Chocolate With Ramen

"Chocolate with ramen..?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

"It's a foolproof combination, like frenchfries and chocolate milkshake, you should try it" Sakura urged him on in professional medic tones. He looked unwilling.

"Oh c'mon, don't you want to listen to your Sakura chan?" Ooooh coaxing with emotional blackmail. Well, it worked: he slowly grabbed the bottle of chocolate sauce and poured a decent amount over his steaming noodles. The bowl gurgled unpleasantly and a chocolate-like, translucent bubble rose from the concoction and popped upon Naruto's nose. He sniffed at the food gingerly and raised his chopsticks to his mouth, swallowing the ramen with a hesitant slurp.

A pause; and then: "Kha! Cough cough blargh!" Naruto choked and spat the chewed brown worm-like meal out, pulling a disgusted face and wiping his mouth with his orange sleeve. Sakura was inwardly having a silent fit of laughter while portraying a calm, mildly curious expression on the outside. After his dramatic choking spasm he cast her a reproachful glare, to which she answered with a shrug and:

"Revenge; for pouring cold water on me last week" she scowled as she remembered her ruined clothes and insufferable humiliation.

"But that was an accident!" he burst out indignantly "you're a med student, you shouldn't be encouraging or causing damage to other people's bodies!" actually he was more angry at the injustice of being made to ruin a perfect bowl of ramen. He promptly ordered another serving.

"Oh don't worry, you don't need any extra help with doing that" she eyed his enthusiastic consumption warily. "Seriously with all that cholesterol clogging your arteries, I'm certain you'll suffer an early death" he looked shocked "that was mean" he said childishly.

She rolled her eyes "it's the truth" she said firmly "you need to cut back on that stuff, or I'll make you" the 'subtle' threat was understood by someone even as dense as Naruto, but since he was tactless, he waved his hand uncaringly and stated " you're not going to be around me all the time, Sakura chan" he grinned.

"Oh?" she raised a fine eyebrow "Sasuke will always be around you, and I know he can prevent your self destruction" said person snorted to indicate his presence.

"I forgot you were even here" Naruto commented boredly.

"Yeah, you should talk more"

"I was recording the dobe's choking fit on my cell, I think I'll post it on YouTube—"

"YOU WHAT?!" Naruto shouted, standing up abruptly whilst knocking his stool to the ground, his face contorted with rage. Sasuke swiftly managed to get a headstart as Naruto angrily chased after him. Sakura, left alone in the small restaurant, laughed slightly and sipped her water as she heard Naruto's embarrassed shriek of "GIVE ME THAT, YOU BASTARD!!" though they must be a quite a few blocks away from her now, she could still hear her blonde friend's yells; his voice was loud enough to put a cheerleader to shame. She sighed as she paid the bill—it was supposed to be her treat anyways—and gathered her things as well as her two friends' and made her way to the nearby park where the three of them had agreed to go and group study afterwards. They would probably meet her there in ten minutes or so, heavily bruised but steadily reconciled, it was an everyday routine for them.

"Where is Naruto?" Sakura asked casually when Sasuke slumped down beside her on the grassy ground. She was lying on her stomach, a notepad in front of her and pen in her hand.

"Met Hinata on our way back, he's eating ramen with her" Sakura scowled at the thought of him digesting the deadly lipids, but smiled when she thought of Naruto and Hinata together, they made 

the cutest couple. Sasuke let out a long suffering sigh as he reluctantly pulled his bagpack towards him, taking out a huge math textbook and his sheets of equations Kakashi sensei had set them with.

"That porn-loving pervert gives us these sheets in every class" he muttered, starting on the long, tedious calculations.

"Exams are coming up, they're good for practice" Sakura said while she feverishly wrote and memorized her biology notes, "besides" she gave him a wry look "you're good in math, so you shouldn't be complaining"

Sasuke glared at her "I'd rather practice kendo that this junk, it's all easy but writing is a drag"

"You sound like Shikamaru" she didn't receive a reply; great he was ignoring her again. He had a habit of doing that when she supposedly "annoyed" him. They studied in silence for about half an hour, after which they were joined by a happy looking Naruto, who sighed dreamily and peacefully started on his own work, rather that whining and complaining loudly like he usually did. Sakura noticed that he had traces of lip gloss on his lips and his cheeks were flushed; she grinned.

"Give me your work, I want to check with mine 'ttebayo" Sakura handed him her math homework with her mouth wide open.

"How did you finish so quickly?" Sasuke demanded, he was only halfway through his own assignment and he'd had a headstart.

