Wow! One day three reviews in a good 20'ish people either adding this story to their favorites or their watch list! Awesome. I'm truly flattered and now I understand what authors are talking about when they say reviews and what not help motivate them to write another chapter!
I would like to personally give a shout out/thanks to the three that left a review: Oh My Kira, Lavoisiae, and Gen. Malaise.
Gen. Maialise: Hahaha, unfortunately that damn Orichimaru is too crafty and his potions do just fine in boiling milk! And I needed Sasuke to be a crazy asshole for the first chapter because what he's doing is REALLY mean, a bit out of Sasuke's character. I'm going to try to real him into a more canon'like character after all this Konoha business is said and done, and I tried to humanize him a LITTLE bit in this chapter…. But he's still bat shit crazy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Sakura would've bitch smacked Sasuke the first time he ignored her. AND Jiraiya and Tsunade would've gotten together. Pervy sages need love too!
And now without further ramblings, A Jinchuriki's Husk- Chapter 2: Perfect
Sakura grumbled as she woke up, the morning came far too quickly for her liking. Not that she regretted it. Lack of sleep was totally worth getting Naruto to accept that he won her heart, and as an added perk, she was able to save her knucklehead from a nightmare last night.
That thought managed to wake her fully up and she sprang out of her bed. Looking at the clock she cursed Kami for making hospital shifts start so early. Seriously, why can't people wait till at least 10 to get sick and hurt? Is that too much to ask? Sakura made a couple of pieces of toast and headed off to the hospital.
"You're late Forehead!"
"Sorry pig, I was… well, I didn't get to bed until late last night and I overslept." Sakura did NOT want to tell Ino about what she was doing to Naruto every night. Even though she is technically Sakura's best friend (excluding Naruto of course), Ino was the biggest gossip in all of Konoha and as soon as she got wind of what Sakura was doing, all of Konoha would know. And Sakura really didn't want Konoha's number one ninja at surprising people to catch wind of her late night activities. Not yet anyway.
"I see," Ino smirked. "So how was Naruto last night? I expect he had sweet dreams?"
"WHAT?" Sakura was so shocked she couldn't help but yell that out. If anyone at Konoha was still asleep, they were certainly awake now. "I don't know what you are talking about Pig. I didn't go to Naruto's last night, and how would I know if he had sweet dreams?"
Ino fixed Sakura with an insulted look, "Oh come on Forehead, I have a mindreader jutsu, I've known what you've been up to this entire past month. You're putting a genjutsu on Naruto every night so he dreams about you and him together!"
"Not so loud Pig!" Sakura hissed. "And to answer your earlier question… it's none of your business!"
"Fine" Ino huffed. "But seriously Sakura, you've been at it for a month now. Isn't it about time you stop this and tell him the truth?"
"I'm working on it Ino, I think I'll tell him soon. I just need the right moment to present itself." As the words left the pink-haired kunoichi's mouth, a blush enveloped her face matching her vibrant hair.
Ino opened her mouth to retort as they reached the hospital's doors.
"Oh look, we're here! Well, no more time for idle chit chat pig, time for work!" Sakura sped away from the Ino inquisition.
"Coward…" Ino muttered after her best friend.
"WHAT?" a familiar voice shouted somewhere in the streets stirring Naruto Uzumaki from his peaceful slumber. A gentle breeze greeted him and light was pouring through his open window. As had been the case for the entire past month, the window was mysteriously open even though he could've sworn he shut it. He would have to figure out what the hell was wrong with his window before winter came...
As he swung out of bed, memories of his dream last night swarmed in front of him.
"Soon, soon I'll be able to tell you the truth Naruto. Soon you won't have to suffer anymore."
Normally the jinchuriki would write those words off as wishful thinking from his subconscious manifesting itself in his dreams, but for the past month he's been having similar dreams, where Sakura always is telling him she loves him. Him, Naruto Uzumaki, not Sasuke Uchiha. Maybe kami was trying to send a sign.
