AN: I've had this one for a couple of weeks now, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it or not. It's in a different style than I normally use, but hey, that's what made it fun. With Sauske out of the picture (for the moment, hang in there all you Sauske fans!) I think she's able to really see Naruto, and as of Shippuuden I feel like she's unsure exactly how she feels about him. Let me know what you think, I think I need another perspective. Be warned though: It's kind of fluffy...

Sakura sighed as she flopped down on her bed, "What a day..."

She rolled over on her side so she was facing the mirror that hung on the wall across from her bed.

She sighed again, "It's not so bad is it?"

She ran a thoughtful hand along the curve of her torso and over her rounded hip, "I'm pretty curvy."

Except where it counts.

Sakura frowned, "I'm still more womanly than I ever was!"

He didn't think so.

She snorted, "Or he didn't notice."

He always notices.

Sakura ground her teeth together in frustration, "He meant to be nice."

He said what he thought you wanted to hear.

The pink-haired Kunoichi rolled onto her back, "He didn't have to say anything!"

Yes he did; you were fishing for compliments.

"Not from him!"

Only from him.

Sakura sat up, "No, it's not the same..."

...as Sasuke-kun.

Sakura shut her eyes, trying to block out her inner voice, "He's not the same..."

Right. He's better.

Sakura's eyes went wide, "Where did that come from?"

He's kind to you.

"He's kind to everyone."

He protects you.

"He protects all of us."

He encourages you.

Sakura shook her head trying to break out of the cycle of thoughts, "He encourages everyone!"

He takes care of you.

Sakura walked to the mirror and began to smooth out her hair, "So? How am I supposed to know that I'm special to him?"

Listen.

Her hands stopped.

Just listen to him. He tells you every day.

She sighed, "He is handsome."

As handsome as Sasuke-kun.

Sakura went back to fixing her hair, "I still love Sasuke-kun."

...do you?

Sakura threw down her brush, went to her closet and began pulling out some clean clothes, "Yes...I-I do."

You never got dressed up for him.

Sakura frowned as she shrugged out of her dirty work clothes, "I'm not dressing up for anyone! My clothes are dirty, I need to change!"

You know he'll be here soon.

Sakura slipped into her pink silk blouse; she shook her head, refusing to understand the train of thought, "I'm not expecting anyone."

You don't have to; but he comes every night.

She pulled on her black skirt, carefully tucking away a few kunai; the majority of her weapons she left on her dresser.

You feel safe with him.

Sakura sat on her bed once more, pulling on her sandals, "I don't ask him to come."

You'd be lonely if he didn't.

She smiled softly as she thought of her teammate, "Yeah, I would."

She looked up at the sound of someone knocking on her window.

He's here.

Sakura stood and pulled the curtains away from the window; she couldn't help but smile. Naruto was waiting patiently, crouched in the tree beside her window. As soon as she had opened the curtains he had smiled at her in that foxy way of his, and waved happily.

She smiled and opened her window; already knowing what he was going to say, and already knowing what her answer would be.

After all it was the same every night.

But I still have to make him work for it.

Of course.

"Hi Naruto, come on in."

She moved away from the window, as he swung out of the tree and sat on her windowsill, "Hi Sakura-chan! How was your day?"

She turned away from him to hide her smile and went back to fixing her neglected hair, "Busy as usual, but nothing too exciting. What did you do today?"

She could practically hear him grin, "I had a mission with Neji this morning, then training with Fuzzy-eyebrows and his sensei."

She looked at him over her shoulder, "Not with Kakashi-sensei?"

He shrugged, "He's still on a solo mission. So Guy-sensei invited me to train with them."

She smiled and turned away from him once more, "That's sounds nice. The three of you get along so well."

Similar energy and, uh,...enthusiasm...

Tell me about it.

She re-tied her hitai-ate on the top of her head, then grabbed a silver bracelet off of her dresser. Sakura turned and walked back to her window where Naruto was still seated.

She handed the bracelet to him and held out one hand to him. He obediently took the jewelry and fastened it around her slender wrist. She smiled at him, making his eyes sparkle with pleasure.

"Thanks Naruto."

He grinned, "Hey, hey Sakura-chan!! Go on a date with me!"

She turned away, pretending to be offended.

He always asks like that.

"Come on Sakura-chan! Please?" His words were pleading, but his voice didn't fool her, they both knew this game far too well.

She shifted her weight to one hip, pretending to think about it.

You both know what the answer is.

She turned back to the blond, smiling, "Sure Naruto."

Naruto grinned, "Yes! Awesome! Lets go Sakura-chan!"

She laughed at his antics, "Where do you plan to take me?"

He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, "I know! How about that tea and dango place that Shikamaru showed me? They have good onigiri too!"

