Disclaimer: No (sigh)…I do not own the characters of Naruto…they all belong to that wonderful genius Masashi Kishimoto :-)
A/N: I just want to say a big THANKS to everyone who took the time to review :-) You guys rock!
Thoughts - Italics
Speech – ""
Point of view –
Aishteru Naruto…I Love You
Part 2:
(Naruto)
She's so beautiful…Sakura-chan…why does my heart still ache whenever I look at you…whenever I'm around you and I smell that fragrant scent of fresh morning wildflowers about you, it makes my heart pound and my blood sing with an uncontrollable desire to hold you close to me…just having you by my side like this fills me with so much joy and pain…joy from just being able to be near you like this…pain from that knowledge that you will probably never love me the same way that I love you…and it is because of this heartbreaking knowledge that I have decided to go out with Hinata…maybe she can become the new love of my life…maybe she will prove to be the one who will ignite a new flame of hope, love, and desire within my heart...I hope that this is true…because I'm so tired of being alone…
Naruto released a dejected sigh, but he quickly covered it up with a smile when he noticed that Sakura was looking at him strangely.
"What is it Sakura-chan? Is there something on my face?" Naruto asked in confusion, as Sakura continued to stare intently at him.
"It's umm…(giggle)…nothing serious Naruto-kun…you've just got a twig stuck in your hair...it must have fallen off of one of these trees and become lodged in that spiky, blond hair of yours," Sakura said with a pleasant laugh.
Her laughter sounded as exquisite to Naruto as the music of the songbirds that perched on his windowsill in the mornings, serenading him with their beautiful songs.
"Okay…now just stay still while I take it out for you," Sakura said with one last giggle, as she stopped Naruto and turned him around to face her.
Then going onto the very tips of her toes, Sakura reached up, and plucked the offending piece of wood from Naruto's hair.
As she came back down onto the balls of her feet, a stray strand of coral-colored hair brushed gently against the side of Naruto's face, and the sweet scent of honey-suckle permeated his senses.
Naruto closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, savoring the sweet scent for a few seconds, before he reopened his eyes and saw Sakura giving him a questioning look.
Giving a short, embarrassed laugh, and rubbing the back of his head nervously, Naruto gave Sakura a shy smile, before he took off a light run.
"Hey, Naruto-kun, wait for me!" Sakura called out to Naruto, who then stopped, and waited for her to catch up to him.
When she had finally caught up, Naruto said to her "don't forget Sakura-chan, I like my noodles nice and hot. So let's hurry up and get back home before Teuchi-san closes up his ramen shop!"
"Naruto-kun," Sakura said with a laugh, as they turned the last corner in the path, and came within sight of the Hidden Leaf Village. "You know that Teuchi-san can't close up his ramen shop before you've come by and eaten…he'd never hear the end of it from you if he tried that."
"Darn right he wouldn't!" Naruto exclaimed as they walked up to the gates, and then waving at the two shinobi guards posted there, passed through.
"He knows how much trouble he would be in if…" Naruto started to say before he was interrupted by someone speaking in a soft voice to them.
"H…hi, Naruto-kun...I'm glad that you've come back safely…oh…and you too Sakura-chan," Hyuuga Hinata said quietly as she walked up the pair, and then gently took a hold of one of Naruto's hands.
"Hey, Hine-chan! What are you doing out here? I thought that you were going to be doing some heavy training with Neji-kun today?" Naruto asked, while giving Sakura a slightly embarrassed smile, for Hinata had moved closer to him, which had made Sakura have to move back slightly.
Naruto knew how threatened Hinata felt whenever he was alone with Sakura. She knew that Naruto had never truly stopped loving the pink-haired kunoichi, and she worried that one day Naruto would leave her for Sakura.
Naruto did all that he could to prove to Hinata that he was with, and cared for her now, and that he and Sakura were (and would remain) nothing more than just friends.
It didn't always work, and Naruto knew that this was one of those times when he looked into Hinata's alabaster-colored eyes, and saw the storm clouds slowly gathering within them.
"TenTen-chan came by, and Neji-kun told me to take the rest of the day off because they were going to go out on a date. So I left and came out to find you Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she moved a little closer to Naruto.
"I was…um…kind of hoping that…uh…maybe we could…umm…kind of go out on a date ourselves Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a shy smile as she looked deeply into Naruto's surprised, blue eyes.
"Maybe we could go to the Ichiraku Ramen Shop and share a nice, big bowl of ramen together?" Hinata asked with a hopeful smile on her face.
"Ah…that sounds like a nice idea Hine-chan…but you see, I kind of already promised Sakura-chan, ah," Naruto stopped talking when he saw Sakura shaking her head vigorously at him.
Hinata quickly looked over at Sakura, who immediately stopped shaking her head.
Sakura then raised a hand and gently began to massage her neck.
"Darn neck cramps," Sakura said with a nervous laugh. "They always get me at the worst times."
Hinata looked at Sakura suspiciously for a second or two longer, before she turned her gaze back towards Naruto, and stared uncertainly up at him.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said with a slight tremble in her voice.
"Of course I want to go out with you Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed with a bright smile on his face. But the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "You know that I love going out anywhere with you!" Naruto continued saying as he turned Hinata around, and began leading her in the general direction of the ramen shop.
As he turned away, Naruto mouthed a silent apology to Sakura out of the corner of his mouth. He then turned completely around, and continued walking away with Hinata.
Sakura, left standing by herself before the gates of Konoha, released a deep sigh, and then putting one dejected foot before the other, began making her way slowly home.
Naruto's heart was in turmoil as he quietly walked with Hinata towards the Ichiraku Ramen Shop.
He felt terrible about leaving Sakura behind like that, but he realized that Sakura was right in warning him…he really couldn't have turned down Hinata's offer. This was the first time that she had ever asked him out on a date, and he couldn't have broken her heart by telling her "no, sorry…I've already made plans with Sakura-chan."
Naruto cast one last look over his shoulder, trying to spot Sakura, but she was already gone.
Naruto released a deep sigh, and turned his head back around, and was surprised to see Hinata staring unhappily up at him.
Naruto thought about saying something to try to make her laugh, but the sad look in her eyes quickly made him abandon that idea.
Instead he leaned down and captured Hinata's lips in a warm and tender kiss that made her sigh in blissful pleasure.
When Naruto finally ended the kiss, Hinata smiled happily up at him and a light, rose-colored blush began to spread delicately across her cheeks.
Hinata then put her arms around Naruto's waist, and snuggled contentedly into him.
Naruto raised his arm, put it gently across Hinata's shoulders, and pulled her in closer to his body.
Naruto looked down at Hinata's dark, indigo-colored hair and a sad little smile slowly began working its way across his face.
Naruto then closed his eyes, and allowed his mind to drift to the image of a girl with laughing-green eyes, and beautiful, short-cropped pink hair.
Aishteru Sakura-chan…
I love you…
To be continued…
Translation Table
Shinobi – Ninja
Kunoichi – Female Ninja
A/N 2: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed :-)
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