Now that I think about it, Sakura has been acting much nicer to me ever since we got back from Iron Country. I originally wrote it off as part gratitude for me keeping some sliver of hope alive for Team 7 re-uniting and part her feeling guilty about accidentally poisoning me. But with these dreams… maybe I do have a shot!
Naruto's features turned upwards into a grin at the thought. He cautiously allowed himself to hope just a little bit that Sakura could be his Sakura-chan yet.
But a small sliver of hope isn't enough.
I need to see if there is something to these dreams, I haven't asked Sakura-chan on a date since we got back from Iron Country… It's settled then! I'm going to ask Sakura-chan if she wants to get ramen with me believe it!
As this thought passed through the blonde's brain he struck a nice guy pose for no one in particular. After 30 seconds of holding the pose, Naruto realized what exactly he was doing.
Maybe I've been hanging out with Bushy Brows too much…
Sasuke didn't see the point of following Sakura into the hospital, it would be harder to stay hidden in there anyways. He could just make Sakura walk up to his former "brother" and stomp on his heart, but that wouldn't be good enough to completely break Naruto. The avenger knew he needed the right moment to strike, he needed to wait for a moment when the jinchuriki lowered the guard to his heart and would be truly vulnerable to his favorite cherry blossom. Only then would Naruto be broken enough where he could take him to the Akatsuki without a fight.
The "last" Uchiha really needed this moment to arrive soon though. Being back in the village where he grew up, he couldn't help but reminisce on his younger days. The time spent in the academy, his time as a member of team seven. He had truly enjoyed those days, and the longer he reflected back on them, the more his resolve to destroy Konoha and its people wavered.
But he could not let this happen. He is Sasuke Uchiha, top of the famous Rookie 9, the avenger. Konoha slaughtered his mother, father, his clan. Konoha forced him to kill his own brother. No, Sasuke could not waver. Konoha deserved death, the Uchiha deserved vengeance.
That dobe is probably training. I should go spy on him a little with my free time. This plan will certainly work, but if for some reason it doesn't, it won't hurt to see just how much the dobe has improved during our time apart.
"KUCHIYOSU NO JUTSU!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his palm into the ground creating a familiar poof of smoke.
"Naruto-chan? What is it?" Fukusaku, the great sage toad inquired.
"Ne Geezer sage, I'm going to train to take in nature chakra as I move some more."
"It's not possible Naruto-chan! And why would you train for that here when we could just summon you to Mount Myoboku where gathering nature chakra would be easier?"
"My fight with Sasuke will be here, in Konoha. So I need to make sure I can do it here."
With that, Naruto took off and instantly began drawing in nature chakra with Fukusaku close behind bopping the jinchuriki on the head with his stick whenever he began exhibiting a toad-like appearance.
Much to Fukusaku's shock, Jiraiya's apprentice began to show signs of entering sage mode while moving. He was nowhere near the level where he could maintain sage mode continuously, but he may be able to extend the duration of his sage mode with this training.
The more I see of Naruto-chan, the more I am convinced, he truly is the child of prophecy.
Fukusaku was surprised at Naruto's demeanor. Normally the boy would be ecstatic from his progress, but the first time he started to enter sage mode a frown appeared on his face and stayed there.
After two hours, an exhausted Fukusaku dismissed himself back to Mount Myoboku, leaving a still frowning Naruto with a few words of encouragement.
"You did well today Naruto-chan! Summon me again tomorrow and we'll continue this training." And with that, the "Geezer Toad Sage" poofed away.
The future Hokage didn't seem to hear this though, he couldn't shake it. That chakra signature he felt when he started entering sage mode, was one he would always recognize…
Sasuke….
The jinchuriki sat down in a meditative position and entered sage mode, scanning each and every chakra signature in Konoha…
Sasuke was slightly confused as he watched Naruto getting chased by a small toad continuously getting beat on the head with a stick.
Hhm, just what I'd expect from the dobe.
Then he saw it, Naruto's eyes. They started to take on a toad-like look as what looked like yellow eye-liner seemed to surround them. As soon as this happened, the grin that was on his former teammate's face was replaced with a small frown.
