"hey Naruto you ok?" Sakura asked as the two ninja walked into the village.

"yeah that tree was hard" he said as he rubbed his forehead.

"well you not supposed to smash into them" Sakura responded giggling while recalling how Naruto had ran into the tree while distracted.

"yeah yeah whatever, you want me to walk you home?"

"sure" before they realized it they were at her house and she was very close to him almost leaning on him, Naruto of course was blushing lightly. As they arrived at her door Naruto had to wake her up from her trance, she had nearly fallen asleep, he's so warm I don't want to leave yet Sakura thought. Sakura's mom answered the door when Sakura rang the doorbell.

"get away from my daughter demon child!!" her mother yelled at Naruto. Naruto just hung his head and walked away.

"he's not so bad mom!" Sakura yelled at her mom.

"get in your ro-" Naruto couldn't hear anymore because the was slammed shut. He walked to his house and flopped onto the bed. The next day Naruto woke up late and started walking out to his favorite ramen shop, but on the way he saw Sakura in the alley.

"huh Sakura?" he said quietly as he walked over to her.

"huh?" she looked up at him and wiped a tear away. "oh hey Naruto…"

"what's wrong?" he asked.

"oh nothing, do you have any space in your apartment? I need a place to stay I can't keep living with my parents, I'll sleep on the floor if I have to" Naruto blushed.

"yes I have extra space and you can have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch"

"no no I don't want to be a burden" after a while of arguing Naruto finally cracked and allowed Sakura to sleep on the couch to his dissatisfaction.

"lets go do our mission for today" she jumped up and hugged him tightly.

"thank you so much" of course Naruto only blushed and couldn't talk "and yeah lets go do that mission" they walked off to the job office. Today's task was a simple one, some cleaning at a few people's houses and a lost cat. After these missions they were able to do whatever they wanted to do.

"lets go get some ramen, it doesn't have to be a date" Naruto said, but in my mind it'll be a date Naruto thought.

"yeah ok lets go"

"YES I GET TO GO ON A DAT-, I mean not date with Sakura" he said looking at her. She was laughing while running towards the ramen shop.

"I'll beat'cha there!" she yelled back.

"no fair Sakura you got a head start" he yelled ahead as he ran forward. Sakura was sitting down ordering her food as Naruto arrived.

"I win loser pays" she said smiling.

"yeah ok I prepared for when I'd get to go on a non-date with you" he managed to catch himself at the last second.

"you prepared for…the chance to go on a non-date? With me?" she snickered. "is it really that big a deal jut to eat with me that you save up just to pay for a non-date?"

"uh yeah" he blushed. Sakura just laughed at this.

"ok I want the usual"

"of course Naruto" the man behind the counter said and started cooking Naruto's food, right as Sakura was getting her food. She started eating and then Naruto got his food.

"mmm" that looks good Sakura said as she stole a noodle from his bowl.

"hey that's mine!" Naruto yelled.

"so what'cha gonna do about it?" Sakura taunted. He just stared eating. After they ate Sakura went home to pack her stuff.

"where have you been young lady? To your room!" her mom yelled. Sakura just ran up to her room and packed her stuff and slide silently out of the window. She met Naruto in the alley and they walked towards his house not realizing they were walking very close. Sakura nearly fell asleep again. At his house Naruto tried to get Sakura to sleep on his bed but she wouldn't have it, she insisted that she sleep on the couch and not be as big a burden as possible. Naruto finally allowed it but made sure she'd be as comfortable as he could make her. When they finally went to sleep Naruto asked one more time if she wanted his bed. She declined and scolded him for bugging her about it.

"ok ok sorry Sakura" he said after being hit in the head with a pillow. She simply stuck out her tongue at him and smiled. They went to sleep. That morning Sakura smacked Naruto in the head with her pillow.

"stop snoring knucklehead!"

"huh oh sorry Sakura you sleep ok?"

"yeah and I'd like to go back to that" she flashed him a half smile and went back to her couch. They went back to sleep and Naruto did whatever he could think of to stop his snoring. They woke up relatively late, Sakura jumped up and got dressed, yelling at Naruto for not waking her up earlier.

