Hey there you lovely people. So, I was typing the intro to the next chapter of FHF, and it occurred to me that we are a mere couple days away from Valentine's Day. Or singles awareness day in my case -sigh-. Anywho, I received an invitation from a friend to take part in a Narusaku contest to celebrate the day, and if you've followed me even a bit, y'all know I can't simply let sleeping dogs lie and not take part in that. So, the plot is in the summary, let's just dive right into it!

This was undoubtably the most important mission that Naruto had undertaken ever since the war had ended. He'd been mentally preparing himself, formulating a plan of attack and making sure he had everything lined up ready to jump into action. Today was going to be the best Valentines Day he or Sakura ever had. Okay, so it sounded a little silly when you said it out loud, but he was just so happy! Growing up, he'd never had a reason to celebrate the day. He'd see all the beautiful decorations in the shops, the people spending time together, laughing and smiling. He'd wanted that, to experience it. And now that he and Sakura were finally together, he'd made it his personal goal to make the most out of it. He didn't want to disappoint her and just say 'hey let's go for ramen' like he usually did. As much as it pained him to admit it, his favorite restaurant just wasn't the place she deserved to be taken to for such an important first in their relationship. So earlier in the week, he'd reserved a seat at Kuroki's, a sit-down restaurant that served food that Naruto never personally went out of his way to eat, but he could deal. If Sakura was happy, he was. They'd only been dating a few months, but it'd meant the world to him

He was so worried about getting this absolutely perfect he hadn't even really gotten any sleep last night. Sakura had left yesterday to see to a medical request in the Land of Rivers, and between the natural nerves that came with such a thing, he was consumed with worry that he was going to mess up somehow and the combined nervous energy had made it damn near impossible to relax enough to even attempt to get some sleep. Before he knew it, the sun was up, and he could hear the birds chirping outside his window.

After a quick breakfast, he left his apartment and hurried down the streets of the village, wanting to swing by the resturaunt and make sure everything was still good to go. It helped that Sakura wasn't due back from her mission until later in the afternoon. That gave him time for final preparations. He had to take the long way around, unfortunately, because a few of his…. admirers had noticed him at one point, and he'd had to use substitution jutsu just to get away. Seriously, he was starting to worry about some of these people. Okay, he was a hero to them. He didn't FEEL like one. After all he'd just been trying to do what anyone would've or rather should've done in his place. But Sakura had already told him a couple times that them seeing him as some grand hero likely wasn't going to go away anytime soon. 'You literally saved the world, you big goof. I think you're kidding yourself if you expect them to not see you this way' she had said. And, in retrospect this WAS something he'd always wanted when he was younger, wasn't it? The respect and admiration of the village he cared so much about. Okay. All that was fair enough. But seriously, there was a limit to how much hero worship he could stand in any given stretch of time, and he thought that when one of the women had tried to convince him to break up with Sakura and date her instead, that he had hit his.

Never mind the fact it was just flat out never going to happen. Now that he was with Sakura, he was never going to let her go. But it was also incredibly rude to try and pull something like that. And really, the woman had been crazily fortunate that Sakura hadn't been around when she'd done it. Sakura had put up with a lot from his fangirls since they got together. She always said when you agree to date someone like Naruto, you must be prepared for such things. But that was no doubt one step too far over the line, and he didn't think his full powered tailed beast form would've been enough to keep his girlfriend from putting the poor girl in intensive care. An exaggeration? Maybe. But who wanted to risk it? He chuckled to himself as he rounded the final corner before he hit the downtown district where the restaurant was, and felt his heart simply fall out from his chest all the way down into his gut. There, as he approached, he saw on the front door of the sliding glass door was a small sign reading 'closed until further notice'. "Oh no…no, no, no, no, this is NOT happening, it can't be happening!" he said frantically, trying to yank the door open, but finding it locked. He feebly beat on the glass door, trying to will it to not be so, but eventually he sank down to his knees, face still pressed against it as he took in the darkened interior. No lights. And no hope

.

"Must you be so overdramatic all the time?" Came Kurama's exasperated voice. Naruto didn't think his friend understood the gravity of this scenario. It was the day of the holiday. There was no chance all the different planes of oblivion that he could come up with something like this. Of course, these thoughts were communicated to Kurama without needing to actually say or think them. "Humans are so damned confusing….why stress yourself over something such as this?"

