loudly in the dark alley, and Naruto winced before continuing in a much lower volume. “Err, great job, Sakura-chan. You sure showed us! Come on, Sasuke. I'll buy you a drink….. Or twelve,” he added under his breath as he tried to usher his friend out of the alley.

 

“Get off!” Sasuke demanded as he jerked his arm out of Naruto's grasp. “I'm not done here yet.”

 

He sighed and considered reminding his friend that now wasn't the time to flip out - it was time to fall back, regroup, strategize, and … some other bullshit they'd learned in the academy about losing battles; he was sure Sasuke remembered it. He'd just drag it out of him, and then they'd come up with a plan.

 

But Sasuke's harsh reply seemed to have snapped Sakura out of any awkwardness she might've been feeling. Her expression quickly shifted to one Naruto was much more used to seeing aimed toward himself - the one that said she was clearly unimpressed.

 

“I don't see how I could help you with that,” she said flatly.

 

Naruto blinked once, twice, then promptly slapped himself in the forehead, because seriously, she did not just go there.

 

Apparently, Sasuke decided to ignore the remark altogether. He crossed his arms over his chest and simply stated, “We're still ahead, you know.”

 

“Like hell!” she yelled, eyes ablaze.

 

“And,” he added before she could keep going. “It's our turn next.”

 

“You wanna continue? Fine! And since neither of you seemed too upset by this one, I guess I'll have to get serious!”

 

Naruto could only watch in disbelief as his teammates argued. Serious disbelief. Sakura-chan was yelling - yelling! - at Sasuke and being just as stubborn, too! It made him wonder if that genjutsu she cast on him had really sent him to an alternate dimension where Sasuke really wanted to sex him up and Sakura allowed her ego to get in the way of her common sense.

 

He quickly performed another kai just to be sure.

 

When it had no effect, he grimaced. Sakura was way too upset all of a sudden to simply shake hands and call a truce, and Sasuke.... Well, Naruto wondered if Sasuke even knew what a truce was. If things continued like this… Immediately, his mind conjured an image of burning buildings, busted roads, and suspension of duty for the three of them.

 

Naruto groaned. This had to end now, and he could only think of one way. Making the decision, Naruto interrupted them.

 

“Uh, guys? Guys!” They glared at each other for two long seconds but were thankfully quiet. When they finally turned their attention on him, he continued. “I quit,” he said simply. “This has gone way too far.”

 

“Fine,” Sasuke scoffed. “You just hold me back anyway.”

 

“That's bullshit, and you know it!” Naruto snorted and turned his eyes on Sakura. She was staring at him in shock, and he found himself rather annoyed by that. He could be rational, damn it!

 

She met his gaze for a few seconds before glancing back at Sasuke. Then suddenly, her rigid stance sagged as she sighed, “Okay, you win. I quit.”

 

Apparently, it wasn't the response Sasuke was expecting.

 

“What?! You can't quit!”

 

“Sure I can,” she shrugged. “Tomorrow I'll go ask Lee out to dinner or whatever.”

 

Sasuke fumed, his tightly clenched jaw muscles standing out in hard contrast to the rest of his face. “Maybe you should take Dead Last instead - since you're both such cowards and all,” he sneered.

 

Naruto opened his mouth to deny the accusation - being tired of being at odds with their teammate was not the same thing as being scared! - but Sakura suddenly appeared at Naruto's side and looped her arm with his. She looked utterly pissed.

 

“If that's what you want, Sasuke, we'll go on a date. And you know what? It'll be fun!”

 

Sasuke turned and disappeared in a flurry of leaves, but not before Naruto saw the look of disgust on his face. And judging by Sakura's expression, she'd seen it as well.

 

The blond exhaled loudly, and, running a hand through his hair, he glanced down at the girl still on his arm. Sakura was staring, apparently lost in thought or surprise or… something, at the place where Sasuke had just been standing.

 

“Err, Sakura-chan?” He lightly nudged her side with his elbow as he said it and saw a pained expression quickly pass over her face as she disentangled her arm from his.

 

“How about tomorrow, `kay? I'm tired.”

 

It was an obvious brush-off, but Naruto could've cared less considering he wasn't even asking about the date. To be honest, he wasn't in the mood to deal with either of them anymore that night.

 

“Tomorrow then.”

 

Sakura nodded and gave him a weak smile before disappearing herself.

 

Naruto sighed, finding himself alone in the alleyway, and with the odd mixture of lingering irritation and growing relief, he started toward his apartment.

 

~*~

 

Naruto awoke the following day to incessant knocking of the most annoying kind. Grumbling, he rolled out of bed and had to dig through the mess of tangled sheets, clothes, and pillows on the floor until he found the pajama pants he'd kicked off during the night. And yeah, if he hadn't kept flopping around unable to sleep they wouldn't have kept bunching and twisting uncomfortably in the first place, but that was beside the point.

