Okay, I'm a huge GaaraXSakura fan but I do support NarutoXSakura too so I was like, Imma make a fanfic! It's actually inspired by the anime Free! Iwatobi Swim Club but I didn't want to do a Free! fanfic since I love the characters too much and I'm too scared XD haha so here it is! Of course it's placed in a highschool since I don't know the Naruto world that well :P By the way, if you don't notice, I don't like the way Sakura is in the show personality wise so she acts different. Naruto's a little different too. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! So, HERE IT IS! XD
Naruto: Yuukimari doesn't own Naruto nor any characters used from the show.
Chapter 1
The feel of the water was refreshing. It was all around. The call of seagulls and waves crashing down upon one another filled Naruto's ears as he stood in front of the ocean. It was a beautiful day filled with bright rays of sunshine and gentle breezes of salt tainted air. Naruto's hair blew gently to the side and his bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle like the clear blue water from the ocean. Today was going to be a good day, he could feel it. No school, no stress, just him and the ocean. There were other people there as well, kids and adults alike. Some were splashing about in the water, some sunbathing, and some playing volleyball, all of them doing the normal beach activities. Naruto set his towel down on a chair and took off his shirt, folding it and placing it beside his towel. Soon enough, Naruto was swimming in the cool waves, gliding easily with each stroke through the salt water. Eyes followed him as he did so, interest and attraction fluttering through the eyes' owner's mind.
'I never really realized how much Naruto has grown up. He's not that obnoxious kid anymore. He's actually pretty hot.' A familiar pink-haired 17 year-old girl thought as her emerald green eyes continued to watch the 18 year-old blonde swim. Sakura had always been at least semi-popular throughout school so she knew of Naruto as the loser, annoying kid that was always being a class-clown. This whole year though, she realized, he had been under the radar. No big pranks or goofy jokes as people bullied him. Nothing really.
'I wonder what changed. Was it that people got tired of picking on him? Or maybe he's different now...' Sakura wondered. She remembered when he was in her 8th grade language class. He would always get the answers wrong and would always have the worse grades. He would also pull a lot of pranks on their book-nerd teacher. Sakura remembered her 8th grade year well since that's when she started to go to the more popular part of society. She and Ino had become really good friends that year as well, which helped her to break out of her nerdy shell and become more casual than uptight and studious.
"Sakura! What are you looking at?!" Ino demanded, calling Sakura's name for what seemed like the 100th time. Sakura jumped slightly and looked at Ino.
"Is that Naruto?" Sakura asked her blonde friend, pointing to the blonde swimming out to the buoy which was about a quarter of a mile away from shore. He was about 2/3rds of the way there already. Ino put her sunglasses up and squinted, looking.
"It can't be. He's too built and toned to be Naruto." Ino shook her head and put her sunglasses back on. Sakura frowned at Ino's comment since it was kinda mean but didn't say anything. Instead, she kept watching the blonde swim. Ino talked with Ten-Ten who had come with them.
Naruto got to the buoy and took a minute breather before heading back to the shore, loving the feel of him gliding through the water and the sun shining down on his bare skin. Soon enough, Naruto was back to shore. He relaxed in the water for a couple of minutes, enjoying his day off from everything.
Sakura saw the blonde come closer and when he stood up to get out of the ocean, Sakura knew she was right.
"Ino! That IS Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, bumping Ino with her arm. Ino shot Sakura a glare but looked and her glare soon disappeared to a look of shock.
"How do you know?" Ten-Ten asked.
"The marking on his stomach. I remember it from grade school because that's what got everyone to start to make fun of him." Ino explained. Sakura just stared, taking in how much he's changed.
"Since when was he so built?!" Ten-Ten demanded, checking out Naruto's fully toned body.
"Doesn't matter. He's still a complete loser. I heard he still has no friends except that freak goth Gaara and they haven't really talked much this year." Ino shrugged and looked away. Ten-Ten sighed but continued to talk with Ino, brushing off the fact that Naruto wasn't the same. Sakura kept staring and eventually made up her mind.
"I'll be back." Sakura said as she got up and started to walk in Naruto's direction.
"Sakura! Where are you going?!" Ino called. Sakura didn't reply and kept walking.
Naruto ruffled his wet hair with a towel, attempting to dry it a little. He stopped and moved the towel so it hung around his neck, only to notice the pink-haired beauty walking his way.
