Restoration: Book 2/3

Chapter 23

-Sakura's POV-

As soon as I shut the door to Hinata's room behind me, I turned to see Naruto leaning against the wall with a solemn expression. Without him having to say anything, I knew he'd overheard our conversation.

I didn't envy the position he was in. The girl he was in love with would undoubtedly o go after her little sister once she was back on her feet, meaning she was going headfirst into danger's path yet again. Both he and I know that there's nothing anyone could say to Hinata to talk her out of it. She was going to save Hanabi or die trying.

The issue was that while she and Naruto obviously cared deeply for one another, she was leaving with or without him. There was a chance she'd try and convince him not to join her, too, because she didn't want him to get hurt. The Hyuuga girl was loyal to a fault.

It still surprised me that she accepted our help in being rescued rather than hiding her location from Naruto so he wouldn't have to face any struggles on the road. She must've been truly frightened.

"They caught a kid with one of those things in his neck. He's in the study."

I blinked when the blonde man suddenly spoke, "Really? How'd they manage that?"

"Kankuro said Matsuri went rogue."

My eyes widened in disbelief, and I lowered my voice in case someone was nearby I wasn't aware of, "Shy little Matsuri?"

He nodded. I'd usually expect him to smile excitedly at such a response in this kind of conversation, but he didn't.

After a pause, I gave him an empathic look before laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You heard Hinata, didn't you?"

He nodded, frown deepening as he, too, lowered his voice so the girl in question wouldn't hear us from where she lay in the nearby room, "I feel like I'm going to make the wrong move and-"

"I think putting in an effort and making a mistake is better than not doing anything at all, don't you?" His and Hinata's encouraging words throughout the day finally got to me, and I felt hopeful about my current situation.

Naruto looked surprised by my response, "She's so shy, though. I don't want to put her in a situation she can't handle."

My brow furrowed in disbelief, causing him to look at me in confusion, "That girl just survived being shot and nearly burnt alive. I think you're underestimating her."

Realization came upon his features, and his frown softened slightly, "You might be right."

Naruto went back downstairs to assist Kiba and Neji with interrogating our group's new prisoner, insisting he'd only come up to check on us and that both Hinata and I were forbidden from coming downstairs until everything was sorted out. I wanted to argue, but I was too tired and had something I wanted to do anyway.

When I opened the door to the bedroom that Ino and I shared with the Uchiha brothers, my face paled. A shirtless Sasuke knelt as he searched the bookcase. He looked back to see me and stood before crossing the room to grab a shirt from atop the dresser.

"N-No, it's okay!"

He froze halfway through the process of putting it on to give me an uneasy stare. It was apparent he felt as uncomfortable by what happened last night as I did, but I couldn't tell if he was angry at me for running away from the situation rather than talking to him about it. He sure seemed upset, given that he hadn't even tried to speak to me since, and he was glaring every time I looked his way.

I shut and locked the door behind me before nodding, hoping my face wasn't as pale as it felt. Since he grabbed my wrist and I freaked out, my body's been on edge. Yesterday, before that, I would've blushed as he straightened his spine and sat the shirt back on top of the dresser.