A/n: Thanks for the reviews, favorites, alerts, etc! I hope you all continue to give your support! And sorry for the crazy ass wait!
Chapter Four
Morning had been hell for Naruto and Sakura.
As they woke up they found themselves in a battle over the use of the bathroom in which Sakura ultimately came out as the winner as Naruto eventually caved to the sound of Sakura's knuckles popping (though she had no intentions of hitting him). After they were both fresh for the day, they had started breakfast - which had been nothing short of disastrous. Naruto managed to burn the bacon while she had accidentally left the toast in the toaster for too long which resulted in the fire alarm going off and smoking, inedible food - or what was suppose to be food but looked more like a black, massive clump that made both of their stomachs churn when they looked at it.
In the end they decided it would be best to just go out and eat - after all, they didn't want to burn down his apartment or be the cause of themselves getting food poisoning.
Sakura sighed and glanced over at Naruto whom was happily slurping down the noodles of his sixth bowl of miso ramen. A smile immediately tugged at the corners of her mouth; it was nice to see him just being himself again. She really had missed him and his cheeriness.
"Ah," Naruto cooed and leaned back on the stool, his hand instantly going to his stomach. "I missed Ichiraku's ramen." he said, patting his stomach, "I honestly thought we wouldn't be leaving my apartment except to go shopping."
Upon hearing the words 'go shopping' Sakura's face turned pink. She had forgot about THAT, now that she thought about it. "Uh-um-uh . . . about that . . ."
Naruto averted his gaze onto the blushing Sakura, a concerned expression on his face, "What about it? You need something from the store, Sakura-chan?" he asked, "I'll pay for our ramen then we can go to the store."
"Y-Yeah, I just need to pick up a few - er - things." She muttered, the color on her face turning a deeper shade.
"Then let's go!" Naruto exclaimed, fishing out his wallet and slamming down the proper amount of change on the counter before turning and lifting the white flap directly behind him before he stepped out onto the street.
Sakura was quick to jump to her feet and catch up with her blonde friend, after all, they needed to keep the radius in mind. "Wait up, Naruto, dammit!"
When Sakura caught up to Naruto he immediately bombarded her with the dreaded question: "So what exactly are you buying?"
"Something." Sakura grumbled bashfully. She couldn't just come out and scream 'TAMPONS, you idiot!', that would draw too much attention and weird stares. Also it would result in her looking like a complete moron - something that she wasn't too fond of.
Naruto arched his eyebrows, "Something . . .?"
Sakura bit the inside of her jaw as she resisted the urge to punch the dork right on top of his head, "It doesn't matter."
Naruto, sensing the warning in Sakura's tone, dropped the subject and opted to walk in a comfortable, but slightly tense, silence. After all, he wasn't completely aware of his boundaries with the pinkette yet - which meant he didn't know what he could or could not say that might end in him getting punched. Even though for the most part of the day she had been good about not punching him (which surprised him). Plus she wasn't constantly berating him over every little thing. But really, he didn't mind the occasional punch and insult here and there - it just meant that she cared enough to scold him over his actions.
Besides, that was just the way their relationship worked and he wouldn't have it any other way.
"There," Sakura said suddenly, her hand extended out in front of her, her index finger pointing in the direction of a decent sized store with a green, tin roof. It didn't appear to be very busy, and the less people the better.
Naruto blinked and bobbed his head, "Okay," and with that he was dragged off into the store. "Are you just looking for something specific or are we going to get a bunch of things?"
Sakura shrugged, "I figured we would get some real food - like vegetables, fruits, meat, bread, NEW milk, water, and juice and . . ." she trailed off, a blush tainting her cheeks once again. This time Naruto decided the best action was to not mention it - and he was right.
"Sounds fine with me, I suppose," Naruto chimed, as they walked through the doors where they were immediately handed a blue, plastic basket with thin, black, plastic handles by a pimple-faced young man that looked bored out of his mind. Which they would have felt the same way if they were him.
"Where to first?" The blond questioned, interrupting the silence while walking with his hands behind his head.
"Let's get the food first."
