Hey! I'm back again! So I got 43 views, 3 followers, and a review. All within the first two days! While that may not seem like a lot I was very proud of the fact that I had done it, this being the first Naruto fic I've posted and all. I send a huge thanks out to you guys, especially nbvcxz098, for following and reviewing. And I understand nbv, I'll try to reign in the OOC-ness of it, but it's difficult. I've been watching a whole lot of the anime so I've been trying to be sort of accustomed to their attitudes. To Tristan S11, thank you for the support little brother, and I know you'll keep reading, mostly because I know where you sleep. To tonyli12, thanks for the support, and I know I PM'd you to reply but I'll put you here as well, yes it'll be a series. There was an anonymous review as well, but it's suddenly gone, but they said something nice and I'd like to thank you as well. Also thanks to anyone who favorited and followed, it means a lot to know this is being received well. Anyways, keep bringing in the reviews, I'd love to hear more from you. And anyone else who reads this, feel free to review. I'm not silence, just saying my name won't break me.
Sakura woke up with a start to the feeling of falling suddenly. Her face hit the bed, surprising her to no end. Naruto turned to look at her from his position beside the bed, where he had teleported to in an attempt to get out from underneath of her without waking her. Seeing that he'd failed he put his hand behind his head, ruffling through his spiky blond hair, and closed one eye giving her a goofy grin.
"Sorry Sakura-chan, I didn't mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep now." He chuckled nervously. Sakura lay with her face buried in the bed for a bit, before slowly turning to look at him. His chuckles quickly faded as he watched her eyes glint from tired, to fully alert, and even worse, very angry. Naruto watched with quiet contemplation as she slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, his unease furthering when she still didn't speak. "Sakura-chan?" he questioned nervously.
"Naruto." She whispered. Though it hadn't sounded like the death threat he knew it was, Naruto was still nervous. She made her way toward him, surprising him with her swiftness, and he closed his eyes and prepared to fly through the roof to see his good friend Gaara. The hit never came, slowly, tentatively, he opened his eyes. She was standing just in front of him, looking up at him. Her head tilted slightly to the side and a concerned look in her eyes. "What's wrong? You've never been a morning person, and it is most definitely morning. Something wake you?" Sakura questioned, placing the back of her hand against his forehead. Naruto chuckled and closed his eyes again.
"I've just been having nightmares, of the war, since it ended." He informed her, his voice gentle, and a little saddened. She sighed softly, and brought her hand from his forehead down slowly to caress his cheek. He opened his eyes again, his eyes holding a new level of sadness. Looking into his eyes she could almost see the war as he did, the hatred, the pain. He had nearly lost his life several times during the war, but that hadn't caused a bit of pain to his heart. The scars on his heart weren't caused by the things he lost, but by the things others had lost for him. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, but the tears refused to be suffocated.
Sakura moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around him as he started to tremble. He put his face to her shoulder, his tears starting to fall onto the linen clothing. He wrapped his arms around her waist as his body shook with the sobbing. Sakura closed her eyes, her head resting on his shoulder as his was on hers. She rubbed his back gently, pulling him ever closer to her. She turned her head, her breaths tickling Naruto's ear lightly, and whispered to him. "You'll be Hokage in a couple of months. You finally brought Sasuke back. You are currently holding me in your arms." That last one was a comfort for both him and her, but she wanted to recount things he would be happy and proud of. She continued to list things, about defeating Pain, saving her from Sasuke, saving many more lives in the war than what had been lost, anything she could do to cheer him up.
His trembling stopped after a while, and her shoulder stopped getting wet. He pulled his head away from her, Sakura doing the same thing. He looked into her eyes for a moment, losing himself in the emerald green orbs looking back at him, before he moved his face toward hers for a much more passionate kiss than the others they had shared. Their lips glided over the other's smoothly, Sakura was starting to feel light-headed when he pulled away, smiling softly at her. "I'm tired." Naruto stated goofily. His eyes no longer holding that intense sadness. She giggled at him, and letting go of him walked back over to the bed. He followed her, climbing into the bed next to her. Naruto wrapped his arms around her and she pressed her head into his chest. He sighed contentedly before falling quickly asleep.
