B r o t h e r

•20•

The trip had long since been over, ending quite anti-climactically after the events of the first day. Sakura had ended up spending the rest of the weekend with Gaara, as Sasuke was too caught up with his friends' drama. As much as the pink-haired girl tried to pretend it didn't bother her, she couldn't help but feel a little upset. Aside from the dark-haired boy only staying with her for Naruto's sake, who was now aware that the relationship was fake, there was something else. Sasuke was using her, that much had been established the minute he told her he just did not want to be around Ino and Shikamaru. She knew this, it's not some big secret he tried to keep from her. So why did her heart hurt this much?

Naruto was trying his best to be there for both his sister and his friends. Shikamaru and Ino were doing a lot better now, and managed to have a serious talk that ended up putting them back on good terms. They weren't together again, obviously, but they were friends. Sakura, on the other hand, had been pacing around the house with furrowed eyebrows since they'd gotten home from school. He knew his sister liked Sasuke, that much was a given. The blonde was stuck though, since he genuinely hadn't expected Sasuke's feelings for Ino to stick around this long. Obviously his best friend held some sort of feelings towards his sister too though; his interest in who Gaara was proved that.

Naruto shook his head, clearing the cloud of thoughts that had invaded his mind. Right now, on this boring Wednesday night, he should focus on cheering his sister up. He knew he couldn't immediately help her get over this- that would take time- but he could get her mind off things for a while. He walked to the kitchen, looking around to make sure Sakura was still upstairs in her room, before pulling out his adoptive mother's recipe book. Naruto slipped on the familiar green apron that was found in their basement, and flipped open the book. He then began trying to make some brownies for his beloved sister.

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Sakura had been lying on her bed, switching between various apps on her phone in an attempt to distract herself from the whirlwind of thoughts flying through her mind. She liked Sasuke, a lot. She wasn't going to deny it anymore, especially not when her own brother could see right through her. Unfortunately, as the pessimist that she is, Sakura immediately decided she stood no chance. Sasuke would wait for Ino, who would eventually fall for him again, and the pink-haired girl would be left in the dust to watch. That's how she saw things unfolding from here on out, and it absolutely broke her heart.

As she went to skip the song she was listening to, the smell of smoke wafted into her room. Sakura scrunched up her nose, putting her phone down before making her way downstairs. There, she was met with the sight of her brother frantically waving an oven mitt around the fire alarm, which had began to go off as the pink-haired girl walked downstairs, and a burnt tray of brownies sitting atop the stove. From the living room, she could faintly make out the sound of Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds speaking. Sakura laughed lightly to herself, knowing exactly what happened.

"If you wanted brownies, you could've just asked me you know?" She spoke, walking over to inspect the brownies her brother had put together. They seemed fine, the only problem was that he let them burn.

"Yeah but..." Naruto started, scratching the back of his head. "I wanted to make them for you."

Sakura smiled, patting his shoulder. "It was a valiant effort, my brother."

Naruto shook his head, chuckling at his sister's choice of words. He then turned back to look at his failed baked goods, upset that he had gotten so caught up in the show.

Sakura, noticing this, looked at the time. It wasn't too late yet. "How about we bake some more, but together this time." She offered.

Naruto immediately started grinning, looking at her like an excited puppy. "Yes!"

Sakura smiled back, putting her hair up and walking over to the sink to wash her hands. She always loved cooking with Naruto, though lately it usually lead to several silly fights.

"You look ugly."

"Shut up, Naruto."

Sakura, who was washing the bowls and spoons they had used to make the batter, splashed a bit of water onto her brother. Naruto, who had just closed the oven door after putting in the tray, jumped as the droplets of cold water hit him. Sakura laughed, turning her attention back to the dishes. Naruto then decided to sneak up next to her, before splashing his sister with the water running from the faucet. Sakura gasped, jumping back a bit. She turned to yell at her brother, only to see him running away before she could counter-attack. Sakura raised an eyebrow, knowing fully well that she couldn't let Naruto get away with that so easily.

She quickly finished washing the dishes, before drying her hands and grabbing her weapon of choice; a pillow from the living room. She then went hunting, while also keeping a close eye on the time so that their brownies wouldn't burn again. Naruto, who had ran to his room, hid behind his bed. This wasn't the ideal hiding place, but unfortunately he had outgrown his old hiding spots from when Sakura and him would play hide and seek as children.

"Naruto~" Sakura spoke in a sing-song voice. "Come out, I just want to talk."

Naruto proceeded to hide farther behind his bed, tucking himself into a corner.

His room door opened, and within seconds he was being bullied by a pillow. Quickly regaining his composure, Naruto stood up and grabbed a pillow from his bed. The pair of siblings then began to have the most intense pillow fight the world would ever see, turning the blonde's room into a war zone of fluff and blankets. Despite their battle, Naruto was overjoyed to see his sister laughing and enjoying herself. Sakura's mind had left behind her troubling thoughts of Sasuke and her feelings, all thanks to her brother's foolishness.

Later that night, after feasting on a few brownies and binging a few shows with Naruto, Sakura had also realized this. She really didn't know what she'd do without Naruto, he was always there when she needed him the most.

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Hi :D

Just wanted to clear some thing up that a few people were confused about in past chapters:

A lot of people kept saying it was unrealistic that Naruto and Sakura never had a big fight up until that day, but I kinda did that to showcase some development in their relationship as siblings yk?

They both got attached to one another, and they both experienced abandonment in different ways: With Naruto's parents' death and Sakura's parents' always having to work and leaving her at home. Obviously this would lead to them being basically terrified of losing one another as well, so they'd do their best to avoid anything that could cause that! Them finally having a major fight is supposed to show that they're comfortable and trust each other enough to know that fighting won't cause them to lose each other :,)

I guess I should've written it in more detail but we all know i'm too lazy for that ... ANYWAYS HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER