A/N: Due to the many reviews and support I received for my fanfic "It All Started With A Dare" I have decided to write its sequel. Here it is, so I hope you like! Please R&R! If you haven't read my other story, feel free to wink wink
A/N: Oh and don't worry, this primarily focuses on Sasuke and Sakura (but the other relationships will be involved with the plot), even if this first chapter might not seem like it. It's just the introduction of everything!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with it.
The Strength of Their Relationship
Chapter One: What Love Means
Sasuke sat nervously as he watched Sakura dance with his best friend Naruto. He knew he had nothing to worry about as the blonde headed ninja had a girlfriend of his own who was actually the only other one at the table with him now. His other friends had ll now joined the pink-haired kunoichi and the knuckle-headed ninja on the dance floor. He glanced over to the blue haired girl noticing the worry that filled her white eyes. She sat ther pushing her fingers together with a look upon her face similar to his. He could tell, however, she was much more worried that he was.
"It's okay Hinata," Sasuke said as he scooted over to her, "the song's almost over. He'll be back beside you within minutes."
"I-it's n-not that," she stammered. "I-I'm just w-worried… Y-You k-know Naruto used to…" She cut off as her eyes fell once again on Naruto and Sakura.
"You have nothing to worry about; that was a long time ago." Sasuke said reassuringly remembering what it was Hinata was referring to.
"No Sasuke," Hinata stated defiantly, "You're the one who has nothing to worry about. I see the way Sakura looks at you. I know that look all to well." Hinata looked away back to her boyfriend and her best friend dancing. Sighing, Hinata continued, "It's the same look I give Naruto, the same look Naruto gives Sakura…" She trailed off as she pointed to the two dancing. Sakura was looking over their way smiling as she made eye-contact with Sasuke.
Sasuke's mind shifted from the conversation he was just having. Sakura looked absolutely radiant. She was positively stunning in every single way. She was smart, beautiful, kind, caring, strong, passionate, loving… The list seemed to go on and on. Sasuke's eyes softened. It had been almost a year since he had taken the dare that had changed his life. It had been a year full of surprises, happiness, and love- something Sasuke was sure he would never have in his life again. In short, it had been the best year of his life. Sasuke smiled as he continued to gaze at Sakura.
"It's the same look you're giving Sakura right now," Hinata stated dully cutting off Sasuke's thoughts as she plopped her chin on her hand.
Sasuke, being drawn back to reality, had forgotten Hinata was still there. "I'm sure you're just imagining it."
She laughed before replying, "I hardly thing so; you have it written all over your face!"
"I…uh…I…I wasn't talking about me," Sasuke blushed. "I-I was talking about Naruto."
Hinata raised an eyebrow as she examined him. Finally, she resigned, "Maybe… I hope you're right." She continued with her head dropped, "He still seems to compliment Sakura more than me." The tear she had been trying to hold back gently slid down her cheek and fell to the table below.
Sasuke couldn't imaging what Hinata was feeling right now, but it was obvious that she had been feeling this way for a long time. He wanted to comfort her, but he had no idea what to say. He placed his hand on her shoulder trying to giver her a reassuring smile. "Don't tell Sakura, okay?"
"I won't," Sasuke promised unsure of why she wouldn't want Sakura to know.
Suddenly, the music that had been playing stopped and changed from a slow, steady beat to a fast, upbeat one. Soon, Naruto, Sakura, and the others returned to take a break from dancing. Completely unaware of Hinata crying, they all sat down around the table and began to chatter.
"Thanks for allowing Naruto to dance with him," Sakura said with a smiled still oblivious to Hinata's tears.
"Yeah! Sakura-chan's a great dancer! Heck, she's the best I know!" Naruto blurted out. 'Wrong thing to say,' Sasuke thought to himself hoping Hinata had not paid any attention to the conversation. Hinata's cries grew louder as she looked up to Sasuke to reinforce what she had been saying earlier.
"She's been crying for a while now." Neji stated with anger in his voice as he examined his cousin.
"You knew, didn't you Sasuke-kun?!" Ino shouted jumping to conclusions
"Yeah…b-but I-" Sasuke stammered.
"And you didn't do anything to comfort her?!!" Tenten yelled as she slammed her fist on the table. "Sakura, what are you going to do about this?!"
Sasuke's eyes immediately shifted their focus to Sakura and only Sakura. Knowing what was going through everyone's mind, Sasuke tried to explain. "I…No… You've got it all wrong… I didn't… You don't under-"
Sakura shook her head in disappointment as she turned her head away from Sasuke diverting her attention to Hinata who was still crying. "Let's go to the bathroom, okay?" She asked as she helped Hinata up. Ino and Tenten followed suit, but shot Sasuke glares before doing so. Sasuke was speechless. How the night had just taken a drastic change Sasuke was unsure. Sakura's look of disappointment in him was engulfing him, twisting at his heart. Closing his eyes, however, he was happy to escape the glares of Ino and Tenten.
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he hoped that the glares he was receiving would have vanished to the bathroom. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he was still receiving glares from those who remained at the table.
