Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...
Chapter 4: Intuition
"Ah! Hot! Hot! Hot!"
"Geez, Naruto! I already warned you –"
"But Sakura-cha – OOMF!"
The hot bowl of ramen Naruto was holding crashed onto the floor.
"Ahrgh! I've had enough IDIOT!" The pink kunoichi brought down her fist and knocked the blonde to the ground.
"Ouch… Sakura-chan… I can't believe you'd punch a patient…" Naruto whined as he got himself up.
Extending a hand, Sakura grumbled. "What kind of patient almost gets himself burned by ramen?"
"Aww… I get really hungry after fights, you know that, Sakura-chan…"
At the mention of his fight, Sakura pulled Naruto up immediately and ordered a new bowl. "Eat slowly this time." Sakura gave a warning glare then stared into her ramen in a daze. "So… the fight?"
"It was a spar… Nothing serious, hehehe." Naruto's wide grin didn't faze Sakura one bit.
Sighing, Naruto continued in defeat. "Fine, Sakura-chan… Well… I found out something Sasuke and Mayuri-san both have in common."
Sakura looked up in interest, but went back to gazing at her ramen to conceal her curiosity.
Naruto continued on. "They… both lost their brothers."
'Oh.' Sakura blinked. 'Something… I could never understand, huh?'
The blonde looked over Sakura with worry and diverted the topic. "Sakura-chan… So, what happened yesterday? When you went to talk with Sasuke?"
"Huh?" Sakura turned towards her teammate and blinked then she looked away. "I congratulated him… for his engagement, you know?"
An apprehensive surprise washed over Naruto. "Then, you –"
"Yeah. I've let go of my feelings for Sasuke now." The pink kunoichi said, as she wondered what Naruto's reaction would be. She really had no idea.
Naruto's ramen came out, but showing no sign of notice, the blonde got up and hugged Sakura.
This was one reaction Sakura had not expected. "Naruto?" She felt his warmth envelope her in his embrace.
"Mm… You're really strong, Sakura-chan. Did anyone ever tell you that?" Naruto's words immediately brought a smile to Sakura's face as she replied back playfully. "Oh, and you realize that now?"
"Sakura-chan." Naruto's voice didn't return the same playfulness. "You have a lot of courage. I can imagine how hard that must have been… to confront him, and to let go."
The corners of Sakura's mouth widened into a smile, but her green eyes showed a pool of sadness. As much as an idiot Naruto was, Sakura thanked him silently for his words and returned his hug tighter.
The fast approaching footsteps soon broke their embrace as the two looked up. Sakura brightened up upon seeing her, well, other blonde friend.
"Ino!"
"Sakura! I was wondering where you were!"
"Did something happen?" Sakura asked curiously.
The blonde gave a light pat on her head. "I was worried, duh." A touch of pink spread in Ino's face after admitting her worry.
Ino looked over at Naruto, who returned with a curious stare. Pulling Sakura over, Ino urgently led the pink kunoichi away.
"Uh… Ino?"
Once they were a safe distance away, a teasing grin broke out into Ino's face.
"What was that intense embrace for, Sakura?" Ino peered over, covering her mouth to hide her laughs.
"What? Ino! It's not like you've never seen me hug Naruto, geez." Sakura rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Well, that idiot seemed super serious for once!" A few snickers escaped her mouth as Ino went on. "That hug was different than the usual, I swear! I think I saw sparks flying!"
"Uh, well, it did seem… warmer?" Sakura regretted as soon as she said those words when she realized where all this was heading.
"WARMER? Oh my gosh, Sakura! Of all the words…" Ino burst out laughing, which caught some uneasy glimpses from the passersby.
"Sakura, do you know how worried I was? And now I found you with Naruto who hugs you warmly." Ino teased, the wide grin unfading.
Sakura sighed as she muttered under her breath. "Oh geez, first it's Mayuri-san, and now it's you…"
"Huh? Did Mayuri say something too?" Ino perked up with a mix of curiosity and regret that she brought up this touchy topic.
"She just asked me what I think of Naruto." Sakura answered nonchalantly. "What, do we look like couples or something?" The pink kunoichi asked bluntly, rolling her eyes and tried to wave away Ino.
"Oh my gosh! That's perfect, Sakura!" Ino brightened up and her grin widened even further. "A new start! With none other than…" Ino paused for effect – and to giggle – as she continued in a dramatic voice. "NARUTO!"
All the villagers around them shifted their attention to the two friends while Ino laughed hysterically. When Sakura realized that surrounding villagers whisper among themselves, she dragged Ino away as she tried to keep down her irritation.
"Ino-pig. I'm going to kill you!" Sakura hissed threateningly.
. . .
A long sigh sounded. "First, she drags me over, and then she just leaves. I don't think I can ever understand women." Shikamaru said lazily as he glanced at Naruto.
"I agree with you on this one." The blonde replied. "At least I wasn't left alone."
"Why? You wanna talk?" Shikamaru examined Naruto carefully. "That was a pretty long hug, by the way."
The blonde felt a blush strike across his face as he tried to laugh away his embarrassment.
"But… there's something else, isn't there?" Shikamaru continued on once Naruto quieted down. "Come."
Naruto spaced out as he thought back to his fight with Sasuke, while he followed Shikamaru. They approached a small hill, close to Asuma's grave.
"Hey, Naruto. I'm going to take a nap." Shikamaru said as he lay down and closed his eyes.
When no response followed, Shikamaru opened one eye to peek and added, "Whatever it is, talking about it makes it feel better." 'Or so Ino says' He added silently. "Either way, don't disturb me; I'll be sleeping."
Naruto chuckled softly as he started. "Well… I had a fight with Sasuke. Tell the others it was just a spar though."
Despite having said that he'd sleep, Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the clouds.
"Sasuke admitted he didn't love Mayuri-san. But I wasn't surprised. Maybe I expected that. I was more furious though."
The blonde lay down as well and gazed at the passing clouds. It took a while before Naruto continued.
"It was frustrating. I could practically see Mayuri-san fussing over him and he says he doesn't love her?"
The warm gusts of wind swayed the grass back and forth, tickling their faces.
"There was something he said that bothers me though." Naruto continued. "It was so obvious that Mayuri-san loved him, but he said that wasn't true."
The blonde turned his head to his right. "Shikamaru? I don't know what to believe."
His gaze at the sky unwavering, Shikamaru spoke softly. "I may have an incredulously high IQ, but I think you're better at figuring out things like that. You know, your intuition?"
Naruto chuckled as he shifted his attention to the sky once again. After a lengthy pause, Naruto confessed.
"I told him I love her"
Shikamaru didn't have to use his brain to figure out who that was.
"Sometimes… I wonder if I'm like Mayuri-san." Naruto closed his eyes and felt the breeze dance with his hair. "I don't know if it's obvious to others that I love her, but I can tell Sakura-chan doesn't reciprocate my feelings."
Shikamaru took a glance at Naruto. "Then what was the idiotic grin you had back there at Ichiraku's? That was some hug, you know."
Naruto smiled with a hint of sadness and closed his eyes. The blonde drifted to his thoughts while Shikamaru really fell asleep this time.
a/n: Thank you to my readers and reviewers! I appreciate it very much! No Sasuke in this chapter :p And I'm sorry it's short.. I'll try to make it up by updating more frequently.