Author's Note: BEEN FOREVER SINCE I UPDATED THIS! I hope some fans of this are still out there I won't keep you long. I haven't forgotten this fanfic but was a bit suck . I hope you enjoy this one!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto

Underneath the Cherry blossom Tree ch 7

"Oh um..." Naruto blushed deeply as he looked down at his bowl of raman. The girl sitting there obviously wasn't Sakura. This girl had long black curly hair and was wearing a black skirt, red t-shirt and tall black ninja boots. She looked to be around his age, maybe a year or two older.

"Is there something I could help you with?" The girl asked as she looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, this young man was just asking about you, so I pointed you out to him." The shop keeper said with a smile as he turned to get back to his work, leaving Naruto to deal with the awkward glare he now received from the girl.

"I don't even know him." She said coolly as she looked away, feeling creped out by the blond a few seats away from her. She was about to get up and leave, before Naruto stopped her.

"No, please. I'm sorry if I seemed to have upset you. It's just that...well...I'm looking for someone and I thought you might be her..." His blush deepened quickly when she gave him a plan look.

"Well obviously I'm not her." She looked away from him and to the man behind the counter. "Mr. Moto, I'll take my raman to go if you don't mind. Same one from yesterday please."

"Sure, It'll be ready in a moment Minako." He said with his back towards her.

"Minako?" Naruto said with a tilt of his head, thus causing the girl to glare at him again. He was quickly making himself an enemy.

"How rude are you? I don't even know you and yet you say my name so casually." Her eyes narrowed as she shook her head. "Mr. Moto, I think I'll be taking my leave now. Do you mind delivering my order to the inn when you get a chance?"

The older man turned to look at the young woman and nodded his head. "I have a few deliveries to make anyway, so it will be a while if you don't mind."

Looking back at Naruto she answered the man."Yea I don't mind. Anything beats staying here with this weirdo. I'll see you later." She said as she turned to leave the shop with a wave of her hand leaving a stunned Naruto in her wake.

"Such a nice sweet girl." The man said with a slight shake of his head as he placed Naruto's second bowl in front of him."A shame she wasn't the person you were looking for."

Nice girl?! Scary would be more like it! Naruto thought to himself as he suddenly got up. "Um, do you mind keeping my raman warm? I'll be right back."

"Sure no problem. I won't be leaving for another 20 minutes or so."

with that Naruto got up and left the shop, hoping he could come across the girl again. Just his luck, he saw her a few yards ahead talking to a man who looked to be about 1 or 2 years older then her. When she looked over in Naruto's direction, her eyes narrowed in disgust and she whispered something in the guy's ear causing him to look at Naruto with a scowl across his face. He said something to her and placed a hand on her shoulder before turning to meet up with Naruto. When they were face to face, he saw that the guy was about the same height as Sasuke with dark brown hair and same color eyes as the girl.

"What do you want with my sister?!" He demanded.

Naruto looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sister? The man in the shop said that she was here with her partner."

"Yea, that's so that creeps like you don't get any perverted ideas of getting with her." He said with narrowed eyes.

"No, no...that's not it." He paused as he sighed deeply. "I'm a ninja from Konoha. I'm looking for a friend of mine who was kidnapped earlier this morning. The old man at the shop said he saw a young girl who was with her partner. So I thought that when your sister came in the shop it was my friend. Though I was shocked to see that it wasn't my friend at all."

The hard look in the man's eyes only soften up by a fraction. "let me guess...she used to go out with you but dumped you for a better man? To be honest, I wouldn't blame her leaving a weirdo like you."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. He had just about enough of these two being rude towards him. He was about to tell the man off when Minako walked up towards them. "That's enough Akito. Even I could tell that he's seriously looking for his friend." She then turned to look at Naruto. "I'm sorry about earlier. Had you explained that, I wouldn't have thought you were weird. As you know, my name is Minako, what's your name?" She asked as she extended her hand.

