Chapter Two: Her Beating Heart

The time was 6:15pm when Naruto started preparing for dinner.

Usually it took Naruto a little over an hour to cook the ebi tempura curry. After 30 mins of cooking the vegetables they have started to soften so he left it on low heat to simmer. The rice was ready at this stage and all Naruto needed to do was deep fry the prawns to complete the dish. A beautiful aroma was developing and the kitchen was filled with a loud crackling noise of the prawns being fried. Golden brown and delicious, yosh!

At 7:30pm dinner was ready and Naruto even spent the time to decorate the dining table with some flowers. Naruto was about to step up the stairs but stopped as he saw Sakura half way down the stairs. Sakura walked right past him and went up to the fridge to get herself a glass of juice. She sat down on the dining table and started eating quietly.

"Soooo.. do you like it?"

"It's ok but I've tasted better." She answered.

'This spoilt and ungrateful girl, I'd like to see you cook something.' He thought.

"Do you mind if I eat with you?" Asked Naruto.

"I do, perhaps you could start with washing up while I eat."

Naruto squinted his left eye and thought, 'Treating me like some kind of servant. Think about the money Naruto, think about the money.' He walked up to the dishes and began washing them really loudly but Sakura did not seem to care. She turned up her stereo sound system and calmly ate her food.

'My ebi tempuras are getting cold,' thought Naruto.

"By the way, today is Tuesday. I don't get my pocket money until next Monday."

'What? I have to wait an entire week. I want to strangle her now for not telling me this earlier.' He thought.

"Ok."

"Thanks for the meal."

Sakura was about to walk off but Naruto shouted, "Wait! Where am I going to sleep tonight? Can I shower here? What about a change of clothing."

"Finish your meal and wait for me on the second floor. There are no bathrooms on the ground floor. I think you can sleep in the room next to mine, that way if an intruder does break in you can quickly come to my rescue."

"Ok."

...

Naruto looked at his soggy cold prawns resting on top of his curry. He should have guessed the ice maiden wouldn't have had the heart to let him eat on the same table. He should've left the prawns on the side to bake or re-fry but at the moment he was too exhausted and hungry to care how the food would taste. He simply microwaved his dish so that it was hot to eat.

After a couple of bites of his ebi tempura curry, Naruto realised 'ok' was an overstatement to his dish. The prawns that he had bought on special tasted mouldy and floury. He had probably put one too many of the curry seasoning cubes, because the curry had tasted overly salty. 'I have failed her again,' he realised.

After cleaning the last plate he just ate from, Naruto was really busting to go to the toilet. He knew she told him to wait at the top of the steps but he could not just wait anymore. He entered the first room he saw which was her toilet. He unzipped his pants and was about to release his bladder when the door suddenly opened.

A pair of wide green eyes underneath a pair of glasses stared into a pair of shocked sea blue eyes. Sakura was so surprised that she had dropped her brother's clothing on the ground. She was about to just leave the clothing in the bathroom and call Naruto, but he had already beaten her to it.

"Stop staring just get out, please! I need to pee."

"Sorry."

Sakura quickly turned her head and could not believe at what she had just done. If she was any closer she would have been able to see his private part. 'Thank goodness I didn't,' she thought. Sakura's heart suddenly began to beat faster as she felt really nervous. She didn't know how to socialise with men let alone be stuck with one for an entire night.

'What have I done?' she thought.

Naruto opened the bathroom door and was shocked to see Sakura still standing there. He noticed that Sakura's head was pointing towards the ground and her cheeks were a flushed shade of pink.

"Look, just forget about what you just saw, it was an accident, these things happen all the time. Are those clothes on the ground for me?"

"Yes."

"Is it ok if I take my time in the bathroom?"

"Take your time."

"I'm sorry the food wasn't very nice by the way."

"I've tasted worst..."

Remembered Sakura with a smile, a flash back of her brother cooking some burnt ebi tempuras crossed her mind.

