DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I want it, I do not own Naruto. (Story of my life!) I am still only borrowing the characters and promise to return them in good condition – well, maybe slightly battered!

Chapter Two:

Just Friends

We're runnin' with the shadows of the night
So baby, take my hand, it'll be alright
Surrender all your dreams to me tonight,
They'll come true in the end
~Pat Benatar~

Taking a deep breath, Sakura pounded her knuckles on the door and shifted her weight impatiently. Several seconds passed and she didn't hear a thing, not even the soft patter of footsteps. She knocked again, and when there was no answer the second time she turned around and leaned her back against the door.

Ruefully, Sakura shook her head. For a shinobi, Naruto certainly was a heavy sleeper. Nothing short of a chain of explosive tags would wake him up when he was in the village. Of course he wasn't that way when they were on missions, thank god. Sakura sighed in impatience and took a careful sip of her hot tea.

The door behind her suddenly opened, and she was falling into empty space with her mug sent flying. She twisted around, her hand colliding with warm, bare flesh. Warm, hard bare flesh. A strong arm went around her waist, catching her before she face-planted on a flat, brown male nipple.

She jerked back, breaking the hold. Air rushed out of her lungs and her eyes went wide. She was face to face with the perfect pecs - the kind of pecs anyone would want to touch. Sakura's eyes did this wandering thing without her consent; there was so much golden flesh on display that it startled her into silence.

Smooth skin stretched over ridiculously defined abs. He even had those indents on the inside of his narrow hips. He was only wearing boxers and nothing else.

Heat flooded her cheeks as she glanced down for a quick peek.

Full lips curved into a half-smirk, like he knew what she was thinking, his blonde hair was in serious need of a brush. It looked like he'd spent the night with someone running bare fingers through it.

Her stomach dropped. She felt like a fool. Of course someone was running her bare fingers through it.

"What's up, Sakura-chan?" he asked cheerfully, his voice was still deep and raspy from sleep. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of water being turned on in the bathroom. He frowned and then sighed. "Oh…um, you're not going to be happy."

Sakura felt the blood rush out of her face as she realized that the girl was still there. "I'm fine. I can wait in the hallway."

Naruto looked back at her with another frown. "You're not waiting in the hallway, Sakura-chan. You must have come here for a reason and I'm not going to make you stand around. I know how busy you are."

Flustered, Sakura was about to say something when the bathroom door opened. Long, pale legs were what she saw first, and the hem of a tiny skirt that was slightly askew. She wore a tiny top that barely covered her breasts (which were huge). She was, in a word…beautiful. Sakura instantly hated her. "I'll just bet she bought that outfit at Sluts-R-Us,"she thought rather spitefully.

"Has she been here all night?" Miss Spanky-pants-perfect-boobs asked with her head tilted to the side and a vapid expression on her face.

Sakura arched a brow at Naruto. Was this scenario so common, and that the girl wouldn't have remembered another girl joining in on their party? If so, she thought to herself, she really needed to get out more. Sakura couldn't help but notice the girl's gigantic breasts. Trying to be casual, she crossed her arms over her own chest to hide her much smaller ones and said, "You have company. I can come back at later time."

"It's okay, Kamiko was just leaving."

The girl swayed her slender hips right up to him and placed a hand on his chest in a familiar, intimate way. An irrational pang of envy hit her and she turned her face away from them. She scrambled for something to say… the idea of berating him for having loud sex with her standing right there just wouldn't do.

"I, uh… I wanted to know if you were ready to go to the training field."

"You two are going to go sparring all alone? Sounds romantic," said the tramp with a bit of a frosty bite in her words.

"No." Naruto slid out of her grasp. "We're meeting the rest of the team up there. Soon. So I need to get going. So… I'll see you later Kamiko."

"Kimiko."

"Huh?"

"Kimiko - my name is Kimiko."

"Oh right... Kimiko. Sorry 'bout that."

Sakura shot Naruto a look, but he was completely unrepentant. Shaking her head, she moved further into the living room.

The girl just wasn't taking the hint, and it was about to get awkward. That was the thing about Naruto. He could charm the panties right off a priestess, but he didn't do the morning-after thing very well at all. And while he was typically nice and well-meaning, he just wasn't very subtle.

As soon as she left Naruto turned and gave her a quizzical glance. "We always meet up on Wednesdays to spar, but don't you think you're a little early? Don't you have to go to work at the hospital first?"

God, she really wanted to knock some sense into him. Why did he have to be with that tramp when he could be with… when he could have…?

