Thank you for the make me happy and want to update asap. I'm excited to be back and to be rewriting this and to finally finish this. I actually have the next few chapter written out. :D So expect weekly updates. YAY.
Chapter 2
Naruto could be seen just leavening his favorite ramen place, throwing his coat on in a hurry because he had realize he was going to be late to see his best friend/ rival. Sasuke had asked him to come to the hospital today because the bastard wanted to 'talk' to him about something important.
'This better be important' Naruto thought. 'I'm missing my 7th, 8th, and 9th bowl of ramen right now...'
He slowed down his pace when the hospital came into view. He sighed deeply and tried to think and give himself some time before he had to put on a happy face in front of Sasuke. The past couples of days just weren't going well for him and he needed to get his mind off it so maybe seeing that ignorant bastard he had forced to come back could at least keep him busy enough not to think about... her.
He walked in the door and passed the nurse behind the desk without a word or even a glance. The blonde woman looked up and smiled mischievously. He passed other rooms till he got to Sasuke's and opened the sliding door and walked in and closed it behind him. When he glanced at his friend he noticed that Sasuke was just sitting there waiting looking slightly impatient. He took a seat at the chair next to the bed and relaxed. He sighed really loud then sat up and looked at his best friend.
"So what you want bastard." He asked flatly. In all reality, he didn't want to be here, he wanted to be eating his ramen or sleeping, but not everyone gets there wish and it seemed to be Naruto's week not to get what he wanted. Sasuke smirked his ever cocky grin at him slightly.
"Well first off, Tsunade is letting me out in a couple of days so now you can actually have a better sparing partner." He said trying to joke. It's true that Sasuke had finally killed his brother off and like Sakura said, it didn't make him feel any better... but he saw no point in coming back to Kohona when he had found out the truth and had wandered the country aimlessly trying to find his purpose once again. That is until Naruto and Sakura had tracked him down and FORCED Sasuke back. They had to fight him to the point of death and Naruto had worked his magic personality to make him realize that just cause the last generation had made their mistakes didn't mean the new generation couldn't make it right. Sasuke smiled at his friend at the corner of his eye. Naruto would never know how he had saved him from the dark pit inside him. And little by little and I mean VERY slowly was he reverting back to the way he was before he left. It helped to have a support team like Naruto. He relaxed a little. Naruto gave him a blank look.
"And? I can still kick your ass any day of the week" Naruto stated.
"Ch, that's what you think." He retorted.
"Well I'm not the one in the hospital bed am I?" He yelled back making his point by crossing his arms in pre-triumphness.
"You're going to be and anyways you had to have help in the first place to get me in here from Sakura." Sasuke said.
"HA! She was just a warming you up so I could totally kick your ass!"
"Well you still had to have help in the first place from her! Dobe!"
"TEME!"
"DOBE!"
"TEME" Sasuke coughed after a second and rubbed his head.
"I didn't call you down here to fight with you..." Naruto sat down in his seat... somewhere in the middle of fighting with Sasuke he had stood up to yell. He knew he was getting worked up for nothing and letting the bastard get under his skin.
"Then what is it" He said getting a little impatient.
"I ... I want to talk about Sakura..." Naruto froze for a second as he felt his heart skip a beat.
"What about her." He asked cautiously.
"I don't know just since I came back I just really been noticing her...now since I don't have anything in my way of focus and she has gotten really strong and would be the perfect woman to bear my kids." He said watching his friend closely but acting natural. "And she isn't bad looking at all with those curves" He added with a smirk. Naruto hands fisted tightly and unfisted. He turned around towards the window trying to relax his body so it wouldn't cue Sasuke how he felt about him talking about Sakura that way.
"Whatever teme. She's been yours from the beginning and she really cares for you... she waited that whole time for you." He looked over giving his foxy grin with his eyes closed. "Just remember though... You break her heart... I break your face." He turned around and was headed for the door but stopped at Sasuke's voice.
"That's not all though..." Naruto turned around confused. "I want you to stay away from her."
