A/N:
First off...
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!!! We've made it out of 2021!!! Here's to hoping 2022 lets us be great!!!
Alright, now that that's out of the way...I just want to say that I sincerely apologize for making you guys wait so long for an update. I promise that it's not intentional. It's literally just that I [quite clearly] suck at keeping an update schedule, and the fact that I work like a dog definitely does not help...
So, going into 2022, I'm going to put my best foot forward and do my absolute best to just do better. I'm not gonna promise a schedule - like I said...I SUCK at it. But what I can say with certainty...is that my next update won't take a year and eight days.
And now, without further ado (and further word vomit), here's Chapter 8! I hope that it's worth your long wait...
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Sakura heaved a tired sigh as she stared morosely into the cup of tea she was presently sipping on.
Ugh...I'm gonna ache all over in the morning, I just know it... she mentally groused as she carefully flexed the tingling muscles in her left arm. I mean, who in their right mind makes a girl haul heavy wooden support beams around all by herself?! Honestly...
With a partially muted groan, she dropped her arm back down into her lap and shifted her wearied jade green gaze over toward the brooding raven-haired boy currently seated across from her. She barely held back another, far more exasperated sigh as her gaze fell back down into her teacup.
And on top of all that, Sasuke's been sulking like this for HOURS now! UGH, here we are in this absolute PERFECT setting...FINALLY alone together in this adorable little café and sitting at an outdoor TABLE FOR TWO, no less...and he has yet to say one word to me, or even acknowledge my existence at all! Cha...this is SO unfair!
"Wow, don't you two look cozy..." drawled an all-too-familiar voice from just a few feet away.
Sakura's head quickly shot up in the direction of said voice, her gaze immediately landing on Naruto...who wore one of the most uninterested expressions she'd ever seen.
She almost rolled her eyes on instinct alone. Since when has sarcasm EVER been in this dweeb's range of expression?! "Humph...whatever, Naruto. You're just jealous-"
"Kakashi-sensei wants us back at the inn if you're done with whatever the hell it is you're doing here." Naruto spoke again, abruptly cutting Sakura off and shooting a smug grin in Sasuke's direction. "The scouting mission turned out to be a huge success, and now we -"
"Tch, yeah...a success. I bet it was, loser." Sasuke replied scornfully as he stood from his seat. "Let me guess...Kakashi's the one that found all the useful intel, right? While you barely managed to find what...one of the henchmen's old ramen cups?"
Sakura snorted a laugh and opened her mouth to add a jab of her own, only to be cut off once more by Naruto, who was...also laughing?
"Haha...yeah I don't know if that was supposed to be a joke or an insult, jerkface, but I'm in an awesome mood right now so I'll let it slide." the blonde said, snickering a little more as he turned to walk away. "Anyway, you guys are obviously done here, right? C'mon, let's get back to the inn."
Sasuke very nearly growled as he stalked after the boy. "I swear there are not enough words in existence to express just how absolutely friggin ANNOYING you are..."
Sakura huffed as she rose from her own seat. Tch...of course Sasuke would start immediately yapping off at Naruto when he shows up out of virtually nowhere. Meanwhile I've been with him for literal HOURS, and he's barely even BREATHED in my direction...
With yet another, more frustrated sigh, she moved to follow after the two bickering boys, pausing only to cast one more pouting glance at the café.
Facing forward again, her gaze almost immediately found Naruto.
The blonde had surprised her yet again in the same day, much to her irritation. Not only did he seem to be completely unaffected by the sight of her and Sasuke in the midst of what could've easily been taken as a "date" (her face burned slightly at the thought), but he also completely shut down her attempt to force a reaction from him - and then proceeded to blatantly ignore her. Her brow furrowed slightly, her gaze bordering on the precipice of a full-on glare as she clenched her fists tightly at her sides.
Seriously...what the hell is with him all the sudden?! Even if Sasuke and I weren't technically interacting like...at all, it still LOOKED like we were having a dinner date...sorta... So then...why the hell isn't this idiot all up in arms right now? Why isn't he harping on Sasuke about it, or begging me to give him a chance at a date?! Why isn't he saying...or doing...anything at all...? Wait...could it be...th-that he...
Her brain almost ground to a complete halt in that moment, and her almost-glare morphed into a wide-eyed stare of unadulterated shock. She refrained from slapping a hand over her mouth, and bit back what would've been an overly exaggerated gasp. No...there's no way... He couldn't possibly have...!
Laughter suddenly bubbled up within her a second or so later, and it was all she could do to keep herself from completely dissolving into a snickering mess. HA! This guy?! Suddenly gaining enough brain cells to actually take a hint and give up his useless attempts to go out with me?! Cha, as IF! The idiot's probably still upset about getting rejected yesterday, and seeing me alone with Sasuke like that probably made him even more sore about it. Psh...he'll be back to his old, annoying ways by tomorrow, I'm sure...
