Hello, ladies and gents. Fellow readers and reviewers, I hope very much that you enjoy this fic if you so chose to read it. And, if that grace happens to befall on this fic, I hope you will review. If not, alas! That cannot be helped, right? Well, at any rate, enjoy yourselves!
"Sakura-chan? Hey, are you still there?" Naruto asked, waving his hands in front of her face.
Sakura blinked, then, realizing that she had been staring, blushed. "Sorry… I guess I spaced out."
Naruto blinked in return. Promptly, he began conversation again. "Yeah, I do that all the time! Once, when we were in Iruka-sensei's class, I-."
Sakura, once again, sank back into her thoughts.
'I wonder…is it really possible that the seal is weakening? It really doesn't seem to be at all impaired right now, but… The seal was made stronger since the last time. Though, there is no telling how far the Kyuubi's power stretches…or it's will to gain complete control over Naruto. No! Naruto is stronger than the Kyuubi, Kakashi-sensei even said so, himself… Can he be wrong? Naruto is unbelievable, but is he invincible?' Sakura was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts again by a loud laughter that rang out, even through the noise of the restaurant and Sakura's thoughts.
"Do you think that's right, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.
"Um… Yes." Sakura answered. She nodded her head in a positive way. If there was one thing that would be so about 99 of the time with Naruto, it was, if you weren't listening and he asked a question like that, the right answer would be yes.
Naruto's cheeks blew outwards like he was holding in some sick, semi-solid food (throw-up). He seemed to be gagging on it.
Sakura took this as a bad thing.
Naruto's face became very pink, and then, slowly, very red.
This gave Sakura the impression that he was choking. "Oh, god! Naruto! Are you okay? Are you choking? Naruto?! Answer me!"
Naruto's chest shook as if he was trying to gasp for air that couldn't make it through. His face became purple. He fell off of his stool and landed on his back on the floor.
"Oh god! I told you not to shovel in food like that! I told you you'd choke!"
All of a sudden, Naruto's mouth burst open as if a wound up spring worked it.
Spit and bits of ramen exploded out as if they were ocean spray bouncing up off the shore after a big wave broke against it.
Naruto had not been choking; he had been holding in laughter.
Sakura closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth, and balled up her fists.
"You think it's likely that Kiba is right and Ino is the one who is stealing Kakashi sensei's books?" Naruto snickered as he stood up again.
Naruto opened his eyes long enough to sigh and grin up at Sakura.
This was also just enough time for Naruto to realize Sakura was no longer in front of him and see something light in color hurtling at him out of the corner of his eye.
Naruto hastily ducked, but it was not quickly enough and the thing hit him full force in the ear.
Naruto prepared himself to grimace and whine, but the object that hit him didn't hurt.
He pulled it out of his hair to find it was a flower petal.
Naruto gave it an amused look before putting it on the counter.
The blonde haired boy let out a strangled cry of surprise when something slammed into his smiling face.
Naruto stumbled backwards, and then crashed into the counter, where he slipped slowly downward in a dazed pain.
Sakura stood above him menacingly, looking down upon him like a bird of prey.
Blood trickled out of Naruto's nose as he stared up into Sakura's eyes, actually afraid.
"S-Sakura-chan… I-I… sorry…" Naruto said, almost pleadingly.
Her fury seemed to have just evaporated at this.
"Fine." She glared.
Naruto cowered only a moment longer before Sakura let out a slightly annoyed sigh.
She offered a hand to Naruto, who gratefully took it.
Sakura took a very well timed step forward and slipped on what must have been water from mopping the floor, taking Naruto with her.
In effort to keep the both from falling, Naruto grabbed at anything that came in contact with his hand.
The pair fell in very slow motion, it seemed.
The room became silent as the dining people watched their struggle with gravity.
Naruto grabbed a handful of tablecloth, but that was wasted when a shower of forks hit him.
He again made to grab something solid.
Naruto let out an echoing yell as he grabbed a knife.
He quickly withdrew his hand.
Naruto spent the moment before Sakura and he hit the ground with the pondering thoughts of why a knife was in a ramen shop and why he hadn't seen the water before.
Several seconds passed before anyone spoke. When someone finally did, it was Sakura. "Naruto, will you get off of me?"
