Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything remotely related to him! I wish I did, but I don't.

Chapter 3

The alarm clock rang waking her up from her well deserved rest, and she immediately jolted upwards in a sitting position, cursing at the damn noisy thing, covering her face with one arm, and reaching for the annoying thing with the other, she moved her tired limb, barely enough to free one blue, tired eye to check the time gasping, as she realized how late she was. She must have fixed the damn thing wrong, because it was far later from the time she had planned on getting up, and she immediately got up, knocking a dozing Kurama from his sleeping spot on her stomach, and he rolled down, quite ungraciously for a cat.

He sat on the covered floor licking one of his paws as if nothing had happened, ignoring his owner, that started running around throwing things around from her closet as she looked for some decent clothes, and when she couldn't find them moved to some boxes that were still hanging around waiting for her to empty them. It had been a week since she had moved, she should have them already out of the way, but it had been a little hard to adjust, with her new job and it's crazy work hours, the remaining free time she had, had been mostly spent sleeping, or fixing little things here and there around the house.

"I am going to be so late! Sakura will kill me, and I still have to check the bus hours! Why didn't I give a look at them yesterday evening dammit" she almost tripped on her own legs as she struggled to put on her black pants with one hand as she tried to take a bite of some left over rice she had brought home from work, Haku had forced her to take some, since he hated to waste food from the restaurant, and, in a way to dote a bit on her, she had been there for only a week, but the man treated her like family, and was showing the early signs of a mother hen. Maybe he missed having children or something at least, that's how she explained his actions, but she not even closely could imagine that it had been her, with her warm behavior and her bright personality that had made the man that way towards her, as well as Juugo, the cook, a calm and nice man, that she easily befriended, despite of his bipolar disorders, he was nice, and she already considered him a friend. Suigetsu, reminded her a bit of Sasuke, with his standoffish behavior and sarcastic remarks, but he was slowly warming up to her as well.

She finally put her orange t-shirt on, her favorite one, and she grabbed her backpack, put her shoes on barely tying the strings, for she was in a rush, and as she was getting ready to leave, she finally remembered she had a cat to feed, and with a grunt of annoyance walked back, meeting Kurama's unimpressed gaze, he must have followed her from the bedroom.

"I didn't forget you Kurama, here's your food!" she grabbed a can of cat food from the pantry and he looked at her, in a way that almost feigned indifference.

"You're welcome you ungrateful ball of fur, you're so fat you're going to start rolling all over the place" she muttered. She knew he was just a cat, but sometimes she expected Kurama to show her some affection, but maybe she was just lacking some human affection.

She left the used can on the still set table, and she promised to herself that she would take care of the mess on the table once she got home, and sped to the door, opening with force, almost backing away with a scared gasp, as she noticed someone was standing in front of her. She calmed down only when she met Haku's curious glare.

"What the- you scared me to death!"

The man gave an amused huff, and handed her a thermal polystyrene cup, and she frowned at it before accepting it, and taking it into her own hands.

"What is it?" she asked, only then taking in his appearance. If she didn't know better, she would have seriously mistake him for a woman. His long brown hair were down, and he was wearing a pinkish sleeveless kimono that went down to his knees. She almost felt envious of his natural good look.

"Tea. It's fresh, I figured you were going to be late for your new job this morning, so I figured I would just bring you some. I feel a little guilty, I had you stay over to clean up till three am."

He explained with a kind smile marring his lips, and she waved him off, answering with one of her own, as she shyly rubbed the back of her head with a hand, covering half of her face with her elbow. It always made her feel giddy when someone showed her some kindness, and she was bound to say or do something stupid, because she didn't know how to reciprocate the action, and was afraid she would end up saying something out of place.

"It's part of the job, you do pay me for that" she immediately regretted saying that, it was obvious he wasn't doing that because he felt he owed her, but more because he was concerned for her well being. She felt mortified, she didn't want to sound ungrateful, or make him think she was bothered by his action.

Haku hummed in agreement, not bothered by her comment. He had figured out on his own, that she must have had a rough upbringing, although her lips were pursed on that topic, he just knew. And he had felt on his own skin, what it meant to be alone, and how long a healing process could take.

"That I do"

He rubbed his chin with two fingers, his eyes staring at the ceiling, his other arm crossed against his other as if he was thinking hardly about something.

"Then consider this an act of kindness, and as good luck for your first day of " he smiled kindly, and she couldn't avoid a small smile of her own to form on her lips, before remembering that she had somewhere to go to, and she was already running late and a loud gasp came out from her mouth, and she gripped the cup with her right hand, as she slapped her forehead with the other, she was almost forgetting about her appointment with her temperamental and very punctual friend, if she lost the bus, she would have to wait for the next one, and she would inevitably be late for her meeting, and that would mean she would get a earfull from the Haruno.

"Damn it! Sakura! The bus! I gotta go, Thanks Haku! See ya later!" she rushed out the door, closing it behind her with a loud bang, that made Haku wince, and Zabuza pull his head out their apartment door to check what all the hassle was. The brown haired man sighed, and he turned meeting Zabuza's confused and sleepy eyes.

"What was that all about?" he asked, his voice still knocked out from sleep.

"She was late, I hope she doesn't lose her bus, it should be there any minute now" he frowned checking at his watch. The bus stop was in front of Kubikiri ocho, so she had to run if she wanted to catch it.

"What are you doing down here so bloody early anyway?" Zabuza asked gruffly, leaning on the wooden railing with his back, Haku could tell he had just got up from bed, he was still shirtless, and his face was uncovered, which was unusual, since he had the habit to cover it up with bandages, a habit he had picked up in his criminal period, it was very rare for the Momochi to show his face, and the only one who knew every line of his face was the graceful man in the kimono.

"I brought Naruko some tea, in case she didn't have time to make some on her own"

He paused for a second, with a sigh, threading his fingers through his long dark locks, turning to face Zabuza, meeting his eyes, still clouded from sleep, and shaded with lust for his younger partner, but Haku decided to ignore that, for the moment.

"You know, she's alone and I had already made some for myself so…and she's awfully thin, I think she doesn't eat enough"

Zabuza wasn't surprised, Haku's kindness was one of his best traits, and he was pretty accustomed to him being that way. He had been the same way with Suigetsu, before he became such a brat and still was with Juugo, who could only benefit from it, and now the little blonde girl.

"You know, you should stop treating our employees as if they were our children" he huffed, his arms crossed on his wide chest, a smirk gracing his lips, as he studied his smaller bboyfriend, that was now walking towards him, meeting him on the steps. Zabuza didn't move, his heated gaze was on the other's barely covered chest, the kimono didn't do much to hide it, and the older man could only feel his arousal grow.

"I don't treat them like children!" He replied with the smallest hint of a pout on his lips, but enough to make the older man sneer in amusement.

"You don't even realize it, do you?" Zabuza tilted his head to the side, eyeing his little hot boyfriend's puzzled face.

"I do?" the brown haired man wondered, his brow slightly raising at his question, Zabuza mimicking his action as he too waited for Haku's conclusions.

The skinny man snickered, covering his mouth with his hand, waving his thoughts away. He knew Zabuza was right, he did treat them as children, and he liked it. It was in his nature, and he was very aware that his partner wasn't bothered by his actions.

"Ah, maybe I do. I should definitely correct that and give all my attentions to you, what do you think?" he smirked deviously, his thin fingers caressing Zabuza's swollen biceps, drawing a low groan from the man's throat, that was answered by a similar, but higher sound from the younger man, whose lips were now ghosting on the firm neck, he let out a low breathy moan as Zabuza's strong hands landed on his backside, grabbing a the soft fabric, pulling him towards his body, his groin brushing against Haku's, to make him feel his raging hard on, causing another moan to slip from both their mouths.

"I think I would like that very much" his husky voice, sounded closer, as he bit at the tip of the feminine man's ear, as he dragged him inside their apartment, kissing his lover's lips hungrily, as they disappeared behind the closed door.

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Sakura was waiting impatiently in front of the bus stop, that was close to Konoha's hospital, her leg shaking nervously, as she tapped her foot furiously on the ground.

