Okay, Naruto fans, I decided to try my hand at this one after reading a few stories and watching some videos from the Shippuden series. This story will focus on Naruto and Sakura, but if you want, I might do what I did with Bleach hero Ichigo Kurosaki and give him a harem. I can already tell you, though, this is going to be fun.

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto.

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

How to Catch a Jinchuriki

It was a lovely day in the Hidden Leaf Village. All the ninja were interacting with the citizens and everyone was happy…that is, except for the fact that Sasuke Uchiha was back. His intention for coming back to the village was to become Hokage. There were two reasons that this wasn't going to happen. Reason no. 1 was that he was a rogue ninja. There was no way in Hell that the people were going to let him run for the position without going through a court trial and he knew it. The past transgressions were so great, not even Karin, Ino Yamanaka, or Sakura Haruno forgave him.

The second reason was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the Hidden Leaf's Number-One Most Unpredictable Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja Naruto Uzumaki. He was selected as the successor of the current Hokage Lady Tsunade. Essentially, his and Sasuke's roles have been switched; where Naruto was feared and hated for the Nine-Tails (now named Kurama) being sealed in him while Sasuke was the popular one, now Naruto was loved in the village while Sasuke was hated. The sad thing right now is that Naruto isn't anywhere to be found right now and not even Hinata Hyuga knows where he's at.

That's not a problem for Sakura. Naruto may be unpredictable for the most part, but even before the 4th Shinobi World War, he and Sakura have bonded to the point that she became the only one who can predict his antics. This actually started with the second bell test that their sensei Kakashi Hatake put them through. Naruto's knowledge of the book, having read it beforehand, is what won it for them. Hey, Kakashi did say that they can use any means necessary.

Right now, Sakura was laying down cups of Instant Ramen to lure Naruto to a surprise she had for him. Having been his teammate for a number of years, she not only picked up his antics, but also his love for Ramen Noodles, among other traits. Because people noticed the bond between the two, they were getting scared of the possibility that Sakura herself would become a prankster like Naruto and his apprentice Konohamaru Sarutobi. 'If this doesn't get that goofball to come out of hiding, I don't know what will,' she thought with a smirk.

Lately, she and Ino have been a little more affectionate towards the Hyperactive Knucklehead, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by Hinata, who was watching her lay down the Ramen Cups. She was jealous of the fact that Sakura knew Naruto better than she did. Ino was watching as well, still confused as to what her best friend was doing. The two of them followed Sakura to the training field. Once they got there, there were a bunch of leaves spread out to look like they were covering traps. Sakura put what was left of the Ramen Cups in different areas of the leaves. "There we go," she said.

"What's the point of all of these Ramen Cups, Sakura?" Ino asked.

"If you must know, Ino, Lady Tsunade and Kakashi-sensei both agreed that I needed work on setting my traps. Plus, everyone had seen neither hide nor hair of Naruto, so I decided to use this opportunity to try it out." Ino was still confused while Hinata was still jealous.

"I thought Naruto was your closest friend. You're using his love for Ramen Noodles like you did his love for you." That one hit Sakura hard. Naruto wasn't happy with that lie she told in the Land of Iron and neither was she.

"You heard about that one, huh?" she asked sadly.

"Sai told me. He also told me the reasoning behind it, so I can't be too mad at you," Ino answered.

"Just what are you two talking about?" Hinata asked, finally speaking up.

"We're talking about a false confession that Sakura made to Naruto in the Land of Iron. Unfortunately, Forehead Girl here didn't take into account his perceptiveness, so he picked it up. At the time, Sakura still loved that jerk Sasuke and Naruto knew it, so he didn't believe her. It would've been sad on both ends if I had seen it." That only served to make Hinata mad at Sakura. Not once did she think that the pink-haired girl would go that low.

"Now, now, Hinata, let's not do anything rash. I still haven't forgiven myself for that," Sakura said nervously. Hinata was just about to hurl herself at Sakura, but Ino got in her way.

"Let me go, Ino, so I can kill that lying…" she began before Ino interrupted her.

"Hinata, killing Sakura won't resolve anything. Let's get out of here so you can cool off." Once they got to a good distance she whispered something in Hinata's ear.

"Man, I don't know who would just leave a bunch of Ramen Cups lying around, but that's a total waste," Sakura heard a voice say. She hid behind a bush, knowing full well that it was Naruto. Sakura snickered at what was sure to happen. Out came Naruto with a bag containing all of the Ramen that Sakura had placed. "…and this last one will be it," he said as he went for the last Ramen Cup. Once he got to it, though, he fell through a hole. "Ouch. That's smarts."

Sakura walked over to the hole and looked in it. Naruto noticed and he glared at her. "Sakura, I can't believe you tried to trick me again, and with something else that I love!" He shouted at her.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. But Lady Tsunade and Kakashi-sensei had me practice setting traps. Since you couldn't be found anywhere in the village, I figured that luring you here and having you test my traps would work as well. I'm also sorry about that false confession at the Land of Iron," she said with a sad smile on her face. She held out her hand to help him out.

