Nanny or Mommy
Chapter 11: The Day at the Beach
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
He's avoiding her.
She wouldn't have thought that a week ago when he told her that he'd be busy with his movie for the rest of that week. She wouldn't have thought that even when he began waking up early leaving only a note behind telling her that he'll be back late. She wouldn't have thought that even when he came back at the late hour of 1 in the morning.
What made her know he was avoiding her was the fact that he wouldn't even look her in the eyes yesterday when she finally cornered him.
She couldn't wait any longer she was losing sleep and focus in her classes and outside of her classes. She had to have this talk with Naruto, and it couldn't be pushed back any longer.
...
So now here she was up past midnight drinking a cup of coffee which was the only thing keeping her up. She's been working through what she wanted to say to the blonde in her head. There was the kiss on the forehead, her role as the nanny and ground rules, also Himawari...
The hard part was figuring out which one on the list of problems to start with luckily she didn't have to think about it much longer because he was finally coming in.
She didn't get up when she heard the door open but just silently listened. She listened to him put his keys on the hook beside the door and release a long drawn out sigh. She kind of felt bad because he sounded so tired and she was only going to add more stress to him. She couldn't change her mind now since he was now walking into the kitchen.
"Sakura!?"
"Hey, Naruto. We need to talk."
The start of the conversation was the only time he even looked her in the eyes.
"Is everything alright?" She should have known that something was wrong and not let it draw on for so long.
"Of course I've just been swamped."
"Oh alright I think we should talk about—" she started but was cut off by him.
"Look Sakura I'm exhausted can we talk about this at a later time."
"But this is important." Naruto turned, his back now to her as he attempted to get away from her.
"Can you at least talk to Himawari about her mother?" Naruto stopped and looked down at the floor. He only told Himawari that she looked just like Hinata and showed her pictures.
"Goodnight Sakura." With that, he went to his room to sleep leaving a shocked and livid pinkette behind.
.x.
After getting no sleep that night, she finally connected the dots that he was avoiding her. A week of failed attempts of trying to talk to him had gone unnoticed by everyone except for one person.
"So what's going on between you and Naruto?" Sakura groaned as she made lunch for their trip.
"I don't know but what I do know is that he's avoiding me like the plague." Kiba thought for a moment recalling how moody his boss has been every day. It was apparent that Naruto wasn't getting enough sleep.
"You got a point there. where is he anyway?" Sakura shrugged and frankly she didn't care.
"I'd be surprised if he's even here." Sakura angrily packed the picnic basket and folded some towels to take with them to the beach. She wanted to take the kids somewhere special since they've been feeling down about the recent absence of their ass of a father.
"Have you checked his room?" Kiba asked her.
She glared at him causing him to jump back. "I didn't because I don't care." He felt sorry for the poor towels that were being pummeled by the angry pinkette.
"I'll go s-see." He ran away as fast as possible not wanting to be on the receiving end of Sakura's rage. He couldn't believe his boss was avoiding his nanny then again she could be quite scary.
Kiba knocked on the door to his boss' room and tried to open it but found it locked. Bingo "Hey boss how long are you going to sleep? It's already 1 in the afternoon."
"Go away." He didn't sign up for the job to be the babysitter then again he was the bodyguard, so technically he did. Shaking his head, he got back to the topic at hand.
"So you don't want to come to the Beach with us?" He waited for a minute for something but got nothing. That was until he heard the door unlock and the handle turn.
"The Beach?" Kiba nodded his next words were going to have to be careful or else Naruto would close the door and go back to whatever he was doing.
"Yeah, the Pinky thought that it would be a good idea for the kids. They've never been to the Beach before so they're excited." Naruto opened the door fully and stormed down the stairs to the kitchen where Sakura was packing.
"You're taking my kids to the Beach without my permission?!" Kiba wasn't too far behind him, but when he heard those words, he cringed and backed away slowly. Maybe he should have told Naruto how angry Sakura was at him. To his surprise, she was completely calm which he doubted was a good thing.
"I'm sorry I would have asked you, but you're avoiding me." She finished packing the basket and shut it calmly.
"Fine, then I'm coming too." She gripped the handle of the basket a little too tightly.