Naruko was supposed to meet her there ten minutes ago, and she was still nowhere to be seen, the bus hadn't arrived, and she couldn't reach her on her cell phone, and she was starting to get nervous and worried for her friend.

Of course, she was used to the Uzumaki's habit of never being punctual to anything, but this time it was different, because she knew from which part of town she was coming from, and she hoped, nothing bad had happened to her friend on her way there.

"Stupid stubborn girl! I knew it, I should have gone and pick her up" She thought, as she tried to ring her phone again, angrily thinking about the Uzumaki who had insisted on catching the bus, refusing Sakura's offer to give her a ride with her car despite her trying to convince her it wouldn't be a problem, Naruko couldn't get the idea out of her head that she might be a burden, and always refused help, it didn't matter in which direction it was coming from.

She had a tough skin, and was convinced she could do everything on her own, which sometimes, like in this case, caused more problems than avoid them.

"Sakura chan! sorry I'm late! I barely missed the bus, and apparently I got off at the wrong stop and I had to walk ten minutes to get here and-" Naruko stopped to catch her breath, and Sakura blinked at the girl, phone still in hand, and face dangerously contorted by anger, that made the blonde haired Uzumaki stop on her tracks, deciding in approaching the girl more cautiously, instead than her usual cheery way.

It was typical. Sakura waiting for her, Naruko showing up late with an excuse, Sakura getting mad at her, that usually ended up with Naruko massaging her arm, since the Haruno had a little anger management problem, at least according to her friends. The only one immune to such treatment, was Sasuke, the lucky bastard, was the only one who could mellow her down, and the only one that could get away with almost anything, for Sakura would always forgive him, and take out her frustration on someone else, usually the Uzumaki, that was well used to her madness.

"You had me worried you damn square head! You didn't answer that damn phone of yours and the bus didn't show up-" she stopped, she had to if she wanted to preserve what little was left of her sanity, because right in that moment, the big vehicle Naruko had took to get there, stopped in front of both girls, at the stop Naruko should have come off to, the driver sending the blonde a puzzled look, at least, she thought he did, and Sakura wanted to slap her hand on her face.

"Well, I guess next time I will know to stop here"

The blonde grinned, letting out a little nervous chuckle, and Sakura sighed, it was fundamental she kept her calm, she already felt drained, and it was only eight in the morning, and she had a rough morning ahead of her, so, she slumped down her shoulders, and grabbed the still grinning blonde's arm and lead her towards the building, without uttering another word, that immediately set the blonde in alarm.

"Sakura chan?" The Uzumaki called, a little apprehensive, from the sudden change of behavior, and because she wasn't really sure where they were directed. She hated to admit to her friend that she hadn't been listening properly when Sakura had talked to her about a volunteer job, that from what she had understood, would help them collect some credits for their college grades, but that was it. She honestly didn't want to unleash the beast, but, well, she was curious as to where she had agreed to spend four hours of her day, everyday, for three moths.

"Shut it, we're late!"

"Uhmm exactly, where are we going?" she tightly shut her eyes, convinced that she was safer if she didn't directly stare at Sakura's wide eyes, as if she was some sort of mythological creature she had to brace herself from.

Sakura growled lowly, her hands freeing Naruko's arm to finally slap on her forehead, in a gesture she had been waiting to do since the blonde had arrived. Naruko always managed to make the stupidest questions, and look totally oblivious about it.

"I have told you through the phone three times! And I even sent you a message to give you all the information you needed. You obviously didn't read that, didn't you?"

Her voice was slightly rising, her hands waving in front of her in agitation, and Naruko opened one eye, her own hands splayed up in front of her, tried to defend herself from the Haruno's wrath.

"Well…you know…I am not very good at using that damn thing you guys got me" she tried to defend herself, although it was a poor excuse, even her damn cat could have seen that, actually, but the Uzumaki hoped she could get away with it, her optimism was all she was left with.

"I...you don't really think I will believe that?" it was more likely, that she had read it, forgetting what was written in it after a few seconds.

"Uhm…a little bit?" she tentatively asked, mimicking her words with her hands, hoping to have some mercy.

"Ugh! Come with me, I will show it to you, we're here now anyway!"

