Ch. Sum: Boys aren't always that stupid, though. Sometimes they're just trying to be nice.

CHAPTER 3

Naruto sucked down his ramen like a vacuum, munching and slurping all of the contents into his stomach while the night passed. Somehow, Sakura just knew offering to treat him tonight was going to cost her a fortune, but it didn't matter. She got paid well at the clinic, and she was on a week's worth of paid vacation. If anything, concern for Naruto's health should have been above everything on the list. How could anyone ingest so much food so quickly? And how come he didn't end up fat like Chouji? This was insane!

"Ah!" said Naruto, bending back a bit to rub his full stomach. "Now THAT'S the stuff!" No more than eight empty ramen bowls were towering over their heads, and Sakura hadn't even finished her one. Being a lady of her promise, she reached into her pocket to pull out the ryou to pay for all of it, but Naruto beat her to it. Before she could protest, he was already heading out the door, motioning for her to follow.

"Thanks for dinner, old man!" he said, waving good night as he and Sakura headed out into the night. Well, so much for that. Naruto seemed pretty chipper that evening. It was a little odd standing next to him like this while, unlike her boobs (mutter, mutter), he simply could not stop growing. He almost had a head on her by now, and damn if he weren't utterly handsome. She always thought he had a good smile, but come on! He couldn't be getting this gorgeous on her, could he? Not goofy little Naruto, bottom of the class, dork of dorks, you name it.

They walked along side by side for awhile, Naruto surprisingly silent for the happy aura he'd surrounded himself in. Sakura had to admit that she found it a bit flattering that her company and some ramen could put someone in such a good mood. Naruto may have dreamed big, but the simple things made him happy all the same. She wondered briefly if she should slide her hand into his, but thought against it the moment her hand twitched in his direction. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea or anything. Then again, if you asked her what the wrong idea was she couldn't tell you. Since the previous night spent with Naruto, she didn't know what to think of him anymore.

"I'll get naked."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Most of all, she hated how she now no longer had the heart or the energy to invest in getting him to take his hand off her.

"What were we just about to do?" said Sakura, more to herself than to Naruto.

He answered anyway, after untangling himself from a mess of sheets that went overboard with him. "I was going to ask if I could kiss you."

"Hey, Sakura!" said Naruto. She'd spent more time thinking than watching where they were headed. Like a gentleman he'd walked her straight home, and her cheeks colored a little. Well, that was awfully sweet of him. She could feel the wind pick up around them and a few leaves drifted by. There wasn't a soul in sight, and she was getting awfully cold. Maybe, she thought, that he had earned that kiss that he'd asked for the previous night. After all, she wasn't expecting him to pay for the dinner, and he wasn't too bitter about the whole flower thing.

"Naruto," said Sakura, and this time the wind sent a chill up her spine. She could hear thunder off in the distance. It would rain any moment. "Um, good night."

She walked off as casually as could be. She could feel her exhaustion from earlier in the day begin to crash over her like waves. Not to mention her nerves couldn't sustain the concept of actually kissing Naruto. It was just too weird right now. It probably always would be weird. He was supposed to be nothing more than a very good friend of hers, and one of the boys she vowed to protect with her life. They were like brother and sister in a way, though he likely didn't feel that way. She'd have to work on getting the two of them back on the same page before things got out of hand. It was time to sleep on it.

"Sweet dreams, Sakura-chan," he said, speeding off before she could turn around to get a last good look at him. She made a note to herself that she'd have to give him some kind of kiss sometime, at least. She could feel her inner begin to seethe with rage for thinking too much and letting that "hotty" go. Well, reasonable Sakura may not go as far as to think of Naruto as a hotty, but that's just because he was Naruto.

It was always just because he was Naruto, though. Sakura knew she'd need to fall out of that habit soon, the habit of thinking he was the same 12-year old idiot whom she couldn't stand during her days at the academy. Sometimes he even stunned her with how much he grew, and sometimes stunned her with how stupid he could still be. She wasn't entirely sure about him, so she'd give it some time.

Though it was pretty hard to deny now that she was fiercely attracted to him.

When Naruto had told her "sweet dreams" she hadn't expected to actually have one. There was a time in her life she, oh, she wanted to say she was around 10-ish when it happened. It was Sasuke's birthday, and she'd slaved over a hot oven for hours trying to get his birthday cupcakes just right. This was no joke either, seeing as his birthday was during the summer. She didn't know which flavor he liked, so she settled for making every flavor that was in the cabinets and hoped for the best. There were even extras in case something went wrong, which it almost always did knowing her luck.

From that point in the flashback dream she zipped over to the part where she'd gotten to his door. She found all kinds of sweets from the other girls in the trash in front of his house, which made her giggle. Of course they were in the trash, because unlike them Sakura was special, or so she told herself. When he came to the door she stuttered out a very happy birthday and offered him the cupcakes.

