IMPORTANT NOTICE: The ending is revised! Thanks to the reviews! Thank you a TON to VyseN for the ending idea. Truly a stroke of brilliance.
Thank you everyone who read/reviewed! Makes my day. :)
Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto
and: contrary to what may come across, I am a NaruSaku fan!!
Gone Wrong
Naruto wiped his clammy hands on his jeans. He was sweating with nerves; even his bright orange t-shirt was sticking to his back now. He glanced at the girl beside him. Sakura was looking ahead calmly, strolling along in the evening warmth without a care in the world. Naruto gulped.
One date.
That's what she had granted him, and that was the only chance he would ever get to prove himself to her. This would make or break their relationship. And more pertinently, this would decide whether he went to prom with the hottest girl in the school or Rock Lee's cousin. Naruto cringed.
"Nice evening, eh?" Sakura asked suddenly, a smile playing about her pretty face. Naruto jumped.
"Oh! Yeah, it's great," he said quickly. "Summer's really… great." Sakura choked on her snigger and ran a hand through her acid-pink hair.
"Got plans for college yet?" she asked. Naruto wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He had just known it was a bad idea to walk to the theater together; why hadn't they just met up there and spared him all this needless anxiety over small talk?
"Um… I'm looking at a few," he said instead. "How 'bout you?"
"Well," she said with a slight smile—or was it a smirk? Naruto couldn't tell, "I've been offered a full-ride scholarship at my second choice, but I'm still waiting to hear back about my first choice school."
"Uh… wow," Naruto said, trying to sound gravely appreciative. "That's good."
"Yup!" Sakura said, digging her hands into the pockets of her tight black jeans. "Things are going pretty well in terms of getting accepted… since I'm first in the senior class, you know." She turned mischievous green eyes on him. Naruto blinked.
"Wait, you're first?" he blurted out. "I thought it was that Uchiha Sasuke!"
Sakura's smile vanished. She tossed her head and looked ahead, lifting her chin defiantly.
"No, he's not, actually," she said huffily. "He didn't even make second. Seriously, Naruto, do you really think I'm dumb enough to come in second to Uchiha?"
"No! No, of course not!" Naruto said hurriedly. "I mean, you're way smarter than he is, you know…" He bit his lip. Sakura glanced at him frostily.
How dumb am I? Naruto thought in despair. I'm going to ruin this one-time date before it even starts!
Luckily, it was at that moment that they turned the street corner and arrived at the local movie theater. Saved.
Sakura checked her watch as they pushed through the revolving doors.
"7:05," she said, lifting a pink eyebrow, "Doesn't the movie start at…?"
"7:10," Naruto said with a horrified gasp. Sakura just looked at him.
Naruto hurried up to the ticket counter, feeling Sakura's gaze burning through the back of his skull.
"Two for Duplicity," he said hurriedly, jamming his hand into his jean pocket. The girl behind the counter gave him a disdainful look and popped her gum.
"Thirteen fifty," she said in a completely uninterested voice. Naruto came up with a fistful of crumpled fives and tens, which the girl looked at with the same measure of disgust she had used with their owner, counted, and handed him his change.
"Do you er… want any popcorn or anything?" Naruto asked awkwardly as they walked toward their movie.
"7:09," Sakura said pointedly. Naruto turned beet red. They hurried through the doors of Theater 6 and into the darkness. Naruto scanned the seats. The theater was completely packed.
"Well," Sakura said in the same pointed voice beside him. Naruto gulped, scanning the theater seats for any openings.
"Er," he said, "Here's an open seat…" Sakura sat down without another word. She was sitting at the end of a row, beside… Naruto paled. Uchiha Itachi, their classmate's older brother and a junior in college, was sitting beside Sakura, his blood-red eyes boring holes into the huge screen before them. The rest of the row was packed up till the very last seat on the other end.
"You gonna sit down or what?" Sakura whispered. Naruto snapped out if his reverie.
"Oh! Yeah," he said quickly, scanning the theater for any other way to get to the other end of the row besides asking the scariest man in existence—otherwise known as Uchiha Itachi—to move out of the way for him. Going around the front would make the rest of the movie-watchers hate him too, and going around the back was out of the question because of the crowds.
