Here's the next chapter, guys. I hope that you like it.
"Hello": regular talking
'Hello': thinking
'Hello': Inner Sakura talking
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, then Naruto would have beaten Sasuke in their battle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 4: Waking up in heaven
"Good morning!" Ichigo called when he entered the living room of the small cottage. He saw one pink blur sitting on the couch and the other one was sitting on a chair. That was all he was able to see at the moment, because he was still pretty sleepy. The room was silent and he was bent on keeping it that way.
Walking past them, he entered the kitchen and grabbed a cup. He wandered towards the fridge and got out some milk. After that he poured the white liquid in the cup. "Do you guys want something to drink?" He asked the two sitting in the room.
When he didn't get an answer he sighed. He knew that they would bombard him with questions soon and he wasn't ready to answer all of them. And if he knew his family well enough, then this silence wasn't good. It was like the silence before the storm. Putting the carton with milk back in the fridge, he grabbed the cup and walked back to the living room.
Seeing an empty chair, he slowly sat down. After taking a few sips from his cup, he put it down and leaned backwards to relax a bit. He immediately became sleepy again. The chair had that effect on him. Or at least he wanted the other two to believe that.
After a few minutes of silence, he slowly opened an eye and saw that the pink haired woman on the chair next to him was glaring at him. Afraid that he was going to get caught, he quickly closed his eye again. He sighed in relief when the woman didn't start to scream at him. The woman must have missed his opened eye.
Then he opened his other eye to see what the other one was doing. The pink haired girl was playing with her hair with both feet on the couch. She didn't seem to be as angry as her mother. In fact, she even looked kind of happy. Either that or she was very good in faking her emotions. Closing the eyes again, he steadies his breathing, in order to make it seem like he was asleep.
"Dad, mom and I both know that you're faking it. You really shouldn't become an actor, you know."
Ichigo opened both of his eyes and sat up. Scratching the back of his head, he got a goofy smile on his face. "Busted…How could you tell?"
Turning to his pink haired daughter, he could see that she had an all-knowing expression on her face. "Well, I know that you always snore when you're asleep, so next time think about that."
'Damn, that was stupid of me. How could I forget something like that…?' Ichigo thought while mentally hitting himself.
"And you opened both of your eyes to see my and mom's reactions." Sakura added with a sly smile on her face.
Ichigo's eyes widened. "How did you know that?! You weren't even looking at me."
Sakura sighed and shook her head before turning to her father. "Dad, I'm a ninja. I'm trained to see and hear stuff like that. Too bad for you, eh."
"Damn, I knew that I shouldn't have let you become a ninja. And now it comes back to haunt me." Ichigo replied with a smile on his face. "Well, at least you've become a good ninja."
The girl laughed a bit, before entering her serious mode. "Hardly, but that's not the point. I'm sure you know why we were waiting for you, dad."
Smiling nervously, he sat back down. He would have to play dumb to make it out of this alive. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He was surprised when his wife suddenly stood up. The glare had vanished and was replaced with an interested expression. "Don't lie to us, dear. It's yellow, orange and blue."
When the pink haired woman saw that her husband still wasn't relaxed, she let out a sigh and put a smile on her face. "We're not angry at you, but we just want to know what you were thinking. You know that this is our family trip. This is the only week in the year that we get to be together like that."
After seeing that smile on her face, he knew that he was in the save zone. He knew that his wife wasn't the type to get angry for something like that. She barked, but didn't bite. Putting a smile on his face, he turned to the two females on the couch. "I'm sorry, dear. It wasn't like I was planning all of this."
This got him two confused looks and he knew that he wasn't done yet. "After you two left, because I still needed to get some work done, I headed towards the hokage to see if she got my mission request. To my grand dismay, she wasn't able to find someone, because Sakura and the rest of the rookie genin had their vacation."
Sakura's mother got a worried look on her face now, while Sakura got an idea of what had happened. "But I wasn't the only one in the room with her. Naruto was there too and he asked to go on the mission. Tsunade-same didn't want to send him at first, but the boy insisted, so he got permission."
Sakura didn't know whether to feel happy or sorrowful. "Why did he want to go on a mission, dad? I mean, it is his vacation, right?"
Ichigo smiled and turned to the girl. "I don't know why exactly, but he said something about not having something better to do."