"Well gee, you really shouldn't have," said Sasuke, and she thought he meant it in an endearing way, rather than a literal way. "Just put 'em on top of the others, will ya?"

By others, he meant the ones that were in the trash. She knew that's what he meant now, but at the time she'd told herself that there was a pile of gifts inside that she could place them upon. Funny how he wasn't inviting her in, though. Maybe he was just thinking up a cool, romantic way to ask her in. Oh, she wanted to squeal so loud, but barely managed to hold it in.

After awhile of him just staring down at her, waiting for her to go away, she was starting to grow a little irritated. Maybe he preferred girls that took the initiative. Yes, that was it! "Aren't you going to invite me in?" asked Sakura, and Sasuke looked at her as though she'd just asked him to do a hand-stand in a purple, polka-dotted dress. Still, grim as the situation was she was still hopeful. He may have put up this great, big tough front, but all the girls knew that he was a big, sensitive softy inside. He was just playing hard to get.

"Tell you what," he said. "You give me those and go on about your business."

So he took the cupcakes, and he closed the door in her face. At least he didn't throw them in the trash. Well, he didn't throw them in the trash in front of her anyway. He at least had the decency to do that much for her.

Then she was taken to the moment of the flashback that had previously angered her the most. She had gotten maybe halfway back home when she was stopped in the middle of the road by... a cupcake? She could hear munching in her ear, and her entire face flushed red. She could just hear Sasuke whispering in her ear about how she wasn't like the other girls, and how her sweets were the sweetest, having the essence of true love lined onto every sugar crystal. Oh, she knew he'd come through for her!

But when she turned around, it wasn't Sasuke that she saw, but Naruto, munching away on cupcakes that certainly did not belong to him! The pit of her stomach had been ignited, and the side of her face turned an alarming shade of red. How dare he!

"Ne, Sa-ku-ra-chyaan. These cupcakes are awesome! I dunno what that Sasuke-teme was thinking when he tried to throw them out, but I saved 'em. You should try one to make you feel better."

"He tried to... " Sakura's enraged stupor fluttered off for a moment, imagining her sweets stock piled in the trash upon Ino's, Hikari's, Flora's, and everyone else who loved Sasuke. She, for just the briefest moment, wanted to thank Naruto for saving all of her hard work from such an unworthy fate, but her pride got in the way. All she felt for him was pure, unadulterated hatred at the moment. It was simply unheard of to blame Sasuke for anything, so obviously it was Naruto's fault. That was when her rage increased ten, no, fifty fold.

"SHANNARO!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs. The entire neighborhood watched as Sakura's fist shot into his face like a bullet, sending him and the rest of her cupcakes flying back a good twenty feet. When the entire ground was now littered with her sweets, she had gotten the idea that he must have stolen them from Sasuke's house without his permission. That was the lowest she had ever seen Naruto go. "You are the most horrible piece of slime in the village, Naruto. I hate you!"

"Is he bothering you, young lady?" said a plump old woman hanging up her laundry. She'd grabbed her rake from the side of the house and proceeded toward Naruto with five other villagers on tow, each with their own mop, broom, or whatever. Naruto ran from them as quickly as he could, and Sakura walked home, at least glad there were extras so Sasuke would get his birthday sweets after all.

It was about then that Sakura's eyes fluttered awake, and she felt, well, sad. Pretty guilty actually. She had taken the spare batch of cupcakes to Sasuke, too, and they most likely ended up in the garbage. The girls learned in time that Sasuke didn't like sweets, so eventually they stopped giving him things for his birthday. It was too hot to be baking anyway.

Even so, all of the girls who gave him sweets would rather die than admit that their specific batch ended up in the trash. That just went to show how well they knew Sasuke.

Naruto seemed to like sweets just fine, though, and his birthday was actually in a good spot for baking. She'd have to make a note to do something nice for his birthday. Come to think of it, she doubted she'd ever done anything for Naruto's birthday ever. That was such a shame. She'd immediately marked his birthday on her calendar which, unfortunately, was quite a ways off, but it made her feel just a little bit better about her little flashback there.

Sometimes she didn't know just how mean she was to Naruto. It always seemed like a case of "I'm mean because he's stupid" but she was growing a little less sure of that as the days went on. She was sorry in the case of the cupcakes, anyway. She'd been totally wrong about that one, but at least things were different now. She'd been fortunate to wind up on the same team as him after all.

In any case, this was the first real day real day of her vacation and she wanted to make the best of it. She'd already gotten her hair done, so maybe nails and a trip to the public bathhouse were in order. It was time to kick back and calm her nerves for awhile. She could certainly stand to put her mind at ease.

Karma had a horrible way of of playing payback with her, especially after the dream she'd had last night. What was going to be a day of relaxation and rejuvenation turned out to be one pile of hell after another. The baths were closed due to someone having dyed all the water there purple. Ino wasn't around to bother for a decent manicure because she was off on a mission and wouldn't be back for awhile. Well, there goes the one female friend she had that she had yet to fall out of touch with. She'd tripped over a rock not watching where she was going and fell flat on her face, getting her clothes all dirty. Well, some forces of evil didn't want her out in public, which was something she could deal with actually.

