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Hello everyone! This chapter is on the longer side since things are progressing in the story. Hopefully, you guys enjoy it and if you do, be sure to let me know what you thought! Thanks and happy reading!

Ch. 5

Day 4 (9:33 AM) – Song Selection: Not Yet Revealed

Naruto and Sasuke had just finished up an early training session and were now eating breakfast at one of their usual stops. They were sitting in a booth talking about random things and Naruto had cleverly moved the conversation onto the subject of his recent hospital visits. They had been talking for a while and Sasuke was growing a little tired of the conversation. He raised a hand to his temple and asked in his usual monotone voice, "So, why do I need to know that you can sing?"

"Because Sakura-chan is threatening to play a recording of me singing to you and everyone else I know. If I tell everyone myself, she loses her leverage. Besides, I don't care all that much if other people know I can sing. I wouldn't be singing around the hospital if I did."

Sasuke squinted a bit then let out a tired sigh. "It's very unnerving how crafty you can be when it suits your purposes."

Naruto wore a proud smile and boasted, "What can I say, it's natural…"

Sasuke stared at him with a blank expression and said, "You're crazy, especially if you go through with this plan of yours."

"Tch. I'm going through with it so you might as well just come to the hospital and see it for yourself." replied Naruto while giving a bit of a scoff.

Sasuke shook his head slowly while looking off into the distance. "She's gonna kill you."

Naruto wore a wide grin and said, "Oh, I know she will…but it'll be so worth it…"

Location: Konoha Hospital Cafeteria.

Sakura took a sip from her glass of water then glanced at her watch to check the time. 12:55 PM. Ino noticed she'd been checking the time all throughout their lunch break and decided to tease her about it a bit. "Checking to see where your admirer is?" Ino asked while biting her tongue tauntingly.

Sakura looked like she was caught slightly off guard by the question but quickly recovered with a proud smirk and replied, "Nope! I took care of him yesterday."

Ino rested both elbows on the table as she leaned towards Sakura and asked, "Took care of him? What do you mean?"

Sakura gave a small shrug and said, "Yesterday I might've recorded him singing…and threatened to show everyone starting with Sasuke if he came back again…"

Ino leaned forward a bit more now and said, "You did what?!"

Sakura gave a triumphant smile and said, "Yep! I've just been checking the time because I was curious to see if he'd have the nerve to come back after that."

Ino gave Sakura an indignant glare and said, "His visits were actually fun though!"

"Not if you were the one being embarrassed…" replied Sakura as she took another small sip of water.

Ino's mouth turned into a thin line as she stared back at her friend. "Come on, Forehead. It wasn't all that bad." she said with a bit of a frown. "I'm gonna miss having that idiot singing around here at random…" She raised an eyebrow with a sly smirk then leaned forward and said in a singsongy voice, "…and if you're honest, I know you'll miss him too…"

Sakura pretended not to notice Ino's subtle innuendo and said, "No, not really." trying her best to feign indifference.

Ino examined her friend closely then tilted her head to the side with a small smile and said, "Forehead, I've been your best friend for years, so I want you to be honest with me, and with yourself... Are you really telling me that you don't want him around?"

Sakura let out a small sigh then decided to finally take her blond friend seriously. She thought about the question for a few seconds then said, "Well..." but was unable to find any other words. After a few seconds had passed, she simply gave Ino a small shrug while looking through her cup of water. Despite her pride at winning the little game between her and Naruto, she couldn't shake the feeling that the day was missing something. It felt a little bland if she was honest. Like it needed something to spice it up, or rather someone…

Ino examined the half-sad expression on her friend's face and softly said, "You miss him, don't you?"

Sakura let out a half-smile and softly replied, "Maybe…" while fidgeting around with her cup of water.

Ino gave Sakura a gentle smile and said, "Forehead, why don't you just-"

Just then, a semi-loud screeching sound echoed through the cafeteria followed by a familiar voice coming through the hospital speakers. "Is this thing on?..." asked a scratchy masculine voice as a few taps were heard on the microphone.

'There's no way…' thought Sakura as her eyes opened so wide that it looked like they may roll out of her head. Ino froze in shock then looked across the table to Sakura who seemed to be even more confused than she was.

