Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
A/N: I've had this plot stuck in my head for weeks, so I finally just wrote it. It's just a sappy little one-shot, no big deal. You can read it while you wait for IWM chapters. Thank you Eric for beta reading.
My Truth is Yours
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"Naruto, I doubt that Sasuke and Kakashi will want to have a reunion," Sakura entreated. "Especially Kakashi...he is a lot older than us."
Naruto waved his hand as if to dismiss her comment. "He's not that old. And anyway, we'll drag them here. Come on, I didn't pack all this food for nothing!"
Sakura's eye twitched. "Excuse me, you packed the food? I'm the one that made it!"
Naruto grinned. "Yeah, but only because you said you didn't want ramen." Naruto dodged Sakura's incoming fist and said, "You can go get Kakashi and I will go find Sasuke. Bring them to the park. It will be fun!"
"Why do I have to go get Kakashi?"
"You mean, 'why do you get to get Sasuke?'" Naruto ducked to avoid Sakura's fist once again and ran away at the prospect of another punch. "Just go get Kakashi, all right?" he called over his shoulder.
It only took thirty minutes to persuade Kakashi to come to the park, but it took almost an hour for Naruto to physically drag Sasuke out of his house. It was a nasty argument, resulting in more than a few scrapes and bruises, but Naruto won in the end. Sasuke would merely say that he didn't want to kill Naruto and agreed to come.
Sakura and Kakashi waited patiently in the park for the other two to come for the remaining half an hour. Neither had seen each other as much as they had in earlier days, but that was expected when Team 7 graduated and moved on. The team was no more and they split up to explore other areas of ninja expertise. Naruto, of course, hastily became a Jounin at age seventeen that year with Sasuke right beside him. Sakura, although strong in her own right, decided to remain a Chuunin for the time being. She was only seventeen and still had plenty of time to get stronger.
"Sakura! Look who I got!" Naruto shouted from across the park, waving enthusiastically. Sasuke was standing next to him, his hands in his pockets and looking extremely annoyed.
Sakura stood up and clasped her hands together in delight as the two approached. "Oh, Naruto, you were right. This was a good idea."
Naruto grinned and plopped down beside Kakashi. "Hey, Kakashi. Long time, no see! Sakura made the food, so, no ramen," he said, a frown making its way onto his face.
Sakura scowled. "It's good."
Naruto beamed. "I'm just kidding, Sakura."
Kakashi picked up a bowl. "So what's the occasion?"
Sakura and Naruto looked at each other. "It was all Naruto's idea, really. He said that we hadn't seen each other in awhile, which is true –"
"– and it was time for a Team 7 reunion!" Naruto finished, snapping his chopsticks apart.
"You are too sentimental," Sasuke said, reluctantly sitting down next to him. "This has to be quick; I have things to do."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You always have 'things to do.' Have fun for once."
The group bickered like that while they eat, leaving Kakashi to nonchalantly slip his prized book out and read. No one noticed for quite awhile, until Sakura happened to glance his way. She ripped the book out of his hands and glared at him, a few inches away from his face.
"Kakashi! We can't socialize when you're reading!" she chided.
"We can't socialize when everyone is arguing," he retorted, reaching for his book.
Sakura grudgingly handed his book back. She sat back on her haunches, looking very deep in thought until suddenly she gasped and her eyes widened. Everyone looked at her, perplexed.
"I have an idea! Let's play a game."
Everyone looked at her, dumbfounded.
"Sakura, I am not playing a game," Kakashi said, leaning back. Sasuke nodded once, apparently agreeing with her. Naruto was the only one to react enthusiastically.
"I think it's a good idea! Come on, everyone has to have a little fun once in awhile," he said persuasively. "What game do you want to play, Sakura?"
Sakura smiled deviously. "Truth or dare."
Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Sakura, we're seventeen years old."
"Some of you," Kakashi added.
Sakura scowled and growled, "We're going to play."
No one dared to refuse.
Naruto was much too excited and finally said loudly, "I'll pick first. Sakura – truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Naruto frowned somewhat and continued, "I had such a good dare for you. Hmm..." He put a hand on his chin for a moment and thought. "What do you really think about me?"
Sakura sighed and folded her hands her lap, looking everywhere but at Naruto. "You're immature, but in a good way. Over the years, we've grown close, I think. You're fun to be around. It makes you expect the unexpected."
Naruto smiled at this, but added, "That's it?"
"What did you want, a declaration of my undying love?" she retorted, clearly flustered at her earlier admission.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah!"
Sakura shook her head. "Okay, my turn. Kakashi – truth or dare?"
Kakashi, still leaning back on his elbows, thought for an entire minute before he replied. "Dare."
There was a collective "ooh."
Sakura grinned wickedly. "I dare you to take off the mask!"
Kakashi shook his head. "Sorry, I can't do that."
"You have to. It was a dare."
"I change my mind. I want truth."
Sakura gave a loud "hmph" and bit her lip. "Why do you read those perverted books?"
"It's good literature."
"This isn't much of a game if you are going to lie!" Sakura chided, slightly agitated.
"I'm not lying. Jiraiya is a very good writer. Plus, adults need some certain entertainment once in awhile."
Sakura turned red. "Eeeh!" she squeaked, covering her ears. "I didn't need to know that much!"
"You asked," Kakashi replied, shrugging.
Naruto waved his hand. "Enough of that perverted talk. Your turn, Kakashi."
Kakashi put a hand on his chin and thought deeply. The three teens leaned in expectantly as Kakashi took an immensely long time to think.
Finally, he said, "Sasuke. Truth or dare?"
