This chapter is dedicated to my "special little someone" who died in the hospital March 4th 2011: RIP
Lucky Charm
by EikoDoll
Chapter Eight: Teenage Drama
"Then I guess this means we're back on." Sasuke slyly wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulder.
She gently pushed his arm away.
"No. We're not." Sakura quietly told him.
"..."
Sasuke was in a state of shock; the only response he could conceive was merely gaping at her.
"I'm pretending to date Naruto." she explained. "But I'm not trying to make you jealous."
The Uchiha prodigy balled his fists angrily. "Then why else would you pretend to date that loser?"
Sakura felt as though her heart had been pierced. It offended her greatly when people insulted Naruto. "Don't call him that."
Sasuke scoffed.
"I'm serious, Sasuke. He's my friend."
"Does it look like I give a fuck?" he glared dangerously at her. "Just tell me this: why are you pretending to date him?"
Sakura looked away from his dark, enraged eyes.
"I can't tell you."
Neither of them spoke for a while after that, so Sasuke silently spent this moment collecting his cool.
The students (and Iruka) were still pressing their faces against the window,
obviously not very good at the eavesdropping thing...
"Fine." Sasuke ran a hand through his silky, raven locks. "Will you at least answer one question for me?"
Inwardly sighing, Sakura gave him a weary nod.
This was the first time she's ever seen Sasuke look so...human.
Real human emotions.
"Do you have feelings for him?"
"..."
Sakura felt like her heart was going to explode out of her chest!
Feelings for Naruto? The biggest so called 'loser' of Konohagakure high school?
Well, that was an easy question.
"Of course."
Sasuke didn't know much about emotions or feelings, but he knew Sakura genuinely meant that from her heart.
"Nothing is ever going to happen between us, Sasuke." she truthfully told him. "Because I really like Naruto..."
She couldn't help but smile.
"...and I don't want to pretend with him anymore."
Huh.
That hurt him more than he thought it would.
Sasuke stared down at her with resentment in his eyes. And not necessarily for her,
but for Naruto Uzumaki.
Without saying a word, he turned around and walked away. A few seconds after, Sakura walked away in the opposite direction.
"H-Hey!" Iruka's body quickly came flying out of the door. "Class isn't over yet!"
He angrily (and desperately) called out to Sasuke and Sakura.
"I HATE TEENAGERS!"
It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, and the perfect time to eat lunch with his favorite girl.
Ahem.
She is the only girl he knows.
And well, there's Ino, Hinata, and Tenten, but..
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that label. His favorite girl.
Naruto sat at the usual table, already finishing his lunch before he even got there. He saw his favorite girl at a distance, beaming at him when she caught sight of him.
"Hey, Naruto!"
"Sakura!" he drooled a river seeing how full her plate was. "You gonna eat that?" he eyed her fried chicken.
She immediately narrowed her eyes. "Yes." she grabbed the chicken and began devouring it.
Naruto gaped stupidly.
And he thought Ino was the pig...
Sakura Haruno obviously has many flaws; one of them being her sheer unwillingness to share.
"So..." she teasingly dangled the chicken skin in front of Naruto and stuffed it into her mouth. "...my grades are slowly improving."
Naruto ignored her cruel taunts and licked whatever substance of food left on his plate. "Congrats. Does this mean baa-chan will give you your car back? 'Cause I can't wait to get a ride to school for once." he said with excitement.
"No, unfortunately." Sakura sighed. "I still have a loooong way to go - oh hey, there's Hinata. HINATA!" she waved at her purple haired friend.
Hinata stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her best friend...
and then Naruto, who grinned cheerfully at her.
She hastily turned around and walked out of the cafeteria.
...
Sakura dropped her hand and fell into her seat. "That was weird."
Weird indeed.
"Yeah. What's up with her?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "In fact, what's up with all of them?" he crossed his arms, deep in thought.
"All of them?"
"You didn't notice? They've been avoiding us for a week!" he exclaimed in absolute confusion.
Wow.
Sakura hadn't noticed at all.