For a moment Naruto was in awe about the change in her attitude towards him. However, he wasn't about to let this kindness slip. Reaching out his hand he introduced himself to the two properly.

"It's nice to meet you Minako. My name is Naruto." He said with his best boyish grin. Before he knew it, her bother bumped her to the side and stood in front of Naruto with his eyes slightly narrowed. He reached out his hand towards Naruto. In turn, Naruto blanked a few times as he reached out his own hand. Minako stood by her brother and gave him a cute pout.

"Nii-san, that was rude don't you think?" She said as she looked up at him. He turned his attention to her and the look on his face soften up dramatically.

"Well how could I stand there and allow another guy to smile at you like that?" He said as he gave her a pout of his own. Just then he looked away as a blush crossed his face. "I can't allow any guy to take away your pure heart, it belongs to me."

" Oh, Nii-san.." Minako whispered softly as she reached up her hand to touch his cheek.

"Minako.." He whispered back as he looked deeply into her eyes.

Naruto's jaw dropped. Sure he's read about it and seen this in plots on tv, but this was his first time seeing someone with a brother/sister complex. The two of them were in their own little world and if it weren't for Naruto clearing his throat, he would have lost them completely.

The two looked in his direction and took a step apart, rather reluctantly. Minako took a step towards Naruto and smiled sweetly. "Please don't mind my brother. I'm the only sibling that he has, so he can be a little protective."

A little is an understatement.Naruto thought to himself as he looked between the two. "Uh it's nothing really." He chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Anyway how about if we talk over raman. I don't know about you, but I've got a raman with my name on it back there."

Minako's eyes widen slightly and her mouth formed a small "o". "Right, I had planned on eating there. I wouldn't wanna give the old man too much work when it's not necessary. Let's go back." She turned to look at her brother with a sweet smile. All the while he had a eye on Naruto. However his face once again soften when his sister called out to him. "Shall we get something to eat Nii-san? " He nodded his head as he took her hand and lead her back to the raman shop. Following close behind, Naruto shook his head.

"Wow." Was all she could say as she rested her chin on her open palm. Akito silently sat by his sister. A thoughtful look crossed his face before he spoke.

"Actually, now that you've described them, I do remember that I saw a couple with that description walking into town." Naruto's eyes widen at the new information.

"Do you know which way they were heading?" He asked eagerly.

Akito's eyebrows scrunched up together in thought. "I do remember them asking for directions to the nearest inn. I directed them to the inn in this town."

Naruto's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Suddenly he jumped up knocking down the chair he sat on. Both Minako and Akito looked up at him with startled eyes. But he paid their reaction no mind.

"What?! When?!" He nearly shouted.

"A couple of hours ago. They had walked into town. I remember um, Sakura you said her name was? Well she asked if I knew of an inn that was nearby." He paused for a moment as he tried to remember something. "They both did look a little tired, like they had traveled all night."

"Please...take me there...quickly! If I have any luck they might still be there!" He pleaded as he was already heading towards the door.

"Hum...actually, I don't think you need to rush that much. Now that you have described your friend, I do remember a girl coming in with that description. She requested a delivery for Raman about a few minutes before you came in. I'm working on their order right now." The shop keeper spoke up without looking over his shoulder.

"Oh! I have an idea!" Minako explained as she punched her fist into an open palm. Her eyes widen in excitement. "Mr. Moto, it would only work if you'd allow it."

As if reading her mind, he paused and looked over his shoulder with a warm smile. "It would actually be a real help if you could deliver their order for me. My other orders are clear across town."

Minako smiled warmly and even Naruto couldn't help but to sigh in relief. Both of them thanked the shop keeper and a few minutes later, all three of them left the shop with Sakura's order in hand. As they drew closer to the inn, they stopped and walked into a nearby alley to finalize their plan.

