Disclaimer: For fun.
Well, it was going to be 2 chapters in a single day. But the website REALLY didn't like it when I did that. So 2 chapters in 2 days!
"Sakura-chan, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this feels pretty sudden." Naruto pointed out, putting his hands on his hips.
"We just got done spending the day on the test with Kakashi-Sensei, I doubt the both of us have enough energy to have a proper match." He explained to her, hoping she would understand. Instead, he heard a scoff from her.
"I think we both know that's not true, Naruto." She retorted, walking past the two and into the clearing of the training area. She then swiveled on her heel and faced the blonde.
"Unless of course, you're worried you're gonna lose?" She asked tauntingly, giving him a devious grin.
"Ha? That's not what this is about…" Naruto replied, clicking the roof of his mouth as Sakura clearly pinched a nerve.
"Very well then. Since Sakura's so insistent about it, I'll allow a match between the two to gauge your current combat capabilities." Kakashi interrupted, granting Sakura her wish as he stepped back and watched the two. His eye narrowed as he watched the two with conflicted feelings.
'So much for the baggage being gone… Sakura's attitude flipped the moment the bell test ended.' Kakashi thought to himself, watching the two take their stances. He then raised his arm as he looked at the two.
"Are you both ready?" He asked them, watching the two give him a silent nod. He then threw his arm down in a chopping motion.
"Begin!" He shouted, as the two rushed toward each other at high speeds.
They started with hand to hand combat, deflecting and countering each other at every turn. While Sakura might have proven superior in raw strength, it was clear that Naruto was no slouch in Taijutsu experience.
'What on earth is going on? Sakura-chan was never this aggressive before! She's acting so different compared to this morning!' Naruto thought to himself, narrowly dodging punches and kicks aimed directly at his head.
The blonde jumped back, throwing multiple shuriken toward Sakura. In response she whipped out a kunai and deflected all the shuriken and caught one on the end of her kunai, before throwing it back at the blonde who vaulted off the ground in response to dodge the counterattack. He then threw his hands together to form a handsign.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted, having two clones appear and rush the pinkette. They started throwing blow after blow her way, but could only watch as she dodged and weaved through every punch and kick thrown her way.
"Surely you can do better than that, Naruto!" She shouted, grabbing one of the clones and slamming it into the other, causing them to vanish in a puff of smoke. Said smoke gave Naruto the cover he needed to get in close and slam his fist into Sakura's gut, knocking the wind out of her and sending her sliding back on the ground. The young woman coughed into her hand before standing up, shaking her head.
"Not bad…" She told him, wiping some blood from her mouth. Naruto grimaced at the sight, watching her get hurt because of him. It was unpleasant.
"Come on, Sakura-chan. Surely that's enough, right?" He asked, before a kunai whipped past his face, and embedded into a rock behind him, causing cracks throughout the surface of the rock.
"We're done… When I say we're done." She told him, her face calm, but her eyes were filled with rage. The blonde rubbed his cheek, feeling a cut from where the kunai had grazed his face.
'That anger… What did I do to make her so mad?' He asked himself, before his eyes opened fully at Sakura suddenly being right in front of him.
He moved his head just in time to dodge a punch from her, as he felt the wind pressure caused by her attack. He knew at this point this wasn't about some test; this was Sakura attacking him. Whatever he did to her, she had been keeping bottled up until now.
"Sakura-chan! Calm down!" He shouted, dodging her now much faster attacks, vaulting over a rock that was then pulverized by her onslaught.
"YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" She roared, rushing forward and kicking him in the side, sending him flying into the river.
The blonde stood out of the shallow waters, shaking his head as he tried to get his bearings, all while rubbing his now bruised rib. He looked over at the enraged woman, who's cheeks were now red as it looked like she was fighting back tears.
"Sakura-chan… Just tell me what's wrong! What did I do?!" He asked her, stopping her punch by grabbing her forearm. The pinkette gritted her teeth in response as she charged forward, shoving him into a tree and forcing him into a hold as she lifted him off the ground.
"Of course you wouldn't remember! YOU ABANDONED ME!" She screamed, the tree shattering from the pressure she was exerting into him. Naruto coughed up some blood before using the opportunity to get out of her hold and create some distance between them.
"That day you took me out of the rain… When you said I was capable of amazing things… That I wasn't pathetic or useless… Was that all a lie?!" She asked, tears running down her face as her anger was being washed away with dread.
Naruto stared at her in shock, before violently shaking his head. He didn't think she'd bring up that day of all things.
"Of course not! You know I would never lie to you!" He exclaimed, trying to reason with her now that she wasn't being as aggressive. Her face twisted into a look of rage and betrayed sadness as she gritted her teeth.
"OH REALLY?!" She shouted, her pupils as tiny as dots as she rushed forward, the blonde once again dodging each of her hits, noting they were slower than before.
