A/N I LOVE YOU GUYS! OMG! THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT ON THE LAST CHAPTER! I HAVE TO THANK YOU FOR SUCH GOOD IDEAS TOO! TWENTY REVIEWS! IT'S THE MOST I'VE EVER RECEIVED FOR AN ENTIRE CHAPTER!!! YAY! CAPS-LOCKED LEE!!!!
I totally love my personality change of Kotetsu and Izumo! And yes, they're real in the Naruto world—look them up.
Chapter 11: DATTEBAYO! SHANNAROU!
A Little Prologue…
Picture a scene of the Old West of America…hold it there…hold it there…There's tumbleweed flying around, and dust is rising all over the place…the setting sun casts an image of evil and darkness when it stretches out shadows of people and objects…two guards in a booth to the entrance of a town are smoking their tobacco pipes, watching two cowboys advance on each other and…
VRRPP!
What the…Hey! Camera dude! Why did the tape stop? WHAT?! Ohhhhh, riiiiight. Sorry. This is Konoha, NOT the Old West. You see, the imagery just seemed so similar at this point…
As six o'clock approached, the moments to the date just got tenser and tenser. Kiba and company had positioned themselves along the bushes closest to the receptionist booth at the front of the gates to watch; their breaths were held to the point of suffocation. Tsunade commanded her other (ahem) "faithful" Jounin to be careful about potions, concealment of chakra, and so on and so forth; they were hidden further away from the booth in the trees.
The only people who weren't worried about anything were Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, the two Chuunin guards of the Konoha Entrance Gates. They were lazily sitting back in their chairs, feet propped up on the reception desk. It was actually quite an easy day today. The only people, or in this case, person, that passed through the gates during their shift was an old man returning from picking herbs in the mountains. Then, of course, the ninjas that were setting off for missions from were innumerable. But as long as the ninjas flashed an "OK" pass from Tsunade, Kotetsu and Izumo didn't even have to "process" them. Thus, an easy job and easy day.
"Hey, dude…" Izumo yawned, tipping back further in his chair, "Our shift ends at, like, 6:30 today—earlier than usual. Ya think we should totally, like, go out for sake or somethin'?"
Kotetsu itched the bandage that stretched across his nose, and replied lazily, "Yea, sure. Anyways, that fifty-year-old Hag Hokage probably wouldn't even notice if we, like, left early."
In the middle of a radio communication to Shizune, Tsunade sneezed very loudly.
Izumo turned toward the sneezing sound and said, "Yo, dude. Didja hear that?"
"Nope. Musta beeen the wind," Kotetsu said while stretching. He squinted into the distance, and said, "Holy Shurikens! Who's that dude with the black ski mask? It, like, never snows in Konoha. "
Izumo whapped his companion on the head, and berated, "Duuuude. You're totally, like, looking the wrong way. Look this way. Who's that hot pink-haired chick?"
The two Chuunin looked as the two were slowly advancing towards where the booth was. As the people got closer, Izumo and Kotetsu could see that the rosette was indeed Sakura, and the other was some random person in a black ski mask. Izumo slowly drew out a shuriken, and whispered to Kotetsu, "Hey, dude. If that ski person tries anything funny, take Sakura and run, and I'll, like, fight the dude in the ski mask."
"Ya got it. Then we'll go for sake, yo."
Sakura saw a figure from the distance coming towards her. Her heart began to thump hard against her chest. Was this her date? She measured the distance and angle of the person walking, and figured that he was going towards the Konoha Entrance Gates. She involuntarily smoothed her hair out a bit, and trembling, moved her hand towards her shuriken holster. She thought back to the slightly changed profile on the Konoha Blind Date Site, and shivered. Just in case…just in case.
One step…two steps…three steps...'Is that a black ski mask?'...four steps…five steps…'Omigosh, he might be just here to abduct me…'…six steps, seven steps…'That's a pretty sweet outfit he's got on though…'…eight steps…nine steps…stop.
The figure stopped as well. He was now only about fifteen feet away from her. Sakura felt that something was really weird—not pervert weird, but just…weird. With the most innocent voice she could manage, she greeted, "Konnichiwa! Are you here for umm…a blind date?"
No response.
'Okaaaaayyyy…' Inner Sakura's eye twitched. 'Shurikens, check. Kunais, check. Shannarou preparation attack, check.'
"Shizune. Shizune. This is Tsunade. Do you read me?" a small crackly voice sounded in the assistant's ears.
