A/N: Twitches, I can't be bothered reading back on this story so I hope everything connects. I wrote down ideas on this piece of paper but I can't seem to find it. Anyways, I'll just type whatever that comes to mind! Also, you can't find crickets in a creek… XD

== Chapter Eight ==

Lee apologised quickly before rushing madly out of the maids' bathroom. He ran and ran until he reached Naruto's room. Naruto asked Lee why he was so nervous but he just shook his head while catching up his breath. The silence between them stopped once a chirp of a cricket interrupted them.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Naruto with a grin.

"Yea, let's have a cricket combat!" suggested Lee.

"What do I get if I win?" asked Naruto.

"Something reasonable," replied Lee.

"Ok," agreed Naruto as he searched for a big bowl.

The two enthusiastic men chucked their newfound cricket into the bowl. The only difference between the insects was that Naruto's had a thin grey stripe across it. It was the nature of the crickets to fight over their territory. The two crickets began attacking one another before they stopped.

"They're not moving! Let me help them," cried Naruto as he jabbed Lee's cricket with a chopstick.

"Oi!" shouted Lee before he grabbed Naruto's chopstick and poked the striped cricket.

The two crickets began to fight again but Lee's cricket managed to tip Naruto's one to his back. Suddenly it began to attack it's front while it's legs struggled in the air. Soon Naruto's cricket stopped moving and died on it's back.

"ARGH! You must've poked my cricket too hard!" accused Naruto.

"I won fair and square, not like you didn't poke my cricket!" replied Lee and added, "Speaking of which, you owe me something."

"What do you want?" demanded Naruto.

"A maid…" trailed Lee.

"Which one? It better not be Sakura," grunted Naruto.

"I don't know her name. She has black hair tied in two little buns," described Lee.

"Tenten? Sure!" said Naruto and realised, "How long do you tend to keep her?"

"Hmm… Good question, I don't know," replied Lee and thought, "Two weeks!"

Suddenly Naruto had doubts but he had agreed already. Tenten had wanted to be his friend but now his giving her away because of a lost match. He had known Lee for a long time and was sure that he wouldn't do anything irrational. He stopped thinking about it because he was hungry.

"You said a maid Lee and I hope you treat her like one. If she gets hurt it will cost you our friendship," said Naruto seriously before softening his voice, "Let's go eat dinner, I'm starving!"

Lee gulped and wished he had asked for something else. He didn't know why he wanted Tenten so badly but now he would be risking their friendship. Lee liked Naruto and the two of them had grown up to be best friends. Lee followed behind Naruto as he made his way out of the room.

/

 (Actually I found the piece of paper but it's unreadable, I can only see squiggles.)

Sakura stared dreamily at her new soft pink shoes before testing it on her feet. They fitted! Just like Cinderella slipping on her glass slippers. She walked a few meters and realised the shoes were very comfortable. She was so occupied in admiring her shoes that she did not notice Sasuke behind her. He came up to tap Sakura lightly on the shoulders.

"Whoa!" cried Sakura before turning her head to face her intruder.

"What are you doing? Aren't you a maid?" asked Sasuke bluntly before a smirk appeared on his face. "I'm hungry, bring me some food."

Inner Sakura was thinking, 'Who do you think I am? Your maid?' However, she replied politely, "Ok, I'll get you some food."

"Bring me some wine while you're at it," replied Sasuke.

Sakura nodded her head before making her way to the kitchen. As she got inside, she watched the cooks prepare the food. She took a few dishes that were ready and a bowl of soup and rice. She remembered to take a bottle of wine but before she decided to return Sasuke his meal… She glimpsed a jar containing some chilly powder on the table. A cheeky smile popped on her face as her hand lifted the small jar. Sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle stir stir stir.

"I wonder if Sasuke likes chilly food or drinks… hmm…." Smiled Sakura.

Sakura gave a small chuckle before making her way back to Sasuke's room. She placed the tray of food gently on his table and watched him eat it. Sakura tried to keep her laughter as Sasuke slowly put the piece of meat in his mouth. He held a constipated look as he struggled to drink some soup. The same reaction occurred as the hot, chilly soup entered his mouth. He decided to test the wine and wasn't surprised to find the same chilly taste.

He glared at Sakura laughing happily to herself. Sakura watched Sasuke's navy blue eyes turn into a fiery red shade. She froze in time as Sasuke made his way up to her with his katana. His left hand pulled the silver blade out which reflected the moon. "Did you think that was funny?" he asked dangerously.

Sakura wanted to run but her legs won't listen to her. The tip of Sasuke's blade was pointing at Sakura's neck as he watched her shiver in horror. He found it fascinating to see her eyes grow bigger; suddenly he gave a small chuckle. "Now the look on your face is funny," remarked Sasuke as he redirected his blade to the ground.

"Are you sick or something? Do you think that sword is a toy?" screamed Sakura.

"No, I use it to kill people…" stated Sasuke before returning to his meal, "The food's really good, you should try some."

"No thanks. If there's nothing else, I'll have to go and serve my master," replied Sakura.

"Your master… Is he the guy with blonde hair?" asked Sasuke.

"Why do you care? Hmph! Good night!" shouted Sakura as she slammed the door from behind.

