Ch. Sum: Naruto's thoughts on the progress his and Sakura's relationship has made.

CHAPTER 6

When he was young Naruto spent much of his time up at the Hokage monument, knowing his face would some day be carved up there along with the others. It was his thinking place, his hiding place, and once a place for his playful scorn. He wouldn't lose to any of the past leaders, not old lady Tsunade, and not old geezer Sandaime. It would be hard to live up to the Fourth's level, though. He was the coolest of all the Hokages, but Naruto really couldn't explain why. Maybe it was the hair.

In any case, Naruto had stopped visiting the monument religiously once he had become a ninja. There was no room for fantasizing about becoming Hokage; he had to actually go out into the world do it. He had to earn the respect he deserved from Konoha, just as Gaara had received from Suna. On top of that, he had a rival in Sasuke to show up, and a girl in Sakura to impress. Everything in his world was riding on him becoming the next Hokage.

Yet in the past few weeks Naruto couldn't help but feel drawn to his old thinking spot. This time, though, he wasn't slouching on the Fourth's head plotting ways to outdo him in being made of win. No, being Hokage surprisingly hadn't even crossed his mind. He had a more small-scale problem in the guise of a monumental catastrophe riding on his thoughts.

Not five feet away had Sakura kissed him, exactly three weeks and two days ago. Naruto knew he must have been losing it if he had bothered to remember exact days like that. He usually reserved keeping track of dates for ninja-related things, but Sakura had taken over his every thought, as opposed to the usual half of them.

Since losing many of its members, Akatsuki laid low for the most part. This made Konoha's council nervous, and Tsunade couldn't possibly ignore all of their pleas. Via their request, Naruto was finally ordered to stay in the village for all non-Sasuke related missions, which was the absolute best Tsunade could do for him. Naruto made a note to fire all the timid old farts in the council once he became Hokage, especially since there weren't enough cool missions he could go on to occupy his desire to kick some ass. Also, having Sakura on his mind at all times was getting a bit unnerving.

There were much worse things he could think about than Sakura, sure. He just didn't like the pathetic feeling that came with it. He finally got kissed by a real girl, if only on the cheek, and then he hadn't seen much of her since. She didn't have to say what she felt to get the message across. Things between them advanced way too fast in a short period of time, she realized it, and she backed off for awhile. Naruto didn't mind. She had to do whatever she had to do to get her mind straight.

That didn't mean Naruto had to like it, though. It was no wonder Sasuke ignored all of the girls who were going nuts over him. They were way too hard to figure out, and he had more important things to think about, such as killing the genjutsu master that was his brother. Poor guy. When he returned to Konoha, Naruto would beat him up and insult him (you know, guy stuff) just for old time's sakes. Sasuke would have an impossible time finding a nice girlfriend after what he did, though.

Not unless Sakura wanted him back, in which case Naruto would have to grin and bear it. The bearing it part would be next to impossible, but what else could he do for Sakura? A simple crush on whom he believed to be the prettiest girl in class turned into so much more when he got to know her. Sasuke thought she was a nuisance for the most part, but Naruto believed in her. Naruto would even swell with pride when anyone dared to imply that Sakura was better at something than Sasuke.

That was why the idea of her still wanting to be with Sasuke tore him up inside. She told him they'd find Sasuke together, and that they'd both endure Sai's crude nature together, and that they'd generally be there and support each other. They were a good match, and Naruto would do just about anything to keep even a small chance with Sakura alive, even if it meant distancing himself from her to give her some space.

He could still feel her timid little kiss on his cheek, too. She was so cute that he could have taken her into his arms again and never let her go. It was perfect, choosing the monument of all places as a spot to live out a romantic fantasy of hers. She'd gotten bored right in the middle of it, but Naruto couldn't complain because he was in good company. He hadn't meant to doze off. Laying down and thinking happy thoughts with Sakura nearby was a little too relaxing. Did he mention that the monument used to be his spot? Somehow she knew him that well, and it drove him nuts.