Naruko nodded happily, and Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend, walking behind her pushing her through the glass sliding doors of Konoha's central hospital. Naruko taking in the sterile environment and typical hospital smell, that made her pucker her nose in disgust.

She hated it, despite her dream of becoming an obstetrician, it brought back bad memories. It reminded her of the time she had to be rushed in the E.R.

Luckily she didn't remember all the details of that night, except for the person that had saved her, and even his face was blurry, but she remembered the young police officer with the kind eyes, and soothing voice, that had accompanied her to the hospital, hopping on the ambulance with her, since she wouldn't let go of his hand, and he had tried to keep her awake, asking any type of question that came to his mind, not minding his blood soaked shirt, he had waited in the waiting room, alongside Iruka sensei who had been called by a neighbor that knew the man had a particular affection for the girl, and only when he had been sure she would recover, had left. She never got to know who he was, he seemed to have disappeared after that night, and even Iruka sensei couldn't give her any information about him. She would have liked to know his name at least, to thank him. No one had ever held her so kindly, and a little girl crush was formed that night, despite her not remembering much of his face.

But that night, she had also met the doctor that had saved her, and that had been the inspiration for her own ambitions and dreams. She had never thought she could change the route her life was taking before meeting the blonde kind woman. Meeting her had sparked something in the young girl, making her realize that she could turn her life around be the person she wanted to be, not letting her background or how she had grown up define who she was going to be. Tsunade Senju, had took an immediate liking to the girl, and made her understand that she could take her life in her hands and do something for herself, so, she had started to pay more attention in school, to study and do her homework regularly and, despite all the bad predictions she had received from some of her teachers and the family she lived with, she had managed to graduate, and had been admitted to Konoha's med school with a good score. She still wasn't the best model student around, but she was getting there, and she had done it all on her own, with the occasional help from her friends, whom she was greatly thankful to.

"When did we get here?" She asked looking baffled, stealing a quick glance around the place, where a few doctors, with white overalls where scurrying around.

She turned her head towards a large reception desk in front of them, where two nurses were busy, one, on the phone, and the other looking through some papers. On her left there was a little waiting room, where a heavily pregnant woman was sitting down, reading a magazine.

"Naruko You should really learn to be more careful of your surroundings"

Sakura sweat dropped at her oblivious blonde friend, she kept her calm, just because they were in a hospital, that was supposed to be a calm environment, but damn, her fingers were itching to strangle the grinning Uzumaki, but decided against it, and instead she used them to torment the hem of her greenish shirt, in a sort of controlled rage, to dull her nerves a little bit.

Sensing danger, Naruko stepped away from the pink haired girl, she did have some preservation instincts after all, and they were screaming at her to get the fuck away from the pinkette, she was a ticking bomb waiting to explode, unfortunately, she wasn't always the best at catching hints, even the ones her own brain sent her.

"Really…I hadn't noticed that we were that close" she rubbed her head with a hand, elbow in the air, her other hand on her waist, in her typical pose.

"Why am I not surprised?" the Haruno let out a small sigh, and her shoulders started to shake, as a bout of laughter took over her, her hands shooting in front of her face, to cover her mouth, as she couldn't stop the fit of giggles, as she looked over an equally amused Naruko, the two girls, didn't really know why they were laughing, not even realizing the uncanny looks they were receiving from the few people that for one reason or another, was there with them.

Sakura wiped a few stray tears that slipped from her emerald eyes, as she calmed the sudden hilarity that had ensued, calming herself with a little round of giggles.

and a heart warming smile, appeared on her lips as she studied the still laughing Uzumaki, that despite her attempts to stop, couldn't seem to stay serious.

Naruko would never change. She would always remain the same happy go lucky girl, and Sakura, really hoped she would never lose that innocence that made her the genuine person she was. She was precious to her, her true best friend, the one that had shared with her the terrible period of Sasuke's dark period, after the disappearance of his brother, he ha withdrawn himself from his friends and family, and only the Uzumaki's insistence and perseverance had brought him out if his depression, and Sakura couldn't be more grateful for what she had done, because it had been thanks to that stubborness, and to her own forgiveness, that the Uchiha had started to heal. It was a long process, and she knew it wasn't over yet, at least, not until Itachi was still around, and not rotting in jail, where his place was.

