Author's Note: This is a short NaruSaku drabble that I wrote just today, got quickly beta'd and uploaded. :D I'm very happy to see that my writing muse hasn't left me for good after last year's NaNoWriMo, and is back in time for me to start preparing for this year's. I don't know why I wrote NaruSaku, as I usually like the standard SasuSaku. This piece is set when the two characters are a bit older, after the time-skip. Naruto still has his crush on Sakura, but she doesn't want anything more from Naruto than to be friends. This is a ONESHOT.
Movie titles are intentionally left out of this fanfic, because 1) I have no idea what movies exist in the Naruto-verse, and 2) I figured readers would have a fun time inserting their own movies in the blanks.
The Date That's Not-A-Date
"So, which movie d'you wanna see?" Naruto looked up blankly at the long list, scratching his head in worry. He hadn't really been expecting that Sakura would take him up on his offer. His usual attempts at flirting ("Oi, Sakura! Wanna go on a date?!") were always resoundingly shot down ("Hell no!"), so it had been a major surprise that she'd taken him up on this one.
Since they'd been busy lately with missions, neither he nor she had seen any of the new releases. This was both a blessing and a curse; on the one hand, they were not short for choices. On the other hand, they were not short for choices. What to pick, what to pick…
"Um…" Sakura looked on the verge of suggesting something. Naruto traced her gaze to a big poster for the New Romantic Comedy Hit of the Summer! and tried to hide a shudder. Anything but that. All boring and mushy and no fighting at all and only couples went to those kind of movies anyways— and hey! So maybe if she picked that one, it meant—
"Not that one." Sakura said quickly when she saw him staring at the poster too. Naruto heard the unsaid part of that sentence: I don't want to see that one with you. He tried to stifle a fit of jealously when he pictured who she would have wanted to see the movie with. He could feel his lower lip forming into a pout.
But so what? It wasn't like Sasuke was even here to take her to the movies. Or would have taken her if he was here. They both knew that Sakura's chasing after Sasuke was almost as hopeless as Naruto's chasing after Sakura. Well, had been, until this afternoon when she'd agreed to go to a movie with him ("Hey Sakura, wanna go to a movie?" "…sure, why not?" "Oi! This is like a da—" "But it's not, so shut up already!").
Bringing himself back to the present, Naruto turned once again towards the posters. He figured all Romantic Comedies were out, so that left Action, Horror, or Foreign Films. Ick, he hated those. "What about that one?" he suggested, pointing to a horror flick.
Sakura's face turned green as she stared at the headless man on the poster. "I… I don't think I'd like that one," she finished hesitantly. "It looks more like a bloodbath that a good movie. We see enough of that as it is."
Oh. So stupid, Naruto thought, mentally kicking himself. Their last mission had involved hunting down a particularly psychotic missing ninja, one who loved disemboweling his victims. When reminded of that, Naruto could easily agree with Sakura's choice.
"Fine. So… so, none of that. How about… uh— that one?" he pointed to one at random. He was going to go crazy if this ordeal lasted any longer. Who would have thought picking a movie was this hard?!
Sakura looked at the poster too. "…that one?" she asked, quizzically. Naruto took a closer look at what he'd randomly chosen. Well, he thought, sure, why not? It had gotten good reviews, and probably had enough action to satisfy him, but enough plot to satisfy Sakura.
"Yeah, it's supposed to be good. Kiba n' Hinata already went to see it—" he stopped himself. Oh crap, those two were dating. Had he just made this one off-limits too?
Sakura had a look of serious concentration while she stared down the movie flyer. Naruto could almost hear the inner monologue: should we go see this, or is that too close to a date?
He gulped. Maybe she would call the whole thing off if they couldn't find a movie. Just when he feared the worst, Sakura sighed and looked at him with a smile. "Sure, that's fine."
Naruto almost laughed at the sudden loss of stress. "Sure! Let's go!" He bounded into the ticket line. Sakura followed at a slower pace.
"You're buying the tickets?" she asked, shocked. By the tone of her voice, Naruto could tell she was on the verge of protest.
Ack, must remember to keep this not-a-date! Naruto thought. Quickly he answered with a smile, "Only if you buy the popcorn!"
It took her a millisecond of indecision before answering. "Deal." Satisfied that this outing was "just between friends", Sakura went to the concessions.
A minute or so later Naruto reached the ticket counter.
"What'll it be, kid?" asked the grumpy old man behind the glass.
"Two. One for me, and one for my girl." Naruto replied with a grin.
It was a good thing Sakura was out of earshot.