Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters.

A/N: Hello, everyone again. I want to thank you for your patients and for your wonderful reviews. I hope this chapter will make up for the long wait. I know that some of the characters are somewhat OOC and random, but hey, it's still a good story. So, here's chapter 3! Enjoy!

Sakura, My Sweet, Sakura!

Chapter 3

-Shikamaru and Choji arrives at Sakura's home-

"All right, we're here now, so let's call Ino and tell her that we made it," said Shikamaru pulling out his cell phone.

The phone rings and Ino answers it.

"Hello," she answers.

"Hey, Ino, we're here at her place," he said.

"Great! Now, you know what to do, go for it!" she ordered.

"Got it," he whispers.

-end of phone conversation-

"Ready, Choji?" he asked.

"Yeah, but that food in there is getting to me," said Choji rubbing his stomach.

Shikamaru shakes his head, "Now remember what she said: you knock and keep them busy while I go out back to get into her room and get the note for Ino, got it?" he explained to him.

"Yes, I remember."

"Good, now ring the doorbell," he whispers to him then goes out to the back.

Choji faces the door then rings the doorbell.

Sakura answers the door, "Hey, Choji, what's up? Are you here for Naruto?"

"Hello. Well, no, actually. I'm here to visit and I'm starving. Please, can I have dinner with you guys?"

"Sure, come on in," she said inviting him in then closes the door behind him.

Sakura shouts, "Naruto! Sasuke! Choji's here!"

"Coming!" Naruto shouted back from the kitchen.

Kakashi coming down the stairs, "Hello there, coming to join us for dinner?"

"Yes, sensei, can he stay for awhile?" she asked.

"Of course, he can stay," smiled Kakashi.

Naruto comes running out the kitchen, "Hey, Choji! What brings you here?"

"I'm here to join dinner with you guys," he said with a little chuckle.

"Wow! That sounds great!" excited Naruto.

"Where's Sasuke?" he asked.

"He's in the kitchen setting the table," said Sakura leading him to the kitchen. "Why don't you have a seat while I go and check on the food."

Choji nods his head and thinks, "My end of the plan is working. I wonder how Shikamaru's side of the plan is going."

-Shikamaru out back-

Shikamaru begins to climb a long fence that was twisted with vines which leads up to Sakura's bedroom, "Ugh, I just have to get up into her room and get that note," he thought then came to a closed window. "Just great…ah, but where is the note?" he said scoping behind the closed window.

He looks over to her bed and spots it by her pink sack, "Bingo!" then he pulls up the window and sneaks through it.

"Ha. So, this is what her room looks like, eh?" he said looking around her room. "Hmm, pink and white must be her favorite colors."

Shikamaru walks over to her bed and picks up the note, but then, he heard the doorknob turning, "Oh no!" he whispers then quickly hides in her closet. "Please, don't find me, please, don't find me..." said Shikamaru repeating the same phrase over and over in his head.

Sakura came in humming an unfamiliar tune wearing her white robe and went straight into her bathroom then closes the door.

"Whew. That was a very close-call. Now to get out of here without her seeing me," he thought.

He opens the closet door slowly and then he heard her coming out of the bathroom.

"Damn! Why can't she just stay in there!" he whispers to himself.

Sakura continues to hum as she walks over to her pink sack while waiting for the water to fill up her bathtub, "Hey, where is it?" she said frantically looking for the note. "It was right here and now I don't see it."

Shikamaru peeks behind her closet door, through the wooden blinds and watches her as she looks under the bed, "Sakura, Ino, Choji, I can't do this anymore," he thought with a blush. "What is this feeling? Am I getting attract to her? Damn it, Shikamaru, get it together!" he said as he blushes more. While she continues to look under her bed then to her dresser, Shikamaru opens the closet door slightly and decides to through the note on the bed then closes the door back slowly. Sakura turns and looks over to the bed again, "Huh? That's weird. I found it, but I just looked my bed for it," she sighs with a nod. "Well, anyway, time for me to take my bath," she said then went back into her bathroom.