"This is it - tell him off, Sakura. Tell him to stop keeping you up at night. Tell him to stop wasting time with all those other girls. Tell him to look at me…"

The words froze in her throat. She just couldn't do it. What if he told her it was too late? What if he said he wasn't attracted to her? What if he said he preferred girls with experience? What if he said she was too bossy, too much of a know-it-all, too weak…

Sakura colored an even deeper shade of red than before and mumbled, "Oh, well… uh yes I do. Sorry, I hadn't been sleeping well lately."

"No problem. I'll see you later today."

Sakura practically raced out of the door in embarrassment extremely happy for once about his cluelessness.

~Naruto~

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Naruto stared at the door as it was snapped shut and slumped his shoulders. Year after year, whenever Sakura saw him, she always smiled and her eyes would get so bright and so green, he couldn't help but find them beautiful. So seeing her look of disappointment when some random girl stumbled out of his apartment was killer. He hated that feeling of failing her.

They were once teammates. They went through so much together. He knew that no one could replace him in her life. He knew that. He was the friend who knew everything about her and whom she trusted with her life.

He was one of Sakura's best friends.

And because of that, she would never love him the way he loved her.

After the war was over and Sasuke came back to the village, Naruto resigned himself to the fact that she would pursue the Uchiha. It was with great surprise when he realized that she was no longer interested. At first he was elated and was going to ask her out.

Flashback

Stripped down to a pair of pants and sandals, Naruto jumped towards the waiting Sasuke. They had been sparring for over an hour, and they had the bleeding wounds to prove it.

Mock battles between the two always tended to be more battle than mock.

Despite his wounds, however, Naruto felt his tension melting beneath the familiar rush of pleasure at pitting himself against a worthy opponent.

Sasuke was a true Uchiha, and quite capable of holding his own, even against Naruto's sage mode and his freakish stamina.

Silently they performed the flowing, beautiful dance of sparring. It might have continued for another hour, or even more, if Naruto hadn't sensed Sakura unexpectedly entering the field. He just couldn't concentrate with her around anymore.

Although she remained silently in the shadows, Naruto was not fool enough to spar with Sasuke with such a distraction nearby. That was a good way to find a sword stuck through his heart.

"I'm done," said Naruto, throwing his shirt on and heading towards her while Sasuke just shrugged and walked away, a bit put out at having to stop so early.

He smiled happily when he got close and said, "What's up Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiled."Tsunade told me the great news. I'm so happy for you."

Naruto smiled proudly. The culmination of all his hopes and dreams was finally here. Lady Tsunade told him that she was going to start training him to take her place. He was going to become the sixth Hokage. There was only one dream left… Sakura.

He watched her from the corner of his eye. He admired the way the wind playfully teased her hair and wished it was he touching it. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet, gathering the nerve to ask her an important question.

He was about to ask her on a date when he saw the shadows in her eyes. Concerned, Naruto asked, "Is something wrong?" He looked back towards the direction Sasuke had headed and said, "If that bastard did or said something to upset you, I'll kick his…"

"No, no, no, calm down. Everything's fine. He hasn't done anything."

"Oh…" hesitantly he asked, "Are you upset because you want him too… you know… because you still love him?"

"I don't love him," she replied in a low voice, shaking her head. "At least not like that anymore."

"But you loved him since you were little."

"But I'm not little anymore, Naruto. I've grown up and so have you. Remember how you and Kiba hated each other at the academy? Well, who was his best man last month?"

"Me."

"That's right." She turned away and looked up at the sky. Softly she said, "Things change, people change, feelings change…"

Naruto steeled himself, ready to tell her how he felt deep inside, how much he truly loved her - always had, always would. "Sakura, I…"

"Naruto, I'm so thankful I have you in my life." She looked at him and threw herself in his arms, hugging him tight. "I just keep having nightmares about your near death. If I would have lost you…" she drew in a deep ragged breath. "Your friendship means more to me than anything else in this world. If I didn't have you in my life, I don't know what I would do."

And just like that, Naruto's dreams came crashing down around him. He knew that telling her how he truly felt would ruin things between them. Hiding his grief, he smiled widely and said, "I'll always be there for you, no matter what."

"Hey, I'm still here." He wiped the tear from the corner of her eye and then grabbed her hand. "Come on," he yelled enthusiastically, "We still haven't gone out to celebrate with a bowl or two of Ichiraku ramen."

"Only two?" she teased.

"Ah Sakura-chan, you know me so well."

End Flashback

When she started dating people he decided it was time for him to do it too. There was always a woman willing to be with future Hokage, but each encounter left him feeling empty inside.