It only took the two ten minutes to collect all the food items needed with little complications. The only time Sakura had been tempted to punch Naruto was when he kept complaining about all the vegetables Sakura was selecting. The pinkette was about to either slap him or punch herself. If she had heard another, "But that's soooo nasty, Sakura-chan!" or, "Yuck, this is a waste of my money!" she would have blown.
"Now what do we have to get, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his arm getting tired of carrying around a ten pound basket (which it wasn't heavy, but the plastic was digging into his arm uncomfortably).
Sakura gritted her teeth together, "Just a little something I have to get." she finally answered, heading toward an isle that looked distinctively feminine to Naruto. All the blond could think was 'what could she possibly need there?'. He wanted to ask, but he didn't want to risk it.
Finally when they were standing in the middle of the isle, Sakura snatched a box of tampons off the third shelf, her face redder than a ripe tomato as she muttered curses under her breath. "Tampons?" Naruto mumbled, a look of confusion on his face. "Um, what the hell do you do with those?"
"Naruto, shut up!" Sakura squealed, clutching the box to her chest in embarrassment.
"I was just asking!" Naruto explained, shaking his head. Would he ever understand women and why were they so damn touchy about things? The answer: probably not.
"Sakura . . . ? Naruto . . . ?"
The said two froze and turned to face the end of the isle where a slightly amused, slightly confused, and slightly annoyed figure stood. "I-I-Ino?" Sakura choked out, feeling even more red than earlier. Could this day get any worse for her?
Ino gazed at the tampons in Sakura's hands, her horrified expression priceless. "Why the hell are you taking NARUTO tampon shopping?" she demanded.
"I-It's not l-like that!" Sakura cried out, only to be ignored.
"I know you two are close, but don't you think this is taking it a bit far?" Ino went on to say.
"I-Ino-"
"Shesh, I'm pretty sure he don't give a damn about when you're ragging." she said, "Besides, when it comes to you it's like you're ragging constantly anyway. I mean you can be a real bitch-"
"INO!" Sakura bellowed, her voice gruff.
"Huh?" Ino blinked, finally realizing that her pink-haired friend was actually speaking.
"Shut the hell up, you stupid ass pig!" the rosette added, tossing the box of tampons in her and Naruto's shopping basket.
"Just what is going on?" Naruto piped up, his eyes shifting from Sakura to Ino. He really wished that someone would explain to him why everyone was yelling. That and he really didn't want to go home with a raging Sakura. He didn't know what would happen - nor did he want to know.
"Nothing!" Sakura answered, crossing her arms and tapping her foot on the marble floor. She really wanted to get away from Ino, the girl was going to make things more difficult and uncomfortable for Naruto. But then again, when they went to the festival they were going to be around a whole lot more of their friends - and that in itself would be hell. It would be almost impossible to stay within the radius - and that would result in a lot of confusion for the others and a lot of pain and exhaustion for her and Naruto.
Ino shook her head, "Anyway," she said, approaching Sakura and reaching for her wrist, "I need to ask you something, forehead."
Sakura leaped back away from Ino, "Um, if it's not that important why don't you just tell me here?"
Ino rolled her eyes, "Shesh, you and Naruto are attached at the hip!" she exclaimed, then blinked, a smirk growing on her lips, "Oh, I see," she purred, "you and Naruto are finally together, eh?"
Sakura 'eeped' and jumped while Naruto scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "N-No!"
"Suree." the blond kunoichi teased, snickering. "Shikamaru and I had a bet that you two would get together," she explained, "He said that you two would within a year - and I said within a few weeks - looks like I was right."
Sakura and Naruto gaped at the blond, "You TWO were making BETS on Naruto and I?" the pink-haired teen barked, clearly upset.
"Yeah, but calm down," Ino said, patting Sakura on the head (which didn't calm the teenager down one bit), "What I had to tell you was that we need to go dress shopping later tonight. It's not a traditional festival so the females of the village don't have to wear kimonos- nor do the males have to wear yukatas."
Sakura sighed, a pout on her lips; she really wanted to go shopping with Ino, but she couldn't without Naruto tagging along - and Ino would complain about that. She knew the blond female would want a girls' night out. But at the moment, that just wasn't possible unless she wanted her and Naruto dead; which was highly unlikely.
"Well?" Ino interjected, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts.