'I have to be hearing things.' thought Sakura as she turned towards a speaker to listen a little closer now.

Meanwhile, in the audio room…

The audio technician pushed a few more buttons then gave Naruto a thumbs up and said, "We're all good."

"Awesome!" replied Naruto with a wide smile. He took a deep breath then smiled a bit more at the thought of what he was about to do. He chuckled a bit then mumbled to himself, "I am so dead…"

He let out one last sigh then turned and said, "Hit it Lou!"

*Start Playing: You'll Never Find – Lou Rawls*

As soon as the music started, Ino lifted her hands to her mouth in shock although she couldn't stop a naughty smile from creeping onto her face as she looked at her pink-haired friend's now mortified expression.

Sakura quickly stood up and ran out of the lunchroom in an attempt to block out all of the snickers and giggles, and also because she was determined to find Naruto before the song lyrics started. The only words Ino heard as Sakura left were repeated echoes of, "I'm gonna kill him…"

Sasuke stood in a dark corner of the cafeteria shaking his head with a small smile. "The dobe's actually doing it…"

"I'll kill him. I'll kill him. I'll kill him. I'll kill him…" repeated Sakura as she marched through the hospital hallways while gritting her teeth together in anger. When she found that blond imbecile, she'd kill him, bring him back to life, then kill him again. In the past, she had told him about some of her favorite songs, and now he was using them against her. First, he sung Amber yesterday and now this. 'At this rate, I'll end up hating the songs instead!' she thought with an angry growl.

"You'll never find…"

Sakura angry expression was replaced by an exasperated one as she let out an annoyed whine noticing the lyrics were starting and she still hadn't found the audio room.

"…Someone who loves you TENDAAAAAAA like I do…"

Sakura winced at how much emphasis he put on tender and mumbled, "Naruto, I hate you so much right now…" as she kept searching for the audio room. She was sure she had passed it countless times while on her shifts but now she couldn't remember for the life of her where it was.

"…Someone who cares about you…"

She let out an angry grunt then decided that if she couldn't remember where the audio room was, she'd just have to find him as a ninja. She stopped in place then closed her eyes as she tried to search for the familiar chakra. After a few seconds, she was able to sense where he was and mumbled to herself, "Oh, he's gonna pay…" as she started strutting towards the audio room.

Meanwhile, in the audio room…

"…But I'm the one who loves you

And there's no one else! NooOOoooOOOoooooOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOHHH! Sakura-chan…" finished Naruto as his voice changed to a noticeably higher pitch after realizing Sakura had just burst into the audio room. Sakura never once took her eyes off him and said, "Uzumaki, you are so dead…"

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle as he lifted both arms defensively and said, "Now Sakura-chan… Let's just talk about this for a second…"

Sakura ignored him completely and started stomping towards him so hard that it felt like it was a mini earthquake approaching. "You big blond jerk…" she muttered while approaching him.

Naruto held out both hands then starting stammering over words in an attempt to calm her down. "Uhhh, you recorded me yesterday, so I had to retaliate!" he stuttered out while subconsciously taking a few steps back. "Yeah, that's it!"

"So, in retaliation, you blast this song over the hospital speakers?!" she yelled, finally stopping her march towards him.

"Well, yeah, I've gotta be unpredictable, remember…" he said hoping that would calm her down a bit. "You know me Sakura-chan, I had to get payback for yesterday." He raised an eyebrow and said, "If anything, this is kinda your fault…"

As soon as those words left Naruto's mouth, he knew he had sealed his fate. "THAT'S IT!" yelled Sakura before sprinting towards him.

"No, no, no! That didn't come out right!" he said in a desperate attempt to backtrack. The time for talking was obviously over. Naruto saw her sprinting towards him and immediately curled his body against the wall in an attempt to protect his vital organs. He knew it was no use talking to her now. Sakura Haruno had officially been triggered. The lunchroom burst into laughter as the music track kept playing through the speakers but with some very violent and unusual sounds being heard in the background.