Sakura awoke with another start when suddenly she wasn't in a bed, but standing, mostly being held up by Naruto, on the other side of the room. Her cloudy mind cleared when she saw someone standing where the bed was, their sword where Naruto's and Sakura's bodies had once been, and their back to Naruto and Sakura. Sakura had no doubts about who said man was, and she looked at Naruto confusedly. "Naruto? Why did Sasuke just try to kill you?" She asked questioningly and partially worried. She was quite confused, Sasuke had proven his loyalty to the leaf, and his friendship to Naruto. He had even started seeming more like the Sasuke that they used to know.
Naruto chuckled, "He wasn't trying to kill me, he often sneaks in here. And attacks me as if he were trying to, so that I have to defend myself at once. It's his way of helping my training." He explained, and she nodded her head slowly. Sasuke slowly turned to look at him, his normally stoic black eyes shimmered with an emotion that Sakura couldn't recognize.
"The dobe finally learned how to do more then scream and roll out of the way." Sasuke said, his voice mostly monotone, but portraying a slight ammount of happiness. This wasn't much of a rare occasion, she'd seen the same thing many times whenever either Naruto or, shockingly to everyone, Hinata was involved. Sasuke sheathed his sword slowly, and Naruto seemed to lighten his hold on Sakura. He had been holding onto her so as to teleport again if need be. Sasuke moved over to the table and sat in a chair. "It's about time, I was beginning to think you beat me out of pure luck." He teased lightly.
Naruto scoffed at him, "Whatever, you're just jealous that I mastered a move that not even your eyes can beat." He jeered, sticking his tongue out at Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes grew even more dull, if that was possible, and he pressed his mouth into a scowl, which made Naruto laugh. "You couldn't hope to beat my Flying Raijin!"
Sasuke seemed to need a bit more convincing, within an instant Sasuke was up and flying toward Naruto and Sakura, his sword already drawn. Before a hit could land they were behind him, crouching near the bloody kunai at the end of the bed. Naruto's grin grew wider as he looked at his friends scowl deepen. Sasuke let out what could be interpreted as a growl and lunged at Naruto again, tossing a few shurikan behind him so that if Naruto went to that side of the room he would be hit.
The sword came at Naruto, seeming fully intent on peircing his heart, when suddenly Naruto and Sakura weren't there anymore, but above Naruto's bed falling. The shurikan Sasuke threw collided with the wall, effectively embedding themselves, and he looked at his falling friends with a deeper scowl. He put his sword above the bed, hovering with the blade facing up toward the descending couple. Figuring they had no way to dodge Sasuke smirked, but suddenly they were behind him where they had retreated the first time. Naruto pulled the specialized kunai out of the wall and sent it toward Sasuke, who thought nothing of it and dodged, before realizing his mistake. He turned quickly, about to swipe his sword toward his attacker who was behind him, but couldn't before Naruto's foot connected with his jaw.
Cursing his stupidity the Uchiha stood from his spot on the floor. "I'll be sure to beat you next time." Sasuke hissed out, deactivating his recently activated Sharingan. Naruto smiled at him, ruffling his hand through his hair on the back of his head. Sasuke's scowl went away, his expression turning to the one of indifference he usually held.
Sakura had been standing there quietly throughout the whole ordeal. Her mind was still trying to comprehend the things that had played out. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a deep rumbling. She looked to the blond, who put his hand on his stomach suddenly. "I'm hungry." Naruto stated plainly, as if what he had said was informative, when his teammates could clearly tell.
Sakura put a hand to her face, shaking her head gently. When she looked back up she gasped when she saw the blond standing directly in front of her, his captivating blue eyes peering down into her emerald ones. Naruto's face merely inches from her own, she resisted the urge to press herself onto her toes to kiss him, thinking about their current company who had returned to his spot at the table. Naruto looked at her, hope in his eyes as he asked, "Hey Sakura-chan, would you like to go to Ichiraku's? I thought maybe it could be a d-" He stopped short when he noticed the angry look in her eyes.
