Warm vs Cold Chapter 5: She Awakens, a naruto fanfic

W a r m vs. C o l d

A tale of a boy's quest for the love of a girl.

Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story belong to me. They are all property of Masashi Kishimoto. And also, just for future reference, when you see "(| ... ... ... |) ", those are the thoughts of inner Sakura.

Author's Note: The chapter is edited. I didn't really like the last bit, especially because I just threw something on the table that wasn't really even..Within my plans. Gomen, gomen. ^_^# The next chapter should clear up any confusion.

Chapter 5: She Awakens…

Sakura stirred in her sleep. Am I returning to normal? She thought. I'm still not sure what happened. She heard voices beginning to penetrate the barrier of unconsciousness. Finally.. I'm about to awaken.

Tsunade replaced the rag on her head and noticed she was moving. "Everyone, quick. I think she's about to awaken." Sasuke shifted slightly and then opened his eyes.

"Hm? Really?" He stood up calmly and brushed himself off. He shifted his weight to his rear leg and folded his arms just watching them.

Naruto jerked suddenly. His chair wobbled and he fell to the ground with a mess of commotion. "Oof! Damn! She's about to wake up?!" He jumped to his feet and ran to Tsunade's side. She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Shh." She said as she keyed in her ears to hear something. Naruto and Sasuke both leaned closer to hear what she was hearing.

"Is…Is that snoring?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and kicked something under the bed. There was rapid movement and then the sound of a head hitting a bed post.

"Ow! What? Who is there?" Rock Lee rolled out from underneath the bed. "Oh! Hokage-sama!" He jumped to his feet and bowed. "Forgive me."

"Were you under there all night, Lee?"

"Ehrm. Hai!"

"Well, wake up." She suggested. "Sakura is about to awaken."

"Oh!" Rock Lee turned to look at Naruto and Sasuke. "Morning." He said with a smile.

"Morning, fuzzy-brows." Naruto said, still looking at Sakura.

Sasuke rubbed his forehead as he shook his head. He just motioned a greeting to Rock Lee with his hands. What a doofus. Almost as bad as Naruto.

"Uhn.." Sakura moaned as she was rolling into consciousness.

"Here she is." Tsunade spoke calmly.

Sakura's eyes flickered slowly, and then opened fully. "Am..Am I ..Awake?"

Tsunade smiled down on her as the others crowded around. "Yes, honey. You are." She brushed Sakura's hair out of her face.

"Thank you...Hokage-sama…I..I.. I'm so… Hungry."

"Eh?!!?!" Naruto yelled as he tripped over himself and fell over.

Sasuke's head was now shaking back and forth even more. I'm..I'm surrounded by morons.

Rock Lee had already run out of the room to get Sakura something to eat. "My love..She is hungry! I MUST GIVE HER NOURISHMENT!" He yelled as he pushed through people to get to the hospital kitchen.

"Um. I think Lee should be returning with your food soon." Tsunade laughed uneasily. This girl. She is strong. I can tell it was genjutsu, her signs aren't normal signs of a unconscious patient just now returning to consciousness. It is something different. Those Sound nins.

Lee entered the room with a tray and knelt down in front of Sakura. "Sakura. Here, I have brought the food you requested."

"Jeez, Lee. No need to be so formal." She smiled. "Thank you." She grabbed the food quickly and ate without even thinking twice.

Naruto's eye brow twitched. She's… Her appetite is just like mine.

"Good Morning!" There was a girl's voice at the door. Everyone turned around to see a whole company of Genin. And one Chuunin. Yamanaka Ino smiled. Attached to her hand was the hand of Nara Shikamaru.

"Ehhhh?!" Naruto blinked a few times. What happened between those two?

"How are you doing, Sakura?" Shikamaru asked. Behind him were Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, Tenten, and Shino. Neji was not there. They all tried to enter the door at once which caused quite a commotion.

"I'm fine. Thank you guys for coming!" Sakura smiled. She looked over and noticed the flowers on the bedside table. "Who brought these?"

Lee quickly straightened up and answered, "I did!"

"Thank you Lee," Sakura said smiling.

Lee took the empty tray from Sakura and held on to it.

"So, how did you manage to get hurt this time, eh Sakura?" Ino teased. There was something different about her. Almost as if she as glowing. And the funny thing is she hadn't looked at Sasuke once after she waved to him when they came in.