"I wonder why." she picked at her mash potatoes, not even bothering to eat it (which irritated Naruto to the ends of earth!)
"Are you gonna eat that?"
Sakura glared at him.
She shoved all of the mash into her mouth.
Walking alone in an empty hall, Hinata finally came to a halt and leaned breathlessly against the lockers.
"It isn't easy, it it?"
Hinata jumped in alarm.
She saw Ino and Tenten looking at her with sympathy in their eyes.
"Tenten." Hinata frowned. "I know you told us to go on as if everything is normal, but..."
Tenten nodded in frustration. "I know. I can't either."
"At least not around him." Ino sighed.
"We can't ignore them forever." reminded Hinata.
"Should we just suck it up and go in the cafeteria then?" suggested Ino.
All of a sudden, her stomach made a loud, growling noise that might as well have been heard within a one mile radius.
The silence discomforted Ino. "Because I'm hungry." she bashfully retorted.
With an irritated sigh, Naruto leaned against the palm of his hand and watched enviously as Sakura slowly took her time eating the rest of her lunch.
"Here." Sakura threw him an apple (she had already taken a bite out of).
He caught it with ease and a small glint of joy shined in his eyes. "I didn't know you were capable of sharing." Naruto happily chomped on the half eaten apple.
Sakura shrugged. "Your patheticness got to me."
Naruto swallowed greedily. "So Satan does have a heart." he grinned.
"You know what, gimme my apple back." she reached in for Naruto as he quickly evaded her, laughing mischievously.
"Ahem."
A little peeved by the interruption, Sakura turned around and saw three girls standing uncomfortably near her.
Naruto blinked. "Oh, hey guys."
"Hi." started Hinata. "Can we sit here?"
Naruto gave her an odd look. "Do you even need to ask?"
"Yeah, what's with all the weirdness? Everything was fine a week ago, and apparently you guys have been avoiding us since then." Sakura complained, eying her friends in suspicion.
Hinata, Ino, and Tenten looked at each other for a brief moment.
"We just think you two need time to yourselves." the brunette quickly explained, in lies!
"Yeeeaaah. You know? Couples need their space." Ino added, quite knowledgeably. "I had to remind Tenten because she obviously wouldn't know anything about this sort of thing."
Tenten restrained herself from retorting with a crude comeback.
"I guess that makes sense." Naruto mentally scratched his head, not really understanding anything at all. He threw Sakura a puzzled expression which she returned.
Casting aside their unusual circumstance, the three girls took a seat around the table and tried to act normal.
"Lunch ends in five minutes." Sakura casually checked her watch. "So what's the gossip?" she rubbed his hands together, revealing a frolicsome spark in her eye.
When Ino realized her pink haired friend was looking at her for answers, she froze. "Oh. Erm. I don't know." she shrugged in honesty.
Sakura's shoulders slumped with disappointment.
Ino was quite disappointed with herself as well. It's been a week; how could she not have gossip to share?
Even Hinata looked surprised.
Well, Ino had to think of something. "Uhh. Tenten is bisexual." she shrugged.
The brunette bi glared sharply at her soon-to-be-dead friend.
Sakura gasped. "Really? Since when?"
Saving her rage for later, Tenten turned to Sakura. "I thought you knew. I mean, I was into Sasuke, remember?"
Naruto nearly choked. "I hate that guy!"
Sakura scoffed at her friend. "You were obviously trying to hide the fact that you were a lesbian."
Hinata threw Tenten an 'I told you so' look, which Tenten in return threw Hinata a 'Shaddap' look.
"So who's the guy?" Sakura tore up a piece of bread and tossed it in her mouth.
Hinata and Ino looked away, staring at random objects.
"Well, I've actually just discovered my sexuality recently." Tenten blushed. Catching herself staring at Naruto, she mentally kicked herself. "It's really no one special."
"It has to be someone special!" Sakura said in excitement. "Whoever caught your 'former lesbian eye' must be really awesome."
Her face began to heat up purposely ignoring any eye contact with that 'special' someone.
