A/N: Saw Moulin Rouge and A Walk to Remember before editing this chapter so I'm in a pretty sappy mood right now. Hey everyone! Getting this out before I start my Psychology research paper. Ugh. Actually kind of putting it off as much as I can -_-" YAY FOR PROCRASTINATION!
About the last chapter, I'm not really hating on Karin but I'm not necessarily a fan of her character. Aheh. Let's just say I 'm pretty neutral about her. :p Honestly though, she can get a bit annoying sometimes.
I liked writing this chapter out. I was going through some random misplaced stress. Writing this totally helped me calm down. Hopefully this gives you happy feels as much as it did me. :D
To the recent reviewers: SweetHunniiBunnii, fufu, narusasumocha,kookieznkream, thank you for taking the time to let me feel the love. :D Hugs you all. Oh and fufu, glad you liked that part! In all honesty, that part wasn't even planned. It just sort of happened. Haha!
Thanks also to the followers and favourite-ers and the silent readers. :D let me hear you guys out once in a while, k? :)
*DISCLAIMER APPLIES*
BEFORE THE WORST
It's Not Official Until It's Posted on Facebook
The whole ordeal started with one innocent suggestion from the ever handsome Uchiha Sasuke.
"Let's go on a date."
And who was Naruto to refuse such a fantastic idea.
It's for those words we find our two favourite people inside a hole in the wall Ramen place.
"When I said we should go on a date, I wanted to do something different..." Sasuke grumbled to himself as he watched Naruto inhale the Chashu ramen she ordered at Ramen Ichiraku. It was true that they frequented the quaint ramen restaurant so much that Naruto had become buddy-buddy with the owner of the small shop. In fact, the two (Naruto) had probably eaten at the joint for more than eighty percent of her life. It was hard to say if eighty percent was an exaggeration or not.
"Likhten upf, S'uke. It'sh tha perphekt phlace fer a dhate!" She responded without bothering to chew or even release the noodles currently connected to her mouth.
The young Uchiha grimaced at the sight while simultaneously wiping off some of the blonde's saliva that had landed on his pristine face. "Don't talk with your mouth full. No one wants to see that. And your spit is all spraying all over the place, dimwit."
Deeming eating her precious ramen more important, she left Sasuke without an answer and chose to simply roll her eyes at her significant other.
"Ah! Young love! I always thought you two looked great together." The shop owner, Teuchi, swooned at his regulars. The man's daughter, a pretty brunette named Ayame, followed his lead and ogled the couple in their midst.
"So when did you two get together?" Ayame winked at the two teenagers. She then gushed when she received a blush from Naruto and an adorable frown from Sasuke as responses. "Oh Naruto! Your boyfriend is sooo handsome! You should take good care of him! Make sure he's always happy and well-fed! Not to mention give him lots of TLC and then maybe once in a while..." The older girl was rambling to which Naruto could only sigh at. She meant well the blonde supposed.
Because Naruto had tuned out Ayame's little monologue, she became more aware of the constipated look Sasuke was brandishing. She then heard the lecture Teuchi was giving Sasuke.
"You should take good care of her! Make sure she's always happy and well-fed! Not to mention give her lots of TLC and then maybe once in a -"
Naruto sweatdropped. They were saying the exact same thing... Word for word! Hah. Actually, she wasn't even mad. That was pretty amazing.
Sasuke lightly nudged her side. She looked at the boy beside her, took one look at his expression, and almost lost it. There was this extremely awkward smile-slash-grimace on Sasuke's face. Clearly, it was his attempt at looking interested in what Teuchi was still trying to impart to him.
"Take her out shopping and then bring her to a nice dinner out. Girls like those kinds of things. Or you can go watch a movie at home—" Teuchi continued. Naruto snickered because Sasuke's expression was getting progressively more uncomfortable as the seconds ticked by. The sound of her contained laughter had Sasuke shooting her a pleading glance; but then he heard how Ayame too was going through a list of must dos with the blonde. This resulted to Sasuke lowly chuckling and mirthfully smirking at Naruto.
With a tilt of Sasuke's head to the exit, Naruto took the cue. It was high-time she saved the both of them from the Ramen Ichiraku dating tips.
Naruto slammed her palms against the counter and alarmingly stood up. "Ahh! I forgot! Shopping!" She took Sasuke's hand and tugged at the limb. "Let's go, lover! Jiraiya will kill me if I don't get the groceries!" As she semi-forcefully pulled Sasuke out of his seat, the boy took out the money to cover for their (Naruto's) meal and to tip the servers. He casually placed the money on the counter and nodded his goodbye to the business proprietors as he was shepherded to the exit.