"Because she's never seen me, I'll go in and act as the delivery girl." Minako whispered as the three of them hunched together. "As soon as I've confirmed that it really is her, I'll give you a single and you come." She looked at Naruto. She then looked at her brother . "Nii-san...make sure you guard the back exit of the room."

Naruto couldn't help but to look at the girl in awe. But the look quickly vanished when he felt the cold glare her brother was giving him. He swallowed hard as he looked away. They all nodded their heads in agreement and proceeded ahead.

Sakura was laying down on the bed looking up at the ceiling. She breathed a deep sigh as she turned to her side again. A deep blush crossed her face when she saw Itachi sound asleep in the bed next to her. It was unfortunate for them that the only available room had only one bed. Both of them were tired and the next town was several miles away, so they took the room. No sooner did they come, Itachi fell right asleep. She smiled softly as she continued to look at him.

Her smile then faltered a bit. Thoughts about the night before came to mind. So much happened that left her feeling so many emotions all at once. She felt confused in regards to who she wanted. Yea she agreed to go with Itachi cause it was in the heat of the moment. One part wished she didn't make such a decision on the spot and gave it more thought, while the other half of her had little regret. It was strange but he must have had some kind of spell on her. How else could she have known him for such a short time and do something so crazy as this? Now she really was screwed. She was now a rough ninja, Just as Itachi and Sasuke.

A deep frown crossed her lips. Sasuke. Sad to say, she barely gave any thought to him. How could she easily forget the man she claimed to love all her life, for a man she barely knew? Ever since Itachi left the village, she only heard negative things about him through everyone else. Just then, Naruto's words echoed through her head. Her frown deepened and her heart sank. It still pained her heart that he would say such things to her and actually mean it. Or that he'd even lay a finger on her to hurt her.
She closed her eyes as she turned away from Itachi.When she agreed to leave with him, he was shocked. He tried to discourage her from coming, but she insisted. She said that if she didn't go with him now, she'd runaway to be with him. Finally he agreed and they set out. As she continued lost in her thought, a knock came to her door. She sat up, surprised by the sudden interruption. She wondered who it could be. She then remembered she had ordered something to eat. Just to take precautions, she looked through the peep hole. Sure enough, she saw a girl around her age with a food delivery box in hand. Slowly she opened the door.

"Raman Delivery!" She chirped with a wide smile. Sakura stood for a moment looking at the girl blankly. However soon the frown on her face disappeared leaving behind a warm smile.

"That was quick. I thought it would take a little longer than that. The old man said he was working alone today."

For a moment the girl looked at her without a word, the smile never leaving her face. "Well it seemed like extra orders came in and he needed an extra hand so I agreed to help. Speedy delivery is important to us! We wouldn't want a dear customer to wait."

Sakura nodded her head in appreciation. "Well thank you, the thought counts. How much will that be?"

"That will be $15.00 Ms." The girl said. Sakura turned around and went to her bag to get some change. When she went back and handed it to her, for the first time that day the girl frowned. A frown came across Sakura's face.

"What's wrong?" She asked with concern.

"Um the bill it's a bit too large and I don't have change to break it." The girl looked horrified which left Sakura even more confused. She had only handed the girl a $20 bill.

"Oh, I see. Well don't worry about it. Keep the-" Sakura began but was cut off.

"That just will not do! That's far too much of a tip!" The girl cried out dramatically. Sakura's eyes widen as she was at a loss for words. She opened her mouth to reassure the girl, but the girl continued in her rant. " I'll run to the front desk to see if they have change. I'll be right back!" Before Sakura could protest, the girl dashed off. Sakura's head tilted to the side as she looked off into the distance, long after the girl left.

"Weird..." She muttered to herself as she turned around to take her food back into the room. Just as she did so, she noticed someone else standing where the girl once stood. She jumped back in surprise. How could she not notice the new comer? When she looked up, her heart nearly jumped out of her throat. Standing in front of her was Naruto.