YAY! Another chapter is up! Hopefully I was able to clarify any confusion left in the reviews with replies as well as pinpoint certain problems within the chapter. I'm still inexperienced as a writer so I got to do the best I can in becoming better. I'm sad that my story may have been a bit confusing, but happy that people were still willing to ask questions. It is good, because I wouldn't have noticed where it might have been confusing otherwise. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! They did help out in those respects. I realize that I'm not as clear as I should be sometimes, but hopefully this chapter is an improvement. Anyway, it should clear up certain problems; I did say that there were going to be problems that arise unexpectedly after all.
Anyway, Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: …read previous ones. I only own the storyline. Characters aren't mine, nor are certain parts used in the story. I don't own Naruto. I just own the plot, or string of ideas I have put together. Maybe this has sunken in by now.
Gratification
Chapter 4: Failures and Landings – Part 2
A tree had grown tall enough that it created a shadow over the short wall next to it. This single tree created shade for Kiba and Naruto to move the unconscious Hinata under, and wait until she regained consciousness again. She had passed out from the shock Naruto had put her through with his statement about a double date. He had been referring to Kiba and her as a pair, though she had taken it as him asking her to go on a double date.
"Looks like it'll be a bit before she wakes up, huh?" Kiba asked, absentmindedly, as he looked down at her. He was smiling gently, taking in all her features.
Naruto nodded and looked over at his friend, "You like her a lot, huh?"
Kiba growled as his cheeks turned a bright red. He nodded to make sure Naruto understood. It was at that moment he picked up an unfamiliar scent, and his nostrils opened wider to inhale the air. He also redirected chakra to his ears, and heard faint voices. He distinctly heard one of them say Naruto's name.
"Hmm..." Kiba looked behind him at the trees, then back at Naruto, "Hey Naruto, can you watch Hinata for a bit?"
"Uh? Sure. What's up?"
"Nothing much. I'll be right back," he then turned to his loyal companion, Akamaru, "Stay here and watch Hinata too, okay?"
Akamaru barked a 'yes' and Naruto nodded, giving his consent. Kiba walked back down the street he came earlier, around the corner of the wall, and out of sight.
"Looks like it's just you and me, Akamaru," Naruto said with a smile before his face scrunched together, "I need ramen." He grabbed his stomach from the pain of hunger, and slowly looked up. He saw the platinum blonde kunochi, and her larger male teammate come out of a building he previously passed, and begin walking down the street perpendicular to where he stood.
"Hey, NARUTO!" the man waved even though they were in a hurry.
"Hey Choji! Ino!" Naruto yelled back, and waved out of habit.
"HEY NARUTO! Sorry! We gotta go met Asuma-sensei!" Ino replied as they continued to walk.
Naruto nodded, and they were gone. He turned back to Akamaru who was sitting silently. "See Akamaru, everyone is busy today."
"All right, he's along the beginning of the path to the hot springs? Not too far from them either?" Konohamaru said, confirming the message Udon had dictated into the headset. Moegi and Konohamaru had been following Sakura and Sai while Udon and Konohamaru's clone had hidden in a tree to observe Naruto with Hinata, Kiba and Akamauru.
"Yes, they are close to the path to the hot springs. Naruto-niichan is with the big dog and girl. The guy walked away a minute or so ago. We don't know where he went."
"Okay, initiating operation 'Naruto-niichan's Feelings!' Stay outta sight!" he said back to Udon, as he told his present partner, "Lets go, Moegi!"
"I told you we should rename it. 'Naruto-niichan's Feelings' is a lame name."
"NO WAY! It's a great name! What could be better?!"
"The Power of Love!" she replied cheerily.
Konohamaru stared at her horrified, nearly having a heart attack at the thought. He was too stunned by the thought that he face faulted since he didn't see the where he was walking. 'I shouldn't have asked...' he mentally bashed himself; getting up so as to not inhale the roof they were on.
"NO WAY! Lets leave it for now," he then jumped off the roof so he was a few yards behind Sakura and Sai. Moegi, though slightly saddened, landed behind him.
"Sakura-neechan!" Konohamaru called out to get her attention. This stopped Sakura and Sai from walking on.
