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Chapter Three: Stuck Together, Torn Apart

Six weeks had passed since Sasuke had left Kakashi and herself to return to his wife in Konohagakure. He had sent them a letter within two days of his arrival in Konohagakure stating that he would not be returning to the Village of the Clouds to finish the mission because Temari was expecting a child and he wanted to celebrate.

Sasuke's news had struck Sakura a little harder than she had expected it too. Really, they were the same age and he was already off being married with children! And here she was, an eighteen year old virgin who had spent so much time obsessing over a childhood crush she'd never gotten herself a damn boyfriend.

She sighed, brushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear. It was annoying listening to Kakashi's stories about his and Iruka's romantic interludes. It was like he was reading a page out of one of his dirty novels. It drove her absolutely crazy. Was she the only single woman left on this planet!?

A boyfriend… she thought about it momentarily. Who would she date? Who was single in Konoha? She began a mental checklist of eligible males. Shino Aburame? Hell no! She couldn't stand bugs. Plus, what did she know about a man who didn't talk? Neji Hyuuga? He was a little to smug for her taste, plus she didn't really want a boyfriend with better hair than her. Chouji? Not her speed, literally. Everything about him moved to slow for her. Shikamaru? She actually laughed out loud at this one. Shikamaru Nara was so far from her type it was like they were on different planets. They'd be constantly competing to see who was smarter. Plus, she wanted a man who fawned over her, not one that could be bored watching an execution. What about Naruto…?

She found herself intrigued by this thought. She bit her lip and observed her nails. He had always had a thing for her. That was obvious. But what did she think about it? There couldn't be anything there, not after six years, right? She was quiet, staring up through the trees, the sun shining softly on her face. She imagined for a moment, what it would be like to kiss Naruto. How it would feel to run her fingers through his short blonde hair. The feel of his whiskered cheeks beneath her fingers. Sakura found herself blushing; she grabbed her fiery cheeks and shook the thoughts from her head.

"Do you have a tic in your hair or something?"

Sakura glared at Kakashi. "Shut up," she frowned, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She was always weak. Shinobi were never supposed to shed tears, yet she did all the time. She turned away from Kakashi. "How do you know you're in love? I mean, really in love." she asked, staring fixedly at the ground.

"That's easy." Kakashi smiled. Sakura looked back at him with a poignant look on her face. What was so easy about love?

"If you can't stop thinking about that person. If you find yourself imagining what it would be like to kiss them or even to hold their hand. Just to be with them. Love is the easiest emotion to diagnose. It's an uncontrollable need to be near someone else." Kakashi winked. Sakura was silent, her brows furrowing. She peered up through her lashes at her silver haired team leader. "Why do you ask? Do you have someone in mind?" he smiled, knowingly.

"I'm not sure…"

- 0 -

In Konoha…

"Naruto-Kun!" Ino's lyrical voice tenderly prodded the blonde awake. He opened his cerulean eyes to find himself face-to-face with the sweet baby blues of Ino Yamanaka. "Hey darling, it's been six weeks you know. Sakura and Kakashi are coming home today. We're having a welcome home brunch for them at Iruka's."

Naruto sat up quickly, "Sakura's coming home today?" he yelped. How could he have forgotten? He'd been so caught up in his whirlwind relationship with Ino he'd nearly forgotten about Sakura.

He needed to get dressed. Naruto tried to crawl over Ino and get out of the bed, but ended up tumbling out of bed onto the floor in a huge bundle of bedclothes with a resounding smack. Ino burst out laughing as the blonde boy attempted to right himself multiple times, his pale blue footy-pajamas sliding across the polished wooden floor.

Naruto somehow managed to untangle himself from the sheets, only to skid into his box of ninja supplies and flip over the top of it completely, his feet in the air. The top of his buck-toothed sleeping cap smacked him in his face.

By this time, Ino was gripping her sides with laughter. Her golden bangs fell in front of her eyes. "You're such an idiot." She said between giggles, stepping off the bed and pulling him to his feet. Naruto's clumsy feet slid him forward again and his body forced Ino's back to the wall. Her breasts smacked into his chest.

Their noses touching, blue eyes locked with one another.

"Naruto-Kun, you're a little close." She whispered, a glimmer of lust he was growing all too familiar with glinting in her chameleon eyes.

"I-I'm sorry Ino-Chan. I'll-" He began, trying to pull away. He wasn't able to finish before Ino placed her lips on his in a deep kiss. She wound her hands through his hair and plunged her tongue into his mouth. Naruto felt his knees growing weak. Ino was a fantastic kisser, making love to his mouth with her tongue. Over the six weeks they had been living together, they hadn't gone much further than making out, but he still went weak whenever her marshmallow lips touched his.