"Hn...truth," he muttered.
Kakashi seemed a little surprised. "All right. What is your greatest fear?"
Sasuke snorted. "I'm not afraid of anything."
"The rules were no lying," Naruto snapped, shining an apple on his shirt.
"Everyone has a fear," Sakura added. She bit into something crunchy and green and made a face, immediately putting it back in the basket. She couldn't remember what it was supposed to be.
"I don't," Sasuke grunted, leaning back and spreading his legs out.
"You're ruining the game!" Naruto shouted, throwing the recently shined apple at his head. Sasuke ducked quickly and glared at the offender.
"Fine!" Sasuke folded his arms across his chest and muttered something unintelligibly.
"What?" the three others chorused.
"I said my biggest fear is being alone."
No one said anything for a moment, and Sasuke's face turned a pale shade of red. Sakura stared at Sasuke longer than the others. Sasuke almost glared at her for this, but he noticed that her gaze was unusually soft. Granted, she always looked at him that way, but this particular expression startled him. He cleared his throat roughly and said, "Naruto – truth or dare."
Naruto quickly forgot about the morose moment and grinned, shouting, "Dare!"
Sasuke grinned wickedly. "I dare you to admit that I'm better than you."
Naruto's jaw dropped in indignation. "No way! I'm not going to lie for this game!"
"It wouldn't be lying," Sasuke said simply.
Sakura slapped a hand to her forehead. "You two are such idiots."
"Why don't we just prove whose better now?" Naruto said angrily, standing up and upsetting two soda bottles.
"Naruto!" Sakura chided, attempting to pull him back into a sitting position. He ignored her and followed Sasuke into a clearing to the side of the picnic blanket.
Sakura's shoulders slumped and she sighed, casting angry glances at the two of them. "You'd think they'd mature a little bit, now that they're adults."
Kakashi smiled crookedly. "I don't think they'll ever mature."
Sakura returned his grin and giggled. "Now, truth or dare wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Not as bad as I thought."
"I was afraid Naruto was going to ask me something embarrassing; I'm glad he didn't."
"You looked embarrassed enough."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. That was just for show. He would have been mad if he didn't succeed in embarrassing me. I wonder what he would have dared me to do, though."
A sudden explosion diverted their attention to where Sasuke and Naruto were fighting, though obviously not seriously. However, something had gone amiss and Sasuke and Naruto both lay on the ground, unconscious. Kakashi shook his head and picked Naruto up in one arm and Sasuke in the other.
"Come on, Sakura, looks like we'll have to get these two home."
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Sakura pushed the door open warily, as if the door would bite if touched harshly. When nothing responded, she exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding. The house was dark as usual. She knew she had to be quiet; if she made any noise, he would know she was there and be at her throat instantly. She silently praised her lithe body for its noiseless movement.
She reached her destination in the silent house, a lonely door at the end of an even lonelier hallway. She swallowed and twisted the doorknob, half-expecting the door to be wrenched open by an angry figure, clad in dirtied ninja attire.
It wasn't. Sasuke lay on the bed across the room, apparently asleep. She bit her lip and glanced around the room – she had been in there before (nothing unordinary, however she would have liked it; dangerous missions had rendered him bedridden for days at a time and earned him frequent visitations by Sakura in the past), but this time was different.
She gingerly sat on the edge of the bed and clenched her hands together to keep them from straying onto him. They had a tendency to do that. A few minutes passed while Sakura just sat there in his mute company before she was startled out of her daze by his voice.
"Sakura," he said evenly. He had been awake for awhile. "What are you doing here?"
Sakura reddened and dug her fingernails into her palms. Of course she knew that he was going to catch her; why should she be embarrassed? "I remembered what you said today."
Receiving a blank stare, she added, "I didn't want you to be alone."
Sasuke said nothing. Her words caught him off guard. They were tender and affectionate, and though he was used to this sort of thing with her – this particular moment was too close to his heart.
"I'm always alone," he stated, sitting up.
"I didn't mean it that way, not literally. What you said today, about your fear...I just..." she trailed off, searching for her words. "I don't want to say that I understand, but...I'm afraid to be alone too."
Sasuke sighed. "You're not alone, though."
"You can be alone when you're with people too." She frowned suddenly. "Sasuke, in the future...I don't want to be alone. I think that's why I've chased you for so long; I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't be alone. I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't be alone."
Sasuke understood. For once, he understood why this seemingly fragile girl was so determined and so stubborn. He understood her, for she understood him, and together they knew each other.
Sakura stood up. "I'm sorry for barging in like this, Sasuke."
"It's okay. You can stay."
Sakura had already begun to turn and at his words, she froze. She looked back at him quizzically, as if to question him. He only looked at her expectantly.
"All right," she said softly, and took a seat closer to him.
He propped the pillows up against the headboard and lay back. Sakura was unsure of what to do at first, but gazing at him lying down beside her only incited her to do the same.
Sasuke outstretched his arm before Sakura hit the pillow and thus she was almost lying in his arms. She prayed that he could not hear her wildly beating heartbeat and she tried to get comfortable, but her nerves would not let her.
Sasuke curled the arm beneath Sakura around her and pulled her closer, if only a few inches. Sakura turned her head towards him and hid her face in his neck, relishing the closeness of their bodies and heat of his skin. Sasuke took a deep breath; his face buried in her hair and he inhaled the scent of her, almost delirious from the very surreal experience.
"Sasuke?" Sakura said quietly, her lips almost touching the skin of his neck.
Sasuke moved his face away from her hair and stared at the ceiling above. "I figured that if we are afraid to be alone, we might as well be afraid together."