"They weren't that difficult" he shrugged.

"Sasuke is lagging?" Sakura wondered aloud; today was full of surprises. Sasuke merely huffed, his ego considerably injured.

"Jeez teme, get over it" Naruto said tiredly, finally getting bored of Sasuke's determined silent treatment (though he was the one to blame) as they headed back to the apartment they shared.

"Look, you shouldn't be distracted, either do something or let her move on" Naruto kicked a discarded cola can. Sasuke whipped his head to glare at his best friend.

Naruto gave him a pointed look "It's really obvious, the way you're always looking at her, I can't believe someone as smart as her is still oblivious to it"

"We've talked about this before, and I've told you that I have no feelings for her" he stated harshly.

"Puh-lease" Naruto let out an exasperated sigh, tossing the can a little harder that intended, he slouched and implemented a Sakura-ish tone "Your pupils literally dilate when you see her and Gaara together" he wagged his finger just like she did when she was lecturing the two of them. Sasuke closed his eyes out of irritation and stopped the can Naruto tossed towards him with his foot, promptly crushing it under his weight, he then kicked it aside. Naruto sighed again as his little source of entertainment clanged somewhere in the dark alley.

"You know the only reason she even started dating Gaara was because she had overheard you lying about not liking her" Sasuke was too shocked to deny the accusation of emitting a falsehood, "Hinata told me" Naruto explained.

"Look, teme, she loves you, she still does" Sasuke only frowned. It didn't really matter to him since he didn't love her back (or so he thought).

"You're not only hurting yourself, you're hurting her too, she's trying to forget you just because you're making her wait" Naruto said, anger momentarily flashing in his cerulean eyes, "You must've noticed that she doesn't smile so much or laugh anymore, I miss her laugh" he admitted. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Naruto beat him to it again. They had stopped walking and were 

grimly facing eachother. Sasuke portrayed nonchalance, though he was far from felling unconcerned on the inside: admittedly, his two friends were his world, even if he didn't say it out loud. A serious Naruto was as bad as a funeral gathering.

"If you weren't my best friend, I'd say you don't deserve her"

"You're old enough to get over your denial, Sasuke, I admit that if Hinata hadn't come into my life, I would've gone for Sakura, and appreciated her" Naruto said, putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Go after her before someone else does and before she forces herself to not love you" he turned his back on his nakama.

"Otherwise you'll regret it forever" he walked away.

Sakura hummed a soft tune as she brushed her long coral tresses of knots and bunches. She scrutinized her apparel as she tied her hair up in an elegant bun. The light gray dress was too short for her liking, but her pig of a friend had forced her to buy it after losing a bet. Losing at gambling itself worried the young woman. Unlike her biology mentor, she had a knack for winning, and the opposite meant a bad omen. Sakura was not superstitious, but too many times had she been proven otherwise: the death of her parents, leading to Tsunade being her guardian, was one of the many examples. And then that time she had her fight with Ino, and when she had overheard Sasuke conversing with Naruto…..the list went on. But she had soon come to realize that with every tragedy came the grail of hope: Bonding with her science teacher, realizing her mistakes and making amends with her best friend, dating Gaara. She came out stronger after arc of life. Hopefully, this time the bad thing would be going out in public adorning this skimpy outfit, and the good thing would be having an enjoyable evening with her boyfriend.

Too bad it wasn't so simple.

Her cellular phone beeped to inform her of a text message, so she put down her silver earloops encrusted with pink gems and grabbed the electronic device. By the time she had finished reading the message; her eyes had welled up with tears she tried so hard to control.

It had started drizzling, but he was hardly conscious of the water droplets sprinkling his form. He didn't even feel guilty for what he had done; he hardly ever considered other people's feelings. And the best part was that he could blame him action on Naruto's encouragement. He trudged along the slick footpath, eager to reach his destination. Eager to reach her………

"Naruto I'm in no way interested in Haruno Sakura. She holds no attraction for me whatsoever. She is only a friend, so stop bothering me"

Ever since she had overheard the person whom she had loved since childhood say that, her heart had shattered and her happiness had collapsed. After her parent's death, she had found a source of comfort in secretly admiring her friend. And she did her best not to show it or act as more than a friend should. She knew she couldn't receive his love, but there was that miniscule glimmer of hope. A warmth igniting her broken soul.