"Oh, now you want to give your kids some attention!" She yelled at him her temper rising with each second she stared at the face of her boss, so she walked away to see if Bolt and Himawari were ready to go.
"Hey don't walk away from me!" He also yelled not one to be outdone.
"So now you want to talk?" She crossed her arms waiting for him to say something else. Naruto watched her closely through slitted eyes. The two seemed to be stuck in a never-ending glaring match.
"You two sound like a married couple about to go through a divorce but are only staying together for the kids," Kiba said and wished he didn't when both of their glares were on him now.
"Shut up Kiba." The two said simultaneously causing both of them to glare at each other yet again.
"Just trying to help I hope you two don't plan on doing this in front of the kids." The mention of Bolt and Himawari seemed to snap the adults out of their anger.
Taking a calming breath, Sakura asked, "are you coming or not?" He thought for only a moment before nodding. "Alright then...you might want to change."
Naruto looked down at his wrinkled dress shirt and pants. He silently agreed and went back upstairs to change.
Sakura massaged her temples before heading up the stairs to also change and check up on the kids. Kiba sighed relieved that the arguing was finally over he didn't know how the rest of the day was going to go if those two couldn't get along.
Sakura has never been a fan of Naruto, but it seemed like it got worse.
...
"Bolt are you ready yet?" Sakura knocked on the closed door before opening it to find clothes all over the room. Now Sakura wasn't a neat freak or anything like that she just liked to keep things clean. But when she saw the disaster area that's supposed to be Bolt's room her heart almost stopped.
"B-Bolt wha—" she couldn't even get the words out that's how surprised she was. She just wanted to take the kids to the beach not deal with any of this.
"Sakura-chan I can't find my swimsuit." Her shock faded away when she noticed the tears in his eyes. She sighed and began picking up the clothes on the floor.
"It's ok Bolt I'll help you find them, and if we can't, we'll buy you one. Ok?" Bolt nodded and got up off the floor to help her clean up the room. They worked out this system he'll pick up the clothes, and she'll fold them neatly and put them back in his drawers. Before long they were done and found the swimming trunks under the bed much to Bolt's pleasure.
"Alright Bolt I'll be back, but you better be ready." He nodded and rushed to get his shorts off.
Sakura's next stop was Himawari's room she was sure the three-year-old was going to need some help.
She heard giggling along with deep chuckles. She walked up to the door and opened the ajar door further. Sitting in the middle of the room was Naruto tickling Himawari who was already in her one-piece yellow bathing suit. Naruto had on a plain white shirt along with orange swim trunks.
She hated how the dumb blonde was always able to get back on her good side with just his actions towards his kids. She was about to leave when Himawari spotted her.
"Sakura-channn!" Himawari giggled her name cutely as Naruto tickled her. Naruto's smile faded as soon as his eyes laid on her.
She thought that something was wrong with her face or her outfit was awful the way he scrunched up his nose as he looked her up and down. "What?" All she had on was a pair of white shorts over her bikini bottom and her red bikini top under her elbow-length jacket.
"Nothing..." he looked away from her to make sure Himawari was alright and ready to go.
"We're leaving in a few minutes." Sakura stormed out of the room angrily. She couldn't even look at him for an extended period before getting angry. She just wanted to soak up some rays and relax no more thinking about her boss.
.x.
What. A. Disaster.
They arrived at the beach and were immediately bombarded by fans of Naruto. Naruto grinned while signing whatever he was given he was even taking pictures with them.
"Kiba do you know where a much more private beach is?" Sakura asked the bodyguard/driver who was watching closely for any suspicious behavior.
"Hmm yeah, but it'll cost. I'm sure Naruto doesn't mind." Sakura sighed holding Himawari closer to her as she watched Naruto soak in all the love his fans gave him.
She looked down near her legs where Bolt was glaring at a particular fan who was rubbing herself against Naruto's arms. "Naruto we're leaving!" She said over the growing crowd of fans. Naruto saw her walking away and said goodbye to his fans to quickly catch up with them.
"That was fun." He said once he finally caught up with them.
"That was chaos." She simply stated.
