AN: This is based off a little funny story that happened to me while buying some art in New York! xD
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
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A NaruSaku One-shot
Author: wubbzy
Count: 1838
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Koi
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"It means love, you know."
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Venders lurked the streets of Konoha. The dim light emanating from the street lamps glimmered over portraits, paintings, and miniature statues. The art was of different animals from kaleidoscopic butterflies to mighty elephants while their artist presented their work to common bystanders who gave a quick glance, continued their walk, or ignored it entirely. One was sure to find a diamond in the rough – an artist who would make anyone's eyes melt from the sheer talent. Unfortunately, there would most likely be a one in one hundred chance of finding those types of artists. And if Sakura estimated the amount of merchants just by glancing around, she would say there were only about twelve merchants on this street. The odds were not in their favor.
"Sai should really sell his work," Naruto thought aloud. "I bet he could make a fortune. I mean, with these suck ass paintings…" he trailed off, glancing over at an amateur sketch, showing exhibit A. His hands were casually clasped around his head with nothing but indifference to the glares from the artist. Sakura's eyes burned with fury while her ears tinged even more from his words, utterly embarrassed. He never did have any tact after all. She was sure pedestrians from the other side of the street heard that comment. She gauged, inquiring how many dilettantes wanted to gnaw his eyes out for criticizing their precious works. Her faux smile twitched to life, remaining like a porcelain doll. She had walked up to the angry artist, knowing it was time to work any form of magic she muster from her sleeves.
"I apologize for my – ignorant – friend here. He's not the artistic type and clearly can't see the beauty in such… abstract art. Ah, yes, that abstract painting of yours." Naruto was amazed at how she could lie out of her teeth like that. He stared at her as she continued trying to make things right for him – even though he didn't really care what they thought of him anyways, but she did.
"Are you kidding me? Abstract? It's a picture of the Hokage!"
"That's kind of insulting to baa-chan." Naruto had whispered, and Sakura's mouth continued to tingle.
"You obviously don't know anything about art either. Especially from a girl who can't compare to one-fourth of this true beauty," he insulted, clearly pleading for a death wish. Naruto would have defended Sakura's beauty if he needed to, but he knew she could take care of herself. Besides that, he had a feeling he had to defend the merchant, no matter how idiotic and blind he was. Naruto gulped, already feeling her rage. He wasn't sure if he should be glad it wasn't directed towards him…yet.
"Sakura-chan, let's not make a scene, he doesn't know what he's talking about. You're beautiful," Naruto tried to assuage, clenching on to her shoulder. He could practically feel her wrath as her muscles contracted. "Remember, if you punch him, there'll be no more him. As much as that would seem nice, you don't want that happening. Sakura-chan is the prettiest girl in the world!" Reasoning and rationality had seemingly come back to her as she took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles. Naruto let out a breath of relief, finally letting go. He was able to wipe his sweat on his forehead from the fear of something imminently horrible.
"Heh, did you see that? That guy had to hide behind his girlfriend," the man chortled to a complete stranger that just happened to walk by, interested in the spectacle they caused. Naruto had stopped, about ready to knock the guy out himself. That was until Sakura grabbed onto his jacket, pulling him away from the stand. The look in her eyes told him she wasn't going to let him do as he pleased. They continued to walk without saying another word to the merchant.
Sakura's lips continued to twitch, inwardly wanting to pound on the artist – she didn't want to give the guy the satisfaction of calling him that – better thought as an asshole. Instead, she settled with stomping on Naruto's toes. He yelped, hopping on one foot as he massaged his injured toes.
"Ouch, what was that for?" he whined.
"This was all your fault, you know. You can't shut your mouth for one second and enjoy an evening, one evening without causing any trouble," she reprimanded.
"All I said was Sai could make a lot of money if he sold his drawings," he reasoned.
"And, that those paintings were, 'suck ass,' remember? Tch." She crossed her arms, turning away from him. Naruto frowned and then groaned. He had spent a moment to ponder until he realized he didn't feel the presence of someone beside him. He sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and making sure he caught up to the infuriated girl.
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When Naruto finally noticed Sakura halted, he saw her staring at something with fascinated, malachite irises. Her mouth remained agape, awe-struck. A genuine smile rose to her pink lips. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed at the stand of countless paintings. He leaned in towards Sakura so she can lend her ear.
"Do you think she has some kind of fetish – " he was interrupted before he had the chance to continue. Figures the first thing that came out of his mouth after their argument would be something rude and insuperable.
"Quiet!" she menacingly whispered. The aged lady behind the weary table smiled at the couple. Sakura made sure to return it with an equally true smile. The odds were really good for them now, considering she was that diamond in the rough – her paintings seemed as though they were done by a professional, meaning she shouldn't be on the streets selling them for such low prices. "You're paintings are beautiful."
