I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

This didn't seem to fit into My Life Would Suck Without You or Over the Rain for some reason. Oh well, it's been a while since I published a oneshot. Hope I haven't completely lost my touch.

Doors Wide Open

Sakura had been working on her report – or rather, staring mindlessly at an unfinished sentence – when she heard the telltale taptap-tap-taptap. At first she gave no indication that she had noticed, other than her green eyes lifting absentmindedly to the ceiling. The tapping continued, escalating to a loud rendition of Jingle Bells, until Sakura let out a sigh and got up.

She cleared away her unfinished report, swivelled her lamp to safety, and finally leaned across her desk to pull the window wide open. She had barely stepped out of the way when Naruto swung down from the roof and landed on the desk with a solid squelch.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

The welcoming grin slid off Naruto's face. He hesitantly lifted a foot and the two of them stared at the muddy imprint. He started to laugh nervously. "Oops."

The seconds painstakingly trickled by. Then Sakura sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you to wipe your feet?"

"I'll clean it up," he said hastily, hopping off the desk before Sakura could stop him. Squelch. "Uhh… I'll clean that too."

Another exasperated sigh. "That's carpet, Naruto."

"No worries, I'll have it good as new!"

She watched as he steadily depleted her tissue box, mopping his sandals. "Hurry up. If my parents-"

At that exact moment, they heard a light knock on the door. A precious second was wasted gaping at each other. The door swung open. Tearing her eyes away from Naruto's equally frantic gaze, Sakura faced her mother.

"Sakura? We're going to go and visit Grandma now."

"O-okay. Have a safe trip. Tell Grandma I'll pop in and see her tomorrow."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us now?" her mother asked. "She's making some of your favourite dishes for dinner tonight."

"I can't." Sakura tried to sound as regretful as she could, which, just by envisioning her grandmother's steamed anko dumplings, wasn't very hard. "I need to hand this report to Tsunade-sama in the morning."

"Alright then. Remember to make yourself something to eat. We'll be back soon." Just as she was about to leave the room, her mother stopped and peered at something on the desk. "Is that what I think it is, Haruno Sakura?"

"What?" Fighting the dread in her empty stomach, Sakura followed her parent's gaze.

Sitting in the middle of her desk, next to a wad of dirty tissues, was Icha Icha Paradise. Complete with a… vivid limited edition dust jacket.

She began to laugh in a voice nearly an octave higher. "What, this?" She patted the book. Hard. With a defeated fizzle, it seemed to deflate beneath her hand. "No way. This is just a library book. I'm referencing it in my report."

Mother and daughter stared at each other. "Right," the older woman said slowly, roguishly. "Looks like we'd better get going. Good luck with your report." There was something about the way she said the last word that made Sakura's face heat up. With frustration, anger or oh-earth-please-swallow-me-now, she didn't know.

"Sakura isn't coming?" Her father's voice carried easily from downstairs.

"She's occupied," his wife replied.

Sakura stuck her head out her bedroom door. "I don't read smut!" she yelled.

"What was that?" her father called back.

"I said, have a safe trip!"

The moment her parents were out the door, Sakura whipped around in time to see Naruto reappear in a burst of smoke. He was backing away even before his feet touched the floor. "Gah, I'm sorry! I just – there was no time – it was the first thing I thought of –"

"I'm sure it was," she said, calmly cracking her knuckles.

"S-Sakura-chan…?"

Her calm expression was scaring the wits out of him. Or maybe it was the thought of those powerful hands throttling him with monstrous killer intent.

"I-I got you ramen!"

"You got me ramen," she said flatly, still advancing.

"Yeah!"

"So?"

"Well, um, I thought you'd be hungry?"

His back touched the wall. His eyes widened in terror.

Sakura grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Icha Icha Paradise, huh?"

And she was off.

"What were you thinking? No wait – I don't even want to know. God, Naruto! Now my parents think I'm some kind of closet pervert! Of all the things you could have chosen, I can't believe you-"

Just when Naruto thought he was going to suffocate, Sakura's stomach growled.

Silence. He carefully cracked open an eye. "Ano… Sakura-chan?"

She kept glowering at him.

"Um… the ramen's getting cold." He gestured to the plastic bag he'd left on the desk, grinning as widely and innocently as he could.

After what felt like an hour, Sakura released him and turned away. Naruto sank bonelessly to the floor and fanned himself. Safe! But not for long, if the murderous aura still emanating from his teammate was anything to go by. She looked at him, then at the floor. Blinking, he did the same – floor, Sakura, floor, Sakura – until his face lit up. "Right away, ma'am!"

He hurried out of the room and returned moments later with water cupped in his hands, which he dumped on the muddy legacy he'd left in the carpet. Then he got on his knees and started scrubbing. It was hard work. The last stain just wouldn't come off. The heavenly aroma in the air and the sound of Sakura eating did not help.

Sakura paused when his stomach growled like a pitiful animal. "Didn't you eat?" she asked, looking down at him.

He sheepishly shook his head.

"Why?" Naruto had gone to Ichiraku's without eating. She was amazed.

He shrugged.

Sakura sighed. "Mou, you're definitely the worst."

She got up and knelt in front of him. He looked up when she held the ramen under his nose. "Get out of the way."

She formed a one-handed seal and easily extracted the grimy residue from the carpet, leaving it spotless. She strode over to the window and released it over the flowerbed. Naruto was still on the floor, leaning against her bed with the ramen resting on his knees. She joined him. He grinned at her.

She snorted. "Just eat."

"Itadakimasu!" He wolfed down the ramen and noisily slurped the soup. When he was finished, he let out a hearty burp. Sakura made a face and smacked his knee. He laughed.

Neither of them said anything for a while. They just sat there staring at the opposite wall, an empty container by their feet.

"Ne, Sakura-chan."

"Hmm?"

"Can I stay here tonight?"

"My parents will be home soon."

"Please?"

She looked at him then, just as he turned his head towards her. It didn't surprise her that his eyes were the same as hers. Tired.

"No smut novels. I'm warning you."

He smiled. Some days were just like that. It came with thinking too much. Too much of writing nothing but an introductory paragraph in three hours, of gazing into old photos and playing back the same scene, over and over again.

She needed to finish that report.

After she had settled back in her seat and pulled the report towards her, Naruto spoke up. He was burrowed in her bed, back turned to her. But his voice sounded like he was right above her ear. Maybe she'd just heard it too many times, from Naruto and herself.

"We'll bring him back, Sakura-chan."

She closed her eyes. "I know."

"We were so close last time."

"I know."

"He really needs a haircut, by the way."

"What?"

"A haircut. It looks even more like a duck now."

She stifled a snort. "Goodnight, Naruto."

Her eyes rested on the photo in front of her. She looked deep into it, trying to return to that frozen moment when everything had been so simple. She couldn't.

Naruto let his heavy eyelids fall shut only when he heard the scuffling sounds of Sakura flipping through medical encyclopaedias, working. He felt so old tonight. It was a good thing Sakura's blanket felt like an embrace. Smiling at the thought, he pulled it tighter around himself. His mind began to drift. The last thing he heard was the scratching of pen on paper, telling him he wasn't alone.