"Hey guys, anyone notice how hot Naruto's become? I mean he sure isn't the same little goofy kid we knew two years ago," Ino gushed to her friends happily by the poolside.
Tsunade had given Rookie 11 a day at the pool, in honor of 50 missions completed in 2 weeks. Being the dead of summer, everyone agreed.
All the girls thoroughly agreed. Except Sakura, mostly cause she was staring at Naruto, who was continuously dunking Shikamaru in the water. Her green eyes sparkled and a fond smile tugged at her lips. It had been about a month since Sakura killed Sasori and everyone noticed the visible change in attitude towards him from her. After about an hour of splashing around with the boys in the pool, the girls sat in a circle on long tanning chairs. The conversation had drifted from missions to clothes to weapons (Come on, Tenten's gotta have something to say ) and finally to boys.
Sakura was getting bored with the discussion of how Sai apparently was "blossoming into a wonderful guy with boyfriend potential." Sakura tried to tell them that he cared mostly about his paintings and that no one had a chance with him, but no one listened. Her eyes traveled over to Naruto. Blonde hair glistening in the water and a huge grin rivaling Lee and Gai's adorned his face. He seemed to have infinite energy and always made her laugh. But, she knew that underneath all that, was a sad, lonely boy stripped of a regular kid's life. Physical and psychological pain he had all faced at a young age. It wasn't fair. Not at all. And yet, he still gave it his all to protect the village from any sort of harm. Sasuke had hurt them so much. So much pain they had endured on his behalf, yet Naruto never gave up the search for him. Never gave up his promise. Sakura was violently jerked out of her thoughts by a rough shove from Ino.
"Too smitten with shirtless Naruto, ne Sakura- chan?" she taunted, emphasizing the "chan" because Naruto would only call her that.
She caught the bottle of sunblock hurled at her from Sakura. A huge smirk was plastered on her face. Oh, she would never let this one go. Sakura waited for the expected "Sasuke's mine, Sasuke's mine!" taunts from Ino, but it never came. Ino didn't find it that bad actually. Sasuke had done so much to the village and so much to Sakura, that he really didn't deserve someone like her. He probably wasn't even aware of all the pain he had caused the two of them. But, it would be fun to watch Sakura squirm. Ino devised a devious plan. Her finger stroked the bottle of sunblock idly.
"Shut it, Ino-pig. I'm not smitten with anything, just looking at the sunset (no one bothered to point out that is was 3 PM) that's all. So shut the hell up with your gossiping and let me sleep so I can tan in peace," Sakura barked, as she lay down on the chair falling asleep.
Tsunade had given Sakura grueling medic sessions for the past two weeks and her strength ones were not easy to beat. Mostly it was try and land that particular move on Tsunade herself with out getting killed by her. Each move took a long time to figure out and longer to apply it, but the results could be seen in the bloody bodies of enemy ninja who crossed her path on missions. Sakura had saved Naruto, Sai, and even Kakashi-sensei from the brink of unconsciousness and severe injury on many occasions. Sai was turning out to be quite a good ninja and he worked quite well with them as long as he didn't try to compliment them. And Naruto. Naruto never ceased to amaze her. Even against unimaginable odds, he always pulled himself and the rest of the team through. Sakura and the rest of Team 7 needed the relaxation. Plus, recent sightings of Sasuke depressed and confused Sakura even more. (Her confusion was mostly on: Who the hell do I like? When Sasuke returns, everything will be the same, right?) Sakura slowly drifted into a dreamless, calm dream.
Meanwhile, Ino (once making sure Sakura was fast asleep) squirted some of the sunblock on her finger and looked towards Sakura, an evil grin on her face.
About an hour later, Sakura woke up. The pool was deserted. A note next to her said:
Saku-CHAN,
We decided to let you sleep, coz we know how hard you've had it these past weeks. See ya later. We at Ichi. if you want 2 find us. Though I doubt you will.
Ino+ gangPS: I am happy your forehead was big enough to fit the writing. ;)
'What the hell is she talking about? Writing?' Sakura thought sleepily to herself.
She then noticed that sunblock was all over her face, arms, legs, and stomach. Grumbling to her self, she wiped it off. Sakura walked over to the mirror to see if her hair had gone into frizz mode, when she saw herself and screamed.
"I love Naruto" was written across her stomach. Her cheeks had whiskers resembling Naruto's. And her forehead had the word NARUTO written. Even her arms and legs had that written. Suddenly Sakura understood. While she was sleeping Ino had written all that stuff on her body in sunscreen. The rest of her body tanned a deep bronze, except the words stood out stark white.
