Holy cow, you all probably thought I was dead. Well, I promise I'm not, just really busy and had some stuff to deal with. For thewill-offire on Tumblr who gave me this challenge: Anyway the hc takes place after road to ninja and Sakura realizes how lonely Naruto's life is so she starts coming over more and more against his will to keep him company and slowly they start to fall in love with each other like first Sakura just brings food then she starts hanging out and then there are sleepovers and yeah! As always, the credit goes to thewill-offire for the headcanon and Kishi for the manga.


Not Alone

The first thing Sakura did after returning home was to hug her parents. A lot. Even though she spent only spent a few days in that parallel universe, she dearly missed having parents to care over her. Her mind then turned to Naruto. He had looked so happy and content with his parents. Her heart clenched at the memory of how Naruto's shoulders had slumped when the Hokage robe disappeared into thin air and he realized that they were going back to their world: a world without his parents. As she went to bed, Sakura promised herself that she would do more for Naruto than ever before.

Naruto rolled over in his bed and drew the covers over his face to block the sun that poured through the window. It had been three days: three days since he had returned from the parallel universe. Even though they only spent a few days in the parallel world, Naruto had connected well with his parents and they had left him wanting more. He burrowed in his bed to sleep away his sadness yet again. He was awoken who knows how much later by a soft knocking that turned into a pounding. He huffed as he got out of bed, silently cursing whoever was on the other side. Didn't they realize he wanted to be al... Naruto whipped the door open only to find Sakura standing on the other side. He let his frown fade as he looked down at the pink headed woman.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" He managed out. Sakura gave him a bright smile and held up a small paper bag.

"Well, I hadn't seen you in training lately, so I thought I would come by and visit with some lunch." She responded. Naruto blinked at her.

"It's morning, though." He deadpanned. Sakura's smile faded into confusion.

"No, it's actually one in the afternoon, Naruto. Have you been asleep this whole time?" She asked. Sakura started to walk in the apartment when Naruto blocked her.

"Sakura-chan, just go. I'm fine, really." Naruto replied. Sakura glared at him.

"You're not fine, Naruto. You haven't been to training in days, you're sleeping in, and you look like you haven't showered since we got back!" Sakura ranted. "Now let me in and feed you some lunch!" She sighed deeply and pouted. Naruto just stared down at her, but held the door open. Sakura stomped in and stalked off to the kitchen to get plates for them. Naruto merely slumped on the couch as he watched Sakura prepare the food.

"You really don't have to do this, Sakura-chan." Naruto called over. Sakura gave him a soft smile as she carried the two plates over.

"I know, but I wanted to. Now eat up!" She chirped as she took apart her chopsticks. They ate in relative silence with Sakura occasionally asking Naruto a question and him answering dully. Once they finished, Sakura noticed that Naruto was still in his depressed mood. She stood up and took a seat next to him on the couch. Naruto tensed when he saw how close Sakura was to him and Sakura frowned. Naruto was always comfortable with her touch. She laid a hand on his forearm.

"Naruto, I know that you're missing your parents from the other world, but just know that there are people in this world that love you just as much." She advised gently. Naruto just stared at her with an astonished face. He then gave her a shaky smile in return.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan. I know there are." He replied. Sakura stood to clean up the dishes and turned back to him.

"By the way, what are you doing next Friday night? Are you on any missions?" She asked as she carried the plates to the sink. Naruto looked over at her confused.

"No, not that I know of." He replied uncertainly. Sakura turned around and clapped her hands together in excitement.

"Good! Then I'm coming over after my shift at the hospital with food and movies and we're marathoning all night!"

"Sakura-chan, what's going on?" Naruto finally demanded. Sakura's smile faded at this.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" She asked. Naruto frowned at her fake innocence.

"You know what, Sakura-chan. Why are you instigating all this hang out time all of the sudden?" He questioned. Sakura frowned back at his statement.