Sakura became sad after hearing that. The boy had told her that he didn't have anyone in the village to play or do things with. But wait. She knew that the boy didn't have any parents, but what happened to them? She would have to ask her parents. The boy was so set on going on a date with her before leaving and she just rejected him. Feeling very bad about herself now, she turned to her father again.
"He seemed really eager to go with me, so why wouldn't I, especially after hokage-sama told me that he was one of the strongest genin of the village." Ichigo finished with a smile on his face.
This shocked Sakura a lot. "What did you just say, daddy? He was always the weakest in the academy and always messed things up. And now you're saying that someone, no not just someone, the hokage of all people, said that Naruto was one of the strongest genin!?"
When her father nodded, she got lost in thoughts. When they were up in the trees at the meeting, he had told her that he had brought her back to the village. Would that be true after all? Didn't he make it all up? She could still see his face after making fun of him that day. He was really hurt by her words and she knew it, but being the bitch that she was, she was too damn stubborn to see further than meets the eye.
She was broken out of her thoughts when the man continued talking. "After the boy had left, I asked the hokage why she thought about the boy that way and it surprised me when she said that he was the one who had convinced her to become hokage in the first place."
Sakura's eyes shot open and she gave her father an unbelieving expression. "You're not kidding, right?"
Ichigo just had to smile after seeing his daughter's face. "No, I didn't believe it at first too. I knew that it was Naruto the moment I saw him and I knew of his reputation. And because of the thing…"
"Ichigo!"
Said man turned his attention to his wife and saw her moving her pointing towards his daughter. He nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. He had almost revealed Naruto's secret. He knew that it was forbidden to tell anyone and he knew that if anyone would tell her, it had to be the boy himself.
Sakura was confused by her mother's outcry. Why would people always react this way when talking about Naruto? She knew how he was treated and people always whispered things when she was walking with him. They were hiding something and she would find out.
"But hokage-sama the told me something interesting." This got the attention of the two pink haired females.
"She told me that Naruto had found her inside of a small café. He was travelling with the great Jiraiya-sama himself to find her." This surprised Sakura a lot. She had heard that name before.
"Who's that, daddy?" Sakura asked with a confused look on her face. She hated it to forget something like that.
Ichigo smiled. "He's one of the three sannin. Tsunade-sama is one of them too. They were both trained by the sandaime. He is one of the strongest ninja alive and he's called the toad hermit as well, because he is able to summon frogs. He's got another reputation too though, although this isn't one to be proud of. He's the biggest pervert in the world."
Sakura's eyes shot open.
"But it is true! I brought her back to Konoha with Ero-sennin!"
How could she have been so stupid? The boy was telling her the truth this entire time and she had done nothing but laugh at him. The sad expression on his face popped up again and it pained her to no end. Bringing a hand to her heart, she could feel it breaking into pieces. 'Why am I such a heartless freak…?'
Her mother saw that she was clenching her fist and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong, dear? You're awfully tense all of a sudden."
Being thankful for her mother, she gave her a small smile. "Well, he told me exactly what dad is telling us now, but I didn't believe him and laughed at him. It made him feel really sad. I knew that and still I kept on laughing. I'm such a bitch."
Sakura's mother sighed when she saw a tear falling on her daughter's cheek. Scooting closer, she put her arms around her to comfort her. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We all make mistakes in our lives. Don't let it get to you, okay?"
"But I didn't even apologise to him. And even then he wanted to go out to me. And I said no to that too! Don't you know how hard that must be for him? I hate myself. Mom, punish me, lock me up in my room, just do something!" Sakura said, being angry at herself.
Yuki sighed and released her daughter. "Sakura, he's here now. You can apologise to him when he wakes up, you know."
This seemed to get to the girl. Her eyes widened and a small smile came upon her face. "That's right, I totally forgot about that!" Her smile then faltered a bit. "But what if he's angry at me, what if he doesn't want to talk to me, what if he hates me? He didn't faint for nothing when he saw me, you know."
"Don't worry, Sakura. I'm sure that he will forgive you. I haven't been around the kid for that long, but I know that he's got a heart made of gold." She was surprised that it wasn't her mother, but her father who said it. Her father had never talked about anyone of her friends like that before.
Sakura was awed, but wanted some answers. "Why are you so sure, dad?"