"I can't . . ." Sakura murmured, looking down at her feet. "I already promised Naruto that we could go shopping together for outfits." she mumbled, "Right?"
Naruto jumped, "Huh? What? Oh, yeah, right." he answered sheepishly, his cheeks pink. He really needed to pay attention more - maybe then he wouldn't be so damn lost all the time. Not that he was always lost, he just didn't feel like listening in on their conversation. Especially if Sakura or Ino said something that they didn't want him to know. And sometimes it was just best to play dumb and pretend not to hear certain things.
"WHAT?" Ino snapped, placing her hands on her hips and pushing her bottom lip out like the stubborn - and slightly spoiled - Yamanaka that she was, "First you take him tampon shopping and now you're going clothing shopping together? Did your penis detach itself and walk away, Naruto?"
Naruto stared in shock at the other blond, offended by her words, "What the? No!"
"Sure! Maybe Sakura wasn't even buying tampons for herself - but you instead!" she grumbled teasingly.
"Gr-"
"ENOUGH!" Sakura howled, completely red from head-to-toe. "It was nice seeing you Ino, but Naruto and I really have to go. I have to help him put his groceries away and I don't want anything to spoil." she said, trying to ebb out of the tense and somewhat playful conversation.
"Fine," Ino huffed, "you two have fun at your apartment, Naruto." She giggled, walking away.
Sakura sighed, "Finally . . ."
Naruto bobbed his head in agreement, "Really," he said grumpily. He certainly had a penis - and it was attached.
After they paid for their groceries, the two headed back to Naruto's apartment and put everything away. Of course they had to remove all the expired foods such as the milk, eggs, and lunch meats first. "Naruto, how the hell have you been drinking milk that expired two months ago?" she had demanded, attempting to pour out the remainder of the white (now) toxic substance down the drain.
The blond ruffled his shaggy blond hair that favored his father's so much, and gave a lopsided grin, "I guess I never noticed, heh,"
Sakura had rolled her eyes, placed the empty milk jug in the trashcan then ran hot water in the sink to get rid of the stench and clumps. And that was that. Now they were on there way to one of two of the only clothing stores in Konoha to get decent outfits for the winter festival.
Sakura shivered and rubbed her arms, she should have put a scarf on before leaving the apartment. Or at least a pair of leggings on, her legs were freezing! She suddenly froze when she felt a strong, warm arm be draped across her shoulders then her body being tugged into a lean, stout torso. Immediately she was warmer. "N-Naruto?" Sakura squeaked in surprise.
Naruto blushed and looked away. "You looked kind of cold," he mumbled bashfully trailing off. After a moment of silence passed he tensed and prepared for a punch that never came.
"Thanks, Naruto." Sakura chimed, smiling appreciatively.
The blond shinobi returned the gesture and relaxed, both becoming more comfortable in the embrace, "No problem, Sakura-chan," he chirped, squeezing her arm playfully.
Sakura giggled and punched him in the chest with a slightly chakra enhanced fist, earning a 'oof' from the young man, "Ow, Sakura-chan," he grumbled, rubbing his sore chest with his free hand. "why did you have to hit so hard?"
"Because you deserved it," she finally answered after a moment of thought.
"That's not fair," Naruto replied, a foxy grin on his face. "But I guess you could have sent me to the other side of the village with that monster strength-" he immediately paused, his eyes wide. He did not just say 'monster strength'. He didn't . . . No - ! It was just a string of thought running through his head that didn't escape from his mouth in the form of something audible.
"What the hell did you just say?" Sakura growled, her body stiffening in the crook of the arm he had wrapped firmly around her.
He was wrong - he did say the cursed words and now he had to come up with something fast - or else. "Oh HEY! Look there's the clothing store!" He exclaimed, pointing at a red-tin roofed (he would have ran if the necklaces wouldn't such hindrance), two story building that was a little populated. The villagers were bound to be doing last minute shopping.
Sakura twitched and turned to face her teammate. She was itching to punch him into the neighboring building, but she restrained herself - after all she had to keep the three meter radius in mind. "I swear once these necklaces are removed you're getting punched."
Naruto laughed nervously, "R-Right."
That's all for now! I hope it was okay.
Please read and review!
And sorry for the long wait by the way!
