Hello once again. I'm back! I've been back from Europe for about a week now and have been working on chapters diligently now for several days. But yesterday turned out to be perfect for work on this story. My evening went south, due to a date that didn't go so well, and I ended up in a funk. And suddenly my desire to write a new chapter for this story popped up. So strange are my writing ways. Oh well, hope you enjoy.
Sakura hefted the plastic sack and sighed for what had to be the twentieth time in five minutes. And just like each other time the smell of ramen came with the sigh.
She was leaning against the wall of a shop several buildings down from Naruto's apartment complex. Sakura had seen her former teammate walk past the Ichiraku for the second time in as many days today. She knew that wasn't normal and had begged off from work early after making up a couple of bowls of ramen to take to her friend. Now however, she was having a hard time taking those last few dozen steps to his door.
She bit her lip and reprimanded herself mentally for being so stupid. She was concerned about Naruto and had begun to miss his company every evening. She knew it was beyond strange for him to not stop at Ichiraku's at least once every other day. Two days in a row seemed a bit much for him. Was something troubling him? Was he having a particularly hard couple of days? Was training not going well? It could be any number of things.
Sakura knew she was concerned but she also knew she was missing their talks. She knew her desire to see him wasn't solely for his good. Her need to talk to him was also a factor in her standing there with ramen intended for him. She had grown almost dependant on his nightly visits to the café. He was a friendly face that she could share her deepest troubles with. She had shared more of her troubles with him now then she had with Ino. The pink haired girl never would have guessed that she would have found such comfort in the loud mouth blond boy.
And there in lay the problem. Was she developing feelings for Naruto? But how could that be? She loved Sasuke, she always had and always would...at least that's what she'd told herself. But there had been all the different ways Naruto had comforted her. He had allowed her into his tent, hell into his sleeping bag, and had kept her company when she'd needed someone's shoulder to cry or sleep on. He had allowed her to talk and been supportive of her. Likewise she had listened to him talk and together they had begun to understand their loss.
So was it simply a deep friendship or was it really love? Did she even know what love was or what it really felt like? She thought she did. She had liked Sasuke and everything. She'd acted all the ways the girls said you were supposed to act around someone you loved. She'd felt the need for him, had worried about him, had tried to please him with her company and friendship. All the things she'd thought love was about.
But some of those same things now applied to Naruto and suddenly she wasn't so sure.
"Damn this is annoying," She said quietly. Her hand reached down into the bag and felt the ramen containers. They were slightly cooler then they had been a few minutes ago. Blowing her bangs out of her face she pushed away from the wall and straitened her shoulders. If she waited any longer the ramen wouldn't be worth giving to him.
Putting one foot in front of the other she made her way toward his building, up the stairs, and down the hallway to his door. Then came the long drawn out pause before the knock. The rap on the door, lighter then she'd intended, but she'd feel stupid if she tried again.
She heard something hit the floor somewhere beyond the door and heard the quiet curse. Then footsteps heading towards the door and the soft rasp of the lock being swept off. Suddenly Naruto's face was before her taking up the space where the door had been. She saw the annoyance that marked his face quickly vanish, replaced with a smile and...something else. Something she couldn't quite place but knew very well for some reason.
"Sakura-chan. What are you doing here? Is that ramen!"
Sakura's timid smile widened as Naruto's mouth suddenly began to leak drool. She held out the bag for his inspection. "You didn't come by yesterday or today so I thought I'd bring you a little something to entice you back."
Naruto took the bag gladly and then yanked her into his apartment with a cry of thanks. She squeaked quietly at the abrupt contact but continued to smile in happiness as Naruto ran to fetch a bowl, all the while gleefully proclaiming how wonderful Sakura was for bringing the food of the gods to his humble self.
He reappeared moments later. He shoved a bowl into her hands that matched his own as well as a pair of chopsticks. "Can't eat alone. You'll have some too." It wasn't a question but an insistent statement which brooked no argument. She was a bit hungry.
Soon Naruto's small table was host to two hungry teens happily eating ramen and sharing their days with each other. Naruto explained why he hadn't come by. His meeting with the Hokage, his recommendation of weapons training, and the subsequent first lesson that morning.
"It's not great fun but I think I'll stick with it for a while. I've never been great with weapons and I think I know why the Hokage wants me to learn. It's good for concentration and chakra control. Yakiba-sensei is a good teacher too. You should see some of the things he can do with just a kunai and a shuriken. Its like magic or something. I was just trying one of them when you knocked." He pointed to a kunai imbedded in the floor.
Then Sakura told him about her day. About working in the café and about ramen and the customers she got. But it turned out he was a bit more interested in the workings of the Yamanaka's flower shop. Sakura thought that a bit odd but she guessed he already knew quite a bit about the workings of ramen stands. So she launched into a lengthy description of the flower shop and what it was like working there. Naruto stayed interested far longer then she thought possible. Finding a guy that could stay interested in flowers was something very new to her. She made a mental note to mention his interest to Ino tomorrow.
