UZUMAKI SHIPPUDEN!

[20.] Time For Bonding!

We've been on the road for a couple of hours and it was the worst time of my life. Naruto was arguing non stop with the new guy, who we had learned was Sai. At first it was subtle tension, but now neither of them was trying to hide their disdain. The only one trying to make amends was Sakura, but even she was slightly pissed. I on the other hand opted for giving everyone the silent treatment until I didn't feel like snapping Sai's neck.

Right now Sai and Naruto were arguing again, but this time about Sasuke. That's when this bastard completely crossed the line and started to talk crap about Sasuke.

"Shut up dattebayo! You're just a temporary replacement!" Naruto seethed when Sakura punched him.

"What was that for!" I yelled at Sakura, but she just ignored me and slightly bowed to Sai. 'Ugh I get that she's keeping peace, but he went too far!'

"Please forgive Naruto and Mito for how they've been acting," Sakura smiles apologizing for absolutely no reason. Maybe Naruto was taking things too far with the constant head butting, but Sai wasn't trying to be friendly either. Even when he smiled you could tell that he wasn't here to make friends. Then as soon as Sakura got close enough to the bastard she sucker punched him right in the face. "However I don't care if you forgive me," she glared as his body flew to the ground. He's lucky she held back because certainly she could have seriously injured him. 'Is he hurt, he's bleeding out his mouth' I thought with the same shocked expression as Yamato and Naruto.

"You tricked me.." Sai said wiping the blood away.

"You know nothing about Sasuke-kun, so don't you dare badmouth him again," Sakura demanded sternly. I was upset as well, but not that upset..after all this time Sakura still loved him with all her heart. 'Gosh what am I thinking about right now,' I thought shaking my head and lightly slapping my cheeks.

"Fine, I won't talk about him in front of you," Sai said plastering his fake smile on again and we were back to square one. 'Even after getting punched he can't learn how to keep his mouth shut.' I rolled my eyes crossing my arms until I felt the ground tremble, many wooden rods came from the ground forming a cell structure.

"Do I have to throw you guys in here" Yamato threatened us all going in about how we'd need to be a team for this mission. 'Wait so he used wood style? Does that mean he's a descendant of
the first Hokage! Is he related to Tsunade-Baa?' I wondered thinking of asking, but I was still angry about this whole set up. 'W-whatever! It's not that cool,' I officially decided I wanted nothing to do with either Yamato or Sai after this mission. "I can put you all in here for a day or we can go to a bathhouse for the night," he suggested staring at us menacingly so ultimately we decided to go to the bathhouse.

Right now Sakura and I were relaxing in the girls section without the boys. I'm kind of glad we ended up coming here because when I was with Jiraiya we always got kicked out hot-springs.

"This feels so good dattebayo!" I smiled falling deeper in the water and Sakura giggled at my antics.

"I agree, it's been awhile since we've relaxed like this" Sakura sighed in contentment. We just sat in silence for a while with occasional chatter when we heard yelling from the boys side. 'Naruto!'

"QUIT TALKING ABOUT MY EQUIPMENT DATTEBAYO!" Naruto yelled and all the woman began laughing, but it took me awhile. 'W-why're they talking about that!' I blushed submerging myself in the water.

"That idiot," I heard Sakura mumble once I got to the top again. We looked at each other's flushed expressions for a bit before laughing ourselves. "Jeez sometimes I don't know how you and Naruto are related."

"Only sometimes?"

"Mhm, you guys act alike more than you realize," Sakura smiled gently. "You guys are both determined, strong, and reliable, I get jealous at how confident you can be. Sometimes I wonder if I was more like you back then would Sasuke like me."

"Huh!" I gasped sitting up straight "you shouldn't have to change yourself for a guy Sakura."

"I know! I know! It's just that he always seemed to be around you" She said waving me off and I felt a little guilty. I knew how she felt about him and I still hadn't told her..I had to right now.

"Sakura," I started off softly staring at my reflection in the water. "Sasuke and I...I liked Sasuke, we were always around each other," I admitted with a small blush looking up to see her reaction. But she was still smiling despite looking a little sad.

"I know," she said looking back at me "after awhile it became obvious, but I didn't want to see it."

"I'm sorry..I should've told you we liked each other back then" I said feeling a little better, but she grabbed my shoulder forcing me to look at her again.

"I'm not going to give up on Sasuke because I still love him more than anything" Sakura declared with complete determination causing my face to heat up, but I just nodded. "That was back then and I'm not going to lose to you..so let the best woman win!" Sakura chirped letting go of me and relaxing again.

"The best woman huh?" I mumbled to myself sinking in the water, despite Sakura saying she envied my confidence I didn't feel that way at all. What did I have to be confident about? There's nothing that made me particularly amazing.

"I think I'm turning into a prune," Sakura frowned stepping out of the bath. "Come on Mito, we should get ready for dinner" she sighed waiting for me, but I didn't feel like going..I felt a little queasy.

"Uh go without me..I want to relax a bit more before seeing the boys again" I said with one of my own fake smiles. Sakura shrugged before leaving and the knot in my chest felt tighter, 'how does she not realize she's the better woman?' I thought staring after her retreating figure. She didn't have to think about whether or not she truly loved Sasuke, with her there was no doubt. With me, I felt so much resentment towards him underneath the love, I felt hurt and betrayed. I used to love him with every fiber of my being and it still wasn't enough, I wasn't enough for him. "I can't fight for Sasuke like Sakura," I realized digging my finger nails into my arm. 'I will never be enough for anyone' I sighed thinking of everyone I cared about. I began swimming over to the wall separating the boys from the girls to feel Naruto's chakra.

"Nii-san?" I called out wanting to hear his voice and it took a few minutes, but he responded.

"W-What's up?" He asked sounding nervous, probably because he was about to try something stupid. 'Pervy-sennin has corrupted my Naruto!'

"Nothing! I just missed you,"

"Huh? I haven't left, Where's all this coming from?" He asked and I giggled thinking of his dumb expression. No matter what I could always count on him to make me feel better, even if he didn't know.

"Nowhere~" I sung deciding I should get out "I'll see you at dinner and you shouldn't have thought about peeking on Sakura" I scolded hearing the water splash most likely he fell right in. 'Ugh I can't believe I was right about that.'