MessyWriter

Aww, what a sweet story Toasty Warrior

I wish you the best of luck in this challenge~! I loved the ending - very open and creative. Don't stop writing!

This looks fun Hope this story is okay~!
Let me know what you think - I appreciate constructive criticism

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"Sakura-chan.”

“Yes, Naruto?”

“I-I…”

“Yes?”

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, hands shooting to cover his ashamed face. “I can’t do it!” he cried out, falling backwards for dramatic effect. His cheeks blazed a hot shade of red, its warmth feeling crawling across his face and through his tanned skin. A single eye slowly reopened, peeking out of a few crossed fingers. Chouji stood a few feet away from him, eyes lightly closed with a bored look scribbled across his features; that was one of the few things Naruto liked about his chubby friend – his ability to show emotions without a care of who else thought of them.

Meanwhile, Chouji didn’t seem to care in particular about Naruto’s defeat to his attempted confession. It was the boy lying aside from the two that seemed rather annoyed with it all, after an hour finally making his first move to stand. His feet dragged against the rough grass as he waltzed over toward the two idiots, his eyes showing nothing but annoyance and pity. Stepping between them, he looked from one to the other before asking with an irritated voice, “And why is Chouji using an attempted Sakura voice?”

Naruto chuckled. “And here I thought you were a genius.”

Shikamaru felt a stress mark sting across his forehead. “It doesn’t take a genius to know the difference between saying it to a friend and saying it to the real person.”

The blonde scratched his head out of nervous habit, his face growing redder by the second. His hand rested at his side as he exhaled a breath he’d been holding far too long, eyes glazed as if looking at nothing in particular. He finally glanced over at Shikamaru as if he was now the annoyance, saying in the same irritated tone, “Do you think I don’t know that?”

“I didn’t say –”

“Do you think I don’t know she’ll reject me?” he asked more loudly, his voice showing signs of hurt rather than anger. Moisture began forming at the tips of his cerulean eyes, creating a more crystal look. “Do you think I don’t know that!”

“Naruto, chill,” Shikamaru replied slowly, resting his hand upon the blonde’s shoulder. Naruto gave a furious huff before brushing by him, walking past his friends to glance down at the village of Konoha. They stood on a hill just above the village, giving him the advantage of a bird’s eye view of everything and everyone. Not that he needed it; he already knew where she was.

With another loud sigh, he quietly thanked the two for their support before hopping silently upon the roof of a building, swiftly speeding off before the others could catch up with him. Knowing his skills were quicker and more powerful than his friends, he knew within a few blocks that he’d lost them. Not trying to be rude, but Naruto wanted his privacy with Sakura. And he couldn’t do that with those two chasing him around.

Smiling as he landing before the famous Konoha Hospital, he inhaled a large unneeded breath of air before entering through the glass doors.

The lobby was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon, but after visiting here for over five years since she started at the age of twelve working here, he learned that the days varied with the months. And for the month of September, things were usually quiet for some odd reason.

Pushing his thoughts aside, he focused on his current unofficial mission and quietly walked through the lobby, waving to the clerk running the desk who already knew why he was here. Brushing through the various hallways, his vision began turning pink after passing by a patient’s room. With a smile tugging at his lips, Naruto pushed the door open without haste and without fear.

That fear soon grew to fright.

As he opened the doors, realization hit him as he realized how he’d have to now confess to her in front of a patient. Glancing first from her to the old patient she was currently working on, he inwardly face palmed himself and began feeling clammy across his hands.

Meanwhile, Sakura had just noticed Naruto waltz in unwelcome, giving her a slight annoyance. Turning away from her wounded patient – though now thanks to her he was almost healed – she raised a slender eyebrow toward her teammate’s direction, daring him to say something worth interrupting her.

Naruto simply stood there, mouth slightly gaped; he had seen Sakura in her nurse uniform plenty of times before, but standing before her now seemed so different. Her rosy pink locks tickled against her creamy skin as she gazed at him with her dazzling emerald eyes, holding a slight pout against her lips. Though she wasn’t as curvy as she would’ve liked, Naruto saw her figure at beautiful and slender, something he craved to hold against and call his own.

Sadly, simply gaping at her wouldn’t do the trick. So he settled with a stumbling “H-hi Sakura-chan” instead.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “What do you want?”

“Eh?”

“I said, what do you want?” she repeated, this time more calmly. Carefully placing her notepad down on a nearby table, Sakura glanced back up to look at her teammate, arms crossed over one another. “You usually only come visit while I’m working if you want something.”