"Huh?" Sakura broke the conversation with Sai, and turned around surprised, "Oh, Konohamaru. Moegi. Where is Udon?" Sai also turned around to see who had called her. Though he was emotionless, he was slightly annoyed as well. If the children didn't distract them, he may have actually gotten the courage to ask her an important question.
Konohamaru was about to respond when he suddenly heard multiple voices through the headset.
"WHAT THE-"
"AHHH! Let him go!" he heard a frightened Udon yell.
"What have we got here? A couple brats spying on Naruto, Hinata, and me? It's good I got here when I did, or I wouldn't have heard part of your conversation."
"LET ME GO! RUN! RUN! RUN!" Konohamaru heard his voice, the clone's voice, yelling courageously at Udon, "Hurry up! I'll take care of him with the Sexy no- just go!"
"What was that, Brat?!"
Konohamaru's concentration was broken when Sakura asked, "Is something wrong, Konohamaru, Moegi?" Moegi also had a headset on, and was making similar worried faces to Konohamaru at the sounds of the voices.
"No! I mean, YES! It's about Naruto-niichan!" Konohamaru responded immediately, 'Damn it! I gotta do this quick!' he thought. "Udon is with his family," he lied.
At that moment, he knew everything that happened with his clone. Apparently, his clone was captured by the dog person, but allowed Udon to run away. Once Udon was far enough away, the clone had stuck out its tongue, and changed into a naked female. This caused the dog ninja's nose to bleed, and eyeballs pop out of their sockets. The person also stuttered backwards from the excitement, fell out of the tree, and landed on his back. This bought Udon enough time to escape completely, and the clone dispersed when he was sure the dog person wouldn't get up. Konohamaru now knew the location of Naruto, and hoped he hadn't moved.
"Okay, what did he do?" Sakura questioned.
Konohamaru glared at the man next to her, Sai, "I can't tell him. I can only tell you," then thought of a stupid reason, "I'm not allowed to tell you otherwise."
"Um...alright," she answered, unsure of what was expected, yet thinking it was just some minimal issue Naruto didn't want publicized. She leaned over, and turned her head so he could whisper into her ear.
Konohamaru panicked for a second, completely forgetting what the old granny had told him to say. It was unlike him to forget things, but this speech she wanted them to say was long. He couldn't remember anything he was supposed to say. However, he quickly thought up something that would force Sakura to confront Naruto, put his mouth by her ear, and covered it with his hands before he whispered the lie.
Moegi curiously watched Sakura's face become angrier at every word Konohamaru said. This was the opposite effect of what she assumed would happen. It was as if the base of a fire was being built.
"WHA-! Are you sure?"
Konohamaru nodded his head, and Moegi followed suit. "I saw him go there myself, Sakura-neechan," Konohamaru confirmed. "He said he wanted to prove his abilities as a ninja."
For a moment, Sakura wanted to hunt down and kill Naruto. Using her good judgment, she calmed herself and said politely, "This doesn't sound like something Naruto would do…now...but it is most likely the reason for creating the Jutsu...though this doesn't feel right. Why are you telling this to just me?"
Konohamaru hadn't anticipated this question, and froze on the spot. Moegi, however, did, "Jiraiya-sama," she said curtly, hoping it coincided with what Konohamaru had said.
"Huh?" Sakura was slightly more interested, "Jiraiya-sama?...Now that you mention it, without a doubt, he would suggest something like this to Naruto."
Konohamaru quickly caught on and nodded, "Jiraya-sama told us to come get you...uh...because he thought...he thought he may have given Naruto-niichan the wrong impression. So he sent us to find you to...um...correct the behavior."
Completely annoyed by what she had just learned, she let go of all prior restraints. She made a fist, and raised it parallel with her body, "So you're telling me he went, and did this because it was suggested?! He can't realize it's inappropriate, and not do it!" A vein was slowly emerging on her forehead and fist. "Choosing to be a pervert! Some nerve! He should have learned from yesterday!"
Both genin feared for their lives at that moment, but it seemed as if other people broke her mode before she got too intense. "Ino-pig? Choji-san?"
"Hey Sakura! HEY SAI-KUN!" Ino yelled as she came closer, saying Sai's name louder to get his attention. Choji greeted them as well, following behind Ino.
"Okay, Konohamaru, point to where Naruto is right now since you saw him go their yourself?"