What she couldn't deal with, scratch that. What she positively, absolutely couldn't stand, was that the water pipes in her apartment complex had exploded while she was out, and everyone had been evacuated and ordered to stay out for the rest of the day. A few days if they could help it. Sakura just hoped a few things in her apartment could be spared. Some books, her clothes, her photo of Team 7. She knew this wasn't her day, but did it really have to be this bad? She supposed she'd have to head straight to her parents' house, or request maybe a B-rank mission from Tsunade to take her mind off of it.

Oh, but she couldn't go on mission because she was on vacation. Most of her missions that weren't directly linked to someone after the Jinchuuriki these days were medical-based. Although she could fight, that was mostly to defend herself and protect her loved ones. Her use was mostly in healing, but she was forbidden to do just that and favored to have fun. It wasn't going to be much fun living at home with her parents through most of it, though.

"G'morning, Sakura-chan!" said Naruto, walking out of the Ichiraku Ramen booth. Figures he'd be there this time of day, munching down on ramen like there was no tomorrow. She'd have to get him to eat something other than that sometime, though. It just wasn't healthy.

"Hello, Naruto," said Sakura, willing herself not to cry on the spot. Her day hadn't gone at all well, and she was beyond frustrated. Naruto often played the sponge for her frustration by annoying her in the slightest and acting as her living punching bag. Not today, though. Not after the dream she had. She wanted to refrain from inflicting any sort of violence on him for awhile yet. It wasn't an easy thing to do when she was in a bad mood; however, her bad mood wasn't Naruto's fault, so she had to keep her cool.

"Why're you all dirty?" he asked. Easy, Sakura. It was embarrassing to have dirt all over her clothes when she wasn't on a mission. Part of the reason she'd gone back home was to change, but she obviously couldn't do that right now, could she? She could already feel the tears morph into anger, but all he did was ask a question. She had to keep her cool now. Had to.

"I... fell... " she said. It wasn't a lie. "And I can't go change because my apartment building is flooded at the moment." She sighed, wanting to punch the ground as hard as she could. She didn't, however, want to be held liable for whatever homes she destroyed in the process, so she'd have to take her anger out to the training field sometime.

"Oh," Naruto said, shuffling his feet around awkwardly as if to expect a lash out. It was sad, but Sakura did feel angry. For once she wasn't going to take it out on Naruto under any circumstances (not unless he did or said something really stupid, anyway.) She was just going to stand there, deal with it, and go to her parents.

"So, bye." Sakura turned around and walked away, feeling the anger dissipate gradually with every step. She was gonna make it. After all, it wasn't anyone's fault that her day just wasn't going well. Accidents happen, and she just needed to scream into her old pillow, or something.

For a moment she wondered what it would be like if Naruto invited her to stay at his place. It could very well be a far cry from her mother's nagging, but it just wasn't proper. Still, part of her (her inner) thought of how he'd had his warm arm wrapped around her, his breath stirring up the hair on the back of her neck, his warmth distracting her from a restful sleep.

She really hated how her common sense just died when it came to guys.

Not today it wouldn't. She was just in too bad a mood.

"Where will you stay?" Naruto asked. Well, there it was, the underlying offer to his room, and part of her wanted it so badly. If there was one thing she'd learned by spending years in love with Sasuke, it's that letting boys leash you by the strings of your heart is a very back thing. It eventually leads to a heart being torn to shreds. She just wasn't going to go through that again, no matter how badly she wanted to take the invitation to move on.

"With my parents... " Of course, but if Naruto had pluming problems, he wouldn't have had that option. It was sweet of him to show concern. Her inner was again trying to tell her that Naruto would offer her a chance to sleep next to that gorgeous bod of his again. Her inner also had no morals or common sense. There was simply no way that arrangement would be appropriate, even if they were on the same team.

"Oh, yeah. All right." He sounded a little nervous, rubbing the back of his head with a grin on his face.

At this point inner Sakura was screaming and condemning her for her morals, and if Sakura didn't risk looking like a total lunatic in public, she'd be beating her head against the fence until her inner voice stopped. It wasn't appropriate. Sure, she was a little attracted to him now, but she'd have to be the most shallow girl in the world to play with his feelings, only to revert back to Sasuke in the end. That was, assuming that she did. She just didn't know. She needed time to think about it.

"Naruto," said Sakura, turning back toward him with a smile. "If you'd like some company again tonight I'd be happy to stop by at your place."

She'd take the day to think about her options, her feelings, and sort them all out. Hopefully by the time she saw Naruto again she'd have an answer.

to be continued...

A/N: I hope that update was fast enough for you guys. I also started another fic (a GaaHina cos I wanted to write something with Gaara in it) so if you guys would like to read that, that would be great. Thx for all of the reviews and support so far. I'm so happy!