"Then why was I the ONLY ONE who didn't know you were leaving?! You have a twisted sense of humor if you consider hiding the truth to not be lying!" She jabbed, constantly swinging punch after punch toward the blonde, before catching both of her fists. She hung her head as her body began to tremble.
"You told everyone! Everyone but me…" She choked out, tears falling from her face onto the ground.
"You told Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, FUCKING HINATA!" She screamed out, trying to get out of his grip but failing to do so.
"Sakura-chan…" Naruto trailed off, watching her in shock and sadness as she fell to her knees, still barely fighting to get out of his grip.
"You even told Ino… My best friend… But not me…" She choked out, there wasn't any anger left in her voice. It was just sadness.
"You left me all alone… I thought we were friends… I thought we were, or at least could have been more… But you left me…" She said between the hiccups of her tears as her hands fell to her sides, as her jaw quivered.
"You abandoned me… Just like Sasuke-kun…"
Those words were like a knife straight to Naruto's heart as his face twisted into shock and horror. He immediately fell to his knees and grabbed Sakura's shoulders. All he could see on her face was a frustrated sadness as she fought pointlessly to keep her tears at bay, her teeth chattering as her jaw quivered.
'What have I done…' Naruto thought to himself, quickly pulling Sakura into a tight embrace, ignoring the weak punches to his back that she was now doing.
"I am so sorry, Sakura-chan…" He told her, his eyes welled up as he rubbed her back slowly. "I never meant to hurt you…" He choked out, feeling the young woman weep into his shoulder.
"I didn't tell you, not because I thought you were weak… It was because I knew I had to go, and if I had to look you in the eye and tell you goodbye…" He trailed off, squeezing her tightly in his embrace, surprising Sakura.
"I wouldn't have been able to leave you…" He finally said, loosening his grip so they could look each other in the eye. Sakura looked at him in mild surprise, as tears slowly ran down her face, her emerald eyes locked on his cerulean eyes.
"I was wrong to hide this from you… I didn't mean to make you feel so alone… Unwanted…" He apologized, pressing his forehead against hers. "I am so… So sorry…" He apologized again, tears building in his eyes.
Kakashi looked on in sadness as the two embraced each other in tears, comforting one another. It reminded him too much of his own past.
'I had no idea the state of their relationship was like a dam about to burst… But they managed to save it…' Kakashi thought to himself, looking up at the night sky and taking a slow deep breath, before going for a walk. He decided to give the two some peace alone until they had calmed down.
Minutes passed as the two held each other, Naruto holding and rubbing Sakura's hand in comfort as she sat there, quietly letting the grief pass through her being as the tears that had been falling from her face began to slow.
"I'm sorry I hit you so hard…" She quietly apologized, sniffling as she rested her head on his chest.
"Don't be, I deserved it…" He told her, running his hand through her hair slowly to comfort her. In response she inched even closer to him, almost like she was afraid to leave his arms. As if he'd disappear if she did.
"…Dinner." Sakura suddenly said, causing Naruto to look at her in surprise.
"What about it?" He asked, causing her to look up at him cutely.
"Make it up to me over dinner…" She told him, pouting cutely as she sniffled. In response the young man chuckled a bit as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Sure, just name the time and place!" He told her, as Sakura gripped his jacket tightly.
"…Now. At Ichiraku." She told him before getting up and wiping herself off. "…After I clean up." She added, noticing how much dirt she had on her.
Naruto got up as well, smiling calmly at Sakura as he folded his arms behind his head. He was happy to see her doing better.
"Of course, Sakura-chan. So, 20 minutes?" He suggested, getting a nod in response from Sakura who quietly walked off. Now that Naruto was alone, the boy rubbed his head in frustration.
"I don't get it… First, she was basically trying to kill me, now she wants a dinner date…" He grumbled, not understanding the situation in the slightest.
"Let me offer you some advice, Naruto." Kakashi started, now back from his walk as he patted the boy on the shoulder.
"A scorned woman is a dangerous one. I warned you she wasn't going to take you leaving without saying goodbye well… So, this is her way of forgiving you." He advised him before walking forward.
"Make sure you treat her right, got it?" He instructed Naruto, before walking off.
"Treat her right? I don't get it…" Naruto muttered, before walking back toward the village, rubbing the back of his head in confusion.
Sakura stood in her bathroom, letting her clothes fall to the ground as she walked into her shower and let the hot water screech over her.
The young woman winced as the water hit her bruises and cuts, washing away all the blood and dirt as she stared down toward the shower tiles. She slowly wrapped her arms around herself as she thought back to the feeling of Naruto holding her in his arms.
'I'm so pathetic…' She thought to herself, shaking her head as she tried to recompose herself. She looked down at her own body and began healing her own wounds with her medical jutsu taught to her by Tsunade.