Ichigo smiled when he saw the cute face of his daughter. "He has to be the most forgiving person I know. That's all. He's really something else, dear. Be happy that you have a friend like him."
Sakura didn't know that the man meant that Naruto had forgiven everyone for treating him like he was the Kyuubi himself, but still she was taken back. She thought back of all the times he was there for her. He had even saved her from that monster, Gaara. Sasuke even said that he had risked death to save her. Getting an honest smile on her face, she turned her gaze towards the ground. "Yeah, I'm really happy with him in my life. And I'm going to apologise, because I don't want to lose him."
"No, you want even more." Yuki added with a sly smile on her face.
"Mom!!!" Sakura screamed, while blushing like crazy. "You know that I don't think about him like that! I'm in love with Sasuke-kun!"
The pink haired woman shook her head and patted the girl on the head. "Sure you are, dear. But why haven't you said his name even once since leaving the village. And why are you blushing, dear? It's not forbidden to like more boys than one, Sakura."
Sakura, who was still beef red, sighed. "If is tell you this, do you promise to keep it to yourself. You too, dad?"
Both nodded with smiles on their faces and Sakura sighed. Her secret was out already. Was she like an open book or something? "Okay, you got me. I do like Naruto since a few days, but don't get me wrong. I still like Sasuke-kun too. I'm just a bit confused right now. I haven't felt like this for Naruto for a long time and suddenly I like him. It just confuses me a bit, you know. Who am I supposed to choose? I keep telling myself that I like Sasuke-kun more, but sometimes I'm not so sure anymore."
Yuki and Ichigo smiled at each other, before turning to their daughter once again. "Well, you just have to find out how strong your feeling are for him, dear. And after that, you have to make your decision."
"But he's going to go back to the village when he wakes up, right? So when can I find that out?" Sakura asked with a sad expression on her face.
Ichigo smiled, before turning to Sakura's mother. She nodded and patted her daughter on the back. "Well, if you and he both don't mind, he can stay for the rest of the vacation. Your father and I don't mind at all."
Sakura's head shot up and her eyes were wide. "You're not kidding?!"
"Nope, I know that you don't like to be here without your friends. This way you have a friend and you can find out your feelings for him at the same time. What do you say, dear?" The woman was just done speaking when Sakura jumped into her arms.
"Thank you so much, mom!" Sakura screamed into her ears.
Yuki smiled, because seeing her daughter like this made her really happy. "Don't get too exited. Naruto has to agree with this as well. Let's just wait until he wakes up, okay?"
Releasing her mother, Sakura nodded with a smile on her face. "Yeah, so when is he going to wake up?"
Ichigo frowned a bit before turning to his daughter. "I don't think he'll wake up very soon."
"Why?" Sakura asked with confusion in her voice.
"Well, we went to deliver the sword I made, to the new owner, but he refused to pay. Naruto fought the people he sent after me and protected me doing it." This caused two pink haired ladies to gasp. "He used some high level techniques doing it, so the boy has to be exhausted. He has rested after the fight, but not long enough to recover from something as tiring as that."
"But don't worry, Sakura. I'm sure that he'll wake up later today. He's a strong one. And he's a loud one too. You don't know how much that kid can talk." Ichigo added with a smile on his face.
"He reminds me a lot of you, dear." Yuki said with a smile on her face.
"I'm not loud!" Ichigo nearly screamed.
"Sure you aren't." The pink haired woman countered, while standing up. "I'll be in the kitchen if someone needs me. It's getting pretty late, so I am going to start dinner."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "What, it can't be that late, right? I just woke up."
"Dad, it's almost dinner time. You have slept for more than fifteen hours straight, you lazy bum. I should introduce you to my friend Shikamaru. You two would make the best of friends, sleeping the whole day." Ichigo gave his daughter a glare for this.
'Please wake up soon, kid. I miss you already…'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naruto slowly opened his eyes. It was very bright, so he had to close them right away. The only thing he had been able to see was a window and some opened curtains. They were pink. Was his mind playing games with him again or something? Sitting up, he held one of his hands in front of his face to hold off the sunlight. Opening his eyes again, the first thing he saw was the colour pink. Wondering if this was the same dream of last time, he started to look around. The room had a bed, a television and a lot of books in it. Most of the stuff was pink, but some things were red as well.