You have no idea, he thought to himself. Of course he wouldn’t dare say those words aloud, settling with a reply of, “Hehe, how about a bowl of ramen? W-we haven’t hung out in awhile.”

Her reaction was slightly surprised, but she managed to nonetheless keep her face composed. “Ah, sure. I’ll be on my break in a few minutes.”

“Okay.”

Stumbling outside to wait in the lobby, Naruto mentally slapped himself; he was such an idiot around her. Normally he could pull his charm on any girl – as Jiraiya wisely taught him – though he could never manage around the tough rosette. Shuffling his feet absently, time passed and Sakura came out as promised, the two heading out for the blonde’s favorite ramen stand. As they walked together, Naruto noticed how close his friend walked alongside him, almost to the point of their hands touching. Slowly bringing his hand forward, he reached the point of brushing the top of his hand against hers, this automatically causing her to look up and step a couple feet away. He mumbled a quiet “Sorry” and continued on to the stand.

This continued on for quiet awhile, Naruto wanting to move their relationship further while Sakura either didn’t act on it or didn’t know what he was up to. Either way, Naruto found himself frustrated more so by each passing minute, knowing anyone else could easily grab her attention away from him and steal the beautiful girl all to himself. His eyes narrowed at the thought.

“Naruto?”

He blinked, turning his attention back to his teammate. They had spent the day together, all the while his motives of winning her attention seemed to fail. Nonetheless, she required his focus now and he would give just that, and more.

“Yes, Sakura-chan?”

She gave a gentle smile. “Walk me home?”

Naruto blinked once more. Did she ask…for him…walking? Nodding like an innocent puppy, he followed her as the two walked toward her house. As the sun began its decent below the horizon, she invited the blonde in her apartment and offered to cook dinner for the two. He quickly accepted the invitation.

As the two sat around and ate a small meal Sakura had prepared, they began discussing everything about their lives. What had happened, recent missions they’d been on, their favorite things; all this seeming slightly trivial to Sakura, while Naruto enjoyed every minute with the girl.

Finally, Sakura chose an interesting topic. “Naruto?”

“Hm?”

“Have you ever dated someone?”

“Huh?” He widened his eyes, slightly confused. Deciding to answer anyway, he scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. “Not really, no.”

“That surprises me,” she replied absently.

Naruto’s eyes widened more so. That simple compliment had been the highlight of his day. Biting his lip, the blonde debated on whether or not to finally confess. What would she say? Would she feel the same? What if she didn’t? Various thoughts raced through his head, yet none would be answered if he didn’t go through with his feelings. Taking a deep breath, he glanced up to notice Sakura now lying on her couch, eyes lightly closing. This was his last chance.

Quickly moving beside the couch, he bent beside her and quietly mumbled, “Sakura?”

She glanced up, noticing the suffix removed from her name. “What is it?”

“I-I, um…”

Sakura raised her head more, concerned by Naruto’s appearance. Blush began to spread like wildfire across his face once more as his forehead could be seen to sweat, even under his protector. She raised her hand and laid it to caress his cheek, asking in a soft voice, “What’s wrong?”

His eyes held a determined look. Naruto slowly stood up to sit on the couch with her, being careful as to not sit on her. Placing his legs to straddle hers, she looked up confused at his sudden movement, a light blush of her own grazing her cheeks.

“Sakura-chan,” he whispered slowly, bringing his face slightly closer to her own. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to say.”

She gazed into his determined eyes, a curious look in her own. As Naruto began lowering his face toward her own, he felt something poke against his forehead. Opening his once-closed eyes, he looked to see Sakura being the cause of a poke, her finger sticking out to rest against his forehead protector. Seeing his confused face, she instantly began laughing.

“Hehe,” she giggled, rolling to her side to remove the awkward position. Naruto’s eyes darkened slightly, unnoticed by Sakura. She laughed louder and turned to face him again, smiling wide. “Almost got me there!”

Sighing, he quickly rolled off the girl and sat on the floor once more, scratching his blonde head. He looked back from the laughing teammate to his empty lap, a small smile creeping across his features. She wasn’t ready.

That didn’t mean she rejected him.

With that thought spinning around his mind, Naruto glanced back up to smile at the laughing Sakura, watching with amused eyes as she giggling nonstop. He could wait for her. He would.

She was worth every second.