 

The person at the door knocked again and louder than before.

 

“Hang on, damn it! I'm comin',” he barked, hopping on one leg across the living room as he shoved the other into his pants. As soon as they were on, he answered the door and was surprised to discover an uncomfortable looking Sakura on his doorstep. Glancing out at the street, he noticed for the first time that it wasn't morning anymore.

 

“Um, we never decided on a time last night, so…”

 

“Eh?” His mind groped blindly for an explanation for a few moments until realization dawned on him. “Oh! Right.” Their date - and boy did that sound weird in his head! “Uh, what time is it?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

 

“2:30,” Sakura offered, still looking like she'd rather be anywhere but there. She was pointedly not looking at him, and, having a bizarre sense of déjà vu, he quickly glanced down at himself to confirm that yes, Cockkage-sama had taken the morning off from embarrassing him. He was decent, damn it! Naruto scratched the back of his head, having no idea what her problem was this time. If anything, he should be the one feeling awkward after last night, he thought, mildly irritated, but there she was, chewing her lip and looking absolutely miserable.

 

“I didn't realize you'd still be sleeping. Just pick me up later whenever you're ready, okay?” she said and began moving toward the steps.

 

"Hold up. We can go ahead and go now if ya want,” he offered. “Just lemme get dressed first.” Naruto saw her warily glance at his bare chest before meeting his gaze. “Come on. You can watch tv or something. I'll be quick.”

 

Sakura stood there a moment before finally nodding and following him inside. He didn't offer her a drink or wait for her to take a seat on his beat up, old couch before slipping into the bedroom. She knew where everything was in his apartment already, and now that he was waking up, his own discomfort was beginning to make itself known.

 

Sniffing an underarm, Naruto quickly gathered some clean clothes and headed into the bathroom. As he slipped under the hot spray of the shower and began lathering himself up, he couldn't stop his mind from dwelling on what was about to happen. He was finally going on a date with Sakura-chan. He should've been happy. He should've been planning all the witty things he was going to say. He should've been jerking off to the very idea of it, but it was kind of hard to will his favorite mental images of Sakura - wearing nothing but her shoes and shin guards - after she... well, after last night anyway.

 

Not to mention the fact that going out with him was her punishment for losing. Naruto made a mental note to punch Sasuke in the face for that, because damn. He scrubbed himself harder as he grew more and more annoyed with the way things had turned out.

 

His pits had never been cleaner.

 

When he stepped into his living room dressed and wet-headed a few minutes later, he found Sakura standing in the corner, poking at one of his plants.

 

“This one new?” she asked without looking up.

 

“Nah, it used to be out on the balcony,” he answered distractedly. “Err, so….” Sakura finally turned away from the plant and glanced up at him, and Naruto couldn't think of any way to finish that sentence so he didn't.

 

Awkward silence followed, and Naruto hated it. Ever since his early days at the academy he'd wanted to talk to her, befriend her (and hoped for more eventually) and he'd done better than he ever really expected. She truly was one of his best friends, and the idea that things were uncomfortable between them made his stomach turn. He and Sakura had never had trouble communicating since they'd been put on team seven together, and there was just something inherently wrong about it being that way now.

 

So Naruto did what he did best: put on a smile and joked about the situation.

 

“Guess we're even now, huh?” He wasn't sure, but he thought her shoulders seemed to relax just a bit.

 

“No,” she answered a moment later. “You still have to pay for our date.”

 

“Oh, we're going to Ichiraku then? Great!” he grinned, pulling out his trusty frog wallet to check his funds.

 

“Hey!” she protested but was half-smiling, and Naruto couldn't help but smile also. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he'd imagined after all.

 

It was, in fact, just short of being a total disaster, he decided. The awkward silence returned just as soon as they made it out of his apartment and Naruto realized they had nothing to talk about that didn't involve their team, training, or the last subject he wanted to talk about right then: Sasuke.

 

Hmm, what could they talk about? Luckily, he didn't have to figure it out as a distraction made its appearance in the form of a blonde best friend.

 

“Hey, Forehead, if you don't come see me more, I'm going to start thinking I've been replaced.” Everything about her radiated annoyance, from the tone of her voice and the hand clutching the bag of takeout to her other hand tapping impatiently at her hip. Everything but the smirk and wink she threw his way, that is.

 

“I know, Pig. I've just been busy lately.” Sakura didn't seem to notice as her response to Ino was just as distracted as everything else so far that day.

 

Ino was staring; that probably wasn't a good thing.

 

“Okay, what's going on?” she asked a moment later, grinning like a cat. “You two didn't accidentally see each other naked or something did you?” She was enjoying this way too much.

 

Ha, if only!

