Omelets

Chapter Two: You Found Me

Disclaimer: I own NaruSaku plushies. ...but I don't think that counts.

A/N: This one is based off of Kelly Clarkson's lovely You Found Me, from her CD Breakaway.

Uzumaki Naruto stood there, completely bemused, staring down at the girl passed-out in his arms. His blond hair was even messier than usual, and his confusion showed through his clear blue eyes. Sakura-chan fainted...wait...OHNOSHEFAINTED! I better, uh, put her down, somewhere...this feels kinda nice though...

He closed the door behind him as he reentered his apartment, Sakura gently draped over his arms. With practiced precision, he avoided the many safety hazards (ramen bowl, ramen bowl, shirt, ramen bowl, kunai...) strewn across his floor and laid her on the bed gingerly, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl. She smiled and murmured something he couldn't distinguish.

Naruto had to smile at his crush. She looks so peaceful. He had no clue why she'd come, or why she was soaked and dirty, but he could ask her when she woke up. He leaned over the bed and pulled the covers over her as quietly as he could, then pried a bag he hadn't noticed before from her hand. Curious, he peered inside.

It was filled with clothes, makeup, money, and the few weapons she didn't wear on her person. Where was she going? he wondered, glancing nervously at his friend and teammate. She wasn't leaving Konoha, was she?

Trying to make to make as little noise as possible, he set the bag down and backed away, forgetting his worries with the sight of her calm face. Wonder what she's dreaming about. At least she was safe for now.

Naruto yawned, and with one last furtive look at Sakura, leaned against the wall and promptly fell asleep.


Sakura woke up in an unfamiliar bed, and as soon as she realized this she felt the rush of rising panic. Her senses were heightened as she strained to detect a sign of her location. Was I taken captive? Where am I?

Silently, she rolled over and surveyed her surroundings. Her trained eyes scanned the room. Wait, I know this place. Another glance confirmed her hunch - the Team 7 photograph sitting on the bedside stand, just like in her own room.

She sat up and yawned. How did I end up in Naruto's apartment? she thought sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Then with a start, she remembered the events of the previous night. Heat flooded her cheeks as the girl recalled fainting (like some useless damsel in distress!) into Naruto's arms.

Sakura would never live this down.

Yawning again, she drowsily wandered into the living area, still fighting her blush with mental shuriken. Flopping in the couch, she was pleasantly surprised to see Naruto poke his spiky-haired head out from the kitchen, and then had to stifle a giggle.

The soon-to-be Hokage was wearing an apron and chef's hat, holding a spatula, and grinning from ear to ear. "You're up! Good morning, Sakura-chan." How long has he been waiting for me to get up?

All she could reply with was a helpless giggle, but he continued anyway. "You like omelets, right? I mean, almost everyone likes omelets, usually, right? I never cook for anybody else, and you know me, I'll eat just about anything, but I can make you something else if you want, like, um, toast. And bacon. I mean or bacon. Or both. But I mean, there's nothing wrong with omelets, right? Unless you're one of those weird anti-egg people who protest, like, chicken rights. But you're not, right? Cause you would have told me, I mean I've known you for for-"

She cut his babbling off. Some things never change. "I like omelets," Sakura answered, almost shyly. He looks kinda cute like that - actually, he looks really cute all the time...

Wait...what?

Naruto echoed her thoughts. "Uh...what?" he asked, confusion apparent in his clear blue eyes, and for a second she was afraid she'd said that crazy last part out loud, until he smiled. "Right, omelets - oh crap, the omelets!" He dashed off, dropping the spatula on the way.

Sakura sighed, but happily, over the muffled crashing, cursing, and interjections of "Oww, that's hot!" and "Where did I put the spatula again?" He'd never change, but she didn't really mind. She felt safer and more comfortable than she had in so long - he always cheered her up, it was true. She rested her head on her knees, suddenly aware she was still wearing the same clothes and probably looked like crap. Oh well, she thought lazily. I'll change after breakfast.

Naruto emerged from the kitchen/battle arena a minute later, carefully carrying two pates of omelets, with a kage bunshin following and balancing two glasses of juice. The two Narutos put their luggage down, the clone disappeared, and the real fox-boy settled himself on the couch next to Sakura. He sat closer than she normally would have liked (feeling brave today?), but she felt a strange desire to be even closer. Without really thinking about it (wonder if he'd notice if I just...), she discreetly scooted closer to him and smiled.

He smiled sunnily back, but he had obviously noticed. Cover! Quickly! "Umm..." she began, suddenly nervous. "I-I didn't know you could cook." Great, now I sound like I'm trying to flirt with him. And failing at it.

It worked, though. The blonde smiled again, more comfortably. "I don't live completely on ramen, you know," he teased, his eyes lighting up, and this time she noticed him subtly moving closer. For some reason, today she didn't mind.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I thought I remembered you having mentioned you did," she said with amusement, still a little nervous but covering it up well. I hope. "Did you grow out of it?"

He just grinned back at her, and she wondered if her words had even processed. He can be so stupid sometimes...

She couldn't explain why, but it was hard to tear her eyes away from his grin to eat her breakfast, but not wanting to be rude (and I'm really hungry, all I had was a salad last night for dinner!), she took a bite out of the omelet. "It's good," she said in amazement. She didn't even like omelets that much, but...not only could he cook, he could cook well. That was nice.

Naruto pouted at her, looking ridiculous, but still cute. (My mind is against me today.) "What'd you expect?"