"I don't have time to take a shower or eat or anything!" she yelled as they walked out she calmed down. They went out to the ramen shop, ate and went to buy Sakura an alarm clock, then went to the job office. They had some more simple jobs but during a delivery to the flower shop they were caught by Sakura's mom.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN YOUNG LADY?!" she yelled at Sakura so loud, Naruto could swear, any louder and she'd pop. "HAVE YOU BEEN OUT WITH THIS, THIS DEMON??"

"HE'S NOT A DEMON MOM HE'S MY FRIEND AND SO FAR HE'S BEEN TREATING ME A LOT BETTER THAN YOU" she yelled back. She grabbed Naruto's hand and drug him away. After a while Sakura didn't notice that she was still holding Naruto's hand.

"um Sakura thanks for standing up for me back there" he said looking down. "I didn't mean to get you in so much trouble"

"don't worry about it, it's that temper that is one of the reasons I left"

"oh ok" he said, I was kinda hoping she left to stay with me… she seemed to be almost taking a liking to me he thought.

They walked back to the jobs office to check in and tell them that they finished their jobs. Then they walked to a restaurant but on the way Naruto noticed an gold necklace with an emerald gem in the middle next to another with a sapphire gem, in the window of a jewelry shop. I have to get that for Sakura Naruto thought. He just barely caught the price tag, 500. He was about halfway there but he'd have to save up and work like crazy to get that anytime soon. They arrived at the restaurant and sat down. They ordered their food and Naruto finished as fast as he could. Sakura ate slower and talked to Naruto after he finished. He decided not to tell her about the necklace, I could surprise her and make her happier and maybe she'd consider dating me Naruto thought.

"so anyways thanks for letting me stay with you Naruto its making things a lot easier, especially since my mom has been pressuring me and I been feeling kinda bad lately"

"I'm so sorry Sakura" he said looking down.

"no it's ok Naruto your helping me out a lot" After they ate they paid and got up to leave. "seriously Naruto thank you" she pulled him close and kissed him gently. Naruto simply blushed.

"I-I… no problem s-Sakura" he mumbled. She turned a light pink herself and they walked out. On the way to Naruto's house they were walking close again. argh she just kissed you Naruto, you need to make a move or something, she can't not like you after all this AND kissing you Naruto thought. "Sakura"

"yes Naruto?"

"will you go out with me?" Naruto asked quickly and prepared for another brutal decline.

"yes" she said quietly. He looked at her surprised but silently. She looked at him and smiled softly and reassuringly. They walked into his house and prepared for the night when they heard a knock at Naruto's door.

"yes?" Naruto asked as he opened the door.

"where are you hiding my daughter?!" Sakura's mom yelled at him. Sakura pushed her way up to her mom.

"I'm right here and I'm not leaving because I like him and he likes me and I'm staying here until you realize that I can't live under your constant stress, you can't control me forever" Sakura yelled.

"fine but if he hurts you don't say we didn't warn you" Sakura's mom warned before storming away. Naruto closed his door.

"Sakura… thank you but did you mean it?"

"mean what?"

"that you um…"

"like you? Yes of course, you've been so nice to me and I've never done much of anything for you, you're the best friend I could want, you always listen to me even when I would not listen to you, you are warm and helpful" Naruto simply looked down.

"I can't thank you enough for what you just said" Sakura sat down on the couch.

"we can talk more tomorrow, I'm tired" she said. They got comfortable and went to sleep. The next few days were uneventful and boring. They went to the job office three days later and they were holding hands and people were looking wondering what happened. They got a few simple jobs and went off to complete them but secretly Naruto got many more than he should have, to save up for the necklace, and created a few clones to help finish them so he could finish around the same time as Sakura, when he got back he was very tired. "maybe next time you shouldn't take on too much"

"nah its ok I'm fine" she took his hand and laced their fingers and started towards Naruto's house. "thanks Sakura" he smiled at her.

"no problem Naruto" she smiled back. it's hard not to smile when he's so happy, and its hard not to be happy around Sakura thought. They arrived at his house went in and got comfortable and Naruto got ready to sleep early.

"good night Naruto" she smiled.

"thanks you too Sakura" he walked into his room and got under his covers. Sakura sat on the couch. She wasn't tired before but now she was just about to fall out asleep. She fell asleep immediately which was weird because usually she takes awhile to fall asleep.