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Chapter Four: Tumultuous Breakfast

On the way back to the apartment, everyone had found themselves to be incapable of speech. Naruto was in back, in between Sakura and Ino. Ino wound her arm through his, forming a human cuff, linking him to her. Sakura kept eyeing them out of the corner of her eye. Dating? She couldn't wrap her head around it. Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto were DATING?

Upon entering Kakashi and Iruka's home, the group found an impressive breakfast spread that spanned the entire length of the table. Temari and Iruka, in matching frilly pink aprons, where peddling around the kitchen tending to the last items of food.

Kankuro was asleep on the couch and of no help at all. His feet were stretched out into Lee's lap. Lee looked horribly uncomfortable with this predicament, but unsure of what to do about it.

"Hey guys, welcome home!" Temari called from the kitchen in a sing-song voice. The group quickly spread out into the house, muttering their greetings.

Gaara glared at his brother. Lee may not have known how to politely handle the situation but such things were of no concern to the Kazekage. With his sand, he proceeded to forcefully lift Kankuro off the couch and smack him directly into the wall behind the couch. He ignored his brother's moaning and proceeded to seat himself next to his boyfriend, placing his arm around Lee as if nothing had happened.

Kankuro knew better than to act as if anything had.

Sasuke walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her backwards into a hug and kissing her neck. Usually a fairly publically unaffectionate couple, the combination of Temari's raging hormones and Sasuke's excitement that she was carrying his heir had made them like schoolchildren. She batted him away playfully.

He whispered something in her ear and she turned to look at Ino and Naruto, whose arms were still linked. She raised a skeptical eyebrow, but said nothing and went back to fussing with the food. A few well placed words to Sasuke sent him into the living room, where he stepped over the lifeless body of Kankuro and joined Gaara and Lee on the couch.

Ino dragged Naruto into the adjacent dining room. Clearly visible to those in the living room, she pushed him into a chair and promptly arranged herself in his lap. Naruto was clearly surprised, blushing redder than Chouji's hair, but uttered no objection. She wasted no time before she began demonstrating typical gooey "new couple" behavior. Playing with his hair and placing light kisses on his cheeks and forehead between sentences.

Sakura plopped into one of the open chairs in Kakashi and Iruka's living room. She sat stiff-backed with both hands on her knees. She was utterly speechless. The know-it-all finally knew nothing. How did this happen?

TenTen bit her lip. Sensing the awful tension in the room, she seated herself on the arm of the chair Sakura was in. The pink haired girl didn't even notice she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts. TenTen pursed her lips. "Sakura," she said, trying to get her attention. No response. Sakura's eyes were glazed over like she was trapped in some evil Genjutsu, locked on Naruto and Ino. TenTen had half a mind to look upward, expecting to find a rain cloud floating above Sakura's head.

"Sakura!" the tiny brunette tried again. No answer. Getting huffy, she sat on the arm of the chair trying to think of what to do. TenTen looked over at Sakura again. She was looking directly at the blonde couple, but it almost seemed as if she didn't see them. Her eyes looked dead. TenTen suckled on her index finger and extracting it from her mouth, she slowly… stuffed it into Sakura's ear.

"KYAAAAHHH!"

The entire house stopped to look at the pink-haired kunoichi when she screamed. TenTen fell off the arm of the chair and skittered away like one of Shino's bugs, hiding behind Shikamaru. The perpetually bored shinobi frowned at her. He was the only one who had seen what she did.

Sakura recovered herself and finally managed to ask "H-how did this happen?" she indicated Naruto and Ino who were watching her with matching expressions of curiosity.

Temari set the last plate down on the table and inserted herself strategically into the conversation, "Breakfast is served!" she sang playfully. The house filled with the sound of moving feet and chairs scratching on hardwood floor as everyone moved to the table. The rustle drowned out Sakura's desperate inquiry.

Ino removed herself from Naruto's lap and seated herself next to him. She smiled at him. Naruto was still unsure what to think of this new situation. Part of him was delighted to have a girlfriend and the other part of him was very concerned with what Sakura might think of the whole situation. He really did like Ino though, a lot. She was beautiful, smart, and in fact, a lot like Sakura. He smiled back, rather weakly.

The table was quiet for a few minutes while everyone filled their plates and began eating. Initial conversation was topical. Kakashi talked a bit about the mission and Sasuke and Temari discussed plans for the baby and potential names. Sakura stayed out of the conversation. She gazed over the table at the blonde pair. Ino had taken to feeding Naruto, playfully instructing "Say Ah!"