"How could you Uchiha?!" Neji shouted shaking in rage. Neji was very VERY protective of his cousin. He would surely kick anyone's ass that dared hurt Hinata. Of course, he had always thought it would be Naruto, but he was not afraid to fight Sasuke Uchiha either.
"This is troublesome," Shikamaru stated bluntly. He knew he would be the one who would have to break up a fight between Sasuke and Neji. However, that wouldn't be no where near as troublesome as dealing with his blonde-haired girlfriend because he knew that she would be the absolute last person to drop what happened tonight despite it having nothing to do with her. He truly dreaded the next hours, days, or possibly even weeks that he would continue to hear her rant on and on about it.
"I didn't do anything!" Sasuke growled fed up with being accused of something he did not do. "You all can just shut up! Do you hear me?! You don't even know what you're talking about!" Sasuke had lost his temper now, but reasonably so. Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto stared at him in bewilderment, afraid of saying anything. "Naruto, come with me to the bathroom, now!" Sasuke ordered.
"Isn't that kind of girly? You know, having to have someone come with you to the bathroom?" Naruto asked scratching the back of his head. He had hoped that his comment might lighten up the mood a little seeing as he couldn't do anything else to help.
"Shut up you dobe! And come on, NOW" Sasuke hissed. He clearly wasn't in the mood for Naruto's jokes. Naruto, on the other hand, quickly jumped to his feet and scurried to the boys' bathroom before Sasuke took even one step. Naruto didn't want to anger Sasuke anymore. Sasuke began to walk off, but before doing so, he turned around to Shikamaru and Neji. "Do either one of you have something to say?" They both quickly shook their heads no. They had never seen Sasuke this angry since he had started to date Sakura. They had forgotten exactly how scary the Uchiha could be if you got on his bad side. Assured that there would not be any whispers behind his back while he was in the bathroom, Sasuke gave the two one last glare before meeting up with Naruto in the bathroom.
"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as he entered the bathroom.
"I-I'm here Teme," Naruto stuttered sounding oh so much like his girlfriend who was in the bathroom beside them probably still crying.
Hearing the frightened tone of Naruto's voice, Sasuke tried to calm down. He didn't want to go around scaring everyone, especially not his best friend. Besides, it would be hard enough to get his point across to Naruto without being angry. Sasuke sat down by the frightened Naruto placing his hand on his shoulder. "It's okay now, I'm sorry. My anger gets the best of me sometimes." Sasuke stated calmly and compassionately at the same time as he remembered how Sakura had reminded him how scary he could be when he got angry.
Naruto straightened up and immediately felt at ease. He didn't need to fear Sasuke now. 'Wow, Sakura-chan has really worn off on him,' He thought to himself, 'though she's even scarier when she's angry, but they both know how to come around.' Naruto looked at Sasuke wondering if he should say something or not. "Did you need to tell me something, Teme?" He asked realizing that Sasuke probably wasn't going to speak unless he did.
"Yeah, kinda," Sasuke replied as he thought about how he could tell Naruto about Hinata.
"Is it about Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah," Sasuke answered still pondering how to tell Naruto.
"What is it?"
"I wasn't the one that made Hinata cry, Naruto,"
"Well, who did?"
"You."
"Me?" Naruto gaped confused about what he had just heard Sasuke say.
"Yes, you." Sasuke knew that this was going to be hard to explain to him. Naruto wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the bunch.
"How could it have been me, Teme?" Naruto apparently believed Sasuke; he wanted to know what it was that he did that hurt Hinata. That was the last thing he had wanted to do was hurt Hinata. He really cared about her and liked her a whole lot too. The idea that he even loved her often ran through his mind on a normal basis though he never said anything to her about it; he was too afraid to.
"Naruto, Hinata is … Well, She's insecure."
"Insecure?"
"Yeah, she is. You really mean a lot to her, and she's worried she doesn't mean as much to you. I think she kind of has the feeling that…," Sasuke stopped not wanting to even think that Naruto could still have feelings for Sakura, his Sakura. "She kind of has the feeling that maybe she'll always be second to your… um… first love." Even though Sasuke had always known of Naruto's past crush on Sakura, it wasn't something that he wanted to say out loud. It would make him feel uncomfortable as well as a tad bit jealous despite knowing Sakura was with him.
"How could Hinata-chan be second to herself?" Naruto scratched his head, "I don't get it."
Sasuke shook his head, "Naruto ga baka. I'm not talking about your first girlfriend. I'm talking about your first love." It pained him to say it again, but it was better than outright saying Sakura.
"But, Hinata-chan is my first love, Teme. I never loved anyone before her."
"You… You love her?" Sasuke asked incredulously. He knew Naruto liked her, but that he loved her? He never realized the magnitude of his feelings for her.
"I... uh… Yeah, I do." Naruto replied very nervously yet somehow confident of his answer.
"Does she know?" Sasuke asked wide-eyed. He hadn't meant first love in the since of true love (even though it was the same for himself). He was happy for Naruto and happy for himself as well. Naruto never considered his feelings for Sakura that great. It made Sasuke smile to himself.
"Yeah, I… I guess she knows."
Sasuke stopped. Naruto was making the same mistake that he had made last year. "Have you told her you love her?"