The last thing he wanted Sakura to do was witness the walk of shame. Wasn't the first time, but every time it happened he swore it would be the last time. Except there never was a last time.

He needed to get out of the house. He threw on some clothes, grabbed his keys, and was about to leave when the door opened and Sai and Sasuke walked in. Happy for any kind of distraction, he sat down on the couch and greeted them with a false smile.

Sasuke's dark eyes studied him. He wasn't fooled for a second but something told him that now wasn't the right time to ask.

"Is she gone?" asked Sai, looking cautiously around.

"Who?"

"Tch, you don't even remember her name do you?" said Sasuke with a snort.

Sai frowned. "Why did we even need to leave last night? What did you two do?"

"Her name was Kimiko," said Naruto proudly for remembering. "And what do you think we did, Sai? We had sex."

Sasuke's expression didn't change, but the disgust in his tone spoke volumes. "Thanks for sending my imagination to a place it can never return. You know you're probably confusing the hell out of him," he said, pointing at Sai. "He probably does not even know what that is."

"Of course I do. I have been fully educated about sexual relations. I am aware of the way humans usually reproduce is messy, unsanitary and; based on living with you two for the past year, involves loud and unnecessary appeals to a deity."

"Oh God…"

Naruto held back a snort of laughter upon seeing the shocked expression on Sasuke's face, but began to roll with laughter at Sai's next words.

"Yes, that is exactly what the women always say."

Living with Sasuke and Sai was interesting to say the least. Naruto thought it would be really great as he'd always been alone his whole life. Turns out he was wrong. Sai liked to make comments about his body that creeped him out or just plain annoyed him. I am not dick-less for god's sake!And while Sasuke was definitely a different person from when he was a twelve year old genin, he was still taciturn and more than a little grumpy. Still… he was getting better.

Slowly…

Very, very slowly…

Last week he even smiled and laughed a little. Of course, Naruto wasn't quite sure if it was because of his win at their sparring match or because Sai got stabbed with a kunai pretty severely…

Naruto suddenly got a look in his eye that spelled trouble for anyone it was aimed at. "Hey, I've got an idea," he suggested, "Maybe we should take Sai to Madam Aiko's for a little instruction."

Sasuke let out a disapproving grunt.

"Who is Madam Aiko?"

Naruto grinned. "Oh, you'll like it. It's a geisha house. Do you have any money?"

Confused, Sai opened his wallet, pulled out a handful of bills, and showed it to Naruto.

Naruto frowned thoughtfully as he counted the money. With a sigh, he said, "I don't think you can get much with that."

"So what do you get for a hundred ryo?"

"Not much." He pulled his own wallet and handed Sai some of his money, adding, "But for two hundred, you can get one with teeth." He gave Sasuke a significant look and said, "You give him some too."

"Why should I?"

"Because maybe then he'll know what's going on and stop asking you those awkward questions that you love so much. Remember when he asked you if you knew of any good books on the subject… or when he asked you to describe it… or if he could watch you do it so he could take notes…?"

Sasuke couldn't pull his money out fast enough. He shoved an additional two hundred in Sai's hand and said, "This should get you one at least born in the same decade as you."

"But we are all supposed to meet in a few hours at the training field. I do not believe there is time for this sort of thing. There is also that bachelor party we are supposed to attend tonight..."

"Trust me Sai; it's your first time. You won't be in there long."

Sai looked at his teammates hesitantly and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

Blue eyes twinkling, Naruto smiled and innocently held out his hands. Shaking his head, he said with as much charm as he could muster, "Hey come on now… when have I ever misled you?"

"Shall I go in chronological or alphabetical order?" replied Sai seriously. "I have made a list if you would like to peruse it."

"Um… maybe later."

AN:

To those who don't know my writing, I always liken Sai to Sheldon from Big Bang Theory so if you see something that sounds familiar - that's it.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by all the positive feedback that I got on the first chapter! I guess there are a lot of Naruto/Sakura fans out there after all! And while I'm not exactly what you would call a big fan of Hinata, there will be no character bashing in this fic. Also, Sasuke will seem to be a bit OOC, but I figure that when he does actually come back to the Leaf Village in the manga, he would naturally become different. Anyways, that's my thoughts on that subject! I want to give a big thank you to everyone that followed/favorited/commented on the last chapter!

So I like to recommend really good fics that I've read. If you know of some, let me know! (Please, for the love of all that's holy - no Naru/Hina). So one of my favorites has got to be Wilderness by Kanji no Sakka. Sakura goes on a mission with Naruto during the war to take control of all the biju inside him. It's very, very good.

Ja Ne,

AZFAERYDUST