DISCLAIMER: IF I CAN'T OWN NARUTO, THEN I'LL BECOME NARUTO! *cosplays as Naruto before jumping off a tree and running ninja style*

Sakura gif

Call It What You Want by Taylor Swift

A/N: Sorry for the hiatus, I hate myself, I really do. Especially, when I don't update. This chapter is just a filler. I hope you still enjoy it. Again, sorry.

Chapter 7: Team Bonding
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HITOMI's POV
A SCOWL WAS permanently on my face since the voices impeded doom to my life. What do you do once you're told your life is turning for the worst? I trusted no one with my problems and I want my brother's life as happy as possible, so telling him my problems will drown his happiness so mercilessly.

So, as I sit with Sakura and 'guard' Tazuna, I frown at my surroundings. There's nothing to do here except watching the men work on the bridge. I could talk to Sakura, but I never got along with her.

She was all looks and only cares for Sasuke. Yes, I admit that she did well in a classroom setting, but other than that, I found nothing to like her for. She hates my brother, constantly bashing him and his actions, and she's also abusive towards him. I mean, what does he do to her to annoy her so much? Then, in our team, she's the weakest link. She doesn't fight. We're always protecting her. She's a Kunoichi yet she screams whenever she's in trouble.

Ugh, no! Until she learns to stand up and protect herself, I won't respect her. I will tolerate her, but not respect, she's a Kunoichi for Kami's sake, I scoff, crossing my arms.

Plus, there's the fact where we're complete opposites. Sakura's more empathetic, while I'm very avoidant of emotions except for anger. Sakura's mush, and I'm all sharp knives. She's girly in every form, and I'm, well...I'm girly in a fierce way.

"So... You like Sasuke? How can you, a nice girl, like an ass like him," I scoff, turning towards the red-clad Kunoichi. "I don't understand the logic in that."

"W-what? Of course, I like Sasuke," Sakura tells me.

I shake my head, "No. I know that already, I'm asking why?"

Sakura sighs, resting her head on her hands as her elbows sit on her knees. "It's obvious, Hitomi. Sasuke is strong! He's smart! He's very good looking, and he's so dreamy," she explains to me.

My eye twitches.

'She's annoying.'

'Very annoying.'

Tell me about it, I mentally groan.

"Sakura, I know that. What I'm asking is why do you like him? He treats you very badly, he doesn't respect you, he calls you names straight to your face, so why do you like him? Do you like him because every other girl likes him, or do you actually have deep rooted feelings for him," I explain, throwing her a glance.

I watch as Sakura turns her body, suddenly growing tense. I notice as her emerald eyes darken to a shade of juniper. "W-why do you care?! Do you like Sasuke!? I swear Hitomi if you li-"

I burst out laughing. Me like Sasuke? That's like me wanting my brother dead, that's madness.

"No, Sakura. I don't even care about Sasuke or what he does. And I care because Sakura, even if I don't like you right now or anytime soon, I-I know that you're important to...the team. Plus, if he hurts you, I don't want to listen to all your crying afterwards," I explain, making a face at the thought.

Though, before we can further enter this awkward conversation, Tazuna luckily interrupted us. Walking past us, he stops and comments, well, more towards Sakura.

"You sure seem bored, especially with her," he tells Sakura when she yawns. "Where's that blond kid and the other one."

She throws me a glance, "They're training," she answers.

"You don't have to," he retorts.

I watch as Sakura becomes smug. "Well, since I'm so superior, Kakashi Sensei asked me to protect you," she smirks.

I look towards Tazuna, seeing his raised eyebrows. "Really?"

I scoff. "She's not superior. Yes, she mastered her training very easily, but that's because she has very little chakra. And I'm here because my control is impeccable which led me to finish early as well," I explain, crossing my arms.

Sakura 'hmphs' as Tazuna chuckles at my explanation. Though, before we can continue the conversation, one of the workers, and Tazuna's friend, interrupts us. I stay quiet as he explains that he can't risk his life anymore for this bridge, basically fearing Gatou's reign of power. I don't blame him, that man targets people with fear, and he kills anyone who defies his place. Sighing, I watch as Tazuna dismisses his friend from working here.