 

“Ino!” Sakura growled. “Don't you have someone else to torture?”

 

“Yeah, yeah. You two are no fun anyway,” she answered with a flippant wave of hand as she turned to leave. She then added over her shoulder, “Loosen up or people are going to think you're on an extremely awkward first date or something.”

 

When complete silence greeted that comment, Ino whipped around in shock. And holy crap, he'd never seen such a crazed look on her face before!

 

“Oh, please tell me that's it!” She was practically salivating. It was quite disturbing.

 

“Well…” “Not really,” Sakura and Naruto answered in unison before glancing at each other in surprise.

 

“No.” “Sorta,” they quickly amended.

 

Ino glanced from her to him and back again. “Right,” she began slowly. “Well, I'll see you later. Need to get this back to the shop `n all.” She gestured toward her bag. “Details, Forehead, once you figure out what the hell's going on, and I won't take no for an answer.” And with that, Ino left them to their own discomfort.

 

`Hmph, some friend she was, and wow, Sakura was really gonna tell her we're on a date?' At that realization, Naruto turned toward her only to catch the pained look on his teammate's face.

 

“Sakura-chan?”

 

“Let's just go,” she quickly ground out as she began walking again. He could tell she was mad; four years of friendship had taught him that much. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure why. Naruto made a mental note to have a kage bunshin kick his own ass if it turned out to be his fault, though.

 

No more than two words were spoken during the rest of the walk to the ramen stand. Most of it was spent with Naruto's hands shoved grumpily in his pockets and Sakura staring at her feet or the shops on the side of the street opposite him.

 

It wasn't much better once they were sitting down with two big, steaming bowls of ramen in front of them either. At least they had the excuse of eating to hide behind, but it wouldn't last forever. Naruto sighed. Should he apologize? It seemed like maybe he should, but at the moment, he was really having a hard time feeling bad about anything. It's not like this was a real date; the day she agreed to an actual date with him was the day Sasuke professed his undying love for… anything.

 

Naruto watched her a moment as she picked distastefully at her ramen and caught himself gritting his teeth. It was like salt poured on a gaping wound. Really.

 

“Ya know, you could at least pretend this isn't the worst thing you've ever had to do. It's not like I really want to be here either, but at least I'm tryin',” he growled and shoved another clump of noodles into his mouth.

 

Her head whipped around, and he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of irritation lift at the familiar, outraged expression that greeted him. Until, of course, she opened her mouth.

 

“Could've fooled me. You're so uncomfortable you're practically twitching in your seat.” With that, she turned back to her food and grumbled under her breath, “I wish we'd never made that stupid bet.”

 

“Yeah, obviously,” Naruto snorted in agreement. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura wince. It wasn't until he saw the look Ayame-neesan was giving him from behind the counter, though, that he began to feel a little guilty. He wasn't entirely sure what she was trying to say with that look, but he knew disapproval when he saw it. Naruto sighed inwardly. Fine, make it two kage bunshin kicking his ass later.

 

Shoveling more barely chewed noodles down his throat, he glanced at Sakura. “I wished we hadn't either,” he admitted quietly. “Cause this sucks.” She responded with a weak grin and a nod - which promptly turned into an eye roll when he loudly slurped up more noodles.

 

“Gyah, remind me to beat some manners into you one day.”

 

Naruto laughed despite himself. “You and your sweet nothings.”

 

“I'll sweet nothing my foot up your ass,” she growled, half annoyed and half amused, and Naruto only laughed harder. Theirs was truly an interesting friendship to say the least.

 

~*~

 

“You did really good, ya know. I seriously thought it was Sasuke,” he commented offhandedly as they slowly made their way toward her home. Things were finally beginning to feel somewhat normal between them, and with that the sort of lazy/comfortable feeling had returned to Naruto.

 

Sakura looked at him, the corner of her lips tugging upward slightly. “How'd you figure it out?”

 

“Just a feeling really. Even if he woke up one day and realized how sexy I am, it would take something like torture to get him to admit it,” he laughed. From the smile on her face, Naruto assumed she agreed. “So... what made you think of that?” he ventured. The question had been burning in the back of his head since it happened, but he was no idiot. You didn't broach touchy subjects while she was pissed unless you wanted a beating.

 

“You guys made me think I'd fooled around with both of you and Kakashi-sensei! That messes with your head. I just wanted you to know how it felt.”

 

Silence.

 

“It's not like I expected him to go along with it,” she mumbled a few moments later.

 

“But you expected him to believe it,” Naruto sighed.

 

She looked away, focusing on something across the street. Wow. He knew she had, but it was quite another thing for her to admit it.

 

He fell silent, not really knowing how to respond, and the fact that Sasuke had gone along with it… well, he still wasn't sure how he felt about that.