'You know, you are NOT helping. You could at least TRY and be sympathetic to my pain here!' Naruto thought irritably

"If you want mans best friend, buy a dog from your friend, Kiba. But if it matters that much to you, just find another restaurant"

'Oh yeah, THAT's real helpful'

"Um…Naruto? You alright down there?" Naruto didn't need to lift his face from the glass to recognize the voice as Sasuke's. His best friend had come back to the village in the last few months and had settled in with Karin, the two of them taking residence in one of the eastern parts of the village, away from most of the busier sections. He'd said that he liked it better that way. Less noise. Naruto just shook his head, well as best he could against the door, and Sasuke sighed, pulling him to his feet. "You're going to be Hokage before you know it, and you're making a fool of yourself in broad daylight. People talk you know. What's going on?"

"I was…going to take Sakura here for tonight and well…" Sasuke glanced over his friend's shoulder and chuckled softly.

"Oh, yeah. Karin wanted to come here too, but when we called yesterday the owner said he'd had something come up and wouldn't even be in the village."

"WHAT?! AND HE DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ME THAT?! DAMN IT! Oh, what am I going to do, what the hell am I going to do? Okay, okay, let's break this down, try and solve this. I've got…maybe six hours until Sakura gets back, and she finds out that I completely screwed up by getting a place that is not even going to be opening today! I mean I know there's no way that I could've known this was going to happen, but she's not going to take that as an excuse, I should've known better."

"Naruto," Sasuke said calmly.

"And then she's going to think I never plan ahead or have any sort of backup plan, which she probably thinks that anyway, but this is different! And then she'll get mad at me for messing up our first Valentine's Day as a couple, and that'll lead to her hating me for days, and I can't deal with that!"

"Naruto," Sasuke said, eye twitching and a little more forcefully now. People were starting to stare now, some laughing others just worried for the apparent breakdown happening in front of them. 'I swear, Sakura, this boyfriend of yours is like a rampaging toddler if you're not around to keep him in line'.

Naruto was pacing so fast on one spot by this point, Sasuke thought he could see the dirt starting to wear down under his weight. "I should always plan ahead! I mean I don't know what the hell else I could've expected to happen when I put all my eggs into one basket, it never goes right! Never, never, never! It's been like this since we were genin, I don't know why in the world it never seems to sink in that when you don't have backup plans, something will go wrong just to teach you a lesson- "

"NARUTO!" Sasuke rarely raised his voice these days, but when he did, people shut up and listened, and Naruto was no exception. He paused in place, looking at him. "Calm. Down. I'm surprised you need me to tell you this, but you don't need to try so hard, you know. Sakura doesn't expect something over the top like this place anyway. I mean come on. You hate this kind of food, and if I can pick up on that, you know damn well she'd read you like a book. Look…I don't claim to be an expert on this sort of thing. As a point of fact, I'm probably the farthest from one you could ever meet. I'm surprised Karin is willing to put up with me to the degree that she is sometimes," he said, a small smile making its way onto his lips as he said this. "So just do yourself a favor and keep it simple. Trust me, whatever you decide, I'm sure she'll be happy." Naruto sighed but smirked all the same.

"Look at you being all sentimental. Karin's really changed you, hasn't she?" Sasuke rolled his eyes as if to say 'in your dreams', gave Naruto a fist bump like the old days and left without another word. Naruto took a deep breath, calmed himself and felt his determination return in force. "Alright! Get it together, man. There has to be somewhere that isn't completely booked!" he said, hurrying around the district to see what he could figure out. Sadly, that brief optimism faded. Every single place that he thought was appropriate for a date was completely full up. Rather than sink into another sulking fit however, he had a new idea. He'd simply cook for Sakura. A lot of people wouldn't have believed it to look at him, but Naruto Uzumaki COULD cook, and rather well. You didn't go on missions with Kiba and Choji, hang around at all the restaurants he did, and pick up absolutely nothing. He'd developed his ramen habit because it was cheap to indulge in, and he still loved it, but that didn't mean he was incapable of making something more. He just never had much excuse to when he was only responsible for feeding himself.

And luckily, he managed to track down everything he needed to make a little something. He got some sliced pork, a few spices that would add to the flavor of it without making it too overbearing, and some vegetables to dice up into it while it was cooking. He remembered Sakura liked daikon, so he made sure to try and get the freshest one he could find, though he needed a little help from the nice woman who worked at the market for that part. He already had some rice at his place, so that was one less component to worry about. By the time he was done with all that, he had a little over four hours left and he felt his nerves start to bubble up again. He dropped off the food at his apartment then set out to take care of the most important part-the gifts. He searched high and low throughout the entire shopping district, again having to duck some of his fan club, and settled on a necklace with a silver chain and a brilliantly shining emerald as its centerpiece. He chose it specifically because it reminded him of her eyes and was honestly rather proud of it. The last touch was the flowers, and there was only one place in the village he'd spend money on such things.

