Understanding
A/N: First off, this is NOT NaruSaku, it is purely friendship. I support the SasuSaku pairing and the NaruHina pairing. I just thought it would be cute if Sakura actually did something nice for Naruto, because in the beginning of the series she's always so mean to him. Also, I wanted to show that Sakura does realize that Sasuke is not perfect, he can be a jerk. (Heh sorry Sasuke, but its true:P) Anyways, I hope you all like it, and if you do, please review:D
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because if I did, Sasuke would've never left for Orochimaru and he and Sakura would get together. I also do not own the song Sakuranbo Kiss, it belongs to Kotoko (The song only has a small part but I put it in here anyways).
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Training was intense; it always was on Monday mornings. Sakura sighed deeply when Kakashi announced their lunch break, and she swept the back of her hand across her forehead to remove the unwanted sweat. Fortunately, the hot, moist air did not frizz her cute pink curls that she did herself that morning. Also, her fitted red tank top and white capris didn't have too many sweat stains, and she managed to not knock off the jeweled cherry pin in her hair during training.
Why is a kunoichi like Haruno Sakura so dressed up for training, you ask? Today was a very special day; she got up at five in the morning and spent two hours making lunch for her crush, the heart throb of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke, and it was perfect. He couldn't turn her down after she cooked such great food for him and spent an hour picking out her outfit and doing her hair.
"Sakura-chan!" a loud, cheerful voice yanked her out of her thoughts. Naruto bounded over to her with pink dusting his cheeks. "Hehe…you look really pretty today!"
"Thanks," she mumbled although the corners of her lips tilted down in a frown. How come Sasuke never complimented her like Naruto did?
"Hey, do you wanna eat lunch with me? We can go get ramen; it's on me," the hyperactive blonde sheepishly offered.
"I'm eating lunch with Sasuke-kun today," Sakura told him, and when Naruto's head dropped in disappointment, she added a sympathetic "sorry."
"You always ask Sasuke-teme to eat lunch with you!" Naruto grumbled. "What does he have that I don't?"
The pink haired girl opened her mouth to respond but was cut off when Kakashi called to them. "Hurry up and find something to eat you three; you have to meet back here in forty five minutes!"
Seizing her chance, Sakura slipped away from Naruto and hurried over to Sasuke who was reclining under a tree.
"Urhm…Sasuke-kun?" the kunoichi asked timidly, one hand clutching the wrapped bento box and the other nervously twirling a curly pink lock around her finger.
"Hn?" He glanced up, the small movement causing his long, raven black bangs to sway slightly.
"I, um…I sort of made lunch for you!" She thrust the bento box in his face, her eyes downcast.
A look of surprise creased his features but it quickly disappeared. He gracefully took it from her hands (she didn't know it was possible to be graceful in doing something like that) and stared at her blankly. "I already brought a lunch," he said simply.
"O-oh, I see," she stuttered, mentally hitting herself for not thinking of that. "Well maybe you could save your lunch for later?"
"Why? I already brought it with me so I might as well eat it," Sasuke said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why don't you give that one to Naruto? He doesn't have a lunch."
It took all of Sakura's self control not to burst out crying. She did not want to be like those wimpy drama queens who acted like it was the end of the world when things like this happened, but it stung, and she knew she had to let it out at some point.
"Ok," she whispered, lowering her head so that her bangs shielded her face. "I see. I'm going to go eat now."
The slim girl with hair the color of bubblegum walked as quickly as she could away from the Uchiha and did not stop until she was in a thicket of trees far away from him. She leaped onto a tall tree and nestled in the crook of one of its branches, where she buried her face in her hands and allowed warm, salty tears to trickle down her skin.
She sensed neither Kakashi nor Naruto nearby, so she assumed they went to get ramen. If only she hadn't fixed Sasuke that stupid lunch, then she could be laughing and eating steaming noodles, too. The thought made the tears fall harder.
A loud growl suddenly echoed from her stomach and she quit sobbing. "I guess I better eat something before time is up. I can't train on an empty stomach," she sniffed to herself, scrubbing her wet cheeks with the backs of her hands. She unwrapped the bento box and cracked it open, observing the food she'd spent so long on, but that wasn't going to be eaten by the original person it was meant for.
Inside the box, neatly organized, resided three onigiri in the shape of Uchiha fans with the top halves colored red with food coloring. Small cherry tomatoes hid inside them. Next to those rested six California rolls whose rice was dyed red with food coloring, and in the center was a rounded piece of crab dyed black with three small pieces of avocado also dyed black surrounding it. She thought she did a pretty good job at making them look like Sharingan. Finally, filling up the remaining space of the bento box was a small blue shaved ice sculpture of a mini chidori. She didn't know how it didn't melt; maybe the bento box was refrigerated (if that's possible). It was dessert, and she knew he didn't like sweets, so she made sure it wasn't flavored. Surely he wouldn't have a problem with simple shaved ice?
Sakura broke her chopsticks, mumbled a half-hearted "Itadakimasu", and dug in. She was right; it was delicious. The best food she'd ever made.
That thought only made her start crying again, harder than before.
UNDERSTANDINGUNDERSTANDINGUNDERSTANDINGUNDERSTANDING
Drops of water tumbled down the threads of her bubblegum colored hair and plopped on her exposed shoulders. Sakura sighed in contentment as she flopped down on her bed. After the rigorous training session with Kakashi, it felt nice to take a warm shower and change into comfy pajamas. She still donned the red tank top she had worn all day, but soft, loose fitting pink PJ pants with violet polka dots replaced her capris.
She had managed to forget about the scene with Sasuke all through training, but now it all came rushing back to her.