She readied her fist to hit him, stating, "Naruto, Ramen is not a proper date!" Before her chakra infused fist collided with his nose, sending him flying toward his bed. Before Naruto could collide with the wall behind his bed Sasuke was there, he had caught Naruto, and Sakura couldn't help but smile. That was the old Sasuke coming out, saving his friend from what surely would have destroyed his apartment wall. Sasuke set Naruto back down on the ground, his black eyes fixed intently on Sakura. She couldn't help but feel kind of quilty with Sasuke looking at her like that, his eyes didn't portray any emotion, but she could tell he was upset with her for treating Naruto so harshly.
Naruto held his hand to his face, blood pouring from his nose and pooling in his hand. He looked over to his raven haired best friend and uttered out a thank you that sounded extremely nasally, with his broken nose. Sasuke gave him a small nod, but his gaze remained attached to Sakura. She hoped she was wrong but it seemed Sasuke had a hand on his blade in-case she tried to get another hit in, or went for Sasuke himself. Sakura sighed before approaching Naruto slowly, her hands raised in an attempt to convince the stoic Uchiha that she had no intention of attacking again.
Naruto watched her walk toward him, his blood dripping onto the floor where his hand couldn't hold it. She stood directly in front of him, her eyes somewhat apologetic as she raised her hand to his face, pushing his his hand aside. Sakura's hand glowed green and started to heal the broken nose and stop the bleeding. Neither of them said anything, and a certain Uchiha was still poised at the ready should she make a wrong choice. Naruto's eyes danced all over her face, from her eyes, to her lips, to her forehead, and back to her eyes again. Sakura was doing a similar thing, eyes, lips, whiskered cheeks, unruly blond hair, eyes.
Once Sakura felt his nose snap back into place, followed by a wince from Naruto, she let her hand fall. Sakura's hand went to rest at her side, but was caught by a certain knuckle headed blond ninja. His smile urging one of her own he brushed his lips along her knuckles before letting their still intertwined hands fall to rest in-between them. Sakura felt her heart flutter at the gesture and she looked at the blond admiringly. "Fine, how about to Karutsuimi?" Naruto asked gently, hoping the new restaurant was proper for a date. She giggled, the place had just been opened and was very exclusive and romantic, and nodded her head.
"I'd like that, but it's currently..." She looked at the clock on the bedside table beside him, "11 in the morning, so we should postpone that until tonight. But for now we can go to Ichiraku's if you're paying." Sakura informed him, and Naruto chuckled as the silent spectator raised his hand in agreement with the pinkette's notion. Naruto nodded his head, smiling widely at the girl in front of him. Sakura was about to step away when two strong arms wrapped around her and Naruto's head was burried in the crook of her neck. She wrapped her arms around him, and smiled, not caring that Sasuke was watching.
Ichiraku's was normally pretty quite, or it had been before Naruto had been 'Crowned' the hero of Konoha. After that he could hardly go in there without everyone demanding his autograph, he had started transforming himself so that no one noticed him. After a while he could go in without transforming and eat in relative peace, as it seemed everyone had finally gotten his autograph. But then the war ended, naming him the savior of the ninja world. Upon entering said establishment the entire place lit up with joy, people were shouting his name, asking for autographs. Women were asking him to go on dates with them and for them to bare his children, which caused a light blush to flood to his cheeks as he turned down all of the women.
Sakura's eye twitched from the attempts at Naruto. She had half a mind to just shout that she had dibs on him, but thought better of it when a fight broke out amongst several girls after one of them had been especially daring and threw her arms around him. The fight quickly became something of a mosh-pit, but was pushed outside by some friendly bystanders. Naruto ran his hand through his hair and laughed, before taking a seat in an open booth of the restaurant. Sasuke sat next to him and Sakura across from them. She glanced around the establishment, taking note of the glares headed their way. She didn't understand, everyone here liked Naruto, but not so much his choice in best friend. The village still had some heavy grudges against Sasuke.