Huh, that's different.

Sakura tilted her head at him, "No ramen?"

Naruto seemed surprised, "I thought you might be sick of it by now." He shrugged, "I'll take you wherever you want."

He's so sweet.

She put her hand on his shoulder, "No, dango sounds great."

Ramen goes straight to my thighs.

If only we could send it to other areas...

His confusion faded and his smile returned full force, "Alright! You'll like it, it's a really nice place!"

He leaned back and let himself fall out of her window. Sakura watched as he grabbed the tree with one hand and swung to the ground.

She closed the window, drawing the curtains closed once more. Less than a minute later she was locking her front door, then walking around to the side of her house where he was waiting. Sakura turned the corner and her breath caught in her throat.

He was leaning against the tree with his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his muscular chest; silhouetted by the light of the setting sun. As he breathed his body would shift, causing his golden hair to shimmer and sparkle in the fading light. He turned to her; opening his eyes, revealing cerulean irises that shone with affection.

Way better than Sasuke-kun.

...who?

Naruto smiled, completely oblivious to her reaction, "Ready?"

The sound of his voice snapped her back to reality, "Ah—yeah." She smiled at him.

She fell into step by his side as he led her into the street. He smiled down at her, "You look beautiful tonight Sakura-chan."

She laughed and punched his arm playfully, "You say that every time you see me!"

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "That's because you're always beautiful!"

A light blush appeared on her face.

He always tells you that.

Shut up!

And you always blush.

Sakura frowned in thought, "Naruto," he looked down at her, "Why do you come ask me out every night?" she looked up into his expressive blue eyes, "You come even when you're exhausted. Is it because you're worried about me being lonely?"

He stared at her for a moment, apparently unsure of how to answer her. He smiled in an odd way, then turned away from her. "Do...do you want me to not come any more?"

Sakura could only stare at his back; he had spoken so quietly that she wasn't sure she had heard him correctly until she saw him shudder. The tone in his voice was so dejected, but somehow he sounded resigned, like he had expected the worst from the beginning of their strange nightly outings.

He's hurt.

Damn, me and my big mouth! I hurt his feelings! He thinks I don't want him around!

Wait... he's actually hurt too.

Sakura started, at first she hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary with the hyperactive blond, but now that he was standing still, right in front of her, her medical instincts were telling her that something was wrong.

"Naruto..." she looked him over, searching for anything out of place. Her eyes fell to his left side, and she caught her breath. Blood was beginning to soak into his jacket from some unknown injury, over previously shed blood that had already stained the orange cloth, but it seemed like he hadn't noticed it yet.

Or he's still trying to hide it.

Idiot.

She walked around in front of him, intending to interrogate him about his injuries; but she stopped when she caught sight of his eyes. He still looked at her with affection, but she could almost hear the negative thoughts that were swirling in his head, preying on his fragile self-esteem and his insecurities.

He tried to smile at her, "Sorry Sakura-chan, I thought--"

She held up a hand to silence him and his eyes darkened. She sighed and grabbed his hands that hung limply at his sides. "Geeze Naruto."

He looked at her, confused as she pulled him back towards her house, "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"

He jumped, "How?"

She turned to smile at the blond, who was allowing himself to be led like a child, "It's my job, idiot."

In seconds they were back at her house; she opened the door and pulled him in after her, "Go sit on the couch and take off your shirt okay? I'll be right back."

She let go of his hand and he did as she asked. Sakura ran up to her room and grabbed her medical bag then returned to her living room.

As she turned the corner to re-enter the room she heard a pained grunt from the couch's occupant, "Naruto?" she rushed into the room to see him carefully trying to remove his shirt without jarring his injury. "Hold on! Let me help you."

He paused and looked at her with one visible eye, "I'm okay. I just—ack!"

She walked over to him and pushed his hands aside; expertly removing his shirt without hurting him. He looked up at her with surprise, "How the heck did you do that?"

She smiled and motioned for him to move over, "Just practice I guess." She sat by his side, twisting her body so she was facing him. She pushed on his shoulder so he was leaning back into the cushions, as she examined the wound. It was wrapped loosely in bandages, but they were skewed and soaked through with blood in places.

She frowned and raised an eyebrow at the blond, "Naruto, did you bandage this yourself?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, "Yeah sorry, Neji did a better job, but by the time I got home they were all covered in blood and I had to take a shower so..."

She sighed heavily, "I know you hate hospitals, but you should have come to see me."

He grimaced, "Well I figured you were busy so I..."

She focused her chakra and began healing the wound, "That's not an excuse! You could have gone to Tsunade-sama, or Shizune-san, or Ino! We always have time to take care of our boys."

