Chapter 2: The Date

(Disclaimer! I owe nothing of Naruto)

I was at my house looking at the book that Pervy Sage gave me. "He seriously expects me to try these things," I said flipping through pages, "This looks more like a guide to perverts." I looked out the window at my favorite ramen place. "Is Sakura really doing this for me?" I asked. Sakura was looking out the window. She was remembering all the times she punched me. "I wonder if he still likes me even after what I did to him," she said to herself. "Don't be ridiculous," said Inner-Sakura, "Of course he does." Ino came in the room. "You're nervous aren't you?" asked Ino. "What?" asked Sakura, "No." "I can tell when you're lying," said Ino. "So what if I am," said Sakura. Ino giggled. "Look, its ok to be nervous," said Ino, "How do you think I felt when I asked Neji out?" "You didn't look nervous," said Sakura. "Trust me I was," said Ino, "The point is you shouldn't let fear run your life." "Ok," said Sakura. "We may be rivals, but I still care about my friend," said Ino. Sakura looked at the picture of a group of heroes called the Star Kids. "Just ask yourself," said Ino, "What would the Star Kids do?"

I walked into the Hokage's room. "Grandma Tsunade," I said. She threw a shrunken at me and it almost hit me. "Stop calling me that," she shouted. "Lady Tsunade I mean," I said. "That's more like it," said Tsunade more calmly, "What can I do for you?" "I need some advice on women," I said. She held her breath to stop from laughing. "What?" I asked. "Its just…. The thought about you asking about women," said Tsunade giggling. "Hey," I said. She saw the book I got. "Jiriya," she said. "Yeah," I said, "Pervy sage gave me this book and it looked like a guide to pervs." Tsunade laughed. "Yeah," I said as I looked down on the floor. "I think I can explain about women," said Tsunade, "Its better to take a female perspective then a male perspective." She spent the next few minutes giving me a pep talk about how to treat a woman right. I took some notes down. "This will help a lot with my date," I said. "Good luck," said Tsunade. Sauske bumped into me. "Watch where you're going loser," said Sauske. "You watch it," I said. He turned his back. "Asshole," I said.

I went to Ramen Ichiraku and saw Teuchi. "Naruto," he said, "How's my #1 customer?" "Doing good," I said, "Hey I need a favor." "Sure," he said, "What do you need buddy?" "Do you think you can reserve some seats for me and Sakura tonight?" I asked, "We're having a date." "Sure," said Teuchi happily, "On one condition." "Sure pal," I said, "Anything you need." "Deliver some ramen to some customers," he said as he gave me some directions. "Just follow these pathways and you'll find all the customers." "Sure thing!" I said proud and happy. I went around delivering ramen to hungry customers. They were as happy as can be to get their ramen on time. I returned and gave the money to him. "I should get a job as a ramen delivery boy," I said as I was heading back home. I looked up at the sky and looked back on all my memories. "Have I really gotten stronger?" I asked myself.

Later that late afternoon I was heading to the place where Sakura asked me to meet her. I saw her. "Naruto," she said smiling, "I'm glad you're here." I smiled. "Are you ok Sakura?" I asked. "I'm fine," said Sakura, "I just wanna spend time with my teammate." She took my hand. "So where are we going?" she asked. "I was thinking about Ramen Ichiraku," I said. "Sounds good," she said smiling. Teuchi saw us coming. "Naruto and Sakura," he said. "2 of your best ramens," I said. "Comin' right up," he said. "So Naruto," said Sakura smiling, "I hear you're training with a guy named Jiriya." "Yeah," I said, "He trains me in the weirdest ways, but I get what he's doing sooner or later." "You seem more mature," said Sakura, "And I think you've gotten a little taller than before too." "Yeah," I said, "I guess those days of training paid off."

She giggled. We spend the next few minutes eating and talking. "Naruto, I have a question," said Sakura. "Yeah?" I asked. "Do you think I'm cute?" asked Sakura. My eyes widened. "What was the question?" I asked. She giggled and said, "Am I cute?" I blushed. "Y-y-yes," I said. She smiled. "Cause there's the prom coming up," said Sakura. "I'll probably go too," I said. "There's a really special guy that I'm thinking about asking to it," said Sakura. "Sauske?" I asked as I smiled eating more ramen. "Not exactly," said Sakura, "Its another guy." "Who is he?" I asked. "He's really cool," said Sakura, "He takes his training seriously and sometimes I wonder if he even likes me back." "Well who is he?" I asked, "I can ask him for you if you want to." She blushed. "There's no need," said Sakura. We were walking back home. "That hit the spot," I said. "I'm glad you decided to treat me," said Sakura, "You may be a bit annoying at times, but you're still a really nice guy." We heard a noise. "What was that?" I asked.

Some rouge ninjas appeared. "Hello," said their leader, "We figured we could escort this young lady for you." One of them grabbed Sakura. "Let her go!" I said. "Come and make me punk," said one of his thugs. He attacked me and I dodged. The others joined him. Their leader held Sakura hostage. "We'll show you a real fun time," he said. "Let me go!" she shouted struggling. I was fighting off the thugs. One of them kicked me in the stomach and I fell. "I'm not going down just yet," I said as I got up. I did hand signs and formed a clone. "Focus," I said to myself. My clone circled his hands around mine and a ball of wind appeared in my hand. "Here goes!" I said, "Rasengan!" I took out all the thugs in one hit. I looked at their leader. "Drop your weapon!" he said, "Or the girl dies." I cared for Sakura and didn't want her hurt. I dropped my weapon. "Now this won't hurt a bit," he said. He was about to hit me when Sakura punched him so hard he was sent flying. "Chaaaaaaaaa!" she shouted. The others looked at her and ran. "You haven't seen the last of the Sharingan clan!" said one of them. She gave me a hand. "I could've gotten him," I said. "Yeah I know, but the hell you could," she said jokingly as she smiled. Someone was watching us from a tree. "You're not as stupid as I thought he said.

We were walking to her house. "Thanks for today," said Sakura, "I had fun." "No problem," I said. "And thank you for walking me home," she smiled. She went back inside and stopped. She turned around and gave me a kiss on the lips. "Thanks again," said Sakura, "Listen I'll tell you who I'm thinking about going to the prom with, but don't go through the trouble hunting him down to tell him about me." "Sure," said Sakura, "That's a promise. Believe it." She smiled. "You, Naruto," she said. I blushed and smiled. "Me?" I asked, "But why me? I mean I'm weird and…." She took my hands. "Naruto, you're amazing," said Sakura, "Don't ever let anyone tell you any different." She smiled. "So you want to…." I said, "I mean….. let me do it the right way. Would you like to go with me to the ninja prom?" She kissed my cheek. "I'd love to," said Sakura, "Bye now." She went inside. I looked around to make sure no one was looking. "Wahooooooooooo!" I shouted. Sakura saw me and giggled.

(Well looks like Sakura's starting to fall for Naruto! But who is this mysterious Sharingan clan? And who is their leader? Why am I asking you all these questions? Tune in and find out!)