Forever Mine

Chapter 51

And Sakura cared about Naruto.

And me, too...

Their bond was too strong to be broken over what happened. It led him to wonder if, by chance, they could one day be friends just as they used to be.

Or maybe not.

"Heard you were back."

Sasuke didn't turn around at the voice coming from behind him, knowing they were going to take a seat beside him even when they knew he wanted to be alone.

Naruto sat down, not caring about what the raven wanted, and then glanced at the drink in his hands, wondering what he was doing in the village without his pregnant...friend? He wasn't sure how to refer to Karin.

"Got here this morning."

"Have you been in here all day?"

Sasuke shook his head. He spent the majority of his day at his family's memorial, only been sitting at the bar for an hour.

"Ino said she saw you walk out of Sakura's office," Naruto mentioned. "Did something happen?"

Sasuke didn't want to talk about it, but he knew it was better to get it over with now rather than later. He exhaled a tired breath before explaining to Naruto about what happened with Karin, then he told him about what he tried to tell Sakura, then let him know it was over.

It left Naruto staring at the bar counter in order to not look at his friend with pity. He knew his teammate would only be annoyed if he showed him sympathy, so he pretended he hadn't just told him his heart was ripped out of his chest.

"Remember when we first got drunk together?"

"You and me?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Team seven."

Sasuke tapped his finger on his glass, his mind going back to that night years ago, and when the corner of his lip suddenly lifted, Naruto knew he remembered well.

"You puked all over your living room."

"Sakura puked, too." Naruto tried defending himself.

"In the restroom," Sasuke pointed out.

Naruto groaned with a small smile on his lips. "We had to leave the apartment—it smelt so bad."

"Then Sakura and I decided to run from you."

"Yeah, you assholes."

"You had puke on your shirt," Sasuke shook his head.

They reminisced about the memory some more. How they ended up playing hide and seek in the forest by their training grounds as if they weren't adults. How Sakura and he always ganged up on the poor blond. How they tried to see who could run the furthest without face-planting. So much was done on that simple night.

Everyone saw them as these strong shinobi who could take on the world together and win, and they could, but to be honest, they were kind of losers. That night and many more were proof of it.

Once they recalled every event that had happened, they sat there with the good nostalgic feeling warming their chests. It was then, when Naruto noticed his friend looking content with the memory, that he voiced his reason behind him bringing it up.

"You and Sakura had gotten in your first actual fight two days before," he mentioned catching the raven's attention. "I don't know what it was about. All I know is that I walked in and you two were practically at each other's throats."

"We only bickered a little," Sasuke sighed as if recalling what had transpired between them. "It wasn't that serious."

"You two didn't talk at all after that even though you were leaving again soon. It honestly seemed like you guys were a couple that had just broken up."