"SHIT!" Sasuke gasped.
FLASHBACK
"WHAT? That dobe beat Pain? How?" Sasuke all but yelled at Madara. How the hell could a deadlast like Naruto beat someone as powerful as Pain? Pain would even give HIM a run for his money. It just doesn't make sense that Naruto would be on the same level of power as Sasuke. Sasuke is an UCHIHA, Naruto is the dobe.
"He mastered sage jutsu, like his teacher, Jiraiya. With sage jutsu he was able to beat all six of Pain's bodies before convincing Nagato to revive the people of Konoha."
Sasuke just stood there shocked, he couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't know much about this sage jutsu, but if it made Naruto strong enough to defeat Pain then it had to be a very powerful jutsu.
"Since you're eventually going to be fighting the Kyubi Jinchuriki I think it would be good for you to know just what sage jutsu is, and what a sage is capable of." Madara continued, snapping Sasuke out of his shock.
"A sage can take in the nature chakra surrounding them and blend it with their own chakra giving them greatly-increased strength and access to very powerful senjutsu. And since a sage is so in tune with nature, when they are in sage mode they are unrivaled in their abilities to sense the chakras of not just ninjas, but ordinary civilians as well."
FLASH IN
Sasuke swore to himself as he masked his chakra presence so it was non-existent to the outside world. He couldn't have Naruto discovering him yet…
Tsunda Senju, the Gondaime Hokage, stared longingly out the window wishing she could be out there on this beautiful day instead of being stuck inside her office doing paperwork. Paperwork… bane of all Hokages. Really, whoever invented paperwork was obviously an undercover assassin who put paperwork in place hoping that the Hokages would off themselves in frustration of the never-ending stream…
"Baa-chan." came the greeting of an oddly quiet Naruto as he leapt into her office through the window.
Hah, now he's using the window just like Jiraiya. Like master like apprentice I suppose. Tsunade mused with a small smile on her face. She quickly erased her smile, shinobi were supposed to enter the Hokage's office AFTER knocking on the door. They couldn't just come and go as they please through her window!
"NARUTO! Use the door!" she tried to say in a voice she hoped sounded annoyed and threatening.
"Sorry Baa-chan. But this is important. Earlier I was working on improving my sage mode with geezer sage, and as I began to enter sage mode, I sensed Sasuke's chakra signature, but it quickly disappeared. After I was done training I entered sage mode completely but I couldn't find him anywhere near Konoha. I don't think he would be able to mask his chakra well enough to escape detection from me in sage mode, so for now I think it's safe to assume he was briefly in Konoha."
"This is troubling news. Very well, I shall inform Anbu and have them search for any sign that Sasuke was in Konoha. "ANBU!" Tsunade barked out. Instantly a woman in an Anbu uniform with a cat mask appeared out of nowhere.
"Hai Hokage-sama?"
"We have reason to believe that Sasuke Uchiha was recently in Konoha, you are to search for any signs or clues that confirm this. DISMISSED!"
"Hai Hokage-sama!" and with that, the cat-masked Anbu disappeared.
"Oh by the way Naruto," the Hokage said with a smirk on her face. "It's almost Sakura's lunch break, you should go eat lunch with her while you're here."
"Err… hai Baa-chan. Thanks for the info." Naruto responded as a blush adorned his cheeks and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
Should I tell Sakura-chan about Sasuke? Naruto asked himself, walking down the hallways connecting the Hokage tower to the hospital. Maybe I should, but if this all turns out to be nothing then I would just be getting her hopes up for no apparent reason. No, I'll wait until the Anbu investigation is over.
"Hey Ino, do you know where Sakura is?" Naruto asked as the blonde bombshell came into view.
Ino's lips turned upwards into a smirk, "Oh Naruto! Sure, just head down the hall there, first door on your left. She's using an empty room to get caught up on some paperwork.
