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A Fine Fine Line	By : eksimenrol Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Sakura Views: 5904 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Quick
notes:� I know it�s been a while, but I�m
back!� No new spoilers and this is during
the events that takes us to the morning of the 4^th day.

��

Chapter
Thirteen: Troublesome

��

��
�� I
know it�s probably stupid, but I didn�t go straight home after that.� I didn�t even go to Ichiraku�s,
which even struck me as odd.� Instead I
went to my own secret thinking spot.

�� Ironic
how that�s where that old lady told me to take Sakura.� Ironic how I�m standing on the head of a man
that I could swear was my brother, if I didn�t know the truth that I�m old
enough to be his son and he had none.� Hell ever since I learned the truth of what happened on the
day of my birth; I�ve felt closer to the fourth than I ever thought I
would.� Hell he actually held me in his
arms.

�� And
now it seems like I�m almost turning into a mini-Fourth, trained by the man who
trained him, trained by the man he trained.�
I�ve turned the move he created into one of my most used.� Hell I even have the same luck with women as
him, if what that old pervert told me was true.�
Or I will if I can win over Sakura.

�� Sakura,
I�m still surprised that she asked me out, even if it was out of pity for
hitting me.� But she asked me out.� And I agreed.�
But should I have?� I mean I know
that Sakura cares for me, but I�m not sure if she loves me.� Even if she did I�m sure she loves Sasuke
much more than me.� It almost makes me
want to ask her why she did it, knowing it won�t change anything between
us.� It almost makes me want to turn her
down to save myself the heartache I know will come out of it.

�� Troublesome,
isn�t it?�

�� I
didn�t even look towards him as he lay down and look towards the stars.� He was right, as usual.� Women can be troublesome.� �But worth it.�

�� True.�� I�ll give it to Shikamaru; he has a knack for
answering you with the least amount of words.�
�She didn�t show.�� It wasn�t even
a question, he knew it.� �Ino told me when I had to tell her our
mission was pushed back a week.�� Well at
least it�s not entirely village gossip.

�� Yeah,
went home sick, or so Ino told me.�
That�s why I bought her some dumplings.�

�� Does
she know about your secret?��
Secret?� What secret?

�� I
think everyone knows that I love her-�

�� Naruto,
I mean does she know about the Kyuubi?�

�� We
were quiet for a long time.� �You found
out.�

�� He
looked over at me and stared me in the eye.�
�I�ve had my suspicions for a few years.�
The chuunin exams convinced me.�
But no one actually ever told me.�

�� All
this time and you didn�t care?�

�� Naruto,
I�m going to say this in the hope that you never
repeat it.� I�m trying to date the sister
of the host of Shukaku.� If I don�t care
about that, why would I care that one of my greatest friends is the host of the
Kyuubi?� For as long as I�ve known you
you�ve wanted to do nothing more evil than pull a harmless prank.� Hell, the closest you�d come to hurting a
member of this village is to wound their pride.�
Learning about the Kyuubi actually makes me respect you more.� All that power, all that fury and you�re
still you.� I�ve seen the way people act
towards you, and not once have you even thought to seek revenge.� I don�t care about the Kyuubi because I know
you�re making sure he doesn�t hurt anyone ever.� I only ask if she knows or not because she
might not see it the same way.� I don�t
want to see you hurt like that, no one does.�

�� Sakura
found out soon after I came back, so did your girlfriend.� She wondered why I could care so much for
saving Gaara, and I said that we were just the same.� Nothing changed from that moment; she didn�t
treat me any more different than you did.�
I almost wonder if she knew about it sooner, but I�ve yet to have the
courage to ask her.�

�� Does
it matter?�

�� No,
not really.�� I let out a deep sigh.� �I�m starting to think I shouldn�t go out
with her.�� Shikamaru was silent as he
starred at me.� �Well, I�m not certain
that she actually wants to go out with me, I think she�s doing it out of pity.� And as much as I care for her, I know if I
let myself believe that she�s falling for me, and then she leaves me for Sasuke
when he comes back, it would destroy me.�

�� What
if he doesn�t want to come back?�

�� I�m
not sure what I would do then.�� What if Sasuke doesn�t want to come back with
us?� What if after I drag him back here,
after Sakura declares her undying love for him, he leaves?� �I�m not sure.�

�� What
if when that happens and she doesn�t care?�

�� You
know Shikamaru, you sure are, what�s the word I�m looking for, troublesome.�

�� What
else are friends for?�

�� I
had to smile at him then.� �What else are
friends for.�

�� The
two of us spent the next hour staring up at the stars, watching the bright
streaks storm past us.� Slowly catching
up on the last few years.

�� I
had to admit that it was fun to catch up with my friend, even though deep down
I�d rather have been spending the night with Sakura.� Near the end on the meteor shower Shikamaru
stood up.

�� Listen
Naruto, it�s getting a bit late and I should be getting to bed soon.� I�ll be seeing you later then yes?�

�� Sure
thing Shikamaru, goodnight.�

�� Oh,
and hey Naruto, don�t worry about Sakura and Sasuke.� I get the feeling that she might be over
him.� And I�m fairly sure he never was
all that interested in her to begin with.�
So don�t over think things like that.�

�� Thanks
man, what would I do without you?�� He
didn�t really answer me as he walked off; I swore he was shaking his head as he
left.