Sakura grimaced. She wanted to know why Ino had swarmed in on her teammate. "How did you two start dating?" Sakura asked again, more politely this time. The others at the table began exchanging looks. The other conversation died down.

Ino smiled, rather smugly in Sakura's opinion, "It's just one of those things Sakura-Chan. Two people just migrate towards each other and before you know it, BAM! You're together." She giggled. Sakura glared. She couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but this whole situation just irked her.

"Actually," Shikamaru didn't look up from his rice and eggs when he spoke, "Naruto has been living with Ino for several weeks."

"WHAT?" Sakura could barely control the volume of her voice due to her utter surprise. She whipped her head towards Naruto, who was as red as a tomato. He hadn't exactly planned how to explain that part of the situation to her, "Is this true?" she asked, her voice was cracking, but she didn't care. The blonde nodded sheepishly.

"M-my house was condemned Sakura-Chan. I needed a place to stay!" Naruto tried to explain himself, but he stumbled over his words underneath Sakura's piercing glare (which, in retrospect, made the whole situation sound much worse). Sakura was livid. She had no idea what about this was making her so angry, but it was.

"Why didn't you stay with Kiba!?" she asked angrily, "Or Shino? Or Shikamaru? Or Konohamaru? They're all living alone!" she yelled at him. The pitch in her voice had risen an octave, making her sound a little more like a screaming harpy than an angry woman.

Naruto winced, "I-I did try living with them Sakura-Chan. I had to leave Kiba's because his family came into town and Konohamaru and Moegi were always-"

"Save it!" she cut him off. Sakura was well aware that she was blowing this whole thing way out of proportion, but she couldn't help herself. She lashed out at Naruto, but it was Ino she was really mad at, something about that snide grin of hers was driving her up a fucking wall, "What kind of decent man moves in with a single woman he barely knows unless he's planning on sleeping with her?!" Sakura spat.

"Sakura! That's not fair!"

This time, it was Ino who cut Naruto off, "And what if we were planning on fucking, huh Haruno? What would you do about it? We're consenting adults and we can do whatever the fuck we want." The blonde snapped at her. Sakura tried to open her mouth, but she was pinned against a wall. Ino had her in a vice. She was right, what could she do about it?

Naruto was terrified. He had no idea what was going on or how to handle it. He looked around for help from the others, but they were all just watching the girls as if they were a tennis game, expertly smacking the ball of insults back and forth between one another.

Sakura stuttered in a valiant effort to regain her former fury, "I-I know I'm not! But I am both of your friends and I think what you're doing is irresponsible, not to mention just plain stupid!" she whined. "Come on Ino, you-you know him! He's a total pervert!"

Ino stood up and leaned forward across the table so that her nose was barely centimeters from Sakura's and whispered in a sexy voice, "Maybe I like perverts, prude." she spat out the last word like poison venom, burning a hole in Sakura's ego.

Sakura glared. She slammed her hands down on the table, sending silverware flying and stood up, walking out of the apartment entirely.

- 0 -

Outside the apartment…

Sakura fumed.

She knew Ino was just trying to push her buttons with that last comment, but it still worked. It was just something about the two of them living together that annoyed her to no end! Sakura knew that she had reacted far too strongly to that news and made a fool of herself in front of everyone.

She wished she knew what it was about Naruto staying at Ino's apartment that infuriated her so much! There was something about Ino touching him that pissed her off. She hated it when she kissed him or held his hand. She despised it when she fed him or whispered in his ear. She loathed how she sat in his lap and the thought of them having sex was just-

Time froze.

The realization hit Sakura like one thousand steel garters pounding down on her head. She was in love with Naruto. No matter how many times she said it, it just didn't sound right in her head. She didn't know how to process the information. She wanted to puke. Nothing had prepared her for this. Especially not after learning that her best friend had shacked up with him.

For a genius, she could be pretty damned stupid. It finally all made sense. After Sasuke, she hadn't had so much as a date. It was because without knowing it, she had already moved on. She had gone so far as to fall in love with another person entirely. It explained so much and yet so little. What the fuck was she going to do?

Thousands of thoughts whirred through her head at lightning speed during the split-second realization. She wanted Naruto. She wanted him, but Ino had taken him. Ino had taken what was rightfully hers. After all, hadn't he liked her in the first place? Ino had waltzed in and snatched him away from her before she could realize what she had.

