Disclaimer: How many freaking times do I have to say it before it gets through your thick skulls? I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR FRUIT'S BASKET!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!?!?!?!?!?!?!
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The next morning, Sakura woke up at five to take a shower. School didn't start 'till eight, but she didn't want a repeat of what had happened the night before. She decided to pretend Sasuke had never walked in on her in her underwear and no bra on.
At around six thirty, Sasuke got up and took a shower. He didn't remember the events of the previous night until he saw Sakura watching TV. Trying to hide the very slight blush on his cheeks, he checked the kitchen to find cereal, a bowl, a spoon and milk on the counter, waiting for him.
'You know she looked pretty good in those panties…'
'You sound like Kakashi.'
'You're not denying it!!!!'
'Why do I get stuck with the pervert inner?'
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Naruto woke up at seven fifteen, and went through his usual routine (shower, change, breakfast) and the three shinobi left the apartment in silence.
"You know, the Sohmas and Tohru probably think we got our memories erased. After all, there's no reason that they know of for us to know about the curse." Sakura pointed out. Naruto grinned.
"Leave the excuses to me!" He yelled, skipping ahead of his friends. He wanted to give them some time alone. Sakura and Sasuke walked along in an awkward silence. Finally feeling that something needed to be said (even though he had no desire to do it.)
"So…" he began, and Sakura looked at him. "Why were you taking your bra off anyway?" Oh crap, that was his inner taking over. Sakura quickly became the color of Sasuke's favorite fruit, the tomato.
"I THINK I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT IN MY ROOM, YOU PERVERT!!!!!" She screamed, then turned away. Sasuke smirked.
"That wasn't an answer." Sakura sighed angrily.
"If I tell you, will you just drop it?" Sasuke nodded. The pink haired shinobi put her head down and muttered something.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you?" Sasuke teased. Sakura glared at him.
"I said that…" She sighed and looked away. "Ino told me that if I wore my bra to bed… my chest wouldn't develop." She blushed furiously. Sasuke was completely baffled at why a smart girl like Sakura would believe something like that.
"It's not like you need it." Sasuke said quietly, making Sakura's face match the color of her hair. That one statement not only made her feel slightly better, the phrase's hidden meaning also implied that Sasuke had been looking at her chest. As soon as the stoic boy realized the double meaning of his words, his eyes widened.
"I didn't mean…"
"N-No! Of c-course not!" Sakura laughed nervously. Thank Kami the school was coming into view.
"If you two lovebirds are done, we're gonna be late!" Naruto yelled from the front of the school. The two blushing shinobi ran to catch up with their loudmouth friend and teammate.
The three actually got to class with five minutes to spare, being as unnaturally fast as they are. They walked in casually, putting their things at their seats and clustering at Sakura's desk to talk. They were so absorbed in their conversation (which happened to be about the time Naruto had been eating ramen so fast that some went up his nose. Sasuke had not been present; so Sakura and Naruto were relating it back to him, much to his own disgust and amusement. He especially liked the part where Naruto fell backwards clutching his throat in terror that he was going to choke on the mushy, wet noodles.) that they didn't see the Sohma's and Tohru walk in.
Naruto finally looked around and motioned to his teammates that they were there. The cursed family and Tohru had been carefully ignoring the shinobi, just in case they really did have their memories erased. It was too late to speak with any of them though, because Mayu-sensei had just walked in. Everyone took their seats.
As the teacher began to talk, Sakura carefully tore a tiny piece of paper from her notebook and wrote a single word on it. Then she carefully folded it up and discreetly passed it to Uo, who was seated behind her. Sakura made a quick point at Yuki, and slowly but surely, the note was passed through three more people to reach the other side of the room. When it finally landed on the violet-eyed boy's desk, he looked to see who it was that could have sent him such a note. Sakura purposely did not make eye contact, but watched as he slowly opened the note.
'Nezumi.'
Sakura watched Yuki's facial expression go from confusion to a beautiful smile as he looked up again. This time she made eye contact and winked at him before trying to listen to the teacher.
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At lunch Tohru ran up to the three shinobi, Kyo and Yuki following.