"Well?" Sakura hissed, glaring at him. A few other people were starting to give him dirty looks.
"Okay, er… excuse me," Naruto whispered, squeezing past his date. Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance and shifted her knees to one side. Naruto took a shaky breath.
"Er… excuse me, sir," he muttered, trying not to make eye contact with the next person in the row. Uchiha Itachi turned a smoldering glare on him slowly.
"What?" he asked in a dangerously low voice. Somehow it didn't seem like a question. Naruto broke out into a cold sweat.
"Uh… I need to get to my seat," he said weakly, flopping his clammy hand in the direction of the end of the row, "So I uh…"
Itachi continued to stare at him with a glare so laden with hate that Naruto's skin began to crawl unpleasantly. Slowly, the scary Uchiha shifted his legs the merest inch to the left. Naruto lunged past… and Itachi stuck out a foot and tripped him neatly.
"Hey!" Rock Lee said as Naruto landed sprawled across his lap. "Quit that! This is a public establishment!"
"Sorry!" Naruto gasped, scrambling to his feet. Rock Lee peered at him with perfectly round eyes. The light from the movie screen was glinting off his bucket cut hair. A fabulously beautiful blonde sitting beside him—but making it painfully obvious that she had nothing to do with Rock Lee—glared at him.
"Watchit!" Temari hissed angrily.
Crimson-faced, muttering apologies and excuses, Naruto struggled past Temari, and squeezed past a middle aged couple beside her, who turned out to be a toothpick-chewing Genma, a local police, and Shizune, the school nurse. Finally, a sweating Naruto dropped into his end seat beside Shizune, who gave him a disparaging glare.
How could this get any worse? Naruto screamed inside his head. He looked down the row of seats at Sakura, who was calmly watching the film. All that, he thought, and I don't even get to sit next to her. All that planning, all those carefully written notes and painstakingly scripted messages on her phone… and he was stuck in a crowded movie theater, five annoyed people away from the girl of his dreams, with only this one night to prove himself to her. Oh darn.
How was he even going to communicate? What kind of a date was this? The crowd erupted in laughter as movie's antics proved entertaining.
Ding.
Naruto had it. The perfect plan. It was a foolproof way to make this evening with Sakura perfect again. With a confident smile, he turned to Shizune.
"How are you doing, baby?" he asked with a smile, leaning towards her.
Shizune stared at him.
"What?" she whispered. "I'm here with someone, you know."
"No, no, no," Naruto said, "Pass it on to my girlfriend there at the end." He pointed at Sakura. Shizune gave him an extremely skeptical glance before turning to Genma.
"How are you, baby?" she asked. Genma blinked at her, then grinned and put his arm around her shoulders.
"How are you doin' baby?" he asked. Shizune blushed.
"Er… actually, the kid sitting next to me wants to pass that along to his girlfriend at the end," she said, pointing at Sakura. Genma's face fell.
"Oh," he said in a hollow voice, turning to Temari, sitting beside him. He sighed.
"How are you, baby?" he asked sadly. Temari whipped around.
"I'm sorry?" she asked in utter disbelief.
"Sorry, hon," Genma said. "The kid on the end wants that passed along to his girlfriend." He indicated Sakura.
"Oh," Temari said, relieved. She turned around… and cringed. Rock Lee was staring at the screen with eyes as round as dinner plates, his mouth hanging open and his knees pulled up to his chest. Lucky me, Temari thought furiously. She poked him in the arm. Hard.
"How are you, baby?" she snapped with a thunderous glare. Rock Lee stared at her in silence for a long moment.
"Who, me?" he asked breathlessly, his cheeks turning a rosy shade of pink. "You're calling me baby?"
"NO!" Temari growled, "Of course not! Pass it along! It's from the kid on the end for his girlfriend!" She pointed at Sakura. Rock Lee's face fell.
"Are you… sure it wasn't for me?" he asked hopefully. Temari bared her teeth.
"You pass that along now," she said in a dangerous voice. Rock Lee saw the look in her eyes and turned around smartly. Then stopped in his tracks. Uchiha Itachi was staring at the screen with unblinking intensity, his face set like granite. Rock Lee broke out into a cold sweat.