Shikamaru steps out of the closet slowly, walks over to lock her door to make sure no one comes in, and then pulls out his cell phone to call Ino.

Ino answers the phone, "Did you get it?"

He scratches his head, "Well, I got it, but-"

"Good, now bring it over so I can read it, okay?"

"But Ino, there's a problem."

"A problem? What problem?"

"Actually, I did get it, but I put it back because she was looking for it."

"What!" yelled Ino. "What's wrong with you? Why did you do that? You better have a good explanation when get back here or are you having feelings for her?" she wondered.

"Um...no, that's not it," he whispers.

"Then go back in there and get that note or else you will be cleaning my room for a month, got it!"

"Yes, I got it."

-end of phone conversation-

Shikamaru sighs, "Errr...what to do now?"

-inside Sakura's bathroom-

Sakura looks in the mirror pinning up her hair while holding the note in her mouth. Then, she took off her robe and steps into the tub with a sigh of relaxion. She took the note out of her mouth and begins to open it. So, she reads what it says:

To Sakura,

There's something that I've wanted to tell you

And that you should know

Sakura, I really like you a lot

I know that this sounds kind of sappy, but it's true

I really want to be with you after all these years of growing up

Then finally come to say that "This is it! Sakura, I love you!"

So, Sakura, if it's not too much to ask, will you be my girlfriend?

-Love, Sasuke

Sakura blushes and feels a bit teary then she slowly got out of the tub to put on her robe. She opens the bathroom door which leads to her room, then surprisingly, she gasps when she saw Shikamaru sitting on her bed staring straight at her. When she was about to scream, he quickly runs over and covers her mouth before she does, "Sakura, don't scream, I can explain. Please, just don't scream, okay?" he whispers in her ear.

Sakura nods her slowly then he moves his hand away from her mouth.

"Shikamaru! What are you doing here in my room! How dare you!" she yelled. "Get out!"

"Wait...can you keep it down and let me explain, will ya?" he said in a low voice and trying to calm her down.

"Go ahead, I'm listening," she said angrily while folding her arms.

"I came here to tell you something very important."

"Oh yeah? And what is that?"

He walks up to Sakura and kisses her then embraces her.

"Sakura, I love you, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked her as her body went into a state of shock. "It's been so long and I've wanted to ask you that," continued Shikamaru.

Then he wave his hand in front of her, "Hey, are you okay, Sakura?" he said looking at her. "Sakura, did you hear what I just said?"

She snaps out of it and asks him, "What was that you just said? And why did you just kiss me, Shikamaru?"

"I just said that I love you, Sakura, and I asked you, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked again.

"No!" she yelled while pushing him away then walks over to her dresser picking up a bottle of perfume from her collection. "Get out or else you smell like a girl forever!"

"Fine, okay, but first let me explain," he said taking one step forward.

"Stay where you are and explain from there," she demanded harshly.

Shikamaru thinks, "To get through to her, I have to come up with something, but I can't tell her about what I really came here for. Damn that note and why all the sudden that I'm having feelings for her," He clears his throat, "All right, I came here to tell you that I'm in love with you, Sakura, and I can't hold back my feelings for you," he said to her.

"What! Are you crazy? You having feelings for me?" she said then laughs sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Sakura."

"Sure, and what will Ino think of you ending up with me? Can't you see that I'm in love with Sasuke? You're not even my type Shikamaru."

Shikamaru was speechless as he looks downward at the floor sadly.

"You see, whatever that you guys are scheming, it's not going to work and we just send Choji home because he told us what you and Ino are up to."

-a flashback of what happened to Choji at dinner-

Everyone sits down at the dinner table while Sakura and Sasuke prepare the food.

