One Year

NaruBaby2496

A/N: Comments, Questions, Concerns? Don't call me—I have my own life to worry about. (LOL, jk.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sakura stepped into her house, locking the door in the process. By now, it had to be somewhere around five-thirty, and she still hadn't put at second thought to what she was going to wear on her shopping trip with her two best friends. She guessed that was just the type of girl she was—she had enough energy to pick out one outfit with accessories, and then after that, she quit. She couldn't just retire into her pajamas today, though, since she was going to the mall.

She reached over her counter and turned on her kitchen light, slightly surprised of how dark it really was in the room. She shrugged, deciding that that was irrelevant, and removed her sweater, throwing it astray. Things were calm these days, besides the Sasuke issue. She was happy for the fact she could do things outside of work that were fun, but what do you do when you're done having fun. Is it really that much of an issue to worry about?

Walking past her hallway mirror, Sakura ran her fingers through her growing hair—it was about two inches down her shoulders now—and brushed her bangs off of her face. Some would say she was beautiful, the light of Konoha, and like Lee says, 'all things youthful!', but Sakura usually smiled and waved it off. She didn't believe most of those compliments, though she accepted them openly, she just thought she was cute, not gorgeous. She still felt her forehead was larger than normal, her nose was a little too small in her opinion and her hair color—she didn't want to go into detail about that issue. Her eyes were a lovely green. She could agree with that, and that her body was finally a woman's, with a soft curve of the waist. Sakura pouted, sighing, "If only…"

Sakura had a lot of 'if only's she could list, but right now, she couldn't deal with more stress. She'll stress herself out if she let it happen. Sakura jumped at the loud rash sounds of three obnoxious knocks at her door. Quickly recovering from the shock, Sakura spun on her heels to face the door, and reached into her back pocket for her emergency lipstick. It had a razor inside of the spherical container, instead of the colored substance. Her pace quickened hastily, and she felt her adrenaline pump into her bloodstream. Whoever was in her apartment now shouldn't be in here, she knew that for sure.

She pulled back her arm to stab, only to have it stopped by a strong hand. Sakura let the red overcast created from the scared excitement when she realized who had stopped her attack. Dropping her arm and shoulders, she asked, "How did you get in my house, Naruto?" The fox smiled his toothy smile, laughing openly. His hoot echoed throughout the empty area continuously, annoying the already embarrassed Sakura until she blushed a bright pink. She crossed her arms with a huff, and rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Naruto."

He wiped his imaginary tears with a smile and continued to chuckle at her drastic measures. It was her fault for telling him that she left a spare key under the mat. It was as if she expected him to forget that little piece of valuable information. He loved his Sakura-chan with all of his heart, and would do almost anything to hang out with her. These days, she was always working or tired or too 'I don't feel like it'. He missed his friend, but he was happy to have his best friend back. Naruto rubbed his nose, getting his last giggles out, when he answered, "I came here to get you the invitation to my birthday party."

Naruto searched through his jacket pockets, then his inside jacket pockets (he groaned when they weren't in there), threw off his jacket and searched through his pants pockets, and pouted when there were no more compartments to search through. Sakura tapped her fingers impatiently on her couch as she waited for the blonde to find his invitations. It wasn't hard at all to keep a pile of construction paper in your pocket for more than a few minutes. She smiled lightly, watching him rant as he looked everywhere for the invites. "I don't know where I put them!" He yelled, now throwing his ninja pouch toward the ground. Out came the bright blue construction paper envelopes, and Sakura clenched her stomach laughing loudly at Naruto's ignorance.

He blushed, and picked up the papers, "Gosh, Sakura. Remember the Golden Rule." He was referring to the rule that most learned at the age of seven, but experienced since three. It was 'do unto others as you wish others to do to you', or something along those lines. Naruto filed through the the paper's, looking for her name on the envelope. After a few more seconds, he handed her the paper, "So, it's on Halloween, and a Halloween party, so you'll need a costume." He watched Sakura's expression change as he mentioned 'costume', and decided to press on further, "You should bring Sasuke." Sakura lowered the card she was reading, glaring at him, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," He coughed while saying this, "Bring Sasuke."

Sakura glared at him, "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"I don't know…maybe…," He lowered his voice, "As a date."