Naruto blushed, "your..."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Why do you think Ino and I trained to be medic-nin in the first place?" he just stared at her so she continued, "You always protect me, and her team always protects her! We train everyday to be better medics so we can take care of you boys the way you take care of us!"

Naruto just stared at her as she began to re-bandage the half healed wound,"Well, I'll tell Tsunade-sama that you should take the day off tomorrow to rest, but you'll be just fine."

Naruto's eyes fell to the floor, "Thanks Sakura-chan." he grabbed his clothes off the couch and stood, "I appreciate it. I'll take off now; Goodnight Sakura-chan."

Sakura stood and grabbed his hand, "Naruto wait." he turned back to her, but did not meet her gaze, "About what I asked you earlier." he stiffened, "I think you took it the wrong way."

He finally looked up at her, "I...Huh?"

She smiled and put a hand on his cheek, "I like spending time with you. I--I'm not sure what it is that we're doing, but, I don't want to stop either." she patted him on the head, "Besides, I'd be really lonely if you didn't spend time with me."

Naruto backed away from her and pulled his shirt on, "Actually..." he looked into her sea foam green eyes, "At first I just wanted to take care of you; to make sure that you were happy, y'know, even without--..., but...after a while, I started feeling selfish..."

Selfish? Him?

Yeah, right!

She shot him a confused look and he blushed, "What are you talking about?"

He put his over-sized orange jacket on once more, leaving it unzipped and stuffing his hands into his pockets, "I wanted to take care of you, but after a couple of weeks I realized that..."his blush deepened, and he sighed before continuing, "I'm lonely without you."

He reached up with one hand and fidgeted with his hair, "It's just, going home after being with everyone all day..." he smiled sadly at her, "being at home--just feels sort of, empty y'know?"

She stared at him, tears forming in her eyes, "Naruto...you were lonely?"

I never thought of that...

I must seem so self-absorbed...

He grinned at her, "Don't worry Sakura-chan. It's not a big deal, I've always lived alone so it doesn't bother me." he laughed, "I think spending so much time out with everyone kinda messed with my routine. Even when I was traveling with Ero-sennin I spent a lot more time alone than I do these days."

He jumped when she suddenly threw herself at him, hugging him around his shoulders and pulling him down against her chest. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto his face as she held him, running her fingers through his unruly hair, "Uh, Sakura-chan? What...?"

She squeezed him tighter, "Naruto! If you're lonely just say so! You're my friend. My Best Friend! You can always come to me, you don't have to feel selfish!" she stopped stroking his hair and tilted his chin up so he was looking at her, "There's nothing selfish about wanting to be with the people who love you." she smiled at him.

Very slowly she felt him relax into the embrace; he lowered his head onto her shoulder and awkwardly hugged her around her waist. She frowned when she realized that he was in an uncomfortable position, which was adding to the fact that he was not accustomed to being embraced.

She pulled away from him and took him by the wrists; he watched her in confusion as she positioned his arms around her shoulders, then she tucked her arms between his body and her own, holding a fist full of his jacket in both hands. She sighed as she laid her head against his chest.

She closed her eyes, letting the last of her tears fall, but she could feel him staring at her. After a long moment he lowered his head so it was resting on top of hers; she smiled when he pulled her closer and sighed in contentment.

"Thank you Sakura-chan."

The two ninja stood together for several minutes, comfortable in one another's arms; until the silence was broken by the sound of Naruto's stomach growling.

Sakura looked up at her teammate, who smiled sheepishly down at her, "Ahaha... Sorry, I uh, haven't eaten since breakfast so-"

Sakura stared at him for a moment before sinking back on to the couch giggling behind her hand, "Oh Naruto! Only you could make such a serious, heart felt conversation into something funny so easily!"

Naruto sat next to her and laughed, "You think so huh?" he leaned in closer to her, "You know."

She looked up to see him watching her with playfully predatory eyes, "A lady once told me that girls like a guy who can make them laugh..."

Sakura sent a mischievous wink in his direction, "Depends on why we're laughing."

She stood and he followed suit, "Lets go Naruto, I'm hungry too."

He led the way to the door and opened it for her, "Sounds good to me."

They stepped out into the fading light of the sunset; laughing and talking about nothing in particular. Sakura looked over at him, walking by her side with his hands in his pockets. On an impulse Sakura reached over and wrapped her arms around one of his, pressing herself against his side. She felt him looking down at her as she relished the feeling of his warm body so close to her own.

"You know, you're beautiful Sakura-chan."

She smiled up at him, "Naruto, you always say that."

An:Ahhhhh sooo fluffy. I didn't really mean for it to be, but it made me say "awwwww" while I was re-reading it so I didn't have the heart to change it. I hope it was interesting.