Both of them, didn't notice the quiet woman, silently approaching them, with a smile on her face

"Good morning, how can I help you?" a soft voice caught their attention and Naruko turned around searching for the source, and a smile spread wide on her face when she met the woman's dark but friendly gaze. Sakura turned around too, and immediately bowed at the elder woman, frowning at Naruko for her lack of manners.

"Oh, we are here for the volunteer program, I believe I spoke to Shizune on the phone and-" she started to explain, before being interrupted by the woman who looked as if she was recalling something.

"You're Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruko?" she asked pointing towards them, and Sakura nodded.

"Perfect! I was waiting for you two. I'm Shizune by the way, follow me! I will explain everything you need to know about the job! I am sure you will love working here!" she motioned for them to follow her, and walked towards the nurse's lounge, where she showed them their locker, and gave them a pair of uniforms.

"Look at us Sakura chan! we're working in a real hospital!" the Uzumaki grinned, bouncing excitedly in her new blue attire, it brought out her eyes, and it was a fresh change from the usual orange she liked to wear.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend, only Naruko could have all that energy first thing in the morning and be so excited at the same time, though she found her enthusiasm contagious and found herself smiling fondly at her friend.

"I hope you will still have that enthusiasm once our shift is over, Naru chan!"

"I will! Believe it dattebayo!"

A few hours later…

"I'm exhausted! They had me stack an infinity of shelves, and prepare all the cribs, it was exhausting!"

Naruko yawned as she slumped down on a stool at Ichiraku's ramen, leaning her head on the counter, as she let out another ling yawn. She didn't remember ever feeling so worn out, not even in her job at Kubikiri ocho. Those nurses were slave drivers, they had them doing all the most annoying and tiring jobs, and they weren't even paid for it! The injustice of that, the fact she was supposedly helping the community didn't make her feel any greater. She was tired, and the thought she had to catch another stinky bus to get back home, and get ready for another eight hours of work made her sink her shoulders a little more. Maybe she could hide in the kitchen with Juugo that night, and send Suigetsu to deal with the bunch of perverts, but surely Haku wouldn't be on board with her idea and that drew another sigh from her tired lips. Life was unfair.

"and you're complaining? I had to make all those copies, and throw out all the garbage" Sakura frowned, leaning her elbows on the counter, tying her hair back with a hair tie, despite them being too short to be all tamed with the thin rubber band, causing some pink strands to fall on her face.

"I have to work tonight too" the blonde whined, prodding her head against her hand, her elbow resting on the table as well, her lips closed in a cute pout. Sakura's eyes softened as she peered at the girl's tired looking face. She was slightly paler than usual, and she was starting to have dark lines under her eyes.

"Tell me, do they over work you in that place?" she asked, her fingers fiddling with her pink strands. It was a spontaneous gesture she always did when she was nervous about something, sometimes she didn't even realize it.

"Uh? Oh no! Haku is really nice, he even brought me some tea this morning, to excuse himself for keeping me there till 3 am."

The emerald eyes that had been attentively looking at her widened at that.

"You worked till three am? But then...when did you go to bed?"

Naruko raised her eyes to the ceiling as she thought about what she had done that morning.

"Uhmmm…I think it was… well, I got home, I fed Kurama, you know that damn cat is always hungry, then I had to take a shower because, you know, they smoke and drink in that place and when I get home I smell like a dumpster, so…that had to take about twenty minutes" she paused, resting her finger on her chin, wondering if she had missed something in her detailed story, missing Sakura's sad expression.

"So…it must have been around four thirty?" she guessed, she hadn't really paid any attention to what time it was, she had simply collapsed on the bed.

"And you woke up at six thirty to catch the bus at a quarter to seven" The pink haired girl concluded for her, letting out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, but it's ok, it won't be everyday, yesterday night we had more customer than usual, Haku said my presence increased business, so that is a good thing-"

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Naruko's eyes widened, before turning away from Sakura's. She couldn't bare her worried and accusing look. She knew she was against all her choices, and that she didn't approve, her new lifestyle in the crappy side of town.