Oh, this was WAR…

Description
Chapter Four: Tumultuous Breakfast

On the way back to the apartment, everyone had found themselves to be incapable of speech. Naruto was in back, in between Sakura and Ino. Ino wound her arm through his, forming a human cuff, linking him to her. Sakura kept eyeing them out of the corner of her eye. Dating? She couldn't wrap her head around it. Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto were DATING?

Upon entering Kakashi and Iruka's home, the group found an impressive breakfast spread that spanned the entire length of the table. Temari and Iruka, in matching frilly pink aprons, where peddling around the kitchen tending to the last items of food.

Kankuro was asleep on the couch and of no help at all. His feet were stretched out into Lee's lap. Lee looked horribly uncomfortable with this predicament, but unsure of what to do about it.

"Hey guys, welcome home!" Temari called from the kitchen in a sing-song voice. The group quickly spread out into the house, muttering their greetings.

Gaara glared at his brother. Lee may not have known how to politely handle the situation but such things were of no concern to the Kazekage. With his sand, he proceeded to forcefully lift Kankuro off the couch and smack him directly into the wall behind the couch. He ignored his brother's moaning and proceeded to seat himself next to his boyfriend, placing his arm around Lee as if nothing had happened.

Kankuro knew better than to act as if anything had.

Sasuke walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her backwards into a hug and kissing her neck. Usually a fairly publically unaffectionate couple, the combination of Temari's raging hormones and Sasuke's excitement that she was carrying his heir had made them like schoolchildren. She batted him away playfully.

He whispered something in her ear and she turned to look at Ino and Naruto, whose arms were still linked. She raised a skeptical eyebrow, but said nothing and went back to fussing with the food. A few well placed words to Sasuke sent him into the living room, where he stepped over the lifeless body of Kankuro and joined Gaara and Lee on the couch.

Ino dragged Naruto into the adjacent dining room. Clearly visible to those in the living room, she pushed him into a chair and promptly arranged herself in his lap. Naruto was clearly surprised, blushing redder than Chouji's hair, but uttered no objection. She wasted no time before she began demonstrating typical gooey "new couple" behavior. Playing with his hair and placing light kisses on his cheeks and forehead between sentences.

Sakura plopped into one of the open chairs in Kakashi and Iruka's living room. She sat stiff-backed with both hands on her knees. She was utterly speechless. The know-it-all finally knew nothing. How did this happen?

TenTen bit her lip. Sensing the awful tension in the room, she seated herself on the arm of the chair Sakura was in. The pink haired girl didn't even notice she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts. TenTen pursed her lips. "Sakura," she said, trying to get her attention. No response. Sakura's eyes were glazed over like she was trapped in some evil Genjutsu, locked on Naruto and Ino. TenTen had half a mind to look upward, expecting to find a rain cloud floating above Sakura's head.

"Sakura!" the tiny brunette tried again. No answer. Getting huffy, she sat on the arm of the chair trying to think of what to do. TenTen looked over at Sakura again. She was looking directly at the blonde couple, but it almost seemed as if she didn't see them. Her eyes looked dead. TenTen suckled on her index finger and extracting it from her mouth, she slowly… stuffed it into Sakura's ear.

"KYAAAAHHH!"

The entire house stopped to look at the pink-haired kunoichi when she screamed. TenTen fell off the arm of the chair and skittered away like one of Shino's bugs, hiding behind Shikamaru. The perpetually bored shinobi frowned at her. He was the only one who had seen what she did.

Sakura recovered herself and finally managed to ask "H-how did this happen?" she indicated Naruto and Ino who were watching her with matching expressions of curiosity.

Temari set the last plate down on the table and inserted herself strategically into the conversation, "Breakfast is served!" she sang playfully. The house filled with the sound of moving feet and chairs scratching on hardwood floor as everyone moved to the table. The rustle drowned out Sakura's desperate inquiry.

Ino removed herself from Naruto's lap and seated herself next to him. She smiled at him. Naruto was still unsure what to think of this new situation. Part of him was delighted to have a girlfriend and the other part of him was very concerned with what Sakura might think of the whole situation. He really did like Ino though, a lot. She was beautiful, smart, and in fact, a lot like Sakura. He smiled back, rather weakly.

The table was quiet for a few minutes while everyone filled their plates and began eating. Initial conversation was topical. Kakashi talked a bit about the mission and Sasuke and Temari discussed plans for the baby and potential names. Sakura stayed out of the conversation. She gazed over the table at the blonde pair. Ino had taken to feeding Naruto, playfully instructing "Say Ah!"

