This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right at all!
“Wh-what did you say?” Sakura asked, appalled by her two parents sitting on the couch in front of her. Her mother put her hand on her husband’s.
“We think it’s time for you to quit being a ninja, settle down, and have a family,” her mother repeated in her calm voice. Sakura looked at her father, surely he couldn’t agree with this. She was his little girl! The teen’s face paled when she saw her father nod.
“Being a ninja is risky business, Sakura-chan,” her father said in his deep voice. “I don’t like the thought of you being someone’s wife, but I’d rather have you be someone’s wife then dead.” Sakura couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“B-but, I can’t settle down yet! I promised Naruto that I’d bring Sasuke back! I’m not just going to up and quit after coming this far! You guys supported my decision!” Sakura said, quickly looking back and forth between her parents.
Mr. Haruno’s narrowed at the mention of Naruto. Sakura mentally scolded herself. She had forgotten that her father was once of those who hated the, “demon brat.” Mrs. Haruno patted her husband’s hand to sooth him.
“Yes, we did support the idea, Sakura-chan,” slowly started Sakura’s mom. “But we also agreed that if you didn’t have a boyfriend in three years then you were to quit this nonsense and settle down. “Nonsense? NONSENSE?! It was you guys who taught me to keep my promises! And since when was helping your friends nonsense?!” roared inner Sakura.
“Besides, we know you’d make a good wife!” continued Mrs. Haruno. “And I can think of a couple nice boys that would love to have you as a wife. That Akimichi boy’s cute and that one Inuzuka boy would be perfect for you! Inuuk’s are so cute when they get protective of the girl they like!” Sakura almost gagged at her mother’s gushing.
Sakura needed to think of something to say and fast. “It hasn’t been three years yet, so I still have time. I’m not going to abandon Naruto and Sasuke when they need me most!” Sakura said, running out of things to say. Mr. Haruno’s eyes narrowed more.
“Do NOT,” growled Sakura’s father. “Mention that demon brat in this house!” Inner Sakura roared with fury. How dare he insult her friend?!
“Naruto’s not a demon! He’s a human just like the rest of us and my friend so stop insulting him! Naruto didn’t have a choice to have the demon sealed inside him! But by doing so he SAVED this village!” shouted inner Sakura.
Mr. Haruno’s face darkened. “What, did you just say to me?” Sakura instantly paled. She…she said that out loud?
“I…uh…” Sakura couldn’t make a sentence.
“Get out.” Sakura and her mom looked at Sakura’s dad.
“What?” asked Sakura.
“Get out of this house! You’re not welcome here anymore!” shouted Sakura’s father while standing. S
“Honey, calm down. I’m sure she didn’t mean--”
“Stay out of this, Matsuri!” shouted Sakura’s dad at her mom. Sakura felt rage and shock mix in an unstable way.
“Fine!” shouted Sakura. “I don’t want parents who don’t respect their daughter anyways!” Sakura raced out of the room and ran straight to her bedroom. Locking the door, Sakura pulled out her mission backpack from her closet and grabbed a couple of empty scrolls from her desk drawers.
She wasted no time sealing her clothes, books, weapons, and various other items and ninja tools into scrolls. Tossing the scrolls into the pack along with a pouch of money, she closed her backpack and slung it onto her back. Making her way to her window and opening it, she paused and looked around her room to see if she had forgotten something.
She did.
On the night stand was the picture of the original squad seven. Sakura walked over to the picture and looked at it with sad eyes. “Sasuke…” she muttered to herself as she picked up the picture. Sakura’s head snapped up when she heard banging on the door.
“Sakura, please open the door! You’re father didn’t mean what he said!” Sakura shook her head and jumped out of her bedroom window and landed gracefully on the ground below. Sakura ran as soon as her feet had hit the dirt. Sakura’s form disappeared into the night.
|:~*(P)*~:|
Tsunade yawned as she walked into her office. She sighed as she saw the mound of paper work on her desk to greet her on this fine morning. Glaring at the stack of paper work that seemed to spawn over night, Tsunade made her way to her chair, sat down, and closed her eyes.
Ah, at least the chair was comfy.
A groan made the Hokage jumped and nearly had a heart attack in her chair as she saw her pink haired apprentice awaking on her couch. “…Lady Tsunade?” Sakura asked groggily as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Tsunade decided to act like nothing happened and crossed her hands in front of her face.