Sighing, he pulled the cover off him. He was wearing the same clothes as last time he saw himself. Shaking his head, he crawled to the side of the bed. Looking down, he saw that the pink slippers were there once again as well. "How original…"
Putting on the slippers, he walked over to the window. His eyes were pretty used to the light now and he was finally able to look outside. The sun was very low and it was slowly getting dark. That meant that it was pretty late already. There were grassy fields as far as he could see. Still in a sleepy state, he was about to turn around, when something suddenly hit him. Those fields looked too familiar.
Blinking a few times in order to make sure, he looked over the plains again. He was sure of it. Thinking back, he could recall running over those fields with Ichigo. And the last thing he remembered was seeing the pink hair of his dream girl. Was all of that a dream too? Thinking about this, he wondered for how long he had been sleeping.
There was only one way to find out. He pinched himself hard and opened his eyes again. He was still there! This wasn't a dream. Then why, then why was he here? Why did this look like so much like his dream? Sighing, he walked back to the bed and sat down again. Maybe the fox was playing tricks with his mind.
Then it suddenly hit him. If this wasn't a dream, then where was Ichigo? And where was Sakura? Had he really seen her before blacking out or was it just an illusion?
He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps coming his way. His lips curled into a smile, when he recalled the nice memories of his last dream. Up until now everything was going exactly the same, so he was hoping that the rest would be the same as well. He quickly hit himself on the head. "No, bad Naruto. Stop being such a pervert! That was just a dream."
Making himself comfortable, he awaited for the arrival of the mystery person. Was she really here? Would he finally see her again? A dreamy look came upon his face when he visualised the pink haired girl in front of him. He could still remember the shock he had seen on her face before blacking out. But that wasn't the only thing he had seen. It was only faint, but somewhere within those emerald eyes, he was able to see something resembling happiness.
The footsteps became softer again and he frowned. It was just someone walking past the room. Standing up, he started to walk towards the door. There was a big picture on it of some famous TV actress. This was the moment of truth. Slowly opening the door, he put his head through the opening to see if someone was there. When he saw nobody, he sighed and exited to pink room.
He walked down the hall and was surprised to find his shoes standing next to the door. He continued to walk until he saw another room to his left. Walking through the opening, he saw someone sitting on a large couch. It was brown, just like the rest of the furniture. It looked like a nice and comfortable place to be.
He scanned to room until he heard some noises. Turning his attention to the door on the other side of the room, he was surprised when someone suddenly walked in. But it wasn't just someone, it was his dream girl. It was Sakura!
The girl was holding a cup in her hand and her gaze was fixated on the floor. She was wearing a red shirt and black shorts. It was simple, but it made her look gorgeous. Her hair wasn't held back by anything and it was the first time that he saw her short hair hanging freely like that. To be honest, it made her look even more stunning. If that was even possible.
The girl, who he had missed so much, was standing in front of him and he wasn't going to let this moment go to waste. She didn't seem to have felt his presence, so he just had to make the first move. He just hoped that she wouldn't be angry at him or something. Putting a smile on his face, he scratched the back of his head. "Hey, Sakura-chan!"
He was surprised when the girl jerked her head up with a shocked look on her face. The cup fell out of her hands and it landed on the ground with a thud. It broke into pieces and the dark liquid was colouring the brown floor. An unbelieving expression was placed on her face, before taking a few steps towards the boy. "Naruto, you're awake!"
Naruto closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I just woke up. I sure had a nice long nap. I can…"
He was stopped mid-sentence, when the girl jumped towards him. His eyes shot open, revealing the pink haired girl right in front of him. He noticed that she was hugging him. A huge blush came upon his face and he could see that she had red cheeks as well. The girl was looking sad, though. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?! Did someone hurt you?!"
'Always worrying about me, eh, Naruto.' The girl looked up and Naruto was surprised to see a single tear on her cheek. "I'm sorry…"
This confused Naruto a lot. And that was a big understatement. What happened after he blacked out? Then it suddenly hit him. Could that stupid fox have taken control over his body? Did that monster hurt her!
He was about to ask her what was wrong, when the girl released him. She looked him in the eyes again with a serious, but still emotional expression on her face. "I'm sorry for not believing you."
Naruto didn't know what was going on. Why was the girl apologising? "What are you talking about, Sakura-chan?"
"When you said that you brought the new hokage back to the village, I didn't believe you and I even laughed at you. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." She then brought her eyes to the ground. "I hope that you can forgive me."
