Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Vulnerable ❯ Toxic ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Not to be the type to trust an arrogant guy like Zaku, Sakura doesn�t plan on doing any more then taking a quick glance at the Sound Ninja and walking away. But things don�t always go the way they are planned, and sometimes, it�s for the better.

Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.08.2006 | Updated On: 07.08.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 611 | Status: Work In Progress

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Here's another chapter for you all.

Enjoy!

X.i.X.

Vulnerable

Chapter 2: Toxic

By: Melissa Norvell

X.i.X.

`I can't believe I'm doing this…' Sakura berated herself as she walked over to the spot in the forest that they had met in the night before.

“Heh,” Zaku smirked. “You actually showed up. I thought I'd have to hunt you down and kill you.”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean?” Sakura asked, obviously offended by the comment.

“I didn't expect that from someone like you.” He closed his eyes arrogantly and smirked.

“Shut up. Let's go wherever you're going to take me.” Sakura replied and walked ahead a few paces. `Touch me and die! Cha! And don't think I'm not watching where your hand is going, pal!'

The Sound Nin walked a few paces following her. “I know what you could do for me.”

`Why me?' Sakura inwardly winced. `Why did I ever agree to this? I guess I deserve it for worrying about being late and just wanting him off of my back. I should have just thought through all of this before thinking about how busy I was that day, or how I wanted to get away from him because he disgusts me…'

“What?” The girl asked in an unamused voice.

“Spend a week with me.” He replied, knowing that she couldn't stand 10 minutes with him, much less a week.

“Let me guess…Starting now, right?” Sakura dead panned.

There was a silent nod from the spiky haired Sound Nin.

“What's your name anyway? That would help me a lot.”

“I'm Abumi Zaku.”

“Haruno Sakura.” She told him. `This must be some ironic twist of fate…But if I don't do anything, he'll kill me, and I can't stand up against him. He did save my life, and no matter how annoying he is, or how much I can't stand his arrogance, I can't back down from my honor code.'

X.i.X.

They stood in a darkened room in complete silence, staring at each other for hours before anyone spoke.

“Nice conversation.” Sakura finally replied, breaking hours of silence between them.

“I have nothing to say.”

“So, you want me to stand here and watch the paint flake?” The pink haired girl finally replied and look around.

Zaku sat at a stumpy wooden table in the room. “I never said you had to stand there.”

Irresolute, the pink haired girl slowly made her way over to the table, sitting on the conflicting side, across from Zaku.

“Why exactly are you doing this?” Sakura tried to ask again, hoping for an answer. “I thought you were going to kill me and that I annoyed you. Not like you aren't annoyed at much it seems.”

“Very damn funny. I'm doing it because you owe me for saving your ass.” Zaku smirked. “And I know you're utterly annoyed at that fact.”

“You bast-!” A cup of tea was handed to her. Sakura blinked in confusion for a few moments, and then glared emotionlessly at the tea within.

“What? Are you going to glare at it so hard that maybe one day it will evaporate?” The dark haired ninja replied sardonically, sitting the cup down on the tabletop across from him.

“No, I just don't want to drink poison.” She huffed.

“It's not poisoned.”

“How do I know that?” She crossed her arms.

“What? Do I have to taste-test the damn thing?” Zaku asked, growing annoyed.

Sakura picked up the cup, holding it closely to her face and examining both the cup and the content within through skeptical viridian orbs. She saw that there were two leaves broken up within it and looked with suspicion towards them.

“There's something in here.”

“Yeah, they're called leaves.” Zaku remarked sardonically.

“What kind of leaves? Could be Night Shade-“

She was cut off by the Sound Nin reaching over the table, taking her cup and sipping out of it. Afterwards, he sat it back in front of Sakura and leveled her with a glare.

“Now, if I die, you'll know I poisoned it. Besides, why would I save you from an enemy ninja, just to kill you here? I would have rather let you get killed.”

The pink haired girl picked up the tea cup and brought it up to her lips, but before it reached them, it was sat back down on the table.

“What now?” The Sound Nin asked, beginning to get aggravated. “For the last time, if I were going to kill you, I would have let your enemy do it.”

“I'm not involuntarily kissing you.” The girl huffed.

`This girl is really grinding on my last nerve.' Zaku thought to himself. “Like I would ever want to kiss someone like you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“The Night Shade leaves you talk about are actually peppermint leaves.” He told her as he switched the glasses. “There, now you won't indirectly kiss me.”

“How do I know that you haven't drunk out of that one?” Sakura pointed out.

“Does it look like I drunk out of it? Look at the glass. You didn't see me take any drinks, did you?” Irritation was strong in his voice.

“I don't trust it.”

“You don't trust me, either.”

“Do you want the truth?” She intoned.

Zaku's eye twitched.

“So, I have to meet you here in this drab abandon house and be your slave for a week?”

“A week?” Zaku asked, not sure if he actually wanted to go with his initial bargain. He sipped gingerly on the tea, hoping it would calm his nerves, and then he sat it on the table, the sound of porcelain was heard, rasping against hard wood.

“Isn't that what you said?” Sakura asked, silently hoping that he'd lower the number.

“I guess it is.”

The kunoichi stared at the cup of tea for a few moments, watching her figure swirl around within the coppery depths of the liquid, and looking at the leaves dance around in a haunting way before taking a drink of it.

“Thought it was Night Shade?”

“If I die, you die.” Sakura warned.

“Hmpf.” The male ninja smirked and dark smile and closed his eyes. “So, you've learned to trust.”

“No, just stand you and hope that I don't die because I owe you at least enough to drink your stupid tea.”

“Does it taste like peppermint?” Zaku asked slyly.

Pink lips drew back from taking another drink as she blinked at him. “I guess it does.”

She looked into the tea once again, the darkened peppermint leaves swirling around in the tea, causing ripples in the liquid surface. `This had better not be an indirect kiss.'

She took another drink.

`I can at least learn to trust him a little…Against my better judgment. I might as well make the best of this week of hell…'

TBC:

Preview for Chapter 3: These Chains of Anguish

Sakura gets a dose of reality in the most painful of forms, but when the dormant house's usual occupant shows up late, will he finally have someone to turn to?

A/N: That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for all of the reviews, please leave more. The more reviews you leave, the sooner I will update! I usually update once a week, so if you want more updates, like twice a week, then leave me at least 10 reviews per chapter. It's not that much to ask, but I have a lot of stories. No, this isn't a ploy for popularity, I will still update regardless of 10 reviews per chapter, it just won't be as fast.

Please R&R!