“Good morning. Mind telling me why you’re sleeping on my couch?” Tsunade asked while raising an eyebrow. Sakura quickly gave the explanation as to why she was here and not sleeping in her own bed. “I see,” started Tsunade. “You know you can’t stay here right?”
“Yes, Lady Tsunade. I’ll be searching for a place to stay today,” said Sakura as she put her backpack on. Tsunade got a thoughtful look on her face.
“I can narrow your search greatly,” Tsunade said, smiling. Sakura had a surprised look on her face. “Naruto doesn’t have the room for another person and Kakashi’s place is somewhere I wouldn’t want a teenage girl living.” Sakura winced. Those two where the first ones she was going to ask.
“Ino’s house is crowded enough as it is, and Hinata would share what little room she had, but her father doesn’t like strangers staying at the Hyuga compound for longer then a day or two,” continued Tsunade. A sinking feeling consumed Sakura’s stomach. She was going to ask all those people for a place to stay! Now where would she stay?
“I suppose…” started Sakura. “I could rent a hotel.” Tsunade’s smile never faltered.
“Why would you do that?” Tsunade said with a mischievous sparkle in her eye. Sakura looked up at her Hokage and sensei.
“Well, where else am I going to stay?” asked Sakura.
“Did you know that ANBU ROOT members get their own house?” Sakura’s eyes widened.
|:~*(P)*~:|
Sai’s fake smile faltered at the girl on his doorstep. He didn’t know exactly what to do in this situation. “You…need a place to stay, so you came here?” Sai said more to himself. Sakura nodded. God, she felt awkward! Sakura shifted her weight nervously to her other leg. Sai’s fake smile had long since disappeared as he thought about what to do in this situation. A couple different passages from various different books he had read came to mind, but one stuck more than the others.
“When a person needs help, they go to their friends. People they know who can help.”
Sai’s fake smile returned as he stepped aside. “Come on in, ugly.” Sakura’s eyebrow twitched in irritation but walked in, against her better judgment. Why was she doing this again? Oh yeah, her dad kicked her out and she had enough money for about two nights at a hotel.
Peachy.
Sai’s house was very…plain, to say the least. Paintings where really the only decoration. Sakura didn’t complain though. The house was pretty clean, more so then any hotel that she could afford. Picked up the occasional book that lay here and there and this place would be spotless.
Sai lead Sakura to the spare bedroom toward the back of the house. Sakura took note of where the bathroom and kitchen where. Sai didn’t say anything as he opened the door to the spare bedroom and walked inside. Sakura followed him inside. It was plain, like the rest of the house, but clean.
Sai left without saying any and closed the door behind him. Sakura sighed as she took out her scrolls and summoned all the stuff she put in them. After putting the clothes in the dresser, the weapons in a relatively safe place, and the books on top of the dresser and in and on the night stand, Sakura sat on the bed with the old team photo in her hand.
With her finger, she traced the outline of Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and herself. Sighing, she placed the photo on the nightstand and laid down on the bed. Sakura’s eyes slowly closed as her head hit the pillow. Comfy, was Sakura’s last thought before falling asleep.
Sakura woke up to the sound of her stomach growling. Yawning the sleep away, the pink haired girl got off the bed and made her way to the kitchen. On her way, she took note of the clock that said it was past midnight. I must have been tired. Sakura thought while sweat dropping.
Walking into the kitchen Sakura was surprised to see Sai sleeping at the kitchen table with a stack of books. Suppressing her giggle, the teenage girl walked over a bowl of fruit on the counter and picked up a peach. Sakura’s eyes watched the boy sleeping at the table as she ate the fruit. Throwing the pit in trash, Sakura quietly walked over to Sai and picked him up.
He‘s heavier then he looks. Sakura thought with another sweat drop as she focused her chakra to strengthen her arms. Walking down the hallway, Sakura carefully opened one door to a room she guessed was his room. Sakura stood stunned at the room. Beautiful paintings covered the walls, and an unfinished painting of a wolf howling to the moon sat on an easel.
Ripping her eyes away from the paintings, Sakura walked over to Sai’s bed and carefully deposited his body onto the bed. After covering his body with his blanket, Sakura left the room and walked back to the kitchen to see if she could find something else to eat. She needed more than a peach a day to keep her strength up.
Sakura found a box of cereal and some milk in the refrigerator so she fixed herself a bowel of cereal and sat at the table that Sai had been sleeping at. Picking up the book that Sai had been reading before he fell asleep, Sakura raised an eyebrow at the title.
