Heya! First off I just want to say thanks again to all those who reviewed! If I didn't send a review reply then just poke me okay? Also then I want to say thanks to all those who put me on Author Alert, Story Alert and who put this on their favorites :) Although I do have on request, do you think more of these types of NaruSaku AU's should exist? Well anyway, here's the next chapter and I do hope you enjoy it! Oh wait, Minato and Kushina are in this chapter :) This is just my interpretation of their personalities so I'm sorry if they aren't how you imagined!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Naruto characters/places used in this story! (Sadly, otherwise Minato wouldn't have died and we would all know where Kushina is)
Chapter 4–Friends?
Sakura groaned.
'Where am I?' Slowly, she opened an emerald eye, finding that the sun no longer shone beyond her window. In its place was the moon, illuminating Konoha in an almost eerie silvered glow.
With yet another groan, she pushed herself from bed and steadily made her way to the closed door, pushing it open with little effort. Frowning, she could make out the voices of more than one person. 'I didn't know Tsunade had guests.'
With tentative steps, she cautiously descended down the carpet-clad steps and peaked into the living room, the source of the voices.
Her emerald eyes widened slightly, Tsunade was there, yet sitting on the couch opposite her was a young couple. The man had messy blonde locks that fell over his forehead with some coming down the sides of his face. Sapphire eyes opened and closed as he laughed. He was dressed modestly, a pair of jeans, sneakers and a snugly fitting shirt.
The woman was what Sakura considered to be beautiful. Her long, reddish-brown locks were loosely slung over her shoulder. Her green-blue eyes shone with radiance as she too laughed. She was, like the man, dressed modestly. Black pants adorned her long legs and a tight white, button-up shirt hugged her upper body and a black under-bust corset came over that.
Yet she failed to notice one person and upon seeing him, Sakura's eyes widened to an even larger state. "Naruto…" she whispered, noticing the whisker-like indents upon his cheeks. Flashes of hours prior came into her mind and the memory replayed itself within her mind. 'I can still remember his smell, and the feeling that came as he wrapped his arms around me.' She closed her eyes, willing herself to remember the sensation.
"… I think I'm going to go and check-up on Sakura, she's been out for quite some time." Tsunade's voice awoke the teen from her memories as she decided to make her appearance.
"That won't be necessary," she sheepishly announced, bravely venturing into the living room with a slight tinge of colouring adorning her cheeks. 'I should have checked my appearance before coming down,' she told herself, mentally slapping herself for forgetting such a simple task.
"How are you feeling?" Tsunade asked, standing from her seated position and gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Concern was evident in the woman's chocolate brown eyes.
"I'm fine, my stomach hasn't churned yet," Sakura reassured, sending Tsunade a small smile. "Well I haven't eaten anything so I guess it doesn't have a reason to."
"Well then I'd like to introduce you to our guests," Tsunade spoke before turning to face the now standing guests.
"The first blonde in the jeans is Minato Namikaze and then his wife Kushina," the couple eagerly each held out a hand, while their others remained intertwined with each other's other hand. Sakura found the gesture very sweet.
"And this is my somehow related, but glad we are niece, Sakura Haruno," Tsunade introduced as Sakura shook Minato and Kushina's hands respectively.
"I'm pleased to meet you," Sakura said politely, grinning at the obviously love-struck couple.
"As we are to meet you Sakura, Tsunade has told us much about you in this past hour," Kushina replied with a heartfelt smile. Kushina's voice was soft and feminine yet Sakura could see that the woman could be anything but at times, the mischievous grin that replaced the smile told her all.
"I'm glad we can finally meet so you so Tsunade can stop ranting on," Minato slyly teased, directing the grin at Tsunade.
"You had better check your food tonight," Tsunade mock threatened with a half-hearted punch on his shoulder, at which he faked injury.
