A/N THIS CHAPTER IS CRAP. But it has GOOD CONTENT for a CONTEST I'm holding. I know, I know. Go ahead and get pissed off, but after getting a few Bs and one C on AP course tests, I highly doubt you would want to be spending time on fanfiction. I WANT YOU TO CHECK MY LIVEJOURNAL AFTER READING THIS! (I was quite disappointed at the little number of people who posted to the last entry I put there…)
Chapter 12: The Ichiraku Predicament
Previously…
"Are you OK, now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto kindly said, tipping her chin towards him, and looking into his teammate's eyes. He brushed away a few tears from her face. "I know that you probably aren't a ramen nut like me, but I promise the hot soup will make you feel better—it's my remedy, and my treat. And we won't count this as a 'date', obviously. Besides, I still need to pay you back some ramen, right?"
He winked at the rosette, who gave a half-giggle-half-sob. As Sakura followed Naruto into downtown Konoha, she knew that he didn't get her "small confession"—she'd have to say it in words for him.
Sakura understood that the most important part of that hug, however, wasn't because Naruto was "taking advantage" of his love interest in her…
He hugged her because he had always wanted her to be happy. The Sasuke Retrieval Arc was the best example. If she was sad, he was sad as well. That was the answer to her plethora of "Why?" before. Now, love was so far the last thing on her mind—Sakura did not know who she could thank Fate or anybody for giving her such a good friend in her life.
If there was anything else that Sakura could be thankful for at the moment, it was that the walk to Ichiraku's was short. It wasn't that Naruto or Sakura hated each other or anything, but…the atmosphere was a little awkward. They'd had such a blowup and such a quick session of apologizing that it all seemed too unreal. In fact, the two were silently scared of each other—Naruto had no idea what he would do again if Sakura started breaking down in the middle of the walk, and Sakura was already developing sweat droplets on her forehead from nervousness of the situation.
The two finally reached the bannered stand of the Ramen Bar. Lifting one of the banners and waving his hand cheerfully, Naruto called out, "Yo! O-san!"
Teuchi and Ayame looked up from kneading dough and took a glance at the grinning blond shinobi and the shy rosette. Teuchi greeted, "Oh! Shisashiburi ne, Naruto, Sakura!"
"I was only absent for only a day, you know!"
"Well, you come in everyday!" Teuchi roared, wiping down his floury hands, and continuing, "of course one day is going to be a long time!"
"We had a few…brutal incentives for Konohamaru…" Ayame shrugged nonchalantly, continuing to knead the dough. "No need for details…"
Teuchi looked at Sakura and whispered into Naruto's ear, "Ah! Naruto! You're on a date?"
Naruto gave a small blush, and scratched the back of his head. He whispered back, "Nah…it's kind of like our own pity party…you see…umm…we got rejected by, umm…ah…Anyways, umm…two large miso pork ramens please…? Heh, heh…"
The old man just smiled, and nodded his head, understanding his customer's embarrassment. Ever since Naruto had started coming to Ichiraku's even before he was an Academy student, Teuchi was used to listening about Naruto's constant failure in love. Within no time, two large bowls of the legendary food of Konoha were placed in front of the couple, the steam and pleasant odor trickling into Naruto and Sakura's noses. Naruto cheesily grinned, and took a long whiff of his never-changed favorite food. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, then turned to Sakura and said, "Dig in, Sakura-chan! I promise it's good!"
Sakura had to grin at Naruto's last sentence—as if she needed to be promised that. Sakura had Ichiraku's Ramen a lot of times in her life—as a former member of Team 7, it was almost impossible not to. She just wasn't as much as a nut as Naruto to go in for a bite all time on her spare hours. It wasn't like ramen was made for all the butchers, bakers, or candlestick makers.
"ITADAKIMASU!!!" Naruto yelled, snapping apart his chopsticks. He then began to eat at full speed, with Teuchi and Ayame nodding in satisfaction.
