Disclaimer… well, you know, I don't own the show, characters, blahblahblahAs he made his way back to Konoha, Naruto had one thing on his mind, ramen. He had been on a mission for two weeks and there was no ramen for him while he was away from the village. He stepped through the front gate of the village hidden in the leaves with a happy sigh. He had missed his friends. The mission was a one-man mission, and it left him feeling lonely. He started walking toward Ichiraku ramen when he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Oi, baka, miss me?" Naruto whipped around to face the source of the voice.
Was it really… "Sasuke! No way! What are you doing here? When did you get back? How did you get back? Who knows you're here? Why…"
"Shut up and slow down, dobe!" Sasuke interrupted, but he was grinning slightly. "I just got back an hour ago, and Sakura told me you would be back from a mission today, so I was waiting for you."
"But how?" Naruto questioned. "Sakura, Kakashi, and Shikamaru came looking for me, and found me. Sakura knocked me out with one hit… she's gotten much stronger… it's almost scary… and they found Orochimaru. They fought and killed him. His death diminished the curse mark, and he no longer has a hold over me."
"Well, now that you are back, would you like to go to Ichiraku's with me and I'll buy us both some ramen!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Can't. I have to go and tell everyone that I am back. So far, nobody knows. I made the others keep it quiet until I told you. You're welcome." And with that, Sasuke left Naruto to greet the rest of the village.
He seems happy to be back, thought Naruto with a sigh. I just hope the rest of the village will be this happy to see him. He walked on a little farther when he saw Sakura. He proceeded to lunge at her with a big hug.
"Thank you Sakura! I can't believe you got him back! You are amazing!" Sakura smiled and nodded with a "hn." She didn't punch him or anything! "So do you want to go get some ramen? My treat!"
"Why not?" she shrugged. Even though she sounded like she didn't really care, she was happy for the invite. She had secretly missed the hyperactive blonde. He grinned and they walked to Ichiraku's together.
When they got to the ramen shop, they both sat at the counter and ordered miso pork ramen. "How sweet, treating your girlfriend to lunch!" the shop owner said.
"I told you before! We are not dating!" shouted Naruto, as he braced himself for a punch that was sure to come from Sakura. When no fist came hurtling in his direction, Naruto looked over at Sakura. She was red in the face and silently eating her ramen. "Are you Ok?" Naruto asked.
"Fine." Muttered Sakura with a nervous smile. Wow, she seems out of it today, thought Naruto. They sat in silence for the rest of their meal. After three bowls of ramen on Naruto's end and two on Sakura's, (Naruto was broke) they left the store. Mentally, Sakura was kicking herself for not speaking. Since when was she so shy around Naruto? Since when was she shy around anyone? No! Naruto couldn't do this to her, she was in love with Sasuke… well… maybe… maybe her love for him faded during his time gone. Maybe with the more time she spent with Naruto, the more she grew to have feelings for him, and that girlfriend comment had sent her over the edge. And Naruto made it seem like a big deal, and like it was such a horrible thing. Maybe that hurt her feelings a little bit, or a lot. NO!!! She didn't like Naruto as more then a friend. She didn't care! It wasn't like that at all!
Suddenly, Naruto stopped, causing Sakura to run into him. She realized they were at his apartment. She sighed. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Kakashi-sensei is weak from our last mission, so we won't be training."
"We should get reacquainted with Sasuke. We can just hang out. Maybe try to get that damn mask off of Kakashi."
"Yeah, sure." Sakura said distractedly. Naruto was worried. He thought she would be more delighted. She loved Sasuke after all and hadn't seen him in awhile!
"Do you want to come in for awhile?" He asked her.
"Yeah!" she said with a bit more enthusiasm. They walked into his apartment and Naruto plopped on the couch. He turned on Major Payne and told Sakura to sit next to him. She moved from her spot in the doorway and sat next to him on the couch. After a few minutes, he decided to make popcorn and bring out some sodas.
"No ramen?" Sakura teased.
"Actually, that's a good idea. Maybe I will make some instant ramen."
Sakura sighed, and then smiled. "What a loser." She muttered aloud.
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm not deaf! And not a loser! Geez, you shouldn't go around and tease people about their weaknesses. That would be like me calling you a loser because of your obsession with Sasuke."
"Are you kidding? I haven't been obsessed with him for a while now. It's you that I like!" as soon as Sakura realized what she said, she stopped and blushed. Crap! Did I actually say that out loud? "Shit, I have to go!" and Sakura started to run out the door, but was suddenly caught by a pair of strong hands.
"What did you just say?" Naruto asked sternly.
"Shit, I have to go?" Sakura said. She was so embarrassed about her confession that she struggled to get loose.
"No, what did you say?" Naruto asked. His voice pleading this time.
Sakura slumped and repeated herself, blushing horribly. She then explained how over time, her feelings developed. He had matured in his time with Jiraiya, and needless to say, was better looking. At that part, Naruto grinned proudly and blushed.
"Is that true?" he asked
"NO BAKA, I MADE IT ALL UP! OF COURSE IT'S TRUE! GOD, YOU'RE SO DENSE!" Sakura yelled angrily. She tried to punch him, but he caught her fist and kissed her softly on the forehead.
"You know, I like you too. I have for as long as I can remember. Please don't leave just yet." Sakura blushed wildly and laid her head on his chest. All of a sudden, both of them heard a small sob outside. Naruto opened the door to see Hinata sitting on the doorstep with a bowl of ramen. She was crying until she heard the door open. She jumped up, dropped the ramen, muttered a small "sorry Naruto-kun!", and ran off as fast as she could.
"Hinata! Wait up!" yelled Sakura, but the small girl was too far away. "Oh, man." Sakura muttered. Naruto looked very confused.
"What was that all about?" He wondered aloud.
"Hinata has had a huge crush on you since she saw you at the Ninja Academy. She probably heard us and was crushed." Sakura sighed.
"Are you kidding me? Really?" Naruto sighed guiltily. "I should go talk to her." He said, but as soon as he got to the door, he saw a very angry Kiba running towards him. "oof!" He was tackled by the boy and Akimaru came running up, barking angrily. "What is the matter with you two? Why the sudden ambush?"
"I just ran into Hinata, who was crying. I stopped her and she said that you were in love with Sakura! How dare you make her cry like that! And Sakura! You are supposed to be her best friend! You two should be more considerate! I outta kick your ass!" yelled the very angry dog boy while keeping Naruto pinned down.
"How was I supposed to know she was out there? How was I supposed to know she liked me?!" Yelled Naruto as he struggled to escape from Kiba's grasp. All the while Akimaru was barking loudly as if to back Kiba up.
"How could you not tell? EVERYONE knew she liked you. And tonight was the night she was gonna ask you out! She finally got up the nerve to speak to you, and you go and do something like this?!" Kiba growled at him.
"Stop it, both of you!" yelled Sakura. Kiba climbed off of Naruto who stood up with a scowl on his face. Both boys looked at each other and there was a long silence, as if the two were challenging the other to make the first move. "Come on, you guys are best friends! Don't act like this! I will talk to Hinata tomorrow. Why don't we go home for the night? It's getting late." And with that, Sakura, Kiba, and Akimaru left, the latter snapping at Naruto one last time before departing.
"Wow, what a night!" Naruto muttered to himself. He cleaned the ramen and broken bowl off of his doorstep, turned the movie off, and went to bed.