Disclaimer: is surrounded by the Naruto police. Alright, I admit it! I don't own Naruto, or any of its characters!
"C'mon, Sakura-chan! Eat up!" Naruto exclaimed exuberantly, as the two of them sat together at Ichiraku's, 2 bowls placed in front of them. "My treat!"
Sakura snapped away from her thoughts, and gave him a strained smile. "Y-yeah, you're right! Gomen...I was zoning out a bit…" she picked up her chopsticks and dug into her bowl of steaming noodles. "Ooh, this looks good!"
Naruto gave her a concerned look, seeing that there was something irritating her. 'It must be…him…'
'Sasuke-kun…' Sakura thought, staring at the soup of the ramen, reflecting her own worried face, her downcast eyes. Naruto just turned away, with a defeated look. He could see right through her happy façade, and saw that the certain Uchiha was in her thoughts. He recalled their last encounter with Sasuke, staring at them with cold, emotionless eyes. His power was impressive, no match for the two teammates. He tried to kill them, with out a second of hesitation. Sakura, Naruto, Yamato, and Sai did all they could to bring him back, but it was futile, and within minutes, Sasuke had left them, crushed and dejected.
Suddenly, Sakura's thoughts were interrupted. "Sakura-chan." Naruto said, still looking the other way. She looked up to him, startled. "I…I didn't bring him back again…but I'll get stronger…" he turned to her with a determined, reassuring grin. "I'll never go back on my words! It's a promise of a lifetime!"
Sakura stared at Naruto, with a surprised look on her face. 'Naruto…' her thoughts went back to 2 1/2 years ago, when Naruto gave her the promise of a lifetime.
"Naruto…my only favor…Sasuke-kun…please bring back Sasuke-kun!"
"I'll definitely bring Sasuke back! It's a promise of a lifetime!"
Sakura returned the smile, and nodded, free from her worries. "Yeah!"
"I'm glad you're back to normal, Sakura-chan." Then his grin became foxy and mischevious. "So, then you'll pay for the ramen, right? Or if not, maybe a kiss might—"
A vein popped on Sakura's forehead, and glared at him, fuming. "Baka! No way!" she punched him on the head, causing a big bruise to appear on his head.
"ItteSakura-chan! That hurt!" Naruto whined, putting his hand delicately on his hand so the pain would die down. "It was just a joke…!" he gave a scared grin as he slurped down his ramen.
"Hmph…!" Sakura huffed and turned to the other way, with an irritated and embarrassed look on her face. She picked up her chopsticks and chewed on some noodles. She glanced to the other direction, her expression softening, where Naruto was sitting, gulping down his ramen. She gazed at him for a few moments, then gave him an affectionate smile.
'Thank you, Naruto.'