Rolling over and burying her face in her pillow, Sakura groaned. Jeez…why does Sasuke-kun have to be such a jerk sometimes? She thought in annoyance, and then mentally slapped herself for the vile thought against her teammate, although she could not deny it was true.
"I have to admit, he can be stuck up and really mean sometimes…" she trailed off, and realized it felt good to finally let her true feelings out. "I wish he could be a little more like Naruto sometimes…more polite like Naruto, and would actually compliment me when I dress up nice like Naruto does…" Sakura didn't like how she was bad mouthing Sasuke, but after the event that took place earlier, she felt it was justified.
I have to admit, Naruto is a lot kinder than Sasuke-kun, and he's a heck of a lot more understanding…I think that's his best trait…he always listens to me and tries to help me out, even when I rudely shun his help.
"I do have to defend Sasuke-kun a little, though," she whispered into her pillow. "He doesn't hate me or Naruto, even thought he does act like it. He does care about us; heck, he sacrificing his life for Naruto to protect him from Haku and the way he reacted when that Sound ninja hurt me is proof! I just wish he would stop being so cold and show it sometimes…"
Come to think of it, if the whole thing with Itachi never happened, then Sasuke might've been as nice as Naruto…
"But he's not," Sakura said firmly. "His family was massacred and he turned out cold, antisocial, and he won't let anyone in, even his friends, the people who care about him."
That was when Sakura made her decision.
The kunoichi leapt from her bed and burst out her door, stumbling down the stairs and headed for the kitchen.
This lunch would be even better than the last.
UNDERSTANDINGUNDERSTANDINGUNDERSTANDINGUNDERSTANDING
Haruno Sakura skipped to the training field, lunch clutched tightly in her fist. Her pink hair was crimped this morning and she donned a cherry red headband which matched her cute skirt. Jeweled white sandals covered her feet and matched her fitted blouse. She happily hummed the song 'Sakuranbo Kiss' as she neared her two waiting teammates.
"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" her hyperactive friend cheerfully greeted her.
"Ohayo Naruto, and Ohayo Sasuke-kun!" she greeted back.
"Aa," Sasuke responded with an acknowledging nod.
"Ah, Sakura-chan, you look really cute again today!" Naruto complimented with a bashful blush.
"Thanks, Naruto!" she replied with a grin.
The blonde ninja was taken aback. She never thanked him that cheerfully for his compliments; she usually just frowned and muttered a half-hearted "thanks".
"Yo!" a cheerful, familiar voice greeted. "Sorry I was late, but I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."
"LIAR!!!" Naruto screamed, and everyone was surprised when their pink haired teammate's voice did not accompany his.
She simply smiled innocently at the weird stares she received. Nothing could ruin her good mood today, not even Kakashi being three hours late for training.
"Alright, set your lunches off to the side and let's being today's training!" Kakashi ordered. "Get to it!"
About four hours later….
"Finally, lunch break! Thank Kami-sama!" Naruto wailed in relief as he dramatically crashed to the ground in front of his lunch.
Excitement filling her, Sakura grabbed up the lunch she spent such a long time on and headed in the direction of her two teammates. Sasuke, who was plopped against a tree yet again and was beginning to open his lunch, sighed and gave his female friend an annoyed look.
"Sakura, I told you this yesterday, I already have a lunch."
"I know that Sasuke-kun, but I don't recall ever saying that this lunch was for you," she said with a sweet smile. (Inner Sakura: Hell yeah, that felt good!!!)
Sasuke's mouth hung open, speechless, as she continued to walk past him and kneeled next to Naruto.
"Huh?" The blonde looked up in surprise. "What is it, Sakura-chan?"
"Well, Naruto, I made you lunch last night and I know you have some of your own, but…"
"You made me lunch? Wahoo!!" Naruto grinned widely as he shoved his lunch aside and snatched the wrapped bento box out of her hands. "Thanks a lot, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura smiled softly, comparing Sasuke's undesired reaction to Naruto's. "No, thank you, Naruto-kun," she whispered, too quietly for him to hear.
The hyper ninja pried open the box and practically squealed at what he saw inside. Three onigiri in the shape of the spiral on his back rested inside, dyed red, and next to those were six California rolls, three of which were shaped and colored with green food coloring to look like frogs and the other three which were molded and colored with yellow, orange, and red food coloring to look like tiny ramen bowls. Finally, for dessert, was a swirly sweet bun which was colored and shaped to look like a Rasengan.
"Thanks so much, Sakura-chan! It's amazing!!" Naruto, eyes sparkling, threw his arms around his friend/crush. "This is the nicest thing anybody's ever done for me!"
Surprisingly, Sakura didn't get angry at the hug and she even embraced her friend back. (Gasp! It's the apocalypse:O)
The Uzumaki snapped his chopsticks and dug in. "This is delicious!" he commented, devouring the food like a hyena.
The pink haired girl smiled happily and leaned in close to the eating ninja. "Hey Naruto, do you want to hear a secret?"
The boy stopped eating immediately and turned his full attention to her. "What is it, what is it?" he asked in excitement.
"Well, I can't name what Sasuke-kun has that you don't, but I can name what you have that he doesn't!"
Naruto's cerulean blue eyes widened and he leaned in closer. "What, what?"
She smiled and jokingly poked him on the nose. "Naruto, you have understanding." He looked confused, so to make him realize it was a good thing, she added, "and I really appreciate that. It makes me happy!"
The corners of his mouth stretched upward into a big smile and he flashed a thumbs up. "I don't know what you mean exactly, but no problem! Whenever you need some understanding, I'm here!"
Sakura giggled and smiled brightly. "Thanks Naruto, I know. I've always known."