Sakura grimaced. She wanted to know why Ino had swarmed in on her teammate. "How did you two start dating?" Sakura asked again, more politely this time. The others at the table began exchanging looks. The other conversation died down.

Ino smiled, rather smugly in Sakura's opinion, "It's just one of those things Sakura-Chan. Two people just migrate towards each other and before you know it, BAM! You're together." She giggled. Sakura glared. She couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but this whole situation just irked her.

"Actually," Shikamaru didn't look up from his rice and eggs when he spoke, "Naruto has been living with Ino for several weeks."

"WHAT?" Sakura could barely control the volume of her voice due to her utter surprise. She whipped her head towards Naruto, who was as red as a tomato. He hadn't exactly planned how to explain that part of the situation to her, "Is this true?" she asked, her voice was cracking, but she didn't care. The blonde nodded sheepishly.

"M-my house was condemned Sakura-Chan. I needed a place to stay!" Naruto tried to explain himself, but he stumbled over his words underneath Sakura's piercing glare (which, in retrospect, made the whole situation sound much worse). Sakura was livid. She had no idea what about this was making her so angry, but it was.

"Why didn't you stay with Kiba!?" she asked angrily, "Or Shino? Or Shikamaru? Or Konohamaru? They're all living alone!" she yelled at him. The pitch in her voice had risen an octave, making her sound a little more like a screaming harpy than an angry woman.

Naruto winced, "I-I did try living with them Sakura-Chan. I had to leave Kiba's because his family came into town and Konohamaru and Moegi were always-"

"Save it!" she cut him off. Sakura was well aware that she was blowing this whole thing way out of proportion, but she couldn't help herself. She lashed out at Naruto, but it was Ino she was really mad at, something about that snide grin of hers was driving her up a fucking wall, "What kind of decent man moves in with a single woman he barely knows unless he's planning on sleeping with her?!" Sakura spat.

"Sakura! That's not fair!"

This time, it was Ino who cut Naruto off, "And what if we were planning on fucking, huh Haruno? What would you do about it? We're consenting adults and we can do whatever the fuck we want." The blonde snapped at her. Sakura tried to open her mouth, but she was pinned against a wall. Ino had her in a vice. She was right, what could she do about it?

Naruto was terrified. He had no idea what was going on or how to handle it. He looked around for help from the others, but they were all just watching the girls as if they were a tennis game, expertly smacking the ball of insults back and forth between one another.

Sakura stuttered in a valiant effort to regain her former fury, "I-I know I'm not! But I am both of your friends and I think what you're doing is irresponsible, not to mention just plain stupid!" she whined. "Come on Ino, you-you know him! He's a total pervert!"

Ino stood up and leaned forward across the table so that her nose was barely centimeters from Sakura's and whispered in a sexy voice, "Maybe I like perverts, prude." she spat out the last word like poison venom, burning a hole in Sakura's ego.

Sakura glared. She slammed her hands down on the table, sending silverware flying and stood up, walking out of the apartment entirely.

- 0 -

Outside the apartment…

Sakura fumed.

She knew Ino was just trying to push her buttons with that last comment, but it still worked. It was just something about the two of them living together that annoyed her to no end! Sakura knew that she had reacted far too strongly to that news and made a fool of herself in front of everyone.

She wished she knew what it was about Naruto staying at Ino's apartment that infuriated her so much! There was something about Ino touching him that pissed her off. She hated it when she kissed him or held his hand. She despised it when she fed him or whispered in his ear. She loathed how she sat in his lap and the thought of them having sex was just-

Time froze.

The realization hit Sakura like one thousand steel garters pounding down on her head. She was in love with Naruto. No matter how many times she said it, it just didn't sound right in her head. She didn't know how to process the information. She wanted to puke. Nothing had prepared her for this. Especially not after learning that her best friend had shacked up with him.

For a genius, she could be pretty damned stupid. It finally all made sense. After Sasuke, she hadn't had so much as a date. It was because without knowing it, she had already moved on. She had gone so far as to fall in love with another person entirely. It explained so much and yet so little. What the fuck was she going to do?

Thousands of thoughts whirred through her head at lightning speed during the split-second realization. She wanted Naruto. She wanted him, but Ino had taken him. Ino had taken what was rightfully hers. After all, hadn't he liked her in the first place? Ino had waltzed in and snatched him away from her before she could realize what she had.

Oh, this was WAR…