“How to Read Her Body Language…” Sakura flipped the book open to the page Sai had been reading as she ate. The Haruno raised an eyebrow at the title. “What Does it Mean if She Asks to Move in With Me?” Sakura put another spoonful of cereal into her mouth as she continued reading.
“When a she asks to move in with you, it can mean several different things. These are some of the things it could mean:
1.) She’s lonely and needs companionship.
2.) She’s into you and wants to see if you’re husband material.”
Sakura almost choked on her food as she looked at number two. She glared at the sentence with fury, before thinking if Sai had thought she moved in because she was, “in,” to him. Sakura had almost laughed before continuing her reading.
“3.) She trusts you enough to move in when she has no where else to go.” Sakura sighed as she finished her cereal and put the bowel and spoon into the sink. “Who wrote this crap?” Sakura muttered to herself before finding a pencil on the table. Deciding to make Sai’s “quest for knowledge” simple, she underlined number three and left the page open. Sakura yawn as she walked back to her room.
Stupid things always exhausted her.
|:~*(P)*~:| One Week Later |:~*(P)*~:|
Sakura had gotten used to Sai’s insults and was actually starting to like living with him. She had told Sai why she was kicked out of her home, but he just stared impassively at her, almost as if he didn’t understand. However, when Sakura’s mom showed up on Sai’s doorstep looking for her daughter, Sai showed he understood more then he lead her to believe when he told the older Haruno that Sakura wasn’t there.
Sakura walked into Sai’s house with a frown on her face and grocery bags in her hands. Sai was gone by the time she had woken up and had yet to come home. Sighing she placed the bags onto the counter and put the food away. Grabbing a bottle of water, Sakura sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Nothing interesting was on, so she flipped the stations till she landed on the ten o’clock news.
Sakura didn’t pay attention to the news. She kept looking at the clock as it got later and later. Once the clock read ll:37 p.m., Sakura turned off the TV, tossed out her empty water bottle, and walked to her bedroom. Changing into her pajamas, Sakura laid on her bed as she looked up at the ceiling. She knew she couldn’t sleep, she was too worried.
Where was Sai? Did he get hurt during training and was in the hospital? Should she go to the hospital and make sure that wasn’t the case? Could he have been kidnapped by the Akatsuki to get to Naruto? Was he laying in a pool of blood somewhere?
Sakura didn’t like the feeling she was having. Calm down, Sakura. Sai’s an ANBU ROOT. He can take care of himself. I’m sure he’s just fine. It wasn’t until hours later did sleep win the battle over Sakura’s mind.
The next morning Sakura froze when she entered the kitchen. There, Sai sat at the table, sipping coffee and reading the morning paper as if nothing happened. Sakura’s fist shook in furry as she walked over to Sai’s table. Sai took notice of Sakura and gave her one of his smiles. “Good morning, ugly.”
“Where the HELL were you yesterday?!” Sakura shouted as she slammed her hands down on the table. Sai’s smile didn’t falter.
“A mission,” was all he said. Sakura’s eyes narrowed.
“Do you have ANY idea how worried I was?!” she shouted. Sai’s smile turned into his regular impassive look. “Don’t you know how to leave a note?!” Sakura’s eyes filled with tears that refused to fall. “I thought something happened to you!”
Sai remained quiet during Sakura’s speech. He watched as Sakura lost her battle with her tears and saw them fall from her eyes. Sai stood up and watched as Sakura stomped over with angry, tearstained eyes. He prepared himself for the hit he knew was coming. But suddenly, he froze as Sakura wrapped her arms around him and cried in his chest.
“You stupid, stupid male! Leave a damn note next time,” Sakura’s muffled voice reached Sai’s ears. Sai slowly wrapped his arms around Sakura. This was something he had learned about in a book. Sakura held on to him until her tears stopped falling. She then straightened herself and met Sai’s black eyes with her green ones. Sakura found herself leaning towards the still Sai.
“Am I suppose to be doing something?” suddenly asked Sai. Sakura froze and leaned back. She looked at Sai’s confused face. Sakura started to chuckle, before erupting into all-out laughter. Count on Sai to ruin the mood! Sai stood still as he looked at the laughing girl.
Sakura quieted her laughter to a giggle. “No,” she giggled. “I’ll do it,” she said before pressing her lips against Sai’s.
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Chapter notes: This was a request from nkbz! I hope you like it