Chapter 3: Tension is in the Air

There will come a time wherein the magic would end and they would have to go back to normal to being friends again. That time came when the music ended and Naruto and Sakura stopped dancing together with the other couples.

"So I guess this ends our dance, huh?" Naruto asked sadly.

"Oh don't say that. You could ask me again, but only after I rest because my feet ached with that dance." She replied and chuckled.

"Ok, then. Thanks for dancing with me. It really means a lot." Naruto said sincerely.

"Thanks for asking. I've actually been waiting for you to ask me to dance since the dances started." Sakura confessed.

"Oh, really? So you missed me that much?" Naruto playfully asked.

"Of course! You're my best friend, you know." Sakura said while smiling brightly which Naruto was loving, moment by moment.

A few started going back to their seats while the others remained. They noticed this so Naruto said,

"So I guess I should be returning you to your seat now so you could rest up. I would have to ask you to dance again later." Naruto said while smiling.

"Yup. I guess you should be. I'll be waiting for it." Sakura said, and smiled back to Naruto, while looking at him and he looking back at her.

'He looks so HOT! Shannaro!' Sakura thought, squealing like a fangirl in her thoughts.

'Let's lure him in! C'mon! C'mon! Now's the perfect time! Grab his head and kiss him on his totally H-O-T kissable lips!!' Inner Sakura said.

'I would really want to agree with you, right now, but there are many.. --What the hell?! He's my best friend! I can't think something like that of him! I'm sure he doesn't think about me like that anyway.' Sakura thought, answering her inner self.

'What?! How could he not think that of us? We're so hot, you know, as hot as him! We're a perfect match! Just go ahead and kiss him, shannaro!' Inner Sakura answered.

'Shut up, pervert! I'm did not even ask you to come out.' Sakura said.

'Oh really?! You're actually on the verge of agreeing with me just a while ago. So admit it already! I know you also like him! You're just like me!' Inner Sakura said.

'No! I'm nothing like you. Unlike you, I don't think those kinds of thoughts to my best friend.' Sakura said.

'Really? I'm a part of you, so no matter how much you don't want to admit it, you're just like me!' Inner Sakura replied back.

'You!--' She was cut off by Naruto, who was blushing.

"Uhmm, Sakura-chan? Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" Naruto asked, blushing in embarrassment.

"Oh! Sorry, I spaced out a little bit. No, you don't have something on your face. You still look as hot, I mean handsome! Handsome as can be." Sakura answered, blushing at the last part.

'Shit! Why did I say hot? What the hell is wrong with me?!' Sakura was basically screaming in her mind in panic.

"Hot? So Sakura-chan, you think I'm hot, huh?" Naruto asked seductively while giving her a seductive and playful smile.

"Stop it, Naruto! I said handsome! HANDSOME!" Sakura said.

"No! You said hot! You think I'm hot! So you like me, huh?" Naruto said, smiling triumphantly.

"Shut up and get me back to my table would you please." Sakura said, sighing and looking defeated.

"No, I won't. Not until you admit it to me that you think I'm hot." Naruto said teasingly.

'Hmm, I think it wouldn't hurt. He's my best friend anyway. I'm sure it's okay.' Sakura thought.

"Fine. I think you're the hottest person in the planet right now. And I am lucky that I was danced by the hottest person who is none other than you, happy?" Sakura was supposed to say it like she was being forced to, but it didn't quite come out that way.

"Very! Because it didn't sound like I forced you to say that. Don't worry, I think you're the most beautiful girl in the planet right now. More than anyone." Naruto said sincerely while giving her a wide grin, which made Sakura blush more at the comment.

"Well, that's done over with. I think you could escort me back to my table now, Mr. Hottie. My feet ache twice as much as awhile ago, you know." Sakura said. Naruto, was surprised but being the clueless being he was, just took it as a new name for him so he decided to call Sakura one so they were even.

"Ok, then Ms. Beautiful, Hot, and Sexy Cherry Blossom! I would be happy to escort you back, would you like me to carry you?" Naruto said happily.

"Could we please just get back, please?! My feet feels like it's gonna burst any minute now." Sakura said with an annoyed expression in her face.

They went to the direction of Sakura's table. When they were almost out of the dance floor, Naruto stopped her.

