Chapter Seven: Return Date

It took them several days for Team 7 to return from the Land of Waves. They got back in the late morning after clearing up camp. Soon they entered through the village gates.

"Alright, we're back home!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm.

Sakura sighed, feeling a mixture of relief, admiration and annoyance. She was relieved to be home and could admire Naruto's positivity but at the same time still found his loudmouth to be a bit annoying. She'd warmed up to him at least, but that didn't mean she liked everything he did. Still, he was nicer than Sasuke who simply huffed as they entered.

"Yes, I suppose it's good to be home," Kakashi said. "Everyone take a couple days off, you've earned it after completing a mission like the one we went through."

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto said.

"I'm going home," Sasuke stated.

Sakura watched him walk away without even saying goodbye. She then turned her attention to Naruto.

"Well Naruto what would you like to do?" Sakura asked.

"Oh yeah, well I haven't had Ichiraku ramen in a while since we've been gone so I'd like to go eat there."

"Naruto, don't you eat anything besides ramen?" Sakura mused.

"Not really, it's my favorite food," Naruto said.

"That's not very healthy," Sakura said. "You need vegetables to help you grow strong. If you don't eat enough of those it's no wonder you're so short."

Naruto frowned.

"You want to get taller, don't you?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Naruto admitted.

"Well, you'll have to eat more than just ramen," Sakura said. "You wanna be Hokage you have be strong."

Naruto sighed. Fresh vegetables were his least favorite foods, but as he'd said not long ago there were no short cuts to becoming Hokage.

"That doesn't mean you can't have ramen every now and then," Sakura said. "But try to think of your health."

"Alright," Naruto said. "Geez you sound like my mother."

"How would you know what she sounded like? You never met her?" Sakura snapped.

Naruto recoiled as though she'd hit him. No, this was worse than any of the times she'd hit him. Sakura immediately regretted her words.

"Oh, I'm sorry Naruto I didn't mean to-"

"No, you're right. I never did meet my mother," Naruto said. "I don't even have a name for her… or my father."

Sakura looked at him with pity. She'd looked down on him for being an orphan, he didn't have parents to teach him right from wrong. If he'd had a real mom to scold him every now and then maybe he wouldn't have been so much trouble in the academy. All the other instructors besides Iruka sensei had simply ignored him for the most part. That brought another question to Sakura's mind.

"Hey Naruto, do you know why everyone seems to dislike you?" Sakura asked. "Well maybe not everyone, but a lot of people in the village."

Looking around, she saw a few people glaring at Naruto now. Probably wishing he'd died on his first mission outside the village or left for good.

"Uh- I don't know."

She frowned, getting the feeling he was lying. And what had been up with that red chakra and fast healing? He was certainly not a normal shinobi, in more ways than one.

"Why do I get the feeling you do?" Sakura asked.

Naruto blushed. Sakura approached him, Naruto flinched and put his hands up to cover his head where he was used to her hitting him every so often. But she didn't hit him, instead, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Naruto, we're teammates now. We need to be honest with each other," Sakura said. "Please, tell me what you know."

Naruto looked around as though checking to see if anyone was watching.

"Come with me."

He led her to the training field where they'd had the bell test. They sat down and he began to tell her what he knew.

"Just before I became a genin, after I failed the entrance exam… I was approached by Mizuki Sensei. He tricked me into stealing this special scroll. Iruka Sensei found me and then Mizuki attacked us. Have you ever heard of the Nine Tailed Fox Sakura?"

She nodded. Many people knew the story, about a monster fox attacking the village twelve years ago on October 10th.

"It attacked the village and killed many people, including the Fourth Hokage but he managed to take it down with him."

Naruto shook his head. "That's what people say. But it's not true. The Fox couldn't be killed, so the Fourth sealed it inside someone. Me."

Sakura looked at him in disbelief. But then everything came into place.

"That's why the villagers hate you! I heard someone call you a monster when we were little! And you looked a bit like a fox when you had that red chakra! Was that-"

"Yeah, it was that things power!" Naruto confirmed. "I saw it while I was out. It was inside this giant cage somewhere inside me."

Sakura shuddered at the thought. Naruto looked at her in worry.

"If you don't want anything more to do with me it's okay."

Sakura shook her head. "No, its okay. You're Naruto, the person who contains the fox. Not the fox itself. I mean sure you can be annoying with how loud you are sometimes but you're also very positive, you never give up, and you're really friendly. Unlike someone else I know."

He looked at her. There was a silence and then Naruto's stomach growled.

He chuckled and grinned at her. "Guess I'm still hungry."

"Well come on. Let's go get some ramen, but after that you're gonna have to start eating more vegetables," Sakura said.

Naruto looked down. They began walking back to the village's main area.

"Say, Sakura how come you decided you wanted do something with me? Normally you're always asking Sasuke for that?"

Sakura blushed. "Well… I…"

She felt almost like Hinata right now. Her tongue seemed all twisted and she couldn't find the words for a moment.