"What's so wrong with me wanting to hang with you? We haven't had much down time in the village since you've come back from your training. I just wanted to spend time with you." She huffed and turned to leave the apartment. Naruto still looked at suspiciously, not taking her answer with a grain of salt. Sakura waved over her shoulder as she left.

"I'll see you next Friday at five-thirty then, Naruto!" She called over her shoulder and closed the door. Naruto sighed heavily.

Sakura yawned as she discarded her coat on the hanger in her office. Her day had been hectic with several surgeries and one training session. She was now glad that her week was over and that she could look forward to having the whole weekend off. She happily walked off to the ramen shop to pick up her food that she had ordered earlier in the day. She hummed happily as she walked to her final destination. Naruto had finally returned to his training and looked a whole lot better. He still didn't talk a lot about their time in the parallel world, but he was smiling again and that's all that matter to Sakura. After arriving at the apartment, Sakura didn't even bother knocking on the door. She opened the door and ventured into the place. To her surprise, the apartment was very clean and orderly, unlike the other times she had been there. Naruto was also no where in sight. She shrugged and walked over to deposit the food on the kitchen counter.

"Sakura-chan?" Sakura tensed up and turned quickly and almost choked. Standing in the hallway was a half naked Naruto. He had obviously just gotten out of the shower and had only had time to put on a pair of shorts. Water dripped from his hair and onto his very...muscular...

Sakura shook her head and blushed deeply. What in the world was going through her mind? She had seen Naruto without a shirt many times. But never this close up to him. A little voice rang through her mind and Sakura almost jumped. Inner Sakura hadn't shown herself in a while. She looked over at Naruto and noticed that he had also turned red in the face. She jumped a little and turned around quickly.

"Sorry, I just thought you were still in training and thought you'd like some food ready when you got back." Sakura finally replied, her voice cracking a bit. Jeez, what am I, a pubescent boy?

"Uh, yea, sure. Just let me get changed real quick. I'll be right back." Naruto replied, his voice also cracking. Sakura heard his footsteps retreating into the bedroom and finally turned around and let out a breath. Lately, her body had been acting weird around Naruto. It might be because you're attracted to him, stupid. Inner Sakura remarked and Sakura growled at her, wishing she would just shut up. Inner Sakura had been very vocal lately. Just as she finished setting the food out, Naruto reentered the room fully dressed this time.

"This looks great, Sakura-chan. Thanks for doing this." He replied, coming behind her and hugging her tightly to him. Sakura had never been so aware of Naruto's body before. She could feel every muscle on him.

"N...no problem. Let's go start the movies." Sakura hurriedly replied, wriggling out of Naruto's grasp. She ventured over to the table and held up the movies. "So I thought we could start with some comedies and then finish with some horror films." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Sure, sounds great."

Sakura returned to consciousness before she opened her eyes. She felt comfy and warm and she snuggled even closer to the source of heat. Until the source of the heat also moved. Her eyes snapped open and looked around. She had snuggled into Naruto. Sakura jerked in surprise and fell ungainly onto the floor. The crash alerted Naruto awake and he stared confusedly down at her.

"Sakura-chan, what...?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. He then remembered where he was and his eyes widened. He went to help her up. "I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan, I should have kept awake." Sakura shook her head and went to collect her things in a rush.

"No, it's my fault. I should have left when I started to get tired. But this was fun, Naruto. We should do it again." She replied, turning to him. He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yea, definitely."

The movie night/accidental sleepovers became a ritual for them in the months that followed. Soon after that, Naruto started visiting Sakura during her lunch hour at the hospital and either took her to lunch or brought some to her. They would sit in her office and talk about their weeks and missions. In fact, they hung out so much that others started to notice. Ino was the first one to mention it to Sakura during a visit to the flower shop.

"Geez, Forehead, so when are you and blondie going to make it official?" She had asked one day, making Sakura choke on her water.

"What do you mean, 'make it official'? Sakura finally said, once she could breath again. Ino gave her a 'come on' look.