"Oh, leave her alone, Sakura. It's obvious she's fallen for Edward Cullen just like the rest of us." said Ino in a pretend dreamy state.
"It's inevitable." said Sakura in a real dreamy state.
Tenten sighed gratefully. She secretly gave her blonde friend a 'Thank you, Ino. You saved my ass' look.
Ino threw her a 'I know, your ass owes me' look.
Tenten glared and threw her a 'Owe you what?' look.
Ino's face beamed in superiority and threw Tenten a 'Something so super awesome, that even you won't be able to handle it' look.
Tenten fumed and threw her a 'What about the time you peed your pants in the sixth grade and I ran all the way home just to get another pair for you?' look.
Ino threw her a 'Oh, right. I forgot about that.' look.
Hinata threw both of them a 'Will you two shut up?' look.
Sakura threw all of them a 'What the hell are you guys talking about?' look.
In the meantime, Naruto sat quietly in the background watching everyone throw looks at each other in silence. He threw a 'I wonder what bisexual means? This is the second time Tenten brought it up; it must be something really cool. I better look it up when I go home.' look...
...apparently at himself.
Ah, Monday evening.
Naruto fell sluggishly on the couch and ran a hand through his smooth, blond hair.
It was the best feeling in the world knowing he could finally catch a break from school, work, and most importantly,
Sakura.
Well, truthfully, he didn't mind Sakura. He recently discovered the mere presence of her actually brightened his day. In fact, another thought occurred to him that tightened his gut in response.
He already missed her.
It's only been four hours since he's seen her, and he misses her!
Naruto tried to shake those outrageous thoughts away and closed his eyes to concentrate on other things.
Homework?
Psh. Yeah right.
KNOCK KNOCK
Immediately throwing himself up (and knocking down his lamp in the process), Naruto panicked when the color pink flashed through his eyes; his smile widened without even realizing it. The only person to ever knock on his door was Sakura,
and the landlord,
in which case he would have to pretend he's sleeping.
KNOCK KNOCK
Oh, what the hell.
Naruto hastily got on his feet, stumbling across the room to get to the door. As soon as he opened it, his face fell.
He wasn't expecting to see some huge, old guy with white hair and a perverted smile.
"Hiya!"
Naruto immediately closed the door in the old man's face.
"Hey!"
A few seconds later, Naruto sighed and opened the door again.
The 'old guy' frowned with both hands set firmly on his hips. "'Oh, hi, Ero-sennin! It's been so long. How are you? Come in. Want some porn?' is what your initial response should have been!" he threw his arms in the air and walked haughtily inside as Naruto moved aside. "Kids will break your heart." he grumbled all the way in.
"Why are you here?"
"Obviously not for the warm welcome. I missed my home town!"
"So how long are you sticking around this time?" Naruto crossed his arms.
Ero-Sennin, also commonly known as Jiraiya, made himself comfortable on the sofa and carefully examined the room. "I was thinking forever."
Naruto's face softened. "You're joking right?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "I told you I would retire someday. Someday just so happens to be today."
A small part of Naruto still didn't quite believe what he was hearing. Still, this was a very nice surprise.
"Are you seriously living in this dump?" Jiraiya completed the examining process.
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"What happened to all the money I gave you? You should be living in a penthouse!" he bellowed.
"I spent it on hardcore porn and strippers."
Jiraiya looked pleasantly surprised. "Really?" he beamed proudly.
"I'm just pullin' your chain, old man! I anonymously gave it away to the animal shelter down the street."
Naruto raised an amused eyebrow witnessing Jiraiya's eccentric change of expression.
"What the shizzle-!"
"They seem to really need it." Naruto shrugged sheepishly when he saw the demented look on Jiraiya's face. "Besides, the rent here is reasonable and I'm a part time worker at Ichiraku Ramen. So life is pretty good."
After muttering a few incoherent complaints under his breath, Jiraiya sighed in defeat. "Whatever makes you happy, I guess."
All that money...gone. And not even on naked chicks. Damn kids really will break your heart!
"Thanks, Ero-sennin."