Not wanting to waste my time standing idle, I walk towards the older man. Reaching his side, I cross my arms and huff, looking away.

"If you want help moving things, or stuff, I'm happy to assist in whatever," I state, cringing at the idea of being 'nice'.

I hear Tazuna chuckle. "Knock yourself out, kid," he tells me, agreeing with a nonchalant wave.

Sighing, I walk towards an assortment of tools and scoff. I hate being called kid, I frown.

Though, that's how I spent my time 'protecting' Tazuna, by helping him around the bridge. At least, it got me away from anymore awkward conversations with Sakura.

- - - - - -

AFTER A LITTLE time at the bridge, we headed towards the village to buy food for dinner. Though, as we made our way through the crowd, I inwardly cringed at the poverty in front of me. People were begging for work, but instead of wanting money, they wanted food. I saw kids running through the street looking as thin as paper.

"Thief," someone cries out, running after them.

I sigh.

"Here we are," Tazuna states to the both of us, after a short time, eventually reaching a small shop.

Looking inside, I notice that there's barely anything to buy, but I don't comment on it. Instead I just ask what he's looking for so I can help. Quickly leaving Sakura's side and passing a man to reach the carrots behind him, I search them. The majority of them are weirdly formed, but none of them are essentially rotten.

"Tazuna-san, do you want some car-"

"Pervert," Sakura screeches.

Quickly turning, in alarm, towards her, I watch as she delivers a high power kick to the guy's face. My scarlet eyes widen with awe. Now, that's what I was talking about. She needs to do more of that. Just seeing her actions gained her some more respect than her original one inch.

After that commotion, we're eventually leaving the shop with a bag of vegetables, all good for Tsunami to make into a soup. Walking through the streets again, I take Sakura's side as Tazuna takes the other.

"You sure surprised me earlier," Tazuna comments referring to Sakura's actions.

"Yeah, you surprised me too, ya know! I didn't think you could kick like that! You need to stop holding back and start doing more of that," I add in with a raised voice, throwing faux punches at the air to show my enthusiasm.

Sakura shakes her head with a smile. "What's going on in this city," she asks, turning serious.

This is where I tap out of the conversation, choosing to rather focus on Sakura. That kick showed me that she has the potential for Taijutsu. Maybe, maybe I could give her some tips, I don't know. With some training, maybe she won't be so insufferable.

'If you train her then she won't waste her time blabbering about that Uchiha boy,' the first voice comments.

I sigh, if one talks, the other follows.

'She can actually become useful with a little training,' the other voice states.

'Yes, I know all of this. I just need to find the time to train her. Maybe when we're not protecting Tazuna and when the boys are preoccupied with their own training? Yeah, I can manage that,' I state in my head, thinking out loud.

'See, we're helpful,' the first voice sings.

'Very helpful,' the second quips.

I huff, rolling my eyes. 'Whatever.'

As we finally arrive at the home, I stop Sakura from following Tazuna inside by grabbing her wrist. She stares back at me with wide eyes, surprised from my actions. Maybe it's for the fact that I'm voluntarily touching her.

"Hey, what gives," she asks, incredulously.

"That kick back at the shop, that shows that you have potential for Taijutsu. I-I was wondering if you wanted to learn some more ways to fight and defend yourself? Y-you don't have to, but I'm willing to teach you," I inform, cringing on the inside at the fact that I'm being 'nice'.

She pulls away from my grasp, looking at me strangely. I can tell that my niceties feel weird to her as well. "Why are acting so nice to me? What's the catch," she asks, narrowing her emerald eyes at me.

"No catch, and who cares if I'm nice?! Savor it while it lasts! That kick just showed me that you are pretty strong, I mean you brought a grown man to the floor with it! Imagine if you can do that with punches, you can do that if you received some more training! No more standing on the sidelines or being left behind, or being protected, not if you can protect yourself," I tell her, getting too excited for my own good.

Her posture falls as she grows nervous, I frown. "Do you really think that I can be strong like the rest of you? That I can protect myself," she genuinely asks.