"Thanks for the grub, guys! See you!" Naruto waved goodbye to Teuchi and Ayame which the latter two returned the gesture.
"So what do you want to do, lover?" Sasuke teasingly snorted the last word.
Naruto, quick to adapt and rise to the challenge, shot back her own taunt. "To the movies, baby! I want to see the new one with the explosion and gun shots and the fighting and the overall awesomeness!"
Movies?
The mere mention of the world had Sasuke going through a round of palpitation. Movie theatres and Naruto... didn't really go so well. She tended to get a bit ... overexcited; especially with action movies. As a friend, Sasuke would have strongly objected to the idea and would have taken Naruto back to his house; but this was a date and Naruto was the boss. So now he complied.
"Lord, help me..."
"What was that, Sasuke?"
"Nothing."
llllllllllllllllllll
Much to Naruto's disappointment, the new Captain America wouldn't be out until the end of the week. Instead, they saw the next best thing.
"HOLY HELL!" Naruto whisper shouted as she hid behind their shared bucket of popcorn, bringing another shower of buttered goodness onto Sasuke's person. What better way to make yourself feel more protected than to hide behind pieces of heated corn kernels, salted and buttered to perfection?
So maybe Sasuke's idea of watching Oculus backfired. He was hoping Naruto would've clung onto him like her life depended on it. What he got instead was a head full of escaped popcorn and a numb arm.
"Let go of my arm, idiot! I can't feel it anymore!" Sasuke winced as Naruto gripped at his left arm harder as a distinct scream from the main character reverberated the theatre.
"Like hell I am, bastard! Deal with it! I didn't even want to see this movie!" She non-threateningly glared at her date for extra measure, when suddenly the sound of someone dying on screen became evident. Sasuke heard an 'eep' before feeling a significant physical weight on his chest.
"I hate you so much, Sasuke."
The raven smirked at the muffled announcement of dislike. He'd let that popcorn flinging, physical abusing, and verbal attacks slide because finally the movie was working to his advantage. He had Naruto where he wanted her; snuggled to his chest.
When the credits rolled, Naruto was quick to escape the theatre house. As she came barrelling down the theatre stairs, she screamed abuse at the makers of such a film. Sasuke vaguely remembered 'Satan's pawns' and 'Work of the devil' being yelled amongst many other accusations by the blonde.
Sasuke managed to catch up to her outside the lobby, looking pale and haunted. One thing the boy liked about this girl was the fact that there was never any dull moment with her.
"I am never looking at a mirror again. I don't care if I look like shit. I ain't staring at that satanic piece of furniture and let it eat my soul."
The boy lowly chuckled at her. The poor thing won't be getting any proper sleep any time soon, Sasuke surmised. "Follow me." He nimbly tugged at one of her pigtails to get her attention before stalking off to the general direction of the arcade. The Uchiha figured that because he'd taken part of scaring the living daylights out of her that he'd make it up to her by letting her play all the violent shooting games she wanted.
And it worked.
"BWAHAHAHA! Eat my bullets!" Naruto, using her bad imitation of an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent, wielded two guns in her arms as she wildly cackled and shot at everything in sight. Not three-minutes in and the words 'Game Over' flashed.
"What gives? I was kicking ass and killing all the bad guys!"
"Yeah... and the civilians and the hostages and the bystanders and your teammates..." Sasuke recounted casually, earning him a seething glare from his date. He took one of the guns in her possession and took his stance next to her.
"Bet I can hit more targets that you, loser." The boy challengingly smirked at her.
With game face on, Naruto grinned and then took aim. "You're on, duckass!"
Although the game was a co-op, the call of competition was too strong to pass up. Ya'll can probably guess the outcome of such a challenge between these two.
"You suck, Sasuke! I wanted that machine gun!"
"You snooze, you lose."
"Yo! Bad guy, top left corner!"
"On it. Shoot that gas tank, Naruto."
"Yeah yeah! Cover me, S'uke!"
"Hn."
They did so marvellously together that they began to gather a small crowd for an audience. They'd managed to get to the last stage just before the boss when Naruto lost all her health bars.
"Tch! Come on, S'uke! Finish it!"
Unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't doing too hot what with only one health bar left. If it was any consolation, Sasuke was able to shoot at the final boss a couple of times before losing. Their audience began to cheer as their stats showed up on screen. Hn. Figured he wouldn't finish the final boss without Naruto to help him out. That's just how the world worked, he thought.
"Hn. Killed more than you." Sasuke smugly murmured to her before putting the filthy toy gun back to the holster.
