Nanny or Mommy

Chapter 15: What Are You Scared Of?

Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto.

Finally, another hour after their discussion, they arrived at some rich folk neighborhood with tall gates and security. She blanched at the sight of each home or should she say mansion because that's what they looked like with their perfectly cut grass and lovely garden.

"Geez, this is where you grew up?"

"Nope my parents moved out here when I moved out, but it's not far from my old home." She scowled at the children playing on the perfectly paved road causing them to slow down so to not hit them. It seemed really dangerous for the kids just to be out playing on the street. "This is a tight community trust me everyone makes sure not to hit them and watch the road carefully. Even when we tell the parents, they seem to just not listen to their parents, so it's up to us to be careful."

Her scowl turned into a frown. It's amazing how you can have all the money in the world but suck at being a parent. If you're not ready for kids, then don't have any. She thought that it was as simple as that especially if you don't have time for them and won't discipline them properly.

"Well, here we are." Naruto turned and waited for the gates to open once they did he pulled into the driveway.

"Grandma and grandpa!" Bolt said excitedly trying to free himself from his booster seat and run to the couple. Sakura smiled and took her seat belt off to help the blonde out of the seat. Naruto turned the car off and did the same but with Himawari.

As soon as Bolt was free, he dashed off to the blonde man and the red-haired woman. Sakura gasped at how beautiful Naruto's mother was the pictures didn't do her nearly enough justice. She silently watched as Naruto picked Himawari up and walked over to his parents. Halfway there he turned to find her still standing by the car.

"Sakura-chan?" Sakura smiled shyly and slowly walked over to him. Naruto stared at her for a moment and took her hand to pull her with him.

Kushina saw them coming and smirked when she saw them holding hands. Ever since her son told her that he had a thing for his nanny, she's been plotting ways to get them together. Minato saw the look of glee on his wife's face and felt sorry for the two.

"Naruto and you must be Sakura." She took the three-year-old from Naruto and planted small kisses all over the toddlers face. Kushina hasn't seen Himawari since she was only about 2 or so. She doubted that the little one remembered who she was.

"Y-yes it's nice to meet you Uzum—"

"Please just call me Kushina and call him Minato." She pointed at her blonde husband who was carrying Bolt on his shoulders. She nodded relaxing her tense shoulders. She shook Minato's hand staring at his face closely. She couldn't get over how alike he and Naruto looked. The only difference was that Minato was slightly taller, longer hair and brighter and gentler eyes.

"Uh, Sakura-chan?" Evidently, she was staring and shaking his hand a little too long. The blood went rushing to her face as she quickly let go and took a step away from her boss' father.

"I-it's nice to meet you." She mumbled out looking down at the ground not wanting to be caught in another spell by the handsome man. What a terrible first impression.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand land softly on her shoulder. Kushina smiled at her with a grin that looked quite familiar probably because it's often seen on Naruto's face. "I get it he's a handsome devil." She whispered to Sakura making the poor pinkette blush even more.

"Mom," Naruto whined pulling the pinkette away from his eccentric mother before his nanny fainted from all the blood rushing to her head.

"What if Sakura's gonna be around forever she's going to have to get used to us. I have the utmost faith that she will though." Sakura's eyebrows shot up like a rocket. She wasn't sure about forever, but she didn't mind getting to know them for the time being. Maybe even being friends.

"Mom," Naruto said warningly.

"Kushina she just met us don't put such pressure on the girl," Minato spoke up his gentle yet calming voice cutting through the tension between mother and son. She could tell he was often the peacekeeper in the family.

"Alright alright let's go inside I'm sure you guys are hungry." With Himawari in her arms, she briskly went into the huge home. Her lengthy fiery red hair trailing behind her. Minato smiled and followed after his wife with Bolt still on his shoulders talking a mile a minute. Then there were two.