He's going to kill me, he thought. Then the thought of doing something for the extremely hot Temari fortified his resolve, and he tapped Itachi on the shoulder.
"How are you doing, baby?" he said bravely.
The slow burn.
Itachi turned a smoldering glare on him. Rock Lee withered under the blood-red eyes.
"What did you just say to me?" he said in a voice like cold steel. Rock Lee threw his hands before his face.
"It's for the girl on the end from her boyfriend pass it on I totally didn't mean it!" he said in panic. Itachi gave him a last glance and turned to Sakura.
"You," he said imperiously. Sakura turned with a raised eyebrow. Itachi looked at her coldly.
"Your boyfriend on the end wants to know how you're doing," he said. Sakura blinked. Then she leaned forward and looked down the row of seats to where Naruto sat. Sure enough, he was leaning out, waving at her, a stupid grin plastered all over his face. He didn't. she thought in disbelief. But apparently, he had.
"I'm er… fine," she said, eyeing Itachi's black leather jacket and neck tattoos nervously. He turned his cold stare back to the sweating Rock Lee.
"She's fine," he said.
"She's fine!" Rock Lee gasped.
"She's fine, I guess," Temari said.
"She's fine, baby," Genma said.
"Your girlfriend says she's fine," Shizune said. Naruto grinned. It was working just as planned! Now, what else could he do?
The crowd gasped collectively as the hero of the film made an impossibly close shave with death.
Ding.
Popcorn! They hadn't had any time to get popcorn, and that would definitely make Sakura happy. With that, Naruto skipped out of his seat and out of the theater, coming back about thirty seconds later with a bag of hot, buttery popcorn.
"Here you go!" he said jauntily, handing the back to Shizune. She looked from the bag to Naruto and back again.
"Thanks!" she said, eating a large handful. She turned back to the movie, crunching away happily.
"No, no, no," Naruto said quickly, "It's for my girlfiend at the end again. Pass it along."
"Oh," Shizune said, looking slightly disappointed. She took one last kernel and turned to her date.
"Here you go, honey," she said. Genma accepted the bag with a surprised smile.
"Well thanks, baby," he said, eating a large handful, "That's sweet of you!"
"Well, actually," Shizune admitted, "It's from the kid on the end again, for his girlfriend." Genma shrugged and ate another handful.
"She won't want the whole thing," he remarked.
"Honey!" Shizune hissed. Genma sighed and turned to Temari.
"Here you go, kid," he said, handing her the bag. Temari took it in surprise.
"Well… thanks," she said, eating a handful from the how half-full bag.
"Pass it along," Genma explained. "It's from the guy on the end for his girlfriend again."
With a sigh, Temari turned to Rock Lee. This time, he was waiting for her. He gave her what he obviously thought was a debonair smile.
"How are you doing, baby?" he asked in a would-be suave voice.
"You complete idiot!" Temari exclaimed furiously. "Wipe that look off your face and pass this to that chick on the end! Now!"
Dejected, Rock Lee took the now three-quarters empty bag and turned to Itachi. With a shuddering breath, Rock Lee closed his eyes tightly and stuck the back out in front of Itachi's face.
"Pass it along!" he squeaked.
"Are you talking to me?" Itachi said, turning his red eyes on the unfortunate teenager. Rock Lee only nodded, his eyes screwed up tightly.
Itachi snatched the bag from him, emptied the entire thing into his mouth, crumpled it up and tossed it to Sakura.
"From your boyfriend," he said. Sakura picked up the greasy, crumpled popcorn bag with two fingers. Okay, the 'how are you' was one thing, but what the heck was Naruto trying to say with this?! She leaned out and stared at him. Naruto grinned and gave her the thumbs-up. Sakura sat back in disbelief, dropping the crumpled bag to her feet. Why had she even agreed to go on a date with this guy?
Back on the other end, Naruto was squirming with delight. This was going great! But what now?
The crowd cooed as a particularly adorable character made its appearance on screen.
Ding.
Sakura must be thirsty after all that salty popcorn, Naruto realized. He would go get her something to drink too! He was out of the theater in a flash, and back again a few seconds later with a can of orange soda. Girls liked orange soda, he reasoned, and Sakura wasn't any different. He tapped Shizune on the shoulder.