"I practically melted into his arms the moment he embraced me… I'm so pathetic…" She chastised herself, laughing pathetically as she leaned against the wall of the shower, letting the water hit her body.
'Is that so bad?' Her inner self asked, ringing through her mind as an echo.
'I missed him so much… I was so angry… So hurt… But I missed his touch… His warmth… His kindness' Her inner self spoke.
Sakura sighed a bit, knowing how right her inner self was. She took note as she got older and her emotions became easier to manage that her inner thoughts felt more like… Hers, rather than something her conscious mind fought with.
"I really did miss him…" She choked out, her bottom lip quivering as she held herself tighter.
"Nothing felt right after he left… The world felt colder, more lifeless…" She admitted, closing her eyes as she thought back to the week after Naruto left.
"What?! Naruto didn't tell you he was leaving?!" Ino asked her friend, almost dropping her mug of coffee as she looked at her across the counter at her parents' flower shop.
Sakura silently shook her head as she looked down at the counter, bitterness and resentment filling her being.
"He didn't." She said simply, hearing an annoyed grunt from the blonde in front of her.
"Christ, if I had known I would've told you sooner… I am so sorry, Sakura…" Ino apologized, guilt filling her features. She then saw a conflicted look show on Sakura's face as she stared at the counter.
"…Did he tell Hinata he was leaving?" She asked suddenly, getting a surprised look from the young Yamanaka.
"He told everyone from the Konoha 11… So yes, he did tell her." Ino confessed, before jumping at Sakura suddenly punching the countertop, leaving a large crack in the wood.
"…Sorry… I'll pay for a replacement." Sakura apologized, her face twisted into a complex look of anger, frustration and embarrassment.
A sigh escaped Sakura as she stopped reminiscing, slapping her cheeks as she continued to wash her body.
"I can't let these feelings wash over me again… Naruto and I talked it out… He… He didn't mean to hurt me." She reminded herself, as she started washing her hair, attempting to push the negativity out.
"Seeing him again, though… After all these years… Awoke all those complicated feelings I had for him all over again…" She admitted, a light blush appearing on her features as she finished washing up and stepping out of the shower, staring at herself in the mirror.
"Guess I can't keep pretending there isn't romantic feelings for him… Guess we'll find out how strong they are." She told herself before brushing her hair, getting dressed and walking out the door.
Naruto took a deep breath, standing outside the Ichiraku ramen stall. Part of him was nervous to be back after all these years.
'Guess after what happened with Sakura-chan, I'm a little less enthused for reunions right now…' The blonde thought, before shaking his head and stepping inside.
"Sorry sir, but we're closing soo—Naruto?!" Old man Teuchi exclaimed, looking at the boy in shock.
"Hey old man, been a long time." He greeted, flashing the even older looking ramen chef a grin.
"A-A-Ayame! Naruto is back!" He shouted toward the back, hearing the clattering of pots and pans as the young woman rushed out to the front.
"Naruto!" She shouted with glee, going over and giving him a tight hug. She then noticed his height. "Goodness, it has been a while. You're taller than me!" She exclaimed, smiling at the young man.
"It's great to see you too, Ayame-neechan." He greeted her, smiling warmly. She then looked at the two. "I know you guys close soon… But is there any chance I can get two bowls of ramen?" He asked them, hearing a bellowing laugh from Teuchi.
"Of course! This is a special occasion for our best customer's return!" He replied, accepting Naruto's proposal as he went to work on cooking. "You must be hungry if you want two bowls at once!" He exclaimed, noticing the young man shake his head.
"No, uh… I'm meeting Sakura-chan here." He told them meekly, rubbing the back of his head. The father and daughter duo looked at each other, giving each other a knowing smile as Ayame looked back at Naruto.
"Of course, we understand." She told the boy before pushing him out of the stall. "It'll be ready by the time you come back in with her!" She called out.
Naruto stood in front of the stall, looking around and waiting for the young woman's arrival. A twinge of anxiety filled his being as he thought back to Kakashi's words, tugging at his jacket collar as he stared at the dirt road.
'Take care of her, huh… I know this is a date, but…' He trailed off, losing his train of thought as he heard footsteps coming towards him, looking up to see Sakura walking toward him in her old outfit that she used to wear before he left.
"Hey Naruto… Hope I didn't make you wait long." She greeted him, playing with a bit of her hair. Not before getting a little nervous at Naruto staring at her. "N-Naruto?" She spoke out.
"Well, it's official. You are much prettier now that I've seen you in your old outfit." He told her, nodding to himself in confirmation.
"T-Thank you… Dummy…" Sakura thanked him, blushing as she walked with him into the stall, noticing the bowls of ramen being put down in front of them as they walked in.
"B-But we haven't ordered yet." She told them, getting a wink from Ayame.