"Yeah, yeah. Enough with the sentiments." he said grumpily. "Seriously, where's the porn?"
"I don't have any!"
"Don't lie to me, boy!" Jiraiya hastily got up and began the treasure hunt. "Ah ha! The bedroom. Ohohoho..." he disappeared in Naruto's room.
Naruto sighed and leaned against the wall.
So the old man is back for good?
Haha! A good test subject to pull pranks on. Naruto grinned in mischief.
KNOCK KNOCK
With thoughts of Jiraiya moving back to Konoha, Naruto was slightly inclined to think of anything other than that. And that's a mistake he'll always regret.
When he opened the door, a pink blur walked passed him and into the mess of his living room.
"Gross. A pig wouldn't live here." the 'pink blur' kicked away the mounds of trash on the floor along with dirty clothes and bowls that smelled of ramen.
"S-Sakura!" Naruto nearly fell. "What are you doing here!"
Sakura glowered at him. "I told you before: I'm sleeping over tonight because Tsunade's got a ton of work to do at school and she won't be able to come home. I'll be home alone...like the movie."
"You didn't tell me that!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh." she smiled deviously and happily kicked aside every single entity that blocked her way.
"Oh? OH? Do you have any idea what kind of pervert is here right now? - okay, get out." Naruto forcibly lead her to the door.
"No, why?"
"Just get out!" He shouted apprehensively.
Sakura threw him an offended look. "Excuse me?"
"Hurry before it's too late!" he struggled to shove her out as she grabbed the frame of the doorway.
"Why are you acting weirder than usual!" Sakura exclaimed.
"No time to explain-!"
"Naruto, where the hell is all the goshdarn porn in this - " Jiraiya immediately stopped when he saw both Naruto and the image of a pink haired goddess...wrestling. "Ohoho!" he threw Sakura a perverted wink. "How YOU doing?"
Sakura gaped stupidly at the old man.
"Naruto, you were holding out on me!" he quickly went to Naruto's side and nudged him with an extremely proud look in his eye. "You're just like me now."
Sakura watched Naruto literally fall to his knees when the white haired man said that.
"Don't be rude, you little brat. Introduce me!" Jiraiya wriggled his eyebrows at Sakura.
She coughed nervously and tried to think of ways to get pass the man without touching him. "I think I better go home now- "
"Nonsense! Let's make this a slumber party." the white haired man eyed her body up and down. "By the way, how old are you?"
Sakura was reluctant to say. "I just turned eighteen today."
Naruto blinked in surprise.
"Ah, legal." Jiraiya thanked the heavens.
"Okay, see ya." Sakura hurriedly made a move to walk out the door.
"Wait a minute." Naruto grabbed one of her shoulders, keeping her from anxiously getting away from the weird, old guy. "Why didn't you tell me today's your birthday?" he frowned at her.
"Um, I was going to surprise you, but now I want to leave." she looked at Jiraiya nervously as he undressed her with his eyes.
"Surprise me?"
"Yeah. I tell you it's my birthday, and you do whatever I want for the few hours I have you. Surprise!"
Naruto should have known it was going to be like that.
"Buuuut, we'll continue tomorrow." she laughed sheepishly and attempted to make a break for it as soon as Naruto's hand left her shoulder.
Creepy old guys freak her out.
"I KNEW YOU'D BE HERE!" another very familiar voice approached Naruto's door.
What the-
Everyone looked to see a busty, blonde, middle aged woman about ready to tear apart anything or anyone that got in her way.
"Where the fuck are all these people coming from!" Naruto mentally screamed.
"TSUNADE!" Sakura and Jiraiya simultaneously exclaimed in aghast horror, jumping at the sound of the woman's voice.
They looked at each other in bewilderment, then at Tsunade, and back to each other.
"You know Tsunade?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"What does Tsunade want with you?" Jiraiya raised an equally curious brow.
"It looks like she's here to kill me. You?"
"Same here, I think."
"Who gives a shit about that!" Naruto shouted angrily. "You guys ruined my ramen pyramid!" he watched in devastation as his pyramid of ramen bowls collapsed to the ground the moment Sakura and Jiraiya simultaneously jumped.