And that light disappeared when Sakura heard Sasuke's rejection, and the sparkle in her eyes vanished. To hide the hurt, to conceal her overflowing emotions, she portrayed a calm demeanor, a deceiving facade. She barely showed happiness or excitement—she found no reason to feel such things again. She found herself distracted when she spent time with Gaara, and it was comforting to know that he knew she didn't harbor true love for him, yet he seemed unperturbed by it. Thanks to his supportive behavior, she didn't feel any guilt in using him. She had been honest with him from the beginning. She had eventually come to admire him and learn to show affection. He was her immunity to heartbreak.

And now………

And now………

She cried for the first time in five years.

Sabaku no Gaara had been transferred to another college in another state by Uchiha Fugaku, dean of Konoha College. His flight was in ten minutes. Now why would the principle do that? Unless his prodigy of a son had wanted to get rid of another student. They had both been aggressive towards eachother for months, ever since Sakura had started dating the redhead.

The person she was growing to have mutual feelings for had been forced to leave the city, and she would have to unwillingly face her heartbreaker every single day without having someone around to show her that she was loved and deserved to be loved.

"Time to pick up the pieces, to take my prize" Sasuke thought smugly as he climbed the stairs of a familiar building and reached the highest floor quickly. He barged into the apartment using a spare key she had given him, incase of emergencies. He had expected her to wail desperately and hug him, to claim her undying love for him—

--he had not expected a glass vase to be brutally thrown at him. He dodged the heavy missile aimed for his head just in time; it crashed into the wall beside the door with clamor, but the noise was deafened by a furious shriek.

"YOU BASTARD!!" Sakura seethed, raising an ashtray and throwing it with all her might (Sasuke narrowly missed it) "HOW CAN YOU BE SO SELFISH? I HATE YOU!" she threw a cup next but he caught it (it was his favorite mug) and swerved around the coffee table and made it quickly towards her to stop her from breaking all of her knick-knacks (and his neck). His momentarily bewildered eyes narrowed coldly as he bore down upon her. Her own tear shinning eyes widened as she stepped back, groping at her couch for something else to throw or shield herself with. Sasuke has always been rather frightening when angered, but she had forgotten that due to her own rage. Her searching hands found a cushion and she threw that at him—it was better than nothing—but he only flicked his raised arm and deflected the blow.

"Goddammit Sakura!" he yelled and she jumped back and collided with the wall. He put his palms flat out on either side of her head and effectively cornered her. He breathed out menacingly, but his voice was deadly controlled. "Calm down" he said.

She glared at him defiantly "You have ruined my life" she whispered angrily, but her eyes flashed with a tinge of anguish. Sasuke inwardly flinched but kept glaring at her.

"I did you a favor, I saved you from that son of a—"

"SHUT UP!" she shrieked "he cared about me! I really liked him! Couldn't you, for once in your life, be patient and supportive, for me? Couldn't you backdown for my happiness?"

"He was not your happiness"

"Yes he was!" he was my relief. "Just because he was a strong rival you cowardly made him go away" she knew she had taken it too far.

"……………" he got closer to her, she wanted to step further away, but the wall was attached to her back.

"You" Sasuke seethed "did not love him"

"How would you know?" she hissed.

"Because you love me!" she took in a sharp breath and lowered her head, her hair framed her thin face. She was suddenly shaking, and when she lifted her head, Sasuke saw pain in her eyes, it hurt 

him just to see the tears cascading down her flushed cheeks. But his pride refused him from taking back his words.

"Yes" she whispered "I love you, but what's the point? You don't love me back" she was trembling all over.

"You don't have any idea……………it hurts so much………just to love you, and it hurts to forget you"

"Gaara knew that, but he loved me despite the fact that I didn't return his feelings" Sasuke felt a twinge of jealousy.

"He made me feel…something I didn't, could never get from you; he made me feel loved" she looked at him desperately.

"Why couldn't you let me be happy if you don't care for me at all?"

"I do care for you—"Sasuke began.

"Liar!" she said quietly.

"I really want to hate you now" she said sadly "you took away my only chance"

"You can do better than that freak"

"Don't call him that!" she raged "He is far better than you, even if I can't seem to love him, that's my misfortune"

"Sakura, forget him, I will not let you be with him" Sasuke declared. He dreaded Naruto's words coming true.

"I don't want to forget him! He was helping me get over you" Sasuke clenched his teeth furiously, he couldn't take it anymore, hearing her say all this when he had just realized his feelings for her. Forget about Gaara! She was supposed to love him.

"I had almost forgotten how to love you…" He finally snapped "Enough!" he roughly took hold of her frail shoulders and came forward.

Uchiha Sasuke finally kissed Haruno Sakura.