"I can manage, I have strong shoulders" she tried to lighten the mood with her usual goofiness and wide idiotic grin, it didn't work on the Haruno though. She clenched her fists at her friend's typical behavior, she knew she was trying to reassure her, but it didn't. It made her feel worse.

"You refuse any kind of help! You have friends, people that care for you that are willing to offer you a helping hand and-"

"I know, you might not understand, but, I never had a chance to decide for anything in my life. Where I wanted to live, what I wanted to do, and now, I finally have a chance to do things in my own way"

Sakura sighed again, turning her head to look at the blonde, aware that there was no way she could make her change her mind. Naruko was stubborn, and no one could change that.

"Just…promise me that if you ever get yourself in trouble you will let us help you, I know how you tend to try and shoulder everything on your own"

"I don't need to make that promise, you know I would come to you, or to Sasuke Teme if that would happen"

She smiled at her friend's reassured face, when another voice pitched in, catching both of them by surprise.

"Nice to know Usuratonkachi"

Sasuke sat beside Sakura, a blank expression on his face, ignoring both girl's surprised stares, well until Naruko realized how he had called her.

"Hey! You damn Teme! Forget that! I would rather walk all way to hell before asking anything to you!"

She pouted, pointing her finger at him, but was ignored, as always, by the Uchiha.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had to go to the academy" Sakura asked him. She was the more suited amongst the two girls to pull out some information from him.

"Hn, I did"

"And?"

"I signed up. I start in september" was all he said, meaning they wouldn't be getting more details.

Naruko followed the exchange, wondering how Sakura could have the patience to deal with him every single day. She would have probably strangled him on the first day of their relationship, which was the reason she knew they were incompatible as a couple and could befriend the Uchiha without fawning over him as the other girls, despite his good looks, his terrible personality made it that she was never attracted to him.

"Wow, I got too much information, my head is going to explode!"

She mimicked the gesture with her hands and she smirked at Sasuke's eye twitching dangerously, his bad temper, despite being more controlled, could easily equal hers, and it usually wouldn't take much for her to annoy him to the limit.

He threw a piece of paper at her, and she huffed, throwing it immediately back at him.

"Stupid teme!"

" dobe"

"Hey we need to order, I'm starving!" Sakura tried to stop the impending fight, bringing food into the mix, it usually worked, when food was brought up Naruko would focus solely on what her stomach desired, forgetting everything else, and that meant Sasuke's insults as well.

"Oh yes! oi old man Ichiraku!"

Naruko called the owner, who had known her since she was a little girl, in her goofy manner, that caused Sakura to lower her head in shame, and Sasuke to slap a hand on his face in desperation, they weren't new to her way of addressing the kind man yelling their orders at him.

"Excuse me, is this sit occupied?" a soft voice asked the blonde, and she turned her head to the left, where the voice had come from, and she met the gaze of a red haired man, that was smiling gently down at her, and she smiled as well, blushing slightly as she took in his whole figure.

He was pale, but not as much as Sasuke, with a mop of messy red hair, with bangs that almost covered his forehead, where a reddish tattoo was visible on the left side of it, although it didn't ruin his appearance, it made him look more interesting, if not because it made her want to ask him why he had chosen that particular spot.

His clear green eyes were wide, surrounded by a thick line of what looked like eyeliner, that made them look bigger than they were.

All in all he was a very good looking man, not that it made any difference, Naruko wasn't the type to judge someone by their appearance.

"Oh no, it's free!" she grinned widely, and he nodded, sitting down next to her, ignoring the curious stares coming from the other two people sitting next to the blonde, well, at least from Sakura, Sasuke quietly glanced when no one noticed him, limiting himself to look broody and distant, and not very keen to be part of any conversation.

"So, I've never seen you around here, are you new here in Konoha?" of course being the friendly person Naruko was, she had no difficulty in trying to make small talk with anyone, and he looked like a kind person, if he had looked anything like Zabuza she would have been persuaded to avoid it.

The red head man looked at his right towards the blonde, cheeks reddening a bit, as he shyly smiled. He seemed to have lost his earlier confidence, and she found him really cute, and smiled back to encourage him.