"What?" Naruto asked in disbelief.
"I want you stay away from her... She said something to me... that made me worry... and I want you to stay away from her until me and her are official." He said total seriousness on his face. Naruto turned away thinking deeply. Not wanting to make this promise but he loved both his friends and wanted the best.
"Ok... only for her happiness though..." He said and left.
"Dobe" Sasuke muttered as he left.
Sakura had tried looking for Naruto at his favorite restaurant but to no avail he wasn't there. She felt like she had checked everywhere and when she asked, no one seemed to know were he was and she was absolutely frustrated and to her boiling point. She was heading for the hospital to see if he might have stopped by to see Sasuke. As she got closer she saw Naruto leaving the hospital. A smile graced her lips and she crept towards him. He hadn't seen her yet so she decided to sneak up on him and hit him the head. She smirked as she came up with a plan. She was only 5 feet behind him and she got prepared to take him down with her brilliant pounce when a flash of blonde caught her eyes and she was pushed back and into a bush from the side and landed with an 'oof'
Naruto looked behind him swearing his ears had heard a noise but there was nothing there... He shrugged and started walking away.
'A squirrel probably fell out of a tree... poor thing'
Sakura pushed the blonde thing or should I say person off her.
"Ino-pig! Why did you that for! I was going to sneak up on him as a joke!" She complained peaking over the bush to see that Naruto had disappeared. Sakura felt herself want to sigh in annoyance for losing her blond teammate. Ino put on an innocent face.
"But Sakura... I saw you and I wanted to surprise you. How was I supposed to know you were going to do the same thing to him?" She said with a pout. Sakura sighed and got up and dusted of her skirt and shirt.
"Ok... you're forgiven so. How has your day been?" She said acting polite but showing her slight agitation at her best friend. Ino smiled and turned around.
"I'm Sorry Sakura. I got to go... I just wanted to drop in and say a quick hi to you since I haven't seen you in a bit..." She said as she left. Sakura now felt the urge to sweat dropped. Was her friend becoming dumber?
"But I saw you yesterday..." And with that she decided that all the girls in Konoha were losing it and that she was definitely not going to let this strange insanity get her too. She started heading in the direction she saw Naruto go hoping to catch him before he got to far.
It didn't take her long to catch up with him. He had only gotten a couple blocks and seemed to lack his normal eccentrics but she hoped to change that as she once again was ready to pounce on her unsuspecting victim. A Voice called out.
"NARUTO-KUN!" A similar sight of blond came in sight. It was Ino and she ran up to the other blonde and hugged him. Sakura stopped and hid behind the closet object she could find... which was a tree. 'Naruto-KUN! When did she start calling him that? She doesn't have a thing for him does she? NOWAY! She cant...she wouldn't... would she?' Sakura looked from behind the tree to them. She saw Naruto smile and say hi.
"So Naruto-kun.. Where you going! Hmm?" She asked with the voice she used with Sasuke.
"Uhh going to get some ramen" he said as he pried her away from him starting to feel the discomfort of her hanging all over him
"Can I come?" She asked.
"Sure?... I didn't know you like ramen... I thought you hated it..." He said slightly confused. She laughed with her annoying laugh which made Sakura and Naruto wince.
"OF COURSE I LIKE IT SILLY" She said as she connected arms with him and started walking him forcefully away.
Sakura slid down the the ground in shock and proped against the tree and started to think. 'Ok this is weird... Ino is showing some interest in Naruto... WHAT AM I KIDDING! That was down right flirting! And Naruto didn't say no... But he wouldn't normally say no to a girl when it comes to his ramen... But he didn't seem offended she came... So maybe... OMG! HE LOVES INO!... Could that be the girl Hinata was crying about...? OMG INO'S A BOYFRIEND STEALER!... Ok... that wasn't very new... but still Hinata is her best friend too... why would she do that, Omg my head hurts... ok I'm just going to go and talk to Sasuke. That should calm me down... yeah talking to Sasuke.. he might find a reasonable explanation' She got up and headed to the hospital.
