I Only Have Eyes for You
Chapter 2: Green Eyes
Notes: I guess I should give where credit is due. I got the idea from something my friend told me he did for his girlfriend. The end result? Cue the sugar-sweetness overload!
That green eyes
Yeah, the spotlight shines upon you
And how could anybody deny you-- Coldplay
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Sakura adjusted the bag more securely over her shoulder. Armed with an all-purpose cleaner and a load of rags, Sakura turned the key and opened the door.
It was a week since Naruto was in his apartment. She expected to see strange growth developing from the leftover top ramen cups and two-week old milk cartons. Cleaning his apartment the morning of her birthday was not her idea of fun. However, she had nothing to do until that evening, when the party started.
To her immediate surprise, the apartment was relatively clean. There were a few haphazard placed items due to the commotion of packing: clothes, empty shuriken cases, scrolls laid out on the kitchen table. No food problems, no biological warfare to undergo...
Sakura placed her bag on one of the chairs at the kitchen table. At the center of it stood a small cactus plant, nestled in a terra cotta pot. She immediately recognized it as a gift from Gaara last year.
The flowers were slightly wilting. How the hell does one kill a cactus? Sakura walked over to the sink, grabbed a cup from the drying rack and filled it with water. She returned to the plant and proceeded to feed it, pouring enough water to satisfy the plant's thirst. She drank the rest in a steady stream.
After pulling the glass down, she proceeded to her task of cleaning. She rolled up the scrolls and tucked the loose-leaf pages in proper piles. He was going to be teaching a three-man team, she noticed. His contract was unsigned but filled out, set upon his table.
The idea of Naruto teaching children was bizarre. He might even teach them Ultra Super Sexy no Jutsu. Sakura grimaced.
As Sakura started collecting the clothes on the bed, she noticed a large, odd shape pile near the pillow. She gathered the pile towards her but paused when she saw a rectangular white box sitting near the headboard. She stepped closer and felt her eyes widened: on the card that was pasted to the front was "To Sakura-chan 3". Sakura immediately dumped the clothes from her arms and reached for the box. She pulled the card open and read quietly:
Happy birthday! You've waited long enough for this. Please use it, okay, because it didn't come cheap. --Naruto
P.S. Wear it when I come back for our ramen date!
He didn't... did he? Sakura yanked the lid off the box and stared at the red-orange fabric before her.
It was the jacket. The jacket from the store. The very same one she had been eyeing for weeks. When did...?
Wait... unless he ran to the store right after he dropped her off? But she would not put it past him; he always did things for her. Sakura's eyes softened as she reached for the jacket and pulled it out of the box. Immediately, she put it on, pulling her arms through the sleeves and zipping the front up to her chest. She peered around the room and looked to the nearest mirror; it was a wall mirror that hung right over his drawer of clothes. She proceeded to lift her arms up and down, admiring how the jacket fit her like a glove. The size was perfect on her.
She felt ecstatic, to say the least. Happy, excited, loved; all signs of gratitude to her old teammate.
They really have come a long way. Was it only seven years ago when they first joined the same team? When Naruto always obnoxiously tried to get everyone's attention? When their team was complete?
Soon, Sakura thought, he changed in such a short amount of time. Or rather, her view of him changed in such a short amount of time. He always had this huge crush on her, but deep down inside, they all saw one another as family. A smile appeared on her face.
He'll be back... Truth be told, she already missed him and it had only been a week. Sakura sighed as she watched her reflection put her fists in her side pockets.
She felt a piece of paper crinkle underneath her fist. Her brow furrowed towards her nose as she picked up the piece of paper. "Did he leave the receipt in here?" When she pulled out her hand, it was not just one piece of paper. It was three pieces in her hand, each folded in a square. Sakura picked one up and unfolded it.
I love how you look when you're healing someone; you look so cool.
That was Naruto's handwriting, she realized. She then opened the other ones she pulled out.
I love how you always have extra money just in case I need someone to spot me for lunch.
I love when I half a sandwich, you're always so nice to take the smaller half.
Curious, she dug deeper in her left pocket and found two more pieces of paper.
I love the way you look when you're in battle: scary and sexy all at once.
I love how you're strong like Tsunade-no-baa-chan but I hope you don't look like her by the time you're 56.
Before she knew it, Sakura found herself laughing out loud. And then, she became curious. She dropped to the floor, placing the five slips of paper on the floor and dug into the other pocket. Inside were five more; she unfolded them and set them on the floor as she read through each one.
I love the way your eyebrows furrow together right before you sock me.
I love the way you roll your eyes and smile whenever I ask you out.
I love how you like ramen, like me.
I love how you come back all sweaty and dirty after a mission and still look hot.
I love how you're always in my head when I should be thinking about my missions.
She could not help but laugh at these words Naruto left her. She could imagine him tapping his feet to an internal tune as he wrote on slips of paper, while sitting on the very same table to her right.
Wait, she wondered. That was all of them, right? Sakura popped open the right breast pocket and reached in. Sure enough, she felt another piece and pulled it out.
I love how you carve rabbit ears on my apple slices.
Sakura grinned. When she thought about it, whenever she was in the hospital, Sakura always had a tendency to peel the skin upwards and cut them so twin long ears protruded out of one end of the wedge. He would always grin with a thank you but she never realized he liked it that much. She reached deeper in her right breast pocket.
I love how just looking at you makes me feel strong.
I love it when you smile; it's like the whole world smiles with you.
I love it when you nag; it gives me a chance to hear your voice really loud.
She could not help but laugh, amused by how desperate Naruto sounded.
I love it when you say 'Hi' to be because I know that for a second, I was on your mind.
Her laughter fell. It may have sounded like desperation, but upon second look, she couldn't help but marvel at the adoration Naruto had for her. The ones in the side pockets seemed to have a sillier tone; these new ones were definitely more romantic in nature. Sakura reached over to her left breast pocket, popping it open and found more to read.
I love how I can be in a room full of people but you're always the first person I look for.
I love when you tell me 'Don't do anything stupid', when we both know that's code for 'Be careful'.
Suddenly, she recalled her last words to him last week.
I love the way you make it seem like the sun's shining when it's been down for hours.
I love how I'll catch myself smiling for no reason, only to realize I've been thinking of you.
I love how I know what love it since you've been in my life.
Sakura was floored. She sat with the cold wood underneath her bottom and twenty bits of paper set out in front of her. Twenty phrases of Naruto, twenty proclamations of love. Sakura did not know what to make of it. She knew Naruto's feelings since they were children; he had a huge, gigantic undisputed crush on her. But he was such a clumsy oaf, she never took him seriously. But as the years moved on and they both matured, she found herself admiring him, while he always remained steady and unmoving. He was like a rock to her, a close companion, practically family. She could trust him. And even as they grew older, he made it no secret that he was still deeply interested in her: jokes about dates and setting up marriage became so commonplace in their conversation, Sakura had learned to brush his comical advances aside
Except when he said things in a sincere voice. She could not find the initiative to dismiss him, for whatever reason.
These words he wrote, his sincere and honest words… She began to feel a little guilty. Perhaps, behind his jokes, he was really serious about her? How could she have been so casual with him?
But his words were truly sweet; she could tell he wrote every single word from the bottom of his heart. He deserved ten ramen bowls, she smiled to herself as she fully unzipped the jacket. It was only then when she noticed an inner left breast pocket tucked tightly in the quilted lining.
"I wonder…" Sakura inserted two fingers into the pocket. And then, she found the twenty-first declaration of love.
I love how you're patient enough to read all these. But one look at you, I could probably write a million more.
Before she knew it, Sakura's vision blurred with soft tears.