an:/ Alright, so I took the previous one down because it down right sucked. Well, at least the ending did. I'm also gonna say it's no longer a oneshot now that I have extended it and made the story longer. I believe this idea deserves to be a full out story. As for updates, I'm not sure I can update as fast as my other story, The Namikaze Legend, but I will try to update this story asap. Now enjoy!
Legend: Italics means thoughts or emphasis or flashbacks, "Blah" is spoken out loud.
Wake up
目を覚ます
"Na-ru-to-kun~ wake up, Naruto-kun"
"Not now, Sakura, 5 minutes"
"WAKE THE FUCK UP, NARUTO-YARO! BEFORE I DRAG YOU OUT! TSUNADE-SAMA WANTS TO SEE US RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"
Naruto jolted up to see Sakura's fuming face several inches from his. Of course its a dream. Naruto rolled out of his bed and walked to the bathroom while Sakura ranted about annoying blondes and their sleeping habits.
"Are you listening to me, Naruto? I SAID, SHE WANTS TO SEE US NOW! Pick up the damn pace; Katsuyu can move faster than that!"
Naruto lazily looked back at Sakura and put a smirk on his face. Sakura stood there for a second before snapping out of a trance.
"ARE YOU MOCKING ME? GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR AS-"
Sakura's shouts were muffled when Naruto shut the door of the bathroom just a Sakura was about to pummel him. There goes a peaceful morning, Naruto thought. Little did Naruto know that Sakura was behind the door blushing like a tomato with her fist still cocked back in the air. Did he know the effect he had on her? Who gave him the right to smile like that? One of those hot smiles in the morning when the guy had a little stubble on his chin and he flashes his pearly whites in a lazy way. It made Sakura's heart skip a beat. Since when did Knucklehead Naruto make this badass Kunoichi skip heart beats? She was a Kunoichi for damn sake, love was second to her job, she was here on the errand of the Hokage to wake up the damn Hokage-in-training, not fawn over him. Although seeing him only in sweatpants with that smile are some perks, if only she could wake up to that everyd-what the fuck is she thinking. WHAT THE FUCK! Sakura started to panic and pace back in forth in front of the door.
Naruto opening the door only to see Sakura pacing back and forth in front of him. Naruto stared at Sakura's frustrated expression. It was probably one of the most adorable expressions Sakura can muster, according to Naruto that is. Sakura's head snapped up to see Naruto's ocean blue eyes meet her jade ones.
"Uh can you move for a moment Sakura? Gotta change..."
"Wha-oh, yeah, sorry..."
Sakura shuffled away to the kitchen to prepare some tea for Naruto. A few moments later, Naruto came back outside in the standard Jounin uniform. Thats right, Naruto was promoted not too long ago, and now, the no-longer-Orange clad ninja was serious. "Hokage's can't be fucking clowns, Sakura-chan. Gotta be serious, although a little orange on the side ain't that bad" Ever since his Hokage training, Naruto dressed up seriously. Although, the orange on the side that he was talking about sadly happened to be a book, a certain perverted book. Damn that Kakashi and his influences.
Kakashi sneezed a bit. Someone must be talking about me... or maybe I should get out of the hot baths...
Naruto slipped on his Jounin flak jacket and chugged the tea down. Sakura was ticked. Did he just chug tea? In front of her? In front of a guest? He needs to pay.
"Naruto, did you just CHUG TEA DOWN IN FRONT OF ME?"
"A-ah You see Sakura-chan, I...I-uh, I gotta go!"
With that, Naruto flashed out of the apartment. Damn the Yondaime's technique...
"NARUTO~!"
"Your next mission, Escorting and Protection"
"Whaat~ but baa-chan, protection is a bit low ranked for my liking...any other missions?"
"This isn't your average customer, its the Daimyo's daughter...and considering you're the famous Konoha hero, it was a personal request."
Somehow, this information didn't settle well with Sakura. The other guys like Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, they were equally as famous for their efforts during the 4th war, why couldn't they protect the stupid Daimyo's spawn. Sakura puffed out her cheeks.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever baa-chan, as long as this doesn't turn out to be another marriage shenanigans. She's at the Main gate now isn't she...Then, See ya..."