Sasuke looked down at the table hoping that he wouldn't have to explain his mistakes to a roomful of people, another time. Sasuke got looks like this almost everywhere he went, even from his previous classmates. He spent most of the time he was in public apologizing politely to the people who would say bad things about him, begging for forgiveness to those who's parents or kids he'd killed, and avoiding fights from people who would pick them. As he started to warm up to the public again, his classmates began treating him like a human again. The glares had died down, but still existed. The only person who had never said anything bad about him, never glared at him with the others, and even stood up for him against the others, was Naruto. The bond that Sasuke had tried so hard to cut, was the one that kept him sane.
Teuchi came over and took their orders, not asking Naruto what he'd order for it would be the usual. Sakura tried her best to choose something that she'd never had before, and Sasuke looked to Naruto with a glint of questioning in his eyes. Naruto pointed to a flavor on the menu and Sasuke read the name to Teuchi. Sasuke trusted Naruto without fault and also, really didn't know what stuff was good at this place anymore. He nodded his head and went to the kitchen, leaving the three teammates to their lunch. The three of them made small talk, often talking about the training they were going through individually. Naruto with his up-and-coming Hokage-ship, talked about how he was going to ask Tsunade to help him, train him to be the Hokage he wanted to be. Sakura talked about how her standing in the hospital went up, making her head medic under Shizune. Sasuke kept his short, he'd been training, that's all he said about the matter.
After more small talk, their meals came to them. Thanking Teuchi, Naruto asked for the bill, to which the old man just waved him off and walked away. Naruto frowned and ate his food a bit slower than usual, catching the eye of both of his teammates. "Something the matter? Dobe." Sasuke asked, the name seemed more of a title of endearment than a jest. Sakura nodded, looking to her blond teammate for his answer.
Naruto sighed, looking up from his food to the room around him, "As much as I like the treatment I get now, over what I used to get as a kid, excluding Iruka-sensei. I just wish people would treat me like a normal person. The old man used to occasionally give me meals for free, but now it's almost every time. And when he doesn't give me a free meal, about 10 other people come over to me to pay the bill for me anyways." He said sighing. Sakura gave him an apologetic smile, before nodding her head toward the bar, specifically where the tip jar was.
"Pay for the meal in the tip jar, he won't even notice until we're long gone anyways. So by that time it'll be to late for him to deny the money." Sakura informed him quietly, and Naruto's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas Morning.
"You're so smart Sakura-chan." Naruto told her, finishing his food quickly. He waited patiently for the others to finish theirs, and he moved quickly. Sakura and Sasuke headed toward the entrance, while Naruto sat and dug through his pouch for the money. He pulled out more than enough, and counting it, decided it was a proper tip. He stuffed the money into the tip jar, and as quick as they'd come they left.
They were all walking down the street together, no specific place to go. There was no talking as they made their way to, wherever it was they were going. Sasuke came to a stop, realizing where they had stumbled upon. In front of them stood the, slightly worn from the Pain attack but still standing because it was a bit away from the village in reality, the Uchiha compound. Sasuke had avoided the place like the plague, because it brought back so many memories that he wanted to do nothing with but smash down.
Naruto and Sakura stopped as well, noticing where they were and what the third person of their group had done. Naruto turned back to Sasuke, "I'm sorry Sasuke, let's get out of here, we shouldn't have come this way anyways." Naruto said and started walking away.
"You and Sakura should go, I'm going to go inside and spend a while... Meditating." Sasuke said, though it was clear that he was in a lot of emotional pain. Naruto and Sakura nodded, knowing he should do this alone, because that was the best way to save his pride. They walked for a while, before an ANBU appeared, looking to the both of them before turning to Sakura.
"Sakura-san, you're needed in the hospital immediately." He informed her, and she set off toward the building in the distance. She turned back to Naruto, giving him an apologetic smile.
"Pick me up from my apartment at 7." She yelled to the blond man behind her. He nodded, smiling broadly at her.
It was 6p.m. and Naruto was running around his apartment hurriedly, picking up clothes, putting them down for other clothes, and picking up others still. He couldn't pick an outfit, there were so many to choose from. Still running around his apartment, he remembered something he hadn't worn for a long while. He opened a nearby closet and pulled out the red cloak with black flames circling around the bottom. The cloak similar to his father's cloak, but different colors and without the 'Yondaime Hokage' written on the back. Naruto decided that would look good if he picked carefully what else he wore.
