A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed so far. I'm still hoping for a few more though, so if you want faster updates then make sure you tell me how this story is going!

A Promise Made On A Sakura Tree

Chapter 3

Barely a month's worth of missions had passed, and still Squad 7 was at each other's throats. Their current mission was a perfect example of that. They were to deliver a box of rare spices to a small town called Tashika, west of Konoha.

"Why can't we be out on real missions? The future Hokage can't stand around carrying a bunch of stupid herbs!" The blond Uzumaki boy complained loudly to Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke. All three of them sighed in unison.

"Because you are only a Genin, Naruto." Kakashi explained for the hundredth time that day, not bothering to look up from his pervy book. Naruto was walking a head of the group with the box of spices, followed by Sakura. Kakashi followed behind her, and Sasuke made up the rear.

'Ugh, I think my feet are going to fall off!' Inner Sakura moaned. Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch as Naruto went on to complain about his own sore feet.

"JUST SHUT UP AND WALK BAKA!" Sakura roared and smacked the back of his head.

"Ow! Sakura-chan, you hit like a bulldozer!" Naruto rubbed his aching head.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"Ow ow ow! Wait, I meant you hit like a truck, no, ugh-!"

"NARUTO-BAKA!"

"It was supposed to be a compliment!"

"THAT'S IT!" Naruto and Sakura continued their squabbling until Naruto's head was so badly abused he learned to keep his mouth shut.

'Mental note, do not anger the pinkette.' Kakashi thought as his nose buried deeper into the pages of adulthood. Sakura felt her nose itch.

'Hmm, somebody must be thinking about me. I wonder who?' She glanced back at Sasuke for a fleeting second, but quickly demised the thought.

"Why don't both of you just shut it?" Sasuke muttered, glaring at Naruto. Sakura bit her bottom lip; whenever he talked (which was very, very rare) or yelled at everyone, Sasuke never looked at her. Only at Naruto, or Kakashi, or something in the sky.

"Sorry Sasuke-san…" She said quietly, looking down at her feet while they walked.

"Humph. Who died and made you King Emo?" Naruto looked over his shoulder and chuckled. Oh how he loved getting under Sasuke's skin. Sasuke knew it, too. That's why he waited until no one was looking to casually pick up a pebble and flick it at the back of Naruto's head, 'accidentally' hitting the same spot Sakura had murdered.

"Ow! Sasuke-san hit me!" Naruto yelled at Kakashi, moving to get right up in his face. Kakashi closed his book and it slammed on Naruto's nose. After he yelled out in more pain, Kakashi announced they had arrived.

The town of Tashika was very small and plain, located next to a large pond. The shinobi dropped off the spices at a restaurant and journeyed home. When the gates of the Leaf Village came into view, Kakashi stopped walking.

"Listen up you three, I have a special adult mission for real ninja coming up tomorrow, and I'll be gone for a couple days. During that time, I want each of you to partner up with one person and spend a day with them. Then, spend time with the other on another day.

If I find out you ignored orders, Naruto won't get ramen for a month, Sakura will be forced to shower in mud, and Sasuke will have to wear pink." All three of them silently shuddered at the thought of Kakashi's punishment.

"What's the point of doing something as stupid as that?" Naruto asked, though honestly he wouldn't mind a day with Sakura.

"You dope, it's to build teamwork." Sakura answered matter-of-factly.

"That's correct Sakura." Kakashi nodded his head and, though it was hard to tell with that annoying mask on, smiled.

"We'll meet as soon as I get back to see who's still alive." Kakashi added with a dark chuckle before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Now Squad 7 was left alone, and an awkward silence had fallen over. None of them appeared to want to volunteer.

"Okay, let's try Rock Paper Scissors. The two who win get to spend the day together tomorrow." Naruto suggested.

"Hn. For once your idiotic brain came up with something that's useful." Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto started roaring about his becoming of Hokage. Sakura raised a fist and Naruto fell silent. Each of them put a fist in the middle, and in unison they began to chant a phrase known to every person in the history of fun but stupid games.