Naruto waved his hand before jumping out the window to the Main gates. Tsunade's forehead had a huge tick mark.
"DAMMIT, NARUTO! USE THE DAMN DOOR NEXT TIME! Damn that Jiraiya and his habits. I bet he's mocking me even now."
Sakura quickly nodded to her Sensei and exited through the door (like a civilized person).
At the gates, Sakura met Naruto, who was currently talking to a girl next to him. She was in a long pale blue kimono with sakura petals all over it. She had a pink sash and her hair. Oh kami, her hair. It was pink like hers but styled with curls at the end (an:/ imagine Lighting's hair from FFXIII). She looked at me and her forest green eyes twinkled with joy. Her laugh sounded like bells in the wind. Everything about her seemed majestic and graceful. The way she covered part of her face with her fan, and the way she held herself. Not like herself, nails bitten down, bags under her eyes, self-hacked hair, shinobi clothes. It was like looking at twins of herself except the daimyo's daughter was the better half.
"Ara, you must be Haruno Sakura, Naruto said you were his teammate"
Teammate. Somehow, the way the girl said that irked her.
"Yeah, Nice to meet you! Naruto and I will be escorting you!"
"Ah, that won't be necessary! It will be just Naruto."
I looked at Naruto who was smiling.
"Yeah Sakura-chan, It will be just me and Chihaya-chan. You don't have to stay."
Sakura hid a flinch as she plastered a small smile on her face. That was fast. He had already added the prefix to the end of the girl's name. Sakura was starting to feel a twist in her gut. She thought Naruto didn't want any marriage shenanigans, but here he is running off alone with the Daimyo's daughter.
"Ah, okay Naruto, Chihiya-san, See ya!"
Sakura shunshined to the Hospital to get her thoughts out of the gutter. No need to think about the knucklehead now, she had better things to do.
Naruto walked down the main road of Konoha with Chihiya next to him. He waved at the civilians who greeted the young hero. Chihiya latched herself onto Naruto's arm and laughed at all his jokes and stories he was sharing.
"...and then, Sakura-chan whacked me across the head which launched me through the field."
"Hahaha thats so funny Naruto-kun~!"
Naruto was slightly enjoying himself. But in a sense, it was a bit of a misunderstood enjoyment. He really didn't want to be with the Daimyo's daughter. Sure, he was happy that someone listened to him and laughed with him, but he was imagining that he was with Sakura the whole time. It wasn't though he could help himself, the girl looked just like Sakura, even laughed like her. The hair color was almost identical but Sakura's was softer, a lighter baby pink. But that was besides the point. He couldn't have Sakura here because as future Hokage, he had formal business with the Daimyo's Daughter, who was next in line for Daimyo. Because of the things he was going to do with the girl, he couldn't have Sakura there as an interruption. He had to get on the good side of the girl to get what he wanted. Funding. The stupid present Daimyo was cutting the funding from Konoha for his extravagant parties, one of which he was going to hold later tonight. This was ridiculous. He personally wanted to go an assassinate the Daimyo but it would look too suspicious because of his renown years in ANBU and his striking blond hair. So the next best way to get to the Daimyo, his daughter. He was ready to please the Daughter however he could, in anyway possible, which is also why he couldn't have Sakura there.
"Nee, Naruto-kun, lets go to the Hot baths!"
"Ah, okay Chihaya-chan"
Sakura, let's just say, was depressed. If anyone entered her office right now, they would see a zombie lifting a stamp and putting it back down on paper, then repeating. The empty look in her eyes was that of a shell. Her white lab coat blended her into her white office, the bland white room. The repetitive sound of the stamp lulled her to a trance. She didn't even notice she was out of paper and that she was stamping directly on the table, over and over again.
"S-Sakura-san, Tsunade-sama wants to see you"
"Ah, Shizune-san, I'll be done with the papers soon, er, actually, I'm already done..." Sakura frowned at the stamps on table. She snapped her head into attention, then shuffled the papers into a neat stack and handed them to Shizune. She then dragged herself up and exited the room toward the Hokage tower.
"Naruto-kun, are you ready for the party tonight?"
"Yeah, It will be fun, I can't wait!"
"There will be fireworks and food..."
