Playing with fire, nursing burnt hands
Naruto did in fact leave the immediate vicinity for fear of his life and his manhood. He had sorely taken advantage of the situation both of them had been placed in. Once again, he didn't regret it. He focused on the sounds behind him, sure that Sakura would follow soon enough. After half a minute of not hearing anyone attempt killing him, castrating him or otherwise causing him terminal harm, Naruto slowed to a halt, confused at Sakura's lack of chase. He waited another half minute, before shrugging and turning to run home. He wasn't going to complain about lack of injuries.
He arrived for the second time that day in front of his shabby front door, and opened as per usual, via senbon. He removed his shoes before stepping onto the wooden floor and slouched his way to the sofa. He sat down and absent-mindedly fingered a hole in the upholstery. It wasn't like Sakura not to retaliate, especially towards something that forward. Had he gone to far? Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head, and tried to shove away his guilty feelings without much success. He had only just mended their damaged friendship after his stunt with the bra- though there wasn't much to mend with him pretending to have forgotten everything- and he didn't want to drive a bigger wedge between the cracks of their now-unsteady friendship.
Should I go back and apologize?
Naruto was stuck for a solution to his problem. He looked up towards the ceiling, as if the answer would be hidden between the peeling paint and humidity marks that were dominating most of his ceiling. Realizing that his ceiling would not be so obliging as to tell him what to do, he looked back down and began to grumble. Mainly about himself.
Why did I have to do that?
He groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Perhaps I could ask someone for advice?
He ran through a mental list of people who could possibly help him. Iruka? No. He would be very disappointed with Naruto for treating a team-mate that way. Kakashi? Ditto. He'd also be disappointed with him for possibly ruining team dynamics. Naruto didn't even bother contemplating Tsunade and Sai. One was over-emotional and the other was still developing them. Naruto doubted that asking Yamato would be the best thing, having no idea whether the wood-user was suave with women or not. Naruto was at a dead-end about anyone he could ask. His eyes trailed off to the bookshelves on the opposite wall and he lazily scanned the books. There were several scrolls, most of them depicting taijutsu moves. There were a few books also, but one particular caught novel his eye. Its bright orange cover called out to him, like a siren to a sailor, and he walked forwards before gripping it by its spine and starring at the author's name. He knew who he could ask for advice.
Ero-sennin.
Naruto shoved his shoes on and flicked the light switch. He needed to find out if Jiraiya was in Konoha. He once again took to the roofs, eager in his quest, and rushed like there was Orochimaru behind him chasing him with a twenty-foot long snake. He didn't bother checking Jiraiya's apartment. At this time of night there was only one place that perverted sage would be: the Red Light District. Naruto landed on the roof of a very popular club and looked around, scanning the crowd for a shock of white hair. After a good fifteen minutes of searching, yet with still no sign of his former teacher, Naruto decided to brave the prostitution hotspots; not that he was terribly upset with this endeavour. After alighting as gracefully as he could in a crowded area, he pushed past the curtain of one of Jiraiya's favourite host houses. Sure enough, there was Jiraiya, lounging on one of the low couches with at least five women around him. His cheeks weren't a rosy blaze yet, which meant that Naruto would be able to get a coherent sentence out of him. Jiraiya spotted him almost instantaneously and beckoned him over.
"Ero-sennin-"
"Don't call me that!"
Naruto back-tracked. If he wanted advice from the guy, he didn't want to piss him off. "Sorry, Jiraiya-sensei-"
"That's better."
Naruto's eyebrow twitched. Now he was getting pissed off. "Anyway, sensei, there's something I need to ask you."
"Training trouble? I thought you were old enough now too-"
"Girl trouble."
Jiraiya immediately looked interested. "Sakura-chan, as per usual?"
Naruto nodded morosely.
Jiraiya cracked his neck before herding Naruto out through the curtain, whilst waving goodbye to the hosts. "Goodbye ladies. You were wonderful tonight!"
An entire chorus of "Thanks, sweetie! "Any time!" and "So were you!" were his replies.
With one last wink, he shepherded Naruto onto the street and looked around to find a semi-quiet pub. Once he did, he strolled towards the bar, bought a pitcher of Sake, and sat Naruto and himself down at a table in a far corner. "So," he said as a poured a generous drink into his own cup, "what seems to be your problem?"
Naruto grimaced over his cup of sake. "Well, recently I caught Sakura jerking off-"
"Really?" Jiraiya said with glee. "I never thought Tsunade's pupil would-"
"Ahem."
"Right. Continue."
"And recently she caught me fingering her bra."
Jiraiya had to bite down on his lip to stop himself smiling in pride. I have raised you well Naruto!