"Jealous Sakura-chan." She stopped suddenly with a surprised look on her face. While she was stunned, he took Himawari from her arms and gave the three-year-old a peck on the forehead. "You hear that Hime Sakura-chan is jelly. Repeat after me jel-ly."
"Jel-ly." She repeated much to Sakura's chagrin and Naruto's pleasure.
"You're such a—"
"No bad words Sakura-chan." He laughed leaving her behind as they got into the car. She took a calm, deep breath so she wouldn't kill the blonde before the day was even over.
...
Finally, they found a more private beach to enjoy the rest of their Saturday at. Sakura began setting up the umbrella and chairs along with the towels. Naruto was busy keeping the kids occupied rubbing sunscreen on both of them.
Kiba was also putting sunscreen on and noticed Sakura getting ready to put some on. "I'll put sunscreen on you Pinky." He grinned lecherously at her sending shivers down her spine in a bad way.
"If you come near me I'll make sure you never have kids." His pervy grin faded quickly much to her satisfaction. "Thought so."
Naruto shook his head at Kiba who was awkwardly putting sunscreen on. Naruto kept an eye on the pinkette applying her own coat of sunscreen to her bare arms. He had to admit she looked beautiful and as much as he wanted to tell her that he refused to cross that already crooked line.
"There! You both are now ready for beach fun. Why don't you two play in the sand while I put my own sunscreen on? Kiba will even help." Kiba looked over, taken by surprise he wasn't a babysitter. The look Naruto was giving him was a look that was telling him just to watch them.
Naruto sat beside Sakura applying the sunscreen on his body. He made sure to remove his shirt to apply it to his chest and back also. The awkward silence between them was getting on his nerves he just had to say something.
"I'm sorry." He didn't say more until she looked at him without her sunglasses on. "You're right I was avoiding you."
"Wh—"
"I know you want to know why but for the sake of...well this." He used his hand to show what he meant by "this" waving to him, she and the kids Sakura didn't understand at all but wouldn't push him since he sounded genuine.
"I'm also sorry I should have been more considerate on how you probably felt. I'm also sorry for not trying harder to tell you about this trip to the beach. I just want them to be happy, and when you went ghost on us, they began doubting you again." She looked at Bolt and Himawari playing in the sand together. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't just detach herself from this family.
"I know and to be honest I don't know what I would do without you." He made sure to look her in the eyes when he said that so she would know he was being honest.
"I guess you've become an important person in my life." She blushed and got up quickly to join Kiba, Bolt, and Himawari. What Sakura didn't know is that she was leaving Naruto with conflicting thoughts.
"Damn it."
Naruto looked around the beach to find a few families and couples on the beach. He could tell they knew who he was but was giving him his space.
Naruto flicked his sunglasses down and decided to relax for a bit. Believe it or not, he was exhausted working day and night getting scenes to movies done on limited amounts of sleep. He must have dozed off because one moment he was relaxing the next he was startled up by a sudden weight pushing down on his stomach.
"B-Bolt?" He looked at the culprit through tinted glasses.
"Swim." The younger blonde said while pointing to the large body of water. He heard giggling nearby and found Sakura trying and failing to hide her amusement.
"Alright Bolt we can go swimming." Bolt happily hugged his dad earning awws from Sakura. Naruto felt his heart swell a thousand sizes. "Last one there is a rotten egg." Naruto made sure to run slowly, so he wasn't too far from the blonde. He could tell Bolt was trying his hardest to beat him, but his little legs were too slow.
"Sakura-chan I swim?" Sakura looked down into big sad blue eyes that could melt even the coldest heart.
"It's too dangerous, but you can get your feet wet." Himawari nodded excitedly running after her older brother and dad to Sakura's displeasure. "Wait, Hime!"
Kiba watched both of the pairs and had to admit it felt like watching a whole real family. He was glad that Naruto and Sakura made up, for now, that is. With their two different personalities like they had, they're bound to clash a lot.
He wondered what Hinata would think of this...
"Hime don't run off like that. You almost made me have a heart attack."
"Sowwe." Sakura smiled and bent down her height and splashed a little bit of water on her. She giggled and wounded her arms around Sakura's neck but not tight enough to choke her. She looked over to where Bolt and Naruto were and saw the father and son bonding quite a bit.