"They're fish," Naruto pointed out. Sakura glared, and the woman guffawed.
"My, my, aren't we the observant one… What made you deduct that?" She chuckled at his scowl.
"Well…they look kind of weird," he blurted out. Naruto crossed his arms in a childish manner.
"Oh, and he is not the most analytical guy out there, is he?" Her elbows were on the table while she rested her head on her clasped hands.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto childishly asked as he crossed his arms, grimacing.
"Alright, cut it out Naruto. Didn't we already discuss this tonight? I don't want you causing anymore trouble, or I'll just go home now." Sakura chided as she crossed her arms in anger. Naruto's arms dropped as he frowned at the latter option.
"Fine, I'll say no more." She smirked, finally deciding it was safe enough to continue looking at the paintings.
"What an interesting young man. Most men I see would jump at the chance at even leaving these parts. They would rather be do something else than accompanying their lady to look at paintings. Unless... first date?" Naruto couldn't help but chuckle.
"I wish that were the case," Naruto mumbled. In technicality, they already had their first date when they were twelve. However, he hadn't counted that as an actual date since Sakura wasn't in the right state of mind for it to be considered an official date.
"No, we're just friends," Sakura corrected.
"Aah," she spoke, enlightened.
"Getting back to your paintings… they're beautiful."
"They're fish," Naruto repeated.
"To specify, they are koi fish. They symbolize love you know." He wasn't sure if she was hinting at something or not. The old lady gave a small smirk.
"Does that mean I should buy one for Sakura-chan then? Oi, baa-san! Do you think you can give me that big painting of those two Koi? Only, do you think you can write: Naruto, the koi of Sakura-chan's heart?" Naruto couldn't help but laugh at his joke as he put down money, more money than it said on the price tag. Sakura and the old woman held a different tune. In fact, they were more monotone than anything. Sakura rolled her eyes while the old woman deadpanned.
"Are you sure you want your lady friend to remember you by making that joke – should I even call it such a thing? You're going to be kicked to the curve real fast if you keep making remarks like that."
"Hey!" Sakura sighed, dragging him off before he made anymore damage. At least she tried. "No, I already paid the lady, I'm getting what I asked for." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Wait patiently then. Geez, you really act like an idiot." Sakura shook her head, surprisingly in mild amusement. The lady once again gave off a hoarse chuckle at the two before her. The paint ran exquisitely over the large sheet of paper as she smirked when turning it around and adding something extra. She continued to hear their chattering as they waited for the ink to dry.
"Here you go foolish boy." Naruto scowled at the insult, but quickly turned the other way and smiled when looking at her handy work.
"You really are a great artist baa-san." Naruto held a big grin. "You like it Sakura-chan?"
"I could have done without your little joke on the side…" Sakura trailed off, but realized it didn't affect the beauty of it, and it somehow… worked.
"There's something special on the back too." He really did amuse her after all.
For a fool and his girlfriend was written.
"It looks like baa-san finally got it right," Naruto said aloud with nothing but pride by what the words implied. Besides the tint of red, Sakura couldn't help but pummel him to the ground.
"We're not like that."
"At least not yet." The old woman smirked. Naruto snickered a bit.
"Hey, you know Sakura-chan? I'm really starting to like her."
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She should have really been accustomed to scenes like that. Instances like the art incident always happened to them, because they fit together, like a real couple. While looking at the words imprinted in front, she couldn't help but feel it was true. He was kind of the koi – someone help her for actually thinking this – of her heart. She scowled then, realizing just how awkward the phrasing of that sentence was.
"Idiot."
She had mentioned it to him while he was walking her home. Naruto had merely chuckled. He had told her it was fine to him and it would soon be to her, knowing that it wouldn't look so awkward and weird once she saw it everyday and got used to the fact many were going to believe they were a couple. And she kind of believed him. After hearing the notion of them being a couple, she had gotten accustomed to that notion, sometimes even considering it. There was definitely reason to believe in his words.
After all, it only took a month for her to feel comfortable with what was written on the back of the Koi fish painting.
In fact, she accepted it, because the blonde headed knucklehead really was the koi of her heart.
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AN: Koi is a homophone for another word meaning "love," which is why I found it funny if Naruto made a "joke" with that. I think you all know the awkward phrasing of Naruto's "joke" was intentional, but I'm saying it here just to make sure you understand and no one gets pissy because of it. I mean, if you replace koi with love, it just sounds awkward. The love of her heart? Again, sorry for that, but in the end, it seamed well with the story, so I hope no one will complain. In fact, I hope you kind of liked it! Tell me what you think in a review! You can even write how much my joke sucks, or if you want to make a girl all giddy and happy, you should say how much the joke was HILARIOUS (even if it is a lie T_T)! THAT would mean a lot. :) Seriously... anyways, I hope you liked it, and please review!