Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Love or Lust? ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
None of the Naruto character have anything to do with me…just so everybody knows…
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Prologue


Jiraiya had been on a mission to track down the Akatsuki and gather information about their plans for Naruto. However, when he finally found the clan, he also found Sasuke and Naruto who were also hiding. He decided to investigate first on why they were around such dangerous missing-nins and soon found out that they had been there to retrieve Sakura. During his stay, he almost encountered Kisame who, he was certain, had spotted him. This was when Jiraiya thought it was necessary to report back to the Hokage. It would’ve been too much for all three of them Hidden Leaf nins to fight the Akatsuki. Tsunade had participated herself, insisting that she would rather save Sakura herself to be sure, as well as bringing Kakashi and a couple ANBU along. Tsunade ended up knocking out Kisame. Kakashi either severely injured or killed most of the Akatsuki, along side the ANBU shinobis. Itachi had been quite injured but was nowhere near to death. He had almost caught Jiraiya in his Mangekyou but fortunately, the legendary nin, narrowly avoided it. Once Itachi was sprawled to the ground, the ninjas took off, each carrying their own student.

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Kisame had awakened and saw the Konoha shinobis escaping, “Their getting away!” He used his sword to balance him out after numerous blows from Tsunade.


“Let them be,” Itachi wiped blood off of his bottom lip. Kisame was just about to protest but kept his mouth shut when Itachi flashed his red eyes at him. “Though we lost the Kyuubi, I’ve still gained something in return.” He let out a devil’s smirk. ‘Inflicting pain and gaining more hatred from Sasuke was well worth all this trouble.”
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Tsunade, Shizune, and their medic team did their best to heal Sakura. Thankfully, nothing too vital was damaged but the loss of so much blood left the Haruno quite frail.



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For the past couple of days, the hospital had been swarming with visitors for a very special kunoichi.


“Sakura! I brought you some cherry blossoms straight from my shop!” Ino had thrust a whole bounty of pink and white flowers at her.


“F-Fank--you, I--mo!” Her voice muffled from so many flowers.

(A/N: “Emo,” hah!)

The petals were scattering everywhere and since the bouquet was right in front of her face, she strained to see Yamanaka.


“Seeing Sakura-san fight this terrible injury is wonderful motivation for me to become a better taijutsu master!” Lee had suddenly appeared in the room and began to preach, “And to also continue healing myself!” He turned from becoming teary eyed to giving his rather signature ‘nice-guy’ pose. The sun beamed down on his perfect teeth and a bright twinkle flashed before them.


“Oh, hello there, Lee-kun.” Sakura smiled but tried to hold back a giggle. Lee was still hopeless when it came to charm, even now when they have all grown into the new generation of shinobi.


“Ah! Sakura-san has signified my name with such an affectionate honorific!” He blinked a couple of times with his long lashes; cheeks burning red. Sakura and Ino finally flooded the room with laughter, though Sakura’s giggle was soft and slightly hoarse.


There was a knock on the door and Naruto, who had been joining in on the small reunion, bounced up to gladly answer the door with his famous grin.


“Oh! N-Naruto-kun, h-hello.” Naruto had opened the door so suddenly that it shocked Hinata even more. The blonde hunched down a little to meet her face, now only an inch away, making the Hyuuga turn into an immediate red.


‘Na-Naruto-kun is so handsome…and so close to me--!!’ Hinata’s brain was frantic with thoughts, then finally went ballistic.


Kiba and Shino, who had been standing behind her, recognized this expression and was just about to stop her from-


-Hurling the wrapped box she had been holding, straight into Naruto’s face, thus, sending him crashing back against a table.
“Eh, Hinata, calm down.” Kiba patted her shoulder and made sure she wasn’t going to faint, again.


Sakura and Ino shared a laugh while Lee stood there in amazement.


“Hinata-san! Your taijutsu is marvelous! Please teach me your graceful ways!” Lee kept bowing constantly while Hinata still stood there bewildered.


“Hinata, let’s proceed inside.” Shino nudged the girl more into the room.