"You two hang out so much and are so touchy, it's almost disgusting." Ino remarked, and Sakura felt her stomach drop. Ino was right: she and Naruto were basically acting like any other couple. Ino noticed the demeanor of the pink-haired nin and took a seat next to her. She placed a hand gently on her back.

"Oh, honey, you never noticed?" Ino asked softly, feeling truly sorry. Tears started to well into Sakura's eyes. How could she be falling for Naruto? She had been in love with Sasuke for as long as she could remember. Her thoughts strayed back to that night when she had spotted a half-naked Naruto; how her body and mind had reacted. The way she always look forward to their Friday night marathon; their lunch dates.

"What do I do, Ino?" Sakura asked in a choked whisper, emotion clogging her throat.

"Why don't you just tell him?" Ino suggested. Sakura gave the blonde a glare.

"Yea, and get the same reaction I always do when I confess my feelings to a guy." Sakura bit back.

"Look, Sasuke was a dick to refuse you like he did. And with Naruto in the Land of Iron, you kind did bullshit him there. Just let him know that you've changed. He should have been able to see that. And if he does refuse you again, then I'll cut his balls off." Ino replied and gave out a small chuckle. Only Ino would make such a threat for her best friend.

Sakura felt like a nervous wreck for the rest of the week. She and Naruto had their marathon session again this Friday and she had decided that she would tell Naruto how she felt. She was so engrossed in her feelings that she didn't even realize the swarm of nurses at the entrance at the end of her shift.

"Sakura-chan!" Came a yell from the swarm. Blonde hair poked through and Sakura spotted Naruto trying to fight through the crowd of admirers. Sakura want to shy away to her office, but it was too late. Naruto was right in front of her.

"Wh..what are you doing here?" Sakura demanded, trying to hide her surprise and mortification. Naruto gave her a confused smile.

"I'm here to pick you up for our marathon session, remember?" Sakura checked her watch.

"It's that time already? Alright, then, let me put my stuff away and I'll join you." She hurriedly rushed to her office and dropped off her coat and some files. When she returned to the front desk, Naruto's fan club had left. "Alright, let's go!" She said excitedly and fell in pace with Naruto. As they left the building, Naruto placed his hand on the small of Sakura's back and a shiver rushed through her body. They soon arrived at Naruto's apartment and while Naruto started preparing the food, Sakura braced herself and took a deep breath.

"Naruto, could we talk real quick?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked over his shoulder.

"Yea, of course. What's up?" He asked as he continued to cut up vegetables.

"No, Naruto, something important. I need your full attention for this." Sakura replied. Naruto stopped chopping and turned around to face her.

"Naruto, I think I'm falling in love with you." Sakura blurted out, her face turning a deep shade of red. Naruto's face did an exact replica of his reaction in Land of Iron.

"Sakura, we've already talked about this..." Naruto started, springing into his lecture again, but Sakura was having none of it now.

"No, Naruto! I'm not lying! Not this time anyway. For years, I had this fantasy of being with Sasuke and being happy with him. And then he left us and didn't even care how we felt. But yet, you were there all the while. When I'm sad, you comfort me. When I'm hurt, you help me. When I'm happy, you're happy with me. Naruto, my dreams are starting to shift from a dark, brooding boy to a smiling bright man. I was so in love with the idea of Sasuke that it blinded me to what was in front of me the whole time. No matter how hard I try, Sasuke will never again be the boy I thought I loved long ago. I love you; the one who's always been by my side and yet, when I try to tell you, you just say that I'm lying? What do I have to do to prove it to you?" Sakura ranted, tears running down her face. She then launched towards Naruto and planted her lips onto his. He tensed in shock, but soon matched her passion as one of his hands wrapped around her lower back while the other hand went to cup her neck. They both finally released for air, gasping for air in disbelief and passion.

"Wow, Sakura-chan, you definitely aren't lying." Naruto joked, making Sakura elbow him gently in the ribs. "So, does this make us official?" He asked as he wiped the tears away from her eyes with his thumbs. Sakura stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the lips.

"I think it does." Sakura replied and snuggled into Naruto's embrace once again.