"Wait. Before you go back, lets have a souvenir picture!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Sure!" Sakura said. Then Naruto took out his digital camera, opened the screen, and faced it to them so they could see themselves while they take a picture of them. They both looked at the camera and smiled. FLASH!

"One more!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Okay!" Sakura answered back excitedly also.

Held the camera again to the angle where they can both be seen in the screen and was about to push the shutter but saw Kim at the far back to the screen. She was holding her wrapped jacket in one hand looking at them angrily. He began to wonder why her jacket was wrapped up in her hand, and then it hit him.

FLASHBACK:

Naruto was at Kim's house because his dad, Minato, told him to pick his fiancée up, much to his dismay and was waiting at the couch when he suddenly saw Kim's red purse beside him. He saw something shiny so he investigated it and saw a small gun in her purse, he didn't take it as a bad thing because he knew she needed to have self-defence if ever she was in danger. So he shrugged it off and waited for Kim to go down. Shortly after Kim went down, Naruto saw that she was holding a different purse in her hand so he figured it wasn't the purse with the gun that she would bring to the prom so he went to the car first and waited for Kim there. She took some minutes to go out again and told him that she forgot something. He just shrugged it off and drove to the school for the prom.

--End of Flashback

He saw Sakura was already smiling so he pretended to smile but he was watching Kim as she points the gun in the wrapped up jacket to Sakura. He pushed the shutter just in time and yelled,

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto then shielded Sakura by wrapping his arms around her in an embrace, just in time when Kim pulled the trigger and the bullet came out. It hit Naruto squarely at the upper back, just above the heart near the armpit area.

"I..love..you.." Naruto wasn't able to finish his sentence and fell unconscious. Sakura heard him say those three words so he asked him,

"Naruto, what's—" Before Sakura could say anything, Naruto fell in front of her and blood came out of his back. She saw this and was terrified.

"NARUTO!!" Sakura yelled which caught the attention of everyone, including the teachers sitting in their tables. When they looked where the scream had come from, they saw a crying Sakura and a fallen Naruto on the ground, flat on his face. Hatake Kakashi, Naruto's class adviser, and Sasuke ran to Sakura to check on Naruto and ask Sakura a few questions. The people watched the scene with nervousness in their hearts.

His friends were shocked at the scene, so was Kim. She was about to run but Shikamaru tackled her to the ground which caused her to fall to the floor and drop the gun to her side. When one of the students saw the gun she yelled, "GUN!!" and that caused the students to run outside of the gym. Everyone was running like their life depended on it. The only ones that remained were Naruto's friends, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. Tsunade was escorted by security to out of the gym to safety.

"Ino call an ambulance!" Shikamaru yelled while holding Kim down. Ino complied and brought her phone out to call for the ambulance.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, panic-stricken

"W-We were just.." Sakura couldn't finish her sentence and cried harder.

"Shika, it's no use! The ambulance would take too long to get here! He might not make it if we would wait!" Ino said, too shocked to cry.

"Get Naruto's keys and drive him to the hospital!" Shikamaru exclaimed while still holding Kim down. Ino obliged and got Naruto's keys, which are in his pockets and told Kakashi and Sasuke to carry him carefully to the carpark so they could bring him to the hospital. Sakura followed quickly but was still crying as he got Naruto's camera, which he dropped.

"Neji! Stay here with me and get her gun with a tissue!" Shikamaru ordered. Neji did what he was told and put the gun in his tuxedo pocket.

"If something happens to my friend, you're really gonna get it from me! I'm gonna use that gun back at you if I have to!" Shikamaru said, full of rage in his eyes. Kim couldn't say anything and was shocked at the rage Shikamaru had. If looks could kill, she would already be dead.

"Neji, call the police!" Shikamaru once again yelled and Neji again obliged. The two were the only ones left since most of the teachers left with the stampeding students while Neji made TenTen go with Kiba, told him to get TenTen back to her house, and promised to call them about what happened.

After some minutes, the police came, put the handcuffs on Kim, and led her to the police car while Shikamaru and Neji followed to the station with their cars.

Meanwhile, Ino and the others had reached the hospital and quickly rushed the unconscious and bleeding Naruto into the emergency room. A cloth was put on the wound to stop the bleeding while he was wheeled into the operating room to take the bullet out if his body. Sakura and the others could do nothing but wait for the results. Sasuke and Ino comforted Sakura while Kakashi was sitting there, wide-eyed, shocked at the events even though his mask covered his face. His hands were filled with blood because he carried Naruto on the upper part while Sasuke took care of the lower part.