Naruto growled but noticed one specific detail that at least made her feel better. "Whatever. I saved more hostages."
"My accuracy was better."
Naruto adorably puffed out her cheeks. Sasuke always had to win, didn't he? "Oh yeah! Well! Well! You didn't beat the boss!" Then she stuck out her tongue.
"Hn. At least I was able to get to the boss." Sasuke then wrapped an arm around Naruto's narrow shoulders. And he knew that he had her beat.
"Hmph. Your ego is showing, Uchiha." She whispered and then yielded. The two went around the arcade for a little bit more, a few races and lots of air hockey, some DDR here, a couple of fighters there, before deciding to call it quits. Just as they were about to exit, a particular frog wallet in a claw crane game caught Naruto's interest. She didn't really have to voice out her want for the peculiar article because Sasuke had caught on the moment the blonde eyed the machine.
"You want that green frog wallet right?" The Uchiha asked as they approached the machine.
"Eh?"
The young man did not wait for her confirmation. He went ahead and inserted a quarter for the game to start up. Now, what with Sasuke being an Uchiha, you all would expect that he would have gotten the wallet in one try.
Sadly, that wasn't the case.
The wallet was still relatively buried for Sasuke to win. The first few attempts had Sasuke growling in place. Soon, the boy was glaring at the machine like it had done him the biggest offense in the century. By the twentieth try, Sasuke was about ready to commit murder.
"Hey. You don't really have to." Naruto tried to calm him down by patting him on the back. The gesture proved to be futile however because Sasuke had simultaneously lost the twenty-first try.
...
"I AM GONNA FUCK UP THIS HUNK OF METAL!"
"SASUKE!"
Suffice to say that they were banned from the arcade for a year.
The commute home was a pleasant affair. Sasuke had finally stopped brooding just as Naruto had stopped teasing him about the whole frog wallet issue.
"So... are we like official now?" Naruto asked as she stared out at the window of the bus.
"Official?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the question. The lad found it odd that Naruto would be asking such a thing.
"Y'know! Are we together now or something?" Embarrassed of the question, she began to scratch her cheek with her pointer finger.
"I know what you meant, blockhead. What I meant was why would you still be asking? During your birthday, I'd told you I liked you. Shouldn't it already be implied that we're together?"
The girl blushed at the memory of her birthday. She'd never admit it out loud but Sasuke could really be a sweetheart sometimes. Proof being her last party. The mere thought of that day still brought a ginormous fluttery feeling in her stomach. Naruto then lightly shook her head to snap out of her daydreaming. She and Sasuke were tackling pressing matters at the moment; namely where they stood in the relationship.
"Hell no! Just because you confessed too doesn't automatically mean that we're together! Heck, we haven't even gone on a date until now!" Naruto's mild shouting earned her a couple of disapproving glances from the other bus riders; to which Naruto blushed and mumble an apology.
"Hn. I get it. No need to shout, dumbbell. So what? Does this date make it official then?" Sasuke irritably asked. He didn't get why Naruto was making this much more complicated than it should be. He liked her; she liked him. What else was there to ponder about?
"Errr... not necessarily. Sakura-chan said that first dates don't really count as making it official. She said first dates are more of 'getting to know you' and stuff." The blonde pouted as she wracked her brain for answers. All this relationship crap was confusing her.
"Che. Like we need to get to know each other. If I knew any more, I'd know what colour underwear you'd be wearing every single day. Frankly, I don't want to hear that." Sasuke's input didn't help in the slightest. It only served to piss Naruto off and impede her drive to figure out a solution to the problem. The two got off at their stop before they could even make a conclusive agreement. They casually argued about the matter on the way to Naruto's house a bit more before they reached their destination.
Naruto fished for her keys in her pocket and proceeded to unlock the door. "Hmm... Sakura said that anything isn't official until you post it on Facebook. Maybe it applies to relationships too? Like how people keep posting 'This jerk is in a relationship with whatsherface'?"
Sasuke snorted as they got inside the household. He detested social media. Especially the one Naruto was referring to as of the moment. Facebook was the new thing and everyone was going crazy over it. It felt like asking people to invade your privacy. No thanks. "Please. Like I want to broadcast my life on Facebook. Besides, you know I don't have a Facebook account."
"Oh yeah. I forgot. You live under a rock."
