Momento: Flowers and Rain
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Aiya! The next chapter came out earlier than expected! Yayness! Fanfiction.net doesn't seem to show some keyboard characters like asterisks…O.o;; Oh well, I'll have to avoid special characters for a while…XD I'm glad you guys liked the previous chapter. I have a bad habit of making fun of people I like, especially Shino…lol. I hope you enjoy this one, the longest possible chapter in Momento!!! happy BGM
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Somewhere in the middle of the Konoha forest twos boys and a young girl sat on the soft grass, enjoying the beauty that was nature, the delicate breeze sweeping over them and the pleasant humming of birds resounding within.
"It's really amazing you know, people show that they care when you're on the verge of death."
How Haruno wished Naruto didn't talk about such a morbid thing while she was admiring her gallant Sasuke, who was busy ignoring both of them, giving out an occasional glare once in a while.
That glare usually meant : "Shut up, you're noisy."
Sakura just stared at Naruto, slightly perplexed by Naruto's unusual view on things. She tried to open her mouth but no words would come out., Naruto was beyond her, and everyone else's thinking.
"And you're actually enjoying that thought?" She asked.
"That I do."
Team 7 was supposed to go and train at the start of 8 o' clock in the morning, but it was high noon and Kakashi-sensei still wasn't there. Naruto lied down on the grass, frustrated on how late their teacher was.
A few more minutes and Kakashi finally popped out amongst a cloud of smoke.
Sakura and Naruto ran immediately towards Kakashi's direction with a relieved face, while Sasuke merely stood up not even greeting his teacher. He knew what to expect, Naruto and Sakura nagged Kakashi.
"He deserves getting nagged anyway."
Kakashi was a reasonably apprehended by the two and had to sit through a whole session of sermons from Naruto and Sakura.
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The training ended at 5 o' clock in the afternoon, Kakshi had forewarned Sasuke not to stay any longer than the rest of them. He was to return to the village at the exact time the training was over.
Kakashi immediately left with another cloud of smoke he had to rush for a talk with the other jounins. Apparently it was something that required punctuality and attendance, something that he wasn't exactly keen on.
Sakura had arranged an appointment with a Flower arrangement lesson; she was still deeply bothered by Ino being better than her when it came to the said field. And left at the exact time Kakashi did. She wanted to stay with Sasuke and wait till Naruto left so that could walk home together, very romantic indeed! But—some things must be sacrificed for ultimate superiority, especially when it came to Ino Yamanaka.
And only two were left, Sasuke and Naruto. It was quite uncomfortable; having Kakashi and Sakura around gave him a reason to put up his cold exterior. However, Naruto saw everything about him. He had let his guard down around the boy, though Naruto never did say anything about it.
"Let's go home together." He thoughtlessly said.
Uzumaki Naruto was startled with Sasuke.
It was the near end of summer, and the cold rain began to pour unexpectedly. The once gentle breeze turned into a strong, fierce gust and the two, Sasuke and Naruto were forced to seek shelter, under the roof of an old abandoned house nearby.
The Konoha street was empty, it almost looked like a ghost town, taking note of the fog that began to spread throughout.
"Oh damn, my clothes are soaked!"
Naruto raised his hands in frustration, taking a hold of his jacket and looking at it wistfully, unlike Sasuke who was quiet and didn't seem to care about having his clothes wet, his hair falling down wet along his face where you could see beads of water trailing down to his neck.
Maybe Sasuke really doesn't mind the way he looks.
Naruto thought.
"I just washed this." The blonde added, a pout on his face, very upset. The taller boy couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at the other, but a side of his was frightened at this. Sasuke was afraid that he may never be able to keep his distance. He frowned again.
This was something he found hard to do, especially since he and Naruto were alone.
"Mou, you're no fun to talk to, Sasuke!"
But Sasuke remained silent…Naruto decided not to pay any attention to Sasuke anymore and instead leave the jerk who's been ignoring him the whole time, or so he thought.
"I'm going to make a run for it." He pulled up his jacket over his head and about to leave, his left foot outside the shelter of the roof. Then something happened, Sasuke Uchiha held his hand and pulled him back.
He and Sasuke had stood side by side, and their hands entwined, while Naruto gaped at Sasuke's boldness, the other boy kept looking away from Naruto and fixed his eyes on the empty street and the rain that fell down.
"Let's watch the rain."
"Uhm, Yeah."
Sasuke squeezed Naruto's hand as they stood there, their faces blushing furiously, as Naruto held his hand tighter as well.
The unfortunate thing was, nothing was to be confirmed. The two remained silent, peacefully watching the rain.
"I really like you Naruto."
And that was it, Sasuke couldn't pretend much more. The feeling was genuine and he wished Naruto felt the same way too.
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"Haruno, you're late. Lessons started three weeks ago."
Sakura shrieked, he face turning blue, stunned with disbelief. Shino was standing before her with a wide array of flowers placed in his arms.
"Y-You're taking flower arrangement?!"