"For you, cutie," he said with a wink. Shizune rounded on him.
"Okay, buster," she said angrily, "Let's gets a few things very clear. First of all, I'm about twenty years older than you, and second of all, I'm here with a date already!" She glared at him.
"No, no, no," Naruto said with a sympathetic shake of his wildly-blond head, "It's for my girlfriend at the end. Pass it along!"
Shizune gave him a dark look and turned to Genma. She sighed.
"For you, cutie," she said, handing him the can. Genma looked from the can to his date, then, without further ado, planted a kiss on her nose, opened the can, and drained it halfway.
"Genma!" Shizune said, horrified. "It was for the girl on the end from her boyfriend!"
"Oh!" Genma said sheepishly, "Sorry 'bout that, sweety." He turned to Temari.
"For you, cutie," he said. Temari gave him a nervous glance.
"Is this…?"
"Yup, hon, it's for that girl on the end from her boyfriend," Genma sighed. Relieved, Temari took the can. She stopped, closed her eyes momentarily to collect herself, and turned to Rock Lee.
"Pass this along!" she snapped, not even daring to try to convey the message with it. This guy had enough weird ideas about their relationship as it was.
Rock Lee winked at her.
"Sure thing, honey!" he said, taking the can.
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Temari yelled, slapping him on the head. With a cry, Rock Lee lost his hold on the can and dropped it on the carpeted theater floor.
"Idiot!" Temari hissed. Rock Lee lunged to pick it up. It was now almost completely empty. He was beet red.
"I'm so sorry!" he whispered. Temari pointed to the end of the row in silent fury. Penitently, Rock Lee turned to Itachi.
"Pass this along," he said in a barely audible whisper.
Itachi whipped around and glared at him with all the furious intensity of the Uchiha.
"Listen, kid," he growled in a terrible voice, "If you ever ask me to pass anything along again, I will personally see to it that you don't make it home alive tonight!"
Rock Lee fainted.
Itachi snagged the can from his limp hands, drained it and crushed it between his hands with devastating ease. He tossed the smashed orange-soda can to Sakura.
"From your idiot boyfriend," he said shortly.
Sakura started as the crushed can landed in her lap. She stared at the thing. It was leaking orange soda on her new black jeans. Disgustedly, Sakura tossed it on the floor beside the popcorn bag, wondering for the umpteenth time why in heck she had even agreed to one date with this Uzumaki idiot. I can't believe I'm here, she thought. And Kankuro even asked me out yesterday! Why had she wanted to give Naruto a chance to prove himself? This was embarrassing!
Back at the end of the row, Naruto decided not to lean out to accept the thankful glances of his date. Better to play a little "hard to get" he reasoned. Yeah. Naruto checked his watch. With a pang, he realized that he only had a few minutes before the film ended. What could he do in that short amount of time to put the crowning piece on his masterpiece date?
The crowd sighed collectively as the hero and love interest proceeded to suck each other's faces off.
Ding.
This was it. The moment he had waited for. It was going to take guts, but, Naruto realized, if you don't take risks, life just isn't worth it.
I think I love you, Sakura, he thought dreamily.
Then, Naruto leaned over and planted a resounding kiss on Shizune's cheek.
Without a moment's hesitation, Shizune whipped around and slapped him clean across the face.
"Listen, little guy!" she thundered. "If you ever do anything like that again, I'm going to slap your stupid grin into next Tuesday!"
Naruto rubbed his stinging cheek.
"I didn't mean it like that," he said, disgruntled. "It's for my girlfriend at the end, okay? Sheesh…"
Shizune glared at him and turned around. She planted a kiss on Genma's cheek.
"I love this movie," Genma said happily, turning to his date and kissing her full on the mouth. Shizune pulled away, blushing deep crimson.
"Uh…" she said, "That was for the girl at the end, from his girlfriend." Genma's face fell.
"That wasn't…"
Shizune shook her head. Genma sighed. He turned to Temari, braced himself, and kissed her lightly on the cheek in as fatherly a way as he could muster.
Temari whipped around.
"What the heck…?"
"Stay calm, hon," Genma said, "I mean you no harm! That was from the guy on the end for his girlfriend."
Temari stared at him.
