Chapter 3: 6AM to noon:
Hello readers! Long time, no see with this story. Here's a very long awaited update. Please read and review, and pray with me that this story stays as good as it's been for the final 2 chapters (and an epilogue, if I write it). I was going to post this last night, but the site was messing up. So, here it is now.
Ichiraku Ramen Shop opened right at 6:00, just like they always do. Naruto and Sakura were their first customers.
"Good morning Naruto, Sakura." Teuchi greeted the two.
"Morning, old man." Naruto said, sitting in his usual middle seat. Sakura said nothing, but just took a seat to his right.
"What'll you have?"
"I'll just have miso ramen." Naruto grinned. He sure did love his miso ramen.
"And you, Sakura?"
Sakura was staring at her feet.
"You ok, Sakura?" Naruto asked with concern.
"I have something important to tell you Naruto." She said, now looking right at him.
"What is it, Sakura?"
"Um, can we have a little privacy?"
"Sure." Teuchi said. "Ayame, we have to step away for a moment."
"Yes, father." Ayame heeded her father's word, and followed him out.
"Naruto, this is really hard for me to say, so just bear with me." Sakura began.
"I'm listening." Naruto said.
"Naruto, I'm gonna die at midnight!" Sakura blurted out.
Naruto nearly fell off his chair because he was so surprised.
"You're what?!" He screamed.
"Well, that's what I'm lead to believe."
And so, Sakura explained the whole tale of what had transpired last night.
"Wow. Why would this happen to you Sakura? You're so young and sweet…and pretty."
Naruto gave a nervous look after this last statement came out.
"Why do you look nervous? I know you like me." Sakura laughed. Naruto looked relieved.
"Oh, ok." Naruto wiped some sweat from his brow.
"In fact, since this might be my last day on earth, I suppose I should make you happy."
"Wha…?"
Naruto was cut off by Sakura kissing him. 7 seconds later, she broke it.
"S…Sakura?"
"Shh, this will be our little secret." Sakura whispered.
"But…but I thought you wanted to have your first kiss with Sasuke." Naruto asked.
"Eh, I can kiss him later." Sakura shrugged.
"But what if that doesn't happen."
"Oh well. At least I made one person happy." Sakura smiled. And then she leaned close to him and whispered in his ear:
"Now you go make Hinata happy."
Naruto gave a silly grin and then dug into his ramen. Ayame and her father slowly walked up.
"Can we come back now?" He asked.
"Yep." Sakura said.
"Do you want some ramen?"
Naruto then did something most unexpected. He moved his bowl toward Sakura and uttered some slightly shocking words.
"Do you want some of mine?"
Wait, did Naruto just offer some of his ramen to someone else? I guess he really does care about Sakura.
"Really Naruto? Do you mean it?"
"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed, giving the thumbs up. Teuchi, on cue, grabbed two chopsticks and handed them to Sakura.
"Wow, you guys are amazing." Sakura said, digging her chopsticks into Naruto's bowl.
"If ya want anymore, I can buy it. Don't worry about that."
"Thanks a lot Naruto." Sakura said, hugging him.
1 hour later…
"Naruto, how do you eat that much ramen?" Sakura chuckled. She was quite full herself, and she felt for sure Naruto had put on a few pounds.
"Years of experience." Naruto laughed, patting his stomach.
"Well Naruto, I must be off. I might only have 17 more hours to live." Sakura said, kissing Naruto on the cheek. She headed off and waved back.
"What does she mean?" Ayame asked.
"It's a long story." Naruto said in a slightly sad tone, and then perked up.
"Can I have some more ramen?"
Meanwhile…
Sakura continued her walk through Konoha. The sun was finally breaking. Sakura sighed.
"This maybe my last sunrise." She said in about as solemn a tone as the angel was talking in 7 hours earlier. As each minute passed, the realization that this could really be her last day was heavy on her. She decided she might as well say goodbye to everyone that was important in her life.
"Well, Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei are important." Sakura said to herself. "I should go find them."
But Sakura didn't know where they would be. "Wait." she thought. "Kakashi is probably at the book store buying more of his pervy books."
So Sakura headed over to the book store. It was now 7:10, so the book store was open. When she arrived, as she expected, Kakashi was in the book store.
"Hmm, which one should I get next?" Kakashi asked himself. He was browsing through the latest editions of Icha-Icha Paradise, written by none other than Jiraiya.
"Um, hi Kakashi-Sensei." Sakura said, making Kakashi jump.