The jinchuriki did not miss Ino's smirk. First Sakura-chan's really nice to me, then the dreams, then today Baa-chan had a smirk when she told me to get lunch with Sakura, and now Ino's smirking. Things are looking good for Naruto Uzumaki, BELIEVE IT!
"Ummm…. Naruto? What are you doing?" asked his favorite kunoichi as sweat dropped down her pink-haired head.
CRAP! I really do hang out with Bushy Brows too much…
Sakura just could not catch a break when it came to hospital work. After the hell that she miraculously survived that was yesterday, today she was met with mounds of paperwork that she didn't have time to get to while healing practically every damn shinobi in Konoha.
Perched on an unoccupied bed in an empty patient's room, she was trying to keep herself from screaming at the top of her lungs, pulling her hair out, lighting all of the paperwork on fire, then dancing around it while shouting "SHANAROO!" at the top of her lungs…
Hearing the door open, she turned her head and instantly her face lit up.
Well my day just got a lot better! She thought with a smile on her face. That smile was replaced with an awkward one quickly though as a sweat drop fell down her pink-haired head.
"Ummm… Naruto? What are you doing?"
"Nani? OH!" Naruto quickly dropped out of his nice guy pose and threw his hands behind his head in his typical fashion. Sakura thought he looked so cute when he did that.
"Umm… hey Sakura-chan. I was just in the neighborhood and wondered if you wanted to get some lunch?"
Yep, this day just got a lot better. Sakura beamed. "Of course Naruto! But we're going to have to go to the hospital cafeteria, and you're not allowed to eat ramen!"
Sakura nearly busted out laughing as Naruto's face dropped. Smiling at him she saw the look of surprise on his whiskered face and felt him stiffen up as she looped her arm around his.
"Ok, fine. You can have ONE bowl of ramen and that's it. But you have to eat something healthy as well. You need to eat more than just ramen if you want to live a long full life!" she scolded. That did the trick, Naruto completely forgot about her looping their arms together.
"YOSH! YOU GOT IT SAKURA-CHAN!" he yelled at the top of his lungs with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"Damnit Naruto, this is a hospital. Keep your voice down." Sakura playfully scolded, with a smile that never left her face.
"Ne, sorry Sakura-chan…" Naruto mumbled.
"It's ok Naruto, to make up for it, you'll just have to pay for lunch!" she smiled as she placed a quick peck on his cheek.
Sakura had to steady her knucklehead a bit as he nearly fainted with a deep blush on his face.
Hahaha, it's good to know that I can get that kind of reaction out of you with just a kiss on the cheek Naruto. I can't wait to see what happens when I can finally tell you the truth.
As Sakura led the pair to the cafeteria, it was impossible to miss the soft smile that graced her beautiful face.
"Nani? OH!"
Damnit Bushy Brows! Now I'm striking up the nice guy pose for no reason around Sakura-chan! She might actually like me like I like her, now's not the time to be doing stupid poses for no apparent reason!
As he gathered up the courage to ask Sakura to lunch, he absent-mindlessly put his hands behind his back as he often does.
"Umm… hey Sakura-chan. I was just in the neighborhood and wondered if you wanted to get some lunch?"
Damnit! Very smooth Uzumaki… Naruto began preparing himself for a blow to the head, but instead had to use every ounce of willpower he had to keep the shock off his face when Sakura beamed at him.
"Of course Naruto!" Naruto was cockily laughing and giving the victory sign inside of his mind, he started to form a foxy grin. "But we're going to have to go to the hospital cafeteria, and you're not allowed to eat ramen!"
NO RAMEN? Naruto knew he should be thrilled that Sakura-chan actually said yes to a "date" with him, but ramen was his second love next to Sakura.
If I have to go without ramen to get a date with Sakura-chan, then no ramen it is. Thought the jinchuriki sadly.
"Ok, fine. You can have ONE bowl of ramen and that's it. But you have to eat something healthy as well. You need to eat more than just ramen if you want to live a long full life!" Sakura scolded.
YATTA! JUST ANOTHER ONE OF THE MANY REASONS I LOVE YOU SAKURA-CHAN! The blonde just couldn't contain his excitement.
