---Sorrows of Yesterday---
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It has been so long, hasn't it? I've been neglecting so many things and I feel really bad. And its summer now and I've hardly made an effort on my vacation before the possibility of updating gets even worse.
Sorry guys… No, I'm not putting this on hiatus, nor am I stopping…but I need inspiration. (Frowns) Maybe I'll find it in time, but…it's already been a long time, ne? Here's the next chapter for you.
The past chapters have been edited. Took so long…
I know the longer it takes for me to update, the more fans I loose. That's true, isn't it?
Chapter 20: Small Talk
Kagome idly swirled her cereal in her bowl again. Nothing had happened during the tedious morning. It had been like this every morning since they got back. Sasuke and Kagome had not been called up for some mission yet, nor had Naruto or Sakura dropped by. There were no upcoming festivals, or fairs.
She glanced at the living room, where a blanket was messily draped over the sofa, and another futon haphazardly dropped on the ground. When the two had arrived back at the mansion, Sasuke had been too tired to set up another one of the rooms that they could stay in, since the invasion had destroyed his room. And for the next five days, they didn't bother settling into another room. Where was he anyway? She hadn't seen him all morning.
The miko threw away her cereal since she had already eaten most of it, and the small pieces had gotten soggy over time. Kagome could hear a distant thud outside in the Uchiha grounds, so she glanced out the window to see Sasuke training with his shuriken and kunai.
Knock, knock, knock.
She glanced out the front window to see Sakura shuffling her feet on the front doorstep. Kagome opened the door, "Hey Sakura, how's your morning so far?"
Sakura grinned. "Pretty good, thanks. I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a picnic today for lunch. Naruto, Kiba, Chouji, Ino, and Tenten are going to be there, I think. Everybody else is busy with missions, and Hinata's getting her knee repaired today. And…hopefully you and Sasuke are going to be there too?"
"Well I don't think we have anything special to do – me, at least. So why not? If Sasuke insists he can't come, I guess I could drag him over anyway."
"That's great! I don't think you've met any of them yet, so I guess I could introduce you to my other friends when we get there…how about the top of the Hokage monument?" The kunoichi beamed.
"…Where's that?" Kagome thought of all the places she knew, and nothing seemed to come to mind about the place Sakura mentioned. She knew the Hokage Monument, and perhaps it was above it, but Kagome didn't think there was anything special up there, or if it was possible to get there.
"Sasuke knows; he can bring you there."
"Alright, thank you. See you then!'
"Bye!" Sakura waved, "Oh, and by the way, I would really appreciate if you could make maybe… a dessert or something? Nobody's taken up that responsibility yet. I've only got Kiba, Ino, Tenten, and I making the actual lunch, and Chouji bringing the drinks."
Kagome strained her mind to see if she could remember anyway, "I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem. I can get something done by then. See you later today then."
She sighed. "I think I remember that cake recipe. Yes. I believe I do. I used to make it for Souta and mom. Haha, I remember that one time I brought a few samples for Shippo to try. Inuyasha stole them, and then soon everybody found out. I ended up making several of them for everybody. That was a great day…" Kagome pursed her lips in thought. "I should make two cakes. I think Sasuke has some flour, and I can go out a bit later to get some strawberries and the rest of the ingredients…Shippo would've loved to eat this again…"
Caught up in her memories, Kagome wandered into the washroom and shut the door behind her. She turned around. "Hey. This isn't the washroom." She made an incoherent noise in her throat. "I turned into the hallway and took 20 steps and turned right…Oh, but I should've…I think…Oh no." Kagome blinked and scanned the room. "I'm not supposed to be in here."
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"Oi, Sakura! Can I talk to you for a bit?" Naruto raced up to catch up with his teammate and then slowed down to her pace.
"What's up?" Sakura questioned curiously. She gestured to a nearby bench, where they both sat down and she was able to rest her groceries on the ground.
"It's about…Sasuke…and maybe Kagome too."
Her curiosity increased. "Oh? What about Sasuke and Kagome?"
Naruto bit his lip, thinking. "It's just that I really, seriously think that Sasuke likes Kagome. I was only kidding when I brought it up in Suna, but now…I really thought about it. Think about it. He was so worried when she left. Not the part where he took that hit for her, cause' you know, he took a hit for me before, and he doesn't really like me in that way. Well, I seriously hope he doesn't…And, well…" His face gained a very disgusted expression while he began rambling.