Kushina simply rolled her green-blue eyes at the pair before playfully shoving Minato, "Stop fooling around, poor Sakura is standing there looking at you as if you've grown a second head."
"Have I?" Minato joked, faking surprised as he felt around his neck. "I don't feel anything…" he rambled before sending Kushina an amused smirk.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the couple's antics. 'I think I'm going to get along with them,' she felt she could trust them, since it seemed they had no other interest but each other. 'They'll be too interested in one another to notice me and my feelings. Exactly what I want for now.' Shaking her head, she turned her gaze from the couple, only to lock gazes with another pair of eyes. A very familiar pair of cerulean eyes.
Tsunade seemed to notice this and hurriedly spoke, "And this is the second blonde, their son, Naruto, Sakura."
"I know," she whispered, unwilling to break the contact. "From earlier," she spoke softly, her voice barely audible yet Minato and Kushina seemed oblivious as they buried themselves in each other. Only Tsunade noted the tension.
"Yes," she stated, 'Naruto hasn't spoken yet, he's usually chatting non-stop.' Tsunade shook her head, taking another glance at the eye-locked pair.
"It's nice to formerly meet you, Sakura-chan."
'Wrong, no need to be worried,' Tsunade thought as a mischievous smirk crossed Naruto's lips.
"Sakura-chan?" the pink haired teen repeated, seemingly in shock.
"What?!" she raised her voice, breaking the eye-contact between the two.
Tsunade shook her head, 'Looks like the beginning of a new friendship.'
'Hopefully.'
----
Dinner was filled with conversation, starting with Minato checking his food as Tsunade suggested. This earned a round of laughter from those at the table as he found nothing. Then since it was Friday, the next topic was what the weekend would bring.
Few questions were directed at Sakura, and those that were, were easily answerable. Kushina had gracefully asked if Sakura planned to attend Konoha High, the very same school Naruto was in and she had replied with a polite nod.
Naruto had then gone on to ask what age she was, which she replied, "Seventeen." Yet this only brought a pool of guilt and shame to her stomach. 'I'm a pregnant seventeen year old to be exact. Awesome, isn't it?'
----
"I'll do the dishes tonight Tsunade," Sakura stated as she noted that everyone had eaten to capacity, even herself who had begun eating increased amounts.
"Naruto will join you, he needs to since tonight is his turn to wash the dishes," Minato remarked, sending his son a playful grin.
"But dad, I thought since we were at Tsunade no baa-chan's house I wouldn't have to," Naruto whined, looking to his mother for support.
"Not this time Naruto, you've skipped out on washing the dishes too many times to count," she replied, smiling as Minato placed an arm over her shoulder.
"Now go."
"I'm going," Naruto sighed in defeat as he followed Sakura to the kitchen.
"Thanks," Tsunade called over her shoulder as they pair disappeared into the kitchen. She then returned her attention to Minato and Kushina who seemed to be deep within their thoughts.
"She here visiting?" Minato queried, and Tsunade knew exactly to whom he was referring.
"More like living," the elder woman replied, her gaze on the table-cloth below. "Her mother has sort of disowned her."
"What?" Kushina demanded. Tsunade winced, she knew how Kushina loved children, especially Naruto and to her disowning a child was an unthinkable crime.
"You know that Mizuki Haruno never planned on having children. Sakura was unplanned and spontaneous. The only thing that made her have Sakura was her husband, Ryoko Haruno. But Ryoko died a few years back and Mizuki was left with Sakura," Tsunade grimly replied.
"Then about a week ago, Mizuki phoned me, demanding me to take Sakura in because Sakura was pregnant."
"What?" This time it was Minato's turn to be surprised. As much as he loved and adored Kushina, he had refused to sleep with her until they had walked down the aisle. (Not that she had prompted him to sleep with her, they had both made the decision)
"Not by choice. Apparently, but Sakura has refused to tell me the story and she avoids the subject completely. Leading me to believe one thing," Tsunade continued, not really wanting to disclose her opinion.