"Holy crap!" Kakashi yelled before bashing his head on the ceiling. "Oh, it's just you Sakura."
"Can I talk to you?"
"Can it wait?"
"Um, not really." Sakura said, looking at her hands.
"Alright, what is it?" Kakashi asked, turning his attention from the books.
"Well, sensei. Um, this is really hard to say, even though I've already told a few people."
Sakura cleared her throat. Kakashi was looking right at her.
"I might be, well, dying at midnight tonight."
Kakashi's eyes bulged out.
"Say what?"
"Well, at least, I think so." Sakura said.
"You're…not sure?" Kakashi asked, glancing at the books for a second and then looking back at Sakura. "How can you not be sure?"
"Well, Kakashi, this is what happened…"
And so Sakura had to go through the explanation of what had happened again. Somehow, it seemed like it was getting easier for her to say.
"That sounds far-fetched, Sakura." Kakashi said.
"Lee and Tenten suggested it may have just been genjutsu." Sakura explained.
"Sounds logical. I'm guessing you came over here to tell me this."
"Well, yes, and in case it does really happen, to say goodbye."
At this statement, Kakashi arched an eyebrow.
"You think it might happen?" He asked.
"I can't be sure one way or the other, so I'm just being safe." Sakura said.
"Sakura, listen to me. I don't think you're going to die. The way I look at it, it was just some kid who has nothing better to do than play tricks on unsuspecting people like you."
"But what if…"
Kakashi looked a bit angry.
"Sakura, you're getting too worked up over this whole thing. If you feel you need to say goodbye to me, then by all means do. But please, for your sake, don't go into a panic attack. You would probably hurt yourself."
Kakashi turned back to the books, and Sakura ran up and hugged him from behind.
"Well, I can see that you are taking this seriously." Kakashi said, grabbing Sakura's left hand. "Sakura, you take care of yourself, you hear me."
"I will. You can bet on that." Sakura smiled. She walked away from him and out of the book store. Kakashi stood there for a moment, and then said:
"I sure hope she doesn't die. It would be a terrible loss."
And so, Sakura continued on her way. It was now 7:20. The things she still wanted to do were go to the new restaurant that had just opened 2 days ago, figure out why Ino's flower shop had gone out of business (she never bothered to ask why) and the thing she's wanted to do for so long: Go on a date with Sasuke.
"What should I do now?" Sakura asked herself. She wanted to go to the restaurant, but she wanted to go for dinner, and she wanted to take someone there.
"Maybe I'll ask Sasuke out to dinner there." Sakura said. "But I need to find him first."
Sakura went searching for Sasuke. Where would he be at this hour, she thought. Probably at home. So she headed in that direction.
"I hope he's home." Sakura said. "If not, I might have trouble finding him."
A little while later, Sakura arrived at Sasuke's house. It was now 7:30 in the morning, as Sakura checked her watch. After the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke moved into his own house, and had lived there ever since. Sakura knocked on the front door, hoping that Sasuke would answer it. After many seconds and no response, Sakura began to get concerned.
"Where is he?" She asked. "Oh, maybe he's asleep."
She knocked again, and again, and yet again, but with no answer.
"Oh man, I really need to talk to him. I guess I'll come back later."
Sakura continued walking, and eventually came to the Ninja Academy. Class was in session.
"Oh yeah, there's Iruka-Sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, remembering her sensei from Academy training.
"Oh, but wait, he's probably teaching a class right now." She thought, heading into the building to see where Iruka was. She went into her old classroom, and there was Iruka, just as she expected, teaching a class on self defense.
"It looks like we have a special visitor." Iruka said, stopping for a moment. "Come on in Sakura."
"Thanks. I guess I'll sit in on this class."
"That's great. Maybe you can even give the kids some tips."
"Maybe I will." Sakura said, smiling at the kids. "Oh, by the way, I need to talk to you after this class. When does it end?"
"One hour." Iruka responded.
"Ok." Sakura said, taking a seat.
One hour later…
The clock struck 8:30 as the class ended. The kids filed out of Iruka's classroom.
"You wanted to talk to me, Sakura?" Iruka asked, organizing his papers at his desk.
"Yes, Iruka-Sensei. So far, I've told this to Lee, Neji, Tenten, Gai, Naruto and Kakashi, and so you would think it would be easier for me to say."
"What do you mean, Sakura?"
Iruka looked up from his papers, focusing his attention on Sakura.