�� He�s
probably wondering the same thing.� And
it would probably be the same result, both of us worse off than before.� I should get going, it�s late and I should
get up early and do some training.� Maybe
after that I�ll go and check on Sakura, see if she�s feeling any better.� Maybe take her out for lunch or something.

�� Then
I�ll have to pay a visit to Tsunade, what with her wanting to know what
happened tonight and everything.� Hmm,
I�m going to have to think of a way to tell her that Sakura didn�t show but I�m
okay about it.� Maybe I can get an easy
mission for some quick cash too.

�� It
just might mean the difference between a day with Sakura and a day by myself.

�� So
I rose and made my way back to my small apartment.� It might not have been much but it was
home.� The old patchy sofa in the living
room.� The small set of used dishes
sitting on the counter.� The old fridge
and stove that seemed to be as old as the building.� It was home.�
Well in a way it was home.� Really
the only thing that made it so was the picture of Team Seven taken all those
years ago.� Memories of all the times the
four of them or the three of them had spent together sill brought tears
whenever no one was looking.� I quickly
striped down to just my boxers and a t-shirt and climbed into bed.� It had been a long day, and quite taxing on
the body what with dealing with both Tsunade and Jiraiya not once but twice
each.

�� Sleep
was quick at coming, but it wasn�t all that pleasant.� Images of Sasuke plagued me as I tossed and
turned.� Red eyes staring into my soul
asking me how I could betray his trust in me.�
How I could steal his Sakura from him.�
How could I steal the only woman in this world that he cared for?� I fought him over this, screaming out that he left us, but each time he�d come back with more pain written on his
face.� It was torturous, but I endured
it.� Half the night was filled with his
haunting image, but I didn�t let it get to me.

�� He
wasn�t real.� I had to keep telling
myself that.� This wasn�t the real
Sasuke, he was miles and miles away from here, probably doing god knows what
with that snake.� He wasn�t real.� It had become my mantra for the evening.� But try as I might it wasn�t helping.� He wouldn�t go away.

�� I
wasn�t sure how long I could last like this, seeing him begging me to stop my
advances on Sakura.� Hours passed and his
please seemed to get more desperate.� My
control was waning, tears started to form from the sheer torture of it.

�� The
sun had risen early that day, but no salvation was found from that damn specter
of my brother.� I�m awake and he�s still
there.� I tried throwing my pillow at him
and it passed through him as if he were mist.�
He didn�t even stop his plea for me to leave him and Sakura be.

�� I
couldn�t take it anymore, the dam broke and my tears ran down my face, staining
the spots they fell on my shirt and sheets semitransparent.� He wasn�t going to leave me alone.� No mater of begging or pleading would
do.� The one thing he asked I found
impossible.� Give up on my dream.

�� How
could I give up on pursuing the woman that loved?� He was my best friend, my brother, but I
couldn�t promise him I would leave Sakura to him.� And yet, in a heartbeat I would leave Sakura
alone if she chose to be with Sasuke, it�s so contradictory that it makes no
sense.

�� No
it makes every bit of sense.� I could
never deny Sakura what she wanted, but Sasuke, he�s tried to break the bonds he
shares with us.� And as much of a brother
he is to me, and as much as I love him as such, it pales in comparison to my
love for Sakura.

�� So
there is no way that I will promise to him that I will leave my affections for
Sakura alone.� I will not stop competing for her love.� Because it is her right to give it to whom
she chooses.� And I will abide by her
decision whatever it may be.

�� So
he can try and torment me as much as he wishes, but I will not let it rule
me.� I stared deep into his eyes as he
pleaded me to stop loving the only woman I ever could love.� Fighting his request was taking everything I
had, but I had to do it.

�� There
was a knock at my door, startling me, yet Sasuke continued his pleas, ignorant
of the door and the person beyond.�
�Naruto?� Are you up yet?�

�� Why
did it have to be her?� Why did she have
to come now?

�� And
what would Sakura say if she found out he was haunting me?

Author notes:� Alright people, time to do some catching
up.� In the time I took off from writing
this and A Fine Line Between Us, I wrote a short (13 pages) story of how Minato
won over Kushina�s heart, otherwise known as Bringing
Home Back to You.� I hope you check it
out as it gives a bit of insight into the world that is my interpretation of
Naruto.� ��Now on a much brighter note, I have hit a
milestone for this story.� Today, after
finishing this chapter, I have hit 40 pages in my master copy.� This copy does not contain any notes or
review response what so ever.� It does
contain line breaks at the end of each chapter and that�s all.� So other than maybe 10 or so blank lines, I
have 40 pages of work completed.� Yay me!� Also, it
wasn�t until tonight that I was able to see the epic foreshadowing I had done, I
won�t exactly ruin it if you haven�t read the latest chapter, but if you have
you will know what I mean.

Okay time to announce the winners of my little
question from last chapter.� What was in
the box?� Naruto-sama,
you were the only one to guess.� And sadly
you were not correct.� But you at least
had a very good idea.� So don�t feel too
down.
- 12
- 13
- 14
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A Fine Fine Line