Konohamaru hesitated seeing as he just created a murderous intent within the older figure, but he did anyway. He slowly pointed slightly behind him, in the direction his clone had dispersed from. "He is near the beginning of the hot springs path!"
She twitched, "Doesn't look like he has traveled all that far," she looked up at the two friends approaching her.
"Hey Sakura, Sai-kun, what's going on?" Ino asked; noticing the two little genin talking to Sakura, and the slightly distressed face her long time rival wore.
"Nothing much, have you two seen Naruto this morning?"
Choji nodded, and then pointed in the same direction Konohamaru did, "We saw him over there a couple minutes ago. We are on our way to meet with Asuma-sensei, so we didn't have much time to talk."
There was a slight frown Konohamaru observed on Sakura's face, "I see," the pink Kunochi responded. It only helped confirm where Konohamaru pointed.
"Sorry, but we gotta go. We'll see you when we get back. Talk to you later, forehead girl," she stated to Sakura, "Bye Sai-kun! We should all have dinner again sometime!"
Choji also said his goodbyes, and they walked off past Sakura, Sai, and the two genin.
"So this is what he decided to do this morning," Sakura stated angrily. It was like every word dripped with venom. She began to march off in the direction the two people had pointed with every intention of beating the crap out of Naruto.
"Do you want me to accompany you?" Sai asked before she was too far away.
"No, it's alright, Sai. I can handle this. Thanks Konohamaru, Moegi, for informing me," with that, she was gone.
Sai nodded, said his one-worded goodbyes to the genin, and then walked towards where he had been drawing prior to meeting with Sakura, though he was slightly disappointed.
Once both older teens were gone, Moegi turned to Konohamaru and asked, "She looked really angry, Konohamaru-kun, was she suppose to be that angry for going to repair Naruto-niichan's arm? That's what Hokage-sama said we were suppose to say..."
Konohamaru gave a nervous laugh, "So that's what it was...Actually I made up something else..."
Moegi continued to stare at him completely baffled, but couldn't shake the bad feelings she had just received.
Though Kiba had been completely stunned by the two children he had found, he returned to Naruto, Hinata, and Akamaru empty handed. It had taken him a few minutes to regain consciousness after the kid's attack. Not to mention his back hurt from falling out of the tree from shock.
"Hey Kiba, welcome back. So where did you go?"
"I could smell something unfamiliar in the trees, as well as hear faint voices. There were some kids spying on us with headsets on. Oh, do you know anything about a sexy...sexy no..."
"Sexy no Jutsu?" Naruto offered.
"Yeah! Do you know what it is?"
"OF COURSE! I'm the one who made it after all! Why do you ask?"
"It was a phrase one of the brats said. What is it anyway? I think they used it on me."
"It's my super, special, secret technique for diversions," Naruto responded slyly, "Wanna see?" He smiled even harder.
"Special technique, huh?! Sure!" Kiba responded excitedly.
"Alright, get ready!" Naruto put his hands together to make the proper signs. He couldn't help but smile at the poor, innocent sucker, "SEXY N-"
"NARUTO!!!"
Completely distracted by the scream, Naruto stopped and looked down the street only to see the pink haired, medical ninja running at him.
"S-Sakura-chan?" he could see a giant dust cloud trailing behind her. "Sakura-chan...What's going on?"
He waved at her, expecting her to slow down. He couldn't understand why she was running in the first place, and expected it was something urgent.
"Is it an important mission?" He yelled out. There were a few moments where he watched her run towards him curiously. Before she was too close, he heard a small squeak. He turned his head to notice that Hinata had finally woken up and was looking at him and Kiba baffled.
"Finally awake?" Kiba said caringly as he knelt down next to her.
"Good Morning, Hin-" but Naruto was never able to finish the statement. The last image he saw was Hinata's horrified face. Her eyes had become the size of golf balls as she watched the scene before her.
"AHHH!!!" Naruto yelled as he was launched into the air by Sakura's punch. She nailed him in the center of the chest, and went in an upward angle. Naruto could tell she had put more than a necessary amount of chakra into the punch, because the clouds became increasingly closer. It was an interesting sensation to him, flying through the air. He must have gone at least a hundred yards before he turned his body a hundred and eighty degrees only to see a large pool of steaming water becoming larger as his flight came to an end. With his remaining breath, Naruto let out an even louder scream, started waving his arms around as if trying to fly, and landed in the steaming hot water. He created a splash so large, nearly a quarter of the water flew out of the pool, and at least ten feet of water went upwards from the impact.
