TheShamanMaster presents...

The Year Of The Dog Party

Story & Script by TheShamanMaster

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

Note: Hey guys and gals! Sorry for the late update! Been busy with school work, anime, and Kingdom Hearts 2! Here's Chapter 6 for ya! Thanks for all your reviews!

Chapter 6: Feelings For You

Naruto and Kiba parted ways afterwards. It was around 3pm. Naruto headed back across town. He was soo hyped up for the party! But too bad it was another day away though. He let out a heavy sigh. Just then, Sakura and Hinata came by. I wonder if...Naruto thought as he spotted the bags the girls were carrying. Nah. couldn't be. Naruto, stop acting like a bloody pervert all the time! I seriously been hanging around Ero-Sennin for way too long...

"Yo, Sakura-chan! Hinata-san!"

"Hey, Naruto." Sakura replied.

"Hello, Na-Naruto-kun." Hinata replied also. She went a little red. Naruto hadn't used an honorfic on her before!

Naruto smiled. "So, you whatcha been doing all day?"

Sakura swallowed. She really didn't want to spoil the surprise, so made up an excuse quickly. "We've...err...just been doing...some shopping for ourselves right, Hinata?" She quickly gave Hinata a nudge.

"Yea...Yea, that's alright." Naruto chuckled

"Okay. Say, you want two want some ramen? My treat."

Both girls looked at one another, then at Naruto.

"Sure."

"Okay, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled happily. All three headed towards Ichiraku. Elsewhere, Lee and Neji had finished their short street performance, and had gotten quite the publicity.

"Youthful comrades! Music has done it for us!" Gai said posing.

"Us? US? All you did was stand around acting like a buffoon." Neji said packing his drum kit away.

"For once, I agree with Neji." Lee muttered placing his guitar back.

Gai said something that both ninja didn't catch.

"Lee, I'll see you tomorrow. Remember, get some rest. We have quite a long day ahead of us." Neji said.

Lee nodded in agreement. "Right. See ya." Both ninja turned and went their seperate ways. Gai was left standing there. By himself.

"Crap. I was left by my youthful comrades! How have I let myself become like this!? Am I not youthful enough for these young peoples!?" He clenched his fist. "There must be something I can do! Something that will bring the youthfulness back into me! I need my thinking cap! No screw that! I need some thinking food!" Gai headed down the street to the market.

Naruto, Sakura and Hinata arrived at Ichiraku. They sat down together.

"Order whatever you want. It's on me."

"Are-are y-you sure, Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered

The blonde grinned. "Of course. Anything for the people close to me." Hinata went deep red and almost fainted.

"Hinata, you sick? You're all red."

Hinata, trying to hid her blush, replied softly: "No, no, I'm fine."

Sakura was the middle person in all this. It was like being the thorn between two roses. Or like being the hotdog between the buns. Naruto...when will you learn? She thought. A few minutes passed, and the three had ordered their food. Now, Naruto was not feeling himself at that point.

He sat there, staring at the food in the bowl. He wanted to eat it, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He picked up the sticks, but started to put them back down again. He repeated this about two or three times. He looked at Sakura for a bit. The image of the nightmare rushing came back into his head. He didn't want to lose Sakura. Not for anything.

"Damn it." He muttered quietly. His elbows hit the table, and he put his head in his hands.

"Naruto, are you feeling well?" Teuchi asked him. "You keep staring at your food and not touching. And you've always enjoyed my food. If there's something wrong, just tell me and-"

"No, no! Ossan, it's alright. Nothing's wrong. You're ramen has always been the best. I just...well..." Naruto looked like he was going to burst into tears. Both girls looked worridly at him.

"Naruto, what is it?" Sakura asked. "You're never like this. Aren't you feeling well? Should I see if I can do anything for you? Can Hinata do anything?"

Naruto looked up slightly. He stared into those soft, emerald eyes. He literally saw nothing. He saw nothing in her eyes which could cheer him up. "No." He said quietly.

"Pardon?"

"I said 'no', Sakura." He had replied without the usual honorfic attached. Sakura knew he was serious about something. He stood up and let out a hefty sigh. "I'm gonna take a walk. Enjoy yourselves." Hinata and Sakura looked in awe.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata went to get up, but Sakura stopped her.

"It's okay, Hinata. I'll handle this."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. He's been on my team for ages, so I should be able to talk to him."

Hinata frowned. "Will you tell me later if you find out please?"

"Yeah, I'll try." Sakura replied. The Hyuuga nodded, and left Sakura. She looked at Teuchi.

"Teuchi-san, I'm sorry about this."

"It's alright, Sakura-san. You go see what's wrong. Don't worry about paying me, I'll let this slide. I haven't seen Naruto like this for years. Go. See what's up." Sakura went after Naruto. The kyuubi kid was far ahead. He remembered what Kakashi had said earlier on.

Flashback

"Obito. He was exactly like you. He loved Rin, but Rin rejected his affection, and didn't realise until it was too late. She was so caught up in her feelings for me, she forgot about Obito's. He was probably the greatest friend I will ever remember. He died for both of us.

End Flashback

"Damn it." Naruto said. He heard footsteps and turned round and saw Sakura running towards him.

"Naruto, tell me. What is wrong? Please, I'm your friend. I want to help you." Her eyes started to water. She reached out to touch his arm, but he jolted forward slightly.

"Do you care?" Naruto said darkly.

Sakura was shocked at he response. "Of course I care, why-"

"No. I meant do you care what happens to me?"

"Naruto, what are you saying? Of course I do. You mean a lot to me-"

"Apparently not enough." Naruto said cutting her off. "Or are you still in love with that bastard who betrayed us? Huh?"

The kunoichi started crying. "Naruto, please don't-!"

"Please? Please what? Please bring that bastard back so you can drool all over him again and watch him ignore you for the rest of your fucking life!? All I ever heard out of you was 'Sasuke-kun this' and 'Sasuke-kun that'! What about me? When did you even care once about me, Sakura? What about my feelings? All those times I said I had feelings for you...and you ignored me! Just like the rest!" He clenched his fists, and his eys started to water.

Sakura grabbed on to him, and started to cry into his back. "Naruto. Please. That's not true...I...I...l-love you...Sasuke means nothing to me now...please...don't go...I love you...please...you mean everything to me now...I don't want to lose another person again...You're the complete opposite of him...I love you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto breathed heavily. He wanted to hit something. But no. He didn't want to show any violence and end up hurting her. He turned round, and Sakura got closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. He wrapped an arm round her waist, and used his other hand to run his fingers through her soft hair.

"Sakura-chan...I'm sorry" He muttered.

"No. I should be sorry. For the way I've treated you...I just didn't understand your pain..." She looked up at the boy. Seeing him in a different light. Sakura's hand caressed his face slightly. She leaned in slightly, and kissed him on the lips. Naruto felt her soft lips caress against his own, and kissed her back. They broke the kiss, and stared into each others eyes.

"Naruto, you won't be lonely again. I promise you." She gave a small smile.

"Sakura-chan. Thank you." His grip around her grew tighter. He wanted to feel her warmth against his body. "C'mon, let's go."

"Go where?" She asked.

"Somewhere. Just somewhere nice where it can just be the two of us." The kunoichi nodded. Both held hands and started to walk.

Major case of writers block here. I'm running out of chapter ideas. Oh well. Sorry if I made Naruto seem a bit dark or angsty in this chapter. Anyway, please do keep reviewing. Next chapter, we'll finally be at the party! I've kept changing the time scale of the party. I originally said '3 Days' But then that got change to '1 Day and a half'. I just couldn't think of away to stall for time.

Next Chapter: Chapter 7: It's partytime!