Sakura laughed. "I'm sure he doesn't like you. Really…But…Well, Kagome on the other hand…I've had my suspicions about that too. Remember when Gaara said that Kagome was just sleeping? The expression on his face was more than a regular panic, I think. He seemed like he wanted to kill Gaara, and he was shocked and panicked at the same time."
"But Sasuke…liking somebody? That's unheard of! He's like… the most heartless bastard ever!" Naruto stuck out his tongue. "You know a lot of girls in this village like him, or at least at one point, and he hasn't ever given anybody a second glance. Well, only you cause' he has to. You're on his team. I mean, I don't think he would care otherwise." That earned him a smack from Sakura. Naruto shrunk away from her glare.
"Besides that, what other evidence do we have that could mean he likes her?"
"Think about it, Sakura. They live together." Naruto sent several suggestive winks and nudges her way.
In a deadpan voice, Sakura stated, "Sasuke's not like that. He doesn't molest people. Nor would he have…sex with somebody he hasn't known for a while either."
"But he stayed with that Orochimaru freak for a while! And that guy looked like he was a little boy molester. I swear he could've inherited that from him!" He whined.
"Naruto, I'm sure Sasuke's not that easily influenced. And I know what you're thinking. I don't think Orochimaru molested Sasuke either. That would be absolutely gross."
The boy sighed. "Fine, fine. Take all the fun out of it." Naruto thought about it a little bit more. "Hey, what about Kagome? Do you think Kagome likes Sasuke?"
"…I never thought about that!" Sakura exclaimed. "But I seriously don't know if she likes him or not. I don't know her as well as Sasuke."
"Well…she did run away because she thought it was her fault that the bastard was hurt, right?"
"But you never know, Naruto. If it had been you instead of Sasuke, she probably would've done the same thing. Kagome just seems like the type of person who would worry about everybody else before herself."
"Kagome's gotta be affected by Sasuke somehow though. A girl can't hang around him for that long and not start to like him a bit. He's like a girl magnet from the North Pole."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You think strange. Really, you do." She sighed. "I can't find anything that would tell us if she likes him or not. Come to think of it, she seems to keep most of her feelings to herself. I think we're just going to have to coax it out of both of them."
A mischievous grin began to form on Naruto's face. "Now…that's more like it. What's the plan?"
"Well, at lunch today, we're having the picnic, remember? If Kagome stays true to her word, she'll drag Sasuke along, cause' you know he normally isn't very enthusiastic about things like this. You try to get some time alone with Sasuke, and I'll get Kagome. We have to slowly bring up the subject of the other person – not if they like each other or not, just get a reason to start a conversation about them."
A light bulb went off inside Naruto's head. "…And then sooner or later, they're going to have to make some type of comment about the other person. Great information strategy, Sakura. I'm glad I helped you on it – OWW!"
Sakura glared at Naruto. "Oh yes, because you obviously helped me form the plan."
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This…This was the room that Sasuke had specifically ordered Kagome not to enter.
"I really shouldn't be in here." Kagome bit her lip. But curiosity completely overruled her reasoning. "Curiosity killed the cat," She breathed out quietly.
Kagome took small footsteps up to the desk and glanced at the picture frame on it. The miko was very careful, making sure not to knock anything over, or touch anything in fear of Sasuke finding out that she had been here. There was a layer of dust coating most of the things in the room, meaning that the room had been untouched for a while.
"…It's…Sasuke when he was little!" Kagome covered her mouth with her hands to prevent herself from making loud noises in excitement. "Oh my god, he looks so adorable!" It was then that Kagome noticed the older boy in the picture. "He looks too young to be his dad…so…I remember him mentioning his brother in his nightmare on the first day I was here. Itachi, I think. But if he doesn't talk about him, then I'm sure he doesn't want to and I shouldn't prod. But I wonder what happened for it to cause such nightmares…" She glanced at the picture one last time and grinned like an idiot. "I should go now before I get caught in here."
Kagome slid out and quietly closed the door with a click. She then made her way back to the washroom, this time making sure not to make a mistake.
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"Thank you, sir!" Kagome smiled at the elderly man running the store. She picked up her groceries and started her way back to the Uchiha compound. 'Strawberries, eggs, sugar…I'm sure I didn't miss anything. And then I just have to get back and make it now before the picnic starts.' The miko glanced at the sun. 'Three hours…' "Oh hey guys," Kagome grinned.
"Kagome! Ehehehe…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Eh…what's up?"
"I just went out to get what I needed to make dessert for the picnic today…are you two okay?" Kagome raised an eyebrow. Sakura had been quiet since she got here, and Naruto was fidgeting nervously.