"I've already forgiven you for that one. Remember that Sai told me about your intentions to kill Sasuke by yourself."

"Yeah, but I still haven't forgiven myself for it. I've been trying real hard to make it up to you, but I only ended up making it worse." She thought of an idea suddenly. "I know. How about a picnic?" she suggested.

"A picnic?"

"Yes. It'll help clear our minds of this whole mess and help us get closer. Besides, I'm sure you're hungry right?"

"Yeah, I am. But I thought we're already close friends," he said, making Sakura blush.

"W-We are close friends, but I still feel like I've strained our relationship. I used things you hold near and dear to you twice now to accomplish goals. I'm just being selfish I guess, but that's why I want to make it up to you."

"Okay, I guess that's a good reason, but what are we going to eat? I mean, as far as I can see, we don't have a picnic basket," he said. Sakura pointed at the bag that he was carrying.

"What about the Ramen?" she asked.

"Good idea."

Later, the two ninja were eating the Ramen by a campfire and a river, having to add water to the noodles and warming them up. Yes indeed, Sakura had definitely acquired a taste for Naruto's favorite food. The two of them were having so much fun that they didn't even know they were being watched by Naruto's other admirers. "Ino, are you sure this is a good idea? What if we got Naruto instead of Sakura?" Hinata asked her fellow kunoichi.

"That's a good question, Hinata. I honestly didn't expect Naruto to have a picnic with her after what she's done to him. He must've forgiven Sakura for the Land of Iron thing. I don't want to hurt Naruto either, but we need to get to her at any cost. I'm sorry, Hinata," Ino responded. 'I'm really sorry for this, Naruto,' she thought.

The two kunoichi picked up a bucked of bugs provided to them by Shino. They snuck up on the two who were having their Ramen picnic. Unfortunately for them, Kurama happened to inform Naruto about the prank, so he relayed it to Sakura, who also happened to recently learn "Clone Jutsu" from him. It would be a bit until she learned "Shadow Clone Jutsu". Hinata and Ino dumped the bugs on the Sakura Clone, which vanished. They looked at the Naruto that was there who got a punch from Ino. It turned out to be a Shadow Clone. Ino and Hinata looked confused. The two of them heard some snickering, so they looked up in a tree and, sure enough, saw Naruto and Sakura still eating their Ramen and laughing at them for falling for the "Clone Jutsu" prank again.

"I can't believe you fell for that one, Ino. Then again, it could be worse," Naruto said. He still felt bad for pranking the two, but their main target was Sakura.

"You know he's right. Naruto here knows the 'Thousand Years of Death'," said Sakura, embarrassing their friends. "Of course, you would like that, wouldn't you, Ino?" She and Naruto then busted out laughing at how red Ino's face was. Once Ino and Hinata left, Naruto and Sakura continued with their picnic. "Y'know, Naruto, this Chicken Teriyaki Ramen is pretty good."

"What did I tell you?" he asked as Sakura used her chopsticks to feed him some. Naturally, he blushed, making her do the same. "You know, Sakura, you're the first one that's caught me in a trap since the first time we went up against Kabuto and Orochimaru. You might want to get with Temari in the Hidden Sand Village and write a book."

"You really think so?" she asked, getting a nod from her teammate. She knew it would be a far less lewd version of what Jiraya, or 'Pervy Sage' as Naruto calls him, used to do. Speaking of which, the two of them knew that poor Kakashi wasn't going to get anymore of the Icha Icha series, a fact that doesn't sit well for him. "Now that I think about it, that isn't a bad idea. I've even got the perfect title for it: How to Catch a Jinchuriki."

"That sounds like a great title." Sakura then pushed Naruto to the trunk of the tree. "S-Sakura, what are you doing?" he asked nervously.

"Something I should've done a long time ago," she answered before doing the one thing she didn't expect him to do. She kissed him on the lips. They lasted a good two minutes before they broke apart, Sakura being happy that her first wasn't with Sasuke. "Just so you know, that one's not going in the book," she said with a loving and affectionate smile. Naruto returned the smile with one of his own, which was, for once, not one of his foxy grins.

Out of the thoughts that were on their minds, one stood out in Naruto's: 'I can't believe it. I actually beat Pervy Sage in getting the girl of my dreams.'

THE END

So how was that for a first-time Naruto one-shot? Keep in mind that, like with Bleach, I usually watch the dubbed version as opposed to the original. This is because I don't want to spend the entire episode reading subtitles. I do keep some of the Japanese terminology intact, though, like saying Icha Icha series as opposed to Make-Out Tactics. Other than that, I still prefer the English dub as opposed to the Japanese version because "Ero-Sannin" doesn't sound as funny as "Pervy Sage".

Just for the record, I don't hate Hinata. I think she's a lovely girl with a good personality, so before you get started on accusing me of hating her, bear in mind that the whole 'Thousand Years of Death' was just for fun. I'm sorry if I offended any Hinata lovers. Like I said, if you want, I can give Naruto a harem like I did Ichigo Kurosaki.