Releasing one more, much quieter sigh, she forced her gaze away from Naruto and redirected it to the rapidly darkening sky above...all while adamantly shoving the unsettling feeling from earlier that day as far down as she possibly could, and ignoring the contradictory tightening in her chest.
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Time had been practically flying up until now...well, at least in Naruto's mind, it had. All the day's events had been so fast-paced, he felt he may miss out on something if he so much as blinked; even the initial meeting with Mr. Ebina - which, admittedly, he thought would be a snooze fest - had him on the edge of his seat and raring to go.
So to find himself alone in the northeastern corner of the village...and literally squatting down in a semi-cramped crawlspace inside the roof of a mostly dilapidated boathouse, no less...well it was a bit anticlimactic.
Whatever, he'd just deal with it this time...especially since it all was a means to what was sure to be a super climactic end.
Exhaling deeply through his nose, he let his coral blue gaze touch every inch of the old, unused dock that the boathouse stood over before looking out over massive expanse of sea that the village bordered. His brow furrowed slightly, his gaze becoming almost contemplative as he absentmindedly fiddled with the hems of the jet black cloak that Kakashi gave them to wear.
*Grooowl*
He groaned at the shattering of the peaceful atmosphere, bringing a hand to rest on his protesting stomach. "Ugh...man I'm starving..." he grumbled. "I really should've gotten something to eat before all this..."
His mind was immediately drawn back to the café he visited earlier, and he almost growled at the thought. "Maybe I would've if I hadn't been so friggin distracted with...ugh..."
A deep frown furrowed his brow then, the hand at his stomach clenching into a fist around the fabric of his jacket.
He'd utterly hated the feeling of defeat that had almost overtaken him on his way to that café earlier that evening...even though he knew that nothing would be happening between his two teammates. He hated even more the sheer relief he felt when found them as he knew they would be - Sasuke brooding like the asshole jerk he was, and Sakura moping like a lovesick puppy. He'd only barely managed to shake off those feelings before reaching them, and fought to keep an air of nonchalance throughout the ordeal - especially when Sakura tried to rile him up; if he hadn't cut her off when he did, he would've definitely reacted to her attempted jab.
The fist on his jacket clenched tighter. Was this how it would always be now...him struggling against himself and how he truly felt whenever he encountered Sakura in any way outside of a mission?! How long would he have to keep this up?! Ugh...dammit...
...Could he keep this up...?
"...focus on the fact that you did it, and that you can and will do it again. Okay?"
His gaze snapped up and out over the dock, the silver-haired jonin's words ringing so loudly in his thoughts that he could've sworn the man was standing somewhere nearby. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth despite himself.
"Right...I can do this..." he quietly reassured himself. "For our team's sake...and for the sake of the space that Sakura clearly wants, I can definitely do this...believe it..."
Suddenly, the boathouse jolted, and the sound of wood colliding with wood all but tore him from his thoughts and yanked his gaze back toward the dock. His eyes immediately landed upon a rather large wooden boat that had just come to a rather ungraceful stop right up against the old landing. Seconds later, amidst the incessant creaking of the boat and the now strained dock, people began disembarking, and hushed voices rose to meet his ears.
"You almost took the whole damn dock out!"
"Idiot...we're never letting you steer again!"
"Hey, at least we got here!"
"All of you shut the hell up and help us get these explosives to shore!"
Huffing, Naruto quietly slid himself further into the boathouse crawlspace, his eyes never leaving the scene playing out in front of him even as he pressed a finger to the comm in his ear.
"Sensei, you there?"
"Yes, Naruto. Go ahead."
"The Yahagi stooges are here now. Can't say how many there are yet, but judging by the size of this boat, it's probably at least ten of them. And they're unloading the explosives right now as we speak!"
"Understood. You remember the plan, right?"
"They're far enough away that they won't even hear my jutsu go off -"
"Naruto."
"Yeah, yeah, fine...hold my position until all these bastards have left the dock, and no shadow clones until they're at least 75 feet away."
"Good. We're counting on you to keep us posted until then, so stay sharp."
Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and instead kept his gaze fixed upon the henchmen still unloading their explosives onto the dock. "Ugh, man...having to just sit here and watch is gonna be so friggin boring..."
A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as a hushed order went out to pick up the pace.
"Hehe...I guess I can deal with a little boredom...especially if it means making sure these Yahagi bastards fail in the most epic way possible..."
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A/N: I've always had trouble writing anything associated with battles (prep included). Still, I hope it turned out ok...