Chapter 105

Thankfully his speed prevented him from getting badly walloped in the stomach, as he moved his arms to block the unsuspecting blow. However, the force was great enough to knock him off his feet and send him flying backwards a good distance—landing hard on his backside. Growling, he picked himself up off the ground hurriedly, preparing himself for another attack, but none came.

"Ack! Gomen, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted concernedly, and Naruto's approaching footfalls suggested he was coming over to check on his fallen comrade's condition, "Daijoubu?"

"I'm just fine," Sasuke found himself snapping back, cursing himself for underestimating Naruto. That was the third time that day that he had underestimated his best friend—he found it hard grasp the concept that Naruto had grown stronger over the years. Of course common sense told him so much was true, but he still found himself imagining the dobe he had known since his days at the Academy.

"Oi, you don't have to be so rude, teme. I was just asking; Sakura-chan wouldn't be to happy to have you back all damaged and bruised, ne?" the young man retorted reproachfully.

Turning his head where Naruto's voice was coming from, he muttered 'dobe' to himself. Naruto apparently did not hear because there was no outburst of complaint, instead the boy just stood quietly, perhaps contemplating something. Sasuke narrowed his eyes mistrustfully, was Naruto going to try another one of those sneak attacks? It actually wouldn't surprise him if Naruto tried something like that—he had already done it twice, each started with an obviously suspicious silence, much like the one at the moment.

The silence was broken by a loud growl from Naruto's stomach, causing to Sasuke blink and sweatdrop. So much for the 'sneak attack'.

"I'm hungry, dattebayo! Let's go get some ramen or something," Naruto exclaimed suddenly, causing Sasuke to scowl.

"You're always thinking about your stomach," Sasuke found himself saying grouchily, relaxing his defenses. He knew Naruto would most likely whine if he wasn't fed, so he might as well agree and get lunch over with.

"No I don't!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly, "You're confusing me with Chouji, teme."

Sasuke found his lip curling in slight amusement despite himself. "If we stop for lunch now then no breaks this afternoon," he told Naruto firmly, but knew that Naruto probably didn't have any problem with that.

"Hai!" Naruto agreed heartily, "To Ichiraku's!"

Sakura checked off the last item on her shopping list and walked lazily down the streets of the market. Looking up at the sky where the sun was reaching its pinnacle, she thought of Sasuke and Naruto—she hoped that the two of them stopped for lunch. Knowing Naruto he would get hungry and probably force Sasuke to go with him to eat something, so she didn't need to worry, she reminded herself. But she couldn't help but feel like she should go check up on them or something.

Being around Sasuke almost all the time, she found it almost alien without him nearby—she missed him a little, but he probably needed the space. And of course this was probably good for his social life as well; he had hardly spoken with anyone since he had gotten out of hospital, determined on training most of the time, but now she was finally forcing him to socialize—even if it was in the form of training. Maybe after she paid for the groceries, she'd stop by Ichiraku's to see if they were there…

"Sakura?"

Turning her head she looked down the aisle she was currently standing in, and met a pair of viridian green eyes much like her own. A friendly smile came on her face as she turned to go approach her mother.

"Hi, Mom," she said happily as her mother gave her a warm hug, "How are you?"

"I'm supposed to be the one asking you that," her mother tutted lightly before releasing her daughter, "But for the record, I'm fine."

"I'm fine too," Sakura replied with a laugh, "Better than I've been in a while, actually. A little tired, but nothing else."

"Well, that's good. I suppose if you're rehabilitating that young man all the time, it can be exhausting," her mother stated warmly, her voice filled with understanding, "Speaking of which, where is Sasuke?"

"Oh, he went out training with Naruto today," Sakura explained, clearing the confusion on her mother's face, "I think he needed a break from me—I'm with him all the time, in the morning, training, before bed."

Her mother gave a smile and an approving nod, "Well it sounds like he's getting on better and better. I hope that means that we'll be expecting you home soon?"

Inner Sakura stopped dead in her tracks; she had forgotten to tell her parents about training Sasuke so he could become a member of Team Seven again. Her outward demeanor hadn't changed in the least and she did her best to think of a way to put the information delicately.

"Well, it could be a while longer yet," she replied honestly, choosing her words carefully; Inner Sakura was scrambling about wildly thinking of different sentences to use, "Tsunade-sama has request that I help him regain strength as a shinobi so that Team Seven had reunite again."

Her mother's face lit up at the latter end of the news and then subsequently fell as she comprehended the former, "Well, couldn't you move back in and still train him?"

"Well, he has trouble with unfamiliar locations," Sakura lied smoothly, hoping her mother wouldn't be able to tell, "He would have difficulty meeting me at the training grounds."

.

.

.

‼️If you want to access advanced chapters, wait no more and subscribe to my Ko-Fi, where you can buy books in completely downloadable PDF format.‼️

☕️ko-fi.com/skyarc☕️