"YOSH! YOU GOT IT SAKURA-CHAN!" he screamed out as a huge grin took over his face.
"Damnit Naruto, this is a hospital. Keep your voice down." Sakura scolded him. Missing the smile that went along with her scolding, Naruto's head dropped a little.
Damnit, I've already pissed her off…
"Ne, sorry Sakura-chan…" he mumbled.
"It's ok Naruto. To make up for it, you'll just have to pay for lunch!" Naruto nearly feinted as he felt Sakura's soft lips place themselves upon his cheek.
Sakura-chan… Sakura-chan… Sakura-chan just kissed… me?
As he let Sakura lead him to the cafeteria it was impossible to miss the soft smile that graced his whiskered face.
Ino had a smile on her face as she watched Sakura and Naruto walk to the cafeteria arm in arm.
It's about time forehead…
Much to Naruto's chagrin, the hospital cafeteria was out of ramen, and even worse Sakura made him get a large salad just like the one she chose. Naruto slowly picked at the salad trying his best to imagine it was a bowl of miso-pork ramen…
Sakura on the other hand was happily eating her salad, albeit feeling a little guilty. While she told Naruto he could have one bowl of ramen, she only told him that because she didn't think the hospital cafeteria actually sold ramen.
Noticing the ramen upon entering the cafeteria, she thanked kami her knucklehead was horrible with genjutsu, and cast a quick genjutsu over him so he wouldn't see the ramen.
Note to self, thank Kurenai-sensei later for the genjutsu training.
The lunch was a very pleasant one, the two sannin's apprentices told each other about their day. Naruto told Sakura about his sage training (leaving out the part where he briefly sensed Sasuke), and Sakura told him about the paperwork hell that had been her day.
"You should learn the kage-bunshin no jutsu Sakura-chan! Then you could fly through the paperwork. That's my plan when I become Hokage. My kage-bunshins are going to do all of the boring paper work while I go out and take all of the awesome missions protecting the village!" Naruto boasted.
"You baka! I doubt the elders will be happy with you using your kage-bunshins to do all of the paperwork, and you sure as hell won't be able to leave the village to go on dangerous missions!" Sakura scolded, smile still present on her face.
This time, Naruto caught the smile. "You're just jealous you didn't think of it first Sakura-chan!"
Sakura continued to softly smile at him. "Baka…"
Naruto returned the smile, "I'll teach you the kage-bunshin sometime Sakura-chan. BELIEVE IT!"
Sakura sweat-dropped. "Uh… Naruto?"
Kuso! Naruto swore as he once again dropped out of the nice guy pose. DAMNIT BUSHY BROWS!
Sakura once again had her arm hooked around her blonde teammate's as they walked back to the room where all the dreaded paperwork was waiting for her. She really didn't want to get back to work, hanging out with Naruto seemed like a much better plan. But unfortunately she had responsibilities and all…
Naruto walked back into the room with her, and noticed her cringe upon the mountain of paperwork.
"Ne, Sakura-chan. Let me teach you how to do the kage-bunshin real quick. You don't have to use it, but it can't hurt to know how."
Sakura smiled at this, she loved when Naruto tried to use logic to get around her stubbornness. He wasn't exactly the best at it, but it was cute to see him try nonetheless.
"Form your hands into the cross seal like this… then build up your chakra and say, "Kage-Bunshin no-Jutsu!" a Naruto clone poofed into appearance.
"Oh hi Sakura-chaaaaan!" the clone called before being immediately dispelled by Naruto.
"Just be careful Sakura-chan, you don't have the chakra capacity to use kage bunshins in battle so don't make more than two, ok?"
"Hai Naruto" she smiled.
Naruto smiled at her and turned to walk out the door.
"Naruto?"
"Yes Sakura-chan?"
"I get off work in 5 hours, would you mind picking me up?"
"Of course Sakura-chan!"
A smiling Sakura wrapped her arms around the jinchuriki as she planted another quick peck on his cheek before returning to her paperwork.