Shizune sighed, and groaned, "Hai…hai…yes. I read you."
"Genma, how about you?" Tsunade slyly began to say, knowing that her voice could only be heard by Genma, "Have you made any advances towards Shizune yet?"
"What the heck are talking about?" Genma violently hissed into the microphone, almost losing chakra control on the tree branch he was on. He just heard the Hokage laugh.
Tsunade checked in on the rest of her Jounin. No complaints…well…a little. She almost had to bust Gai's ears to divert his attention from the 561,848,943,147,312th game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Kakashi and she threatened that she was going to shave Jiraiya bald if he continued to bother Kurenai.
"Has everyone taken the potion? I'm gonna assume so, because Akamaru hasn't sniffed us out yet. And has everyone henged?"
"Yup."
"Youkaishimashita, Tsunade-sama."
"I'm SO youthful now! I've got an afro and such!"
"Bue! Woof!"
Well, you get the picture.
The now-brunette Godaime turned to Hanabi, and asked, "Hanabi? I want you to train your Byakugan for a moment, and check out who the monkey under that mask is. I'll cover hide your chakra for you when I put my hand on your forehead, OK?"
Tsunade still did not believe that a ten-year-old could master the Byakugan, and she could care less if the kid was from the prestigious Hyuuga clan. She placed her hand on the girl's forehead, and started chakra concealment for Hanabi.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Hanabi squeaked, proud of the fact that she could show off her new skill. Tossing her "blonde" hair over her shoulder, she formed the hand seal for her kekkei genkai, and muttered, "Byakugan!"
Tsunade and Hiashi's mouths dropped wide open when they saw the signature veins cluster around her eyes.
"Oh, it's just a kid with blo—" Hanabi started, and then raised an eyebrow at the two adult's faces. She slowly said, "Did I do anything wrong?"
Hiashi and Tsunade turned away and muttered, "No…no, nothing at all…"
But then Tsunade whipped back around to Hanabi and whispered, "Wait! WHAT hair color did you say he had?"
Ino silently squealed, "OMG! It's starting! The date's starting! Omigosh, omigosh! OMG! Sakura for once doesn't look so darn ugly, and OMG, is that her date? What's with the ski mask, OMG, I—mph!"
Shikamaru slammed his hand against her mouth and hissed, "Shut up. Gee whiz, troublesome women…"
Kiba and Lee's faces were so strained against the pressure of wanting to know who won, that both of their faces were red. Each of them had a fresh twenty dollar bill crumpled within their clenched fists as they squatted along the brushes of the floor. Occasionally, they would glance at each other with a fresh determination to win.
Neji sighed, "You two look…constipated."
"I couldn't have put the situation in better words…" Tenten agreed, nodding her head.
Hinata stuttered, "P-perhaps…I-I h-have a-a Hyuuga ointment here…P-perhaps that would help—"
"Would chips work?" Chouji offered, interrupting Hinata. He was holding out the last two chips from his bag. Everyone stared. Chouji…was offering…the last…potato…chips…There were so many unnatural surprises, that everyone was shocked that the world hadn't burst up in flames from the twenty-millionth probable Apocalypse already. The chubby boy scowled, and scoffing the chips, muttered, "I'm actually being nice to you guys, you know…"
Lee silently whispered, "Yes, but my blood is just boiling with Youth to see who is under that mask! I want to see if I can make Guy-sensei proud with my betting skills!"
"Like heck, Lee!" Kiba snarled, his eyes trained on the masked stranger, "Like heck. Anyways, Neji or Hinata should Byakugan-out the person."
"I-It'll g-give a-away our position because of chakra recognition…" Hinata whispered.
"Oh…right…"
"It's 6 'o clock!" Ino complained, pushing Shikamaru's hand away, "Why aren't they doing anything!? And where's Naruto?"
Neji replied, "We all know Naruto's character. He talks big, then he chickens—"
"Sh! He's taking off his ski mask!" Lee excitedly whispered, his face reddening even more.
Everyone silently wondered if Lee would die from a hemorrhaging blood vessel. But oh, they gasped when they saw who was under that mask…
Naruto had trouble pulling off the ski mask he was under. His black hitai-ate had gotten tangled within it. Finally, after one sharp tug, he was able to pull the cloth off; his hair stuck up in odd positions.
Hey, blind date, right? So why couldn't he wear the ski mask? Naruto was actually really surprised to see Sakura standing there instead of some other girl that he couldn't respond to Sakura's greeting. Then again, his date was probably late.
