CHAPTER 3: LAST CALL
"Thank you," Sakura mouthed toward Shima as she walked off with Naruto. Naruto and Sakura walked around for a minute before Naruto spoke up, "Sakura, where are we going?" Sakura stopped for a minute, she didn't know. "Ehh," she stuttered, "It's your birthday, where do you want to go?" "Ramen!" Naruto said enthusiastically, his tone shifted once he thought about it: "But, Ichiraku isn't open any more." "Yeah," Sakura said, "but I'm sure there is another place. How about in a smaller village, maybe in the Land of Grass?" "I don't want to be away from Inosuke for that long." "Cup Ramen? I bet that there's some around here somewhere." "Awesome!" shouted Naruto, very excited at the thought of ramen. The pair walked around for a bit, until Naruto noticed something: "You're seventeen right? I mean, isn't your birthday before mine?" "oh yeah, I guess I would be. I completely got distracted by everything that happened," Sakura admitted, "It was nearly seven months ago." "In March, right?" "Yeah." "Well," Naruto said, "Let's say this is your birthday too! What do you want to do?" "Let's go back to the village!" "I don't think that's a good idea…" Come on, just for a little bit!" "What about Inosuke?" "He's perfectly safe, besides, we'll go in hidden!" "Alright, but just for a little bit." Awesome, Come on Naruto! If we go quick, we can eat even sooner!"
Naruto and Sakura slipped their way into the village through the well, sneaking around using transformation jutsu. They walked around a bit, until they walked into a little bar. "Tsunade went here a lot," Sakura whispered to Naruto, "I just want to remember a bit." "Alright, but after this we're going to the Hokages," Naruto whispered back; if Naruto was going back to the village he wasn't going to skip the Hokages' heads.
The bartender inside wasn't friendly with the pair. "Either buy something or get out!" he commanded. "Fine," Sakura said, "get me a-." "Only Sake!" the bartender interrupted. "Ok," Naruto answered. Naruto and Sakura received their sake and downed it. They continued to talk and drink, until they looked out the bar's lone window. "Wow, look Naruto. The sky, it's so red. It's, hiccup, beautiful," Sakura. "So, hiccup, so are you," Naruto said, causing Sakura to blush. "Mr. Uzumaki, are you coming on to me?" asked a blushing kunoichi. "I, hiccup, go after what I want." Sakura turned away at the thought. She might have been drunk, but she wasn't quite ready to betray her friend's inebriation. But, her drunk mind wasn't ready for the eventual bill. "Check, hiccup, please!" she shouted across the small room. "These drunks are pissing me off, trying to deafen me," the bartender muttered as he handed the pair their tab. Drunks don't make the best decisions, but Naruto and Sakura were about to make a doozy. Sakura and Naruto shared a glance, stood up, and dashed out of the bar stealing a bottle of sake with them. They were not going to pay their tab.
Naruto and Sakura ran to the top of the Hokage monument after they escaped paying their tab. The pair sat on top of Minato's head, drinking swigs of bottom shelf. "Ya know, this is where my date with Ino ended," Naruto said with a sad grin on his face. "How did it end?" asked Sakura, the sake was getting to her. "Kinda like this…" said a drunken Naruto. Both had been holding out for long enough, the sake claimed both. Neither would remember anything except for the small things. That first glance, the feeling, and the eclipse happening around them the world was changing, nothing would ever be the same.
Earlier, soon after Naruto and Sakura left the bar, the bartender was muttering to himself about the "damn fools from Mount Myoboku!" He turned around a corner and ran into the masked man. "Tell me about those fools," Obito ordered the terrified man.
Naruto and Sakura woke up in the morning laying next to each other, closer than previously. "Uhh, what happened?" asked a hungover kunoichi. "Damn sake," Naruto muttered then screamed, "What?!" "Are you ok, what is it?" "Where the…where the hell did your close go?!" Sakura blushed and screamed, "Ahhh! Where did yours go?!" The pair sat there on the monument for a silent minute. "Did we?" asked Sakura. "I think so." "I'm sorry," Sakura said. "No, I think I caused this." "Do you… Do you regret it? Do you regret us…?" "I don't know, will we remain friends?" "I don't think we can." "Oh," said Naruto, "I see." "Let's go back, Inosuke is probably missing you." "Right, he probably misses you too."
The pair returned to their home through the well only to be met by a horrible sight, fires raged throughout Mount Myoboku. The pair ignored all that and rushed to find Inosuke, only to be shocked to see Shima lying outside the door. "He, he's in there-" Naruto rushed inside to find his son. Inosuke lay on the bed, hardly a scratch on him; completely unaware of how close he must have come to death. Naruto gently picked up his son and began to walk around Mount Myoboku, "What happened?" he asked himself. "The Akatsuki," Sakura told him, "The Akatsuki did this. Itachi and Sasuke headed back to the village to eliminate them once and for all." "And Shima?" "She died along with the rest of the toads." Naruto handed Inosuke to Sakura. "Please, protect my son," Naruto asked her as he went to join the Uchiha.