Finally done choosing what to wear he looked at himself in the mirror. He had controlled some of the spikes of hair, making them look a lot better and more organized, his cloak was unbuttoned in the front, revealing Naruto in almost full black but with orange tomoes at just under the collar of his long sleeved shirt, and orange stripes running down the top of the sleeves. His pants were black cargo pants that he had ironed the wrinkles out of. Completed with his black shinobi shoes, Naruto thought he looked pretty good. Looking at the time, he saw it was 6:45 and he had just enough time to go to get some flowers if he was lucky.
Meanwhile, at an apartment in the same village.
Sakura had just gotten home, 6p.m. She got her clothes off and took a shower, scrubbing herself clean. Brushing her teeth and hair, and then went to get her outfit for the night. She chose an emerald green dress, matching her eyes, the sleeves going down her arms but near the wrist stop being solid and go more lacy. The dress didn't cover her shoulders, so there was a coat that was worn with it, wrapping around the back of her. The dress ended at just above her knees, and on her feet she wore black heels. The heels weren't to tall, she could walk comfortably and probably even run if she wanted to. She looked herself over in the mirror and decided that this occasion was good enough for her to wear the necklace her mother had given her as a moving out present. She wasn't one for jewelry, but this was a date after all. Carefully taking it out of the box it was in, she slipped it around her neck for the first time. The blue gem was almost the exact same color as a certain blond man's eyes, and she liked it that much more. Checking the time, she saw it was a little bit before 7, so she sat on the couch and waited patiently.
Now, 7p.m. outside Sakura's apartment.
Naruto ran to the door, knowing it was about 7p.m. and knocked, hiding the bouquet he bought behind his back. Waiting patiently for a moment, he thought maybe he'd come late and she was ignoring him for his tardiness. He continued waiting and it paid off, the door opened and he swallowed hard to keep from drooling. Naruto couldn't form the words, his mouth open partially, to tell her that she looked...
"Amazing," He mumbled to her, his eyes wandering her body and clothing. After a while his eyes came to rest on hers that he found were doing the same thing to him. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. He presented her the bouquet, full of orange and pink roses. She gasped lightly, thanking him and walking inside to put them in a vase quickly before coming back out.
"You look great too, Naruto." Sakura told him, blushing lightly. He put his arm out and she wrapped hers around it as he led her to the restaurant.
The restaurant was bustling with people, but that was to be expected from such a nice place, on a Saturday night. The place was amazing, there was a big room behind the waiting area, where there were several tables placed and booths against the walls. In the center there was a dance-floor and a live band played slow songs for the people sitting and those who were dancing. Upon entering the waiting area, the woman at the counter's eyes lit up, recognizing a young hero. She greeted them warmly, and told them that she would be back after checking if there were any open tables. Naruto shot an apology smile at Sakura, but she smiled warmly back at him.
The woman came back a while later, and told the couple that there was a single, exclusive booth, if they were willing to pay the extra fee. She explained that the exclusive booths had curtains so that they could have their privacy, and a bell, so they could call waiters at any time. Sakura opened her mouth to deny the offer, it was too expensive, but Naruto beat her to it.
"We'll take it!" He said excitedly, and Sakura gasped. Naruto was not a living money fountain, and yet here he was, giving this lady a pretty large sum of money for their date, before they had even ordered their food, which she was sure would be expensive as well. "You don't mind do you? Sakura-chan?"
She shook her head, "No of course not Naruto." Sakura responded, "I just didn't think you had that kind of money to throw around." she admitted embarrassedly. He chuckled for a moment before leaning over and whispering in her ear.
"Namikaze inheritance was finally given to me." She gasped, Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage and Naruto's father, had left enough money behind for Naruto to shamelessly spend on this kind of thing. It also explains how he could have gotten ahold of the jutsu scroll for the Flying Raijin.