"Sakura…-chan?" Naruto asked, while squinting his eyes and scratching his head. He examined her outfit—and turned around quickly. Luckily, he had a handkerchief in the black jacket he was wearing. Nosebleed.
After finishing wiping the last spots of blood, he turned around to see Sakura gaping at him, although he couldn't imagine why. With uncertainty in his voice, he asked, "Umm…are you OK, Sakura-chan? You look kind of red…do you have a fever or something?"
Sakura was trying in vain to stop the imminent blush from violently spreading all over her cheeks. Naruto. Was. Hot. Today. And he wondered WHY she was catching flies by staring at him? His long, tousled and messy blonde hair? His overly sexy black suit jacket that stretched all the way down to his knees? His perfect jeans that weren't too baggy? That orange T-shirt with the oh-so-familiar Konoha swirl that was just tight enough to show his muscles? Those sky, sky, sky blue eyes that offered hope?
Boy, he was dumb not to be able to figure that out. But then again, he was cute when he was dumb…
'What a guy…he really took the blind date thing to heart, didn't he?'
Inner Sakura yelled, "SAAAAKKKUUUURRAAAA!!!! YOU STILL HAVE A BLIND DAAATTTEEE!!!!!"
With that, Sakura completely snapped out of her dreamy daze, and the blush melted away to reveal her normal, creamy, white skin. She still had a date, and she would have to pose as MissKonoha. And when that date with this mysterious Mr. Charm was over, she'd confess…but until then…
She would probably have to keep up her streak of bitchiness.
"No, Naruto. I DON'T have a fever," she meanly hissed, frowning at the confused boy, "Actually, I wonder whether you're the one who has a fever, thinking that your date would come…"
Naruto was slightly hurt. This was his fault, wasn't it? He was the one who goaded Sakura-chan to continue the bet. And what goes around, comes around—sometimes even harder than one expects. Gritting his teeth, Naruto growled, "Well, it looks like our bets are nill until our dates come dattebayo. And gee whiz, Sakura-ch—Sakura. Didn't know that you were already PMSing these few days. Maybe that's what the blush across your face was for, dattebayo."
'How. Dare. He.'
"Oi, Mr. Dattebayo-san!" Sakura sarcastically called back, putting her hands up to her mouth to accentuate her next question, "Did your date know WHAT you were and ditch you already?"
And once those words left her mouth, she felt like stabbing herself in the head with a kunai. Oh shit. Sakura had just broken one of the most fundamental laws in her book. She'd just insulted her team mate on his condition as being a host of the Kyuubi.
Our spectators were shocked—more than shocked. Electrified to the death, more like it. Tsunade had both of her hands to her mouth, eyes widened at her student's comment. She had also temporarily stopped chakra concealment. Kakashi nearly dropped his book after listening to his subordinate. Ino was shaking her head side to side, wondering how in hell her arch-nemesis could beat the record of being meaner than she was. Even Shikamaru sat up from his lying-down position to stare at the rosette.
How rude it was, to insult a Jinchuuriki of his status. Most of Konohagakure had already acknowledged Naruto of his human status and not as a monster. They already understood that Naruto was a regular human boy—a regular human boy did amazing things to change people, to save their lives, and to make them happy. People already understood that he, Uzumaki Naruto, was just the unfortunate one to have been picked by the Yondaime to have the Kyuubi sealed within.
And how did Naruto take Sakura's comment? His heart was ripped—more than ripped. It had just been chopped up into mince meat, thrown into a paper shredder, and then set out to dry off all the blood life.
'Sakura…-chan…of all the times that you were at my side when people discriminated me as a Jinchuuriki…you were the one that punched people with all the strength you had when they made fun of me…you were the one that comforted me, assured me that I was Naruto, not the Kyuubi…you were the one that got me through all that hardship datteabayo……………and now…You. Hurt. Me. Back.' Naruto sadly and angrily thought at the same time, looking down at the floor and clenching his fists. He grabbed hit stomach for control—he could feel the monster within salivating with the ominous red bubbles, begging him to release the seal—to come out in a red fury and rip the girl in front of him to shreds, to make her pay for what she'd done.
But he willed it not to. That would be overboard—his fox-senses were just overreacting to such a surprising comment from a long-time love. He loved her. And even if she wouldn't accept his love, he would still love her more. Naruto understood. If the game was going to have to played this way, then so it would be. Neji officially won the Chuunin Main Match—Fate dominates all.