"He wants to kiss…?" she asked in utter disbelief. Genma shrugged and turned back to the movie.
Temari stared ahead, seeing nothing of the film's climax before her. No. No way. Not in a million, billion, trillion years. She couldn't even bring herself to look at the gangly teenager sitting beside her. I am NOT GOING TO KISS THAT LITTLE FREAK! She screamed inwardly. Genma nudged her without looking at her.
Temari drew a shuddering breath and looked at Rock Lee. He was staring at the movie in front of him, eyes round, bushy eyebrows raised, greasy bucket-cut glinting in the light of the projection, mouth hanging open and… Temari's stomach churned. There was a fine line of drool hanging from the side of his open mouth.
Oh no. No way. Please no! What have I done to deserve this?
Temari drew a few more breaths. She couldn't believe what she had to do. This was no doubt going to haunt her for the rest of her days, and you'd better believe that Rock Lee would never forget it. She steeled herself.
Savagely, Temari whipped around and planted a kiss on Rock Lee's cheek as fast as she possibly could. Oh…. My… gosh…
Rock Lee whipped around and threw his arms around her neck.
"I LOVE YOU TOO, TEMARI!" he cried ecstatically. "I had learned to stop hoping! I thought it was a vain, one-sided love that was never meant to be!"
"GET THE HECK OFF ME BEFORE I RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!" Temari screamed, punching him as hard as she could in any place she could reach. Rock Lee let go suddenly, and stared at her in shock.
"But… but I thought you just…" he said in a broken voice.
"It's NOT for you!" Temari yelled in his face. "It's from that IDIOT at the end for his STUPID girlfriend! PASS IT ALONG!"
Then Rock Lee set his jaw resolutely.
"No."
Temari stared at him.
"What do you mean no?" she said.
"I mean no!" Rock Lee said defiantly, crossing his arms. "You just gave me a kiss," he said reverently, "And I am keeping it for as long as I live!"
"Pass it along!" Temari fumed.
"No!"
"Do it!"
"Never!"
"PASS IT ALONG YOU LITTLE FREAK!"
"Make me!"
"Fine!" Temari pulled her fist back, bared her teeth and—
"Okay, okay, okay!" Rock Lee said quickly, "I'll pass it along!" Temari lowered her fist, satisfied. She turned back to the movie.
Rock Lee sat in his seat, pondering fate. Namely, his own fate. He had just been kissed by the girl he had always loved, the hottest, smartest, most amazing girl in the school. On the one side sat his true love, his future, his muse. And on the other…
I wonder what it feels like to die? Rock Lee thought. He tried it out and was surprised to find how detached he felt. Maybe dying wasn't as terrible as it was cracked up to be. He dared not look at the terror next to him. If I die, Rock Lee thought, I will die with the kiss of Temari upon my cheek… This thought fortified him immensely. With one last glance at his lady love, he turned to Itachi.
He screwed his eyes closed. He clasped his hands. He stuck out his neck, puckered his lips, and planted a resounding, wet kiss on Itachi's cheek.
A heartbeat.
"YOU ARE DEAD!" Itachi roared, leaping to his feet, grabbing rock lee by the neck of his sweatshirt and throwing him with all his might on the carpeted floor.
"AAAAH!" Rock Lee cried, the wind knocked out of him. Itachi dragged him up my his collar and punched him in the gut. Really hard.
"IF YOU EVER EVEN LOOK AT ME AGAIN I WILL KILL YOU!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, throwing Rock Lee to the floor again. Rock Lee landed with a sickening crunch and groaned. Itachi kicked him.
Itachi fell back into his seat, scrubbing his check with his sleeve, a look of utter disgust on his face. That little creep. And on top of all that, they probably wanted him to pass it along. He glanced sideways. At least this Sakura chick wasn't bad looking…
"Yo, baby," he said in his ultimate cool-guy voice. Sakura was already staring from him to the unconscious Rock Lee and back again with round, shocked eyes.
"From your idiot boyfriend," he said, and kissed her on the cheek. Well, maybe not the cheek. Okay, actually it was definitely not her cheek. Itachi grabbed her face, pulled her close, and planted a kiss on her mouth that would have left any girl a heap of fluttering nerves.
