Chapter 10: The Cowardly and The Timid

-N-

The sun's light already begin to fade by the time Naruto returned home. He wanted to go to his room, collapse on his bed and sleep his troubles away but this new opportunity, as he saw it, was just too much to pass up. He hadn't seen Sasuke home in what felt like weeks. He saw the lights on in a continuous cycle but attributed that to his mother. The surprise he received from seeing not only him but a certain pink haired individual leave from his house, angry, were pure delight. Half being that he finally knows where Sasuke is and can keep an eye on him and the other seeing that he may just actually have a chance at impressing Sakura enough to instantly fall in love with him. Or at least say hello to him, it was best not to get his hopes up, he reasoned.

He paced across the lawn towards her breathing heavily. Not from the activity of running but from the nerves that pulled on his brain to make a u-turn and head back into the house. The distance was closing between them and Naruto realized he hadn't thought of a plan to start a conversation with her. He couldn't just talk to her, no, he needed a story that made him seem much less creepy then running over and asking if she wanted a ride in his car - his mothers car. He put his brain to work hastily and ran in front of Sakura as if not knowing she were there. He quickly stopped in place, tapped the ground, turned and ran back towards her.

Maybe if he pretended to do running exercises, it would make him look strong? It had to work, it was the only idea he could think of. When he got closer to her he slowly stopped as if he didn't notice her there. Sakura looked at him with an expression Naruto couldn't read. A mix between annoyance and contempt. Naruto smiled and waved while pretending to catch his breath. He thought it was best now to say something. Except nothing came out. He tried, the words formed in his brain and were sent to his vocal chords and mouthed the words but no sound escaped. It looked like he was talking behind sound proof glass or maybe worse, trying to swallow peanut butter.

Sakura had stopped walking and looked at him but didn't uncross her arms. The thoughts she could be thinking, gazing at the embarrassing sight of him. He began to sweat and still tried to talk, only know where sounds leaving his mouth. Sounds and not words. She looked over him quizzically as if looking for a reason as to why she was now in the weird predicament. Naruto sounded like he was stuttering now, only stuttering nonsense sounds no human could possibly decipher. The act of her staring him up and down only made it worse. He had to get out of this situation fast, he started shuffling away from her towards his house, still stuttering, still smiling, hand still in the air. He looked like a statue inviting people to an amusement park.

Ten feet were between them now and he turned around to leave. What an embarrassing, awkward, disaster that was, he thought. He was sure to hear of this at school. Walking through the hallways and having everyone point and laugh at him. A seventeen year old that can't talk to women? He should be hung up and closed in a closet somewhere away from the world. Buried between other worthless people that shouldn't be allowed into society. He stuffed his sweaty hands into his pockets and sped up. He thought maybe he could pretend it wasn't him and that it was his pathetic cousin visiting and that he has a speech impediment, that could work, he reasoned. He was content with himself until he heard his name called from behind him. He turned around and felt his heart thump like it would fly out of his chest. He stepped back and fell on the grass. Who wouldn't, when Sakura Haruno was standing directly in front of them.

His eyes traced her legs slowly up to her face, the one he always dreamed of. Even the scowl she had was beautiful. She uncrossed her arms and bent slightly toward him. "What are you doing", she asked, her words were filled with dominance. Naruto simply stared at her though. His brain raced with questions. How did she know his name? Why was she speaking to him? - - How did she get over to him that fast? Sakura's scowl remained dead locked on his face. She spoke again with a sarcastic and drawn out 'Hello'. Naruto blinked and shook his head slightly. He mustered up the ability to talk again. "I'm sitting on the ground?" he questioned. A question to him and her oddly. "I can see that," she said rolling her eyes. "What are you doing," she asked again with more annoyance in her tone.

"Oh, I was doing my night exercises," he said. He was still sticking to that plan. Foolproof, in his eyes. She reached her hand out which made him jump. Her hand? Sakura's hand? She was actually allowing him to touch her? He would have loved to take her hand if he wasn't on the ground right now. He couldn't use her help, he had to look strong. For her. Naruto sprang up and dusted himself off. Sakura retracted her offer and recrossed her arms once more. "You weren't exercising."

Naruto felt as if the sun were now directly over top of him. He tried to expand his lie before she cut him off quickly. "I saw you go into your house."

Naruto swiftly thought of an excuse, "I had to go get my running sneakers." He was proud of himself with this one. He was indeed wearing running sneakers however, her expression hadn't changed. "I also heard you run out towards me."

She was fighting. Naruto felt his chance of coming out of this victorious slipping. He thought she'd be less angry if he just said the truth. Reluctantly, he admitted to everything. He even surprised himself with this. He looked at her waiting for a response. He could feel her staring into his soul, this must be a ability only women possessed because he knew his mother was excellent at it.

"Okay." she said. Naruto tilted his head to the side almost like dogs do. What does she mean, 'Okay'? He repeated this to her and she stomped her foot a little. "Okay, you can drive me home."

This has not gone how he expected. He thought at best she would kick him in the groin, take his mother's car keys and drive home herself. That was the best thing that could happen. Now she was allowing him to drive her, with her actually in the car too! He beamed and took the keys from his pockets. He motioned for her to follow him and she did so slowly and cautiously. He unlocked the drivers door and pressed the main unlock button. He ran over to the passenger door and held it open for her. She got in without dropping her arms and he ran back to the drivers side and got in. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Naruto put the key into the ignition and turned the car on. The radio was entirely too loud and Sakura turned it down before he could.