Landing in the scorching hot water after a long flight took its toll on his body, and he felt as if he didn't want to move. He slowly floated up to the surface, belly up. He was completely unaware of his surroundings until a giant water bowl hit him directly in the head. He finally popped up from being a dead fish only to realize his misfortune. At least twenty half or completely naked women were about to mutilate him at that moment. Loud screams echoed throughout the area as the women attempted to beat him up so he wouldn't see their private areas. Naruto took quite a few objects to the body and head before he created a dozen clones. Even though the water was burning him, he took care in hiding himself underwater while the clones attempted to get out of the hot springs in his place.
"GAH!"
On the other side of a wall, the older man had fallen backwards, out of the bushes, only to jump up, and start flailing around at the shear pain of the heat. He had been peaking into the women's hot springs with his eye almost through the hole when one of the women had flung the bowl back towards the wall to empty it. This allowed her to chuck it at the unidentified male. Unfortunately for the white-haired man, the woman had been off to the side, and out of view so he never saw her motion, and the water went directly into his eye. The water was also blistering hot which only added to the situation.
Once he had finally regained composure, he used his other eye to look through the hole again, and identify the source of the ruckus. He only grumbled at the sight of Naruto, and his clones attempting to escape.
'Damn it Naruto! I should have known!' he then sighed, 'Tsunade was right about you turning into me! BUT I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!'
Only 2 clones were able to escape, and were immediately dispersed once they were far enough away. This however gave Naruto enough time to use his sexy no jutsu to blend in with the rest of the females. The female form emerged from the hot water off to the side, away from where he had initially landed.
'All right! Now I just gotta get outta here!'
"Wait a minute!" said a female voice.
A sudden shiver went up his spine; "Y-Yes?" came his best feminine voice as he turned around slightly to see who it was, fearing he may have been captured.
"Are you okay?" The half naked woman asked, "You're very red."
He couldn't help blushing, seeing as it was her upper torso that was slightly exposed. Not only that, but her breast were much bigger than Sakura, "It's okay, it's just the heat, "he quickly looked away, "That guy landed really close to where I was."
"Okay, that's good to hear you're okay," the woman smiled, then walked away.
'THAT WAS SO CLOSE!' Naruto yelled at himself. 'I gotta get outta here...NOW!'
The female Naruto casually stood up, and picked up the first available towel before heading for the exit. He kept his head down, and looked more at his feet, being extremely careful not to look at any other females. He went into the changing room, and transformed so clothes were on his body. When he was younger, he would have willingly looked at all the females, but now it just didn't seem right. He walked out the front exit, and let out a sigh of relief.
"Damn it...what the hell was that all about? She didn't have to hit me...what did I do?" he grumbled.
Naruto walked over to a tree decently far from the exit, and sat underneath it. He held his chest, wishing the pain would go away quicker. Fortunately, he could tell she didn't break any of his bones. However, he could tell his cast is soggy, and it irritated him. It was then he finally noticed all the other injuries he had accumulated from the females in the hot springs. The side of his head hurt from the initial hit by the water bowl, and there were bruises on his arms and sides. Not to mention he was still hungry, because he hadn't eaten anything so far today. He was surprised he was still able to keep going.
Jiraiya, who had been watching Naruto since he landed in the hot springs, peaked around the corner of the building to see his student sitting under the tree. A few more seconds, and Naruto had changed back to his normal self. He took the opportunity to approach his student.
"Hiya Naruto! How is everything going?"
"Hey Ero-sennin!" Noticing where his sensei had come from, he asked, "Were you spying on the girls in the-"
Jiraiya had lunged forward to cover his student's mouth. He noticed a few of the girls passing by, glaring at him, and he quickly covered it up, "He's just kidding! He doesn't know when it's a good time for a joke."
The girls continued to walk on, and Jiraiya returned his focus to Naruto, releasing the genin's mouth, "So Naruto, I see you've gotten yourself into a bit of trouble. May I ask why you did such a thing, and without informing me?"