"That's good." Sakura mumbled, feeling suddenly guilty for assuming Naruto was wearing himself thin for her. The lady led them through the grand room toward a wall that, true to her word, had several curtains covering what she assumed were booths. There was one that was open and she could see it was made specifically for two people. The seats not much wider than a single person and the table not being either. She stopped just outside and gestured for the couple to go in. Sakura sat on one side, and Naruto sat on the other. The lady pointed to a string, informing them that if they pulled it, a waiter or waitress would be with them shortly afterward before handing them menus. They could order whenever they were ready, and get service whenever they needed. She walked away, closing the curtain behind her, and with it, the noise seemed to die down. The curtains must have a jutsu placed to seal sound, so they could have nice, quiet conversation.
Naruto and Sakura conversed nervously, neither knowing what to talk about on a date with the person they know almost everything about. They threw several discussions around, training, Sasuke, other friends, past missions. But they knew almost all of these things about each other already, so conversation got dull. Naruto was running short on topics, so he asked Sakura if she was ready to order. She replied that she was and Naruto rung the bell.
While they were waiting, Sakura let her eyes wander over her teammate again, as he looked amazing. His fashion sense had either gotten better, or he'd gotten help. Her bets were on the latter because his fashion sense would have had to have gotten a lot better. His blue eyes cast down to his hands, which were clasped together in his lap, were strikingly deep and lively. The whisker marks on his cheeks were more pronounced than they were as a kid. His spiky blond hair had grown out as well, falling around his face a lot like his father's had.
Before Sakura could inspect him any further, a waitress showed up. They both ordered meals, neither particularly knowing if it would taste as good as they hoped. The waitress wrote their orders down and turned to leave. From nearby she pulled a bottle of very fine sake and two glasses, pouring them glasses of the sake before leaving. The drinks smelled delectable, and Naruto was the first one to take his and sip on it.
Naruto sipped at his drink, enjoying the taste, though he wasn't really one who drank. Sakura debated on the drink for a moment. She had a past for not holding alcohol well. She might drink too much, and do something embarrassing. She decided, against her better judgment, to lighten up and took a sip. The sake tasted wonderful, and after a few minutes Sakura had drained her glass while Naruto still had half of his left. They continued to have light conversation as they waited for the food to arrive.
After a few more minutes of small talk, Naruto had finished his drink as well. Much to her surprise, Naruto rung the bell again, and after a few seconds a waiter showed up.
"More of that sake please," Naruto asked politely and the waiter nodded before leaving, only to return a moment later with what seemed to be a small bucket of ice with two bottles of sake in it. The waiter set the bucket on the table near the wall, and informed them that it would be added to the bill and that they could pour their own drinks. Naruto thanked him gratefully as before he walked away closing the curtain. Once it was quiet again he asked, "Would you like some more sake Sakura-chan?"
Sakura smiled at him before nodding and replying, "Yes, thank you Naruto." He smiled back at her, before picking up her glass and pouring some sake in it for her. He poured some for himself, and put the open bottle back into the ice. Naruto raised the glass to his lips, letting the fluid go down his throat quickly. Before he realized that he was chugging it, he had finished the glass and swallowed nervously shaking his head.
"Sorry Sakura-chan, that was impolite of me." He said, placing the glass down and not pouring himself anymore just yet. Naruto would never admit it to anyone, but he was kind of a light-weight when it came to alcohol, and he was already feeling a bit buzzed. He was thinking for about not having anymore when Sakura started giggling. "What's so funny?" He asked curiously.
She slowed her giggling for a moment, before responding. "I just didn't think you were one to drink. But I guess I can be wrong occasionally." At this Naruto blushed lightly, mumbling something about her not being wrong, but in spite of that poured himself another glass. This glass he sipped at carefully, sure to not down it in one go. Shortly after he poured himself that drink, their food arrived, and the smells that came with wer enough to make Naruto swallow and lick his lips in anticipation. The plates were set down in front of them, and the waitress left as soon as she came.
Naruto ate his food with uncharacteristic decency, which caught Sakura's eye. He's actually eating with some grace! She exclaimed in her head as she ate. She looked up to Naruto and stated, "Mmm, mine tastes really good," hoping he would take the bait. Naruto looked at her, before smiling.
"Yeah mine too, you should try it." He responded, picking up some food with his chopsticks and reaching across the table to her, "Here."