"You know some say that I'm like a carbon copy of my father." He suddenly said confusing Sakura as to why he brought that up. "So if you think my father is you know then—"

"Ok! I get it! Admittedly you're very...um handsome yourself." She turned away from him and quickly walked into the house leaving Naruto with a goofy grin. It was progress to Naruto, and any progress is better than no progress.

Sakura walked in and was amazed at how spacious and gorgeous the inside was. A chandelier hung high from the ceiling and lit the whole room up. Admittedly that was the only overly expensive thing in the House well from what she could see so far it was probably a family heirloom. Everything else seemed like something you'd have in a cozy home and not some mansion. It made her feel like she was at home and she was willing to bet that's what they were going for.

"I take it you like it?" Sakura nodded while continuing to admire the house. Kushina giggled and grabbed The awestruck pinkette's hand to pull her toward the kitchen. She loved to cook, so she made sure that the kitchen was up to her standards which were very high.

"Welcome to the kitchen." She opened the door revealing a kitchen that would put those cooking shows kitchen to shame. Sakura wasn't much of a cooker, but she had to admit she would love to cook in a kitchen like this. Not that Naruto's kitchen was bad it's just not to much detail went into it like Kushina's.

"This is amazing."

"Well, I am a world-famous chef." She winked at the girl as Sakura went through her mind to figure out if she's heard of Kushina's name before. "You might have heard of The Red Hot Habanero." It snapped to her instantly when Kushina said her famous nickname and television show name.

"Ahh, my mother use to watch your cooking show all the time." Kushina grinned feeling pride swell in her. Sakura thought about her sick mother and how happy she would be if she met Kushina. The redhead noticed Sakura's mood go south and wondered what's the matter. But before she could ask Sakura spoke up. "Um I don't usually do this but c-can we get a photo together." She rubbed the back of her head looking abashed. "Uh my mother is sick, and she's a huge fan of yours..."

Kushina smiled gently at her and nodded. Sakura pulled out her phone and took a selfie with the woman. "Thank you so much she's going to freak out when I show her this picture." Her smile faded as her thoughts went to her mother's condition.

"Sakura if you ever need to talk I'm always available." Sakura was surprised that Kushina would offer something like that to her, a complete stranger. As she was thinking Naruto came in looking curiously at them both.

"Oh uh thank you."

"That's what family's for. Come to the dining room when you two are ready." She left making sure to sneak a knowing look at Naruto.

"Family?" She whispered to herself while her brain was trying to process the reason Kushina would say that to her.

"Sakura-chan?" She snapped out of her thoughts when Naruto said her name. She hopped back out of surprise from how close the blonde was to her. Something flashed in his eyes, but she didn't have enough time to decipher what it was. "Come on lunch should be ready by now." He held out his hand but quickly realized what he was doing and let it fall back beside him. "Sorry." He mumbled before walking away from her. Sakura groaned running her hands through her pink locks out of frustration. She was going to lose her mind here, wasn't she?

She shook her head and went out the door that both the Uzumakis went through. She should have been prepared for the sight that she saw, but in the end, she wasn't. It seemed that the kitchen led right to the dining room where a large selection of food was laid out on the dark oak wooden table. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she caught a whiff of all the delicious food.

"There you are Sakura come sit." The table sat about eight people the same as Naruto's she noticed. Sakura picked the seat beside Bolt and across from Kushina who sat beside Himawari. "Feel free to eat whatever you like." Kushina smiled watching eagerly as her family dug in. A few minutes later everyone had food on their plate and were eating it up after saying itadakimasu of course.

"So Sakura from what Naruto has told me you're in college?"

Sakura nodded and cleared her throat to speak. "Yes, I graduate this winter hopefully you'll come?" She offered with a nervous smile on her face.

Kushina, on the other hand, looked elated. Since Naruto didn't go to college, she never was able to cheer for him as he got his college diploma. "Of course I'll make sure Minato and I make it. What are your plans for the future?"

Easy. "I want to become a doctor once I get my bachelors I'll take the MCAT then I'll go to medical school." There were more steps, but she didn't want to bore her with those trivial things.