It was then that Naruto noticed how red Jiraiya's eye was, but ignored it, "I didn't want to do that. Sakura-chan's punch was what caused it."
"What does Sakura's punch have anything to do with this?"
"She ran at me, and punched me as hard as she could. It sent me flying."
"What did you do to Sakura? This would be a better question to ask."
Naruto shook his head, and shrugged, "I have no idea!"
"Hmm..." Jiraiya stood there for a few moments contemplating what Naruto had just said. If Naruto had no idea what he did, and Sakura had been that angry about it, then something else must have influenced her. This situation was definitely a good outcome for him, seeing as it was more than likely the little brats that pulled the strings. He now felt like visiting Tsunade to tell her the hilarious event that had occurred as well as inform her of his victory.
"It would be best if you went and talked to Sakura about this. She will probably be able to explain her purpose for punching you, but..." He looked at Naruto sternly, "don't be mad with her," then gave the best fatherly smile he could muster, "She isn't someone to do anything without a reason."
Naruto nodded, he did agree on her character. Jiraiya continued with one last statement.
"A quick word of advice, Naruto. You may not understand a woman's heart, but be sure to think about how Sakura is effected by your words and actions."
Naruto gave another firm nod, before he realized he had a question, "Alright Ero-sennin. Oh, hey...um...I had this really weird dream yesterday..."
"Oh...what was it about?"
"It was between Sakura-chan and me. It felt real...Even though I know it was a dream. I couldn't tell the difference for a while. It felt like...like she had actually been there with me. Do you know why it would be so real, Ero-sennin?"
Once again, Jiraiya thought for a few moments about what his student had said, until he finally came up with an answer.
"It is because you are too stupid to tell the difference," he concluded simply.
"WHA-?!" Naruto's eyes widened, and jaw dropped down to hit the ground, "NO I'M NOT!"
"Yes you are, however I am willing to offer other reasons."
"Which are...?"
Jiraiya stood up straight, put his arms behind his back, closed his eyes as if to think, and acted like a teacher. "Sometimes dreams are so realistic we can't determine whether they are reality or not, because our senses are deceiving us. We feel as if it is reality, because our five senses are working. So you can't really tell when you are asleep or not. Another possible reason may be that someone touched those areas on your external body, and therefore your dream, or internal body, included them. The last possible reason may be that the Kyuubi is impacting your body on a subconscious level."
Jiraiya opened his eyes to look at Naruto, and only confirmed his thoughts. 'I knew he wouldn't understand it.' Naruto was staring blankly at him, eyebrow arched, and still waiting for the answer.
He sighed, and then added, "There are various reasons as to why you can't tell the difference, but it isn't uncommon for a dream to feel like reality. It also isn't uncommon to confuse what happened in a dream with reality."
Naruto nodded his head this time. Slowly grasping the concepts as usual. "Anyway, it's best if you go change your cast..." upon closer inspection, Jiraiya could tell the cast was no longer as effective, "Go to the Konoha Hospital, they should be able to remove the cast, and wrap it up. You shouldn't have to get...why are you staring at me like that?"
"So Ero-sennin knows this, because he has had really realistic dreams involving girls," Naruto stated with a devious smile.
Jiraiya twitched, "You brat..."
Naruto took off running, and yelled over his shoulder, "Thanks Ero-sennin!"
Jiraiya remained under the tree, looking down the path Naruto had just gone. 'Interesting, so he had a dream while Sakura was around him...Involving girls you say...Interesting.' He naturally rubbed his chin as he began walking towards the Hokage's office, 'I should have asked him for more details. It may have been good material for my next book.'
The golden sun peeked out from behind the walls of Konoha. Reddish-orange, yellow, Blue, Indigo cascaded across the sky like paint being brushed onto a canvas. A few clouds littered the beautiful scenery, however they only enhanced the view. The young apprentice kunochi had gone to the library shortly after her encounter with her blond-haired colleague, and then home after a couple hours of studying various books on battle strategies, poisons, and Konaha's clan histories. She sat on her bed, leaning up against the wall, still feeling angry about what Konohamaru had said, but satisfied slightly with her immature reaction that morning. It was sunset now, almost night, and she had just finished eating dinner.
'S-Sakura-chan?...Sakura-chan. What's going on?...Is it an important mission?'