She blushed as she realized she'd caught herself in her own trap, but she thought it was cute as she took the food. "Mmm, you're right, it is really good. Here, try some of mine." She said before doing the same thing he had just done. He took the bite and chewed silently, before smiling at her.
"It is really good Sakura-chan." Naruto stated, smiling wider, his white teeth sparkling as though they didn't get anything on them. She smiled back at him, taking a sip of her drink, before going back to her food. After a while of eating, sharing more memories, talking, or just smiling at each other, Naruto and Sakura had finished their food and one of the bottles of sake. Both of them were feeling a bit intoxicated, but weren't complaining as they opened the other bottle and poured glasses. Naruto rung the bell and asked for their dishes to be taken away and for dessert.
He whispered something to the waitress that Sakura didn't hear and she nodded to him. The waitress left, but didn't close the curtain, and Naruto stood up. He extended his hand toward Sakura, "Sakura-chan, may I have this dance?" He asked softly. She smiled at him and nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. She took his hand and he led her to the dance floor where a new slow song was beginning. They danced, graciously around each other. People were looking to the couple in the middle, before getting up and joining them.
They danced for a while, Sakura wondering where Naruto had learned how to dance like he did. The song went on for a few minutes, and almost everyone in the room had gotten up to join Naruto and Sakura in the dancing. After the song ended, he led her back to their booth, where there were slices of cake on plates already waiting for them. Sakura sat down and Naruto closed the curtain behind them before sitting down himself. Sakura smiled at him and took another drink of her sake as he did the same. Naruto then turned his attention to the dessert in front of him.
After a nice dessert of cake, Naruto and Sakura continued to converse, and after a while had finished off the second bottle of sake. Naruto decided that it would be a good time to head home as they had no reason to stay any longer, though he made a note to ask where to get that sake later. He rung the bell and asked for the bill, and after getting it, payed it in full and left a good tip. Naruto stood and offered Sakura his arm for the second time tonight, which she took and he led her back out of the restaurant.
The sun had long set, and the moon long risen, over Konoha. They made their way toward Sakura's apartment rather slowly, talking about how beautiful it was out, and other things about the trip. Arriving at Sakura's apartment she turned and looked to Naruto.
"I had a really good time tonight, Naruto," Sakura said softly. Naruto smiled and looked at her, his bright blue eyes showing nothing but happiness.
"Me too Sakura-chan, I really hope we can do this again sometime." He responded. They looked in each other's eyes for a moment, before both of them leaned in for a kiss. Their lips connected, and Sakura felt like her whole body was on fire. She put her arms around his neck and he put his hands on her hips. Naruto was about to pull back when he felt Sakura's tongue glide across his lower lip. He parted his lips partially and she sent her tongue in, mingling with his own. He pulled her tighter to him, their tongues still roaming the other's mouth. Sakura took a step back, which made Naruto take a step forward, this process was repeated several times until Sakura's back hit the door gently. She reached down and was relieved to find she'd left it unlocked. Sakura opened the door and they both fell inside, Naruto stopping them before they could hit the ground to hard.
He pulled away from her, looking into her eyes, "Sakura-chan, we- we can't-" he started before Sakura interrupted him with her lips, pulling him into another kiss. She pushed him towards his feet and took him toward her bedroom.
Naruto woke up, but something was peculiar, he wasn't in his bed, in his apartment. He turned to his left when he heard shuffling and saw Sakura laying there asleep. Thoughts began to race in his mind, Did we? Di- Did- Did we-, but then he remembered.
Flashback- Last night
Sakura led Naruto to her bedroom, pushing the backs of his knees against the bed so he fell. She took his falling to her advantage and when he landed on the bed on his back she was straddling him again. He wanted nothing more than to give into the urges, but he also knew that he didn't want to do this whilst under the influence of a bottle of rather strong sake.
"Sa- Sakura stop." He said, halfheartedly as she was kissing his neck. She stopped, before sitting up and looking at him with sad eyes.
"I- I thought you wanted..." She said, before tears started falling out of her eyes. Yup, she's definitely drunk. Naruto thought to himself.
