Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Forgive me if there are spelling mistakes. I've noticed some in other chapters and stories. When I'm typing there are so many words on the screen it's hard to see the little red squiggly line. I'm only human after all. Read, Enjoy, Review.
Sakura leaned forward to see who entered. She closed her eyes and listened, the footsteps outside, they sounded like Tsunade. The door opened and so did her eyes. It was Tsunade.
"Well well Sakura," she half smiled. "Are you disobeying orders?"
"I'm here as a patient," she sighed.
Tsunade brought up a clipboard and studied it, "I have a check up in five minutes so we'll be done by then."
"Alright," Sakura held out her bandaged hands.
"Your hands?" Tsunade asked. "What happened to them?" Genuine concern filled her voice and her eyes.
"I-" Sakura began.
"She was practicing on a tree for a very long time," Naruto chimed in. Naruto walked over to gently unwrap her hands for Tsunade. "See Granny Tsunade, please heal her hands."
Tsunade took a good look at them, they were raw bleeding and had splinters in them everywhere. "How on earth can you move them without it hurting?"
"I just don't think of it," she answered feebly.
"I don't know how you accomplish that Sakura but this has got to hurt," Tsunade gently touched he hands and she motioned for Naruto to step back. "Naruto move! I'm going to get rid of all the splinters at once, they could hit you so please move."
Tsunade sent a burst of chakra into Sakura's hands and the splinters went everywhere. Sakura's hands were left shaky but Tsunade sent soothing healing chakra waves through them. Sakura could feel the tiny holes where splinters had been knit together like it was natural. The raw parts regenerated skin and within seconds her hands were normal again. Along with the feelings.
"Where is Kakashi?" Tsunade asked Sakura. It was a question she had been dreading.
"I scared him off," she answered, fiddling with her thumbs. It was odd for her to do something so Hinata so she stopped. "I've realized something about myself that I don't like."
Tsunade and Naruto were silent and eagerly waiting.
"Here I pride myself on having grown so much," Sakura looked down. "I couldn't have grown up all that much. Look at who I am Tsunade. I fell for the guy who was a total jerk to me. The people who were nice to me, the ones who cared, I've done something to them that they don't deserve."
"Sakura-chan," Naruto said so quietly, no one caught it.
"Naruto, Rock Lee, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura listed off. "I haven't even been following your orders as well as you'd like, Tsunade-sama. It's something I would like to change."
"Sakura," Tsunade patted her head. "I think your beginning to change it already. You have the problem in sight, but really, take care of yourself. Don't make your workouts a form of self punishment. That isn't the way to grow and change, like you want."
"Yeah Sakura-chan!" Naruto chimed in again.
"By the way Naruto," Sakura turned to him, she had almost forgotten him being there. "Thank you for everything."
The smile she gave him could melt even the hardest of rock hearts.
"Not a problem Sakura-chan," he smiled back happy.
"However Sakura," Tsunade went for another topic. "I'm ordering you to not practice for awhile. Your overdoing it."
"But-" Sakura tried to protest.
"Sakura," Tsunade held up a hand to stop her. "I can feel how your muscles are growing and building strength through my chakra. However their still weak, they need proper rest before you train again. For two days, no sparing, no training, just relax."
"Relax?" Sakura felt like it sounded foreign to her. "How?"
"That will be your mission Sakura," Tsunade smiled. "I have another patient to attend to so I'll see you some other time Sakura, and Naruto."
"I'll walk you home Sakura-chan," Naruto offered.
"Thanks Naruto," Sakura smiled.
Naruto chatted with Sakura all the way home. They passed so many of their favorite places, he walked her up to the door and Sakura fumbled with her keys.
"Naruto," Sakura looked up from the keys.
"Yeah?" he answered her.
"Do you talk to Hinata much anymore?" she asked him.
"Hinata?" he sounded confused. "Sometimes."
"You should ask her out," Sakura looked at him, her eyes locked on his.
"What do you mean Sakura-chan?" he looked a little hurt and even more confused.
"I mean Naruto," Sakura began to explain things. "It's so obvious that she has liked you forever. She faints whenever your close, she always cheers for you, in her own way. Naruto she loves you, just ask her out, maybe you'll find yourself falling in love with her."
Naruto was silent but he was thinking about it. It made sense that he didn't realize before. Sakura slipped into her apartment while he was mulling everything over. She hoped that he wouldn't still like her. She was afraid that she would break his heart because she didn't feel the same way. She was afraid she'd lose one of her best friends because of it.
Something caught her eyes as she listened to Naruto's footsteps fade. The bright orange book of Kakashi's was on the couch. He had stormed off without it. Sakura picked it up. Not opening but feeling the cover and the spine of the book. She set it down and tried to pass an hour or so doing something.