"Sakura," I softly state. "Of course you can become strong, anyone could." I then cringe at my next words, shaming myself. "With a little training I'm sure you'll knock Ino on the floor and, with the new skills, I'm sure you'll capture Sasuke's attention."

I hate myself, but if she needs some petty inspiration, then I'll give her some, I think to myself, almost cringing.

"Alright! Let's do this! Cha, I'll become stronger than Ino and win Sasuke's heart," she yells, determined, punching the air.

Now I literally cringe, what have I created?

- - - - - -

SO AS THE week passed, Sakura and I trained on some basic Taijutsu forms and sparring. Though, everytime I managed to land a hit on her, I told her what to do, to help her, and what she should avoid. Everyday we spent hours sparring, and with the recent chakra training, I could visibly see that her confidence was growing. Plus, I also added to it with some compliments despite them tasting sour and foreign in my mouth.

"You should add some of that chakra control to your punches. Direct the chakra to your fists and kicks and release it upon contact, I feel like the outcome should be worth it," I say to her as I avoid one of her punches.

She stops, catching her breath. "Are you sure? The impact could hurt you," she asks.

I release a chuckle, somewhat. "That's the whole point, ya know! It needs to do some harm. Besides, I somewhat trust you, or along the lines of. Don't hold back on me, Sakura," I tell her before entering a fighting stance.

"Cha! Don't say I didn't warn you," she narrows her eyes at me before rushing forward.

As she reaches me, she quickly throws a right hook towards my face. Stepping back, I swiftly spin on my heel, and spin out of her reach with a teasing smile. However, it's just a second before she follows after me. It's good, she's light on her feet and she's not putting her whole weight behind the punches, not yet at least.

Narrowing my eyes, I start my line of offenses, just some obstacles for her. I mean, she needs to dodge and defend, not just attack. Throwing a right fist towards her, she quickly steps to the side. Though, she catches me off guard when she sticks out her foot, tripping me when she pushes me forward with her hand.

Quickly scrabbling to face her, instead of the floor, my eyes widen when she directs a downwards kick towards me. Rolling on the ground, I barely manage to get out of her way as her kick hits the space I just occupied. Again, my eyes widen when I notice a small crator. Stepping up, I push forwards and direct my own kick at her. She quickly ducks, but I just keep going, turning my body and kicking out my left foot. She manages to dodge that as well, jumping back to avoid it.

I don't have enough time to settle before she rushes back towards me. Punch after lunch, she directs an onslaught of quick punches. I grit my teeth and dodge them as quickly as I can. When I dodged all them, she narrows her emerald eyes, but what catches me off guard is her smirk.

Then, I realize why she did, my back suddenly hits a tree, trapping me. She grins and draws back her fist and my eyes widen at the realization. Not wanting to meet a superb suckerpuch to my face, I quickly drop to the ground at the last second. Her small fist then hits the tree, exactly where my face was a second ago.

The impact surprises both Sakura and I. The bark on the tree completely obliterates upon contact, leaving a hefty sized dent on the trunk. I exasperate a laugh, feeling both relieved and proud.

"Wow, I'm sure glad that I dodged at the last second! You would've blown my head off with that punch, or at least knocked me unconsicous for a few days," I state, looking up at Sakura.

"That actually worked! I can't believe that worked! Hitomi, I did it," Sakura grinned.

"Yeah, just don't direct it at my face anymore, ya know," I tell her.

"Right!" She smiles and we burst out laughing.

Over the past days, I actually started to like her. It wasn't automatically, and I don't see her as my favorite person, or best friend, but I tolerate her a lot more than I used to. Besides, punching each other kind of makes a person grow on you.

Eventually, after our discovery of adding chakra into our attacks, we trained a bit more before heading back for day. It was already late and it was nearing night. Walking back towards the house we decided to keep what we learned to ourselves, and from there, I let Sakura gush about Sasuke. From what she tells me, I figured out that she doesn't just like, but that she loves him.

Love, it's both a weakness and a strenght. People can use it against us, or it could thrive us, I muse.