"Naruto filled us in before you showed up. You're our last call for the night, so you two have the place to yourself." Ayame told the young woman in front of her, before her and Teuchi put a closed sign up so no one would interrupt the two and then walked out to the back of the shop.
Sakura was stunned at the gesture as she sat down on her seat next to Naruto. She always knew Naruto was close to the shop owners of Ichiraku, but they practically treated him like family.
"They really seem to care about you, Naruto." She pointed out, smiling warmly at the blonde. The latter of whom could only chuckle in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, they gave me a place to go when I was a kid…" He explained, before the two started to eat, enjoying the quiet and comfortable atmosphere together.
As they finished their food, the atmosphere was quiet and somewhat awkward as Naruto nervously stared down at the counter.
'W-What do I say?...' He asked himself, his nervousness getting the better of him.
*Thud*
Was the noise made when Sakura suddenly leaned against his shoulder, silently staring down at the two bowls of ramen, and knocking Naruto out of his thoughts.
"Sakura-chan… Why did you want me to take you out on this date?" He asked calmly, looking over at Sakura's passive face.
"I told you already, it was to make up for leaving me alone…" She told him calmly, still not looking at him.
Naruto looked forward, he was normally good at reading people, but Sakura had been surprising him at every turn. He didn't know what to think about her at this point. All he knew was that there was more to this date than just making up for wronging her.
'Wait…' His eyes opened fully as Kakashi's words finally clicked in his head.
"…Is that really all this date is about, Sakura-chan?" He probed, looking down at her. Which prompted her to look up at him, her face remaining passive.
"You tell me, Naruto." She told him, not giving him an inch on what was going on in her mind.
The boy was racking his brain, trying to understand the young woman next to him. What she wanted… What he wanted.
"You said you didn't know how you felt about me before, Sakura-chan… After everything we've gone through today, that isn't true anymore, is it?" He asked her, getting a hum of satisfaction out of the young woman next to her.
"Amazing at reading people as always…" She commented, putting more of her weight on him as she leaned against him. "But let me ask you this question… How do you feel about me?" She asked the blonde.
"You already—" Before he could speak further, Sakura put a finger to his lips.
"We're not kids anymore, Naruto… We're different people now than we were four years ago. Can you truly say you're still 'in love' with me?" She asked, staring at the boy.
Naruto looked down, thinking hard about her point. She was right, it had been years since they had last seen each other. Did he still feel the same as he did back then?
"Well, let me simplify the question for you to stop your brain from overheating… How do you feel when you look at me?" Sakura asked him, sitting up and showing herself off to him.
Naruto looked her up and down, a sheepish look showing on his face as he looked to the side and scratched his cheek.
"It's hard to look at you without my chest fluttering a bit…" He admitted, blushing lightly. He wasn't used to openly talking about his feelings like this.
"So, you still have romantic feelings for me, but you don't know if it's love?" She asked, seeing the blonde nod in response. She leaned forward, staring up at the boy. "What do you want from our relationship, then?" She pressed further.
Naruto leaned back in his chair a bit in nervousness, before looking forward. Kakashi's advice ringing through his brain like an alarm.
"W-What do you want, Sakura-chan?" He asked, trying to dodge the question of his own feelings, seeing a simple smile from the young woman.
"We're not talking about me right now, Naruto…" She told him, before looking forward. "You were able to deduce the multi layered nature of this date, right? You already know what I want…" She told him, a slight blush showing on her features.
Naruto stared at her for a long while, before looking down at his empty bowl. He took a breath and swallowed his fear. He shut his eyes and said:
"I want to try it… Dating for real… Seeing if we work…" He told her, not daring to look her way.
"So, you wanna be a couple, but you want to start slow to see if it'll work?" She prodded further, practically prying the honesty out of the young man.
"Y-Yes." He finally admitted, before glancing at her through the corner of his eye. What he found was a genuine warm smile, the most positive emotion he had seen from her the entire time he had been back.
"Okay." She answered simply, before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Was that so tough?..." She lightly jabbed, smirking at the boy next to her.
"I don't have to answer that…" Naruto replied, a prominent blush spreading across his cheeks, getting an amused giggle out of the pinkette.
The two bid each other farewell and returned to their homes, Naruto for his part immediately collapsed on his bed.
He kept thinking about their conversation, and the more he thought about it, the more a stupid grin started to show on his face. He put a hand over his face as he started laughing to himself, before fist pumping both hands into the air.
Sakura leaned against her bedroom door, putting a hand to her chest as she stared at the floor. Her eyes grew big and started to sparkle as she started rocking back and forth, before going over to her bed and falling into it. Muffled shouts could be heard from her pillow as her legs excitedly started swinging back and forth.
'I'm dating Sakura-chan…'
'I'm dating Naruto…'
'The hell kind of evening starts with a fight and ends with a relationship?!' They both thought.