"O-Oi…Sa-Sakura…ch-chan…" Naruto's entire body trembled, his fists clenched even more. The fingernails of his hand were starting to dig into his palms, cutting them. He could feel a tiny bit of blood. He continued, "I-I'll bet your date d-didn't know if you were a man or a woman dattebayo—which would probably explain why they're late for your date dattebayo."
Sakura took her mind off regret of her previous comment to process that. What did that mean? She could tell Naruto wasn't being dumb right now.
'Ok, Sakura…you're smart. What does Naruto mean? You don't have a beard, nor do you have a mustache…and—'
"SHAAAAAANNAAAAAROOOOOUUUUU!!!! NAAAARRUUUUUUUTTOOOOOOO!!!! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME FLAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed SO loudly, that a window shattered in a nearby building. Birds flew panicked into the sky, circling and cawing in annoyance at the disturbance. Everyone in the sidelines covered their ears just in time for protection. Tsunade herself was scared of her own pupil now…
"Alright then, dattebayo! Fight me, if you're so mad!" Naruto egged Sakura on. He wouldn't put the Kyuubi on the scene. Oh no. But he'd like to vent a bit of his anger off.
"SHANNAROU! BRING IT ON!"
The ambience around the two was so bitter and tense, that Izumo and Kotetsu left their shift fifteen minutes early. They separated at a fork, running for their life.
Who wanted to see a fight between a Chuunin trained under the insanely-strengthened Hokage and a Genin with more chakra and stamina than the entire population of Konohagakure?
Maybe at the Jounin exams, maybe. Just not today. Nope. Nada. Zero. Zip. Good choices, Kotetsu and Izumo…good choices.
Pink and yellow soared into the air, arms raised and aimed for each other. Dust enveloped the two. Sakura saw Naruto airborne, fist raised, mouth wide open in his battle cry. Naruto saw the rosette's face wrinkled with anger and spite. Both of them had their worlds turn white—no sound, no imagery, none of the five senses. Their arms were stretched out for the kill…
But suddenly, the two didn't see the other as how they were dressed for the date. In fact, they didn't see each other in the ages they were now…It must've been a trick of the mind, influenced by the strong emotions pounding through their bodies, or maybe just a simple trick of the light. But whatever it was, drastic changes to appearance were now seen to each other…
In his world, Naruto saw a bubbly, giggling girl with a red ribbon on her head, twirling around in circles in a flower field. She slowly morphed into the old Team 7 Sakura, sticking her tongue out at him. If he struck her…if he struck her…he would put an end to that happiness that kindled his own fire of life. Worse yet, Naruto suddenly had an image of his final fight with Sasuke…
'No. It can't turn out that way…'
And so, he twisted his body to make his arm miss Sakura's face.
Sakura experienced approximately the same thing. There was that young, goofy-smiling kid who tried his best to put an even bigger smile on everyone's faces, that goofy kid who swore that he'd become the Hokage no matter what happened to him. There was that rash boy who took a large risk of remaining a Genin forever in their first Chuunin exam…because he said he'd become the Hokage even if he was a Genin.
No, she couldn't kill that dream. She too, flung herself to the side.
When the dust cleared, everyone only saw Naruto and Sakura sitting on the ground, panting heavily with, thankfully, no injuries on either of them.
'Yokatta! I was going to stop them if they hadn't stopped themselves…' Jiraiya mentally sighed in relief. 'Naruto has absolutely no idea what a punch from Sakura would feel like…'
Sakura's eyes were gazing at her trembling hands—she'd almost fatally injured her own teammate through idiocy. Kakashi-sensei would've gladly failed her back to the Academy for such brashness. She then also realized three things: 1. She was cold due to Ino's sleeveless top 2. She didn't have a jacket 3. It was 6:30, and her date hadn't shown up yet.
Naruto had also disappeared from where he had been sitting. Did he slink away in shame of his date's disappearance, or of his actions towards her, or both? She was muddled in these two ideas when his voice suddenly called out from behind, "Oi. Sakura! I found my date! She went in the completely wrong direction."
Sakura whipped around while still sitting down to see a red-haired girl holding onto Naruto's arm, preening. Then, Sakura sighed—when was Naruto ever going to learn? Turning back around, she called out in a wavering and slightly high-pitched voice, "Baka. It's obvious that she's just one of your kage bunshins."