"Like Tsunade." Sakura eagerly nodded at the mention of her idol.

"Mom, what is this 20 questions?" Naruto grumbled while making sure Bolt doesn't make a mess. He was on the left side of Bolt and across from his oddly quiet father. He knew that when his father was as quiet as he was he was observing but what was he observing? Sakura maybe but for what she's harmless.

"Ok, then what about you mister what are you doing with your life?" The red head said eyeing her son that's been M.I.A from both her and Minato for almost two years. "You know I've heard that Sasuke-kun is not only taking over the family business but before that, he's making appearances in American films." She would only mention the Uchiha when she wanted to get a rise out of her son or motivate him.

"Well, Sasuke doesn't have kids." He snapped back sharply. He made it sound like he was blaming the kids for him not accomplishing as much as Sasuke has but he wasn't. He's just frustrated.

"And that's the biggest accomplishment one can have. I know that being a father was my greatest accomplishment by far." Minato said his gentle smile never leaving his face. "Kushina was out of line, but she only wants what's best for you and to motivate you to achieve everything you want in life."

Sakura watched the exchange closely and kind of felt like she was intruding on a very significant family moment. Wait, Sasuke... as in Sasuke Uchiha?

"Naruto honey Minato's right and I'm sorry for bringing him up, come on this is your first time here in a while let's not ruin it especially with Sakura here." The two stared at each other waiting for something.

"Alright mom." Kushina clapped happily standing up suddenly leaving and a moment later was back with a platter of...say it ain't so... Sakura's favorite food ever.

She stared at the platter of syrup-coated anko dumplings. Funnily enough, it was something she had in common with her old boss who was named after the delicious snack.

She must have looked like a starving lion who hadn't had anything to eat in years, and a piece of meat was dangling in front of it. She didn't even notice the little bit of drool on the edge of her mouth. Admittedly she could eat dango like Naruto could eat ramen which they had as one of the choices for lunch.

"Why don't we let Sakura get the first taste since she looks very eager to try them." Kushina giggled as all eyes were now on Sakura who wasn't paying them any attention.

Kushina walked around the table and held the tray out in front of her to take as many as she liked. Sakura shakily picked up one and instantly started eating. She moaned as her mouth exploded from the deliciously made treat. Naruto chuckled loudly as she happily ate the dango.

"You know Naruto over here suggested I make them saying something about them being your favorite." The redhead cheekily said.

"Wha-how?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well I had Kiba go ask your friend Ino and made her swear secrecy..." he mumbled the next part still upset about it. "After blackmailing me."

"She did what?!" Sakura furiously asked breaking the stick in her hand. She was also upset that Ino didn't mention it when they spoke just last night.

"It's nothing to worry about I was going to pay her anyway, and the price wasn't outrageous." He lied through his teeth but really didn't want the pinkette worrying about something that wouldn't even dent his pockets.

"Why would you do that you could have just asked?" She said quietly that he and everyone else had to strain to hear.

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise and I wanted it to be a surprise." He said as if it was obvious which it was just not to the pinkette who was catching whiplash from how different he could be especially from when they first met. "You deserve it after everything you've been doing for my family and me."

"Naruto..." She finally understood what people meant when they said their heart skipped a beat because her own just skipped a couple.

"Alright, lovebirds let's finish these dangos," Kushina said as Minato cleared the old food from the table for room for the dango. The chatter started again with Sakura just staring blankly at the table. She couldn't even stay in the same room as the blonde any longer.

"I-I'll help you clean up." She suddenly said standing up quickly and picking up some of the plates before Kushina could even decline. She raced off to the kitchen and started doing the dishes. A moment later Kushina entered studying Sakura.

"You know we have two dishwashers right?" She smirked as Sakura nodded but continued to clean the dishes by hand. Washing dishes was oddly therapeutic.

"I was being honest earlier when I said you could talk to me about anything." Kushina didn't say anything else just stood beside Sakura and dried the dishes.