Sakura kept replaying that moment in her head. Though she was sure her actions were justified, something about the situation felt odd. She felt as if he had never did what Konohamaru had claimed, but angry about the news he had reported at the same time. The notion of Naruto doing something so perverted, and sneaky just to get a look at naked girls sickened her.
'Naruto used the Sexy No Jutsu to go into the female side of the hot springs and spy on them...' she remembered Konohamaru whispering into her ear.
'He really does need to stop using that jutsu...'
"Or you could just learn it, and use it against him instead," her inner self suggested.
'Hmm...That wouldn't help...especially with what happened yesterday when Konohamaru used the 'Double Knockout Guys' against me. But...why do I care so much to go out of my way and react like I did without even asking him? Why do I feel like he betrayed me?'
"You're jealous."
'No, absolutely not!...it couldn't be that...could it?' the mere thought of Naruto made her body excited, 'I'm...I'm reacting the same way I used to when I thought about Sasuke-kun...'
"SAKURA-CHAN" came a voice from outside her window.
Sakura's thoughts were scattered as she jumped up from her bed, her heart beginning to throb, 'Is he actually here? Shannaro!'
"SWEET! JUST THE PERSON I WANTED TO SEE! QUICK! Act calm, stupid, and surprised!"
She walked onto the balcony connected to her room, and looked down only to see a familiar face, "N-Naruto?" she said somewhat surprised.
"Sakura-chan! I need to talk to you. Let me come up."
'He doesn't have on his cast anymore,' she commented mentally. His arm was now wrapped in white wrapping instead of a huge cast.
Shaking her head, "Uh...wait there," then looked back at her open door. One of her two parents were home, and wouldn't appreciate a boy on her balcony or in her room so close to night.
She looked back down to explain the situation to Naruto only to notice he was gone. "Naruto?" Her partner was nowhere to be found as she quickly scanned the alley. "Where did you go?"
"Sakura-chan, I'm right here."
She looked straightforward to see Naruto on the side of the building across from her room, almost on the rooftop, looking directly at her. Once she noticed him, he jumped across the gap, and landed on the balcony next to her. Though her body was still facing out towards the alley, his body was facing towards her room. He leaned back onto the side of the balcony. A few more seconds, and Sakura noticed he had somehow managed to land inches away from her. She could feel her cheeks begin to turn pink from the closeness, but immediately dissipated the thoughts, and reacted calmly.
"I want to talk to you, Sakura-chan. I won't take too long. It's about earlier."
She thought she had grown out of such childish acts, but she always reacted like that to Naruto when she disagreed with something. Instead of speaking, she nodded and allowed him to talk.
"Why did you send me flying this morning?"
"Konohamaru told me you had gone into the female area of the hot springs using the Sexy No Jutsu as means of a disguise. He also said Jiraiya-sama had told him to get me so I would contain you."
Naruto laughed nervously. She had no idea that it was slightly true, but only because she caused it. He also realized it wasn't possible for Jiraiya to be the one who initiated this seeing as he never expected Naruto to be at the hot springs.
"I wouldn't do something like that now, Sakura-chan, and I didn't this morning either…Hmmm...Maybe when I was younger...," he paused for a moment, contemplating the situation.
Sakura looked at Naruto confused, "You mean...you never did that?"
He shook his head, "Nope, I was looking for you this morning. The only people I saw were Kiba, Hinata, and Akamaru."
She turned away, guilty now from his alibi, but still slightly skeptical. 'Wait...why was he looking for me this morning?' she thought.
Naruto thought about what Jiraiya had said, the way she was reacting, and finally came to a conclusion, "Don't worry," he began softly, "I'll speak with Konohamaru tomorrow about the whole thing, and have him come talk to you." He gave her a quick smile of reassurance that eased her slightly, but at the same time felt like pounding Konohamaru. "Besides, without Sakura-chan, I wouldn't know what to do. I may have become another Ero-sennin by now. I need Sakura-chan's powerful strength to keep me in check."
"Heh," as she shook her head slightly, 'You have no tact.' She then slowly looked down the alley towards the street. It was then she noticed some of the bright decorations, and half finished ornaments hanging. She blinked to make sure she wasn't imagining it. "What are those decorations for?"