"Eh! You have a really nice smile." Complimented Naruto, it was his first time seeing her smile since he had arrived at her house.

Sakura walked off as she was not used to compliments, she did not know how to respond to him. Naruto wondered why there were no locks to the bathroom; he kept a mental note to remember to install locks the next time he worked here. Naruto took his time in the bathroom and he spent half that time on top of the toilet seat.

The prawns didn't go down too well. -.-

When he had finished his business on the toilet he was surprised that he had run out of toilet paper. Upon finding some rolls, he also noticed a bottle of male cologne inside a drawer. The perfume was kept in a small shiny blue bottle. After taking a shower, he decided to spray some on himself to try it out. 'Whoa, this stuff smells good!' he thought and decided to keep it as a souvenir from working here.

'Perhaps?' he thought, 'this perfume must belong to her ex-boyfriend, except she didn't look like the type that has ever dated before.'

Sakura was feeling more tired than usual so she decided to sleep early. She held onto a picture frame that was usually kept on the table next to her beside. She stared at the blonde haired man's happy face and whispered, "good night brother, I hope you are looking after me in heaven."

It was a tiring day for Sakura, so she had quickly fallen asleep.

...

It was only 9:00PM and it was way too early for Naruto to go to sleep so he thought, 'it wouldn't hurt if I looked around the house right?' Watching TV wasn't an option as that would make too much noise and wake Sakura in the process. Naruto had a sudden urge to explore the house. He wondered why Sakura needed such a big house when she was living by herself.

Naruto crept slowly up the second carpeted plight of steps. He decided not to turn any lights on in case Sakura caught him sneaking about. He used his mobile as a torch and entered an opened room filled with many guitars and sound equipment. There was an electric guitar, bass guitar, acoustic guitar and amplifiers. There was also a drum kit and an electric piano.

'Sakura or whoever that used to live up here must like playing in a band.' He thought.

He studied some picture frames on the wall and noticed a much younger Sakura with shorter hair. She was smiling very happily and beautifully next to a boy with blonde hair up to his shoulders. The boy was very good looking and could easily become a successful pop idol. There were also pictures of an equally beautiful girl with long black hair. The boy and girl were leaning against each other so Naruto assumed they must be going out.

'This man must be her brother. What a lovely couple. I wonder what happened to them. I want to know what happened to Sakura even more.' Thought Naruto curiously.

Naruto walked towards the other room and nearly tripped over a guitar in the dark. If he did the noise would be enough to wake Sakura and his little exploration would have come to an end. He looked at the king sized bed and was a little confused to see a lump in the middle. He wondered why the bed cover was not flat. What exactly could be lying underneath?

Naruto was standing next to the lump; he pulled the covers down to reveal a bandaged zombie like person. The bandage had red coloured blood markings. 'Is it alive?' He wondered. He gave the person a little push and realised it was too light to be real. It was a man sized doll wrapped in bandage.

'What kind of sick joke is this? Sakura has a very sick hobby. No wonder she is the ice maiden that never talks!' He thought.

Suddenly a lightning struck and illuminated the room, which was then followed by an incredibly loud roar of thunder. Naruto wasn't usually scared of thunder but the bandaged toy really grossed him out. When another lightning struck, Naruto thought he saw an outline of a woman in a white dress. He couldn't make out her face as it was covered over by her hair. When the thunder roared again, he felt two arms wrapped around his neck.

The feeling petrified him and he felt like the thing was able to see him but he was not able to see it.

"Brother have you come home to see me?" Said the thing creepily.

Naruto thought the thing was going to choke him and take him to the Netherlands. His instant reaction was to push the thing aside; the thing fell backwards and bumped its head against a cupboard. Naruto shone his mobile light towards it and realised the thing had long tresses of pink hair.

"Sakura?" Whispered Naruto.

"Ow. My head hurts. Huh Where am I? Who are you? What are you doing in my house? HELP!" Sakura was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Naruto was scared that her screaming would eventually wake the neighbours up so he put one arm around Sakura's waist and another hand to cover her mouth. He was trying really hard to hold her down because Sakura was struggling very hard.