"Also, today, I groped her butt. Then ran away."
"Yet you're still alive! What are you complaining for?"
"Well, it's kinda weird that she hasn't killed me yet, right? I mean, this is Sakura-chan we're talking about! She's not exactly a very forgiving person!"
Jiraiya sighed. "I still don't see exactly what your problem is here."
"I want to make it up to Sakura and I want to apologize, but I don't know if she's angry. Maybe I went to far this time? I don't know."
They sat in silence before a few moments before Jiraiya put forward his idea. "I think you should go apologize now. Get her some flowers."
"Why flowers?"
Jiraiya shook his head and exhaled in exasperation. "You really are a dolt when it comes to women. She'll appreciate the gesture and will be more likely to forgive you. Get it?"
Naruto nodded eagerly. "Yeah!" Then, the next problem hit him. "What kind of flowers should I get?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "There are flowers growing in the fields behind the Academy. Go pick some from there."
"Thanks." Naruto smiled.
Jiraiya smiled back warmly and both of them began sipping their sake again. "There's something else on your mind," he said after a while. "I can feel it."
Naruto did not bother denying it. "Ah." He cradled the cup in his hands. "I...I really want to date Sakura."
The lack of the suffix showed to Jiraiya that Naruto was serious. He swirled the sake in his cup, thinking what he could reply to that. "Don't make the mistakes I did, Naruto." When Naruto threw him a questioning glance, Jiraiya elaborated. "Don't ever stop trying."
Naruto stared for a second before smiling softly at Jiraiya. "Thank you. I won't." He downed the rest of his sake, stood up and quickly raced out of the bar.
"Good luck," Jiraiya murmured into his sake cup.
Sakura didn't bother chasing Naruto. She was too disappointed in him. Sure, there had been the initial rage, but that had died down to something much worse. She couldn't quite place what it was. It was a fusion of resentment and being let down and frustration. The fury was still there, this is Sakura after all, but it had been shelved for the time being. She slowly went to her bathroom, undressed and showered. She was too upset to even care that her neighbours had stolen all the hot water again. Very sluggishly she dried herself off and wore slacks and a tank top. She padded to the kitchen and made herself some ginger tea, all the while feeling herself go numb. Stirring the tea absent-mindedly, she sat down on her sofa and switched on the television. She stared at the screen, trying not to get too upset and tried to get her mind off what had happened.
Stupid Naruto and his stupid grabbing hands!
It wasn't working very well. She flicked through the channels until she came across a documentary. Although Sakura wasn't paying attention to it, the dull voice of the narrator succeeded in soothing her.
I'm making too much of a fuss. It's just that...
Sakura remembered how Naruto had looked at her and the way he had leaned forward. And suddenly, she was thinking about it all over again.
Gaah! Stupid brain!
She switched off the television and chucked the remote onto the couch. It landed with a soft bump, but it didn't hide the louder bump that had came from her balcony.
She immediately stood up, alert, grabbed a kunai which she always kept at hand, and went over to the balcony door. "Who's there?" She could see a dark shape behind the glass, outlined by the street lights outside. Edging closer quickly, she saw the handle turn and a familiar pair of orange trousers step in. "Oh," she said, "it's you."
Naruto grinned sheepishly at her. He hid an arm behind him and she tried to see what t was in the glass behind him, but didn't manage, for he stepped away from the glass door. "Sakura-chan, I've come to apologize." He stopped grinning and his mouth tipped into a serious line, whilst his eyes held a look of sincerity. "I'm really sorry for what I did." From behind him, he pulled out a bunch of slightly windswept flowers: asters, bellflowers, daisies and a variety of other flowers.
Sakura looked at the flowers before shaking her head. "No, Naruto. You don't to apologize. I...I made too much of a fuss. I'm the one who should apologize."
The look of utter shock on his face made Sakura wish she had a camera at hand. "B-but-!" he protested.
"Don't you want to be forgiven?"
"I mean, yeah! Of course I do!"
"So what's the problem?" Sakura padded over to the couch and patted the seat next to her, a clear invitation for Naruto to sit.
He walked over, flowers still in hand, and sat down slightly hesitantly.
"I won't bite you," she said.
"Nope! Just knock me unconscious."
Sakura winced. "I guess I still haven't apologized for that."
"Are you feeling all right, Sakura-chan? You've never apologized to me for hitting me."
She sighed and began nibbling at her lip guiltily. "Umm, yeah..."
Naruto chuckled. "It's fine. You don't need to bother."
Sakura looked over at him fondly and patted him on his arm. "Let me get a vase for those flowers." After having selected a rather nice-looking white and blue patterned one, she filled it with water and let Naruto place the flowers in them.
