102(Warning: short chapter. I'm sorry...I need sleep...I'll finish the whole chapter by Friday...)
Chapter 2: Sunshine of Team Seven
Green eyes rested on Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō with a curious gleam.
Well, maybe she shouldn't really consider it Zabuza's anymore. The missing-nin had been dead for a grand total of three days already and no one, not even her teacher, had made a move on it.
'Dibs!'
Sakura shook her head in amusement. 'The sword's too heavy for me.'
'For now.'
For now, indeed.
Because Sakura Haruno wanted the Kubikiribōchō so very bad. It didn't even have anything to do with how cool the sword looked or how infamous it was, the young girl just found herself attracted to the sword. Almost as if the sword called out to her.
'When are we stealing the beauty?' Inner eagerly asked as Sakura placed down a bouquet of flowers down in front of Zabuza and Haku's graves.
Kunoichi lessons came in handy when she had to pick the flowers out in the forest. So did her hobby of flower gathering with Ino when they were kids.
Ino...
Sakura decided to let that thought out of her head in the moment.
'It's not stealing if it doesn't have an owner,' Sakura corrected.
'Yeah, yeah. When?'
'In two weeks before we head back to Konoha...'
Of course, she would probably have to ask her teacher for permission. Regardless of if Kakashi gave her permission or not, Sakura was taking Zabuza's sword with her. She had dibs and she wasn't going to let any stranger that might stumble upon it one day wield it without knowing about the sword like she did.
Without knowing about Zabuza and Haku.
'We'll need to start learning Kenjutsu when we get back to the village.'
'Agreed.'
With that, Sakura left the graves with a small smile.
Upon arriving she was greeted by Tsunami, who informed her that the rest of her team was off. Naruto was helping with the construction of the bridge with his shadow clones, Kakashi-sensei was keeping an eye on Naruto and Tazuna, and Sasuke was off training by himself.
Left with nothing to do for the moment, Sakura volunteered to help Tsunami cook lunch.
Of course, they didn't cook in silence.
No, that would have been too awkward. Instead, they talked about different stuff.
Until Tsunami brought up a topic Sakura had not been expecting.
Romance.
"A crush?" Sakura spluttered, raising an eyebrow.
Tsunami nodded, eyes not leaving the carrot she was slicing. "Yeah, with boys like Naruto and Sasuke around you're bound to have a crush, right?" She asked with a sly smile.
With boys like Naruto and Sasuke...?
Sasuke, of course, Sakura knew was attractive. Every girl in her class had a crush on the Uchiha for crying out loud! Not only the girls in her class, but the ones from the years bellow and some upperclassmen as well.
Sasuke Uchiha had good looks and he's a prodigy. Of course people would crush on him.
But Naruto Uzumaki...?
The dead-last?
'I wouldn't call him a dead-last...I think if he had learned his Shadow Clone jutsu earlier, he would have graduated in the top five as well, regardless of whether he performed well on theory tests or not.'
Inner was right, Sakura knew.
It was just hard to get rid of the image of a loser that Sakura had of Naruto since their time together in the Academy. She knew Naruto was stronger than her, she just...let her prejudice get in the way of that fact sometimes.
'Naruto Uzumaki is strong,' Sakura firmly thought to herself, hoping the thought would stick in her head.
But, his baggy jumpsuit made him look like an immature brat.
Sakura blinked, now that she thought about it Naruto was...attractive.
It was his jumpsuit that hid the fact away. Without it, he was appealing. Dare she say it, even more attractive than Sasuke.
Blond hair and blue eyes versus black hair and onyx eyes.
Blue eyes.
Naruto had blue eyes, indeed. Since the blond had stopped wearing those trademark goggles of his, Sakura had started to notice his eyes more and more. Not in a romantic sense, mind you. More in a sense that she had never stopped to really take that detail in.
"Sakura-chan?"
Managing not to cut her fingers in surprise, Sakura offered Tsunami an apologetic smile. She still hadn't answer the question, had she? Well, it wasn't like she had anyone —'hey!'— to talk to about her love life.
"I have, had, uh," Sakura stumbled in her words, not sure what she felt. "A crush on Sasuke, but..." she trailed off with a sigh. Just great, she probably looked like an idiot.
"But, what about Naruto? He seems like he really likes you," Tsunami curiously asked.
Sakura's lips twitched up into a fond smile that would have left her former classmates flabbergasted. They were all too used to the scene of Sakura instantly getting angered by the mention of the blue-eyed boy and punching him.
"I know, he had a crush on me since forever, but..."
"But?" Tsunami gently prompted.
Sakura's face turned sad as she continued mincing. "I never gave him a reason to like me. I have always been rude to him, unfair, and ignored him. I never gave him a chance, just like Sasuke never gave me a chance..." It was like the realization had hit her in the middle of explaining it to the older woman and a wave of regret made her eyes well up with tears.
"I regret that now. I don't have the right to even be his friend." A choked sob escaped the young shinobi. "I was such an idiot..."
Two arms wrapped around the girl as Tsunami pulled her into a motherly hug. "You're trying now. And I bet he's happy that you are."
"You think?" Sakura sniffed.
"I know so."
'Maybe we should make it up to Naruto...' Inner suggested.
:::