-Yamanaka Flower Shop-

Ino's expression lit up a bit when he walked into the shop, and she walked around the counter to give him a quick hug. "Naruto! Oh my god, it's so good to see you," she smiled. "I'm surprised, I haven't seen you here since Sakura's birthday," she said.

"Sorry about that," he said with a laugh, scratching the back of his head. "Look, Ino, I know that you're probably hearing this for like, the two thousandth time today, but I really need some flowers for Sakura today, and I'll pay whatever it costs," he said, pulling the little frog wallet he was still using even now. Ino giggled and waved her hand, motioning for Naruto to put it away and follow her. Most of the front of the store was picked clean, but they'd expanded the shop a bit in the last year or so, and there was a lot of extra inventory they kept back there.

"Hush, Naruto. Like I'm going to make you pay," she said.

"Ino, you really don't have to feel obligated to- "

"I don't feel 'obligated', Naruto. Were friends! And if it's for Sakura, I'm sure my mom would agree it's for a good cause," she smiled. Naruto smiled back, marveling at just how things had changed between those two. Back when they were genin, it was little wonder that Sakura and she hadn't torn each other's heads off, mostly over their crushes on Sasuke. Part of how fast they'd had to mature of course, meant that a lot of that had gone by the wayside. The two of them had become friendlier towards one another when Naruto had been training under Jiraiya for those almost three years, and since the end of the war they'd become best friends almost to the level he and Sasuke were. This didn't mean they didn't have their fights, again like he and Sasuke still did, but it was still amazing they were at this point in retrospect. "So, do you have anything particular in mind?"

"Well…do you have any cherry blossoms? I bought her this necklace because it matched her eyes and all, so…if stick along those same lines..." he mumbled, blushing at the grin Ino gave him.

"That's absolutely adorable, Naruto. But sadly, no we don't. We didn't get as many this year, and then we sold out fast of the ones we did. Next year, make sure you tell me, and I'll leave some to the side for you. But tell you what, how about these?" she said, showing him some dark pink petals a reddish inner color. "These are peonies. Their similar in color, and they actually symbolize beauty AND good luck. They're not as popular as the classic ones like roses and all that, so we usually have a few left over." Naruto looked them over carefully and smiled

"I'll take 'em. You seriously think she'll like them?" he said. Ino nodded happily and quickly put together a bouquet of the flowers and handed them over, again refusing any offer of payment he tried to argue for. "Thanks for this, Ino!" he called over his shoulder, hurrying out the door and making a beeline for his apartment. He dropped the flowers and necklace off, and then took the last little step in his plan. He informed the guards at the gate that, when Sakura arrived back home, they tell her that he wanted to see her after she delivered her report on how the mission went. After running all over the village to try and scrape together all this, he had timed it well enough, all things considered. He still had time, a touch over two hours, to get the food done and, with any luck, she'd enjoy it. He got to his apartment and immediately started, putting the pork and vegetables into one skillet and the rice on another. He cursed under his breath for not getting some sort of desert, but he couldn't chance trying to go grab one now. Once the food was well underway, he slipped onto the couch and leaned back, feeling the tiredness from not sleeping at all creep up on him now that the adrenaline was fading.

He'd just relax here for another minute or two then go turn the burners off and wait for Sakura to show up. Everything was going to be fine…or rather it might've been if he hadn't fallen asleep another minute later, his eyes drifting shut and staying shut.

-An Hour and a half later-

Sakura had been annoyed at first when she'd arrived at the gate and Naruto wasn't waiting for her as usual. It struck her as odd behavior for someone that was usually right at her side any time he could be. Though that annoyance didn't last all that long when the guard gave her his message. So, he had actually remembered what day it was after all, huh? That was a relief, considering he hadn't made a peep about it in the days leading up to it. She was actually rather excited to see what he'd come up with and had hurried through her report perhaps a BIT too quickly than was professional so she could hurry up and see what it was. Naruto always went above and beyond for her in anything he did. It was a big reason that she'd fallen for him. Even when she'd taken far too long to figure out what was between them, he'd taken it all in stride, been more patient with her than most other men might've been and hadn't made her regret her decision to be with him even for a moment. She was practically bouncing on the edges of her feet as she walked to his apartment.