When Tsunade angrily stomped into the room, Jiraiya and Sakura backed away together in fear.
"I don't know what happened the last time we saw each other, but just remember I was horny, deranged and stupid." the white haired man pleaded for his life.
"All of which you are today." Naruto added loudly.
"Don't kill me!" Jiraiya held his hands up to protect his face as Tsunade walked closer to him.
"Shut your face, jackass. This is between me and Sakura." Tsunade snapped.
Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, lord almighty." Just when he was about to let the poor girl suffer the fiery wrath of the big chested woman, he was unexpectedly aware of something. "Whoa, hold on just one minute." he interrupted just before Tsunade would scream her lungs out.
He carefully examined the teenage girl, and for the first time, in a non-perverted way.
"This is Sakura?"
Tsunade glared angrily. "Unfortunately."
"Little Sakura? The five year old bald kid who used to boss everyone around?" the old man questioned.
"That's her."
Jiraiya's entire mood dampened. "I suddenly feel like a dirty, old pedophile." he gagged.
Naruto stared at Sakura with wide eyes. "You were bald?...At five years old?"
She glared at him. "I didn't grow hair until I was six, okay."
'Wow' Naruto mouthed,
mentally pointing a finger at her and laughed.
Sakura seemed to notice the taunting glint in his eyes, and she was prepared to kill him no matter what the consequences.
For a moment, everyone stood around looking at each other in awkwardness.
"Hey, Tsunade, you were about to yell at little Sakura for no reason, right?" Jiraiya retorted unnecessarily.
Sakura once again gaped at the old pervert.
"Yes, I almost forgot. Thanks, jackass."
"You're welcome-"
"NOW WHERE WAS I-!"
"Wait!" Sakura held her hand up, indicating a stop. "Why are you mad at me? What did I do? Is this about my grades? And how did you know I'd be here?"
Tsunade narrowed her honey eyes at the innocent-looking orphan child. "I heard a little rumor going around in the teacher's lounge about your new boyfriend."
"Oh."
"That's right. And I'm here to say: WHY AM I ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW!" Tsunade threw her hands in the air.
Naruto cringed as the principal of Konohagakure high made that piercing cry. "You're mad because everyone knows but you?"
He didn't know Tsunade was so sensitive.
"Before I pound Naruto to the ground," Tsunade rubbed her aching temples. "let me ask you one thing." she turned to Sakura. "Why him?"
Her foster daughter gave her a curious look. "What's wrong with Naruto?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with me?" Naruto appeared to be offended.
Tsunade was clearly taken back. "Well...it's just..."
"I mean, I don't see a problem with this relationship. My grades are improving." said Sakura.
"And I'm coming to school everyday." added Naruto with a shrug.
"True, but-"
"So in reality, we're actually making each other...better." Sakura finished, amazed by her own statement.
Apparently, so was Naruto.
Tsunade was rendered entirely speechless. Jiraiya looked back and forth between the two young lovers.
Basking in their victory, the two teenage dreams smirked at each other.
DAMN KIDS!
"Tsuande, as always, it looks like you were angry for absolutely no reason." Jiraiya grinned charmingly. Feeling the full power of her oncoming explosive anger, he quickly pulled out several bottles of alcohol from his suitcase and presented them temptingly for Tsunade.. "How 'bout a drink?" he wriggled his eyebrows.
Jiraiya and Tsunade were all smiles and laughter after consuming a considerably large amount of alcohol, foreign to Tsunade's taste, yet very tasty.
"Hit me, baby! One more time!" Tsunade lifted her glass as Jiraiya anxiously poured in the contents from across the table.
All the while, Sakura and Naruto remained stiff in a sitting position between the two supposedly 'honorable high school principal' and 'critically acclaimed author of many novels'. Together, the two teenagers sipped on a cup of tea as they watched (unamused) as their drunk guardians flirted and screamed at each other.
"I love you, Tsunade-pooh-bear!"