"Iruka, I have reason to believe that I'm gonna die at midnight tonight."
Iruka's eyes bulged out.
"Wha…what?"
Sakura (once again) went through the process of telling the story. Iruka was quite surprised.
"And how do you feel about this?" He asked.
"Well, Iruka-Sensei, I don't know quite how to feel." Sakura responded. "Lee's team suggested it's genjutsu."
"It sounds possible. What are you gonna do?"
"Well, I'm doing all those things I wanted to do, but never got around to."
"I see. Well, good luck with the rest of the day, and take care of yourself, alright?" Iruka said.
"I will, Sensei." Sakura said, quickly hugging him before leaving.
"Alright, it's 8:33. 15 ½ hours left, maybe. Oh man, this is really getting to me."
Sakura tried to think of what to do next. She decided to head over to Ino's house to ask her why her flower shop went out of business (and maybe, just maybe to say goodbye).
"Yeah, I'll go there."
10 minutes later, she arrived at Ino's house. The blonde girl wasn't home.
"Huh, that's strange. Where could she be?" Sakura asked. A few minutes of walking later, she came to where Ino's flower shop would be, and, to her great surprise, it was open!
"What the heck?"
Sakura went into the shop and was again surprised to see it was quite busy.
"Wow. I wonder what brought this on."
"Sakura! Hey!" Ino yelled from behind the counter. "What's up?"
"When did you re-open your shop?" Sakura asked, quite confused.
"Oh, I must have never told you. I opened it back up about a week ago. My mom said that it was a mistake to even think of closing down, more less actually doing it."
Sakura smiled a little. She was happy that her friend (or I suppose you could say ex-friend) had decided to re-open her shop.
"That's cool." Sakura said, a smile still on her face.
"Did you need anything, Sakura?" Ino asked.
"Well, I need to tell you something, but you seem busy." Sakura responded.
"Oh, ok."
Sakura walked up behind the counter. As I said, Ino was busy, so I don't think she saw Sakura walking up behind her. Sakura was slowly sneaking up on an unsuspecting Ino. When she was right behind the blonde, she grabbed her and hugged her from behind.
"Sakura, what are you doing?!" Ino exclaimed, catching her customer off guard. "I apologize, but my 'friend' here is acting strange. Sakura, would you please let go of me?"
Sakura hugged Ino for a few more seconds, and then released her. She kissed Ino on the cheek and smiled at her. As she was walking out, Ino spoke up.
"What was that all about?"
"Ask Naruto." Sakura said as she exited the flower shop. When she was back outside, she again had to decide what to do. It was almost 9 A.M., and Sakura's mind was a mess.
"If I really have 15 hours left..." She began in her mind. "...then I really have to make the most of what time I have left."
Sakura headed downtown to see what she could do there. The mall was open, so she decided to go shopping (big surprise there). Guess she might as well, considering today might very well be her last day.
2 ½ hours later…
Wow, Sakura didn't waste her time (but she may have wasted her money). She came out of the mall with 3 bags full of new clothes.
"Wow, I didn't know I could spend that much money on just clothes." Sakura said as she walked out of the mall. It was now about 11:30 in the morning, and Sakura still wanted to go to that new restaurant and go on a date with Sasuke. Will she be able to? Only time will tell.
"I'm gonna go get some lunch." Sakura said, looking for a place to eat. Then she saw Dumplings, Inc., whom Anko had told Sakura was a good place for dumplings.
"I'll go there." Sakura said, snapping her fingers. A short walk later, Sakura was there. It was the lunch hour, so she might have a hard time getting something.
"Sakura!" She heard a female voice calling to her. It was Anko, whom she was just thinking about.
"Hey Anko! What's up?" Sakura called back.
"I was just having some lunch, and I saw you from afar."
Sakura took a seat next to the purple-haired woman. She ordered some dumplings like Anko, and was surprise at how good they were.
"Well, I might as well enjoy this." Sakura said in her mind, taking another bite.
"You like them?" Anko asked, her face now a mess.
"I love them." Sakura said. She then turned, and noticed Sasuke heading in her direction.
"Sasuke!" She exclaimed. As the clock struck 12 noon, and Sakura maybe entered her final half-day, a hurricane of thoughts were rushing through her head: What to do in these final 12 hours? Who else to say goodbye to? Why was this happening to her? Poor Sakura. Nothing seems to go right for her.
End of chapter 3
Please R & R as usual, and (hopefully) expect chapter 4 soon. It depends on how many good ideas I get.