"Yuki-kun said that Akito-san didn't erase your memories!" she said gleefully. Naruto nodded vigorously, and Tohru hugged him. Deeply reminded of Hinata, the blonde smiled and hugged her back. Sasuke saw Kyo twitch ever so slightly, and the orange-headed boy began to walk towards a table. Everyone wordlessly followed him.
"So why did Akito let you keep your memories?" Yuki asked when everyone had finally started their lunch. Uo and Hana had a project to finish, so they were going to eat in the classroom.
"We don't know. He said something about us being useful." Naruto covered up quickly. Sasuke had to admit he was impressed with the witty cover-up. The blonde was eating calmly, listening in on the many conversations around him. He had really grown up since the blunette had left.
"That would be very like him." Yuki stated before taking a bite of his food. Suddenly, two very familiar figures walked up.
"Tohru-chan! How are you?" Momiji Sohma asked his friend. She smiled brightly.
"I'm good Momiji-kun." She noticed Sasuke staring at her. "Oh Gomen! Momiji-kun, Haru-kun, these are our friends-"
"Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke. Nice to see you three again." Haru smiled slightly.
"You as well, Haru-kun." Sakura smiled back.
"I see you've already met." Yuki observed.
"We got lost at the Main House last night, and these two helped us find our way." Naruto grinned.
"I hope you didn't try to get directions from Haru." Kyo growled. "He couldn't find his way out of a paper bag."
"Ya wanna repeat that, Kitty boy?" Haru said, his facial expression changing rapidly. His eyes became sharp and his smile sadistic. Nothing like the glazed, polite boy he had been a minute before.
"Yeah, I do. Your sense of direction is about as screwed up as your hair!"
"At least I'm not losing to Yuki all the time!"
"MAYBE, BUT I CAN SURE AS HELL BEAT YOU!!!!!" Kyo threw a flying kick at his opponent, and the fight began. The three shinobi blinked, then turned to Yuki for an explanation.
"He's gone black." The silver haired boy sighed.
"Reminds me of Chouji when the market is all out of barbeque chips." Naruto whispered to Sakura, who giggled quietly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked Yuki.
"Haru is normally calm and air headed. But when he gets angry like this, his normally polite demeanor goes down the drain, along with his memory of his actions. Our family calls this side of him Black Haru."
"So when he was talking to us, he was White Haru?" Naruto asked. Yuki nodded.
"Sakura-chan!" Momiji grabbed the pink-haired shinobi's arm. "We should all do something after school together!"
"That sounds like a great idea Momiji-kun!" Tohru beamed. Sakura nodded with a smile.
"I agree. What should we do?"
"We should go over to Shigure's house!" Momiji hopped about happily.
"Don't just invite yourself over!" Kyo yelled, in the midst of his fight with Haru. The black and white-haired boy got up and grabbed Sakura's arm.
"No, I think it's a fantastic idea. Then I can get some alone time with this little cutie…" He said suggestively. Sakura shivered slightly.
In a flash Sasuke brought his foot up in a roundhouse kick to Haru's face, throwing the boy to the floor with a crash. He put his hand on Sakura's shoulder while everyone blinked. Haru, with a growing bruise on his cheek, sat up drowsily.
"What happened?" he asked, back to normal. Everyone sweatdropped.
"You went black." Yuki explained.
"Oh."
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After school, (as planned by the girls and Momiji) everyone went to Shigure's house. Dropping their stuff, they pulled out homework and had a mini study session. There was lots of laughter and arguing, but all in all, everyone seemed pretty happy.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Tohru rushed to get it.
"Kazuma-san! What a surprise!" Everyone heard from the living room, and Kyo jumped up. A man with long blonde hair in a ponytail walked in, and Kyo bowed.
"Shishou."
"Kyo." After a moment, the two hugged. Then Kazuma noticed the others.
"Hello Haru, Momiji, Yuki." He nodded to the three, who bowed from where they were sitting. "And you three must be Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke, the ones who found out about the curse." They turned to the man, and Naruto stood up and stuck out his hand.
"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service!" He smiled brightly as the older man shook his hand. "These are my friends, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke." Both shinobi nodded at the mention of their names, and Kazuma smiled at them. Sakura was greatly reminded of Iruka-sensei when she saw that smile, and it made her feel safe.