At Ichiraku's the gang was beginning to disperse when a loud shriek of "I'M GOING TO MUDRDER THAT PIG!" was heard from the pool. Several birds flew up.
Sakura raced home and threw on a pair of sweats that covered her legs and a thick sweatshirt to cover her arms. It was the dead of summer, but Sakura refused to go in public looking like that. One problem: her face. Sighing dejectedly, Sakura pulled on a black ski mask.
"Now what the hell am I supposed to do?" she asked herself, voice muffled by the mask.
Tsunade looked up blearily as the person kept knocking on her door. She just finished her paperwork, and was looking forward to some peace, but no. She opened the door and saw a burglar. Tsunade threw a large punch towards it, but the "burglar" dodged it with a shriek, "it's me, shishou."
"Eh? Sakura? Why the hell are you dressed like a freaking cat burglar? And what up with the clothes?" she queried.
"Shishou, do you have a minute? I need some help. Not with training or anything, but I am in a really awkward situation right now," she asked her teacher tentatively.
Sakura and Tsunade had a mother-daughter bond and were very close. With Sakura's mom gone (visiting her sister in the Land of Rain), Tsunade became the maternal figure in her life.
"Sure. Anything. Enlighten me," she replied. Sakura slowly pulled off the mask and rolled up her sweats and took off the sweater (she's wearing a cut off tank top underneath). Tsunade's eyes widened as she took in the writing. As expected, she burst into laughter. Tears of mirth rolled down her cheeks.
"It's not funny!" Sakura hissed.
"It's freaking hilarious! Give the person who did that 100 ryou for me, will ya?" Tsunade gasped between laughs.
"Shut up, it's not funny at all. I'm going to kill Ino," Sakura snarled.
"Yes it is,"
"No it isn't,"
"Is,"
"Isn't,"
"Is,"
"Isn't,"
"Sakura, it's the most freaking hilarious thing I have ever--,"
"How would you like it if someone wrote JIRAIYA all over your body, huh?" Sakura cut her off.
"That's different. You do love Naruto," Tsunade shot back, uneasily.
"You love Jiraiya," Sakura said.
"No I don't," Tsunade said, just a little too quickly.
(A/N let's pretend that they haven't found out about Jiraiya's "fate" yet)
"Whatever," Sakura said sarcastically. "Now please help me. I can't go out in public like this," she begged.
Tsunade smirked, realizing that Sakura never denied loving Naruto. Finally she was over that idiot Uchiha. Or was she?
"Okay, here's what you do. Wear thin sweats. They're thin enough to keep you cool, but they will cover up the words. Um, for your arms, you'll just have to wear long sleeves sorry, and it'll have to be long, so it'll cover your stomach," Tsunade answered back.
"Right, that's good. But what about my face? I'm not going to go around looking like a burglar. Can I wear an ANBU mask?" she pleaded.
"Nope, sorry. I can't let you do that. We have a lot of ambassadors coming into the village. Just wear your forehead protector around your head if it'll fit (Sakura shot a dirty glare at that comment) so it'll cover up that," Tsunade reasoned.
"But what about the whiskers? Please, I need some sort of mask," Sakura whined.
"Find someone else to help you with that one, girlie. Sorry, I can't help you out there," Tsunade apologetically stated.
Sakura walked out of the apartment, but didn't put on the mask. She didn't need anyone else thinking she was a "cat burglar." Then she ran into the one person she didn't want to see. Naruto.
"Hey, Sakura- chan. How ya been? Why are you wearing such warm clothing, hey what's wrong?" he questioned cheerily, noticing that she frantically covered her face with her sweatshirt clad arms.
Not knowing what to do or say, Sakura did the first thing she thought of. She screamed as loud as she could. Though it was muffled by her arms, it was clearly heard. Naruto jumped back, wondering what was wrong. Sakura took the opportunity to shove the ski mask back on her face and bolt. She ran as fast as she could towards the place she was heading to. Naruto considered going after her, but decided he had a better chance of living if he went tomorrow.
"Eh? Sakura, can I help you," Kakashi asked as he saw his visitor. She was wearing a dark ski mask. But, the green eyes and pink hair sticking out gave her away.
"Um, Kakashi-sensei, sorry for barging in like this, but I need your help. I have a really awkward embarrassing situation. Can you help me?" she pleaded.
Kakashi looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Um, I don't think I'm the best person. Maybe you should try the Hokage, or Shizune, or even Kurenai, maybe even Anko, or--," Kakashi went on naming all the females of the village, until Sakura cut him off.
"Not that kind of problem, sensei," she said quickly.