"I hate you, jackass!" Jiraiya filled Tsunade's cup with more alcohol, and her face lit up. "Nah, I love you, too." she barked with laughter.
"Hey, remember when we got married in Vegas?" Jiraiya giggled.
Naruto choked on his tea.
Tsunade laughed. "That reminds me: we still haven't officially divorced yet."
Sakura choked on her tea.
The two 'siblings' looked at each other with wide and severely traumatized eyes.
"You know, we don't have to get divorced." Jiraiya shrugged, seemingly in a drunken trance.
Tsunade seemed to be caught in the same trance. "Okay." she shrugged. "Hit me again, baby!" she raised her glass.
"You guys are fucking married!" Naruto gripped his guardian's shoulders and shook him.
"Yup." the man hiccuped.
"Why didn't you tell me!" Sakura exclaimed.
"He's an embarrassment." the busty woman replied dully as she let out an earsplitting burp.
Sakura looked entirely disgusted. "And you're not?"
Tsunade and Sakura watched as Jiraiya wiped his nose on Naruto's shirt.
"HEY!" the boy waved a fist at him.
It was particularly nauseating watching your drunk guardian slobber and grope an equally drunk and slobber woman, who happens to be the guardian of your pretend-girlfriend. Not to mention they were lying on each other. Knocked out. And to make matters worse...snoring.
Naruto couldn't help but watch Jiraiya's drool fall slowly onto Tsunade's face.
Ewww.
Sakura was a little more entertained than he was. She pulled out an iPhone from her back pocket and took a picture of the scene before her.
"Gold. Pure gold." she smirked.
"You really are evil." Naruto replied as if it were no surprise at all.
Sakura shrugged happily and collapsed on the floor next to the two so called grown-ups. "So where are we sleeping tonight?"
Casting her a suspicious stare, Naruto tried not to look so shaken. "We?"
"We're going to sleep together." she demanded rather than stated.
Naruto was almost at a loss for words. "I'm sleeping in my room."
"Great, then I'll-"
"Sleep on the couch." he interrupted, nodding towards the beaten, old furniture.
Sakura frowned. "You can't be serious."
"See ya!" Naruto walked quickly into his room. He hastily shut the door leaving a very irritated girl behind.
Sakura huffed angrily and sat in silence. In her head, she created a number of devious schemes involving ways to get into Naruto's bed; there was just too much to choose from.
Meanwhile, Naruto shut the door behind him in haste. Blushing profoundly, he finally understood what it was like to have mentally rabid hormones! He nearly flew into his futon and pulled the covers over his head, hoping to calm himself down.
'We're going to sleep together.'
Was she crazy or something!
Stupid question; he always knew she was insane. But still!
"Naruto?"
Ahhh, speak of the devil!
Naruto forced himself to remove the covers and stared blankly at the girl standing over him.
Sakura smirked deviously. "Your face is really red. Are you okay?"
Naruto immediately sat up. "What do you want?"
A little rude, yes. But she's the devil, who cares!
"I'm sleeping in here tonight." she casually told him.
"I-I thought..." Naruto mentally punched himself for stuttering. "I thought we agreed you were going to sleep on the couch."
Sakura sighed. "I can't."
"Can't or won't?" Naruto eyed her suspiciously.
Noticing the shy and awkward look on her face, he immediately softened.
For a brief moment, Sakura merely stood there, pondering on what to say.
"I'm afraid of the dark." she coughed nervously.
Untrue.
She secretly hoped he would be moronic enough to fall for such a lame and false excuse.
"Not to mention Tsunade and Jiraiya's snoring is terrifying me."
That statement, unfortunately, was true.
Naruto gaped. 'The princess of darkness is afraid of the dark?' he thought in solitude as he watched Sakura shift uncomfortably. 'The snoring, I understand. But the dark?'
Sakura raised her shoulders sheepishly. "...is it alright if I sleep next to you?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment. "I guess so." he flushed. "Hop in." he moved over, revealing a space especially for her.