"I've gotten to known Sasuke and while I still admire him for being so strong, cool and handsome… I've realized that he's just not the kind of guy I want to spend the rest of my life with," Sakura said. "He's just so cold and he's not looking for girls. I asked him myself and he's only focused on avenging his clan. I can't spend however long that will be waiting for him. Meanwhile you're-"

She stopped. Unable to add what she thought of Naruto now. With Naruto being warm and welcoming.

"Uh… does this mean you would be open to… dating me?" Naruto asked.

Sakura turned red in the face. "Y-yes." She managed to utter.

Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"But don't get too excited right now Naruto. I'm willing to go out with you… but I think I need to focus more on my Ninja training for a bit. I spent so much time fawning over Sasuke that I neglected my own strength. I know I've gotten stronger but I still have a lot to make up for."

"Well, how about after ramen we train together?" Naruto asked.

Sakura smiled. "That sounds good. But maybe tomorrow, I should probably get home to my parents as soon as possible."

"Alright!"

They got to Ichiraku's and each had a bowl of ramen.

Sakura held her full stomach once she was done. "Ah that was good. Well see you tomorrow, Naruto. I need to get home."

"Bye!" Naruto waved as she walked off.

Sakura began walking home from the Ramen shop. But as she did so she had a distinct feeling that someone was watching her. She turned around and saw-

"Hinata!" she exclaimed.

The Hyuga girl stood there, a few feet away from the Ramen shop. Had she been watching them? Naruto suddenly stepped out of the Ramen shop after paying the bill for both him and Sakura's bowls (he'd offered to treat her when the bills came).

"Oh, Hinata hey!" Naruto said seeing her.

"H-hi Naruto," the shy girl said. "How are you? I-I haven't seen you for a while."

"Yeah, I got sent on a mission to a faraway land. I actually got to fight some other ninja!" Naruto told her.

"Oh well, I'm glad you're a-alright. Was it h-hard?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, but nothing I couldn't handle!" Naruto said. "Well, I better get back home. Nice to see you Hinata!"

"Y-yeah. You two. I hope we'll have joint training sessions again soon," Hinata said, too quietly for him to hear as he walked away.

Sakura approached her. Hinata looked over at her.

"Um… were you two on a date?"

"Yeah," Sakura said.

"But I… I thought you liked Sasuke," Hinata said.

Of course, she'd known that Naruto had liked Sakura. But she'd hoped this wouldn't happen.

"I did, but not any longer," Sakura told her.

There was silence between them. Sakura remembered how she and Ino had become rivals back when they were younger. How they'd both been friends after Ino defended Sakura from bullies teasing her about her forehead. Sakura had just decided to end their friendship so that they could both pursue Sasuke as rivals, now she felt as though she'd made a mistake. She wasn't anywhere near as close with Hinata, but she didn't want things to get out of control with them.

Sakura sighed. "Listen Hinata. I know you like Naruto… but I do too now. If you want to try and win his heart I'm not gonna go down easily. But I still want us to be friends… or at least on good terms. Is that okay?"

"Um… sure Sakura," Hinata said. "Good luck."

Sakura smiled. She then headed off home. But as she neared her place, she saw Ino's house. Shrugging, she decided to pay her old friend a visit. She walked up to the door and knocked. Ino's mom opened it in a moment. She didn't look much like her daughter at all, having brown hair which she kept in a bun with a red hair wrap, her eyes were brown as well and she wore a dark dress with a gem on the chest.

"Oh Sakura! My it's been a long time dear. Are you here to see Ino?"

"Yes," Sakura said.

"Ino! Someone to see you."

Ino appeared in a few minutes. She looked surprised to say the least. Sakura hadn't come to visit since they'd become rivals.

"Sakura?"

"Ino, I need to talk to you."

Ino walked outside.

"So, what's going on forehead? Sasuke reject you or something?"

Sakura frowned. "You could say that. I talked to him, and he tuned me down… but I've had a lot of thinking to do since I've been put on a team with him and Naruto. I've gotten to know them both and I've learned that Sasuke isn't into girls…"

"What?" Ino exclaimed. "You mean he's…"

"No, he's not gay!" Sakura said. "He's just not looking for romance right now. He's only interested in training to avenge his clan."

"Oh," Ino said, though she wasn't certain whether or not to believe it.

"Well, I've decided I like someone else," Sakura said. "If you still want to go after Sasuke then fine. I don't why I started doing it."

"Practically everyone in our class started liking him," Ino said.

"Yeah. Maybe I just wanted to do what everyone else was doing," Sakura said. "But I'd like to try and be friends with you again like we used to."

Ino looked at her with a wide mouth for a moment but then managed a smile. "You know I think I'd like that! I kinda missed you, forehead."

"Me too Ino-Pig. Me too."

The two girls laughed then wrapped their arms around each other in a hug.

"Let's never end our friendship over some guy again," Sakura said.

Aww! I made me kinda cry when I had Sakura and Ino hug. It might have been a little fast but I wanted to have them reconcile. Please review and I will see you again in 3-4 weeks. The Chunin Exams will be coming up… and I'm seriously considering having Sakura go up against Hinata rather then Ino. Though I'm still considering a chance for Ino to lose to Sakura's new improved abilities. As I said early on I will be having Team 7 go into the exams this time unlike The Difference a Kiss Can Make. Let me know what you guys think.