Naruto gave her a bemused expression before it occured to him that he was, in fact, on top of Sakura, and it would be wise to obey.
He stood up and brushed himself off. Sakura quickly followed suit.
Naruto's bleeding hand comes to her attention. "Naruto… your hand. Are you okay?"
"This?" Naruto asked. He looked at his right hand and shook it. "It's nothing. I was being stupid, and I cut it on a knife when I grabbed the counter to stop us from falling."
"Let me fix it for you." Sakura said more commandingly than suggestively.
"Alright…" Naruto trailed off. Without warning, he pushed her away and dived to the side.
Half a second later, a bottle of sake smashed into the floor previously occupied by Sakura.
The warmed alcohol flooded around the broken shards of glass on the floor.
Naruto looked around with a sort of astuteness only he could have.
He dodged out of the way of an incoming bowl and ran to Sakura.
"Sakura! Are you okay?" He asked, concerned etched into every feature.
"Fine, thank you." Sakura nodded.
"Sorry that I did that. If I hurt you, you can-." He started.
Sakura's eyes widened with vigilance as she realized it. Either this particular ramen stand was haunted, which was very ridiculous, or someone was after them. No, wait. Not after them. After him. They were after Naruto, the Kyuubi vessel.
'The only other reason would be to shed blood, but that isn't a reason… it's a whim.' Sakura pondered.
She looked up again.
Naruto watched her with concern. "Sakura, are you-?"
"Naruto!" She screamed, desperate. "Move!"
The blonde gave her an alarmed stare before he turned around.
He was hit full in the chest by a bottle.
"Damn it!" Naruto cursed his slothfulness.
He closed his eyes and in a moment, the wound was healing.
Naruto seemed to grimace and his hands shot automatically to his seal.
The restaurant was filled with screams and shouts, several costumers ran out.
A bowl smashed in the wall right next to Sakura, but, in a flash, Naruto was right in front of her, eyes blazing scarlet and anger.
The sound of shattering glass became almost a pattern without pause.
It crashed into Naruto, broke, then shattered again as it hit the floor, the edges coated in blood.
For an instant, Sakura's eyes connected with Naruto's, and Sakura despaired, for she could see the wild, unrestrained hysteria that gleamed behind his gaze.
A sake bottle broke against the back of his head, and Naruto sank to his knees, on all fours.
A half growl, half groan escaped piteously from his lips as he tried to ignore the intense pain.
The alcohol burned in the wounds and mixed with the blood, causing a thin dark red liquid to cascade to the glass covered ground.
All that could be heard for a long while was both Naruto and Sakura's ragged breathing, adrenalin speeding their breaths, and the crunch of glass.
Sakura was alerted by an unexpected sound that sickened her. It was the noise similar to the familiar sound of cutting deep into a live human's flesh during an operation.
It was forceful, like something had punctured deep into flesh, muscle, chakra, blood, and bone.
She saw that Naruto was frozen in place, a black, pole-like object stuck through the center of his seal.
Blood dripped thickly from the pole, collecting onto the ground.
Sakura is momentarily too paralyzed with fear and shock to act.
There Naruto bled in front of her, skewered like a shish kabob.
Then he started to move, trying frenetically to somehow remove himself from the object akin to a spear.
His frenzied attempts became more vicious as he continued to pull, rip, tear, and thrash like an untamed beast.
It was clear to her that Naruto was receiving help in his struggle by the Kyuubi.
Also clear to her was the fact that no matter how uncontrollable Naruto had become or how powerful, no amount of feral or frantic chakra was going to help his efforts.
At this, Sakura cried.
Hey, again, too all of you that made it through that! Sorry that it's a tad bit long, but, if you made it to here, you must not be completely furious with the length of it and are willing to forgive me. Since you've made it this far, and we have both made effort to make it here, why waste your effort, at least? Please review and tell me if you loved it (which is doubtful), liked it (which is more likely), disliked it (again, is likely), or hated it, (with which I'll be ashamed with myself for making you suffer through it), and if you say something of the above, tell me what I need improving on, why you loved/ liked/ disliked/ hated it, and what ever else your heart desires.
See ya next chap, maybe?
-WarRain.