All those happy thoughts went out the window when she walked up the stairs to his place and smelled, faintly, something burning. She frowned, believing for a moment that she'd imagined it, or maybe the wind had shifted, and she was smelling something from one of the nearby restaurants, but no. The smell was the strongest right by Naruto's door, and she felt a bit of panic as she realized this. She tried the doorknob, found it was open and hurried inside. The burning smell fully filled her nostrils and she had to take a moment to adjust to it. Looking to the left, she saw Naruto was there in the living room area, head down so she couldn't see his eyes, staring down at his hands. Looking to the right she saw the source of the smell as she peeked her head into the kitchen. Naruto had been cooking something and it had not ended up well. A pile of scorched black food was in the garbage can. He'd opened the window over the sink to try and drive the smell out, but it was a mixed result. She walked over to Naruto and knelt in front of him. "Naruto…are you alright?" she asked softly. When he looked up to meet her eyes, she felt her stomach twist up. His normally bright blue eyes were dulled and a bit swollen, dried tear tracks lining his cheeks. "Naruto, what happened?" she asked softly, placing her hand on his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Sakura…I ruined everything. As usual," he said softly. Sakura's brow furrowed more, and she shook her head.

"Naruto, what are you talking about?" she asked. He explained how his day had gone, and as she listened, she felt such a strange combination of sadness, love, and appreciation that she had to take a second to gather her own thoughts. It didn't help matters when she noticed the palms and fingers on his left hand were red with burns. "Naruto!" she said, shocked.

"Oh…right. I sort of burned my hand dealing with the fire," he mumbled.

"Why isn't Kurama healing you? I swear if that fox has done something- "

"Told you she'd take it well," Kurama said

'Quiet you.'

"Relax, Sakura. I told him not to bother. Doesn't hurt anymore anyway- "That was a lie, and he heard Kurama scoff in his mind, "-And I kind of had this coming for falling asleep like an absolute moron," he muttered. Sakura sighed and took his hand in both of hers, her warm green chakra enveloping his hand and healing it in a matter of moments. She brought the hand to her lips and gently kissed his palm, right where one of the worst of the burns had been. Naruto's face flushed a bit at this. "Sakura…" he said softly, causing her to smile.

"You listen to me, and listen good, Naruto Uzumaki. You don't deserve anything like that. You did everything you could to try and do something nice for me, and I really, REALLY appreciate it, but you didn't have to stress yourself out this much over it. I don't need anything to have a good Valentine's Day except to be spending it with you."

"I just…didn't want to take you out for ramen on a day like today or something like that. You've given me so much since being with me, and I never feel like I've given enough back," he said with a sigh. She leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to his lips, sending goosebumps up his back. It never failed to amaze him that every kiss still felt like that first one with her when they'd been together for a little while. He hoped he never got used to the feeling and it always felt just like that.

"Like I said. If were doing something together, I'm happy. So! Cheer up, you big goofball, get ready and we'll go out to Ichiraku's. I think Teuchi would welcome the distraction anyway, since Ayame is probably out with her boyfriend," she snickered. Naruto had to laugh, even a little at that. Teuchi could be scary when he wanted to be, and he felt sorry for Reijo if he ever, heaven forbid, did something to hurt Ayame. He stood and smiled, more genuine this time, and Sakura felt her own mood lift even more. "There's my Naruto. Now go on, I'll wait here," she smiled. Naruto nodded and hurried to his room, facepalming when he realized that he'd left her flowers and necklace in his room. Lucky, really, that something hadn't gotten to those. God knows the rest of the day didn't turn out like he'd expected. He hurried out with them and held them out to her, feeling his heart skip a beat when her face lit up. She took the flowers and sat them to the side, then opened the box with the necklace. Her eyes watered a little when she saw it and looked up at him. "Put it on me?" she asked. Naruto nodded and walked behind her, slipping the necklace over her head and fastening the clasp. The second it was one she turned, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, far more passionately than she had earlier.

He responded in kind, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and pulling her against him, making her shiver which in turn sent one up his own spine. When they finally had to pull away for a breath, both their faces were flushed red, and both were grinning like little kids. Once they'd caught their breath, Naruto pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, Sakura. So, so much," he said softly. Sakura smiled and kissed him on the tip of his nose.

"I love you too, Naruto. And I don't know why you were so worried…this is DEFINITELY the best Valentine's Day I've ever had."

Naruto decided in that moment that it was his too. Mission accomplished.

There we go, contest entry done! And with one day to spare before the day in question. I don't expect I'll win, the other entrants have been writing theme-based fanfics a lot more than me, but like I said I couldn't really pass on the opportunity to write one about my favorite anime couple. Hope you all enjoyed! Review, Fave, all that stuff and if your following my main story, The Fox, The Hound, And The Flower, I will hopefully have a new update up either later tonight or tomorrow.

Till next time,

-Elise