"ALL RIGHT! FOOD!" shouted Naruto rubbing his hands together then tries to grab a roll to put on his plate, but Kakashi slaps his hand away hard. "Oww! Sensei! What was that for?"

"Don't touch the food just yet," said Kakashi looking over at Choji.

Sakura and Sasuke sits down at the table facing one another.

"Boy, I'm starve!" said Choji also, decides to reach out to grab a roll, but again, Kakashi stops him as well by grabbing his wrist. "Hey! What are you doing?" he asked.

Kakashi stands up and let's go of Choji's wrist, "Don't touch the food just yet".

"Why not, sensei?" said Sakura.

"Why don't us ask you're little friend of why he's really here," grins Kakashi.

They all looked at him, "But...but really, I came here to have dinner with you guys."

"Tell us the truth, Choji," growls Sasuke.

"Yeah, if you tell us, you will get the chance to eat some of this delicious food I've cooked up," said Sakura teasing.

Choji took a deep breath then explains what's going on, "Well, Ino wanted me to come here so I can keep you guys busy, while Shikamaru is upstairs trying to break entry into Sakura's bedroom to get that note the Sasuke wrote to Sakura, that's all. So, can I eat now?"

They all stared at him then Kakashi grabbed the basket of rolls and hands it out in front of him, "Here, Choji. Take two rolls and leave please, while we settle this little matter," he said in a low tone.

"O...Okay, thank you, I'll be on my way. Oh, and please don't tell my sensei about this?" pleaded Choji.

"Choji, how could you do something like this?" said Sakura confusingly.

"Yeah, that's wrong, Choji?" said Naruto trying to reach over for a roll again, but Sasuke pulls him back down to his seat. "Aw, man," he pouted with fold arms.

"Sorry, kid, but your sensei should know about this. Breaking and entry is wrong, you should know that by now and you shouldn't trick people like you've just done, either ," said Kakashi placing the basket back on the table.

"I know and I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Well, I won't tell, since you had apologized. Then, I can stay for the rest of the food?" said Choji with a smile.

"I'm not that desperate. I'll make you one to go, how's that?" said Kakashi walking over to the plates. "I hope you learn from this about dishonesty. You can lose a lot of good friends that way, understand? "

"I sure have, thank you, again," smiled Choji.

"You're welcome," Kakashi smiled back while handing him his plate of food.

"Good-bye, everyone," he nodded and left their home.

"Sensei, what now?" said Naruto resting on his arm. "I'm still hungry."

"You can eat now, Naruto," he said to him.

"Wow! It's about time!" excited Naruto as he gathered some food from each dish.

"Such a pig," said Sakura looking over at him.

"Shikamaru," thought Sasuke snarling. "Sensei, let me go after him," he asked standing up.

"No, sensei, let me handle this," said Sakura standing up at the table, too.

"Sure," he agreed.

"All right, time to kick bad boy out!" she thought. "Thanks, sensei, I got an idea, too."

"Hm, go for it," nodded Kakashi with a smile.

-end of dinner time flashback-

"What! Then you mean, you knew I was here?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah. I only act surprised because I didn't want you to think that I didn't know what's up," she explained. "Now get out!"

"Fine, I'll leave then," he said as he turns around and steps back out the window. "Sakura, I really meant what I said about earlier and I want you to think about it, okay?" he asked her.

Sakura walks over to the window, "Okay, let me think about it. Oh, my mind is made up, how about, no! Goodbye!" then she smashed his fingers when she pulls down her window and he fell back screaming.

Shikamaru lands on a big bush and Choji spots him, "Hey, Shikamaru, are you alright? Did you get the note?" he asked him.

"No, but Choji, I got an idea and I want Ino to hear me out as well. Don't tell her about the note, either, so let me handle the conversation."

"Sure," he agreed.

"Now let's go before someone else catches us," said Shikamaru running in the direct toward home.

"Okay, but wait for me!" he yelled as he follows him far behind.

To Be Continued...