She didn't dare look up, afraid to see the anger in his eyes. The silence of the normally loud boy couldn't be good. When the boy suddenly started snickering, she became surprised and angry "What's so funny?!"
"I can't believe that that's been bugging you, Sakura-chan. I already forgot about that a long time ago. Don't let it bother you, okay. If I were in your shoes, I probably would have done the same." Naruto replied with a big grin on his face.
He was again surprised, when the pink haired girl hugged him for the second time. "Sa..Sakura-chan? What are you doing?"
"What does it look like, stupid? I'm hugging you!" Sakura replied with a big smile on her face. A slight blush was on her face as well.
'Great move you've made there! This feels really good!'
'I hate to admit it, but I agree. But why isn't he hugging back. Was I too bold? Did I scare him? Or doesn't he like me anymore.' Sakura thought with confusion on her face. She released the boy with disappointment written all over her and looked the boy in the eyes. She was surprised when she saw that he had a dreamy and unbelieving look on his face. "Naruto?"
The boy snapped out of his daze and brought his hands into a seal. "Kai!"
"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"Why isn't this genjutsu disappearing? This is the way to cancel it right. I hate it when something like this happens. The first time it's a dream and this time it's a genjutsu. It's just not fair! Kai!"
Sakura's confusion was replaced by two other emotions. Happiness, because she was happy that he had been dreaming about her. And anger, because she couldn't believe that the boy would think that this was an illusion. She knew that there was only one thing that would save the boy from himself. Clenching her fist, raised her hand and brought it down on his head.
"Ouch! Why did you do that, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura shook her head, but got a smile out nonetheless. "You're not dreaming and this isn't a genjutsu. I'm really here, Naruto. But have you really been dreaming about me? I guess that's a compliment."
Naruto's eyes widened. He wasn't dreaming? And this isn't some kind of illusion? It was just too good to be true. The pink haired girl didn't even hit him when he said that he dreamed about her, she even took it as a compliment. And she had hugged him twice as well. This couldn't be happing right? "If this isn't a genjutsu, then why did you hug me?"
Sakura just had to smile when she saw his confused expression. It looked so cute. Had she really overlooked everything about the boy? "Do I need a good reason to hug you, Naruto? I'm just glad to see that you're awake. You've been out for the whole day. And it looked like you weren't going to wake up for a long time. And I wanted to thank you for forgiving me."
"But if you didn't like it, I won't do it again." Sakura finished with a faked pout on her face.
"No, I didn't mean it like that. I liked it a lot, I was just surprised. You know, I'm not Sasuke. You only want to hug him, right? I just couldn't believe it." Naruto replied with his hands in front of him.
Sakura let her head fall. Had she really come across that way? She had treated him badly before without even having a reason for it. But the good thing was that he said that he liked the hug. "Don't think that I can't hug you, Naruto. I know how I've treated you before, but that will all change. I want to say that you are important to me." She finished with a big smile.
Naruto couldn't believe it. Had she really said that? Did he hear her right?
Sakura was surprised when the boy suddenly hugged her with all his might. A blush came upon her face and she didn't know how to act. Her hands were tingling and her cheeks were burning. There was no escaping it now. She liked this feeling and wasn't about to let go. She put her arms around him too and let the warmth comfort her. When she looked to his face, she was shocked to find a stray tear. She released the boy and took a step backwards "What's wrong, Naruto."
The boy gave her a big smile, before turning around to wipe away his tears. "I'm just happy. This is the first time that someone told me something like that and it just made me want to cry."
Sakura was really taken back by this. Was she really the first one to say something like this to him? That's terrible! Putting a hand on his shoulder, she gave him a serious look. This wouldn't do. Naruto's face wasn't made to be sad. Naruto was made to smile. "Let's go to the kitchen, Naruto. We were just about to eat, so you should join us. My mother's a great cook, you know."
The boy nodded and gave her a smile. "Thanks, Sakura-chan, you're the best!"
She smiled back and they started to head towards the kitchen. When they reached the door, Sakura got a funny feeling in her stomach. She just knew that something was off. Opening the door in a swift move, Sakura saw her parents fall on the ground. "So you were listening in on us!"
Ichigo stood up and scratched the back of his head. "No, this is just a coincidence. Your mother and I were just coming to get you." He turned his head to see the yellow haired boy and pretended to be very surprised. "Naruto, you're awake!"