"I'm Sohma Kazuma, Kyo's adopted father. I also run the Sohma Family Dojo." This perked Sasuke's interest.
"A dojo?"
"Yes. All the cursed members of the zodiac took martial arts lessons there when they were younger. Some, like Kyo, still go there to occasionally train." Kazuma explained. "Do you do martial arts?"
"Only a little." Sakura answered before her teammates could boast about their skills. "We all do a bit."
"We should fight then!" Kyo exclaimed excitedly.
"Why don't you all come down on Sunday?" The dojo master suggested, and everyone agreed to be there. A coughing sound came from right outside the door.
"Oh, I forgot. Shigure, on my way to your house, I found someone looking for this place. He said he needed to speak to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. I figured they were here, so I brought him with me." The older man explained as a man appeared in the doorway. He had gravity defying silver hair that fell across his face, covering his left eye. He wore a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, a thin mask covering the bottom part of his face.
"Yo." He smiled.
"Kakashi-sensei!!!" Sakura, Naruto and even Sasuke yelled. They rushed up to the man.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Kakashi was about to answer when Shigure cleared his throat expectantly.
"Oh, Shigure-san, Kazuma-san, Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun, Haru-kun, Momiji-kun and Tohru-chan, this was our teacher in our old school, Hatake Kakashi." Sakura lied. Well, it wasn't really a lie, but a slightly twisted version of the truth.
"Yo." Kakashi waved at the Sohma's, who waved back awkwardly. He then turned to Naruto. "I actually came to tell you something. Come outside with me for a second." The blonde followed the older man back outside.
"What's with the hair covering his eye? He looks like Hatori." Kyo asked.
"He may look slightly like Hatori-san, but acts more like Shigure-san. He's a first class pervert, and you'll never see him without his book of porn, also known as Icha Icha Paradise." Sakura mused. Shigure looked overjoyed while everyone else just looked distressed.
"Great. Another Shigure. Just what we need." Yuki mumbled.
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"So what is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, curious as to why his old sensei would be here.
"Tsunade's been thinking it over, and she's decided that as the Rokudaime, you should attend Hinata's ceremony." The silver haired jounin smiled and began a mental countdown.
'3…'
The information was just beginning to sink into Naruto's head.
'2…'
The blonde's innocent (or less than innocent) face began to turn into a foxy smile.
'1…'
As if on cue, Naruto shot up into the air, screaming.
"YAAAAAAHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The only way you could tell that Kakashi was laughing was the shaking of his shoulders. Naruto flipped twice before returning to the earth with a "THUD".
"ARIGATOU KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!!!" Naruto yelled before running inside. Kakashi chuckled one more time before disappearing with a poof.
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Inside, the Sohma's, Tohru, Sasuke and Sakura had heard the scream. Figuring it to be of joy, Sakura told the Sohma's and Tohru not to worry about it. Just then, Naruto rushed in.
"THEY'RE LETTING ME GO TO HINATA'S CEREMONY!!!!!!!!" He yelled excitedly. Sakura's face lit up and Sasuke smirked.
"That's great Naruto!" Sakura hugged her best guy friend.
"Congrats Dobe." Naruto was too happy to yell at Sasuke for calling him a dobe.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kyo asked, a confused look dominating his features, with a tint of annoyance.
" Hinata is Naruto's girlfriend back from where we used to live. She's becoming head of her family next week. Naruto wasn't sure if he was going to be able to go, because of us living so far away now, but apparently, he just got clearance." Sakura smiled.
"Aren't you two invited?" Yuki asked.
"Yes, but it's too far away for Sasuke and I to go, and Kakashi-sensei only has room for one more in his car. Naruto only gets to go because he's Hinata's boyfriend. But you have a point; she is a very good friend of mine." Sakura explained.
"That's so wonderful! I'm so happy for you!" Tohru exclaimed, starts in her eyes. "What does Hinata-chan look like?"
"She's gorgeous!" Naruto raved, making Sakura smile. "I think I have a picture of her here somewhere." The blonde dug through his pockets, front first, then back. He found the photograph in his back right pocket. Pulling it out with a grin, he looked at it fondly.