Bolt was on Naruto's back as he sunk in the water low enough that it came to Naruto's neck and wet up to Bolt's shoulder. She could tell Bolt was a little scared by the look on his face and the tight grip he had on Naruto. But she assumed that Naruto was saying words of encouragement.
Himawari let go and went back to playing with the water at her feet splashing it everywhere. Sakura couldn't remember the last time she went to the beach or even had this much fun. Probably her first summer break from college.
Later that day the five sat down to eat lunch which consisted of different kinds of chips, sandwiches and other types of snacks.
"I've been thinking how about we go visit grandma and grandpa?" The kids nodded excitedly since they couldn't speak with their mouths full. "Great!"
"When are you guys going?" She harmlessly asked.
"You mean we my parents want to meet you and we're going the week after next," Naruto said with a big grin on his face.
"I-I don't know it seems like a family thing." Sakura really didn't want to go. She's been their nanny for over a month she wasn't ready to meet the grandparents. What if they end up hating me? Great now it sounds like I'm his girlfriend and he's introducing me to his parents. I really got to get out of this. "Maybe I should stay home maybe take that weekend to go back home and vi—"
"Nonsense Sakura-chan they were actually the ones who wanted you to come." Why does it sound like he didn't want her there at all? Sakura narrowed her eyes as he continued happily grinning like nothing was going on.
"I don't know." She didn't mean for her voice to waver but it did, and now Naruto wasn't looking at her like she's a big bowl of magically refilling ramen.
"They'll like you Sakura-chan trust me there's nothing about you to dislike." Oh, she hated her pale skin and his smooth words because her cheeks were the color of her hair and it isn't because of the sun. "Isn't that right kids?"
"Sakura-Chan is the best!" Bolt yelled catching the attention of other beachgoers.
"Sakura-chan go?" Himawari looked up at her with her big blue eyes that no man woman or creature could resist. Naruto smirked knowing that Sakura wasn't going to try to get out of going now that Himawari used her puppy dog eyes on her.
"O-ok I'll go." The children cheered before going back to their lunch.
"Sakura did you make these sandwiches?" Kiba suddenly asked after taking a bite out of the turkey and cheese one.
"Uh yeah why is there a problem with them?" She was sort of offended that he asked her about them out of nowhere.
"They're pretty good Pinky." He smirked when he noticed her green eyes glaring dangerously at him.
"Why didn't you just get the chef to make them?" The blonde spoke up.
Sakura shrugged, "I guess I just wanted to do it myself this time you can't always depend on other people to do what you can always do yourself."
"Well that's their job..." he retorted.
"You may believe that, but I don't." Not everyone has a maid and chef waiting on your every order. She's not sure how he was brought up, but it was probably not how she was brought up.
"I suppose." She glared at him from the corner of her eye. He was so unnecessarily smug. Him breathing annoyed the hell out of her.
"I'm going for a walk." She suddenly stood up and practically stormed away from them.
Kiba looked at Naruto with one eyebrow raised. He was wondering if his boss was going to go after her or not. "What I do?"
"You did sound pretty stuck up maybe she took that the wrong way." Naruto groaned one step forward and thousand steps backward. Naruto also got up, but before leaving, he told the Inuzuka to watch his kids.
"With my life." Naruto nodded thankful for such a great friend and employee. He could always depend on Kiba for just about anything. Even though the main reason Kiba started working for him was because of Hinata.
Naruto ran off to where he saw Sakura go. He looked all around the different shops for the pinkette and feared that he wasn't going to find her. But just when he was giving up hope he heard her laughter not too far away.
There she was at an ice cream stand talking to the clerk. "Sakura-chan!" He quickly walked over looking at the man with suspicion.
"Naruto I thought you were still at the beach."
"I was, but then I came to look for you since you seemed upset." Sakura looked at him with surprise she wasn't expecting him to say that.
"Oh, thanks but I'm fine now, in fact, I was buying ice cream for everyone since you're here you can help me carry it back." Naruto was relieved that she was no longer upset but wasn't quite sure how he felt about her getting buddy-buddy with the ice cream man. He looked at the man carefully, zoning out the exchange entirely. He refused to acknowledge the tightening of his chest every time Sakura laughed at a side joke the man told. It definitely wasn't that funny.