Naruto zoned out of Chihaya's listing. He got what he wanted. A signed contract for funding. He already sent a Bunshin with the document to Tsunade baa-chan. Now all he wanted was the day to be over with. Its 4:00 pm and the party starts at 6:00 pm. Another two hours with the ranting banshee. Compared to Sakura, the conversation with this woman was bland and boring. She wanted to shop everywhere, talk about shopping, then sit down because her heels were hurting. He could tell from experience that the girl wasn't use to the heels which meant she wore them for this occasion only, which meant...Marriage Shenanigans. Of course. He was sick of it, all the princesses asked for his hand in marriage because he was the Yondaime's son and the savior of Konoha, not Uzumaki Naruto. Another thing he caught on was that Chihiya wanted him to carry her bridal style. She kept pointing to kids being carried and noted how lucky and cute they were, then she kept leaning on him, and then her foot kept "hurting". Of course he would have none of it and sent her to a bench where he waited for her to shut up (which she never did).
"...oh and I'll be dressed up in the most beautiful kimono! I bought it from the Land of Silk, pretty expensive! And-"
There she goes again, another random tangent about how much wealth she had and where she buys things. He just wanted to say "good for you, now shut the fuck up" but of course, its the Daimyo's daughter. Stupid International Relations. Damn Reputations. This was all frustrating. Another Hour and a half till this torture was over. Naruto swore this woman could give some tips to Ibiki about verbal torture. Just talk them to death about shopping. 100% chance of success in killing the victim's mental health. Naruto could really use one of Sakura's suckerpunches right about now.
"Ah~Naruto-kun! You look Stunning!"
Chihiya pranced over to Naruto who was now dawned in a navy blue kimono. Lets just say, his hotness factor shot through the roof. A lot of girls were gawking at Naruto and snatching second glances at the blonde. Tsunade, followed by Shizune and Sakura, walked up to Naruto and Chihiya. Tsunade noticed the clinging pinkie and the dead look on Naruto's face, pleading for a quick and painless death.
Sakura wanted to jump in water to cool out her raging jealousy within. Chihaya had the most beautiful Kimono in the entire room. The crimson red silk had an image of dawn etched with several cranes beautifully sewn into the fabric. Her hair was tied up in a bun with a delicate pin of Sakura flowers that almost looked real. Sakura took a quick surreptitious glance at her own outfit and couldn't help but sigh in defeat. Hers was a simple red Kimono with little geometric shapes on the rough fabric. Her hair was tied messily into a bun with a red ribbon that her mother added last moment for shits and giggles. Sakura could hardly call herself pretty. Noticing her apprentice's awkward shuffle, Tsunade gave a quick smile to Chihaya.
"Ah Chihaya-san, I presumed you had a wonderful stay in Konoha?"
"Ah yes, Hokage-sama. Naruto-kun, here, was an excellent guide."
Chihiya winked at Tsunade who was left unfazed while Sakura and Shizune blushed. Naruto stared off into space apathetically, unaware of the reference Chihiya made.
"Thats good Chihiya-san, I hope you enjoy the rest of the night, Ah and Naruto, you're mission is over, you're free to rest, your pay will be sent soon"
Naruto snapped out of his boredom and looked at Tsunade. He smiled then grabbed Sakura and left, leaving Chihiya speechless.
"Naruto! Naruto -tteba, wait a moment!"
Naruto stopped looked around then quickly grabbed sakura into bridal style then jumped onto the buildings. He finally stopped on top of the Hokage Heads.
"Ne, Naruto, why are we even here?"
Her thoughts were cut short when suddenly she heard a bang behind her, she looked towards the cliff over the village to see fireworks. She gasped and looked in wonder at the beauty of the fireworks. Naruto was also looking at the beauty but not of the fireworks. Sakura looked absolutely stunning in her Kimono with the fireworks illuminating her figure. He looked back to the sky and then stayed there hand in hand until the fireworks stopped. When the lights stopped, they realized they were still holding hands and whipped their hands away, blushing furiously.
"Ah, lets go back downtown Sakura, we gotta stay near the Hokage."
"Y-yeah, let's"
The rest of the party was in the Hokage Mansion where sake was being served in every direction, young or old. Everyone was served Sake (well with the exception of Lee who was served soft drinks). Naruto and Sakura were laughing hysterically with pink tinting their cheeks.