Their relationship was crawling ahead at snail speed toward what he had always wanted it to be, but that was better than when it was going in the opposite direction with Sasuke around. Naruto never thought for a minute that they were better off without him, because they weren't. The competition would be heated with Sasuke around, but that would make victory much richer if Sakura chose Naruto in the end.

He just had to do his best for her, no matter what.

"Naruto-nii-chan, I need your help," said Konohamaru, with the subtlety of a marching band. He had tried to sneak up on Naruto as he always had, and yet Naruto could see through all of his disguises. He'd have to do better than transforming into some haphazardly placed mailbox.

"Make this quick. I'm a busy man, you know," said Naruto, pretending to be all bored and irritated, when in truth he was pretty grateful for the distraction. After spending hours brooding on the monument it was time to get off his ass and go punch something, or eat ramen. You know, whichever one came first. If Konohamaru wanted to be his punching back then so be it. He was a big boy now. He could take it.

"It's kind of an embarrassing thing to talk about, so, err…" He was pressing the tips of his fingers together, blushing, and everything. This was a matter geared undoubtedly toward girl troubles, which was the one thing Naruto was no master at. After all, he himself was in the middle of a girl crisis. If he couldn't fix his own, what made Konohamaru think that his advice would be any good?

In any case, if Konohamaru chose to seek out his crappy help, he'd get it.

"This wouldn't happen to be about girls, would it?" Naruto asked, trying and failing to make it seem like a haphazard guess. All it took to answer his question was for the pink in the younger boy's cheeks rival the sun's radiant glow. Unlike Naruto, Konohamaru failed at surprises. He just wanted to get this horrible conversation over with.

"AH! Is it really that obvious?"

Naruto just laughed and jammed his thumb into his chest. "You can't kid a kidder, man."

Konohamaru laughed and scratched the back of his head. "That's just what I'd expect from my former boss and rival." Then his expression dropped to dead serious, unlike anything Naruto had ever seen before in this kid. The girl must have been the real deal, then. In fact, Naruto spotted what he assumed to be said girl peaking at them from behind a tree. Moegi only failed at concealing herself slightly less than Konohamaru.

Speaking of which, the younger boy launched into this big, panicked tirade that Naruto just had to grin and bear through. "She's… I mean I've known her for awhile, Nii-chan."

Konohamaru must have been deaf if he couldn't hear the gasp from behind the tree. For some reason it reminded Naruto of Hinata, but he couldn't quite say why. It would take a real dumbass not to see how Moegi felt for her exuberant teammate. It was just THAT obvious, but Naruto never said Konohamaru was smart.

"She's really smart, pretty, and fun! You should see her pull pranks, man. She's a goddess," said Konohamaru, and his eyes began to sparkle and shine. This time, the both of them heard a very obvious "THUD" from behind the hiding tree. Moegi fainted.

"Moegi? What ar… what's wrong?!" Konohamaru ran up to his fallen teammate and rested her head on his lap. It neither occurred to him to be embarrassed that she had heard the entire conversation, nor did it occur to him to ask why she was there in the first place. Something sure was fishy about this. Konohamaru's reaction just didn't sit right with Naruto. "Hey, Moegi, you sick or something? You don't look like you have a fever… "

"Idiot," murmured Naruto. "You just confessed your love to her, didn't you?"

"What?!" If Konohamaru's face grew any hotter it would have burst into flames. "Nii-chan, this is Moegi. She's my best friend, you can't be serious."

"Of course not," Naruto grumbled, now with Sakura on his mind again. If there was a law against liking your best friend in Konoha, Naruto's first priority as Hokage would be to destroy it. It was ridiculous, really. He could see the tears in Moegi's eyes already, but she refused to blow her cover. After all, she "fainted." She was a good prankster. Not good enough to fool Naruto, but who was he kidding? He was a darn genius when it came to this stuff.

"I was talking about Hyuuga-san," said Konohamaru, and down went Naruto's jaw. The only "Hyuuga-sans" he knew were Neji and Hinata, and the younger boy obviously liked girls, so Naruto came to a rather awkward conclusion.