Sakura muttered a small and polite "Itadakimasu", and dipped her chopsticks into the noodles. With the first bite of flavor, however, her mind was transported back in time to Team 7's first meal together at Ichiraku's. It had been after their first Teamwork Bell Test. Her hands slightly shook, but she controlled her nerves, and went in for another bite. Naruto had been calling Sasuke "teme" and Sasuke had been calling Naruto "dobe", arguing over their fumbles in the examination. Kakashi-sensei had completely tuned out his surroundings and replaced it with Icha Icha, while Sakura had been slapping Naruto in the head to shut up.
"Urusai, Naruto!" she'd angrily yelled, forcing the blond's face into the ramen. She had further chastised, "We're a TEAM now, OK? TEAM 7 is going to be TOGETHER forever and ever. So DON'T FIGHT with Sasuke-kun! OK?"
With the final insults of "usuratonkachi" and "teme", the situation had calmed down.
Every bite into the ramen after that memory evoked even more memories, emotions, and whatnot. They began to well up in her chest and heart, forming its own soupy mixture. As she chewed on a piece of naruto, the swirl-patterned fishcake reminded her of the fierce confrontation she just had with Naruto. She set the bowl down and buried her face in her hands, letting the tears pool down her cheeks. Sakura had never felt more pathetic than she was right now—more pathetic than the time that her constant bouts of spying, more pathetic than her inability to keep Sasuke-kun in Konoha, and even more pathetic than her state of mind when she found out that Sasuke didn't return to Konoha, even after Team Shikamaru's botched mission.
She was a failure—even worse than what Naruto used to be at the Academy. She only cried. Crybaby. She was useless. Even being "pretty" had it's own drawbacks. Sakura pressed her lips together, and sat at her seat silently, allowing the tears to just flow into her bare arms. She wouldn't sob or cry out loud this time. OK, so she maybe she was useless, but at least she wouldn't attract the attention of all of downtown Konoha with her wailing. She hoped that Naruto would be too busy eating to notice her situation.
'Calm down, Haruno Sakura. Ochitsuke, Sakura. If the rest of the gang was here, imagine what they'd call you…Imagine what Ino-buta would say…Imagine what Tsunade-shishou would…'
Sakura felt a hand touch her lightly on the arm, and she turned to see Naruto's face furrowed and clouded once again in worry. The sky blue eyes scanned her moist cheeks, and he firmly, yet softly said, "Oi. Sakura-chan. If there's anything that's bothering you, just calm down and tell me! I'm your teammate, right?"
A small ball of emotion wedged itself in Sakura's throat. Crap. Of course he'd notice—he was sitting right next to her. Naruto immediately set down his utensils, and turned in his chair to fully face Sakura. She couldn't help but notice how intense those eyes were, focusing into her own aqua ones. It also happened to be his eyes that released the obstruction in her throat, and Sakura began to semi-bawl, "I-I r-really didn't mean to call you a Jinchuuriki in that context. Y-You have n-no idea. I'm actually r-really worried about you and Akatsuki! Wh-When we went and saved Gaara, and after we met that fake Itachi and all that...I-I'm really worried!"
Naruto was going to speak, when she still rambled, "And…and I couldn't stop Sasuke-kun from leaving! And I always need someone to save me! And—"
"Hey, Sakura-chan. I'm alright. That's a promise. Look, we just got really mad at each other at that point in time because we were hyped up about a pointless bet that I made from the start," Naruto said, putting a hand on the quaking kunoichi's shoulder. "And look—you're NOT useless. Seriously! You're an iryou-nin, okay? You're a medic-nin that's the life of our team! Sasuke…Sasuke…we couldn't do anything about it at that time. But WE ARE GOING to SAVE him. I promise. Please…don't cry, Sakura-chan…"
He rubbed her back, and Sakura felt almost all her sadness rubbed out of her. She looked down into the miso soup, and remembered that Naruto had told her to drink it so long ago. She picked up her bowl, and began to sip the soup. The effect was miraculous—Sakura felt as if she was coming clean. It was almost as if the soup was becoming a stream that was bathing her in a gentle hug. When she was done drinking the soup, she could not help but smile at Naruto.
Naruto returned the smile, and with his trademark grin, said, "See, what did I tell you? Ichiraku always makes people feel better!"
Sakura gave a sigh, and stared down at the dry noodles in her bowl. She turned to Naruto and said, "I know something that'll make you feel even better!"