Paralyzed. That's what she was; the witty and quick-to-answer Haruno Sakura was paralyzed with shock as she blankly gazed at the scrunched up eyes of Uchiha Sasuke. It took her a moment to feel his nose brushing against her own, and his bangs tickling her cheeks. And then she felt his hands tightly clamping her waist. Suddenly, she was very aware of his lips attacking hers.

Her brain finally registered that Uchiha Sasuke, her childhood love, was…………kissing her. And every sound and feeling returned to her frozen body, and she felt a tingling sensation, mingled with confusion. She was such a virgin.

She suddenly shivered, realizing that her body…her freaking soul was reacting to his groans. She closed her eyes in bashfulness, her body getting warm from his body heat. His lips felt so smooth. Oh My God………she brought her hands upto his shoulders when she felt him glomp her hips. This kiss was (nothing like Gaara's) turning into………she blushed all over again. He grinded into her, pushing his full weight on her small form. She felt lightheaded; his teeth were grazing her bruised lower lip…….now his tongue was in her mouth.

And now he was torturing her neck.

………………Wait…when did he strip off his shirt?

What.The.Hell?? When did she unzip her dress?! She felt him clutch her back as he grinded into her again; she felt the guttural need to moan but kept it in her. This Was Going Too Far.

"SASUKE!" she gasped when he bit her neck—hard. Were those sucking noises? "S-stop! Please!"

He couldn't. He just couldn't stop because—

--He had no idea he wanted her until he touched her bare skin. When he kissed her, he realized he loved her, every single thing about her.

He would make her his.

"Sasuke" Sakura gritted out "Don't" he answered by crashing his mouth over hers, giving her another long, searing kiss. This time she really did moan out, driving him to the edge.

"Sakura" he panted, noticing her trying to move away "I"

(A/N: hahahahhahaha I'm so evil XD rated T, remember that)

"SAKURA CHAAN!!" Naruto burst into the apartment, grinning madly "I asked Hina-Chan to move…….in……..with…………" he gaped at them and their tangled limbs in the corner "me" he breathed out, eyes the size of tea saucers.

And before he could stop her, Sakura gave a violent jerk and wrenched out of Sasuke's grasp, running blindly past the bewildered Naruto and out the door.

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke.

"Teme……don't you know what taking it easy means?" his voice was quivering with rage.

"Hi…" she said in a heartbroken voice.

"Oh my god! Sakura! What happened to you??"

"Um, Ino…can I take a shower first?"

It was not very pleasant to have Naruto burst into her apartment, but she wisely avoided screaming at him; the boy looked like he was about to cry with worry. She was not surprised to see Sasuke trailing in behind him, but it shocked hr to witness a very black eye upon the disgrunted raven's face.

"Where is she?" Ino suddenly looked very nervous, and very out of character.

"Ino, where is she?"

"She………left ten minutes ago"

If only Naruto and Sasuke hung out with Ino more, they would have realized that the blond was not one to give up or abandon her best friends when they faced turmoil.

Sakura, hidden in her best friend's bedroom, silently congratulated Ino's acting skills and winced slightly when she heard an enraged "WHAT?" and "NANDEDATTEBAYO?!" After a few more seconds of argument, there was loud stalking, and a door closing shut.

"Sasuke has a black eye, courtesy of Naruto" Ino informed her as she came into the room and plopped down on the bed beside her. Sakura smiled sadly, but pain glazed her eyes. Ino sighed and hugged her.

"I really don't get it" Sakura whispered. "Just hours ago he was a cold jerk who'd kill you if you came five feet within range of his personal space" (Ino stiffled a giggle, given the seriousness of the situation) "and then he barges into my apartment, I throw things at him and he practically rapes me"

Suddenly Ino was choking with rage.

"No, no he didn't rape me" Sakura clarified "it was just so..sudden……if Naruto hadn't burst in on us, I don't know what would've happened"

"I felt used"

"I could charge him for sexual harassment" Ino offered.

"No" Sakura snorted "With half his relatives working in the police force"

"Damn……."

"You'll have to face him sooner or later"

"I think I'll just move to another city, can we shop for online tickets right now?" she asked hopefully. She was met with a disapproving glare,

"You are NOT running away" Ino said sternly. "Besides, he'll hunt you down if you step a toe out of this neighborhood"

"Excuse me?" Sakura raised her eyebrows "What are you implying?"

Ino gaped at her "Sakura, are you that stupid? Or did you bump your head again?"

Sakura scowled "Ino-pig—"

"He's in love with you!"

"……………"

"Don't ever say that again" Sakura said quietly. She did not want false hope.