Sakura sighed and helped her mother up. "I expected this from dad, mom. But you…"
Yuki grinned and brought her face to her daughter's ear. "Sorry, dear, but I walked in when you guys were hugging, so I didn't want to but in. And you guys looked so cute."
Sakura became beef red again and a vein appeared on her forehead. "If you guys do something like this again, then I'm moving out as soon as we get home, you got it!" She walked past her mother with a big frown on her face.
"So, she's like that with her parents too. Scary." Naruto said to nobody in particular.
"She has moments like this, but most of the time she's as cute and gentle like she was with you." Ichigo replied with a sigh.
Suddenly it hit Naruto. He turned to the man next to him and pulled him towards the living room. This confused Yuki a lot, but she just shrugged and walked towards the kitchen. When Naruto finally released the poor guy, he turned to him with a unbelieving expression on his face. "So you're really her father?"
Grinning, Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, sorry for not telling you."
"But you told me that your name was Kuroi Ichigo. Should your last name be 'Haruno'?" Naruto replied with confusion written over his face.
"Well, that's true, but not completely. You see, my real name is Kuroi Ichigo, but after I married Yuki, we've decided to keep her last name, because she liked her last name. It had something to do with her hair. I didn't mind, so I decided to change my last name into 'Haruno' Ichigo answered with a smile on his face.
Naruto nodded, but still didn't get it. "But why did you lie to me?"
The brown haired man shook his head. "I didn't lie. I still use my own last name when I'm working. And this mission was to bring one of my swords to someone, so I used my own name. You understand now, kid?"
Naruto smiled and nodded. But then suddenly realisation hit him. That's the reason why he passed out in the first place. "Damn, if you're Sakura-chan's father…Shit…"
Smiling, Ichigo placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. I'm fine with you loving my daughter."
Naruto's eyes widened. "But….but, you know about HIM…" The boy said, pointing to his stomach.
The man nodded with a smile. "Yeah, and I know that you're strong enough to contain it, boy. I've seen how much you love my daughter and I know that you would treat her well. I like you and that didn't change, little man. I'm actually grateful that you love my daughter so much. I know that you have protected her many times and I just want to say thanks."
An honest smile came upon Naruto's face. He was about to walk past the man when he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't give up." Before the boy could answer, the man had disappeared. 'Thank you, old man.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naruto finally reached the living room and saw that everyone was already sitting in one of the chairs. Ichigo and Yuki at one side and Sakura at the other one. He sat down next to the pink haired girl, but accidentally brushed his arm against hers while doing it. Naruto was too busy sitting down to see the red cheeks of the girl next to him. Ichigo did see it however and gave his daughter a nice guy pose, what caused her to blush even more.
Naruto was surprised to see something green on his plate. He picked it up with his chopsticks and started to stare at it. "What's this, Haruno-san?"
The woman smiled seeing the boy fumble with his food. "First of all, call me Yuki. And that's spinach, Naruto. It's a vegetable. It's good for you, dear. Just eat it."
Naruto nodded and brought the green stuff to his mouth. A smile came upon his face and his eyes widened. "This is good, Yuki-san! You're a great cook!"
"Well, thank you, Naruto." Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head, when she saw that the boy had already finished his plate.
Sakura saw this too and shook her head. "Don't let it bother you, mom. He's always been like this."
"Huh?" Naruto asked with confusion on his face.
"Nothing, nothing!" Sakura said while waving her hands in front of her. "Just saying how fast you can eat."
The boy nodded with a smile on his face. "That means that I like it!"
Sakura couldn't help it. She just had to smile after seeing him like that. 'I really like him. I don't know why, but somehow I get the feeling that I want him to be more than just a friend.'
'Just admit it already, girl. You're in love with him. After hugging him like that, he's the only thing on your mind and you're blushing the whole time. Hell, you didn't even had it this bad when Sasuke-kun almost kissed you!'
'Yeah, you're right, I think. He just radiates so much warmth and it is so addictive. I don't want him to leave. He needs to stay!'
'So you can have your way with him?'
'Yeah…hey wait, no…not like that, you pervert!'
'Just ask him to stay, like mom said. That way there'll be enough chances to make him yours.'
