As the three headed down from the roof, Naruto got to wondering about the possible ramifications of a number of things, including that of tomorrow's allegedly murderously challenging test, and his two teammates.
It was a near carbon copy of his previous assigned group, apart from only one being loud and a potential hazard. The only upsides so far were that the Rookie of the Year wasn't driven by his insecurities and that the female of the team wasn't as oversexed, although looks could be deceiving. Naruto snuck a glance at Sakura, who seemed engrossed with watching their other teammate with the intent concentration of a hawk peering down at its potential prey.
From his point of view, this dedicated obsession was going to lead to a fair amount of problems down the road- best to nip this cataclysm in the bud.
When they got to street level, Naruto made up his mind. He closed in on his preoccupied teammate, putting a hand on her shoulder. Sakura immediately reacted, twisting around to look at the blond, looking somewhere between confused and expectant.
"Sakura," Naruto began, "I'm afraid I need you right now."
The girl visibly blushed, mouth opening and closing, unable to form any coherent words.
With that, Naruto calmly released her, turning in the general direction of home. "Follow me…"
And so Sakura did, sparing Sasuke a longing glance as distance grew between her and the brooding Adonis before turning back, tripping over her own feet as she moved to catch up with her enigmatic teammate.
This was really unexpected.
This was really, really unexpected.
Oh, God, this was such a twist of fate!
Before, he was impenetrable, indifferent…now, he'd near declared his unknown desires for her!
Sakura squirmed silently as she followed the solid back of her teammate. This was impossibly unimaginable! She was unable to still herself…this development was too big.
What was a fairly clear dynamic of Sasuke silently demanding her to climb to gain his favor and become his wife, Naruto presenting himself as an equally silent adversary in love, and Kakashi and Ino serving as foils for her romantic plans had turned into this…this mess! Now it was clear Naruto was making his play, not ready to stand by and take leaving the future of his marriage in Sakura's hands, challenging Sasuke in love and strength, which would lead to a duel of fate- ultimately to the death…or something else…
The rosette repressed the urge to kick herself, feeling the growing threat of a nosebleed- just what she needed now!
…this wasn't even counting the mess of Ino, that sow! She was already switchhitting between lusting after Sasuke and harboring dark desires for Naruto; now she'd be determined to spite Sakura, unwilling to lose to her on the battleground of love! That white blonde heron would play dirty, oh yes she would, flirting with him outrageously by day, seducing him with her whorish tricks by night. Haruno Sakura didn't put it past the sleazy pig to slip into Uzumaki's bed, awaiting his return home with the lights out.
Oh, that witch! She would pay for daring to interfere with Naruto's honest desire for the smartest, strong-willed, and most notably beautifulest girl in all of Konoha!
In the middle of all this thought, Sakura almost slammed right into Naruto as he turned toward a nearby stand, gesturing casually with a finger. She instantly backpedaled, bowing and apologizing for nearly knocking him over.
When Naruto simply smiled and insisted that she not worry about it, Sakura just about melted right then and there.
"Come on," Naruto said, walking through the noren to his favorite ramen yatai, "dinner's on me."
Holding the curtain high for his companion to enter, Naruto took a quick survey on the available seats. While it wasn't unheard of for the place to be packed to the brim on some nights, Ichiraku Ramen tended to attract the quieter, less economically advantaged types. Today it seemed like business was just shy of dead, with one guy on the far end, minding his own business as he tucked into his bowl of noodles.
Sakura scurried in, hands held tight in front of her, her head down.
Naruto moved forward and took a seat, beckoning Sakura do the same.
The man who tended the shop stepped up to the front, dabbing his brow with a dishcloth. "Oh, hey, Naruto! How's Academy life going for ya? I see you've brought a cute friend with you tonight. What's your name, beautiful?"
The cook leered playfully at Sakura, who looked up bashfully, unsure of what to say.
"Hey, now, Teuchi, give her some space. Your bland swill is already frightening enough people away without you perving all over the customers."
Sakura looked over at Naruto, amazed he was saying such things. What was puzzling was that the blond seemed at ease, completely at home in his seat at the bar, an easy grin plastered on his face.
What was even more puzzling was the man's reaction, laughing outright, slapping his slight gut. "Oh, so fresh tonight! Planning on standing up for yourself to impress a lady, huh?"
"Having the stones to drag her to this hole in the wall was impressive enough, old man," Naruto replied, smirking as he gestured at the stand as a whole with a short sweep of his arm.
"Ahh ha ha! Naruto, you rat chewing, gutter crawling goggle-monkey! I oughta poison your broth tonight!"
Sakura blanched, still at a loss for words, unable to comprehend the strange dynamic that was shared between Naruto and this weird old man.
"Probably would improve the taste, Teuchi," the blond said, chuckling.
The gray-haired man shook his head, the grin plain on his face. "Ahhhhh well. So what'll it be tonight, kiddo?"
"I'll take the usual- maybe a bit more pork, just to be safe."
The cook looked over at Sakura, his perpetually smiling eyes putting her at ease even for all his weirdness. "So what'll you be havin', doll?"
"Um," Sakura mumbled, not sure what to say. She was on a diet, but she didn't want to be rude.
"…Well?" the smiling cook said, not even a hint of impatience in his voice.
"I…I guess I'll have a bowl of miso soup," the rosette replied, shifting in her seat a little.