“Wow, I didn’t expect so many guests to arrive.” Though her face was pale and the gash on her throat made it difficult to speak, Sakura still shined with her unique light. Hinata then gave her the same gift she had thrown at Naruto, cautiously plucking it from the boy’s face along with numerous apologies.


Sakura carefully unwrapped the present, not wanting to ruin the beautiful, pink stained, rice paper that Hinata had constructed, “Thanks so much, but you really didn’t have to-” A rather thick book about medical technology was revealed and her face brightened as though she was the healthiest girl in Konoha. Instantly, Sakura hugged the purple-haired nin beside her.


“I hope you like it, Sakura-san.” A shy smile on the girl’s face.


Ino got up from Sakura’s bedside to make some tea for them all when someone knocked on the door.


“Eh, Billboardbrow! It seems like everyone wants to see your huge forehead again!” Ino giggled.


“Aa, thank~you, Pig!” Sarcasm in every word. But when Ino opened the door she gave a delighted gasp.


“Oh! Sasuke-kun~!” Though they were practically adults, Ino still couldn’t help but go back to her girlish ways.


“Hello, In-” Sasuke started but Ino had already wrapped herself around him.


“I haven’t seen you at all in-what-two years? I’ve missed you so m-!” Ino stopped when she saw Shikamaru stepping out from behind the Uchiha.


“oh, hello Shikamaru!” She looked a bit flushed and somewhat concerned. Shikamaru and Ino had dated for quite a long time and seeing Sasuke excited her so much. She didn’t want to make her ex feel bad and think that she forgot about his feelings that quickly.


“Ne, what’s wrong with you? You’re as red as a beet.” Shikamaru blissfully walked past Sasuke and Ino then made her way to Sakura. “Yo, Sakura, welcome back.” Giving her a lazy smile.


“Shikamaru, you too?” Sakura’s face lit up once more.


Sasuke’s eyes fell on Sakura who still looked pale but her expression betrayed her and she seemed absolutely fine. His gaze then lingered down on her lips. ‘inviting…,’ he thought but after this remark he watched as Shikamaru planted a peck on her cheek. His eyes grew wide; astonishment began to turn into anger but soon faded into jealousy.


“Mm, I have to admit, Sakura has grown really popular with the guys.” A pleasant sigh came from Ino. Sasuke turned to ask her if Sakura might be in any relationship but Ino had disappeared to resume making tea.


“Eh? Shikamaru, you’re getting all soft now, kissing Sakura-chan like that.” Playfully mocking him with eyebrows lifted high.


“Ne, Naruto you’re so troublesome.” He waved away whatever the blonde said then leaned against the wall next to Sakura’s bed.


“Hah, it’s a good thing you got a big room here, Sakura, or else we wouldn’t fit at all!” Kiba remarked.


“Hai, this is quite a reunion.” Shino added.


While Ino began passing around the tea, Hinata was just about to assist her when another knock was heard and answered it. The rest of the bunch could only see her back from inside the room and noticed her posture stiffen. Hinata’s back straightened automatically, gave a small bow, then stepped aside to let the guests in. Another Hyuuga entered, followed by a plump Choji.


“What?! You guys aren‘t supposed to be here!” It would be difficult to erase the smile off of her face now.


“Aa, It seems my presence is not welcomed here...” Neji gave her a slight smirk, pretending to not see the wondrous smile she had on.


“Neji-kun, don’t be so silly.” The patient giggled, the raspy undertone was disappearing now.


‘Neji-kun?’ Sasuke was both puzzled and suspicious .


“Hah! Sakura-chan! I brought you a dozen of fruits but no vegetables-‘cause I don’t like vegetables myself.” Choji ran up to the bed and began laying down all his goodies, “I also brought you some barbeque chips, shrimp crackers, fish biscuits, oh and my favorite…!” He babbled on and on as he began making a pile of food next to Sakura’s bed.


“Oi! Choji! You’re going to give Sakura a heart attack with all those foods!” Ino tried to put away some of the food at the back corner where the supplies were held.