 

“I don't want to think about how long it'll be before he speaks to me again,” moaned Sakura dejectedly. “How could I have been so stupid?”

 

Naruto sighed and turned his gaze upward, waiting for some sort of answer to fall out of the sky and smack him on the forehead. Sadly, it didn't.

 

“If it makes you feel any better, I doubt he'll wanna be even in the same room as me anytime soon,” he finally said.

 

A high-pitched whine escaped Sakura's throat. “So is this it? Is this how teams break up?”

 

That was not an option Naruto had wanted to consider, but now that she mentioned it, Sasuke could hold a grudge like no other.

 

“And if the genjutsu wasn't bad enough, I had to go and make it worse!”

Naruto began to nod his continued commiseration, but wait, that didn't make sense. “What do you mean?”

“Well, did you see his face after I grabbed your arm? It was just for a second, but he looked really pissed. It might be just because he expected me to be angry about going out with you.” She gave him an apologetic look at that comment. “But I don't think that's it. I think he might've been a little… jealous.”

Uh. “Jealous? Of us?” He wasn't usually one to doubt Sakura-chan, but that was just the weirdest thing he'd ever heard.

“Well, yeah. Not because he wants to be in your place, obviously, just … well, think about it. We've always been a three person team that's behaved a certain way around each other. But since we've regrouped, things have been different. You and I have been closer, and I've noticed that he's noticed, you know?”

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he tried to process all of that. “So you think he feels left out?”

“Maybe. I don't know,” she snorted in exasperation. “Hell, for all I know, he could be jealous of me!” Sakura met his gaze and chuckled nervously.

Slowly, Naruto replied, “I don't think he's gay, Sakura-chan.” When she only raised an eyebrow in response, he continued. “Seriously. I mean, he hides it well, so all you've seen is what just happened. I've been around him a lot more. I've seen him look when he thought no one was watching, and he was more than a little interested in the way you reacted to Kakashi-sensei in that jutsu.”

He tried not to laugh at her shell-shocked expression.

“Then what was that earlier? He likes both?” The look on her face clearly showed that she'd never considered the possibility before.

“Could be.” It was a much better conclusion than the alternative, he realized. The idea that he'd only gone along with it out of some stupid rival-humiliation thing made his stomach churn. “Would it bother you if he is?”

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before answering. “No, actually. It's just a surprise. I used to think stuff like that was the last thing on his mind, and now it turns out I might have twice the competition.” Naruto glanced at her awkwardly and received a playful punch in the shoulder for his efforts. “That was a joke.”

His responding chuckle was painfully forced.

“Does it bother you that he's at least somewhat attracted to you?” she asked a few moments later.

He considered it for a minute, and for once an answer came easily to him. If that was the case and Sasuke really did have the hots for him, things would be different for sure, but Naruto couldn't by any means say that it'd be upsetting. Grinning, he answered, “Nah. It would be kinda weird, but then it'd kinda make sense, too. Damn confusing, uptight bastard. Maybe I should go shag him rotten every now and then to loosen him up.” He waggled his eyebrows at her then and ignored it when she rolled her eyes.

They'd walked almost an entire block before either of them ventured to break the silence again - Naruto realized rather belatedly that she must've been trying to work herself up it. “So, are you…?” Sakura made a nonsensical gesture with her hands, apparently unable to finish the question.

Naruto simply shrugged. “I never really thought about it. Didn't need to, ya know. There's never been a shortage of pretty girls,” he replied, flashing her one of his winning smiles. “But if he tried to…” He trailed off, shrugging again. “I don't know. I mean, I guess I wouldn't know without trying it.”

“You want to, don't you?” she asked quietly.

Well, that certainly wasn't a question he'd been expecting; Naruto immediately tripped over his own feet. “Wha?! What makes you think that?”

“You're stumbling all over yourself. Not that I blame you. If I knew for a fact Sasuke wanted me, I don't think I could keep from thinking about it either.”

Hmm, well, he supposed she had a point there, but still. “And not me, Sakura-chan?” he asked teasingly.

“Pfft, I already know you're a walking ball of hormones,” she waved him off, nose wrinkled.

 

Something in the dismissiveness of her response kicked him right in the gut, and he suddenly stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “Yeah, but what if you knew that right this moment I would gladly drag you behind that building and make you scream?” The intensity in his voice surprised even himself.

Sakura's eyes darted back and forth between his briefly, and she swallowed audibly before responding. “I'd say we'd better think about this carefully before we say something we can't take back. We have enough stuff to fix between all of us at the moment.”

Naruto watched her intently for a moment, considering. Then his face broke out in a smile as he grabbed her hand and tugged her along. “Well, let's go then.”

“W...where?”

“To get that uptight bastard and show him he's still a part of the team.”

 

 

TBC