Sakura walked into the hospital towards Sasuke's room. Her mind was off in LaLa-land that she ran right smack into the door. She rubbed her head and muttered a few cuss words. Inside Sasuke smirked knowing, who the person on the other side was. The pink haired girl opened the door, still rubbing her head, and walked in.
"Hey Sasuke, how you feeling?" She said with a smile while walking closer to his bed.
"Great since you got here." He said with a smirk on his face. Sakura felt her cheeks burn lightly at his forwardness. She walked over and sat down on the chair that Naruto had been occupying earlier before.
"So….When are they letting you out?" She asked awkwardly.
"In the next couple days." It got quiet in the room. Sakura looked around the plain hospital room.
"So… Uh... I saw Naruto earlier. Did he come to see you?" Sakura said trying to play it off cool with what she said, even though she was a bit curious.
"Yeah... We chatted for a bit…Then he left." Hi eyebrow rose "Why? Did you talk to him... or something?" He leaned a little off his pillow making Sakura feel a little nervous for being put on the spot. Sakura almost felt like this was a test and she was definitely not prepared
"Uh….. No, Ino kept interrupting us... it was odd…. First I see him and was about to sneak up on him then out of nowhere! She jumps me and then runs off…. Then I'm about to get him again then she jumps him! And runs away with him. AND SHE WAS FLIRTING WITH HIM!" By now Sakura had stood up and was now pacing back and forth, throwing up her hands around to emphasize her points. "Which this is VERY odd… She never liked Naruto before…. THEN! She giggles and says she likes ramen…That woman would rather eat all the barbeque ribs in the world and be with Shikamaru, THEN TO EAT RAMEN WITH NARUTO!" She said in a mass panic.
"You make it seem like Naruto is a horrible guy…." Sasuke said. Sakura's face twisted into one of terror that she was accidentally insulting her best guy friend.
"No...Just it's WEIRD…. They just wouldn't make a good couple that's all I mean and of course him and Hina-… THAT REMINDS ME! This morning… you will never guess what she did!"
"Who?" Sasuke asked with confusion in his voice.
"Hinata!" She yelled like it was obvious about who she was talking about.
"What she do?"
"SHE HIT ME!" Sakura said leaning really close to him. "AND THEN SHE CALLED ME A BOYFRIEND STEALER!….Which isn't true…because me and Naruto…nah it couldn't happen….I mean I get Naruto cute-" Sakura almost stopped her rant when she mentioned for the first time what she thought of her blond teammates good looks and quickly she covered it, hoping Sasuke wouldn't have noticed her slip. "and... And I would NEVER do that to Hinata. So I'm searching for Naruto to ask him what his deal is and to find out who the girl is! But then what Ino did… OMG! What if she really is the girl? Oh I would kill them both for doing that to Hin-….
"SAKURA!" Sasuke yelled. She shut up immediately. "Settle down…sit down ok...You sound like a Crazy person" She sat down. "Now, how about you put your worries about Ino, Naruto, and Hinata behind you… That's not your problem and you shouldn't get involve…."
"But Sasuke… Naruto's my friend and so is Hinata… And even Ino. I don't want any them to get hurt. I want this to get resolved….I just don't know what to do." She said sitting back in the chair and sighing. Sasuke leaned over and put his hand on her knee. She just stared at his hand for a bit, then looked at him. She had the urge to move her leg but didn't want to offend him.
"Sakura…. I want you to stop worrying about Naruto…. How about we concentrate on other things… like us?" He said with a serious look on his face. Sakura looked at him very confused.
"What?" She was slightly lost of words. Her heart started beating fast.
"How about... when I get out… you and me, go out on a date." He looked sincere but Sakura was having doubts that she heard that right. He wanted her to go on a date with him? Did she hear that right? She started to have this feeling that she was becoming insane like the other girls in Konoha too.
"Uh…..yeah….yeah... I would like that." Her face went bright red and she stood up. "… I got to go... I have to go see Shikamaru… I'll see you…" She turned away.
