Child of the Leaf

Chapter Five

by operadeglace


One moonlit night, long ago…

Sakura had come to Naruto's apartment late at night looking like she had been hit by a tidal wave.

"Naruto… do you… do you still like me?"

Naruto was a little unprepared for a question of that magnitude.

It was obvious that he still did, but verbally answering her in that moment meant a final resolution for him. It meant that it was time for him to confess his deep love for his team mate. It also meant that he might be rejected that very moment.

He wasn't sure how he'd be able to cope with a rejection from the girl he had loved most of his life.

"Sakura-chan…"

"Why? Why do you like me?" She interjects urgently.

Naruto frowned in worry. Something sounded strange, and there was also something odd in her demeanor as she questioned him hastily.

"Well, Sakura-chan… I figure… I… well, I dunno…" He was usually so loud and outspoken, but he felt so strongly about her that he couldn't put his feelings into an adequate enough description.

'You're beautiful.'

'You make me happy.'

'I'm strong because of you.'

'You're not perfect, but that's what I love about you.'

'I love you.'

'I really love you, Sakura-chan.'

Sakura looked at him sadly and the whiskered ninja panicked. He guessed that she must have misunderstood his lack of words for lack of things he really did like about her…

"I kept my promise! I brought Sasuke back!" Naruto's words spill clumsily from his mouth. He feels a little light headed.

Was that all he could say to her at a crucial time like this?

"I guess that now I can tell you how I truly feel about you!"

He starts, trying to hide his nervousness with his grin, but, even that was faltering.

"I… I… Sakura-chan… you… I-I…"

Naruto's shaking hands cover his face.

He was ashamed of himself in that moment.

He had tamed the nine-tailed demon fox, he was the hero of the war, saving both village and the world from enslavement and ruin, and yet, he was afraid of something so small…

He was mortified by a small, slim girl with pink hair's rejection of his confession.

"I can't say what I really feel… I can't… I'm not finding the right words…"

He whispers honestly, frustration etched in his words.

Suddenly, he felt arms wrap around his neck.

Sakura pushed his shoulders down to match her height so they were face to face.

Then she was kissing him.

"Show me." She whispered, desperately, pleadingly. It was so humble a request that it shattered his heart into a million pieces.

"Show me what you feel for me, Naruto." Her lips were soft, pliant petals against his.

Stop this… she was crying over Sasuke a minute ago, and you know it!

Don't take advantage of her in this state! Stop this right now!

"Please… love me."

Naruto shakes the daydream out of his head and finishes his cold and soggy cup of instant ramen.

Ever since Hinata had brought up the need for his old hitai-ate, he couldn't get that night out of his head.

"I want you to have this… you are a part of my dreams."

He was so silly those sixteen long years ago.

She lost his most treasured possession (besides his father's coat), and with it, went that part of his dreams.

For a few short, heavenly weeks, Sakura had been his 'sort-of' girlfriend.

They went on dates and outings, held hands and talked about dreams…

They even had a lot of —

Naruto blushed at the thought of intimate relations with his Sakura-chan. He grinned madly and swiveled around in his chair, much like an over-active child would if he sat were he sat.

And then he paused. His mind pondered on the long, lonely months of rejection that followed, when Sakura refused to see him, offering him no explanation as to what error he had made to deserve such treatment.

'She conveniently re-emerged once Sasuke returned, nine months later', he thought bitterly.

He always wondered what he could have done more to keep her…

"Ahem!"

Naruto's face was red as he looked at his advisor, Shikamaru, with a terrified expression, like he was caught in the act of doing some mischievous thing.

"You were spacing out again, Naruto. You have a telecast in ten minutes, so I thought I'd go over some notes with you."

Naruto rubs the back of his head and nods.

"Yeah, thanks…"

It was Ino's fault.

She knew that she was distracted by her thoughts about what gift she was going to give Sakura for her birthday, so she didn't see the boy in front of her.

But, when her shopping bags, and contents within them, scattered around her within a fifteen foot radius, she was thoroughly pissed.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!"

She shouts angrily at the blonde haired boy who had 'run into' her.

"I'm s-sorry! Let me help you!" Was his gentle response as he immediately started to gather up the wrinkled bags in his hands, dusting them off before placing them at her feet to fetch more.

"Don't steal anything, punk! I'll know!"

Ino took a good look at him as they both picked at the dozen oranges that had spilled from her grocery bag.

By the way he was dressed, she knew that he had come from Sunagakure, but, he wore a hitai-ate with Konoha's symbol on it.

When she looked closer, she found the boy to be quite handsome, and oddly familiar…

His forehead was huge.

'Oh! He reminds me of Sakura! Hahaha…'

As he handed her the last orange from the ground, the young boy's stomach growled loudly.

"Sounds like someone is hungry." Ino remarks, her mothering instincts surfacing, though the nice young boy wasn't her own child.

"Um… yes." He says, embarrassed, hugging his midsection tightly with his arms to stifle the monstrous sounds his tummy was making.

"Well…" The blonde woman looks over the shopping bags in her arms with a smile. "It doesn't look like you've stolen anything. And, you did apologize…"

She felt sorry for the boy as he stared longingly at the groceries in her hand with a hungered expression. He looked like he hadn't eaten for some time.

"How about you help me carry all of these and I buy you lunch!"

The young ninja grins, and Ino finds herself instantly charmed by the boy.

"Can we have some ramen?" He beams, taking all of her bags into his arms hastily.

"Sure, kid." She pats him on the back as he teeters from side to side, trying to balance the load as best as he could.

"I'm Ino. What's your name?" Ino says politely as she takes a bag from him to help the kid out.

"Oh! I'm Shinachiku. Nice to meet you, Ino-san."

-End of Chapter 5.

—Story by ODG


Shina's in Konoha! Now crap gets real… lol