"I just got here. I'm from Suna actually."

Naruko nodded, he looked a little too pale to be native of such a hot and sunny place. She was actually more tanned than he was and she barely stayed in the sun.

"Suna? I heard it's very hot there. Why did you move to Konoha?"

He looked very young, maybe about her age

"For college. I am going to start this year, and I'm apartment hunting. My brother and sister are already students here, but I wanted to avoid living with them"

Sakura was obviously listening to every word they were saying, trying to contain her little squeals of joy. It was the first time she saw her friend taking interest in a guy, and damn it, this one was hot too!

"Stop it" was the quiet warning that came from Sasuke, who was already dreading the future conversations he would be forced to have with the pink haired girl, that happened to be his girlfriend, and to be honest, he didn't really think the red head freak was anything remotely interesting.

"You're a college student? Just like us!" Naruko smiled, obviously introducing her friends in the mix, missing the Uchiha's homicidal glare.

"You're in college here also?"

"Yeah! So what course are you taking?"

He leaned in a little bit, to listen better to what the blonde was saying, there was slight confusion and he couldn't make out very clearly what she was saying.

"Political sciences, what about you?" he smiled again, he was starting to be really interested in the girl, she was easy to talk to and had a charming personality, and above all that he found she was very beautiful.

"Me and Sakura chan will be taking medicine" she informed him proudly. Obviously forgetting to mention the Uchiha, and he was glad for that.

"Difficult subject" he stated, feeling more intrigued by the girl, his head now resting on his head as his light green eyes looked straight in hers.

"I know, but I can take it, I like challenges" she shrugged her shoulders, taking a sip from her glass of soda, blushing a bit because of his intense stare.

He nodded at that, his body now completely facing the girl, his right arm resting on the counter, and he offered his hand to the girl, introducing himself.

"I'm Gaara, nice to meet you"

The blonde grinned, and took it, shaking it with a bit of force.

"Naruko, and those are my friends, Sakura and Sasuke teme over there, don't pay any mind to him, he's always like that"

"Tsk…Usuratonkachi" the Uchiha muttered under his breath, not really caring if they heard him or not.

Naruko smiled at the man, her eyes falling on the watch at his wrist, and she widened her eyes at the time. It sure was causing her a lot of problems on that specific day.

"Man it's late! I have a bus to take! Old man Teuchi, could you make the ramen to go? I really need to leave now."

Gaara looked puzzled, he didn't want her to leave, not before he could ask her her phone number, or when he could see her again.

"Relax dobe, I will drive you home, just eat without scaring the other poor customers"

The Uchiha's tone didn't let any space for a reply, it was definitive, meaning he had already decided for everyone.

"Teme! You don't need to drive me home!" she answered slapping her hands on the counter angrily.

"Shut up and eat!"

"Damn it Sakura! Tell him that I don't need to be driven home like a child!"

Sasuke despite his cold behavior, really cared for the girl, and he had showed her that, by appearing at her house, almost everyday for the last week, with any silly excuse he could cone up with. She didn't mind though him dropping by, if he could just admit that he was concerned for her, and then there was Sakura, that was totally on board with the worrywart. They were really a power couple in that sense.

"I asked him to, I don't have the time, cause I have a meeting with the owner of the apartment I'm sharing with the girls, in an hour."

The pink haired girl explained as she ate her portion of ramen while managing to look smug about her planning behind her back

"What are you two now? My damn bodyguards!" she muttered tapping her fingers nervously on the counter, whie giving them what could have been an imitation of the Uchiha glare, too bad hers didn't have the results she was hoping for, since both her friends didn't look minimally scared.

"Well, we're your friends, but you can call us like that if you prefer."

Sakura shrugged, raising her hand in an obvious gesture, and Naruko growled in anger, her blue eyes now moving onto Sasuke, that was quietly listening to them, not bothering to interrupt them.

"And you're ok with that?"

The Uchiha raised his eyes to look at her, despite being sitting down, he was still a little taller than her, his lips formed a thin straight line, as his fingers slipped under his chin in thought.

"Hn" he smirked at the girl, already aware that his non answer would unnerve her greatly.