"And then, she kept complaining that her feet hurt and that she couldn't wear them anymore, it was annoying"
"I bet it was Naruto-kun, Shinobi sandals are far more comfortable"
"I bet"
Sakura was too drunk to realize she was adding the prefix. Naruto was too drunk to realize the proximity of Sakura. In 5 minutes, both were passed out on the floor. Later, Kiba, asshole as he is when drunk, kicked Naruto and told him to get up because the party was ending. Naruto got up, still drunk, and tried to pull Sakura up with him. Sakura woke up and was staring lazily around.
"Lets go home, Sakura-chan" Naruto slurred.
Sakura giggled and swayed back and forth. Naruto dragged the half limping Sakura out to his apartment where they both blacked out.
Sakura yawned and opened her eyes only to close them again. The light was blinding and her head had a massive headache. She felt dizzy and her senses went on overdrive. She smelt something different. Something very, hm, masculine. And she heard soft breathing next to her. The bed had weight shifting on the side next to her. She wasn't in her room and she was sleeping next to someone, most likely male.
"No, no, no, no, no, NO~!" Sakura started to panic in her head. She had slept with someone and she didn't know who it was! She shook her head and clenched her eyes shut. Then the breathing next to her because irregular meaning he was waking up. It was too late for an escape for Sakura. She couldn't avoid her fate now. She slowly opened her eyes to see the lump next to her shift around and the blanket slipping from the head revealing...a tuft of blond hair? The blanket slipped further and the blonde turned to face her revealing three whiskers on the mans face and blue eyes facing her, clouded with sleep. He smiled lazily showing off his pearly whites then closed his eyes again soon before they shot back open with alertness.
"S-sakura-chan?!"
He shot out of bed and fell on the floor. He lifted his upper body up to cradle his head as he looked at Sakura with apprehension.
"Shit shit shit, I am so sorry Sakura, I don't know what happened, I-"
He cut himself off when he saw that Sakura was blushing like crazy.
"N-N-na-naruto? W-we didn't do anything, right? J-just..."
Sakura couldn't take it anymore and so she hiked her Kimono at the waist and quickly ran towards the window with a speed of a ninja. She quickly jumped out, leaving Naruto on the floor to his own vice. Naruto had his hand stretched out to where Sakura was but he couldn't find the voice to stop Sakura in time. When she was long gone, Naruto let out a hoarse whisper.
"Sakura, hear me out, please"
His unheard plea for Sakura was all in vain. Dammit. Naruto ran his fingers through his blonde locks. Today, he needed to see Tsunade for training. That being said, Sakura will probably be there. Not that he was a coward or anything, but Naruto didn't think seeing Sakura right now would be the best or anything. If avoidable, confrontation should be brought to a halt. He had to avoid her otherwise the awkwardness would probably embarrass her. The other jounin would probably catch on to something if Sakura started acting weird around him. Dammit. Naruto gritted his teeth. He made a huge mistake that he couldn't control. Now his years-of-slowly-building friendship with Sakura crumbled to the ground in a matter of hours. He needed to get this off his mind. Naruto changed into his jounin uniform and flashed away. A few hours later, Naruto flashed into the office of the Hokage, sensing first to see if anyone else was in the office aside from Tsunade. Namely searching for Sakura, who was supposed to be in the hospital at the moment.
"Naruto? What can I do for you today? Training?"
"Mission, please"
"Oh, being polite now? Mission on top of it? Trying to get something off your mind? Something, I don't know, pink-haired?"
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he frowned. Tsunade noticed the change in expression and knew she hit a nail. She dropped the joke quickly and brought out mission scrolls.
"Alright. Your choice of rank. A, B-"
"S"
"Alri-WHAT? You want an S-rank? I'm sorry but-"
"I've already done 15 in ANBU, another one won't hurt. Besides, you've seen my record, not a single scratch, ahead of schedule, if anything, S rank is a bit easy."
Tsunade frowned a bit. He was correct in that aspect. His ANBU record was, what's the word, exemplary. Acquiescently she pulled out an S-rank scroll.
"Alright, S-rank. Assassination. Here's your mission details. Prepare for departure in one hour."