It was as if a light bulb went on in Naruto's head, "Huh? Oh, those are for the summer festival. It starts in a few days," he could feel himself become slightly nervous, "We could go together, and call it a date, if you want-"
Without a moment of hesitation she responded, "Okay," preventing him from finishing.
"R-Really?!" he said unable to contain his excitement, "GREAT! I'll find out what day it starts and-"
"But..." she looked at him, cutting him off again, and winked, "You're going to be paying for dinner, and you have to win a fish."
Remembering how horrible he was at those games was not going to help with what he would be paying for later, "Does it have to be a fish?"
"Yes! No exceptions."
Naruto let out a small whimper, "No problem, Sakura-chan. You will get a fish. No one is better at getting a fish then me!" He lied, making Sakura smile more. He mentally noted that he should save up as much money as possible. Remembering his previous question before all hell broke loose in the morning, he leaned back a bit farther so he could get a better look at her face, "Were you at the training grounds with me yesterday?"
She blushed, unable to contain her thoughts, and nodded, "Y-Yes, why?"
"When I woke up...you weren't there, and I was worried something may have happened to you."
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. It was never her intention to scare her best friend, "I had to leave early to report to Tsunade-sama," she partially lied. She did have to go see Tsunade, but she left much earlier than she had just made it sound, and for a different reason.
"So Sakura-chan kissed my cheek, right?"
Sakura blushed, "Y-yeah..." She thought back to what happened exactly. She did kiss his cheek, and then lay on his shoulder while they both fell asleep, and the part she decided to leave out dealt with after he fell asleep. She remembered specifically kissing his forehead before she left, but she didn't feel like sharing it with him just yet.
"And that's all?"
Though still slightly flushed, she nodded, "I left later, after you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you."
He smiled, "At least you were there. I thought you never were..." Sakura looked at him curiously, and he continued, "I had a dream with you in it. Jiraiya said there were many reasons as to why it was the way it was. Since you were there it sort of makes sense now."
"I see..."
Naruto let out a stifling laugh.
"Huh? What's so funny?"
"You say it just like Granny Tsunade," he smirked; "Though you're much prettier than she is, and you're not trying to hide your real age..." he had been looking into her room, observing all the details. He closed his eyes to think before his grin became a smile, and said, "You haven't changed at all, Sakura-chan."
She sighed heavily, responding with, "You always say that...also that I have a flat-chest, I'm monstrously stro-" yet she was never able to complete the statement.
He looked out of the corner of his eye, then smiled hard and closed his eyes to illuminate the smile, "Those are the traits I like about you! I think you are beautiful the way you are..." then became a little more serious, "I thought that when I first met you...Now you are an amazing medic ninja too...That's what I mean when I say that..."
Naruto turned his head to show her the smile he had, even though his eyes were still closed. It was at that time he felt something delicate and luscious pressed against his lips, and something smooth pressed against his left cheek. He slowly felt his lips relax from the smile, and he opened his eyes to see Sakura's face a centimeter away from his with her eyes closed.
'I'm...I'm kissing SAKURA-CHAN!' his brain alerted him. He could feel his body become extremely hot, and his palms become sweaty. The feeling was so overpowering he felt like he would pass out. Though he enjoyed this moment beyond anything else he ever experienced, another second passed and a flash of emerald appeared.
Sakura had opened her eyes to see Naruto's cerulean eyes looking into hers, and his shining red cheeks. The shock was immense, and she pulled her head away immediately. Naruto had a similar response, and moved his head back as well. Hundreds of thoughts flashed through his head as he stood still like a boiling thermometer that had just hit the limit, and was about to explode. He was looking down hoping to cover the shock.
"S-Sakura-chan..." he immediately said, though he was too overwhelmed to form sentences, "I...its...I'll-" he said dumbfounded. Scratching his head, he looked to see how Sakura was reacting, and felt extreme pain in his left cheek. He had no idea what had happened, except that he hit the ground, and blacked out.
Sakura instinctively punched him for the second time that day, and sent him flying into her room where he landed on his side with a thump, skidding to a stop. The punch wasn't intended to hurt him, but the way he landed caused more problems. The second she returned to normal, she covered her mouth out of shock. Her cheeks were still flushed from the kiss, but she was too stunned from her immediate reaction to do anything.