Her smile only grew as she saw the giant foxy grin that was plastered on her knucklehead's face as he walked out of the room.
Once she was sure he was out of the room and out of earshot, she formed that familiar cross sign.
"Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" and two Sakura clones popped into existence, immediately starting on the paperwork mountain.
Today isn't going to be such a bad day after all.
Konoha's number one ninja at surprising people was on cloud nine as he headed to the training grounds from the Konoha hospital.
Sakura-chan kissed me… TWICE! Sure they were just kisses on the cheek, but still, TWICE! YATTA! And she kept her arm looped around mine while we walked! Dear Kami, thank you for those dreams you've been giving me this past month!
Even though Naruto didn't get to eat ramen for lunch, Naruto Uzumaki would still remember it as the best lunch ever.
Four hours later an exhausted Naruto sat amongst more rasengan craters than he cared to count. He smiled,
My new rasengan is almost complete. You won't expect this teme.
Looking at the time, the jinchuriki dragged himself up and ran off to his apartment so he could grab a shower before picking Sakura up from work.
DAMNIT NARUTO cursed Sasuke Uchiha as he hid from more Anbus. He saw Naruto head to the training grounds again, and heard a lot of explosions. But thanks to the dobe, Anbu were out in force looking for him which prevented him from being able to stay in the same place for more than a couple of minutes.
"Hokage-sama!"
"Have you finished your investigation?" the Slug Sannin asked the Anbu in a cat mask.
"Hai! If Sasuke Uchiha was in Konoha he left no traces."
"Understood, dismissed."
Tsunade was a little surprised, she expected Anbu to find something. She trusted Naruto 100%, so if Naruto said that Uchiha brat was in Konoha, then that Uchiha brat was surely in Konoha. The fact that there was no trace of him worried her.
Why do I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen soon… The hokage grabbed the bridge of her nose as she leaned back in the chair before pulling out a bottle of sake.
I'm probably going to need this….
Even with the kage-bunshin's help, the paperwork mountain took up the rest of Sakura's day. While exhausted, she remembered that her knucklehead was waiting to pick her up and walk her home.
What a great day today is.
Her exhausted features lit up into a smile as she spotted the spiky blonde hair and the vibrant sapphire eyes of her love. She immediately hooked her arm around his and let her weariness show as she leaned into him.
"Long day, eh Sakura-chan?" he chuckled.
"Yea, but it's all better now." she smiled, which in turn caused the jinchuriki to smile as well.
As the two walked the streets toward her apartment, Naruto gushed about his new rasengan.
"It's so great Sakura-chan! It's not as powerful as my futon rasen-shuriken, but I can use this one when I'm not in sage mode without hurting myself. And it's still very powerful! Just wait till you see it, you're gonna be so impressed. BELIEVE IT!"
Sakura-sweat dropped. "Naruto, you gotta stop hanging out with Lee and Gai…"
Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he dropped his nice guy pose for the umpteenth time in the day.
"I think you're right Sakura-chan. Hehehe"
Arriving at Sakura's doorstep, the kunoichi did not want to leave her blonde just yet, and a plan formed in her head.
"Say Naruto?"
"Ya Sakura-chan?"
"It's still early, why don't you come in and wait for me to shower and get changed, then we can go catch a movie and maybe Ichiraku's after that?" (Sakura's guilt into tricking Naruto into not eating his favorite food had only grown as the day went on.)
"That sounds great Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as calmly as he could while doing back flips in celebration inside his mind.
Konoha's cherry blossom gave him a smile, "Great!"
As the two made their way into her apartment, Naruto plopped down on her couch and Sakura headed to her bathroom.
"Oh and Naruto?"
"Yes Sakura-chan?"
"If I get wind that you're even thinking about peeking on me while I'm in the shower, I'm going to pound you so hard you'll find yourself wishing you got hit by five futon rasenshurikens instead." she cooed with an overly sweet tone.
It was Naruto's turn to sweat drop.
"Yes Sakura-chan…" he squeaked out with a look of absolute terror on his face.