She flopped onto her bed and tried and failed to fall asleep. Early in the morning Sakura got up and made coffee, really it would only hold off the sleepiness she was feeling. She looked in the fridge and decided not to eat.
On her bookshelf was something else that caught her eye. If she was going to be cooped up she might as well do something. She grabbed the baking cookbook off the shelf and flipped through the pages. She got to the muffins.
Banana nut muffins sounded good. She found all the ingredients available in her house. She set up station in her kitchen. Following the steps she also added something a little extra to give it flavor and she popped the muffins in the waiting oven.
Looking at the batter she found that it would make two batches. I won't need that much.
She stared back at Kakashi's book in contemplation. An idea struck her. She finished the first batch of muffins and set the others in the oven. She tasted one of her own and they were good, better than good. She had a container ready for his muffins.
She set muffin after muffin into the container. She placed the book on top of it and she set off out the door. It was a good seven am. If she was lucky Kakashi would be awake. Sakura had only ever seen Kakashi's place once, it was because she had gone looking for him because he was so late. She saw him leave his apartment. She hoped it was his apartment.
She headed to where she remembered it being. The apartment door looked slightly nicer than the others. She stood at the door. Dressed in a long pink tank top, it could be considered a short dress, over black shorts and she had her tan skirt over the shorts and her signature black boots. She knocked lightly at the door and seconds later a very tired groggy Kakashi answered the door.
"Sakura?" he looked confused. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Um," Sakura hesitated. "You left your book at my place. I made muffins too. It's a thank you and I'm sorry." Sakura blushed a little, her hair was down and since she was looking at the book her hair hid her face.
"Come on in," Kakashi motioned for her to follow him inside. She pulled off her boots and slipped on a pair of slippers. Her eyes scanned everything in sight. It was his aparment, he had scrolls neatly stacked here and there. There was no mess, everything had it's place in Kakashi's apartment. The furniture was as soft and springy as if he had just bought it. His color scheme was nice, the walls were a clean color, and his sofa was an olive green. The floors were hardwood, a nice dark, rich, color. There were a few pictures on the end tables. One had people she didn't recognize but one looked like he was related to the Uchihas.
There was also the picture of team seven in it's early days, before the death of one and the addition of another. Sakura ignored that picture and when she looked up she really looked at Kakashi. He seemed timeless. Like he didn't age. He still seemed to be the same. Sakura knew that he was practically twice her age but he still seemed whatever age he had been when she was younger.
His mask was down enough to show both eyes. The Sharingan clearly visible. It didn't give her any bad feelings. She set the container down on the marble counters. Taking the lid off the smell of wonderful muffins filled his kitchen.
"Hmm," he looked up from the book. It had already found it's way to his hands. "Muffins smell good."
She handed him one and he put the book up and took his mask down.
"I'm sorry Kakashi about that comment," Sakura looked at her own muffin. She didn't eat it. She picked the edges off of it waiting for him to speak.
Kakashi had finished his muffin and pulled the mask back up, "It's not sensei anymore Sakura, and don't worry about it. You were right anyway."
"Kakashi," Sakura said. "I didn't call you sensei."
He peeked over the book. Her face was slightly red. He thought back to seconds ago. She was right, he thoughtlessly had answered the way he usually did. "Oh, I'm used to hearing you call me sensei."
"As you said," she countered. "We are equals now."
Kakashi put his book down, "Using my own words against me Sakura?"
She shut her mouth and fought the pink creeping onto her cheeks. Kakashi watched her reaction. His thoughts were simply that she never reacted this way around him before. Sakura looked at her hands. Something was bothering her. He could tell.
"What's wrong?" he reached for another muffin and picked it apart.
Sakura didn't say anything. She tried to think of something.
"I'm sorry Kakashi," she finally said. "I felt like I had grown up so much but there are so many things I have to still learn. I'm so sorry for what I said yesterday. I-I... I don't know."
Sakura's eyes were hidden by her pink hair, until he swept back a few strands so he could see her face. Her face was red. Kakashi couldn't help but think that this was the most grown up he'd ever seen her as.
"Sakura," he said softly, trying not to break her already frayed nerves. "Admitting something like that is something a child would have trouble doing. This is the most grown up I've seen you."
She chuckled and wiped away some stray tears, "You can honestly say that when I look like a mess?"
"A beautiful mess," he said without thinking. He stopped talking and Sakura had caught what he said.
"A what?" Sakura's eyes met Kakashi's and she searched for an answer to his words.
I decided to leave on a cliffhanger. :3 Thanks for reading, I love reviews so if you'd review it I would luvs it.
