Leaving Her Alone

*Chapter 6*

A/N: Hey, everyone! My apologies for making you wait so long. I've been dealing with quite a lot over these past few months, and it's been seriously interfering with my writing efforts. But it appears that I've reached a break in the madness, and so I'm back...at least for now. Let's continue where we left off, shall we?

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Something's changed...

This was the solitary thought that had been repeatedly propelling itself through Sakura's mind even before Team 7 officially set out on the nearly half-day trip to Naoji...and it was bugging her to no foreseeable end.

As they sped along towards their destination, her jade eyes shifted over to the one who seemed to be at the center of this sudden change she felt.

Naruto...

From all appearances, the sunny blonde was the same as he had always been - overly cheerful, overly optimistic, and overly annoy-

A small frown creased her brow as her mind promptly bit off the remainder of her thought. In truth, the boy hadn't been even remotely annoying to her for almost an entire day now. It was a fact that should have been nothing short of relieving to her.

Should have.

Instead, however, it left her feeling rather...off-kilter, as if part of a routine she didn't know she had was suddenly drastically altered without her prior knowledge or even the slightest bit of prior warning. But...what part had been altered? What on earth could have changed?

Groaning inwardly at her puzzlement, she snatched her gaze away from the blonde boy, shifting it instead toward the path ahead of them.

Ugh...why am I putting so much thought into this? It's friggin Naruto for crying out loud! If anything's changed with that idiot, it'll change right back the instant I say even one word to Sasuke. Humph, so annoyingly predictable...

Her eyes found Naruto again. He was presently chatting up a storm with Kakashi, raving on ridiculously about how tasty his ramen dinner was the night before, and how the first thing he planned on doing when they got back was going to Ichiraku's and getting as much ramen as he could possibly eat.

She rolled her eyes at this. Tch...yeah, right after you make another stupidly cheesy attempt at getting me to go with you, that is. Poor fool just can't help himself.

She smirked slyly, suddenly driven to prove herself right if for no other reason than to quell the unsettling notion that some drastic change had occurred. Her attention turned to Sasuke then, and she quietly cleared her throat before speaking.

"Um...Sasuke?" she called out sweetly.

The raven-haired boy glanced over his shoulder briefly before facing forward again.

"What is it?" he asked flatly.

"Well, I-I was wondering...after we get back from completing this mission, would you wanna maybe hang out...o-or go out to eat together?"

"No." Sasuke's answer was quick and curt, and while it was no less than what Sakura was expecting, it still stung nonetheless.

"Oh, o-ok...maybe next time then..." she said with a quiet sigh. Hopefully that "next time" will come sooner rather than later...

Shaking her head slightly, her gaze almost instinctively shifted over to Naruto, fully expecting him to already be looking her way with that ridiculous grin and fixing his mouth to ask if he could take her out instead...