“Na-NANI?! I’ve never had Ramen crackers before!” Naruto darted for a bag filled with the ramen flavored crackers but his hand was immediately slapped away by Choji.


“No! This is only for Sakura-chan!” Choji waggled his finger at the boy.


“Ano, I can’t finish all this food even if I tried but thank you so much Choji!” Sakura waved her hands in front of her animatedly, “Besides, I’m-uh-on a diet.”


“Diet?” He said almost disgusted, “Diets are for fat people.” His reply was absolutely frank; the room burst into laughter, while Choji just stood there eating one of the bags of chips.


Everyone, even Sasuke shared their own little laugh. It was so nice to have everyone together again and even though they were all jounins or ANBU, they still had their same characteristics as before. This reunion itself was enough to make Sakura forget that she had a deep gash on her throat. Her eyes wondered from each of her friends, savoring their smiles. Sasuke on the other hand, only concentrated on Sakura and loved the way she took such happiness from simply having her childhood friends all together.


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“Tsunade-sama! I really don’t need to take anymore of that!” Sakura pleaded as she and her own sensei debated upon her proper medicines, “I know just as well as you, that I’m only in need of supplements now in this post stage of my injury.” In her absolute frustration, Sakura unconsciously ripped the thick white mattress that surrounded her.


“Sakura! We can’t take any more risks! A stable intake of these serums will be an honest path to you’re full recovery,” Tsunade punctured her statement with a shattering of the bedside table along with a half-empty glass of tea.



In the background…


“Naruto, ramen?” Kakashi gave a barely shaken whisper over to the trembling young man next to him.


“Good idea!” Giving a small yelp after Sakura threw a feather stuffed pillow, making an impressive dent on the hospital wall.


The men knew better than to stay within even a mile’s range while the student and teacher were in a ‘discussion.’


They set out for the usual Ichiraku booth but along the way they saw Hinata and Lee. The poor Hyuuga could only stare up, wide eyed, at the overly enthusiastic man who was apparently preaching something about the miracles of adolescence.


‘Lee-san is being a little too excited about--huh?! What is this feeling? It’s as if Naruto-kun is nearb-’ Hinata’s eyes grew wider, if possible, when a bounty of sunshine came running their way.


“Yo! Hinata! Lee!”


Naruto now stood next to Hinata, casually flinging an arm around her shoulders, and reactively, she blushed like mad along with her slight trembling.


“Naru-to-kun! N-Nihongo!”


“Hello, Naruto-san! I was just telling Hinata-san about phenomenon of our growing maturity,” Hands on either side of his waist, chest huffed up, and a twinkle of the teeth. The Hyuuga girl couldn’t have been any more thankful for the blonde’s interruption for Lee’s speech had been taking a turn from mere youth to-well, let’s say-adulthood.


Kakashi had been left behind a few meters away and after a moment, he too gave a nod in greeting, “Lee, Hinata”


“That’s great, Kichibayou!” ‘Furry eyed brows’ Naruto grinned though not really interested in any of his speeches either but instead, lead to him thinking about Hinata. Ever since they got back, the pale eyed girl’s change in maturity really began to sink into him. He was hinted that even now, Hinata still had quite a crush on him and Naruto was surely beginning to feel some attraction to the Hyuuga.


“Eh, Hinata, you hungry?” He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze, making her burn even more.

“Uhm…” She gulped down with great effort, ‘Is Naruto-kun asking me out of a date?!’


“Eh, how about you and I go get some ramen?” There was a light hue of pink gracing his scarred cheeks, “My treat!”


She was beyond speechless and surely she could die happily now.


“Oi! Hinata!” There was a soft mewling sound and the girl had passed out in the arms of a bewildered Uzumaki. Lee was off to the side frantically searching for water while Kakashi gave a soft chuckle.

‘To be young again…’


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A/N: Yay! There you go, there wasn’t any SasuSaku in this one, sorry, but it’s just a beginning chapter and I was so desperate to post something up for you guys and here it is! Ah, but I love NaruHina; their adorable, hehe.