While Ino was busy trying hard to stop Sakura from crying, her phone rang, she looked at the screen to see that it was Shikamaru so she stepped away far from Sakura and answered it quickly.

"Hello? What happened?" Ino asked.

"We're at the police station right now. We might be here sometime for the questioning. How's Naruto?" Shikamaru worriedly asked.

"I don't know yet. He was just rushed to the operating room so they could take out the bullet from his body. We're just gonna have to wait." Ino replied.

"How about Sakura? How's she holding up?" Shikamaru asked again.

"She won't stop crying, but she'll be fine. Sasuke's comforting her right now. We're all doing our best." Ino said.

"Ok. The police might come there tomorrow for questioning so make sure that Sakura would be ready to answer their questions." Shikamaru said calmly.

"Ok. I'll tell her that. I'm sure she'll stop when she knows about this." Ino said.

"Ok. I'll leave it to you. Neji and I will follow as soon as we finish here. Are you still going home?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't think so. I need to be here for Sakura. She needs a friend now more than ever. I'll just call my mom to bring me clothes. You need to call Naruto's parents about this." Ino said.

"Yeah. I will. I'm sure they'll be there and bombard you with lots of questions so you really need to be there to answer them." Shikamaru told Ino.

"I know. Okay. Take care. Bye. I love you." Ino said, then she ended the call and went back to Sakura.

"What did Shika say?" Sakura asked, her tears were diminishing and her sobs were beginning to minimize.

"He said that the police arrested the bitch and they are at the police station to answer some questions. By the way, the police might come in here to ask many questions. Be prepared to answer it, 'kay?" Ino said.

"Yeah. I will. How long would we wait here?" Sakura replied.

"Until the doctor comes out of that door, I guess." Ino said.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm sure you're already tired and all. Why don't you go home and sleep? I'll be fine. I'm sure Ino would take care of me." Sakura said as he tuned to Sasuke.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Sasuke asked. Ino just stayed silent and looked at the two.

"Yeah. Thank you so much for your help." Sakura replied.

"Okay. Good night. Tell the dobe to thank me when he wakes up." Sasuke said proudly.

"Haha! Whatever. Go home already!" Sakura said, already smiling even though tears were still in her eyes.

"Okay. Bye." Sasuke said and began walking away.

Ino noticed Kakashi still sitting full of shock so she tried to catch his attention,

"Sensei? Kakashi-sensei! Sensei!!" Ino waved her hand in front of his face. After a few seconds, Kakashi was back on earth. Sakura just watched amusingly.

"W-Wha? Oh, Ino, it's just you." Kakashi looked around to see Ino.

"Of course it's me. Who else did you think I am?" Ino said.

"Nothing. How long was I out?" Kakashi asked.

"Uhmm, since we started sitting here, which was thirty minutes ago." Ino said.

"Ok. I'm gonna go home. I think I need a break. Will you be alright here?" Kakashi said.

"Yeah. I guess you need it, too. Just go right ahead." Ino replied.

"Okay. Good night then." Kakashi said, then went home. Ino sat down beside Sakura.

Here's another update for you guys! Since I have no homeworks today, I decided to update. I'm gonna answer some of the reviews, since I still have time.

Flashing Silver: Thanks! Extreme? Maybe so, but imagine what extreme jealousy can do to people, right?

Javie25: Yup, it sucks to have an arranged marriage. I also don't like Sasuke to be emo so there. :)

Monica-san: Yup, really bad. Lol!:) Thanks for staying tuned!

aly247: Thanks! It's also about to get more interesting.

SakuraHatake: Thanks! Well, here it is!

Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain: It was actually supposed to be a oneshot, but when I was typing this, I realized that I already reached almost 20 pages so I figures that I should do this chapter by chapter already.

About Sakura's reaction, I reread the story and you were right. I'm so sorry about that. I'll try to make it better. Thanks for pointing it out!:)

Well about that gun thing, I was also thinking how I could introduce that. That's the only thing I came up with after all.

As for the arranged marriage, you would find out why in the next chapters to come.

I'm sure you'll think of something for your story. It's just all gonna come to you.

There you have it! Stay tuned for the next chapter!:)