Ino's decadent hands traced his body to firmly grip his buttocks, pulling him closer. Naruto felt the blood rush from his head to certain… extremities. He wasn't sure how much longer he could resist the sexual onslaught of the lascivious Yamanaka.

Instinctively, he thrust his hips into her. Attempting to show her what she did to him. How insane she made his body. A sweet, cat like mewl escaped Ino's lips but she didn't relieve him. She didn't make any move towards the front of his pajamas.

Instead, Ino broke the kiss and manipulated her way out of the tangled mess of bed clothes and sexy blonde ninja and made her way towards the door. "Get dressed." She ordered him, her voice light. "I'm sure you want to look nice." There was a smile in her voice, covering an emotion he could not quite put his finger on. Jealousy? Menace? Perhaps… cunning? You could never tell with Ino Yamanaka.

Naruto dressed showered and dressed at lightning speed. For once he actually put on his clean jumpsuit instead of the soiled one and a new pair of boxers (Who the hell would notice? It's not like anyone went down there anyway) and attempted to comb his hair. He wasn't sure why he was putting so much effort into his looks. After all, wasn't he interested in Ino now? He looked at himself in the mirror. His cheeks were flushed with excitement simply from the thought of going to see Sakura.

Perhaps he wasn't quite as over her as he thought he was…

- 0 -

The Entrance of Konoha…

Naruto and Ino ran hand-in-hand to the village gate, wind whipping through their hair. Naruto looked over at Ino for a moment. The sun striking her creamy skin made her glow like a lantern at a festival. She really was lovely. Her golden hair whipping behind her like a bit of the sun stolen from the sky. Ino looked at him and smiled.

When they arrived at the gate they found that Sasuke, Shikamaru, TenTen, and Gaara were already there, milling around. TenTen was the only one speaking. Surrounded by a group of three uncommunicative men, the little brunette weapons' expert had taken it upon herself to be the sole provider of conversation. In essence, she was talking to herself, and quite animatedly.

"What's up?" Naruto asked when he and Ino walked up to the group.

TenTen looked beyond relieved to see the two fair-haired Shinobi. Naruto could have sworn he saw tears in her silver eyes. "We're the welcome wagon." She explained, indicating herself and Shikamaru. "Lady Tsunade sent us here to make sure that we got the mission specs from Sakura and Kakashi before they get to into being home."

"And you?" Ino smirked at Sasuke, her hands on her hips.

"I'm taking them back to the brunch. Temari is pretty tired so Gaara came with me instead." His explanation was bored, like most things about him. Gaara didn't say anything.

"So you're the stand-in baby mama?" Naruto asked, walking up to Gaara and poking his stomach. He leaned in and tickled it gently, blowing it kisses. In a baby voice he said "How ya doin' in there little guy? You ready to see Uncle Naruto yet? Huh? Huh? I bet you are!"

"Stop that!" Gaara smacked Naruto's face away. Naruto gripped his cheek in mock horror, large faux tears forming in his sapphire eyes.

"That's no way to speak in front of a child!" he exclaimed, "Sasuke! Get a hold of your woman! This is not the type of environment I want my nephew born into!" Sasuke replied by slapping the back of Naruto's head and muttering "Dobe…"

Ino giggled. Naruto was really cute, in his own eccentric, boisterous, retarded kind of way. TenTen eyed Ino with a raised brow and smiled. "I see things are getting a bit heavy with you two." she said, not looking directly at Ino, but rather speaking as though she were still holding the conversation with herself while the boys argued.

The blonde blushed ferociously. "I-I'm not sure if I would say that. We're just roommates. It's not like we're a couple. Not that I know of at least." Ino was surprised to find herself stuttering. She never stuttered. How embarrassing. Ino baulked as TenTen grinned evilly. Who knew the girl was a gossip?

"But you want to be more than 'just roommates'?" she made little air quotations around the phrase just roommates and Ino felt her mind drift back to that morning. Her face grew redder. Naruto had made it quite clear he was interested in her sexually, if the bulge in his pants was any indication. But she was unsure if she could handle the emotional strains of a relationship. Especially since she was already living with the guy.

"I'm not sure. I really don't know."

"Well…" TenTen smirked, crossing her arms over her Chinese-style long sleeved shirt. "Do you like him?"