He pulled away and turned back to the movie as if nothing at all had happened.
Sakura collapsed back into her seat, staring ahead without seeing anything. She was, for one of the first times in her life, utterly speechless.
Back at the end of the row, Naruto was just dying to see how this latest scheme had gone. He tapped Shizune on the shoulder.
"How did it--" he managed to say before Shizune rounded on him, furious.
"What is your problem?!" she exclaimed, rising to her feet, grabbing her purse and slinging it snugly over her shoulder. Naruto looked at her in shock. What was--
"You know," Shizune said, stomping past him to the isle, "Next time try to sit beside your date!" Genma sprang to his feet and jogged after her.
"Honey?" he said. "What's goin' on?"
"Let's go," Shizune said icily. "Suddenly I feel like getting a drink or two."
"Sounds great!" Genma said happily, following her out. Naruto watched them go. He blinked. What was that all about? Some people.
He looked down the row to where Temari sat. Well, apparently there was nothing else for it so...
"Hey!" Naruto said, sliding down three seats and nudging the blonde girl. "How did it--"
"Are you the little creep who keeps passing wierd stuff along?!" Temari cried, making a fist. Naruto put his hands up in surrender, alarmed.
"Sorry!" he said desperately. "I just want you to ask how--"
"That's IT!" Temari yelled, jumping to her feet. "I NEVER WANT TO SIT IN YOUR ROW AGAIN!" And she stomped past Naruto--incidentally on his toe in the process--and out the theather door. Naruto blinked. Then, he slid down another seat and nudged Rock Lee.
"Hey, man," he said, "Ask how it went..." he trailed off. Rock Lee had turned round, tragic eyes on him. He was sporting a nasty shiner on his left eye, the collar of his green sweatshirt was torn and dirty, and there was dried blood on his nose.
"I'm sorry, youthful boy," he said, fighting back sobs, "But I have already played with fate too much today! I must fly!" And with that, he sprang to his feet and stumbled past Naruto to the isle. He almost fell headlong down the carpeted stairs before staggering out into the lobby. Naruto blinked. Then he looked at the man sitting on the other side of Lee's empty seat. Oh no.
Naruto broke out into a cold sweat. No way. he thought, fear creeping up his throat like an icy hand. He'll kill me. But he had to. Somehow, Naruto knew that he had to face Itachi about this; or else the entire evening, all his hard work, was for nothing. He had to face him. He drew a deep breath and tapped Itachi on the shoulder.
"GET OFF ME!" Itachi roared, leaping to his feet. He blinked. "Uzumaki?"
Naruto waved. Literally.
Itachi gave him an odd look, then looked at the rest of the row.
"Where did that little creep go?" he asked vaguely.
"S-sorry to bother you," Naruto croaked, impressed that he could still speak, "B-but I want t-to--"
"Forget it," Itachi growled. "I am NOT passing along your stupid stuff any more." And with that, he brushed past Sakura and stomped out of the theater, presumably in search of Lee. Who he was presumably going to kill.
Naruto watched him go with round eyes. He couldn't believe his luck! One minute he had been on the lunch menu, and the next, the scariest man in existence had just... left! Slowly, he turned his gaze past Itachi's empty seat to the pink-haired girl staring at the screen with unblinking green eyes. A slow smile crept across Naruto's face. This was it.
He slid into the empty seat beside her. Sakura didn't appear to notice him, so he gently slipped an arm around her shoulders. She gave a start and whipped her head around.
"Naruto?" she gasped.
"Sakura!" he said ardently, his eyes shining. Sakura stared at him. How had he...? She leaned past him and looked at the rest of the row. Empty. Then she looked back at Naruto. He was gazing at her with his big, blue eyes, a rougish half-smile on his face, his orange hair tousled in just the cutest way... Sakura shook herslef. Cute? Since when was--
"Oh, Sakura," Naruto said in a low voice, leaning his head against hers. "Sorry for being late."
Suddenly, Sakura felt herself smiling. She felt Naruto's arms around her shoulers and his messy hair against her face... and smiled.
"That's okay," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.
The credits came to an end. The crowd broke into applause. And in row 7, at the end of an empty row, Sakura knew that she had made the right choice in coming.