"Nar...Naru...Naruto!"
"Wha-what?" He snapped out of his thoughts to find Sakura staring at him with concern.
"I asked what kind of ice cream you want. Are you ok?" He quickly nodded and looked down at the different kinds that were being sold.
"Strawberry." The mystery man nodded and put two scopes on a cone.
"Here you go sir...and ma'am." Naruto took the ice cream along with two other cones while Sakura took her own and he assumed Kiba's ice cream cone as well. Naruto noticed how the ice cream man barely took his eyes off of his nanny. If they didn't get away from the stand quick, he was going to snap. Thank yous were exchanged, and before the ice cream man could say anything else, he was walking away.
Sakura noticed his hurried footsteps leaving and quickly said goodbye and chased after her boss. "Naruto wait up why are you walking so fast?"
He suddenly stopped and turned those bright ocean blue eyes on her. She could see anger and annoyance in them which left her feeling quite uncertain. Did she do something to make him angry?
"He was flirting with you." He suddenly blurted out catching the attention of people around them. All Sakura could do was stare into his eyes still not comprehending why he was upset.
"O-ok...sorry?" Naruto growled and continued walking boiling in his anger. Meanwhile, Sakura was just thinking about their weird exchange until she finally understood.
"You're jealous!" She suddenly exclaimed making him stop in his tracks, but he luckily kept his back to her. She was in awe at first, but now she was just laughing at his karma. He was making fun of her earlier now she's the one making fun of him.
"Sh-shut up." He mumbled angrily under his breath leaving her behind to wipe her tears from laughing so hard.
The rest of the day carried on like that with Sakura laughing at Naruto's embarrassment every time she mentioned something about his jealousy. The fun beach day was coming to an end especially since the children were fast asleep in the beach chairs under the umbrellas. They were happy and hyper when they received ice cream which led to them wearing their selves out.
Sakura was staring out at the water where the sun was setting on the horizon. She enjoyed her time with the family and Kiba. Especially when she and Kiba destroyed a few couples playing volleyball. She tried playing the game with Naruto, but all they did was argue the whole time causing them to lose.
She could tell he didn't like the fact that she and Kiba were a good team. She noticed quite a lot then she led on yes she teased the blonde about being jealous, but that jealousy didn't stop there. When she pulled her shorts off to get into the water, she caught some attention from quite a few onlookers. She wasn't the only one to notice since she could practically see the glares Naruto was shooting at everyone who looked at her a particular way.
As flattered as she was that he made sure no one looked or flirted with her she also felt uncomfortable. She could tell that something was developing in the blonde for her that she wasn't sure she wanted to grow. She was just the nanny nothing else and nothing more no matter how any of them felt.
She feared she would have to talk to Naruto about his growing feelings and that would be the most uncomfortable talk ever. She already had to speak to him about Himawari. She groaned softly.
Naruto is extremely attractive just not her type, and she also wasn't looking for a relationship especially one she knew was going to crash and burn because of their opposite personalities. There's more to a relationship than physical attraction to a person, and that's exactly how she felt about Naruto, of course, she would never let him know that.
"Sakura we're ready to go." She sighed taking one last glance at the beautiful scenery. It's going to get harder she knew that, but that doesn't mean she was going to just standby.
"Sakura."
"Coming!" She ran over to them and picked up Himawari who snuggled closer to her. The kids were worn out, but on the bright side, they had fun.
END
A/N: I thought that in most Narusaku stories it takes forever for either one to be aware of a person's feelings for them. Sakura is smart and is mindful of the signs that Naruto has feelings for her. She isn't that aware since she thinks it's just a small crush that she hopes he'll get over since she has no romantic feelings for him. Hinata is another topic completely I'm still trying to see where I want to go with this story whether she's alive or not I have scenarios for both. I kind of want to update my other story pretty soon especially since this story caught up pretty quickly. So look out for that update. It certainly won't be this week maybe not even next week perhaps Thanksgiving.
Revised: 12/15/18