Eventually they ran out of ramen and words. Sakura looked at the time and saw it was later then she'd intended to stay. She got up and collected the bowls and empty containers and took them to Naruto's small kitchen. When she came back she found Naruto sitting awkwardly on the back of his couch.
"Would you, er, like to watch some tv? Or do you have to go now?" he asked, blushing slightly.
Sakura blushed as well and glanced back at the clock. She should have been getting home now but his offer was more tempting then she'd thought it would be.
"I guess I could stay for a while."
Naruto's smile was grand.
>>>>
They were rather limited in their choices of programming. Naruto had picked up an old tv from somewhere but without the money or desire for cable he only had a couple of channels. News, public tv, a cartoon channel, and one other that Naruto never watched. When Sakura asked why Naruto blushed and said it was for people like Kakashi-sensei. After a few seconds trying to figure out what he meant by that she realized what he'd meant and blushed even harder than him.
They ended up watching a nature show about wildlife in the Konoha area. They sat at opposite ends of his couch and barely spoke or looked at each other while scenes of greenery and small creatures flashed on the screen in front of them.
>>>>
Sakura must have dozed off because she suddenly found herself lying propped up against her end of the couch with a blanket covering her that she knew she hadn't seen before. The tv was still on but the sound was off. The nature show was still on only now it had moved on to night creatures from the wind country. And at the far end of the couch sat Naruto.
The blond was fast asleep. His head was slumped forward down to his chest and his arms were crossed in front of him. His mass of golden blond hair reflected the light from the tv in strange ways, making it look like his front bangs were changing colors.
Sakura stared at him, contemplating her feelings. He was a wonderful friend. Since Sasuke's death he'd mellowed out somewhat which had made him easier to live with since he wasn't always bouncing off the walls and asking her for dates.
Her eyes took in the details of his face. The curve of his mouth, indicating he was smiling slightly even in sleep. The faint whisker like marks that helped make him look so dashing when he smiled. The trace of his eyebrows. And, even though they were hidden from sight, she knew his eyes were captivating deep sky blue. They were always so expressive. Anger could turn them into burning blue orbs so intense that even Kakashi-sensei's glares looked warm. Happiness would turn them into fields of never ending aqua that were ready to spread the joy at a glance. And compassion. Compassion would turn them into heart melting pools anyone with a heart could get lost in forever.
Sakura tilted her head in confusion. When had she noticed how expressive his eyes were? How did she know they could hold such emotion? Then the truth smacked her in the face like a load of bricks.
She knew because she had seen it dozens, maybe even hundreds of times. Every time she had turned him down for a date, every time he had seen her hurt, every time he had acted to protect someone he cared for,...every time he had held her while she wept for her fallen crush.
Sakura stared and stared and stared. Her mind a rushing river released from the floodgate of memories, inundating her with all the little things she'd picked up while looking at Naruto. Things began to click for her and she realized, without a doubt, that Naruto love her and cared for her more then she'd loved and cared for Sasuke. It was love in its purest form. Always forgiving and always there no matter what happened.
A shuddering breath filled her abruptly tight lungs as the full weight of his compassion for her landed on her chest. A small segment of her mind told her this was an experience that Sasuke was supposed to have had when he'd realized her devotion for him, but that voice died a feeble death.
Fire coursed through her veins, making her suddenly very tense and nervous. 'Is this love?' She asked herself. 'Was this how it was supposed to feel?' She had never felt this for Sasuke in her entire life.
Quaking libs moved to push the blanket off. With painful slowness she crawled across the couch and came to rest kneeling beside him. Her hand drew itself through his spiky hair, reveling in the thick silkiness of it, and in the process pulling his head back to reveal his face.
Her tongue flicked out over her lips unconsciously at the sight of his smiling mouth. She wondered idly why she was doing this but there was no answer, only a heartfelt desire to love and be loved by the boy in front of her.
Inch by inch she lowered her face to his, all the time watching him. She wondered if he would wake up suddenly and stop her. Not likely the logical part of her brain said. He sleeps through almost everything.
And then, quite abruptly, she made contact.
The warmth of his lips against hers surprised her greatly but it was a comforting warmth. And it was very, very nice.
She pulled back and reached up a hand to her lips.
He stirred slightly and mumbled her name, HER NAME! Her heart fluttered in her chest and a huge smile swept over her face bringing with it tears of happiness.
Sakura grabbed the blanket she'd cast off and pulled it to her. Sitting down next to Naruto, she snuggled in close and spread the blanket over the both of them. Her head came to rest on his shoulder. Naruto's head, now no longer being supported by her hand, came down lightly on top over hers.
And Sakura knew she was loved.
Good lord what have I done? Did I really write this! I really don't think i'm cut out for writing this type of thing. But then again maybe I just need more experience. Hope you liked. I'll try to get another update out for B.t.E before I head off to cali for a week. If not i'll take a laptop with and try to get two chapters out for my return.