He laughed his butt off. "Hinata?! YOU like HINATA? Man, that girl is weird. She's really nice, but… "

"No! I like her sister. Hyuuga Hanabi," said Konohamaru, and sparkle-sparkle went his eyes again. "She's the best girl ever, though she might be a bit out of my league, being a Hyuuga and all." He thought about that for a moment, and then laughed. "What am I saying!? I am Sandaime's grandson. She's out of my league, I think. But I don't care! I know it's something serious.

"So what do I do about it?" All of his previous confidence went out the window with that. Naruto thought to punch him clear across the face for a moment, but surely there was something more suitably horrible he could do.

Or not. There was only one thing Naruto could think of, and that was to motion Konohamaru to stand up. Once he did, Naruto punched him square in the face and watched him fly back a good half a block. What the heck, violence helped him think. The kid groaned and lifted himself up off the ground after such a nasty landing, brushing the dirt off his bottom. He glared straight into Naruto's eyes and asked, "What did you do that for?!"

"Instead of whining at me, just go tell the stupid girl how you feel! It's better than being pathetic… I guess."

"You're absolutely right," said Konohamaru, and he was all geared to run off to the Hyuuga clan, when he realized he had blood coming out of his nose. "I'd better clean up first.

"Bye, Naruto-nii-chan, and thanks! Oh, and take care of Moegi, won't you?"

With that, he was out of sight. Naruto had just relived a piece of his childhood that he cared to forget. He never did like it that Sakura preferred Sasuke over him. It was something that he lived with, and he never gave up hope that, even to this day, she would see how deeply he cared for her. It was maddening at times, especially now that Sasuke wasn't around. One of the things they shared was sadness that they couldn't bring their friend back, but Naruto wasn't just sad. He was also sad for how Sakura felt.

No matter what the outcome, he couldn't imagine himself in a world where he didn't love Sakura, which was kind of frustrating. After all, the hero is always supposed to get the girl, right? Maybe he had to be the hero first. He didn't feel like much of one while Sasuke wasn't around.

Despite that, Naruto still hated the fact that Sakura had a crush on Sasuke. She was only a small contribution to their rivalry, but outside of that she was so much more. She was Naruto's best friend, the person that he trusted the most, and had the most faith in. He loved her like crazy, and couldn't even begin to explain why he knew it was her. He knew she was the one. The problem was that she didn't feel it, too. Not yet, and maybe not ever.

That brought a real ache to his chest, and it hurt even more when Moegi woke up and started to cry. He knew exactly how it felt to be someone's silver medal, their "best friend" if you will. It wasn't enough, but for the sake of that person, it sometimes had to be.

"Moegi-chan, don't give up," said Naruto, grinning at the devastated girl on the ground. He helped her up, and took a swipe at some of her tears. Though he didn't show it, he did rather care for these three knuckleheads, though he wasn't too happy with one of them right now. Seriously, that Hyuuga family had serious issues. Naruto wouldn't be caught dead falling for any of them, though that wasn't to say that Hinata didn't deserve a good boyfriend. She was different in a good way, but still weird. Naruto would bet his hitai-ate that Kiba liked her.

"But, but… you heard what he said… " she sniffled, hiccupped, and tears continued to leak into her balled fists.

"Hmm, let's just say I know those words all too well, but it doesn't matter that much," said Naruto, his eyes drawn into a pensive line of discontent. There were so many times where he could have given up, and should have given up. Sakura seemed so enamored with Sasuke that all hope would have been lost with your average guy. Naruto was no average guy, though. He wouldn't give up until it was obviously over.

"Naruto-nii-chan, why did you tell him to go? Why?" What if Hanabi returned Konohamaru's affections, was Moegi's underlying message. Unlike Hinata, and maybe Neji now, that Hyuuga clan had sticks up their asses the size of the Fire Country. If Hanabi were anything, anything at all like those stupid old geezers and their crappy little rules, Konohamaru would be met with a blunt rejection quicker than you can say poke attack, or whatever the hell that move Neji used was called.

Then again, he was Sandaime's grandson. It wasn't exactly like he had a small name in the village. She might just say yes. Who was to say they wouldn't drop each other like rocks after awhile, though? There was always room for hope in any situation. That's what Naruto liked to think.