"I-"

It was at that moment the gates opened, ceasing the grappling between the Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara and faltering the bored observation of Shikamaru. They turned to see Kakashi first. His clothes were messy, mud-stained and ripped and his hair was filled with twigs. "Oh what do we have here?" he asked, grinning at two of his former-teammates, the Kazekage, two blushing kunoichi, and a very bored looking ninja.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto squealed like a twelve-year old. He never got tired of seeing his former team leader. He adored the man, after all. Not quite as much as Ero-Sennin, but still… pretty close. "How was your mission? Did it go well?"

"Yeah it was pretty good. A bit harder after Sasuke left."

"Sorry." Sasuke muttered.

"No worries, we know you had more pressing matters to attend to." He winked (or blinked, it was hard to tell with the man) in that lewd way of his and Sasuke glared at him.

"Where's Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked.

"I'm right here!" She yelled, stumbling through the gate behind the silver-haired Shinobi.

The moment he laid eyes on her, the woman at his side faded out of existence. It was simply them, alone in the world…

Sakura was sweaty, tired, and covered in dirt but to him she radiated beauty. The twig in her hair was a well-placed lily. The bruise on her lip a lovely shade of lipstick. After six long months she walked back into his life looking as lovely as she ever had.

Her smile did not disappoint. The moment she saw him she began to beam. Her face simply glowing. She dropped the scroll she was carrying and ran directly into his arms. He caught her, picking her up and swirling her around he placed her down on her feet gently. "Naruto-Kun! Wow! It's been forever!" Sakura gushed. He noticed that she didn't let go of his hand right away, but instead held onto it for what may have been only a few extra seconds but to him seemed like an eternity of happiness.

"Y-you look great Sakura-Chan." He stuttered. Sakura blushed prettily, letting go of his hand. He was so taken by her gorgeous emerald eyes he almost felt as if he had forgotten something. Suddenly, behind him he heard an angry "A-hem!"

Oh shit! Ino!

Ino! He'd completely forgotten about Ino! He was so preoccupied by the pink haired goddess he'd forgotten Ino.

"Oh hey, Ino-Chan!" Sakura greeted her.

"Hey," Ino replied curtly, grabbing Naruto's arm possessively she pulled him into her. Sakura looked confused. Oh no. Naruto mentally kicked himself. Sakura didn't know. She didn't know they were living together. She didn't know they were-

"Are you two…?" Sakura looked perplexed.

"Yeah. We're dating." Ino smiled, standing on her toes to kiss Naruto on the cheek.

Description
Chapter Three: Stuck Together, Torn Apart

Six weeks had passed since Sasuke had left Kakashi and herself to return to his wife in Konohagakure. He had sent them a letter within two days of his arrival in Konohagakure stating that he would not be returning to the Village of the Clouds to finish the mission because Temari was expecting a child and he wanted to celebrate.

Sasuke's news had struck Sakura a little harder than she had expected it too. Really, they were the same age and he was already off being married with children! And here she was, an eighteen year old virgin who had spent so much time obsessing over a childhood crush she'd never gotten herself a damn boyfriend.

She sighed, brushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear. It was annoying listening to Kakashi's stories about his and Iruka's romantic interludes. It was like he was reading a page out of one of his dirty novels. It drove her absolutely crazy. Was she the only single woman left on this planet!?

A boyfriend… she thought about it momentarily. Who would she date? Who was single in Konoha? She began a mental checklist of eligible males. Shino Aburame? Hell no! She couldn't stand bugs. Plus, what did she know about a man who didn't talk? Neji Hyuuga? He was a little to smug for her taste, plus she didn't really want a boyfriend with better hair than her. Chouji? Not her speed, literally. Everything about him moved to slow for her. Shikamaru? She actually laughed out loud at this one. Shikamaru Nara was so far from her type it was like they were on different planets. They'd be constantly competing to see who was smarter. Plus, she wanted a man who fawned over her, not one that could be bored watching an execution. What about Naruto…?

She found herself intrigued by this thought. She bit her lip and observed her nails. He had always had a thing for her. That was obvious. But what did she think about it? There couldn't be anything there, not after six years, right? She was quiet, staring up through the trees, the sun shining softly on her face. She imagined for a moment, what it would be like to kiss Naruto. How it would feel to run her fingers through his short blonde hair. The feel of his whiskered cheeks beneath her fingers. Sakura found herself blushing; she grabbed her fiery cheeks and shook the thoughts from her head.

"Do you have a tic in your hair or something?"

Sakura glared at Kakashi. "Shut up," she frowned, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She was always weak. Shinobi were never supposed to shed tears, yet she did all the time. She turned away from Kakashi. "How do you know you're in love? I mean, really in love." she asked, staring fixedly at the ground.

"That's easy." Kakashi smiled. Sakura looked back at him with a poignant look on her face. What was so easy about love?