Sakura sighed as she felt the hot water splash her skin. Truth be told, she wouldn't mind Naruto peaking on her, if all goes well he would certainly be seeing her like this soon. But she just couldn't resist scaring the poor blonde, it was just too fun!
As the water took the stress of the day away from her body she started planning the rest of the night.
I'm going to tell him tonight. I'm going to tell him that I actually do love him. But where? We could see a romantic movie, and I could wait till the climatic scene to kiss him and tell him. But that's not really Naruto's style.
I should probably do it after the baka has stuffed himself full of Ichiraku's, that would probably make for the best memory for Naruto. He gets to stuff himself on ramen and the girl that he's been chasing for almost his entire life returns his feelings.
Sakura smiled,
Today has been a good day, but tonight is going to be even better.
Happy could barely describe Naruto's mood as he sat on Sakura's soft maroon colored couch.
This must be what heaven is like, this entire place smells exactly like Sakura-chan.
Sakura had been in the shower for a while. He WAS tempted to peek in on her, but it wasn't worth the beating that Sakura-chan promised him. Not that he would realistically want to take advantage of his favorite cherry blossom like that anyways.
Besides, Naruto's face set into a smile that was very similar to the lecherous smiles of his departed master, with the way today has been going I might be seeing Sakura-chan like that sooner than later.
As Naruto laid his head on one of Sakura's pillows, it struck him how exhausted he was from training earlier. His exhaustion coupled with Sakura's amazing scent that was infiltrating his nose from the pillow lulled him to a peaceful sleep.
Sakura was a little surprised and slightly disappointed when Naruto made no attempts to peak on her while she showered. She took an extra long shower to give him more time to act. Walking out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel she sashayed near the couch and smiled at the sight.
Her knucklehead had fallen asleep on with the cutest smile on his face. She smiled and absent mindedly ran her fingers through his spiky hair. She wanted to wake him up, but the movie she wanted to see didn't start for another 50 minutes anyway, and she only lived five minutes away from the movie theater.
She couldn't resist. She kissed him softly on his forehead as she placed a hand on his head, then whispered in his ear, "Yume-no Sakura Jutsu." his smile only grew as he continued to sleep.
After getting changed into her room, Sakura came out in a fresh change of her regular attire (afterall, Naruto was still in his same jumpsuit, she didn't want to out dress him), she returned to the couch and laid Naruto's head in her lap as she stroked his hair.
Naruto's head lay in Sakura's lap, as she ran her fingers through his hair smiling down at him. He was entranced by her beautiful emerald eyes. As he continued to stare, Naruto decided that Sakura was officially an angel sent down to Earth. That was the only way to explain her beauty.
"I love you Naruto." she smiled at him.
"I love you too Sakura-chan." He returned with the most genuine smile he had ever used.
As Naruto came to, he felt his head on something soft, and someone was running their fingers through his hair. When he opened his eyes, he gasped.
This is just like the dream I was just having!
"So… beautiful" the words slipped from his mouth before he woke up enough to realize what was going on.
Sakura giggled. "Thanks Naruto, you're pretty handsome yourself. Now get up, the movie starts in ten minutes! You don't want to be late to our first date do you?"
As Naruto heard the words leave her angelic mouth he had to fight back tears of joy.
"No way Sakura-chan! Let's go!"
And with that, the happy couple headed out on their first official date.
Neither would ever see the cruel smirk that passed across the lips from of their former teammate.
This is perfect. All three original members of Team 7 thought at the same time.
Whew, 5,232 words and 14 pages! Now that's more like it! I hope you enjoyed the fluffy cute happy NaruSaku because an angst storm is a brewin' the next chapter. If you're wondering how Sasuke was able to spy on Naruto and Sakura, the Anbu investigation is already off. Every single Anbu in Konoha took part in it for a good 5 hours or so, which would help speed the process along.
I probably won't be able to get another update until sometime next week, but in case you haven't figured it out yet, SPOILER ALERT, the reason behind this story's title is about to become apparent in the next chapter.