Save Me | A Naruto Fanfic

Chapter Five

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~Ino's POV~

I drain my water and place the small clay glass back on the table. Sai sits across from me, watching intently.

"Is something up, Ino?" Temari asks me. She sits beside Sai, and her date, Shikamaru, sits next to me. I sigh and sit back in my chair.

"Yea," I reply.

"What is it?" Shikamaru says, half tired, half concerned.

"It's Sakura. She's like all obsessed about Sasuke and his not being here is tearing her apart."

Sai narrows his eyes, "There's more."

I'm only taken slightly aback by his observation, for he knows me so well I'm used to it.

"Well, the other day in the market, we ran into this guy. He was really nice and all, and Sakura got thinking about him, and I asked her if she'd see him again, but she said no."

"What?" Temari gasps.

"She feels that she is betraying Sasuke," I sigh again.

The others moan and we all sit in silence, pondering the situation. After a moment, Sai leans forward and rests his elbows on the table.

"So what do we do?" he says quietly.

"I have no clue," I conclude.

*Time Skip: A Day Later*

I sit behind the shop counter in my family's flower shop, forehead resting on the granite surface. I breath in and out slowly, letting my eyes drift shut.

Time passes, I don't know how long, before a bell rings, indicating someone has entered the shop. My head shoots up, and I immediately feel dizzy. I groan and open my eyes, spotting Hinata entering the store.

"Oh hi Hinata," I greet tiredly. She giggles at my state and approaches the counter, hands clasped together in front of her.

"Hi."

"What's up?" I ask.

"I wanted to talk about Sakura..."

I sigh, "Yea. She...uh...isn't in the best state right now."

"What's the most recent thing that's happened?" she asks in her usual quiet tone.

"Well..." I go onto explaining she situation with Ryuu, and her stubbornness towards Sasuke. Hinata just nods solemnly.

After I finish talking, a long silence ensues. Hinata finally sighs, which is uncharacteristic for her.

"Naruto doesn't know about Ryuu, does he?"

I shake my head.

"I don't know how he'll take that. He may like her sticking to Sasuke rather than this stranger, or he may like the idea of someone new. I have no idea which, though."

I hadn't thought of that. Naruto could go either way.

"I'll talk to him," I say. Hinata just nods. "Did you want to buy anything?"

She shakes her head, "No, but thanks. I'm going to go visit the Hokage, he wanted me do some research of sorts. I'll see you later then?"

"Sure thing. I'll tell you how it goes. Well, if it goes badly, then I'm pretty sure the entire town will know." We both giggle at that and exit the shop together. I flip the open sign around so that it says closed and head off to Naruto's, bidding goodbye to Hinata as she walks the other way.

~Naruto's POV~

This is insane.

"What?!" I shriek at Ino, and she nods. "Feeling like she's betraying him?" I scoff angrily.

"I know," she says. "He doesn't even deserve her loyalty."

"That's for damn certain," I say, shoving my hands through my hair.

"Well," Ino starts, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna do exactly what needs to be done: Tell her she's wrong."

And with that, I leave Ichiraku's and jog down the street, heading in the direction of Sakura's house. I reach her door and are about to knock on it, when I sense a chakra. A very distinct chakra.

Oh now is SO not the time for a visit.

I sense it above me, so run and jump for Sakura's balcony, remaining as light on my feet as possible so that she doesn't hear me. I then spring onto her roof, and find myself face to face with non other then the last remaining Uchiha.

Sasuke.

"Naruto," he greets.

"Sasuke," I reply, though uncharacteristically unfriendly. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same question."

"Well, ironically, I'm about to tell Sakura to move on from your sorry ass!"

He looks up and meets my eyes. His are kinder then I remember. But they still make a fire burn in the pit of my stomach.

"What?" he replies, and I'm taken aback by his tone. It's soft, kind of desperate.

"You made her wait too long you idiot!" I shout at him, louder than I intended. I feel the fury ignite in a pit in my stomach, just threatening to tear its way to the surface.

Sasuke is suddenly right in front of me, his one and only hand covering my mouth. He stares over my shoulder, slight fury in his eyes.

I smack his hand away, "What?"

"Look..."

I turn and see Sakura leaving her apartment with a guy. An intimidatingly handsome guy.

"What the hell? Is that the guy Ino was talking about?" I murmur. We watch as the two walk down the street, speechless. And when he takes her hand and intertwines their fingers, I feel Sasuke tense beside me.

I turn to look at him. His sandy robe flaps in the wind, and his teeth are gritted. He looks pissed.

Then I see something in his eyes, and it clicks. 

I guess he does love her, after all.

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*EDITED (mildly)*

It has been like four years since I last touched this novel, so I only did a slight edit on this chapter. 

I think it's about time I finish this story. I'll do an overhaul after.

-Aleyna