"Rock…Paper…Scissors…Shoot!" Three voices cried, fists quickly changing into their choice of attack. Both Sakura and Naruto had gone with Paper, and Sasuke's unchanged fist said he had chosen Rock.

"Paper covers Rock, so Sakura-chan and I are up first!" Naruto looked overly pleased, and Sakura couldn't help but smile. Sasuke didn't seem to care, and shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"You can have Sakura-chan next, Sasuke-san, and then it'll be us." Naruto frowned at that statement as he said it, showing his dislike of the black haired ninja.

"Whatever." Sasuke turned and walked into the Village, leaving Naruto alone with Sakura. He gulped nervously and asked the question he had been mulling over all day.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, I was wondering if maybe sometime we-?" Naruto started, cut off as a bird dive-bombed into his hair.

"AHHH! GET IT OUT!" Naruto flailed his arms and started rolling on the ground. Sakura watched with wide eyes.

'Was he going to ask you out? Ugh, gross!' Inner Sakura shivered and pretended to gag. Very slowly she started to back away while Naruto yelled something about the bird trying to pick bugs out of his hair. With a moan of embarrassment Sakura saw the Village gate watchers were staring and laughing at the blue eyed idiot. She ran back into the village and back to her house, and only when she was safely locked up in her room did Sakura burst out laughing.

'That was very, very awkwardly funny.' Sakura said to herself, gasping for a breath.


The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and rumors of Naruto's misfortune spread throughout the village. Sakura wasn't surprised to walk through the village the next day and see people laughing and whispering about the blond haired goof. She was running a bit later then planned, because Sakura didn't know if she should dress up or not.

After nearly an hour of thinking, Sakura decided to wear her usual red dress but pulled her long hair back in a messy bun. She walked up to Naruto's apartment and knocked on the door. Sakura let out an audible gasp when Naruto opened the door. The smell of mold and death burned the inside of her nose, and Sakura had to take a step back. Naruto cocked his head to the side, confused.

"Did I do something wrong, Sakura-chan?" He asked worriedly. Like Sakura he wasn't dressed up either, which was a relief. Instinctively Sakura pinched her nose shut.

"Naruto-kun, what's that smell?" She peered around his shoulder and saw a glimpse of his kitchen. The sight made her shudder.

"Oh, you mean the smell of ramen?" Naruto moved aside so Sakura could walk in. She couldn't believe what she saw. The kitchen table was covered with dirty dishes of cereal and ramen, and a carton of milk was out next to a bowl of what should have held fruit, but instead held empty boxes of instant ramen.

'Why wouldn't he put the dirty dishes in the sink?' She asked herself, before seeing that the sink was full of moldy dishes that were past the need of washing. The garbage looked like it hadn't been taken out in years, and there were thick green clouds of toxic smoke rising from the contents.

She noticed a few cockroaches move under the fridge, which was stained with black dirt and fingerprints. Naruto's bed was unmade, the blankets falling off the bed. A few more ramen boxes were scattered around the bed, and when Sakura took a step small clouds of dust blew up.

"Oh, my, goodie, gumdrops." Sakura's mouth was hanging open, and Naruto still didn't seem to get what the problem was.

"So, Sakura-chan, what do you want to do today?" Naruto asked brightly, as if everything was fine.

"We're going to clean up this…this…mess!" Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw something moving under one of the abandoned ramen boxes.

'Mess? That's the understatement of the year!' Inner Sakura cringed.

"Alright Naruto-kun, do you have any kind of cleaning supplies?" Sakura questioned, getting down to business.

"No. If anything gets dirty, then I usually just put it someplace out of sight and forget about it." Naruto answered truthfully.

"Okay, I need you to get me this stuff." Sakura scribbled down a list, and Naruto raced off like a rabbit.

'This may not be how I wanted to spend time with Sakura-chan, but if it makes her happy to clean up my mess, then I'll do it. I wonder why she wants to though; it's not that bad.' Naruto thought as he ran towards the nearest store that could sell him the things on his list.

A/N: Poor Naruto! I feel bad about abusing him like that! I'm so sorry fangirls! Yeah, well, other then that I haven't got much to say…