It had been taken the day Hinata won the fight against her sister. Naruto had taken her out for dinner after that, to a very fancy restaurant. Much to her surprise, it had not been a place that served ramen, and Naruto had been quite the gentlemen, pulling out her seat for her and eating politely.
After dinner, the two had gone for a walk in a nearby park. They had seen Shikamaru, and asked him to take a picture of the two of them together. He had grudgingly obliged.
In the picture, Hinata was sitting in a sakura tree in full bloom, the small flowers complimenting her perfectly. She was wearing a lavender spaghetti strap dress, with gold flowers embroidered from the bottom, up to the left side of her stomach. She was only smiling gently, but her eyes betrayed the happiness inside her. She wore her dark purple hair down, where it fell to about right under her chest.
Naruto stood beside her, holding her hand and giving the camera a foxy grin. To everyone's surprise, he wore a black tuxedo. Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped when they saw that he was wearing an orange bowtie with the tux. Same old Naruto.
"She's adorable!" Tohru gasped, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the happy couple. Naruto nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
"Lemme see it." Kyo said, swiping the picture. He was shocked to find that Tohru was telling the truth. This girl was beautiful! Her lavender-white eyes were a little strange, but they somehow only added to her beauty.
"How'd a girl like this get set up with a guy like you?" He asked, dropping the photo on the table discreetly so everyone could see what he was talking about. They almost gasped at the sight of the pretty girl and goofball blonde.
"Well if you must know, she's had a crush on me since we were in grade school." Naruto said with a grin. Sakura decided to deflate his ego a little bit.
"Yeah, but Naruto was too dense to figure it out until we turned 14." She said, poking her blonde teammate in the shoulder. He scowled at her and rubbed his shoulder tenderly.
Sasuke, who had been watching the clock, nudged Sakura in the side before standing up. The pink-haired kunoichi looked at the clock and stood up with him.
"Well, it's getting late, and I still have to make dinner for these two." Sakura grinned as Naruto finally got the picture back and stood up. (A/N: And Tohru thinks Sakura living with Naruto and Sasuke is about as weird as her living with three unmarried men, okay?) "We'll see you guys at school tomorrow!" She called as they headed towards the door.
"Bye!" Tohru called from the doorway as the three shinobi walked down the path, waving till the house was out of view. After returning to their apartment, Sakura made dinner as Naruto went on and on about the ceremony and Hinata. The pink-haired girl made note to report this to the Hyuuga Heiress, who would surely blush uncontrollably.
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That night, after Sakura had retreated to her room (and had locked it this time) and Naruto was sure Sasuke was asleep (or about as sure as he could be about anything concerning the Uchiha) the blonde lay in bed, staring intently at his picture of himself and Hinata. Even though it was too dark to see the photograph clearly, he could already imagine it in his mind's eye.
Okay, so he wasn't usually the most responsible of the group, and tended to forget things a lot. But Naruto had memorized her every curve, smile, emotion and posture, so he would never forget what his true love looked like.
Kissing the picture and slipping it under his pillow, Naruto fell asleep. That night, the blonde dreamed about sakura petals and twilight walks in the park.
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CHAPTER 10 IS FINALLY FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO FRIGGIN PROUD OF MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know it's been a long wait, and I'm really sorry, but I had a major writer's block in the middle of the chapter, and it was horrible, and I'm really sorry again. But it's six pages long (without extra spacing) so enjoy it. And I don't remember if I already said this or not, but the plot won't come in for a while. There's gonna be more filler-ish chapters kinda like this one, but I have an idea of where I'm going with it.
A lovely reviewer sent me a message about how much she enjoyed that I didn't curse very much in this story. I'm sort of sorry to say, I only don't curse because I can't. I'm not sure what it is, but my father installed something in our computer that prevents me from saying certain curse words. So until I can get my own laptop, the language will be downplayed. I curse like a construction worker in real life though.
Review, por favor!
AND BY THE WAY!!!! Just in case you didn't know, Nezumi is the Japanese word for Rat. It may seem silly that this was all Sakura would write, but she couldn't say too much, just in case the note fell into the wrong hands.