A "pop!" sound confirmed her reply. Really, a red-head? Naruto was so stupid—there were no red heads in Konohagakure. Red heads populated Sunagakure. Sakura shivered again. The sun had officially set now, and here she was, sitting on the icy ground in a pathetic heap, trembling pathetically—a useless lump. She willed herself not to cry—crying never did any good, perfectly modeled by the Sasuke example.
A long, warm jacket was draped carefully around her shoulders and patted into place. Sakura slowly turned her head towards the person who'd done such a kind act.
Naruto.
He rubbed his nose (another act Sakura found irresistible), and gave a small smile, "Dattebayo! You'll freeze to death before your date gets here, Sakura-chan!"
She returned the smile. This was a good sign—he had returned the "-chan" to her name. She, however, tried to give back the cloak, and protested, "I-I can't accept this, Naruto. I was just SO mean, and—"
Sakura only found her hands clasped back together, stopped by Naruto's hand. The shinobi firmly replied, "No, Sakura-chan. You're cold, so face that fact. You'll get sick, dattebayo."
Oh great, tears of regret, gratitude, and happiness were going to be leaking out any second now. How could he, Uzumaki Naruto, still not be scarred by her meanness? What was the fire that kept him going? She always knew that he loved her, but by now, this much rejection should've taken care of it. Why? Why? Why?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a hand stretched down in front of Sakura. Naruto calmly said, "Here, Sakura. It's 7 o'clock already. Let's go get something to eat. It's obvious we just got stood up by our blind dates."
Half an hour had passed already? Sakura accepted the help up from the ground, clutching the jacket around her. She didn't know what happened in the next moments, but she was suddenly sobbing into Naruto's shoulder, holding him tight to her. Would he get a little hint, perhaps, by this subtle confession?
Naruto almost didn't know what to do; he was bad with these types of situations. Normally, Sakura was strong, but now…well…he would comfort her as how a good friend would. And so he did—he returned her hug and stroked her hair until she was done with her tears.
"Are you OK, now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto kindly said, tipping her chin towards him, and looking into his teammate's eyes. He brushed away a few tears from her face. "I know that you probably aren't a ramen nut like me, but I promise the hot soup will make you feel better—it's my remedy, and my treat. And we won't count this as a 'date', obviously. Besides, I still need to pay you back some ramen, right?
He winked at the rosette, who gave a half-giggle-half-sob. As Sakura followed Naruto into downtown Konoha, she knew that he didn't get her "small confession"—she'd have to say it in words for him.
Sakura understood that the most important part of that hug, however, wasn't because Naruto was "taking advantage" of his love interest in her…
He hugged her because he had always wanted her to be happy. The Sasuke Retrieval Arc was the best example. If she was sad, he was sad as well. That was the answer to her plethora of "Why?" before. Now, love was so far the last thing on her mind—Sakura did not know who she could thank Fate or anybody for giving her such a good friend in her life.
A/N NO, IT DOESN'T END HERE! Believe it or not, I once meant for this entire story "Date Showdown" to be a oneshot, and this was the scene for it!
This was your long-awaited chapter 11! –holds out hand– Erm…maybe a lot of reviews, please, like the last chapter? :) My personal favorite was my prologue on the Old West, how Naruto held his stomach, and the fluff-ly part with the hug :)
These people deserve my thanks for their ideas, whether indirectly or directly in their reviews: uzukun7 (for giving such an AWESOME analysis on Sakura), show.me.the.stars. (for giving me an idea on Naruto's outfit), Uzumaki's Fire (for giving me the idea of Naruto wearing a mask for a "blind date"), and jerre7782(for giving me this idea a loooooong time ago about kage bunshins)
And no, I DID NOT forget ALL of the rest of you for reviewing! You guys need more than just pats on your back!: eragon1730, narusakufan, Gnosismaster, Faisalz, Uzumaki's Fire, NamineFlower, megapheonix5, uzukun7, maxslayer10, Softly Sleeping, rickp2006, FakeCompassion, butaneng, gottaluvtwilight, Darklight Ultimate., the animaniac dude, show.me.the.stars, Blossoms of Spring, SakuNaruLover, Yosano Yuki
I got semi-lifted from my ban—long story. Anyways, I am also currently working on a NejiTen fic right now—AND I NEED to do my summer homework. Thus, I'm putting myself on a small SELF-HIATUS. So things on Chapter 12 might be a little slow…please don't kill me.
And darn it, REVIEW.
