"Sakura, I know you like to go all-out for holidays, but did we really need to pay $20 to walk through this forest?"

"Haunted forest, Naruto. And yes, I thought it would be scarier than the cliché haunted house."

"We could've just watched horror movies and eaten snacks at my place like I wanted to…" Naruto mumbled, eyes darting around the dark, misty forest. Sakura stopped, yanking on his arm.

"Wait, are you scared?"

Naruto jumped, turned to face her then turned away, blushing. "No! I mean maybe! ...It's not my fault I'm bad with jump-scares. If it were fighting, I'd be fine."

"Well yeah, you've been taking mixed martial arts since you were 6. Don't worry, these things don't scare me." Sakura grabbed his hand and pulled him along, chest puffed out in exaggerated confidence. Naruto followed her slowly, glancing behind himself constantly. Then he stopped abruptly, jerking Sakura backwards.

"What? Did something happen?" Sakura asked worriedly, getting in a fighting stance in front of Naruto.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Sakura batted her eyelashes, not meeting Naruto's gaze.

"You wanted to freak me out and show off how brave you are! This is a challenge!"

Sakura facepalmed dramatically. "Half right. I did it on purpose, but not to challenge… wait!"

But Naruto had already dropped her hand and sprinted down the path, screaming loudly. Sakura sighed heavily and started after him, torn between worried, fond, and incredibly amused.