The Backside of the Rose Chapter 1
A tired Sakura arose from her slumber on a bright and sunny Sunday. Rubbing her eyes, she groaned. Time to get up.
Aw man, weeding day today…
Rising out of bed, and making it, she moped over to the bathroom, to brush her teeth, and all the necessary little tasks to freshen up. Exiting, she went to her wardrobe and threw on a blue skirt and a collared shirt. She wore sandals too, with her favorite necklace with a rose in the center.
Sakura went downstairs, and grabbed a bagel to munch on. Sitting down, her thought began to wander.
Sasuke...I wonder how you're doing... She managed a grin.
Getting to work was difficult, as she thought Sasuke the whole time. The boy must've had a spell on her; Sasuke was all she thought about.
So as she pulled out weed after weed, she came across a pretty- No, a beautiful rose. It had to be the prettiest flower she'd ever seen, and would ever see.
Sasuke...This rose is like you, more beautiful than everyone else... It almost looks like my necklace…
"Ouch!" Sakura exclaimed, as the rose poked her thumb. Droplets of blood formed on it, and she placed her thumb in her mouth to ease the pain.
The backside of the rose... This doesn't seem to fit Sasuke...He's kind, and caring, and beautiful. No nasty side in him...
Right then, she felt that she heard footsteps.
'...Sasuke?...' She thought to herself. 'No, they were too quiet to be Sasuke.'
Sakura turned around to see a blonde-haired kid slightly shorter than her standing in front of her.
"H-Hi there! I'm Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto." The boy stammered.
Blond, striking blond hair, and ocean blue eyes, with a trio of whiskers guarding each side of his mouth... Wait... The apple...
"What's your name? Remember me? You gave me that apple back there." Naruto tried to jog her memory. Silence.
"I came to say thank you." Naruto proclaimed.
Sakura gaped at him, looking at his body.
Oh my gosh...he's so skinny. I-is he malnourished?
Looking down a bit, not enough to make Naruto notice, she remarked,
"Um yes, I'm Haruno Sakura. You bet I remember that apple!" She gave him a sudden hug, taking him off guard. He simply smiled at this.
"Here!"
"What...a coupon...to Ichikara Ramen Bar?"
"Yup!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
Sakura couldn't accept this; the boy had done enough for her.
"Naruto, is it? Look Naruto, thank you for this."
"You need this more than I do." She said, smiling softly.
Naruto seemed to understand this, and he smiled,
"Wow, you're so kind. No wonder I love you, Sakura-chan!" He was beaming.
Sakura mentally groaned. Idiot, he ruined the moment...Wait, what! He LOVES me?
"I'll always protect you, Sakura-chan." Silence again.
Sakura bopped him on the head. "Naruto!" she had a slight blush.
Naruto eventually piped up, "Maybe you should be a ninja with me!", as he pointed to himself, so full of confidence.
Sakura smiled at this, "Sure! I'll ask my mom about it!"
His boyish face lit up. Then, he noticed he was blushing intensely. He tried to hide his face down, but Sakura just giggled. Gosh, you're such an idiot, she thought to herself.
Looking at Sakura's watch, he groaned.
"Naruto, what's wrong?"
Oh no! I'm late!
"I have to go! Bye!" And with that, Naruto ran off.
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Sakura finished weeding now, so she had gone back in.
Ah...Sasuke... I can't stop thinking about you...
She picked up the phone, and called over to the Uchiha residence. Sasuke answered the phone.
"Hi there, this is Sasuke" the boy stated.
"Sasuke! How are you!" Sakura asked.
'Damn I hate this game...' Sasuke thought to himself as Itachi was beating him in a game of checkers.
"Ha-ha, it's about time you've gotten a fanclub, aniki." Itachi teased.
"Shut it." Sasuke said, muffling the phone.
"Something wrong, Sakura?" He asked, back on the line.
"No..." she paused..." Would you… um...like to get-" she was cut off by a sad Sasuke.
"Sakura, I'm sorry. I'm going to the ANBU tour today with Mother and Itachi. I won't be back until eight-o'clock.
"Maybe a different time!" He finished in a lighter tone.
"O-Oh..." Her voice trembled. "I'll see you later, I guess. B-Bye Sasuke."
"See you later, Sakura"
Sasuke put down the phone, and groaned. She hates me; Maybe I should talk mom and Itachi out of this. Going with her wouldn't be too bad, I guess.
"Alright Sasuke, back to ass-kicking." Itachi smirked, as I went over to the game, grimacing.
"Brother, I'll get you someday." Sasuke groaned.
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"Naruto!" Sandaime welcomed the boy into his office.
"Hi Old man!" Naruto piped.
Sandaime was annoyed at this statement.
"Naruto, don't call me that anymore." He said seriously.
"But…I need to tell you something, so listen up. I understand that your lifestyle is terrible."
At this, Naruto winced. He was broke, no money at all. Any job he applied for was dismissed without looking anywhere below his name.
Damn, I should've been nicer... Sandaime thought.
"So, Naruto, I bought you an apartment." He finished, with a smirk.
The boy stood there, looking up at his Hokage. "Why did you do this? That…was kind of you. Thanks."
"I bought it right next-door, so that you and I were never too far away. I hope you like it!"
"Hokage-sama...Thank you..." Naruto smiled.
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Author's Notes- That was fun to write! I was at the beach today, writing this in my spiral. :3
Edit- This is redone from last summer, with a lot of changes in style. No actual content was really changed, though.