"Hmm?" Naruto mumbled, his mouth crammed with noodles.
The rosette laughed, and dumped her noodles into his bowl. The wide-eyed expression of surprise and delight on Naruto's face was comical. Tousling his hair, she smiled, "Here. I can't finish it all, so I'll share with you—I really should've told you that my maximum stomach capacity is only a medium bowl."
"San-kyuu Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped, hugging the girl on impulse. He quickly pulled away, however, his face the color of bell peppers.
He couldn't help but notice that although Sakura was seemingly staring at the fillings in the noodles she shared with him, her face was the same color as his.
(A/N: This is a good FanArt Contest subject!)
"Chouji, moooooove!" Ino whined, shifting her slender body however she could to take a look through the small opening in the air vent, "I can't see anything! I only see your f-, I mean, butt!"
"Sorry…"
"Shush, everyone! They'll hear."
"Mendokusei…"
The group was uncomfortably shoved in the small air vent in the ceiling of the ramen bar. Lee and Kiba's faces were smooshed together with Akamaru's tail being the only visible part under Kiba, and Ino was compacted next to Chouji's bottom, with Neji's head crammed into her stomach. Tenten, Hinata, and Shikamaru were mashed into an indiscernible pile, with only the colors of green, purple, and white identifying who was who.
"Chouji…I know that you and Naruto discovered this little section to spy for Teuchi's new recipes, but did you not account for the fact that we're all bigger, and that there were more people?" Kiba uttered as well as he could, shifting so that Akamaru would have more breathing space.
"That's Shikamaru's job."
"Oh, right…Shikamaru, you idiot. But aren't you a lucky guy! You've got Tenten and Hinata smooshed with you!"
"Mendokusei…I'm going to kill whoever said that later."
Lee silently cheered in a muffled voice, "Fey lock sho youshfool togeshere!" (They look so youthful together!)"
"Gee whiz, good job, Neji," the mass that was Tenten scoffed. "You did tell her to dump Naruto with harsh words, but she suffered from her own words!"
"Hey, didn't you say that you didn't want Sakura and Naruto together?" Neji asked, panicking slightly over the kunoichi's small outburst at him. He was managing many things at once: using his Byakugan to look at Naruto and Sakura (as he had absolutely no view of the opening), attempting not to get completely crushed by Ino's pulsations, talking to Tenten, and thinking of what would happen later if Tenten got so mad at him that she wouldn't talk to him anymore.
With a scowl on her face, Tenten shot back, "She suffered, Neji, she suffered. It was all fun and games about Naruto's constant rejection, but my friend suffered. The only reason why I'm not totally and utterly pissed off at you is because Naruto and Sakura have semi-reconciled into being friends."
"A-Ano…Tenten-chan. Y-You don't h-have to b-be that m-mad…"
"Well, I am!"
And Tenten shut up.
Since Shikamaru was the closest to Neji, he whispered silently, "Girls are troublesome. But they get over it."
Neji had absolutely no comment, but to just "sit" there being squashed into nothingness by Ino and listening to her argue over who got to look through the vent.
"—And then Kakashi-sensei just DITCHED me!" Naruto finished, slurping up one of the last noodles in the bowl. "How am I going to become Hokage like this? How can I bring Sasuke back like—"
He stopped abruptly, realizing he'd just tread on a ginger spot in both his and Sakura's lives. Sharingan that belonged to a raven-haired boy flashed in front of his eyes, and Naruto frowned. He opened his mouth to say his apology to Sakura. Even when she'd forgiven him after they'd failed to bring him back together with Yamato and Sai, his conscience could not help but want to apologize and apologize again and again and again.
Sasuke had been, after all, the most important to Sakura-chan. And above all, Naruto just wanted her to be happy, even if his love for her was seemingly unrequited.
Without looking at Sakura for quite a while, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He could feel her eyes scanning his face, but he didn't know what her expression would be. Naruto bit his lip, and mumbled still without glancing at her, "I…shouldn't have said that. I…I meant that…"
"Just leave it at that," the rosette sighed, looking into her reflection at the dregs of the ramen bowl. She picked up her chopsticks, and, like Naruto, pulled up a few more strands of noodles. More thoughts piled into her brain.