"We're just fine…" Sakura smiled. "Uh…Just fine, really…yeah. It's just that…we saw Kakashi-sensei reading a normal novel for once…sort of shocking, ne?"
Kagome was taken aback. "Kakashi!?...Reading a non-porn novel? You're kidding, right?"
Naruto tried to appear less agitated. "Not at all!"
"Weird…" The miko muttered, shaking her head. "Anyway, I'll see you in a few hours. I have to start baking so I'll get there in time."
Sakura watched as Kagome walked off. "That was a real close one."
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"Kakashi…reading a non-porn novel. Kakashi. Kakashi reading a non-porn novel." Kagome frowned. There seemed to be something off about it. She swore. "Kakashi…"
"Like my name that much?" Kakashi mused.
Startled, Kagome jumped, looking up into the tree where the Jounin was perched on a branch. When she regained her senses, Kagome fumed. "No!"
He sighed. "I guess I was just keeping my hopes up." Kakashi effortlessly dodged a kunai that was sent at his head. "Sasuke give you those? I don't recall you carrying any shuriken or kunai."
"I've been doing a bit of training, so I figured I should get used to these. They're not hard to handle, actually. I asked him for a set, so he brought me his spare."
"I see," he said nonchalantly. "It's nice to see you fitting in easily."
Kagome contemplated asking him something… "I should confirm this anyway. It's too odd to be true." "Kakashi, what's the current book that you're reading?"
"Icha Icha Violence, why?"
"Nothing," Kagome muttered flatly. "They are such liars."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but let the subject go.
"Anyway, I really should be getting back to the compound. I have things to do."
"Alright." He was gone with a small 'poof'.
'I am so going to get Sakura and Naruto for that. What were they trying to hide from me anyway?' Kagome managed to make the rest of the way home without any distractions. She balanced her purchases on one arm so she could open the door.
"You're back," Sasuke stated.
Kagome noted the sweat on his face. "Did you just get back from training?" Sasuke nodded, making her sigh. "Would you take a shower or something? We're having a picnic for lunch today and you don't look that great."
"Since when?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, instead choosing to say, "Why should I go?" He wasn't very enthusiastic about this, especially after such short notice.
"Because some of your friends are going, and I promised to drag you along." Kagome stared at the Uchiha. "Now go take a shower. You don't smell that great." She scrunched her nose.
He was insulted. First, she wanted to make him go to this picnic, and then now she had the nerve to tell him that he smelt bad? Sasuke put her under his scrutiny for a long time, as she held his gaze. "Tch." The Uchiha snorted, but made his way to the washroom.
Rolling her eyes, Kagome set everything on the kitchen table to start baking. "He can be such a stubborn ass sometimes."
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"Thanks for agreeing to come, Sasuke." Kagome beamed.
"Whatever."
"Oi! Sasuke!" Kiba caught up with the two. "Sasuke, could you please tell Sakura that I can't make it to the picnic, cause' Tsunade just suddenly slammed me a mission?"
Sasuke just stared at Kiba with a sort of 'do-you-really-expect-me-to-do-this?' expression on his face.
Kiba paused. "On second thought…you're…Kagome, right? I think Sakura mentioned that you were the new girl that was coming to the picnic too? I'm Kiba."
"Nice to meet you, Kiba." Kagome smiled.
"Could you please tell Sakura I can't come? I have to go for my mission now, and I won't be able to tell her."
"I'm sure that's not a problem."
"Oh, and I was supposed to bring these to the picnic…" Kiba handed Kagome a plate of spring rolls. "My sister made them, but it looks like I won't be able to come. She makes the greatest rolls though, so the picnic would be nothing without them," He explained arrogantly.
Kagome laughed. "Alright." She balanced the cakes on one arm so she could carry the plate.
"Thanks!" The Inuzuka grinned before running in the direction of the village gates.
Sasuke and Kagome began to walk again when the Uchiha noticed that Kagome was wobbling a bit. Without a word, he took the two cakes out of her hands.
"Thank you, Sasuke," Kagome breathed out. "For a moment there, I thought I was going to drop both of them." She grinned.
"Hn. I don't think you could even be safe holding one."
"You realize that if you weren't carrying those cakes, you'd be dead by now." Kagome fumed.
"You wouldn't be able to scratch me."
"Sasuke…" Kagome warned through gritted teeth.
The Uchiha only smirked.
Microsoft Word says I have approximately 2700 words. I think I fulfilled my last promise to double the chapter or so. I was going to write more, but I thought this was a suitable place to stop.
I hope I did okay after the seven month gap for this story…
Reviews would be appreciated.
Tenshi-Battosai