'Success!' Sakura smiled radiantly as she made her way toward the futon with a skip in her step. She eagerly slipped into the covers and smiled brightly, mentally squealing in delight.
She should feel bad about lying. However, their relationship is based on a lie.
So she didn't.
Turning her head to see Naruto's reaction, Sakura realized his face was burning out of control. 'As it should be.' she inwardly nodded herself a job well done.
"You're sitting on my lap." said Naruto as soon as she looked at him.
Sakura looked down; indeed, she was sitting on Naruto's lap.
Blushing furiously, she muttered an apology and fell into her rightful place. The two teenagers lay themselves quietly without saying a word to each other. Staring blankly at the ceiling, Sakura wondered if it was the right time to confess her feelings. She turned her head once again and admired the view: a beautiful blond haired boy staring blankly at the ceiling just as she had, laying his hands gently behind his head. Even through darkness, she could easily see the sparkle in his bright, blue eyes.
Sakura stared in complete awe.
Naruto inwardly sighed. It would be nearly impossible to fall asleep knowing Sakura would be next door in the living room. However, with her sleeping right next to him...he'll be up all night. Looking up at the ceiling, he couldn't help but imagine...
Sakura's breasts.
He wanted to murder his thoughts! He refused to stoop to Jiraiya's level! Naruto shook his head as if all the perverted thoughts would fall out. When he finally laid his head at rest, he turned to his right to see emerald eyes staring straight into his.
His eyes widened.
Did she happen to hear his perverted thoughts? Ahhh! Perhaps he said them out loud without realizing it!
Suddenly, Sakura also appeared slightly panicked. "W-What?"
"You were looking at me-"
"So were you!"
"But...did you happen to hear...er, never mind!" he turned away, refusing to let her see his cheeks burn.
"What? Hear what!"
"Nothing!"
"Just tell me."
"No. Leave me alone." he pulled the covers over his head, unknowingly pulling it over Sakura's head as well.
Their eyes met once again and Naruto threw the sheets off in frustration.
"If you tell me what's on your mind," Sakura's eyes wandered away from him. "I'll tell you what's on mine."
Of course, there was no way in hell Naruto was going to tell her he was thinking about her breasts,
so he lied.
"Did you happen to hear..." he gulped nervously. "...about the new movie coming out this weekend?" he inwardly cringed away, hoping she won't see through him.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "No. And I don't care." she said, angrily disappointed.
Naruto sighed in relief.
"Okay, now tell me what's on your mind." he beamed at her.
"Yeah, right!" Sakura huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm not trading my juicy thoughts for your lame-ass one."
"Oh, come on!" Naruto complained, nudging her with his elbow. "I'll tell you something better next time."
"Hell to the no."
"Please?" his blue eyes sparkled.
Sakura once again stared in awe.
Damn him.
"Fine." she successfully pulled away from his gaze.
Sakura found herself constantly opening and closing her mouth, not entirely sure how to tell him her big revelation.
Why couldn't she conjure up the words? I like you, let's date for real - was all she had to say!
"I...like your shirt." she wanted to commit suicide. "And...it's real."
Nice.
Staring at her in confusion, Naruto looked down on his shirt in wonder. "Real?"
"Yeah, real." she wished someone would push her off a cliff.
He supposed the numerous food stains and tears looked pretty real to him, too. He teasingly narrowed his eyes at Sakura. "What's so juicy about that?"
She playfully nudged his shoulder.
After many minutes of silence, Sakura felt something squishy beneath her arm. She looked under her covers and stared down in surprise.
"Naruto?"
"Hm?"
"What is..." she pulled a green and brown stuffed...thing...under the covers and presented it to his face. "...this?"
She almost laughed at his widening eyes.
"Give me that!" he forcefully grabbed it out of her hand and turned his back on her.
"Was that a stuffed animal?"
"Shut up."
"What's her name?"
"It's not a stuffed animal!...and it's not a girl!"
Sakura laughed hysterically while Naruto grumbled under his breath.
"What the fuck is that thing anyway? Is it really an animal? It looks like an deformed alien or something-"
"Shaddap! It's half frog half bear! I made him myself." he whispered darkly at her teasing smirk.