Shino raised an eyebrow, annoyed at the pink-haired girl.
"It's just not me; I inform you that majority of young genin males take these lessons."
Green eyes scanned the room; she spotted a lot of them. She sighed, a bit confident. She thought that taking a flower arrangement lessons with boys as the major faction of the class composed of boys would make her shine. The only other girls were Hinata and Tenten, and they probably weren't as competitive as her.
She sat in a row where Shino sat, there sitting were Kiba, Rock Lee, Shino…and horribly enough, Neji. Haruno took into mind that it was quite weird that even Konoha boys would want to study something that was usually reserved for the females.
"So, why do you guys actually go through with this?" She asked, looking at the other four sitting with her. Rock Lee raised his hand highly, his eyes burning with a passion.
"It's for grace and beauty, Sakura-san! Gai-sensei said so!" He smiled, a sparkle as he flashed his pearly whites.
"Fighting needs grace." The male Hyuga said.
"And adds fluidity to your moves, mainly your jutsus." Shino added.
"I'm just here because I was forced to." Kiba retorted, contradicting every single reply the other three said. The truth was, they were reluctant at the mere sound of "Flower Arrangement", and used to cringe at the thought. Shino was more troubled than the others because whenever he went to the greenhouse to select flowers he would come back being flourished by butterflies.
And yet there they were, having their fourth lesson.
"I'm thinking of being a little pastel today." Neji said to Lee who was blabbering about how "cool" it would be to use oranges and yellows, Shino on the other hand was more concerned on what flowers to use, he always loved the gentle look of daisies by carnations attracted him as well. Kiba was probably the only one who wasn't interested in the said subject, a bowed down and took a nap, Akamaru sitting on top of his head.
Sakura saw this. "Finally, someone close to being normal." She whispered.
"You know Sakura-san, you should tell Sasuke and Naruto to try this, they can always catch up you know." Lee informed her. Haruno could on nod in response, she found the four boys quite (frighteningly) into flowers more than she thought.
Kiba was bored, but the fact that he was naturally good with arranging the cursed blossoms scares him, he'd rather chew on them, an odd habit he used to do when he was about six or seven years old, he'd practically chew on anything disregarding the fact that chewing on book paper had caused him a couple of detentions while in the Ninja Academy.
There was a large field of flowers somewhere near the Ninja Academy that Naruto would always go to after school. And it was Kiba who was always with him. He and Akamaru would sit down somewhere just watching Naruto pick them.
The young boy would hand them to Sasuke in a half filled water bottle the next day; saying that he should hand them to his mother after school and tell her it's from Naruto.
Inuzuka couldn't help but feel jealous. Naruto paid more attention to Sasuke than him.
It feels that I haven't really played a part in his life.
They went back a few times more, and at one time, Kiba had thought of giving something special to Naruto as well, he whispered to Akamaru, Kiba began to pick some of the flowers, handed them to Akamaru to carry it using his mouth. The little pup hurriedly ran to Naruto and placed them on his lap.
When Naruto saw it, he stood right away and saw Kiba waving to him.
And he would smile.
Naruto's smile meant everything to Kiba before, and even now.
What happened five years ago, ruined everything he had yearned for, it was the day that decided to delete Kiba from Naruto's memory forever.
Kiba was the reason Kyuubi was awakened, as Naruto ran after Uchiha (who had a fight with Kiba back then),he ran after Naruto, it was a constant dilemma to always feel out of place between the two.
As he ran after Naruto, he was startled to see Itachi about to attack his friend, confused on why on earth would Itachi want to kill him. A sudden impulse made him run in between to receive the blow.
Kiba was fatally injured; he remembered the look on Naruto's face as he fell down to the ground bleeding. Naruto was…crying. It was a memory etched in his heart, and he vowed himself never to make Naruto cry ever again. Those were his last fading thoughts five years ago.
I will….tell him how I feel.
The door opened and their female teacher greeted them a good afternoon, Kiba was forced to get up and greet back.
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Naruto and Sasuke had finally reached Naruto's place after waiting for the rain to stop. The two did not talk, but instead shared glances that obviously meant more than words. The blonde opened the locked door using the key he safely kept and proceeded to open turn the door knob.
"See 'ya."
"What I said, about how I like you. I was serious, Naruto. Please think about it."
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Author's Notes: Author's Notes equals Rambling space! Yay! I hope you guys put up with this rant because I really love rambling about useless things! I'm not exactly a big fan of Sakura Haruno, but I had fun writing about her and the flower arrangement part. I'm glad that there are actually people who are rooting for both Kiba and Sasuke! Wow, I was scared because I didn't want Kiba to get ignored and whatsoever. I really like that Dog boy, but I think Sasuke is le hawt bishie, who (unfortunately) makes bad decisions…makes me want to whack him for making Naruto-chan upset, numerous times. I know that this chapter has more Sasunaru than KibaNaru, now that I realized it, this is a very weird love triangle, and I'm really glad you readers out there like it! :3 Hugs to all! =D