Her face blushed red as she gasped, "Gah, Naruto! We're not even friends!" He dropped his jaw in shock she'd even suggest that Sasuke didn't, at the very least appreciate her as a teammate. Actually, more she was than a teammate —more like someone you enjoyed and loved training with. Even Naruto could see that. It annoyed him too. They'd just stick together and flirt all during practice. Of course, Sakura would insist that it was Sasuke repaying her for her earlier years, but Naruto knew it was real. Why else would Sasuke still be working at it? He smiled goofily, "Yeah you're not friends. You're way more than friends."

Sakura punched him across the face. "Go away! I have to get dressed so I can go shopping!"

He chuckled, "I'm not so sure I want to—"

"Leave!"

Sasuke jogged up the stairs two at a time, ignoring the pain he felt in his sprained ankle. He knew it would get better eventually, but he couldn't just sit back like a fat hog waiting until it healed. That was pointless and unproductive. He jumped the last three steps and ran to the meeting doorway. If he were late one more time, he'd get an even longer village arrest. Those people really knew how to piss off an Uchiha. He stormed past the ANBU guarding the big double doors, pushing them wildly, and prayed to just about every god he never knew that he wasn't late. He pulled at the doors roughly, until he realized that you were supposed to push.

He glanced around nervously for anyone who noticed his mess up, but then remembered he'd knocked out everyone on that floor. "Oops…," He mouthed to himself with a smirk, and pushed the doors open. The meeting room hushed as he entered, all of their attention being cast to him. He felt awkward with all the eyes studying his dramatic entrance. No one else used both doors. Sasuke looked around for familiar faces—that he actually wanted to see—and saw none. He groaned peering slowly into the death chamber he had endured three times a week. Koharu, the fat lady that aggravated the living poop out not only him but Tsunade as well, stared at him emotionless from the middle of the long table, tapping her nails impatiently.

Homura, that hag's old teammate who had glasses stared as well, but Sasuke could care less about him. He was actually the most lenient of all the Elders. There wasn't anyone else of interest there yet, so Sasuke was relieved he wasn't the last one there. He closed the doors carefully, since Koharu hated when they slammed, and carefully strolled to his seat. All of their eyes followed his steps, and Sasuke could feel each individual gaze of disapproval burn through the layers of clothing he wore to his flesh. It almost made him want to turn around and walk back home. He hated this feeling of insignificance more than losing an easy fight.

He grabbed the back of his chair and started to sit in it, but Koharu caught his attention, straggling, "You're late, Uchiha." He stared back at her wrinkled face blankly, mouth slightly open in surprise. She gazed back, creating a still aura around the room. Sasuke frowned, glancing at the clock, "I got here right at six, right?" She shook her head, stretched neck skin wobbling in disagreement. "You are not here until you sit in the chair. It's 6:02 and that's two minutes late."

Sasuke sat in his seat and glared at her, "Can we start now, or not?" The woman laughed, her cackle bouncing off the walls, making Sasuke's ears ring in pain. He grimace slightly, hiding it because sometimes acting like you didn't hate someone got you far in life. That's what he'd done with Orochimaru, Kabuto, Madara and countless others. Most all are dead now, all the others ran off into some cave like the snakes they are.

The woman started to gather her energy to yell at Sasuke, he could see it in her beady black evil eyes, but the doors crashed open. "Hey, hey, hey! We're here!" Sasuke and the others turned their heads quickly, but he was the only one who was glad to see the late comers. Kakashi-sensei…He thought, smirking lightly. Tsunade pushed her way passed Kakashi, who was still soaking in the glory of all the curious eyes watching him, and announced, "Alright. Let's get this started. Scoot over some, Uchiha."

Kakashi quickly came over to his side and shook Sasuke's head teasingly, "What's up?" Sasuke frowned, removing the hand. Kakashi chuckled, sitting on the left of him. With Tsunade on his right, and Kakashi on his left, he felt a little better. At least for today's meeting that is. Koharu rolled her eyes and slammed her mallet against the table. "Okay, we can now start." She glared quickly at Sasuke, then faced the others with a nod. "Who will speak first?"

Kind of cliffy? LOL, this seemed so long to me….

Review and all that other junk!

~NaruBaby2496