Sakura was definitely considering it especially after what happened at lunch.

"I—Naruto asked me out earlier." She suddenly said. She waited for a reply from Kushina but didn't receive one she must have figured or known.

"You make it seem like that's a bad thing." She eyed Sakura silently wondering what exactly she was so afraid of.

"Well...don't tell Naruto this but I've never had a boyfriend before." She blushed from embarrassment. She was a confident girl, or that's what she wanted people to think, but she doesn't know the first thing about dating unless you count all the times Ino told her about her dates. Yes, she's been on a date or two, but they weren't anything special those dates ended up going nowhere which was why she believed herself incapable of dating. Also, none of those dates were with someone as famous as Naruto Uzumaki.

"And you're scared to look inexperienced, and if the relationship does not work out, then it's awkward for you both." Sakura nodded not surprised that the redhead hit it right on the bullseye.

"He's much older than me and went through a whole marriage and had kids and he's famous. That seems like a lot of pressure especially on our first date." Kushina nodded in understanding it would be overwhelming for a lot of girls. Sakura was only about 22, and in this day and age, it was almost laughable to be a virgin still and not had a single boyfriend. She wondered if Sakura's even kissed a guy before.

The 5 year age gap between them was sort of a problem for Sakura she never envisioned going for someone that older than her with an entire family.

"You should tell Naruto all this so he could ease whatever worries you may have. He's not going to judge you especially with how strong his feelings are for you. I can tell you're smart Sakura and even if you don't have the experience I'm sure you've had tons of guys lining up to date you." Kushina lightly joked at the end making Sakura smile a bit.

"It's easy to flirt, but it's the commitment part that's difficult." Not that she had commitment issues or anything like that. It's just the dating part in well...dating. Something she hated was making mistakes, and it seemed that the worse thing to make an error on was dating. Sakura washed the last dish and dried her hands with a paper towel. She could say she was way to busy to think about boys, but that just wasn't the case. She's had her fair share of crushes and fair share of guys crushing on her even celeb crushes.

"Since you're considering it how exactly do you feel about Naruto." The redhead asked seriously since she couldn't quite gauge what Sakura felt for Naruto.

"I like him." It was just recently when that like went from a friendship like to a romantically interested like. "But I still don't feel comfortable going on a date with him."

Kushina's face scrunched up when Sakura said those words. She thought for a moment she had convinced Sakura to give Naruto a chance but evidently, she didn't. "Why not?"

"Hinata."

And suddenly Kushina understood. "Hinata?"

Sakura nodded and decided to further explain herself. "I spoke with her younger sister yesterday and she believes that Hinata isn't gone and will come back. I just don't want to run into that problem if it does happen then I'll feel like a homewrecker or something. And I still don't know how Naruto exactly feels about his wife." There her main reason for not wanting to date Naruto was now out in the open. She was now patiently waiting for Kushina to say something.

"Sakura you're a sweet young woman and I know my son sees it too. You would want a complete stranger to you, come back and take away your happiness. I respect you so much right now." Kushina dried her hands and put her hands on Sakura's shoulders and looked the pinkette in the eyes.

"But I also see a woman afraid of getting hurt. My son loved Hinata yes but I feel it's too late to patch that relationship up. Sure he'll love his ex-wife forever but that doesn't mean a certain someone can't worm her way into his heart. If there's a chance that you two can make each other the happiest you've ever been, go for it because I know for a fact you'll regret it if you don't."

Sakura stared wide-eyed after Kushina spoke those encouraging words to her. She wanted to do some more thinking before telling Naruto her decision but Kusina has really opened her eyes. "Y-you're right."

Kushina grinned brightly, "Good now sooner or later tell him the truth." Sakura nodded and suddenly hugged Kushina tightly thanking her for her help. She would definitely have to spend some time thinking.

END

Originally I was going to make Sakura completely inexperienced in the dating thing but decided against it especially with a best friend like Ino.

Revised: 12/16/18