"All I remember was getting kicked and then that was it." Sakura scratched her head, not sure if the whole episode right before she woke up was real.

"Well….It's…Good..Too….See….You..Are…Okay…Sakura!" Chouji spoke in quick bursts between shoving his mouth full of chips.

"Chouji… I thought I told you not to eat so quickly. You are going to get sick. What a bother." Shikamaru shook his head a bit and then focused his attention back on the rest. "Well, I think we need to have a meeting."

Tsunade blinked a bit. They've grown so much. "Well, it seems you are in good care Sakura. I'll be back to check on you later on today." She made her way to the door and everyone parted.

"Goodbye Hokage-sama." They all said and bowed their heads. She smiled and walked down the hall.

"We'll have the meeting here since Sakura can't leave the hospital just yet. Everyone, make yourselves comfortable." Shikamaru took the role of leader as he always did and began to speak. "How much information do we have on these guys?"

"I don't think we have very much." Tenten said. "We know they are skills with genjutsu."

"Anything new?" Shikamaru insisted.

"I heard they are staying in the woods. But really far back, not many people go back there." Kiba said. Akamaru was on his shoulder falling asleep. Hinata stood behind and to the left a little of Kiba looking at the ground.

"Hinata. Have you learned anything?" Shikamaru questioned.

Hinata hesitantly shook her head.

Naruto gazed at her for a moment. She's beginning to open up. No one else may notice, but I can.

Ino stood beside Shikamaru and Chouji stood on his other side.

"I'm eager to find these guys." Rock Lee stated. "Do you think we should split up and look for them again."

"No. They are good at hiding themselves, we need to draw them to us if they have not already left Konoha." Shikamaru said.

"How would we do that?" Ino questioned.

"Ideas?" Shikamaru looked around.

"How about we set the forest on fire?! There's no way they could stay in after that!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Idiot. Don't even suggest things like that." Sasuke said.

"I was only kidding, jerk." Naruto retaliated. "But seriously, what can we do?" Naruto looked at Sakura. Her eyes seemed vivid and full of energy. Is she okay?

Sakura noticed Naruto was looking at her and she met his eyes. I nearly forgot about what happened on the bridge. Wow. He looks really good. (| I'M HAPPY YOU ARE AWAKE NOW! I'm at least happy that that pig Ino didn't end up with Sasuke! |) Yeah. It wouldn't matter now anyways. Even though I don't know if I should make this serious yet, I only care for Naruto. (| It's still hard for me to get used to us liking an idiot like him! |) Yeah. I know. Just deal with it, okay?

"Okay, so that settles it. Good plan everyone, get some rest and we'll meet up tomorrow." Shikamaru said as he stood up.

"What…Plan?" Sakura asked. (| WHAT?! How long was I out of it for! Damn daydreams! |)

"Oh, what a bother. You weren't listening? We can't stay long, Naruto. Explain the plan to her. Take care guys." Shikamaru and the rest of them except Sasuke, Lee and Naruto left.

"I got to go take care of some stuff. I'll meet you guys back here later." Sasuke walked out without hearing what any of them had to say. I'll be back, don't worry.

"Idiot! He's always going off on his own and make such a 'cool' exit." Naruto used his fingers to quote the word "cool." There was an odd noise that sounded like a gurgling. What the hell? Naruto thought.

"Ughhhnn. Famished." Lee's eyes were totally blank and he was swaying back and forth.

"Lee. You can go get something to eat if you want, y'know?" Sakura said. Her eyebrow was quirked as she watched him nearly collapse a few times.

"H..Hai." He sluggishly exited the room.

"What a moron." Naruto said.

"Lee isn't a moron Naruto-kun. Either way, you should probably start explaining that plan to me." You may want to talk to him about the bridge first. This may be the only time for a long time you get to talk with him alone. "On second thought. I want to talk to you about something else first," Sakura said hesitantly. She began to blush.

"Sakura-chan?" She said "Naruto-kun." She hasn't forgotten. Thank God. I would have been pissed if she did. Play it cool Naruto! This is the first step towards something greater! Yes! Much greater! "What is it you want to talk about?"

"I want to finally tell you one on one…How..How I feel about you." Now is the time.

Now is the time. Naruto thought.