"Why not?"

"Because you have no proof backing your statement" was the mechanical reply.

"Sakura" Ino took hold of her shoulders and gazed at her intensely "calm yourself, and clearly think back to the day you started dating Gaara, think about how Sasuke reacted; look at it from a stranger's point of view"

It took Sakura about a minute of recollection before her eyes widened with realization, but she looked at Ino with desperate uncertainty.

Ino smirked "If you haven't figured it out yet, then you're as dense as Naruto"

--

After spending a couple of hours brooding in contradictory thoughts and consuming large portions of chocolate fudge, Sakura let herself out of Ino's apartment and strolled towards the direction of the beach.

It was around midnight, but she didn't feel scared. The cold breeze and surrounding silence felt soothing as she gazed at the rolling waves and the white sea foam lazily cascading over the wet sand. Someone leaned on the railing beside her. She recognized the cologne immediately, but made no move to run away.

"Hye" she whispered, eyes still locked on the expanse of the silvery shore, but barely paying attention to it. He didn't respond, but she could feel him staring at her.

"Why did you run away?" always straight to the point. Seriously, why was she expecting an apology from someone like him? Suddenly, anger started to boil within her and she whipped her head to look up at him.

"Hmm, let's see" she began sarcastically, momentarily pitying his black eye, though only for a millisecond.

"A friend who mostly ignores me, barely touches me, suddenly invades my home, makes my boyfriend move to another city, and without so much as an explanation, kisses me after shouting at me and probably would've done much more if Naruto….well I think you get the picture: she finished nastily. He gave her no reply.

"Why did you do that? Why did you do………….everything?" her eyes were pleading.

"I did it because you love me"

She scowled "I take it back! I don't lo-"She paused and frowned. What the hell? Why couldn't she say it?

"I don't lo-"She tried to say it three more times, but she couldn't seem to finish the sentence.

"I………I don't want to love you" She whispered finally.

"I'm sorry for hurting you" he said.

"Yeah right" she sniffed "Like you care whether I miss Gaara or not"

"I'm not sorry for that" he said smoothly. She glared at him, and tried to sock him, but he caught her wrist in time.

"I'm sorry for making you wait"

She gaped at him "You can't be serious! You expect me to believe you like me now?"

"I don't like you"

"What are you saying then?" she screamed incredulously.

"I'm saying I love you" his face was as apathetic as ever, she couldn't read any emotion on it.

"I don't believe you" she shook her head "Prove it!"

"I just found out myself, I don't know how to convince you" he deadpanned "Ask whatever you want"

"And if you do whatever I ask you to do..."

"Then you have to give me a chance, you're going to date me"

She frowned at him. He was being so calm, so demanding, and it didn't look like he was feeling very sorry. She was irritated by the fact that he could utter "I love you" so simply, without any expression. He still hadn't let go of her wrist. She wrenched it out of his hand.

"Fine" she smirked "Eat chocolate with ramen"

He raised an eyebrow "what?"

"You heard me" she challenged.

"How would doing that prove that I love you?"

"You can buy me anything, and you don't even flinch when you get injured"

"I want you to do something that you can't accomplish by simply snapping a finger"

He regarded her carefully "and then you'll date me?"

"If only you eat the whole thing, and not spit it out" he wouldn't do it.

Ten minutes later she found out that he did do it. Her jaw dropped when he swallowed the first bite, and then he took a second, fully determined. He did show emotion: pure disgust. When he was about to eat another portion of the brown atrocity, Sakura stopped him by putting her hand on his arm.

"O-okay" she laughed slightly. She looked down, blushing, smiling, feeling so happy.

"I guess you love me" he downed two glasses of water and she laughed at his relieved expression. He quirked an eyebrow at her, and proceeded to grab her wrists, pulling her into his chest. She looked up at his smirking face, feeling a shiver run down her spine. With one short hunch, he leaned down and gave her a long, hungry kiss. She responded this time, feeling a ray of hope growing inside of her. They blindly moved in the direction of her bedroom. Sasuke broke the kiss.

"Wait" he panted, moving towards the door. He locked it securely and made it back to her. She laughed again as she hugged him, and they resumed their previous activity.

"By the way" he broke the kiss a second time "I'm not doing that ever again"

She smiled "Next time you're buying me diamonds"

He grinned wickedly "For that you have to do more that go on a date with me"

"I think we'll cover that up right now"

A/N: This is rewritten, yeah, I didn't like how it ended before. It's a bit better now. There will be a sequel to this kay?