"Ryokai" (an:/ "Roger")
Naruto took the scroll Tsunade handed to him and flashed away. Just as Naruto left, Sakura bursted through the door, sensing Naruto was inside.
"Eh? Where did Naruto go?"
"Gone. Sent him on a mission?"
"Already? What was it?"
"Can't. Classified information."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. If the details of the mission were classified, it either meant an ANBU mission or S-ranked. While that was the primary reason for Tsunade's silence, Tsunade understood that Naruto didn't want to be around Sakura at the moment. Most of the time, Tsunade could tell her student whatever information she wanted, classified or not. But at the moment, telling Sakura where Naruto was going could possibly cause confrontation, which, clearly, Naruto was trying to avoid. Sakura relaxed a bit and handed a stack over to Tsunade.
"Shizune told me to give you these new papers to complete. As of the status of the Hospital at the moment, everything is under control. Three jounin were recently submitted, mostly due to accidents. One stepped on a trap he set up himself. The others were caught in the trap. They are all stable and out of intensive care. They will be back in commission in three days."
"tch-Damn that Inuzuka. Can't he sniff out his own traps?"
Sakura sighed. That was exactly what she said to Kiba. Sadly, Neji and Chouji were caught in the blast. Not much to do since all they were sporting was a few broken bones and a small amount of burns. Sakura bowed and shunshined away. If she wanted to talk to Naruto, it would be now, before he left.
Sakura just missed him again. Naruto had already left the gates ten minutes before Sakura had even reached the entrance of the gate. In frustration, Sakura unleashed one of her chakra infused punches to the ground, scaring the shit out of Izumo and Kotetsu.
"Damn him. When he gets back, he'll pay."
Izumo and Kotetsu, having some idea of who she was talking about, gulped. Izumo turned to Kotetsu.
"Whoever she's talking about better watch his tail if he wants to live..."
Sakura stormed away, heading towards the hospital. A majority of the civilians rushed away from the co-head medic of the hospital, who looked like she could flatten a house any moment.
Sakura had enough of this chase of cat and mouse. She needed to talk to Naruto about this morning. So far, before the hokage's office, Sakura had almost found Naruto at the training field, Ichiraku's, and the town armory. Each time, Sakura would sense Naruto's chakra, but it would disappear the moment she entered the premises. That damn Yondaime's technique lets the stupid blond disappear at any moment. Coward's technique at this point, if you ask me.
Sakura was frustrated beyond words, at this point. Sakura narrowed her eyes at the nearest tree to her right and lashed out a side kick, obliterating the oak to splinters. She gritted her teeth and moved on to the hospital. She mulled over what happened this morning. Frankly she wanted to smack herself for running away, it wasn't her intention at all. Quite the reverse, actually. She was almost elated. He had the crazy grin on just for her, making her heart flutter like a hummingbird's wings. His scent was so enticing, forever burned into her memory. His eyes. Oh, his eyes. The cerulean blue that was the truest blue. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, begging to free itself. Now she chased Naruto away. Her years of building up a friendship with him crumbled by her cowardice.
"Dammit..." She muttered darkly.
Naruto looked around the corner of the alley he was in, taking in his surroundings of the main road. His target entered the casino with the usual thug-like bodyguards. This was rather easy for an s-rank, Naruto thought. Strange...
Naruto followed the men in, disguised in his henge of a lanky brown haired man. His normal six foot three imposing figure was cut down to a five foot seven. Glasses framed his, now, green eyes and his whisker marks had disappeared under the dark tan skin. The gaudy target sat at a blackjack table and waited to be dealt. Naruto settled himself at a slot machine not too far away and started to tinker with the machine as he kept his eyes on the group of men at the table. At least he wasn't thinking about Sakura, oh wait, dammit! This is going to be a long night, Naruto couldn't help but inwardly sigh.
an:/ And there you go! First chapter. This story will be an estimate of less than 10 chapters but greater than 3. I know, vague, but somewhat accurate. Three is too short and ten is just too long. I'll shoot for in between. Alright, till next time, See ya!
OH and btw, since I listed this under M (when I first published this, I didn't know how to write well so now that I'm slightly more experienced...), there might be some lemon in future chapters...unless you don't want me to, tell me in the reviews or by PM. Otherwise, don't say I didn't warn ya.
Aerotyl over and out.