'Shit. What is she doing here?! No, what is she doing walking towards ME?!' Naruto thought, panic running through him. He looked around him to see if maybe Sasuke or someone popular was around but nobody he recognized was around. Naruto looked back at Sakura who was only a few feet away now and felt his heart jumping all over the place. Okay, maybe he had a little, tiny crush on her. No biggy, right? Wrong.
"Hey Naruto." Sakura said with a smile, stopping in front of him. Naruto gave her a slightly awkward smile.
"H-hey Sakura." Naruto managed out. He couldn't help but notice the lack of clothes she wore. Well, it was the beach so it made since for her to be wearing a red bikini but did it really have to be the bathing suit she wore on the day she decided to come and talk to him?! It was very distracting!
"I saw you swimming. You're pretty fast. Are you in the swimming club?" Sakura questioned, looking up at him with her big emerald green eyes. Since when was Sakura only at Naruto's chin?!
"Thanks but no, I'm not." Naruto said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head and looking away from her, a soft pink gracing his cheeks. Sakura noticed but didn't say anything.
"Well why don't you join? I'm sure a lot of people would be impressed." Sakura pointed out, curious as to why she felt like Naruto was different now.
"I don't think so. I don't think I'd like swimming competitively." Naruto said as he sat down on the lawn chair he had. A yellow umbrella covered them from the sun.
"Oh well that makes sense." Sakura nodded, understanding. Naruto looked at her with confused, almost vulnerable eyes that made butterflies appear in Sakura's stomach.
"Is that why you came over here? To see if I was on the swim team?" Naruto asked, not wanting her coming over to him to be a dare or something like that. He was used to it but if the one girl he really liked did it, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle it with a smile. Sakura was probably the only girl who hadn't asked him out on a date as a joke or dare.
"Not really. I was bored of hearing Ten-Ten and Ino's constant chatter about Sasuke's new favorite food." Sakura joked, smiling a little. Naruto laughed, being to ease up.
"So that's what they talk about. I've always wondered what the popular girls talk about. I always thought that it was the dating habits of everyone and pedicures." Naruto joked back. Sakura laughed an honest laugh. She hadn't laughed like that in a while.
"Well they do go on about who they think should date and all that. I think they're going to try to become Cupid or something when they get older." Sakura smiled. Naruto laughed more. Sakura blushed a little when she noticed how nice his laugh was.
"I feel like they'd be really bad at that actually." Naruto smiled. Sakura nodded.
"Yeah, they would. They usually only judge upon appearances." Sakura confirmed. Naruto nodded, figuring as such.
"So why did you really come over here? Was it a dare or something?" Naruto asked seriously, looking at the ocean. Sakura could see the pain Naruto's gone through and soon felt guilty for not helping to prevent it.
"No. I honestly just wanted to come and talk to you..." Sakura said seriously. Naruto looked at her and eventually judged that she was being honest.
"Well I'm sure that isn't flying too well with Ino and Ten-Ten so you should probably get back to them. You wouldn't want to ruin your reputation." Naruto said, getting up and folding his towel before putting it on the lawn chair. Sakura frowned.
"If you wanted me to leave, you just had to say so." Sakura said calmly. Naruto's eyes flashed to look at her in shock.
"I don't have the luxury to want that even if I wanted to." Naruto said, looking away from her. Sakura looked at him with confusion.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"I have no right to say if I want you to leave or not. I'm just saying that if you hang around me, you won't maintain the same level of popularity as you do now." Naruto stated, slightly blushing, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed.
Sakura's expression was quizzical, wondering why Naruto would think that she would care about her status. Then it clicked. To him, she was like a celebrity in a way. She talked with the stuck up girls who had insulted him all his life and she essentially was one. All that seemed to matter to her was her status.
"My status doesn't particularly matter to me so I don't care if my popularity goes down because I'm around you." Sakura stated, making it clear that she didn't care.
"If you say so." Naruto sighed, giving up. He met her eyes and then smiled.
"Wanna go swim?" He questioned, giving her a playful look. Sakura smiled back and nodded.
"Sure."
Alright, there it was! :3 I'm actually hoping to take this in a more Sukitte Ii Nayo route than Free! since Sukitte Ii Nayo is more laid back and cute :P well I mean, that's the kind of plot I'm hoping to do haha :P and if you havent watched those two animes, you don't have to but I advise you should cause they are AMAZING! So thanks for reading and if you want this story to continue, please comment with your opinion! Thanks again! :D Byyyyeeee!