"Ahhhh," Teuchi said, nodding as if Sakura had said something profound, "Alright then. I'll get right on it."
With that, the man turned, getting to cooking up their orders.
Naruto sighed, a gentle smile lingering on his lips. Sakura blushed, a little surprised by this warm, happy side of Naruto's.
"So what's the deal with you and the old man, Naruto?" Sakura asked.
The blond hummed, watching Teuchi work for a little bit before turning to face his companion, resting his head in his hand. "I'd have to say it's a bit of a friendship."
"Oh?" Sakura blinked, turning to face Naruto completely.
"Yeah. I know from the way we talk to each other, it sounds kinda rough, but it's really just a guy thing."
"Oh…so do you come here often?"
The boy huffed, his smile widening. "Do I? Yeah. It's been a thing for a while."
"How come?" Sakura leaned forward, hands on her knees.
"Just has. This place was always open when I got done with my duties. I couldn't always afford it in the beginning, but the old man cut me some slack. After I started actually getting paid, I was in here just about every night. Kinda slowed down during the time at the Academy, but this place is always here, and rarely ever closed when I find it."
Naruto ran his hand along the polished bar, sighing. After a moment, he looked back to Sakura, the smile never leaving his face. "Lotsa nights spent here, and every one worth it. Every yen worth it, too."
"What's that?" Teuchi called from the back of the small kitchen of the yatai.
"I said," Naruto began, raising his voice, putting a purposely obnoxious whine into his voice, "it's a wonder I haven't died from food poisoning yet!"
"Aha!" the cook exclaimed, snatching up two bowls and ladling in their respective contents, and then running them to the front. "Then perhaps you should cut out all those cats you scarf down."
Teuchi slid the bowls in front of the pair, fishing out the utensils and plunking them down next to the dishes.
"If I did that, though, I could never get the taste of your horrible cooking out of my mouth!"
Gasping dramatically, the jovial cook clutched his chest, "But Naruto- I've always used cat in my cooking!"
"I dunno, then- perhaps your skills as a cook were worse than I'd thought!"
Teuchi smired, crossing his arms slowly and posturing. "Something has you coming back, night after night."
Naruto, started to say something, paused, and picked up his otemoto, separating them cleanly and positioning them in his hand. Pulling his bowl closer to him, he pointed at the cook with them, saying "The moment you stop holding down your prices is the moment I'm outta here."
With that, the boy clapped his hands together, with chopsticks in hand, muttered a quick prayer of thanks, and dug in without further ado. Sakura, noting that she wasn't going to get any further talk out of the boy while his mouth was full, turned to her own bowl, picking up her chirirenge spoon and daintily began eating her soup.
Surprise showed on her face after the first mouthful, looking up at the cook, giving her a conspiratorial smile. "Good, ain't it?"
Sakura looked down at her bowl, then at Teuchi, animatedly nodding her head. The man chuckled, his laughter lines creasing easily.
"Passerby seem to think that this is just a place for the hungover and poor when they hear about my kinda prices. I honestly just like cooking for folks and haven't the heart to rip them off over simple noodles in broth."
Sakura blinked, returning to her soup, savoring the positively umami balance between saltiness and the soft richness of the bean.
After a moment or so of silence save for the scraping of cutlery, Sakura sat up, putting down her spoon, sighing contentedly. The cook caught her eye again with a knowing leer. Nodding at Naruto, who had just picked up his bowl and drained it, another seeming to have materialize while Sakura was preoccupied. Without a pause, the blond pulled the new bowl closer to him quickly plucking up a sizeable piece of pork, and began to eat it. All the girl next to him could do was stare.
Teeth. So many teeth.
Was it even possible?!
They look all the same.
They're all weird
Oh God how many does he have in that mouth?!
Was he a mutant? A monster experiment?! A demon?!
AAAAAA-
Naruto continued to eat, uncaring of the drama quietly unfolding near him, preferring to focus on the enjoyment of his ramen bowl.
Teuchi, chuckling softly, leaned over the counter, a glint in his eye as he cupped his mouth, loudly whispering "You think that's crazy? You should see the guy's tongue. I bet you could-"
The boy genin dipped his fingertips into the broth of the bowl and quickly flicked them at the grey haired man, spattering him with the soup.
"Aah!" the cook yelled, melodramatically flinching away, "Don't use my soup like that! All that battery acid will go to waste!"
Naruto chuckled himself, flicking his wet fingers at the laughing man before digging in with gusto, quickly digging into the bowl as the cook put on a bit of a display for the rest of the meal, brandishing ladles and shouting with mock outrage, Sakura helpless to do more than smile at the odd spectacle.
Once finished, the blond fished through his wallet, which was stuffed with more bank notes than his teammate had ever seen in her life, slapping it down on the counter with a wide grin, giving his farewell after another more couple minutes of salty repartee, leading Sakura out by the hand.
They walked a ways, the sun beginning to droop down to the horizon, engaging in mild small talk, just generally living in the moment, content to meander. Then Naruto stopped, pulling the fun to a halt with a meaningful glance at his companion.
"Sakura…I need to talk to you about something."
The girl blushed, her heart climbing into her throat.
"Wh- what do you want, Naruto?"
"You…that is, I…Sakura…"
She felt her stomach fill with butterflies, unable to speak, her breath feeling far away from her.
Naruto sighed, putting his hands on his teammate's shoulders. "You need to stop."
With that, Sakura's heart nearly burst