"If you can't stop thinking about that person. If you find yourself imagining what it would be like to kiss them or even to hold their hand. Just to be with them. Love is the easiest emotion to diagnose. It's an uncontrollable need to be near someone else." Kakashi winked. Sakura was silent, her brows furrowing. She peered up through her lashes at her silver haired team leader. "Why do you ask? Do you have someone in mind?" he smiled, knowingly.

"I'm not sure…"

- 0 -

In Konoha…

"Naruto-Kun!" Ino's lyrical voice tenderly prodded the blonde awake. He opened his cerulean eyes to find himself face-to-face with the sweet baby blues of Ino Yamanaka. "Hey darling, it's been six weeks you know. Sakura and Kakashi are coming home today. We're having a welcome home brunch for them at Iruka's."

Naruto sat up quickly, "Sakura's coming home today?" he yelped. How could he have forgotten? He'd been so caught up in his whirlwind relationship with Ino he'd nearly forgotten about Sakura.

He needed to get dressed. Naruto tried to crawl over Ino and get out of the bed, but ended up tumbling out of bed onto the floor in a huge bundle of bedclothes with a resounding smack. Ino burst out laughing as the blonde boy attempted to right himself multiple times, his pale blue footy-pajamas sliding across the polished wooden floor.

Naruto somehow managed to untangle himself from the sheets, only to skid into his box of ninja supplies and flip over the top of it completely, his feet in the air. The top of his buck-toothed sleeping cap smacked him in his face.

By this time, Ino was gripping her sides with laughter. Her golden bangs fell in front of her eyes. "You're such an idiot." She said between giggles, stepping off the bed and pulling him to his feet. Naruto's clumsy feet slid him forward again and his body forced Ino's back to the wall. Her breasts smacked into his chest.

Their noses touching, blue eyes locked with one another.

"Naruto-Kun, you're a little close." She whispered, a glimmer of lust he was growing all too familiar with glinting in her chameleon eyes.

"I-I'm sorry Ino-Chan. I'll-" He began, trying to pull away. He wasn't able to finish before Ino placed her lips on his in a deep kiss. She wound her hands through his hair and plunged her tongue into his mouth. Naruto felt his knees growing weak. Ino was a fantastic kisser, making love to his mouth with her tongue. Over the six weeks they had been living together, they hadn't gone much further than making out, but he still went weak whenever her marshmallow lips touched his.

Ino's decadent hands traced his body to firmly grip his buttocks, pulling him closer. Naruto felt the blood rush from his head to certain… extremities. He wasn't sure how much longer he could resist the sexual onslaught of the lascivious Yamanaka.

Instinctively, he thrust his hips into her. Attempting to show her what she did to him. How insane she made his body. A sweet, cat like mewl escaped Ino's lips but she didn't relieve him. She didn't make any move towards the front of his pajamas.

Instead, Ino broke the kiss and manipulated her way out of the tangled mess of bed clothes and sexy blonde ninja and made her way towards the door. "Get dressed." She ordered him, her voice light. "I'm sure you want to look nice." There was a smile in her voice, covering an emotion he could not quite put his finger on. Jealousy? Menace? Perhaps… cunning? You could never tell with Ino Yamanaka.

Naruto dressed showered and dressed at lightning speed. For once he actually put on his clean jumpsuit instead of the soiled one and a new pair of boxers (Who the hell would notice? It's not like anyone went down there anyway) and attempted to comb his hair. He wasn't sure why he was putting so much effort into his looks. After all, wasn't he interested in Ino now? He looked at himself in the mirror. His cheeks were flushed with excitement simply from the thought of going to see Sakura.

Perhaps he wasn't quite as over her as he thought he was…

- 0 -

The Entrance of Konoha…

Naruto and Ino ran hand-in-hand to the village gate, wind whipping through their hair. Naruto looked over at Ino for a moment. The sun striking her creamy skin made her glow like a lantern at a festival. She really was lovely. Her golden hair whipping behind her like a bit of the sun stolen from the sky. Ino looked at him and smiled.

When they arrived at the gate they found that Sasuke, Shikamaru, TenTen, and Gaara were already there, milling around. TenTen was the only one speaking. Surrounded by a group of three uncommunicative men, the little brunette weapons' expert had taken it upon herself to be the sole provider of conversation. In essence, she was talking to herself, and quite animatedly.

"What's up?" Naruto asked when he and Ino walked up to the group.