The last noodle wouldn't go into her mouth.
Wide-eyed, she traced where the noodle was going, and almost had a heart attack.
She and Naruto had the same noodle in their mouths—only with different ends. (A/N: Another good subject!)
Naruto's face turned extra red, and he bit the noodle off, letting Sakura eat the rest of it. Another awkward silence sank in around them.
Teuchi bustled back, saving the couple, and with his same hearty voice, asked, "You two done?"
"Umm…yea. Arigato!" Naruto mumbled incoherently, and fiddling around in his jeans, he pulled out his tattered frog wallet, and slapped a few dollars onto the countertop. He dipped his head back down, obviously embarrassed by what they'd found themselves in.
Ayame came in a few moments later to start washing the dishes. She noticed her two customers looking off into space, and ventured, "Did something happen?"
Sakura yanked Naruto's hand, and yelled, "Ano…Nandemonai! Jya-na! OK, let's go for a walk, Naruto!"
Father and daughter gave each other a look.
"Sure…yea right," Ayame nodded, squeezing soap onto a sponge, "O-tousan?"
"Hai?"
"I'll bet you that Naruto and Sakura are going to go out—and I want one week off from work as the prize."
Tsunade had almost peed her pants from the excitement. But now, she was gnashing her teeth, wailing, "Oh WHY, oh WHY did they NOT KISS?!"
She had dispersed her group of Jounin out onto the surrounding trees to spy. She, Hiashi-sama, and Hanabi happened to be on the lower limb of a tree seventy-two degrees northeast of Ichiraku's (or as Hanabi claimed—and Hiashi-sama verified.) Tsunade had no idea where the rest of her crew were.
"Ano…Hokage-sama?" Shizune's radio-muffled voice came into Tsunade's ear, "Should we move out? Naruto and Sakura are headed towards the Academy park, close to the river's pier."
With a sly grin, the Godaime muttered back, "Shizune? Your voice sounds a little ragged. Were you doing anything serious? I'm sure Genma was there to save you."
"HOKAGE! That was just the frickin' headset!"
At the same time, she saw Tenten, Shikamaru, Hinata, and the rest of the crew tumble out of a cramped vent and into the alley way. They were cursing a little, but they got themselves together, and followed Naruto and Sakura.
Tsunade barked into the headset, "OK! MOVING OUT! FOLLOW THE TARGETS!"
The wind seemed to rustle through the trees, but Tsunade knew better that the "wind" was her cleverly concealed (and smell-proof) Jounin. But she sighed, and checked her watch: 8:50 P.M.
The teens had taken almost two hours to polish off just two bowls of ramen. Ten o'clock was approaching, and if this relationship got nowhere, she was going to be paying more than a hundred dollars.
As she passed tree after tree, building after building, she remembered what Naruto had once said to her when he had been late…
"Time flies when you're eating ramen."
A/N GO TO MY LIVEJOURNAL! I HAVE A CONTEST! Let me know HONESTLY how you think the best way for me to communicate to you guys about updates/requests in your review! profile, LiveJournal, Directory website (I've made one! Go to my profile for the link), etc.? HAVE YOU BEEN CHECKING THOSE? PLEASE REVIEW. If I know that people out there are STILL reading, I can continue. Otherwise, I'm going to willingly succumb to my schoolwork, and discontinue, as I have A LOT of other story ideas to post.
The content of what I'm writing next may have to be split into two chapters, but if that happens, I'll do a Double Chapter Post (DCP).
Thank you for the 26 reviewers of Chapter 11. I couldn't make it at all without your support: Gnosismaster, megapheonix5, SakuNaruLover, LIGHTNING THIEF, ANDREA1114, uzukun7, gottaluvtwilight, Uzumaki's Fire, FakeCompassion, show.me.the.stars, rickp2006, Softly Sleeping, narusakufan, BladeofEncore, butaneng, Sakura05, Majestic Aria, kibahina.4.evur, CrazyKidDeath, Kokuou no Shin'en, Russ Dog, toads, Drakeofwind, Janus Darko