"Naruto...I'm...I didn't..." Sakura couldn't even gain enough composure to make coherent sense with her words. Her face was glowing red, and her heart was pounding inside her chest as she looked around frenetically, trying to find something to explain her actions. She had thought he would have gotten up by now, but he remained on the ground, unmoving. Once she realized something was wrong, it was as if a weight had pulled down her whole body, and hung on her like a drape. She had absolutely no idea where to go from that point.
'My first kiss...was...Naruto...I...I always wanted it to be Sasuke-kun...but...it's...it's NARUTO!' The realization had finally landed. Something about the kiss had made her speechless, but at the same time brought her to life. It was difficult for her to explain. Sakura also knew she had no reason to hit him, though she didn't mean to kiss his lips either.
She could hear her inner self cheering, "OH YEAH!!! YOU KNOW YOU WANTED IT TO BE HIM!"
'Shannaro...' she cursed mentally. The feeling of uneasiness continued to sink into her. She slowly walked over to Naruto's body, and knelt down next to it. Placing her two fingers on the side of his neck, where the vein is, she checked for a pulse. He was lying on his side, so it was easy to find. His skin felt smooth against her fingers, and upon closer inspection she realized he was quite tan. She could feel his pulse, and exhaled the breath she had been holding in.
"Phew, he's alive..." she said relieved. She began to shake him softly, "Naruto, get up..." nothing happened.
She looked outside and realized it was dark now. She wouldn't be able to take him home if he didn't awake. She didn't know his condition though so she let her eyes wander from his collarbone, to his jaw line, then to his face. He wasn't pale or pasty, but still slightly red from their kiss. To her, he actually looked kind of cute with his eyes closed. It was different for a change. She then allowed her eyes to wander to his golden hair, and felt the urge to play with it. Timidly, Sakura extended her other arm so as to stroke his hair, but stopped half way and recoiled.
'I can't...were just friends...I didn't mean to kiss him either, so why did I want to touch him now...What...what if we can't talk easily...because...because it may be too awkward. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH ME?' the thought scared her more then anything else. Naruto was a big part of her life; there was no denying it, and losing him as well would probably hurt her more than Sasuke's departure.
"DO IT!!!" the inner voice squealed, "You don't like Sasuke-kun anymore! You just think you like him out of habit, because of the competition between Ino and you. NARUTO ISN'T GOING TO HATE YOU NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!"
'Heh,' she couldn't help but agree with her inner self, for once it had hit the nail on the head. Sasuke had been her first crush, but she realized her feelings had slowly been deteriorating for the lone Uchiha over the years. Her difficulty was admitting and accepting the feelings for the man lying on the floor. It was challenging to give up on something she had been so used to doing, and accept what her heart really wanted.
She quickly checked for any broken bones around his upper body, and then pushed his shoulder so he lay on his back. She could see his chest rise and fall in sync with his breathing, knowing it was a good sign. She extended her arm once again, and ran her fingers through his rugged hair. It was odd to her, because Naruto's head leaned towards the touch.
"Naruto..."
While her inner self did a little dance, she gazed down at him with a loving expression. She thought about the kiss a little more deeply. It was like her whole body had suddenly sparked to life at the touch, and it scared her significantly. Everything was going to change.
"What am I going to do with you now?"
XD I think I came up with 3 different endings for this chapter, and this one seemed to work the best. Though I did have other ideas for Naruto instead of laying there out cold. Now what is she going to do with him? Meant both physically and mentally. Yes, this is rated T for TEEN. I mention this, because I even had a dirty thought when I put that question. Everyone will have to wait until the next chapter to find out the answer though.
Okay, I changed a small part in the discussion between Sakura and Naruto. It is referring back to the whole training ground scene. Hopefully it will clarify the situation a little better.
Oh! Instead of putting questions at the end of these chapters, I finally figured out how to use the polls on my profile page! YAY! XD took me forever to figure it out. It would have been easier since then I wouldn't have to count it up and everything. I did create a poll, and if you would like to vote then go to my bio page, and the question is at the top. Click the 'vote now!' link, and the rest should be self-explanatory. I will change, or remove the question when I post the next chapter…if I remember or feel like changing it XD. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and it is at least clearer and more fulfilling then previous chapters. Please read and review. Cya, until next time...