TenTen looked beyond relieved to see the two fair-haired Shinobi. Naruto could have sworn he saw tears in her silver eyes. "We're the welcome wagon." She explained, indicating herself and Shikamaru. "Lady Tsunade sent us here to make sure that we got the mission specs from Sakura and Kakashi before they get to into being home."

"And you?" Ino smirked at Sasuke, her hands on her hips.

"I'm taking them back to the brunch. Temari is pretty tired so Gaara came with me instead." His explanation was bored, like most things about him. Gaara didn't say anything.

"So you're the stand-in baby mama?" Naruto asked, walking up to Gaara and poking his stomach. He leaned in and tickled it gently, blowing it kisses. In a baby voice he said "How ya doin' in there little guy? You ready to see Uncle Naruto yet? Huh? Huh? I bet you are!"

"Stop that!" Gaara smacked Naruto's face away. Naruto gripped his cheek in mock horror, large faux tears forming in his sapphire eyes.

"That's no way to speak in front of a child!" he exclaimed, "Sasuke! Get a hold of your woman! This is not the type of environment I want my nephew born into!" Sasuke replied by slapping the back of Naruto's head and muttering "Dobe…"

Ino giggled. Naruto was really cute, in his own eccentric, boisterous, retarded kind of way. TenTen eyed Ino with a raised brow and smiled. "I see things are getting a bit heavy with you two." she said, not looking directly at Ino, but rather speaking as though she were still holding the conversation with herself while the boys argued.

The blonde blushed ferociously. "I-I'm not sure if I would say that. We're just roommates. It's not like we're a couple. Not that I know of at least." Ino was surprised to find herself stuttering. She never stuttered. How embarrassing. Ino baulked as TenTen grinned evilly. Who knew the girl was a gossip?

"But you want to be more than 'just roommates'?" she made little air quotations around the phrase just roommates and Ino felt her mind drift back to that morning. Her face grew redder. Naruto had made it quite clear he was interested in her sexually, if the bulge in his pants was any indication. But she was unsure if she could handle the emotional strains of a relationship. Especially since she was already living with the guy.

"I'm not sure. I really don't know."

"Well…" TenTen smirked, crossing her arms over her Chinese-style long sleeved shirt. "Do you like him?"

"I-"

It was at that moment the gates opened, ceasing the grappling between the Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara and faltering the bored observation of Shikamaru. They turned to see Kakashi first. His clothes were messy, mud-stained and ripped and his hair was filled with twigs. "Oh what do we have here?" he asked, grinning at two of his former-teammates, the Kazekage, two blushing kunoichi, and a very bored looking ninja.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto squealed like a twelve-year old. He never got tired of seeing his former team leader. He adored the man, after all. Not quite as much as Ero-Sennin, but still… pretty close. "How was your mission? Did it go well?"

"Yeah it was pretty good. A bit harder after Sasuke left."

"Sorry." Sasuke muttered.

"No worries, we know you had more pressing matters to attend to." He winked (or blinked, it was hard to tell with the man) in that lewd way of his and Sasuke glared at him.

"Where's Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked.

"I'm right here!" She yelled, stumbling through the gate behind the silver-haired Shinobi.

The moment he laid eyes on her, the woman at his side faded out of existence. It was simply them, alone in the world…

Sakura was sweaty, tired, and covered in dirt but to him she radiated beauty. The twig in her hair was a well-placed lily. The bruise on her lip a lovely shade of lipstick. After six long months she walked back into his life looking as lovely as she ever had.

Her smile did not disappoint. The moment she saw him she began to beam. Her face simply glowing. She dropped the scroll she was carrying and ran directly into his arms. He caught her, picking her up and swirling her around he placed her down on her feet gently. "Naruto-Kun! Wow! It's been forever!" Sakura gushed. He noticed that she didn't let go of his hand right away, but instead held onto it for what may have been only a few extra seconds but to him seemed like an eternity of happiness.

"Y-you look great Sakura-Chan." He stuttered. Sakura blushed prettily, letting go of his hand. He was so taken by her gorgeous emerald eyes he almost felt as if he had forgotten something. Suddenly, behind him he heard an angry "A-hem!"

Oh shit! Ino!

Ino! He'd completely forgotten about Ino! He was so preoccupied by the pink haired goddess he'd forgotten Ino.

"Oh hey, Ino-Chan!" Sakura greeted her.

"Hey," Ino replied curtly, grabbing Naruto's arm possessively she pulled him into her. Sakura looked confused. Oh no. Naruto mentally kicked himself. Sakura didn't know. She didn't know they were living together. She didn't know they were-

"Are you two…?" Sakura looked perplexed.

"Yeah. We're dating." Ino smiled, standing on her toes to kiss Naruto on the cheek.