"N-No…" Naruto replied as the nervousness began to resurface at the thought of telling Hinata his feelings.
"Then she doesn't know," Sasuke replied coolly as he crossed his arms. "You can't just assume that a girl knows how you feel about her dobe."
"But… you love Sakura, that means you had to tell her, doesn't it?"
Sasuke blushed. He had not expected that to be a question. He just assumed that Naruto would nod, possibly ask some advice, and then move on. Sasuke's memories of confessing his love for Sakura began to run through his mind- the "training", the ring, the feeling of nervousness, the weight that was lifted from his shoulders the moment the words fell from his mouth. All the memories caused his to blush more and more, until his face had reached a distinct shade of red. "Yes, I told her," Sasuke finally muttered despite the words choking up his in throat.
"How?" Naruto asked innocently.
"That's none of your business!" Sasuke snapped in retaliation. He wasn't comfortable talking about his feelings. He never had been. The only person he could talk about his feelings with now was Sakura, but that was different. He still had trouble talking to her about them sometimes; he still got nervous a lot of times.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted a few pointers. That's all." Naruto said realizing that he had asked too much.
"Well, all I can say is, well, just trust your heart. I did, and look how that turned out." Sasuke smiled a huge grin realizing exactly how wonderful his life was with Sakura. Not one day had he ever regretted telling her he loved her. It was obvious that he did and that it was the right thing to tell her so.
"Thanks Teme!" Naruto shouted as he started to run out of the bathroom door.
"Hey Naruto! Don't be complimenting Sakura all the time too!" Sasuke shouted back at him realizing that he had forgotten the reason why he had wanted to talk to Naruto in the first place. He didn't know whether or not Naruto had heard him, but he had a feeling that things were going to work out even if he didn't.
Soon after Sasuke and Naruto had returned to the table, the girls returned from the bathroom, apparently all in a better mood than when they had left. Ino and Tenten were no longer shooting glares at Sasuke. Hinata had stopped crying, although she still seemed a little down. Sasuke smiled to himself knowing that her spirits would be up as soon as Naruto confessed his feelings for her. He didn't know when he was going to tell her, but knowing Naruto, it would be soon. Sasuke was the most relieved to see that the look of disappointment she had previously worn on her face had vanished. However, a still, awkward silence had taken a hold of the group of friends as it seemed that no one was going to speak.
"I'm sorry," Tenten finally muttered after about ten minutes. "I had no right to accuse you Sasuke about something I didn't even know about." Sasuke didn't know what Hinata had told them in the bathroom, but he was glad that they knew he wasn't the cause of Hinata's cries.
"I'm sorry too Sasuke-kun," Ino admitted. "I was wrong as well." Neji and Shikamaru exchanged looks of confusion, but upon hearing the apologies, they realized that they had been wrong as well.
"We're sorry too, man," Shikamaru and Neji swallowed hard. It was hard for guys to admit they were wrong, especially for Neji who had threatened Sasuke.
"It's okay, I understand," Sasuke said meaning every thing he had said. After all, his past attitude towards people wasn't full of flowers and bunnies. Plus, he was the only one that had been there with Hinata when she started crying. Hinata gave him a small smile.
Sakura started to say something, but was quickly interrupted by an outburst by Naruto.
"I LOVE YOU HINATA-CHAN!"
Everyone's jaw dropped except of course of Sasuke's. He knew that it wasn't going to be long, and besides that's how Naruto and Hinata shared their first kiss-an outburst in front of everyone at his slumber party when playing spin the bottle. Outbursts like this were Naruto's, what you would call style.
Hinata's reaction wasn't as what everyone had expected. Her eyes started to shine, and her smile grew bigger than anyone had ever seen. Instead of turning seven shades of red and then passing out, she threw her arms around Naruto knocking him into the floor and kissed him making Naruto turn seven shades of red and then passed out.
"They're perfect for each other," everyone else chuckled in unison.
Once again the music began to slow to a familiar, smooth and steady beat. "It's our song," Sakura whispered in Sasuke's ear with a smile on her face.
"I know," Sasuke replied as he stood up taking hold of Sakura's hand. It was the same song Sasuke and Sakura had shared their first dance together to. Both Sasuke and Sakura smiled to themselves remembering the event fondly. Sasuke had grown much more graceful since their first dance, however, when he needed the help of both Sakura and his Sharigan. Now, neither needed each others' help as it seemed they both glided effortlessly along the dance floor. Sasuke pulled Sakura close so that he could feel the beating of her heart and kissed her on the forehead.
"I love you," Sasuke smiled.
"I love you more," Sakura smiled back with a small chuckle before her expression turned serious. "I'm sorry too. I didn't know what to think, and everyone was accusing you and--" Sasuke interrupted her by planting a kiss on her lips.
"What part of 'I love you' don't you understand?" He asked with a smirk on his face.
Remembering a movie they had watched together not to long ago, Sakura repeated with tear of happiness in her eyes, "Love means not having to say sorry."
"I love you Sakura."
"I love you too Sasuke."
They sealed their love with a long, passionate kiss. All eyes fell upon them. They were making the whole room jealous once again.