"You're losing hope way too soon, kid. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and go do something," he said, and started walking off. It was getting late, and his stomach was starting to growl. This was enough babysitting for one day. He thought he ought to go off and take his own advice, but not before stopping for some ramen.

"Wait!" said Moegi, running up to him to catch up. She was winded more from the tears than the run, but when she turned toward him he could see a whole new attitude in her eyes. One that did know how to give up. He saved another soul from a state of help-doubt. He was a fricken hero once again. Could he eat now?

"Naruto-nii-chan, what should I do first?"

Let me go eat some damn dinner was his first thought, but he always found it hard to turn his back on people who had problems similar to his own. He asked her how much money she had on her, and for the price of a ramen dinner she would be taught everything he knew, which wasn't a whole lot, but hey. He was stuck babysitting. He had better get paid for it.

After a long day of carrying angst and woes on his shoulders, including that of others, Naruto decided a nice, long sleep was in order. In fact, he wanted to crawl into bed and not leave until noon the next day. He would rather be dead asleep than bored out of his mind, and lonely. Sakura's work schedule sucked, and she got to go on more missions outside of Konoha than he did. No fair, she got to have all the fun.

Naruto looked up at the sky, not seeing a single star. The overcast was pretty dense, he wondered if it was supposed to rain. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, a single drop plopped onto his nose, followed by three, then onto a full-blown downpour. Good thing his apartment was nearby, or else he'd have to seek shelter elsewhere, giving him room to brood. He felt all brooded out, but his mind begged to differ. That was it! Tomorrow he would bust into Tsunade's office and demand busy work. He didn't care if a hundred ANBU guards had to follow him and "protect" him. So help him, Naruto would go nuts if he hung around in the solitary confinement that was this village (while Sakura wasn't around) any longer. He had to be able to do something.

First things first. He was so relived to have reached his apartment before he could be soaked to the bone. Deciding he didn't want to get his bed wet upon entry through the window, Naruto made a mad dash up the stairs, wanting to get out of his damp clothes before he started shivering. After all, he couldn't pose a very convincing argument about not having enough to do if he was sick.

He skidded to a halt and nearly fell forward when he saw who was standing in front of his apartment. It was none other than Sakura, with the same pensive look on her face that he must have had earlier that day. As long as it was Sakura and absolutely no one else messing up his groove, Naruto really couldn't complain. This was the girl that he adored, after all. He just hoped that this was going to be a happy visit, despite how awkward he felt standing there in silence.

"Sakura-chan?" said Naruto, taking a step closer. She didn't look very inclined to speak at the moment, as though to gather the exact words that she wanted. That was just fine with Naruto. He would much rather have her around, rather than spend hours and hours thinking about her. "Hey, long time, no see.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, daring to take few more steps closer until he could feel the heat radiating off her body. He wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her with all his might. Screw sleeping until noon, when he could spend the night with his girl. Well, she wasn't really his girl, but a guy could dream, couldn't he? In any case, there she was, looking way too serious for his liking. "Hey, Sakura. Snap out of it, would ya."

She pulled up her arm as though to strike him, and even made him flinch; however, when nothing came, Naruto had grown worried. Had he done something wrong? What was going on?

"Hey, Sakura…"

"Naruto, I…"

Both of them paused, shook their heads, and laughed a bit. Good to know she wasn't angry with him, but what she was doing there was still nagging him.

"You want to come inside?" Naruto offered, motioning toward the door as he unlocked it. She followed him in without as much as a nod. This was definitely strange, but if Sakura had something on her mind then she was always welcome to share. After all, what were friends and teammates for!

Once seated at the chair across from Naruto, Sakura took a few deep breaths and got right to the point. "Naruto, I think it's about time we talked."

to be continued…

A/N: I know that I promised I would update sooner to some of you, and I intended to. Life happens, though. My comp was unhooked for awhile, and I was playing catch up with home work and essays, which wasn't fun. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed Naruto's pov. It was uzukun7's suggestion, and it worked out good. See how your comments in reviews inspire me as a writer?