"I do Sakura, but I want to when we're both completely sober, and maybe even married." Naruto stated bravely. She looked at him, her hurt expression changing to one of care and thankfulness.
"Tha- thank you Naruto." She said softly, before taking off her shoes and laying in her bed, not bothering to change out of her nice dress. Naruto stood, and turned toward the door before Sakura called out to him. "Naruto?"
"Yeah, Sakura-chan?" He asked turning back to her. She patted the bed next to him, silently asking him to stay with her. He smiled and took off his shoes before laying down next to her. "Of course, Sakura-chan."
End of Flashback
Naruto smiled to himself, at least Sakura hadn't put up much of a fight, because he was sure he wouldn't have been able to say no for long. He watched her sleep peacefully, his smile still plastered to his face. He chuckled before looking at the ceiling. I could get used to this. He thought before he fell back asleep.
Sakura woke up a few hours later to see that Naruto was, to her knowledge, still asleep. She looked over to the alarm clock on the bedside table and groaned, it was already 10:30a.m. She debated on whether to wake the sleeping blonde or not, and decided not to. Sakura got out of her bed and grabbed some clothes from her dresser before going to the bathroom and showering, putting on the clothes. The shirt was a red shirt, that was very snug to her body and reached only just below her belly button, and the shorts she had chosen were black and went to about the middle of her thighs. She wouldn't dare wear this in public, but this was just Naruto.
Just Naruto she thought as she remembered what she'd tried to do last night, and groaned, this was why she didn't drink. But he had been modest, and she was really happy that he was who he was, because even though she didn't think she would regret doing it, she thought that maybe he might. She shook the thoughts from her mind and left the bathroom, after towel drying her hair, to go make some breakfast. She stepped into her kitchen and started preparing, basically the only food she wouldn't mess up, rice, eggs, and a few chopped vegetables.
The smell of food wafted through the apartment to Naruto's nose, and he inhaled deeply. That actually smells good he thought, as Sakura's cooking was generally horrible. He got to his feet, walking slowly through the apartment to the bathroom, looking himself over in the mirror he thought that he didn't look bad, so he decided to go surprise Sakura. Naruto crouched, the edges of his robe sliding across the floor quietly, and walked toward the kitchen where he could see Sakura cooking. He approached slowly, careful to wait until her attention was toward the sink as she washed some of the dishes. There were already two plates and pairs of chopsticks on the table, waiting to have food set onto them. She filled both plates with the food, before turning her attention back to the sink to wash the remainder of the dishes. In the meantime, Naruto had crept up to just behind her at the sink.
Naruto waited, Sakura just had to finish those dishes and she would turn around to get him. Just as he had expected, Sakura washed the dishes quickly, before turning around to walk quickly back to her room, only to yelp as she walked right into the arms of the very person she was going to get. He wrapped his arms around her, yelling "Boo!" and she immediately pushed him away.
"NARUTO!" She shouted, and he knew he was done for. He tensed as he saw her fist flying into an uppercut that sent him flying through the ceiling, out of the apartment, over the roof, before falling toward the streets below.
Sakura gasped at just how hard she'd hit Naruto before something came flying through the hole in the roof. She took a closer look at it and saw that it was one of the fourths specialized kunai. A second after it had sunk itself into her floor Naruto was crouching next to it rubbing his head. He looked at her, but smiled as he knew he deserved it. "Sakura-chan, that hurt." He said teasingly to her, but was telling the truth, it really had hurt.
Sakura just brought her hand to her face with an audible slap, "Then maybe you shouldn't scare me like that!" She yelled at him. "Anyways, there's food if you want it." Her tone had gone back to what it usually was as she gestured toward a plate. He sat down and she sat down next to him.
Yeah, he could definitely get used to this.
AN: And another chapter was born. This one took so long because I didn't know what to talk about on a date, having never been on one myself. I'm 16. So I really didn't know. I hope it was satisfactory. Please, read, relax, and if you feel like making a particular person happy, leave a review, and of them make my heart beat a million times faster. Anyways I'll get to work on the next chapter real soon and release it hopefully on Wednesday or maybe Thursday. Thanks again, and hopefully you're enjoying!