"Yeah...when I get out." She turned and smiled then left. She rubbed her head with her hand.
"Wow, I must have bumped my head really hard." She muttered to herself.
She walked out of the hospital and headed towards the ramen stand. 'I'm going to talk to Naruto…. I don't care what Sasuke says Naruto is important to me…' Sakura thought as she jogged towards the ramen bar.
As Sakura was running down the streets a lot of thoughts were going through her head. Was she dreaming that Sasuke asked her out? This just wasn't right…. And Naruto… She just had to talk to him. RIGHT NOW!
Naruto walked out of the ramen stand his stomach full and feeling like the day was turning to his favor. After the 7th bowl of ramen, he did feel a lot better. Ino had been really weird after he got there she flirted with him for another 10 minutes and ran out saying she had to go see Shikamaru. He figured she has found out about Hinata and him and was trying to comfort him….of course, in her own odd way. How news spread fast. He wondered briefly if Sakura had found out yet, she would probably hunt him down to find out what happened. He wished he could tell her but to bad he promised his word to Sasuke that he would avoid her with all cost.
He scratched his head and put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. 'Man this is going to be way too hard' He thought. Avoiding his best friend was going to be hard but he knew by the end of this she would forget all about him when she was happily within Sasuke's arms. Deep down, where a small part of him still liked her more then just a friend, he felt a tad jealous. Sakura had always had a way of making him feel like this but he had always been able to put it right back in that deep part in his heart and cover it with friendship. But right now, he felt absolutely helpless of everything that was going on. He decided maybe to go sit on top of the hokage monument.
As he sat there and stared at the village, his heart hurt and tears came to his eyes. In a one day period he had lost both girls he cared about dearly and for the same reason, because of love. Why did love always have to hurt him? When would love actually shine on him again? He just didn't care anymore. He got up and started walking home. It wasn't even lunch yet and he was already sick of today.
Sakura walked away from the ramen stand slowly. Naruto wasn't in there and from what the owner said he had left a whole 30 minutes ago. She decided to give up for now, not knowing where Naruto would be and started towards were Shikamaru loved to take his naps. She knew he would be furious with her because she didn't come on time. She found him in his normal spot. He opened his eyes when the sun was being blocked from his face. His face turned into a scowl.
"You're late." He stated.
"I know…. I was having Naruto problems" She said. Shikamaru eyebrow rose.
"When isn't Naruto a problem?" Sakura smirked at his assenide comment.
"Yeah, especially when you have Hinata, coming up to you and hitting you in the face calling you a boyfriend stealer." Shikamaru smirked and closed his eyes. This interested Sakura for his lack of shock in the subject. "Am I the only one surprised that she hit me?" She asked
"Probably…. I found out from Ino." He said. Sakura ONCE again was shocked.
"How did Ino know?"
"She was around when it happened." He stated like it was the most obvious thing.
"Really? I didn't see her when I was leaving….. Wait then why didn't she say hi to me then? Cause when I was about to talk to Naruto today she jumped me and distracted me from him and said hi and left and then when I was about to talk to him again she jumps him and they ran away together to the ramen stand… and if you ask me it looked like he was pulled there" she muttered the last part angrily.
Shikamaru had a scowl on his face. 'Damn' was his only thought.
"Well from what I got from her she was going to Sasuke to give him some flowers and she had passed the scene and over heard a little and told Sasuke, and maybe then after she had talked to Sasuke she saw you and not Naruto and decided to say hi…in her own weird way." He said looking lazily up at the sky. Sakura sat back and thought about it.
"Sounds logical... if your Ino that is..." She looked at her watch. "I got to go see if Neji will train with me today."
"He's just going to turn you down" Shikamaru said not look at her.
"Yeah, but there's still the suspense that he might say yes… and sooner or later he's going to get annoyed and say it." She said. Shikamaru closed his eyes and smiled.
Next chapter will be longer and I'd like you guys who is involved in this plan and who isn't :D Makes this fun for me