With that, she took off the mask and rolled up her sweats and took off the sweater. Kakashi took in all the writing with wide eyes. He broke into a helpless grin, although one couldn't tell. He thought about laughing, but the aura coming off of Sakura promised pain.
"Ino, I presume?" he stated calmly. Sakura nodded quickly, cursing Ino to an all girls military boarding school.
"How exactly can I help? I can't put off team meetings, so you won't be able to avoid Naruto," Kakashi asked.
"I just need a mask. I'll just cover my forehead with my protector. Pleeeeeeeeeease?" she begged.
Kakashi thought about it for a while, and then motioned for her to come inside. She did as he disappeared to get it. In a few minutes he returned holding a black mask. He gestured for her to come forward. She did, and he tied it on. The mask was exactly like Kakashi's.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," she squealed through the mask over and over. Kakashi smiled and waved a hand as she left. Then he doubled over in laughter.
"Shut up, Sensei!" was heard from the hallways.
The next day progressed somewhat smoothly for Sakura. The sweats were cool, but the long sleeved shirt was killing her. What bugged her most were questions about the mask. People asked if she loved Kakashi, or if she was training to be a dentist, if she had bad breath. It never ended. Sakura tried her hardest to avoid Naruto and Ino. Whenever she saw Naruto, a furious blush heated her cheeks. And Ino no doubt would try and embarrass her more.
Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. Kakashi called a team meeting. Sakura took a deep breath and walked to the bridge.
"Sakura, why the hell are you dressed like Kakashi sensei?" Naruto asked, surprised.
"Isn't it obvious? She is obviously emulating the one she admires most. Kakashi-sensei," Sai stated, looking up from his book about understanding your peers.
"Suuuuuuuuuuuuure, yup that's exactly what I'm doing," Sakura deadpanned.
Just when Sakura thought she was going to die of heat, Kakashi sensei decided to show up. He ignored the glares sent to him by Sakura.
"Oyaho, Naruto, Sai, Mini-me," Kakashi greeted. Sakura's eye twitched and the other two sniggered loudly.
"Today we are going to do some fun D Rank missions! First we can weed Mr. Hachiro's garden. Move it!" He announced in a bored manner. They all hastened. Sakura distanced herself as far from Naruto as possible. She struck up a conversation with Sai. Naruto frowned. Sakura usually walked with him. Something was up, and he was going to find out. They finally reached the place. It was huge. Even with clones, it would take a while. Sighing deeply, they got started. Sakura walked in the opposite direction from Naruto and got to work, only to find all the Narutos following her.
"Okay, then, if your clones have this area, I'll go over there next to Sai," she muttered to him. She walked, only to have her hand grabbed by Naruto.
"Or you could stay here, and we work together, ne Sakura chan?" he asked, still gripping her wrist.
She blushed furiously, thinking of the writing. She yanked her hand from his and stalked towards Sai. Kakashi was watching the whole thing. He winced at the look of hurt and confusion that passed through her eyes and snickered at the furious blush heating up Sakura's cheeks.
Several hours had passed. The sun was beating down on everyone's backs. Sai, Naruto, and even Kakashi had all taken their shirts off because of the heat. Sakura looked as if she wanted to kill herself. The sweats were sticking to her legs, dripping with sweat.
"Sakura-san, why don't you take your shirt and sweats off?" Sai asked politely. He took a step back at the glare she directed at him. Misunderstanding, he hurriedly added,
"I meant because of the heat, I was not trying to be, er (He went to the dictionary of his book about people) perverted or horny," he said.
All except Sakura laughed a bit. Her long sleeved shirt was damp with sweat, to her embarrassment.
"Kakashi-sensei, kill me," she groaned after picking out the last weed.
He stared at her, mentally laughing at her predicament. But, then his face softened. He could imagine the intense humiliation and confusion she was facing. So, he went through a few hand seals and suddenly, Sakura was drenched with cold water. She stood dripping for a bit, sighing in pleasure. She nodded in thanks.
"So, Sakura, why exactly are you wearing winter clothing?" Naruto asked skeptically. His eyebrows were raised in a mocking manner. Sakura turned bright red. In her mind, she was completely panicking.
'Why? I don't know why? God, why didn't I think of a reason? Damn you Ino. That's it, blame it on Ino!' she thought.
"It's a bet by Ino,"
"Really, I talked to her this morning and she didn't mention it at all," Naruto shot back.
"Well, it was supposed to be a secret bet, but I guess it's not anymore," Sakura replied lamely.
Kakashi stepped in before Naruto could completely discover her secret.
"We need to head back now, move it!" he barked. The 4 shinobi leaped off. To the outside eye it was quite amusing. Sakura leaping, trying to stay away from Naruto, and Naruto always positioning himself so that she was next to him.