"It's me Naruto. I cooked dinner for you a while ago remember?" He whispered gently.

Sakura smelt the familiar perfume scent of her brother and calmed down a little. She tried to remember who Naruto was and suddenly her mind clicked.

"Cleaner boy."

Sakura realised the awkward position they were in so she angrily demanded, "will you let go of me? I don't like where your hands are touching!"

Naruto quickly released his grasp, "Sorry."

Naruto blushed slightly as he realised Sakura wasn't wearing a bra underneath her night dress. The soft sensation of her body was very pleasant. A lightning flashed to light the room for another second and Naruto was able to see her creamy coloured arms and legs, her skin looked smooth and delicate. She appeared really desirable in that small flimsy dress and her long white neck seemed so tempting to kiss.

His heart fluttered and his male hormones was driving him crazy.

"Where am I? Why are you here?" She asked.

"I think this is your brother's room. You must have been sleep walking." He replied.

"And why the hell are you up here?" She demanded.

"I'm sorry I was just curious." He answered and added, "By the way why do you have a bandaged doll?"

"That's none of your business! I'm going back to my room and don't you dare step foot into my room!"

'He must think I am a crazy psycho now.' She thought.

'I should rethink about working here.' He thought.

The two of them went back into their separate rooms.

...

Around a little past midnight Naruto heard a scream followed by a whaling series of cries. Could the intruder have broken in again? Was he inside of Sakura's room? 'I hope she's ok,' he thought. Naruto quickly rushed inside her room without knocking the door. He could not see any intruders; rather Sakura seemed to be having a nightmare.

He walked towards her and noticed her eyes were closed, she was crying in her sleep. He tried making out what she was saying, "Brother, don't leave me. Don't leave me!"

'Where is her brother going to?' He thought.

"Brother don't die, please don't die. I don't want to be alone!"

'Die? How did he die? Is it somehow related to that bandaged doll?' He wondered.

Naruto didn't know how to comfort her so he entered her bed and gave her a hug in the hopes of calming her down. He grabbed a tissue from her bedside table and wiped away her tears. He brushed her silky long pink hair away from her face. Next to him was a girl he knew hardly anything about but he was really curious about her past. What could have happened to have caused her to become the way she was now?

An unconscious Sakura grabbed the warm arm and placed it between her breasts. The palm of Naruto's hand was cupping the side of her face. Naruto didn't hate where his arm was, in fact it kind of felt really nice and comforting but he didn't want to imagine how she would react when she woke up. God it's going to be hard to sleep tonight.

The next morning, the glistening rays of light entering Sakura's bedroom made her eyes flinch. She slowly opened her eyes and thought something was strange. She felt warmer than usual, there seemed to be a heavy object wrapping on top of her. Her vision was very blurry so she put the heavy object close to her face.

'A hand? What? How? Who's?' Many questions flooded in her mind.

Not only was his hand wrapped around her, his leg was also over her warm body. His usual sleeping style was wrapping his body around a pillow; at the moment his unconscious body had mistaken Sakura's body to be his pillow.

Sakura was trapped in a very solid grip, rather than screaming just yet she was curious to see his sleeping face. Other than her brother's sleeping face she had never seen a boy's sleeping face. Sakura pressed her face close to Naruto's so she could make the outlines of his features.

Naruto had really long soft looking brown coloured eye lashes and his mat of hair was a mixture of brownish gold. His hair framed the outline of his long bishonen face really well. Sakura wanted to run her one free hand across his smooth wavy hair. He had a long slender nose and his mouth was thin and curved upwards. Naruto was indeed a very handsome man. Sakura's heart was pumping faster than usual and she couldn't describe the feeling she was going through. She had never felt this way about any guy.

Her heart skipped a beat and fluttered.

TBC

Revised version of Ch 2

Ch 3: Her Melting Ice Heart