'But I don't know how I feel about Sasuke-kun now. I want to know that first. I need to sort out my feelings first. Just give me some time.'
'Whatever you say, but he might be gone before you are ready…Just hurry, Shannaro! I want to hug him again!'
'You pervert…'
They all finished eating and Naruto and Sakura walked back to the living room. Sakura sat down on the couch again, leaving enough room for someone else to sit down next to her. Naruto sat down on the chair though. "So, what are your plans, Naruto?"
Said boy turned to the pink haired girl and gave her a smile. "Well, I guess that I have to go back tomorrow. So I hope that I can stay the night. I would have loved to stay longer, but I don't think that your parents and you would like that."
Ichigo walked into the room with a smile on his face. "You're welcome to stay, Naruto. You've helped me and my family numerous times. This is the least I can do to repay you. And this way I can get some spare time with Yuki. If Sakura agrees you can stay the vacation. What do you say, dear?"
Naruto hesitantly looked over to the pink haired girl. "What's with that look, Naruto! I don't just want you to stay; I'm ordering you to stay. It can get awfully lonely out here without friends and mom and dad are always busy, so you have to stay her to keep me company!"
'How was that?'
'That was perfect, girl. I like the way you mess with him. Just look at him, he's getting nervous because of your forwardness. Keep up the good work and you'll get your prize in no time!'
'I don't even want to know what you mean with prize…'
Naruto quickly put himself together and nodded. "Well, if you put it like that, then I don't have a choice. Thank you guys! This means a lot to me! More time with the beautiful Sakura-chan is always good!"
This earned him a blush from the pink haired beauty and a hit on the head. "Don't embarrass me like that in front of my father, you idiot!"
"Ouch, that's too much, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pouted. It was just the same powerful and aggressive Sakura as always…
Sakura had to hold back her laughter and thought of something sneaky. "Well, you deserved it! You better make it up to me by buying me ice cream tomorrow!"
Naruto was confused. The girl did hit him, but not as hard as she normally did. And what was that about buying ice cream? Was she hitting on him?! No…he must have heard wrong or something. Then suddenly he though of something. "One problem though. Where am I going to sleep?"
Sakura turned to the boy with a smile on her face. "Well, we only have two bedrooms. One of them is for my parents and I sleep in the other one. The couch is pretty small, so you can't sleep on that, so I guess that there's no choice. If you don't want to sleep in the kitchen, you're going to have to sleep with me."
Sakura didn't understand why her inner self began smirking.
Naruto's eyes widened. 'Sleep with Sakura-chan!'
Before she could say something else, Naruto fell out of his chair. Sakura jumped up from the couch and sat down next to the boy. Blood was coming out of his nose and he looked like he was the happiest man on earth, although he was out cold. "Naruto?!"
Ichigo put one of his hands in front of his face and shook his head. The girl had no idea what she had just said…
Sakura tried to wake the boy, but it was no use. Why would the boy faint like that after hearing those words? 'Wait…I did say that he had to sleep on a mattress on the ground, didn't I…'
'Haha, you wish, girl!'
'Damn…'
'Well, look at the bright side. He must find you attractive!
'You pervert…'
'So true!'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: I'm sorry for the late update, but I'm really busy. I think that this is the last long chapter. If I want to get this story done in time for the contest, then I have to make the chapters shorter, but don't fret. They are together now, so now the fun and fluff can start. So the chapters will get shorter, but hopefully the NaruSaku moments will make up for it.
Hope you guys liked the chapter. Not much happened in it, it was mostly dialogue between Sakura and her parents. I hope that you like Ichigo and Yuki too. Ichigo is kind of like Naruto sometimes:D Sakura is now really feeling in love with him. She still needs to settle her feelings for Sasuke, so we're not there yet, but most of that will be cleared next chapter.
Things may be moving a bit fast from Sakura's side, but when a girl gets a crush on someone, they act kinda fast. She lost all rationality when she fell for Sasuke too. And sakura just found out some time ago that she likes him, so she's moving kind of fast and with a pervert in her head rooting her on, it's even worse…
Thank you guys for the reviews! I hadn't expected that you guys liked the last chapter so much!! hugs all of his reviewers And I am confused that many of you hadn't expected Ichigo to be her father. I thought that I had given it away earlier in the chapter.
Keep reviewing, because it really makes me happy:)
Next chapter will be there very soon. I don't have a choice;)