"Seat-belts," he said and started to put the car in reverse. However, he heard a tapping over the song on the radio but ignored it. When he turned around to back up, he found the source of the noise. His mood went from nervousness to anger faster then when Sakura appeared behind him earlier. It was Sasuke tapping on her window. Naruto heard him say that he'll take her home and that he had some things to talk with her about. She looked at Naruto and back at Sasuke. She started to remove her seat belt with a distinct, click.

"Wait," he begin but she already opened her door. She looked back and gave him a sincere 'Sorry' or at least, as sincere as he wanted to believe and stepped out the car. Before she closed the door, he shouted that he was a good driver, hoping she would step on Sasuke's toes and get back in the car with him. Sasuke looked through the window and glared at him. Naruto gave him a middle finger and Saskue walked away uncaring. He watched as they left in the rear-view mirror. He did see Sakura look back towards him albeit quickly and they went into Sasuke's car and disappeared down the road.

Naruto turned the car off and exited it. He leaned against the door and looked up at the sky. It would be night in five minutes tops. He exhaled deeply and cursed. Car lights caught his attention. His parents were back and parked in the driveway. They got out and greeted him. He remembered to hide the keys so he wouldn't get caught. If they knew that he was planning to go joyriding, with a girl, without a a driver's license, he could be grounded until his facial hair finally decided to grow in. He followed his parents into the house, dropped the keys where they were and hurried to his room. He sat on the floor and rested against the bed. He hadn't turned on the TV and sat there in silence. He sat and thought about the song Shikamaru gave him and about the show coming up. He grabbed a notebook and begin drawing in it. Soon the pictures turned to words. Then the words begin to transition into lyrics.

-K-

The Inuzaka residence was always an interesting place. Canine friends were spread aplenty around the location. One thing visitors noticed and were befuddled by was the distinct lack of fur that they would expect upon entering. The prince of the house, Kiba, had just entered his home and chucked his skateboard next to the coat rack beside the door with a thud that alerted his sister, Hana. The elder sibling walked around into Kiba and gave him a push. "Watch it," she said playfully. Kiba winced and grabbed his shoulder in pain, "You watch it, I had a rough day."

Kiba headed for the couch and flopped down, expressing a long exhale and closing his eyes. Akamaru had been pawing at her pocket, she reached into it and grabbed the treat for him he had smelled. She held it up for him to see and teased throwing it except Akamaru wasn't biting. That dog was too smart for puppy games. Hana sighed and threw his treat and it landed right on Kiba's face. She watched gleefully as the large canine jumped right onto Kiba to eat his snack. "What're ya doin', I'm tryin' to have a nap," Kiba said while trying to get his companion off of him.

Hana reached for an already opened letter on the table and gave a devious smile. "I wouldn't be napping if I were you," she said waving it in the air. "And that is," Kiba asked opening one eye.

"This is a letter," she said.

Kiba looked at his sister and directed a noise towards her that resembled one of Akamaru's growls. "I can see that, Hana! What is in the letter," he said, raising his voice higher, "and don't say paper!"

Hana laughed and tossed it to him, landing an inch from his eye. She reached up and pulled back her hair, still laughing. "You're not going to be napping any time soon, Kiba," she gleefully said. "Oh yeah, tell Shika I said hello," and left with one oddly long step. Kiba shook his head as she walked away and removed the folded paper. He rarely received mail and every time he did, either his sister or his mother would open it. He unfolded it and read over the rather short message.

To Mr. Inuzuka Kiba,

Your employment here at Ryusake's Guitars is much appreciated and management has decided to reward you with a promotion. Starting next Monday, you will be the new floor manager for part time employees and will be now handling scheduling. We would like to thank you for your work and hope you fit in to your new position.

Thank you,

Aho Keiei – HQ

Shit. A promotion? This could not come at a worse time Kiba thought. The band was just starting shows and now his time was going to be cut even shorter now thanks to this promotion. Kiba crumbled up the letter and threw it at the television. Kiba closed his eyes and laid there for what he thought was a few minutes but we he opened them again, the room was dark.

He sat up slowly and woke Akamaru who was asleep on the floor by him. His phone was blinking which he knew meant he had messages. He pressed the button on the side and read the first one. It was from Shino, he had finished editing the skate video and uploaded it. It had gotten twenty views already. The next message was from Hana and it simply said, 'Congratulations'. He frowned and moved on to the next. This was from Naruto. He read the text over and was surprised by what it said.

Apparently, he had written a song and sent Kiba a rough recording of it. Kiba looked down to Akamaru who was still sleepy and shrugged to him, a gesture which meant, here goes nothing. He pressed play and listened to Naruto sing. Kiba had agreed that Naruto was indeed singing better these days and that his writing was better too. The clip was only about a minute but he kept replaying it over and over. Soon he hurried to his room and grabbed his guitar. He toyed around with some notes to Naruto's song. He made an adjustment to the tuning and found it. He let a quick, hard 'Yes' escape through his sharp teeth and found what he was looking for.

He pressed play again and starting strumming. He smiled once it finished and looked at Akamuru, who in return looked at him. Kiba set aside his guitar and laughed. "That motherfucker actually wrote a song."