"Aren't you going to arrange them?" he asked.
Sakura looked over to the haphazard bouquet that rested on a small wooden side table. "Nah. They look good that way."
"Besides the fact that you're crap at flower-arranging."
She shot him a warning look and he wisely shut up. After a few moments of silence, she asked: "Would you like something to drink?"
"Sure! Do you have orange juice?"
She went over to her fridge to check if she had said fruity drink. "No, only peach."
"...Milk?"
Without answering, she brought out a glass from a cupboard and filled it with milk, before pouring herself a glass of peach juice. She brought them over to Naruto, and placed them on a small wooden coffee table in front of them.
"So," Naruto asked, whilst he reached out to take his drink, "you free tomorrow after training?"
Sakura mentally went over her schedule before nodding. "Yeah. How come?"
Naruto shrugged. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the summer festival tomorrow."
"Uh-"
"It's not a date!" Naruto said hurridly.
And before Sakura could herself: "What if I want it to be a date?" The words flew out of her mouth and hung freshly in the air.
Good going, genius. Way to make a situation less awkward. Why did I say that?
Now it was Naruto's turn to be speechless. "Uh..."
Sakura blushed, before saying: "Forget I said that" It's okay to go as friends."
"And what if I want it to be a date?"
Naruto stared at her intently, his eyes gazing right into her own, and Sakura blushed a light shade of pink. "I-I don't think I'd mind."
His serious look morphed into one of pure joy and excitement. "Really?"
Sakura nodded, slightly hesitantly in the face of his exuberance.
"Awesome! I'll pick you up an hour after training finishes, okay?"
Sakura nodded once again in agreement. She had been left slightly inarticulate.
Naruto finished his milk in one gulp, placed the glass on the coffee table and stood up. "Well, I have to go get an early night! Have to catch up on beauty sleep, y'know."
Sakura chucked at his lame joke before nodding and standing up also. "See you," she said.
"Take care!" was his reply, before he flung open the balcony door and flung himself off it.
Sakura sighed in slight felicity, before going to the the kitchen to clean up the glasses.
Naruto woke up the next morning in a state of the vigorous kind. He shot up from bed, like he had been sleeping on spikes, and immediately went to shower. He couldn't wait for training to be over as fast as possible, because, for the first time ever, he was going on a date with Sakura!
Oh yeah! Who's the man? Mhmm!
Mentally cheering himself on, he stepped into the shower and energetically drenched, lathered and rinsed himself. He stepped out of the shower, applied deodorant with equal energy and stepped into his usual training clothes. Then he remembered something important: he had nothing to wear to the festival. He forced himself not to panic. There was one person he could count on for old fashioned clothing. Jiraiya.
This is going to be the second time I've asked him for help. He's so going to rub it in my face!
Naruto mentally sighed, before making sure he had all his training equipment and leaving his small flat. Time to track down the old pervert again.
Sakura, that same morning, was facing a similar crisis. She had tried on her old kimono, which she hadn't worn in around three years, just to make sure she would look presentable. She looked anything but. A fifteen-year old's yukata did not fit well on an eighteen year old with developed curves.
Who on earth can I borrow a yukata from at this time?
Then, her thoughts, unknown to her that they were similar to Naruto's, fell upon one person who could lend her a yukata.
Tsunade.
She immediately scoffed down a quick breakfast, left and locked her apartment, eager to search for her mentor. On a Saturday morning, Tsunade was still usually at her home, trying to recuperate from her "secret" binge drinking on Friday. Sakura had no trouble getting to her master's home, having been there many a time before. She knocked respectfully at the door, and tried to wait patiently for the Hokage to let her in.
Tsunade answered the door in a few minutes, record timing on a Saturday morning, and Sakura breezily greeted her with a cheerful "Good morning!"
Tsunade grunted and stepped aside to let her former apprentice in. "You're too chipper this morning." She had faint circles under her eyes and her mouth dropped along with them.
"I was wondering, Tsunade-shishou, if you had a yukata you could lend me. Please?" Sakura flashed her past mentor a pair of green puppy eyes.
"No need to use that tactic with me," Tsunade grumbled. "As a matter of fact, I do have an old one that might suit you." She indicated for Sakura to follow her, and she did so eagerly, impatient to see her date-attire.
Tsunade led her upstairs into an unused guest bedroom. In one corner sat an old armoire, of cloud design. She heaved open the wardrobe doors and began sifting through the various articles of clothing that were suspended from hangers. Sakura smiled at the array of colours before her; being used to Tsuande's usual green vest, she was mildly surprised to see the rainbow stored in her closet. After a few moments of deciding which would look better on Sakura, Tsunade presented her with a beautiful silk yukata. She dumped it into Sakura's arms with the order to "Put the damn thing on so I can go back to sleep." She turned around to give Sakura some privacy.