No wonder it looked hideous...but in an odd way, very cute.
"So it's a bearfrog."
"His name is froggy-bear." he glared at the wall.
Sakura smiled widely. "He's adorable."
Naruto forgave her.
He lifted himself up and walked to a beaten down dresser by his closet. Sakura sat up, wondering what he was up to. When he got what he wanted, he threw what seemed like another stuffed animal in Sakura's direction. She caught it with surprise and stared down at the 'thing'.
"Happy Birthday."
"What is it?"
"Half penguin half duck. I was really into halves." he scratched his head sheepishly. "I made it for you in the first grade. Never really had the courage to give it to you then." his tiny flush made her heart pound.
She looked down at the hideously beautiful thing and hugged it preciously against her chest. "Thank you." she smiled softly at him.
Best birthday ever.
"I think I'll call her pengy-duck."
"Very funny."
On the way to their next class, Tenten and Hinata found Ino walking out the girl's bathroom in low spirits.
"Hey, Ino, what's wrong?" with genuine concern, Hinata grabbed a hold of her friend's arm.
Ino sighed. "I don't know."
Tenten gave her blonde friend a strict look. "You have to stop this, Ino. We just have to accept that Sakura and Naruto are...happily in love." she cringed at her own words. "We don't have a chance in hell, and we're not even going to think about it, okay?"
All of a sudden, Hinata's spirits began to damper as well.
"Oh, Hinata." Tenten whimpered.
"I can't help but feel..." the purple haired girl began. "...if I spoke to him first, maybe-"
"Hinata!" the brunette scolded. "How could you even - Sakura is our best friend!"
The three walked silently and somberly through the halls of Konohagakure High School.
"I'm sorry." Hinata whispered quietly.
Feeling immensely guilty, Tenten opened her mouth to apologize.
"Well, there they are." Ino whispered, nudging her head toward the 'cute couple', standing outside of Kakashi's classroom. The three girls watched longingly, hidden by the corner.
Apparently, Naruto and Sakura were unaware of their presence and this seemed to ease the girls.
"We're just going to go up there and be genuinely happy for them, alright?" Tenten commanded as a true leader should. "No more of our sulking and brooding."
"No. Of course I'm happy for Sakura." Hinata convinced herself. "She found the perfect boyfriend."
"And she deserves him." Ino couldn't take her eyes away from Naruto's face.
Tenten nodded, satisfied. "Okay, let's go and-"
"I think we should tell them we're secretly dating, Sakura. They're our friends."
Hearing those words come out of Naruto's mouth, Ino quickly pulled Tenten back in the corner.
"I know. I really want to, but..."
"You're afraid they'll tell people?"
"No."
"You don't want to share the luck, dontcha?" they watched as Naruto sighed.
"Hehe."
"You were always this selfish, weren't you?"
"So what? I need the luck more than they do; their grades are fine."
In silence, Tenten and Hinata looked at each other for a brief moment in confusion while Ino also looked confused as to how her grades were any better than Sakura's.
"I'm the one who's failing three classes-" Ino whispered.
"Shhh!" Tenten and Hinata simutaneously glared at the blonde.
"I still feel guilty, and they're acting really weird around me..." Naruto scratched his head. "Do you think they already know we're not really dating?"
Hinata covered her mouth to conceal a tiny gasp.
"I don't know." Sakura looked moderately worried, however she grasped Naruto's hand reassuringly. "But we'll talk about this later. Class is going to start any second now."
He nodded.
"Lucky kiss?" she lifted her shoulders and smiled shyly.
Naruto beamed at her.
The moment he pressed his lips against Sakura's, the three beauty queens looked away in complete and utter shock.
Secretly dating?
Lucky kiss?
They felt the intense rush of various emotions: confusion, anger, relief, happiness...
However the most dominant of them all was most definitely
anger.
Sakura has a lot of explaining to do...
A/N: I made this chapter extra long because I felt sorry for those of you who were dying to read this chapter - SORRY GUYS!