Kakashi had also been hanging around the hospital per Sasuke's request and couldn't help but laugh a bit at the stupidity that was taking place. He shoved both hands in his pockets as he started walking away then simply said, "Ah, love…" while wearing a somewhat wistful smile.

Later that day…

Sakura was once again stomping through a set of hallways with an angry frown plastered across her face. This time she was in the Hokage Building and quickly stomping her way towards the Hokage office. She was planning on going to Tsunade and making a very specific request.

Upon reaching the Hokage office door, she banged on it three times not caring that her anger was threatening to have her break the door down.

A few seconds later, Kakashi opened the door while giving her an eye-closed smile and said, "Come in." As soon as Sakura walked in, Kakashi promptly excused himself and left while hiding an amused smile.

Sakura looked towards Tsunade and Shizune who were now the only two in the room then turned to Tsunade and said, "Shisou, can we talk alone for a minute please?"

Tsunade kept her face serious and asked, "Well, is it really important that we do it now? Me and Shizune were kind of working on something before you got here…"

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh then decided she wasn't about to waste the little energy she had trying to argue anything. She had been through enough today. She raised a hand to her temple and said, "Whatever. Shizune probably knows anyway since she's around the hospital more."

Sakura stood with arms crossed and began speaking. "In case you didn't know, Naruto has been trolling me at the hospital by singing songs on my lunch breaks. He says it's his way of showing his appreciation for me getting him an mp3 player for Christmas. Now, I'll admit, at first, I didn't think his visits were that big of a deal, but now he's going too far. Today he sang You'll Never Find OVER THE HOSPITAL SPEAKERS! He's flat out humiliating me Shisou!" whined Sakura as she wore a depressed frown. Sakura was about to continue her rant but stopped after noticing Tsunade and Shizune were now trying their hardest not to laugh.

Sakura's anger bubbled over at the sight then she balled up both fists as she propped them on her hips angrily. She cast Tsunade an enraged glare and yelled, "You already knew!"

Tsunade smiled and said, "Kakashi might've mentioned what happened when he was in here..."

"So, he was at the hospital too… I should've known that little gray-haired rat was here for a reason…" snarled Sakura while looking away angrily.

"Now Sakura, that's no way to talk about your Sensei." said Tsunade while still laughing to herself a bit.

"I think Traitor would be a more appropriate title for him…"

Tsunade shrugged and said, "Maybe…but, regardless, what do you even want me to do? You, of all people should know that if Naruto makes up his mind to do something there's nothing anyone can do to change it."

Sakura dropped her arms to her side and half yelled, "YOU CAN DO ANYTHING! Give him a mission, confine him to his apartment, or lock him up for all I care! Just make him STOP!" she finished with a whimper.

Tsunade cast Sakura a tender smile and said, "I'm sorry Sakura, but according to Kakashi and Ino, Naruto's antics have actually been good for the hospital. Patients are in higher spirits, especially among the elderly population, and I've heard that most patients are actually looking forward to lunchtime nowadays…"

"But I'm not! Me!... The Head Medic!" yelled Sakura with a deflated look. She took a deep breath to calm herself down then said, "Shisou, I already roughed him up a bit, so I don't think he'll try anything else. I'm just asking you to make sure he doesn't try anything else."

Tsunade shook her head while smiling and replied, "I'm sorry Sakura, but from what I'm hearing, it sounds like this may actually be a good thing. So, if you were expecting me to try to stop him somehow, I'm sorry to disappoint, but no."

Sakura propped her arms onto the desk as she leaned forward with an exasperated sigh and said, "Please, Shisou…" in the most pitiful voice she could muster.

"NooOOoooOOOooooOOOOoooooOOOOO… No way…" sang Tsunade before bursting out into a hysterical fit of laughter. Shizune tried to hold in her laughter but hearing Tsunade cackling was too much for her and she couldn't help falling into a fit of laughter herself.

"URGH! I hate you guys!" yelled Sakura as she spun around and left, slamming the door behind her.

Tsunade and Shizune simply laughed at what had happened until their stomachs hurt. When they were done laughing with each other, they decided it would be best if they got back to work. It was nice to have the break for a bit though.


Author's Note

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