Sakura stared at the yukata with nothing less than awe. Each design had been hand-painted delicately, with smooth strokes, hardly showing, as if the pictures were merged with the very cloth itself. The yukata was a deep red, with a light airy blue obi that had turquoise and deep green swirled patterns. The yukata itself had a flock of cranes flying from the hem to her right shoulder, and single feathers dotted the kimono, along with white jasmine flowers. Sakura quickly tried it on, after having admired it. She asked Tsunade to tie the obi for her, and she did so and finished it off with an intricate knot.
Tsunade dragged Sakura to a full-length mirror which had been placed into the wardrobe's interior. "Beautiful," Tsunade said. "Now get out."
Sakura laughed, removed the yukata and thanked Tsunade deeply.
"Who's it for?" Tsunade asked as she held the door open for Sakura.
"For me."
"No," Tsunade said sarcastically. "I meant, who are you going with to the festival to want a yukata? You haven't worn one in ages."
Sakura nibbled her lip, before replying: "Naruto."
Tsunade was surprised for a second before she nodded and shut the door. "'Bout time," she said behind the layer of wood.
The day past by in a blur for Naruto. He hadn't been able to find Jiraiya before training; the old man hid to well in order to recuperate from his hangovers. He tried again, right after, dashing to the writer's apartment. Sure enough, he was there, gingerly sipping a glass of tea.
"Naruto," he greeted him with. "How did it go?"
"What? Training? That was fin-"
"The apology, you idiot."
"Oh yeah! Umm, yeah. She apologized to me."
"Hmm," Jiraiya stirred his tea, contemplatively. "That's interesting. So," he said after having pondering Naruto's information, "why are you here?"
"I need something to wear for the festival. Now. Badly."
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.
"Please?"
"Oho? Would I be correct in presuming this sudden need for formal attire is for a certain pink-haired team mate?"
Naruto nodded hurridly. "I have to meet her in an hour, so if you'd be so kind, please do you have something I can wear?"
Jiraiya smiled lazily over his cup of tea, then drained it. "As a matter of fact, I do. You'll like the colour. Used to be mine." He stood up, placed the cup in the sink and told Naruto to stay where he was, before entering his bedroom. He emerged a few minutes later carrying a pair of black hakama and a burnt orange yukata. The yukata was a matte burnt orange, that was more pleasing to the eye than Naruto's standard retina-burning hue. The colour of the yukata was complimented with blue waves crashing on the hem of his yukata and they swirled into a whirlpool on the back of it.
He chuckled at the irony. "Fate."
"Mhmm," Jiraiya agreed. "Bought that for the Fourth Hokage actually. Never was a huge fan of orange, but he liked it enough."
"Why do you still have it?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "No clue, really. Last thing I can remember about having it was something to do with lots of sake, many women and a horse." He waved aside Naruto's questioning look. "Can't remember anything besides that. C'mon, go home and get pretty for Sakura-chan."
Naruto snickered. "Will do!" he said before leaving.
Sakura finished tying the knot in her obi, before she slid it around so that it would rest at the back. Not a perfect knot, but a good one. She walked out into her living room, where she saw the flowers still surviving in the summer heat in that little vase. On impulse, she picked an aster and placed it into her hair. She took one last look into her mirror and deemed herself presentable: she had complimented the yukata with her ninja boots and had tied her hair up into a simple bun. She told herself to stop panicking, it was Naruto and-
Her heart jumped when she heard a knock on her door. Suddenly her mind was flooded with a torrent of inane thoughts.
Is my hair all right? Will he like my yukata? Did I over do it? Did I-
Her thoughts were cut short as he knocked impatiently again. "Sakura-chan," he called from behind the wood. "It's me! Open up."
She took a deep breath, reminded herself that this was her team-mate who had seen her in much worse conditions, and opened the door for him. A whirl of orange greeted her as he rushed in to hug her. She breathed in the scent of sharp spices and underlying citrus which mingled with his own natural fragrance.
"You look wonderful," he said, grabbing her hand to lead her outside.
"You do too," she said, taking a proper look at him.
A/N: Hola guys :D Sorry haven't updated for a while, for those of you who still bother reading this. I wrote this just before my exams which start in two days :D It's a pity I only get motivated to write when I have loads of things to do D: I hope you like this chapter :D I wrote it in the span of a few hours. What I could write if I wasn't so lazy...
Please tell me what you think :D
See you ^.^