As Sasuke began to eat his meal again, he couldn't taste the chilliness. Everything tasted bitter and he wondered why. Could it be? No, a samurai will never permit himself to love someone…

/

Outside the dining room there was a small puddle of water, a maid had accidentally spilt some soup. Before the maid could clean it Shikamaru was walking happily with a tray of food. His mouth was slightly dribbling as he stared at his delicious meal so he did not notice the puddle. Meanwhile on the same pathway, Ino was making her way to the dining room. She saw Shikamaru advancing so she decided to make her way inside quickly. But in the same instant Shika slipped on the puddle and threw everything on his tray to Ino's face, hair and clothes.

"ARGH! You did that on purpose. You… you… you country boy!" shouted Ino.

"Ah, eh sorry. There was a puddle, I slipped," stuttered Shika as he reached for his hanky to wipe the wasted food on Ino. His hand moved towards her chest to wipe away the meat.

"What are you doing? Don't touch me!!" cried Ino as she tried to back herself away from him.

Shika moved a step forward as she moved back, "I'm really so- "

Before Shika could apologise for the second time he had slipped on a piece of bok choy. He managed to land on Ino and got himself dirty from the spilt food. "What are you two doing? Playing with food? I'm glad that you two are getting close together though," remarked Tsunade as she made her way in.

"Ah, get off me, you're heavy!" yelled Ino before two hands shoved Shika to the floor.

"Get off her," demanded Naruto and added, "Ino are you ok?"

"I'm fine," replied Ino as she made her way back up. She gave Shikamaru a disgusted look before returning to her room to change.

"I slipped, seriously!" replied Shika.

"That's ok, go get yourself cleaned. You can go get another tray of food," stated Naruto before he entered the dining room with Lee.

"Aww… I wonder what's for dinner? You have the best food ever!" said Lee.

"It's ok, personally I prefer eating in restaurants…" replied Naruto.

/

Sakura's tummy grumbled as she made her way to the kitchen. The male servants and maids had already finished eating and poured the scraps in the bin. Actually the three maids that weren't serving anyone had purposely disposed of all the food. They smiled in triumph as they watched Sakura making her way to the table.

"Sakura, nice to see you coming at last," said a maid and added, "Do want the chef to cook you something for your lateness?"

"Ah… no I'm fine," replied Sakura and added, "I'm thirsty, is there any soup left?"

"Nope, not a drop," answered another maid.

"Oh well, I'll just get a glass of water," stammered Sakura as she walked away from them.

Tenten came up to Sakura and apologised, "I tried to save some food for you but they wouldn't let me…"

"It's ok Tenten, I'll just starve but I won't die," assured Sakura.

After drinking some water Sakura was walking dizzily across the dining area. She hadn't eaten much the whole day and her body was collapsing. Naruto noticed Sakura tilting as she walked across the hallway. He rushed out just in time to catch her from falling. "Sakura, are you ok?" asked Naruto.

"I'm fine, I'm a little hungry…" whispered Sakura.

"You're not hungry! You're starving," exclaimed Naruto as he helped her to the dining table. "You can eat with us, we'll just get you another bowl and chopsticks."

The rest of the family members watched Naruto affectionately help Sakura and their thoughts… Kakashi and Anko: Naruto has finally found a girl he likes. Tsunade: Who is this maid? How dare she join us? Grandma Uzamaki: A maid will always be maid. Ino: Oh? Could she be Naruto's girlfriend? His dancing partner? But she's a maid…

Ino asked curiously, "Naruto, are you taking her to the ball?"

Naruto looked at her and then Sakura, back and forth before he replied, "No."

The words repeated in Sakura's mind again but she managed to reply, "Of course I'm not his partner! I'm just a simple maid… Aren't I, Naruto?" She gritted her teeth as she watched Naruto nod his head. (Change of plans: Hinata may be Naruto's new dancing partner!)

/

After dinner Sakura regained her energy and managed to excuse herself from Naruto. She asked him to give her the night off as she has yet to bath. She made her way back to her room to grab a new set of under clothing. Meanwhile, Sasuke wanted to bath because he had not cleaned himself for three days. There was no water in his guest room tub because he had just arrived. He did not want to ask the man next door nor did he want to ask anyone. He liked to keep to himself and he hated interacting with people.

He did not know why but an absurd idea to bath in the maids' bathroom came up to his mind. He decided, 'Why not? They have already bathed. No one will know…' That's what he thinks as he made his way to the building. Sakura had already taken all her clothes off as she walked slowly down the big tub… Her hair was pinned up so that it wouldn't get wet. Sasuke pushed opened the door to face a back with a pink petal tattoo.

"I found you!" said Sasuke absentmindedly.

"Huh?" replied Sakura as she turned her head to face Sasuke. Her naked body was exposed to his creepy eyes before her eyes widened like before. She was about to let out a scream but Sasuke moved like lightning as he clamped his hands on her mouth.

"Don't scream princess. I am here to take you back to the palace," whispered Sasuke as his eyes trailed downwards and added, "Hmm… nice."

Inside Sakura's head she was thinking, 'What in the world? He must be really losing it, princess and palace?!'

Durian: HEY! Like it? Awww….