"She was raped?" Minato finished, looking at the chocolate eyed woman expectantly.
"More like taken advantage of. I believe that because Sakura isn't the type of girl to flaunt herself and be raped from stupid decisions."
"She must feel ashamed," Kushina stated, idly fingering a strand of reddish-brown hair. "I would be too, but she has no reason to if she was raped."
"That's why I believe she was taken advantage of, otherwise I'm sure she would have told someone of what happened that night," Tsunade said, sighing as the words left her lips.
"Only time will tell," Minato mumbled, pulling Kushina closer to his body.
----
"You really don't like doing chores do you?" Sakura asked the blonde haired teen as she passed him a soapy dish. They hadn't spoken since they had entered the kitchen and the silence was unnerving.
"Not really, that's why I always have some excuse to keep me from them," Naruto replied, trademark grin across his features. Sakura couldn't help but laugh.
"You have a nice laugh," Naruto remarked, causing a light tint of pink to shade Sakura's cheeks.
"Thanks," she mumbled, staring down at the soapy dishwater under her. 'You can't Sakura. Look at your past experiences with people,' her mind remarked, creating inner turmoil.
The pair once again relapsed into silence as they continued their routine of Sakura washing a dish and Naruto rinsing and drying said dish.
Finally Sakura couldn't take it. "About earlier…" she began, shamefully blushing.
"What about earlier?" Naruto asked, seemingly oblivious.
"I'm sorry."
Naruto's expression dropped as he glanced at the pink haired teen. Her gaze was directed on the dishes below but he could see that she was inching to meet his questioning cerulean eyes.
"What are you sorry for? There is nothing to be sorry for," he solemnly replied.
"But I… I…" yet Naruto interrupted her speech by placing a hand on her delicate shoulder, forcing her to meet his gaze.
She looked up to see nothing but warmth and kindness within his eyes and it was all she could do to keep herself from begging him to hold her again so that she could feel the same she saw.
"Thank you."
"It's nothing," he warmly replied, sending her a smile in the process.
"So can we begin over?" she queried, looking at him with a hopeful expression.
"Hi, I'm Naruto Namikaze," he stated, holding out a muscular hand.
"Sakura Haruno," she replied, grasping his hand and smiling.
"Pleased to meet you Sakura," Naruto responded before the pair went back to the dishes, finding that they were almost finished.
It was then that a mischievous idea popped into the blonde's mind. With a smirk he scooped a handful of sudsy bubbles and threw it, Sakura his target.
The bubbles reached their target and Sakura's face grew in shock as the gentle suds landed upon her face. With wide eyes she turned to Naruto, only to find a teasing grin on his face.
"What was that for?" she demanded.
"Nothing, just messing with a friend," he replied, grin growing.
'Friend?' Sakura thought before an evil plan formed in her mind. "Fine then," and before Naruto could react his face was assaulted by a wad of bubbles.
Sakura couldn't contain her laughter as the boy stared at her in shock and disbelief.
"You're on," Naruto remarked before the bubble war began.
----
"I wonder what Naruto and Sakura are doing, they should have been finished by now…" Kushina stated as she gazed in the direction of the kitchen.
"Should we go check up on them?" Minato asked, playful grin growing along his lips.
"Why not?" Tsunade asked as they raised themselves from their seated positions and snuck towards the kitchen, surprised to hear laughter emerging from the tile-clad room.
Smiles developed on Tsunade, Minato and Kushina's faces as they laid eyes upon the playing pair. Both were covered in a considerable amount of bubbles but that didn't seem to stop them.
"Think they'll be friends?" Minato asked despite the fact that it was a rhetorical question.
Tsunade never the less answered,
"I'm sure they'll be good friends."
Well there you go! They are finally friends :) (Wonder how long that will last...) I hoped you liked this chapter! I've got the next one written out so I'll try and post it ASAP!
Love
Lorelock