Why couldn't she stop giggling? "I should have known you could cook." And now I am flirting. Crap.

He stretched, looking rather pleased with himself. "Just another of my amazing talents," he joked with a slight smirk, then flinched as if she was going to hit him. She shoved him gently, and felt herself blush. What's wrong with me today, seriously? Sakura went back to eating, and Naruto did the same.

"So, what exactly happened to you last night?" he asked, obviously trying to sound casual and not succeeding at all. She paused and looked at him, honestly wanting to tell him, but...

"Well..." she stalled nervously. "I, uh, I don't really want to talk about...why...but I was looking for a place to stay, and it started storming. I was close to here, so I just kind of ended up here. And passed out." Not a total lie.

"By complete accident, huh."

He knew her too well. "It was close, and, um, well-" Sakura hesitated. "I, um, I was wondering if-ifIcouldlivewithyou - just, you know. Until I get my own apartment. I mean. If you don't mind."

Naruto was quiet, and she looked at him, concerned. His eyes looked so...deep right now, she almost missed what he said when he finally spoke. "As long as you like, Sakura-chan." He leaned back, obviously nervous. She wasn't sure what this was about, but obviously he didn't want to talk about, so she respected his privacy and let the subject drop.

They ate in silence until Sakura put her plate into Naruto's outstretched hand and said seriously, "We can't tell anybody about this, though."

Confused, his blue eyes met her green ones. "What, omelets?"

She giggled. "I meant us...living together. People would jump to conclusions. You know."

"Oh." She waited for him to get it. "Ohh. Yeah."

Batting her eyelashes playfully, she teased, "But you know, I don't think I want to share your cooking, either. So that can be our secret, too." She put a finger to her lips in a cute, childish gesture. Haha. His expression is priceless.

Naruto blushed and carried the plates to the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, "The hag gave me a mission with Shikamaru and Sasuke, so, um, I guess you'll be at the hospital?"

"Actually, it's my day off," Sakura replied, still smiling. "You'll be back around...?"

"Dinnertime," he answered predictably, sticking his head back out to grin at her. Coming back into the living room, he scratched the back of his head and awkwardly muttered, "So, uh, I'll see you then, I guess." He looked from her to the door, then edged over and left.

"Don't do anything too stupid!" she called after him, feeling all giggly and fluttery for some reason. I should probably shower and change, and then...She looked around at Naruto's extremely messy apartment. Maybe I can fix this place up a bit. Men are such pigs. Sighing but not really minding, she retreated to the Western-style for a nice, relaxing shower.


Naruto was incredibly happy about a simple surveillance mission, Shikamaru noted with some confusion, not really caring. Normally, he'd be complaining about it. This way is a lot less troublesome, but I wonder why.

"Hey, come on, let's go!" the aforementioned blonde ninja shouted, waving his arms, and his jounin friend rolled his eyes. If he wants to be the Hokage, he should really start acting a bit more mature.

"What are you so happy about, anyway?" Shikamaru demanded of his hyper friend.

Naruto shrugged and blushed for some reason. "Heh, well, it's a nice day."

Sasuke, silent and stoic as usual, looked up at the bright glow of the sun. "Hn," he remarked. Would it kill him to say something for once, instead of just grunting? The man scowled.

Shikamaru didn't bother to think about it again until they were turning in the mission report to Tsunade. Naruto had actually written it for once (nice of him, I was getting sick of those things), and handed it to the Hokage with a grin on his face. "Is that it? Can we go now?"

The woman looked at him with some amusement. "Yesterday you stayed hours late after Sakura went home, asking if you could do anything for me, and now you're dying to get out. Sick of my company?"

"Of course not, hag," he replied affectionately. "I just, uh-"

Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "Oh, do you have a date with Sakura?" Hmm. Maybe that's the reason he's been so happy today. He's so bright, he's burning my eyes. Can you shut up so the rest of us can leave? Best time of the day for cloud-watching, you know.

The statement that normally would have made the shinobi blush he answered today with a fox-like grin. "Maybe I do."

The blonde Hokage chuckled. "Well, don't keep her waiting." Sizing him up with a glare, she instructed, "And be polite, for once!"

"I will!" Naruto protested, dashing out the door. Shikamaru and Sasuke exchanged exasperated glances before going to their own occupations. Ah, peace. Finally.


Sakura relished the hot shower - the previous night's chill had long worn off, but the memories were still vividly burned into her consciousness. She felt more alive now than she had in awhile, washing away scorn and rejection with the dirt that had been clinging to her skin. This was almost like a vacation.

Her thoughts drifted back to Naruto as she worked the shampoo into her hair. They had come so far together, and she was pleased to realize they hadn't lost that core connection that made them work so well as a team. In fact, she predicted living with him would be downright pleasant.

As nice as this was, however, nobody could know. Especially people like Ino and Tsunade, who would jump to wild conclusions. Sakura shook her head and sighed again. She had work to do and didn't have time to linger, although she seriously could have spent another hour in the hot shower. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.

Stepping out, she was glad she'd brought a towel of her own - Naruto had only one, clearly worn. She added "towels" to her mental shopping list. What does he do when it's in the wash? she wondered.

Slipping into a comfortable skirt and a soft pink peasant blouse, she mentally listed things to buy and do. I can shop for this place after I clean up, Sakura decided, smiling and shaking her head.

And with that, she set to work on her hair. Naruto will definitely be surprised when he comes home, she thought with satisfaction, not even noticing her use of the word "home".