- - - - - -

WHEN WE ARRIVED, everyone was already there which led to them staring at our late entry. One glance at the Haruno and the two of us burst in laughter. Well, I chuckled and just smiled while Sakura giggled. I'm betting that we look crazy to the rest especially if we're laughing and with the way we look. Bruises and dirt on our skin, plus the addition of twigs in our hair.

The rest of the evening was spent eating and talking. Well, that was until the Haruno commeneted on a torn picture. I literally face palmed at her question. Knowing that there was a sad story behind it, I queued myself to zone out. I didn't really care about their personal lives or what happened to them in the past, I was just here for the mission. During that time I made it my personal mission to not get involved in their lives.

The only ones I really talked to were my brother, and Sakura. I didn't really care or get along with Sasuke. I mean, he insults my brother and treats him as if he were nothing. Plus, his arrogance is nauseating. It's revolting.

He's revolting.

What a drag, I sigh, crossing my arms and looking up to the ceiling, still ignoring the conversation. If the voices told me that they were impending doom on my life, when are they going to start? Will it be noticable? Or will it be so slowly and carefully that I won't realize it until it's too late? How are they going to impend doom? Or were they just playing me so I can grow paranoid?

Just what are these voices?

Are they just voices?

My imagination?

Are they spirits?

Am I possessed?

Am I just crazy?

Or do I just have a mental illness?

"This is irritating," I mumble to myself, frowning.

Though, I snap back to my stupor when I hear a loud thud. Looking away from the ceiling, I find my brother on the floor. Narrowing my eyes, I look around to see if someone tripped him, but I realize that he fell by himself. He cries out at the sudden pain of faceplanting.

I raise a single scarlet brow. "Naruto, what are you doing," I ask my brother, confused of his actions.

Mostly because I wasn't listening.

"If you're thinking of training, take the day off. You've released too much chakra, anymore and you could die," Kakashi informs.

"I'm going to prove it," my brother proclaims, standing back up.

Prove what, I ask. I really shouldn't have zoned out.

"What," Sakura voices my thoughts.

"I'm going to prove, that in this world, heroes do exist," my brother tells us, walking away.

I shake my head, of course. I should have known.

Getting up from my seat as soon as he closes the door, I follow him. Though, as I reach to open the door, I'm stopped.

"Hitomi, where are you going," Kakashi asks.

I look over my shoulder and give him a smirk. "I'm just going to make sure my brother doesn't do anything stupid. Or you know, over work himself," I explain.

Before he, or anyone else, can say anything to stop me, I quickly exit the house and make my way after my brother. Knowing that he's going back to the original training area, I follow the path that we first took through the trees. When I reach the clearing, I stay a distance away, not wanting to disrupt my brother's focus.

Sighing, I use my chakra control to climb a nearby tree and just watch as he trains. I smile at my brother, just glad that he didn't turn sour like me. That he didn't become someone so filled with hatred. I'm glad that he's the way he is.

I envy him.

To be a person so mean, so hateful, so chaotic. He doesn't realize how lucky he is, to not be driven into madness by something he can control. To have an undying anger just bottling inside him and having a need to just release it. The fact that he completely hesitates before hurting someone, he's lucky because I don't have that.

He doesn't know how it feels to kill someone in cold blood.

And I hope he never does. 

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Welp, that was chapter 7, again, very sorry for the lack of updates! Anyways, did you enjoy it?

The fact that she's somewhat warming up to Sakura? That she's teaching her how to fight?

I want to make Hitomi and Sakura a brotp, are you with it, or against it? Of course it will be a slow burn friendship.

Any insight on what Hitomi's dealing with inside her mind? I left a little, tiny breadcrumb.

So, Hitomi still doesn't like Sasuke...i don't think she ever will. Whoops!

ANYWAYS, don't forget to

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WHICH BOOK SHOULD I UPDATE?

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(RIKO) DISCARDED AFFECTION

(URSA) IN NARUTO? YOU'RE JOKING RIGHT?

(URUSA) DENSITY - BNHA

(HANA) COLOR SPECTRUMS - BNHA

(KASAI) BURNING WHITE - BNHA