Finally they got back. They were standing in the middle of the town.
"Errr, I'm going to deliver the report to Lady Hokage," Kakashi put in quickly, sensing the overall awkwardness of the area.
"I'll come too, Sensei," Sai added in. The two walked off. Sakura scowled, they ditched her! Feeling highly awkward, she rocked back and forth on her feet.
"Um, I'm going home," she muttered and then walked out the other way. Like last time, Naruto grabbed her wrist, preventing her from leaving. She felt terrible. Her brain was in shambles. Did she love Naruto? What about that idiot Sasuke? What if Naruto doesn't lik her that way, would he avoid her?
'I don't want him to think I like him, but then again, I do want him to think that. Where the hell does Sasuke fit into this?' she was helplessly thinking.
Sakura shook out of his grasp. Only, to find he gripped harder than ever. Apparently she wasn't leaving. But, she still struggled and tried to free her wrist.
"Not so fast. Talk," he ordered.
"You can't tell me what to do!" she screamed, talking solely off of anger and confusion, unaware of the crowd forming.
"Yes I can, now tell me what the hell is up with you," he replied, gripping on her had harder.
"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Now let me go," she replied, rolling her eyes visible. "Who do you think you are?" she added, in anger.
"Nobody. I am nobody," he said back quietly, but firmly. She and everyone else saw the hurt that flashed through his eyes. The pain of his slumped shoulders. He let go of her wrist and walked slowly to the Hokage tower.
"Sakura, how could you treat him like that? Why didn't you just tell him about the prank?" Ino asked from behind her.
"Why? You want to know why?" Sakura all but screamed. She ripped off the mask, the forehead protector, the shirt, and the sweats (Aack, chill people, she is wearing shorts and a cut off tank top underneath). She pointed to the words on her stomach.
"Here's why. Because I am in love with Uzumaki Naruto. But I'm not going to risk the bond we share for something as trivial as dating. He's always been there for me. Best friend or boyfriend. I don't care. As long as I'm with him somehow. I don't want him to be like a boyfriend that I dump after the first date and then never look at again. I-I didn't want to lose him. I didn't want him to feel awkward or obliged to do something. Psshht, too late for all of that. And I'm so goddamned confused! I realize with Sasuke back, no matter how much I tell myself, nothing will be the same," she said loudly, loud enough so that the entire crowd, consisting of all her friends and senseis heard.
Her voice broke slightly at the end, but she continued on.
"You failed, Ino. Your plan consisted of two parts. One: embarrassing me, and Two: making it possible that Naruto and I got together. You pretty much aced the embarrassing part, but the second part failed. Naruto and I didn't get together or whatever the hell it is you wanted. He probably hates me right now. And you know what? I'm not sad that I lost "my future boyfriend," I couldn't care less about that. I'm sad because I lost a great friend. You failed Ino," Sakura finished bitterly.
"Actually, she didn't," a voice said from behind her.
She whirled around and saw Naruto. His trademark grin on his face.
"You were there the, the," she stuttered.
"Pretty much, the other was a clone,"
"Oh, god, can this day get any more humiliating?" she wailed.
Naruto chuckled.
Sakura turned to the "audience" and yelled out: "if anyone knows a jutsu that makes you sink into the ground, please, please let me--," she started.
Two lips pressing gently on her own cut her off. She saw the bright aqua eyes of Naruto stare into her own before closing. Her eyes widened, but slowly she relaxed and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands tightened across her waist. The entire crowd burst into applause and whistles.
Ino high-fived Tsunade and Kakashi.
"Well, it looks like Ino-pig actually succeeded in her plan," Sakura chuckled to Naruto.
"Of course she did, I did pay her to do it,"
"WHAT!"
"Kidding, kidding!"
And so the sun slowly set across the fields of Konoha. It's rays pass slowly over the pair. Whatever happens, Sasuke, Akatsuki, Orochimaru, anything, they know that they'll always have each other to get through it with. The future will never be the same as the past. For worse, or for better.
THE END(A/N: hope you enjoyed. This was just a random bunch of ideas that came to me. So, I forcibly shoved them together in a story. Yeah, lame ending, but it's true. Even if Sasuke returns, it won't be remotely close to the same as the genin days. Sorry this was overly dramatic, like why didn't Sakura just tell Naruto about the prank and laugh it off? Well, because she was confused. She does not know whether she wants Naruto to like her or not. And Sasuke just complicates things more. But, in the end: NARUTO WINS. –
Go Ino!! -- Narusaku forever! R and R)