They passed by the kitchen and noted Jiraiya and Tsunade's presence. Naruto enthusiastically greeted her godmother while Sasuke gave two nods to acknowledge Naruto's godparents. The young Uchiha cringed over the little detail that Jiraiya still called him 'Champ' after all these years. It was embarrassing yet strangely endearing at the same time. As they continued to think of ways to settle the matter, they proceeded to the living area where Naruto set up the DVD and put in The Avengers. As they got immersed into the movie, they forgot all about 'making their relationship official' business. It was expected that Naruto began screeching her 'hell yeahs' and 'fa-yah!' comments full force since they were in the privacy of her home.
Once the after movie credits finished, Sasuke decided it was time to head out. Naruto turned the television set off and walked Sasuke to the front door.
"I had fun today. Except at the horror movie. Other than that, I had an awesome time, jerk. Oh. And don't worry about that 'Official' nonsense. We'll figure it out eventually. Best that we just let it go for now." The girl leaned against the doorframe as she was saying her goodbyes.
She'd meant it when she said they would figure it out eventually. They had all the time in the world, and labels weren't really a big deal to her. As long as she and Sasuke mutually understood each other's feelings, then that arrangement seemed perfect to her. Oddly enough, Sasuke smirked at her words. Wasn't it supposed to placate him? How come he was looking like a smug asshole again?
"Shame. And I'd already figured out how to settle our little problem. But if you think letting it go is for the best, then I'd gladly—"
"Tell me, you ass!" Fuck figuring it out eventually! If Sasuke knew how to resolve the problem, then what was the point in waiting! Trust Sasuke to be such the sadist that he was, withholding important information from her the way that he did.
Sasuke chuckled and smiled at her. Not the pompous smirk he usually does or simply just a tilt of his lips. It was a real, honest to goodness smile. One that Naruto wasn't expecting.
"S-s-so what's your solution?"
"I'm sure you'll agree with me on this one."
"Agree on what?"
The young raven suddenly roughly pulled on Naruto's shirt. Before Naruto could scream abuse over the random hostility, Sasuke lowered his head and connected his lips with Naruto's.
Naruto kept her pretty cerulean eyes opened as an intense bubbly feeling washed over her. Sasuke had his eyes closed; the sight of which caused Naruto to do the same. She let her body relax against Sasuke's as her eyelashes fluttered to a close. The kiss was innocent, just a light touch of lips, but efficiently and clearly conveyed the sentiment.
They broke apart after a few seconds. Sasuke gently rested his forehead against Naruto's and subsequently gazed into her eyes as he unconsciously grinned at her. "Talk to you later." He then gave Naruto a quick soft smack on the lips before leaving the vicinity.
Naruto stared at nothing in particular for a few minutes as she tried to reign in her emotions.
That was their first kiss. Well, and second if they wanted to be technical about it. And by Jove was she blissful at the moment!
Turned out Sasuke was right in thinking that she would agree on his solution. If that didn't scream that they were together then throw out and burn all the ramen in the world. The girl stayed outside for a bit more, dancing and squealing and doing whatever the hell she felt like because she was just too happy; unknowing of the two sets of eyes watching her from inside the house.
"What kind of brat thinks he can just sweep Naruto off her feet like that in front of my property? That boy's asking for a paddlin'!" Jiraiya harrumphed at the turn of events.
Tsunade was more happy of the situation not just because of the recent development of Sasuke and Naruto's relationship but also of one other reason. "You owe me five hundred bucks, Jiraiya." Tsunade casually said.
"What!? What are you talking about, grandma?" The old man genuinely looked scandalized and confused. Tsunade, being the kind individual she was, decided to shed some light on the situation.
"Remember that bet we made a couple of years ago at Hokage? About Sasuke and Naruto not—"
"... Ending up together. Geez. Yeah. I remember now." Jiraiya sighed at the same time as he took out a hundred from his wallet. "Consider this a down payment."
"Why thank you, you old pervert. I'll be expecting the rest in a few days." The woman put her hands on her waist as she laughed in triumph.
"Weird. You never win bets." Unable to accept defeat, Jiraiya moped. It was very strange though. Never in Tsunade's life did she ever win bets. Never. Shaking off the bad feeling he had and simply chalking it off to him losing a huge sum of money, Jiraiya let the matter go. Maybe there really was a first time for everything; Tsunade actually winning something included. Proof of Tsunade's victory: Sasuke and Naruto, those two brats, actually ending up together.
He had mixed feelings, of course (not dissimilar to any father regarding their daughter's first boyfriend) but one thing's for sure...
"Maybe I should castrate Sasuke to be safe."
"Jiraiya!"
"I was joking!" Jiraiya amicably laughed before mumbling to himself "Kind of. Not really."
If Sasuke even dared to hurt Naruto, there would be hell to pay.