"Looks like we're leaving then, Teme. I'm on a clock here you know" she grumpily said, taking her to go order in her hands. She had to run if she wanted to be on time for her other job, the one she actually really needed to make a living.

Before leaving though, she was reminded of Gaara, he was still sitting there, and she blushed in shame, when she figured he had assisted at the whole scene. He must think her an idiot, although she wasn't really sure why she even cared, he was a stranger after all.

"It was nice meeting you Gaara, I hope to see you around"

"I hope I don't sound too forward, I usually don't do these kind of things" he said, looking embarrassed as he fiddled with his fingers, cheeks red. He looked out of his element, and Naruko blinked in confusion.

"I was thinking that maybe you could give me your phone number" he smiled kindly, and his eyes stared straight into hers. Naruko suddenly felt agitated, not knowing how to act from that point on, it had never happened to her, and apart from her innocent crush on a complete stranger, she had no experience whatsoever.

"My…my phone number….uhh of course" she rubbed the back of her head, hoping it would miraculously manifest itself in her mind, because she didn't remember it, well, actually she had never bothered to memorize it, thinking she wouldn't need it, but now, she was proven wrong.

"I can give you mine if you prefer" he offered, and she blinked as she realized he was really interested in her, and sje had yet to answer him. He liked her, despite her scars, her not so fancy appearance and despite her lack of manners, as he had witnessed earlier, what was wrong with him? Why would he want to call her?

"But…but why would you-" she tried to ask him, that just proved how inexperienced she was.

"To call you, I would like to ask you out, on a date, if you're not with someone already" he looked hopeful and she really tried to say something, but nothing came out.

"Uhhh…." She unintelligently said too shocked to form a coherent word, and she totally missed Sakura taking out a piece of paper and a pen, and scribble something on it, before handing it to the red headed man.

"She is available, call her during lunch time" the pink haired girl winked at him, a little too happily for Naruko's liking, she did look like she was trying to set her up, but then, Gaara had offered her the right opportunity to take control of her love life without her even realizing it.

Sasuke groaned, suddenly irritated by the sudden twist the whole situation had taken. He didn't trust the guy, an his overprotective side wanted so badly to surface, but, he was aware that nothing would spare him a beating from Sakura, if he so much tried to interfere.

"We need to leave now dobe, weren't you in a hurry?" Sasuke glared at Gaara, and the red head didn't retract his eyes, keeping the contact, not at all intimidated by the Uchiha, that frowned at him.

"Uh? Oh yeah!" she tightened the grip on her cup of ramen, smiling shyly at Gaara that was now standing in front of her.

"See you soon then" his voice was velvet like to her ears, she didn't know if it was because she knew he liked her and she felt suddenly self conscious.

"I…yeah" she gruffly said nervously fixing a fallen strand of blonde hair behind her ear, blushing slightly.

"She will be waiting for you phone call" Sakura stepped in, making Sasuke growl in annoyance, and Naruko blink in surprise.

"You ready dobe?"

"S-sure! Bye Gaara, I…have to go now" she waved at him, and he smiled at her.

"We're going now" Sasuke pulled her away, stopping only to give Sakura a small, barely visible smile, but as she leaned in to give him a kiss, he pushed Naruko out of the ramen stand, and towards his car, smiling wider as he heard Sakura's whining.

"Just a raincheck for me? You're going to keep me waiting, won't you" she hang her head on her shoulders, and waved at them from her spot on the stool next to a confused looking Gaara, but his eyes softened at the sight of the blonde girl, pushed into the car by Sasuke. Sakura, obviously noticed and she grinned, as she too looked at her friend with affection.

"I think…this will be the start of something beautiful" She thought smugly, after all, it was thanks to her, that Gaara and Naruko would probably get together, and she already imagined a perfect future for the two of them.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Author's note:

Hello everyone!

So, as you can see, there will be a bit of Gaara x Naruko in the story, so, let me know what you think, about the chapter, and I hope I will be able to update sooner, will Itachi finally make his appearance? I guess we will find out next chapter!

Thank you to the people who added this story on their alert list, I really appreciate it!

Feedback is always appreciated!

Till next time!

Darkshadows92