Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and any other things that will be mentioned besides the plot. Lord knows if I did Sakura would have had amazing character development and ended up with Gaara instead. Anyways, on to the next chapter!
Sakura's POV
When we walked in to Iruka's Ramen Shop, Naruto and Shikamaru were already seated by our usual booth and had already ordered for us. "I wonder what monstrosity Naruto has ordered for us this time around" Ten-Ten said under her breathe but was loud enough for us to hear. Hina and I giggled at this. Naruto always orders for us and most of the time it's always something weird but actually somewhat good except for last time. Last time was a disaster.
"Hey guys" I said smiling at the two boys. Shika looked up from his book and nodded in acknowledgment while Naruto got up all excited and grabbed both mine and Hinata's hands and sat us down "You guys had got to try this, it's amazing" the blonde said barely managing to contain his excitement "It's better than last time I swear" he said with his signature grin.
Ten-Ten was eyeing the bowl of ramen suspiciously. The last time she ate anything Naruto ordered she ended up with food poisoning for a week straight. "Come on Ten, it's good trust me" Naruto urged her.
"Like I would trust you again after last time" Ten said partly annoyed. The sesame garlic ramen noodles smelled divine and her curiosity and stomach were getting the best of her.
"Alright, I'll take the first bite" I eventually spoke up. I was starving and was willing to risk it all. If I died from this then oh well. I grabbed my chopsticks and took my first bit. IT WAS SIMPLY DIVINE! I began to down all those noodles (Naruto style) "Get me more of this shit" I said to Naruto. The girls took it as a good sign and took their first bite, soon they were asking for seconds as well.
"I told you it was amazing!" Naruto exclaimed eyes gleaming proud of his selection this time around. We ate to our hearts content even had a few drinks. Shikamaru kept stealing glances at me but I just ignored it for the time being. I decided to ask him about it at a later time, for now we were having fun chatting it up.
Ino sent a text letting me know that her date went well and that she'd meet us at my place after it was done. I let the girls know. We were all happy for her, she finally found what we hope was 'the one'.
After some time, we decided to call it a night after all we would meet again tomorrow at school. We bid each other farewell and went our separate ways. I basically stayed alone as my parents were always away on business trips, I loved the space but I also missed my parents sometimes. Just one family meal would be nice but that was just wishful thinking. My friends had now become my family.
We got home and immediately decided to get all of our school essentials ready for tomorrow. Hinata's dad had grown fond of me and was okay with her spending the night at my place on many occasions as long as she communicated. It was the same with the others, so they made sure to let their parents know beforehand.
Ino wasn't home yet so I packed some stuff for her. Once we were all done, we decided to watch a movie while we waited for Ino to show up. After about thirty minutes into the movie, we saw a car pull up into my drive way. We abounded the movie as we watched a man with brown messy hair jump out the driver's side and went over to the passenger side and opened the door from which Ino emerged all smiles.
"Well at least this one is a gentleman" I said playfully and we all giggled peaking from the window as we sneakily watched Ino and her date. He walked her up to the door.
"I had a really great night. Thank you so much, I never imagined I'd have so much fun in my life" we overheard Ino saying. She sounded truly happy.
"I too had fun. Initially I was against the whole blind date thing but I don't regret any of it. This was truly a night to remember" he started off, I could tell from his tine that he too was smiling. "Maybe, we could do this again sometime?" he asked her. The hope in his tone was evident. There was no hiding it, he really liked Ino.
"I certainly wouldn't mind that" Ino said a rather excited. They stared at each other for a short bit when suddenly Ino gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Okay, thanks bye!" Ino squealed as she quickly opened the door and ran inside leaving her date stunned. Hina, Ten and I tried to rush back to our seats and fell in an attempt to do so. Ino stood there with her back against the door blushing madly as we all stared at her with knowing smiles. We all peaked through the curtain and watched as he touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him. Soon after he jumped and punched the air in excitement before making his way to his car and driving off.
We all saw this and after he had left, we all squealed jumping up and down. We immediately sat down in a circle and had Ino tell us all the details of her date then after we went to bed.
Gaara's POV
Kankuro got home rather late than usual. Temari and I were shocked to hear his date went better than he had expected and that she wasn't as snobby as she appeared to be.
"You owe me ten bucks Gaara" Tem said smirking. Temari had faith that Kankuro would actually bag this one and I on the other hand disagreed.
"Troublesome" I said as a grabbed my wallet and handed her ten bucks, giving her a half-hearted glare. We had only recently moved back to Konoha a few months ago. Settling in wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be but that was all thanks to Naruto, who dare I say, is my best friend. We stayed here before when we were still kids but had to go back to Suna when my mother fell sick. We lost communication but somehow him and I rekindled our friendship when we met in randomly in Suna.
"This Temari is actually one of the best things you've ever come up with." Kankuro said excitedly as he hugged their sister. It was Temari's idea to set up a blind date for him and although Kankuro was reluctant at first, he actually ended up enjoying himself.
"You're welcome you idiot, now hurry sit and tell me all the details" Temari said practically squealing.
I stood there watching as my siblings jumped up and down like school girls. It was weird to say the least but also somewhat a wonderful sight to see. Our upbringing wasn't the best, especially for me. Our father was abusive as hell, always beating us whenever we didn't do something to his standards. It was only recently when he passed away that we really got to experience any kind of joy. Though it came easy for my siblings, it wasn't so easy for me. I admire how well they connected and wished it were the same for me. Due to my father's abuse, I shut myself away from them and well became quite a dick myself. My siblings feared me and truth be told it hurt but ever since we all agreed we'd try fix that it's been a bit better. I slipped up sometimes but we'd never let that stop us from trying.
"Gaara come sit with us. Our brother managed to actually get a girlfriend can you believe it" Tem said as she got up to grab my hand and tried to move me to the table. I pulled my hand away from hers "I can walk by myself" I said rather coldly, I saw her jump a little at my words.
"I didn't mean for it to come off so harsh" I said sighing. Tem just smiled at me "It's okay" she said smiled reassuringly. I just nodded and walked over to the dining table taking a seat directly opposite my brother. Tem followed and sat in between us. We listened as he told us of all the things they did. He seemed truly happy. It made me happy.
"Alright you two, as much as I'd like to stay up and chat it up. It's late and we have school tomorrow" Tem said. She was basically the parent here, of course we had to listen or else face her wrath. We decided to call it night. Naruto would meet us at school and basically be our guide.
'Naruto better not be late tomorrow' I thought to myself before I gave into sleep.
A/N: Sorry for taking long to upload this. I am writing this as I go and often end up having what people 'a writer's block'. Please feel free to suggest any ideas or thoughts you might have regarding the story. Leave a review and all. See you next chapter. Byeeeee!
