in process; closed log
WHO: Sakura & Naruto
WHAT: So, supposedly there's movies and stuff and talk about their stalker. But then again Sakura knows he and Neji did the nasty. So. I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE???
WHEN: 13th of October
WHERE: Sakura's lair.
WARNINGS: I DON'T KNOW AHAHA
The storm had mostly passed. In the end, talking to Shino had been good for her. It had helped her calm down enough, especially after the news she'd gotten from Neji.
But now was when the uncertainty started to seep in. Naruto was supposed to come over for them to discuss the issue about their stalker or someone. She didn't know how to react to him. Shout? Ask him nicely why he never told her? Did she really even want to know about his sex life? Was she honestly interested in knowing all the people he'd banged? Definitely not. But then, if something had bothered him for ten months, ate at him for ten whole months, had he told anyone about it? (And there was that green monster) Had he kept it to himself? Both Neji and Naruto deserved a good punching for not saying anything--but they'd both gotten punched, so she had no rights. She really had no say in the matter either; it was their own life. And sex life.
And yet, and yet, the green monster persisted. It stepped on her conscience, and squeezed her heart hard enough to make it hurt, and settled in the pit of her stomach so she'd feel sick and uncomfortable and not even know why exactly. She wanted to get rid of him, really. Really, but she couldn't. And for that reason, she paced; paced up and down her small room, while waiting for Naruto to come. Paced and thought about how she would react, what she would do, what she would say. The only conclusion was she didn't know.
He'd taken his time to ice his now bruised eye socket before stopping by, tending to it as to make it less noticeable in the long run. Even now it was a lost cause, the skin puffy and an assorted arrange of purples and browns. He'd let it be, already assuming that Sakura would make well with her promise to stare it into submission. That much had made him happy. That she could still threaten him and be semi-merry about his pain despite how pissed she seemed to be before. He couldn't for the life of him figure why, but it never hurt to try and dodge hurt feelings.
Not wasting much time, Naruto crept out of his apartment, a place he'd been hiding away in since his birthday night. A week off work and a nice vacation from school was just what he needed.
If only he could ditch the creepy letter as well. Why did his life feel the need to rape him with the 'if not one thing, then another' conspiracy?
Arriving at Sakura's door in record time he rung the bell, once... twice. Five times in quick recession to alert the woman of his presence. He didn't know what waited behind the door or what he was getting himself into. The only thing on his mind was a nice night to be with one of his close friends, a smile already stretching on his face for when the woman opened the door.
He was there. This is the time. She went to the door, opening it--
And he was smiling. He was smiling like that, and it took all her dignified anger away. In that one moment, in that one small moment she saw his face. Part of her hated herself for being so easy when it came to him, and the other part wondered if this wasn't still due to the amount of self-guilt she felt for something she'd done when she had been thirteen. Leaving him...maybe that had triggered the lack of trust. Maybe that was why he hadn't told her.
Maybe she was just being a complete moron to get angry over something like this. Angry, or sad, or utterly confused. That much, the utter confusion, she knew she was going through it. But, she could take a page out of his own book.
If he didn't want her to know, there had to be a reason. If she didn't tell him she knew, there'd be a reason too. He looked so happy to see her, too. The idiot.
After a long pause, she leaned against the door jam. "You look like shit."
Had he not been so used to awkward stares then he might have fussed a bit more with himself. Instead he braced his hands against the door frame and leaned in, eyes narrowing at Sakura and face only a breath away from hers. To give her a good look. That black eye was going nowhere any time soon and as content as he was to have the woman look him over he wasn't about to stand in the hall all day.
"Look it? You should be on my end." If possible the grin grew larger and he took it upon himself to bump Sakura's nose with his own, not knowing the intense boundary there now was between them soley based on what she knew and what he didn't know. "Gonna let me inside? I wanna look and feel like shit in the apartment."
She pulled away slightly, more at his invasion of her space bubble than to let him in. "Yeah, come in," she muttered, and opened the door wide.
It hadn't bothered her before. She'd gotten used to Naruto's way of being in her face whenever he could--hell, she'd even gotten used to flirting right back. But today was different. She supposed she'd have to thank Shino later for having insisted on her venting off all her worries. While not all of them had left her mouth, there was definitely less of a burden on her shoulders now.
"I doubt I'd be on your end, though." I for instance don't get drunk and fuck my friends then pretend nothing happened for ten months.
Naruto wasn't the intuitive sort. He couldn't pinpoint what was going on in the heads of others or do much with a situation that isn't truly vocalized. But their were familiarities he'd come to expect in his life that if they were to change he would definitely notice. When Sakura pulled away it left him gawking at the empty space she was once standing, leaving him to stand there in momentary shock deterred once again by the tone in the woman's voice?
'Course he'd fucked up at the party. Sure he angered a lot of people. Though that was no reason to have a chip on her shoulder? The grin faltered slightly, but he didn't let it completely fade in hopes that the attitude in the room would shift more positively.
"You're not stupid, Sakura..." he pointed out under his breath, scratching the back of his neck once he was inside, stepping a bit away from the woman. There was an odd imbalance with the atmosphere today. He didn't want to test it and stayed in the safety of his own personal bubble, watching for Sakura to make the next move. "You'd have ducked."
"That," she pointed out, "to begin with." She made her way to the kitchen, and pulled opened her freezer. She had a steak frozen in there, he could use it for his eye.
"I also wouldn't have started the fight. I haven't started a fight since...ages ago." She made a motion with her head, hinting that he should sit down, while wrapping the steak in a towel.
That earned an eyebrow perk. "Who told you I started a damn thing? Hyuuga threw the first punch." Not that he was tattling. But he wasn't about to take credit for the whole massacre of his birthday party. Maybe Sakura just hadn't seen the fight very well from where she was. He shrugged the idea away and sat down as he was silently told, leaning back in the chair and eying the towel.
With a sigh he added, "I don't remember much after. So feel free not to fill in the blanks."
"Who started it isn't that important. The fact is, there was a fight. On your birthday, to boot." She moved closer, standing between his legs and pressing the towel with the steak inside it to his eye. "Keep it there."
And, well, she hated secrets between them, really she did. So she would just... "I know why."
"It was on my birthday. Therefor! I should be gettin' a get out of jail free card 'stead of everyone on my ass." He bit his tongue to keep himself from kissing, his hand clenching over the towel to hold it in place. One of the better reasons for dropping by was Sakura's growing medical expertise. He would obey her every whim as long as he felt 100% better in the end.
Then again...
He was somewhere in the negative the moment Sakura spoke again, his heart dropping to his stomach as he jerked his head up to stare at her. She could mean anything. She... everyone knows something. HER something was surely not HIS something and... Fuck his head hurt.
"I was drunk. Neji is a dick. Things like that happen sometimes, Sakura."
She looked at him blankly for a moment, then decided to just be frank. Maybe if she were frank, he'd be frank. "I don't know, I've never had sex with a friend after geting smashed drunk, and then fought about it ten months later."
After a pause, she ran a hand through her hair. "Look, I'm not pointing any fingers anymore. I'm not pulling the dignified friend card in this, I mean, whatever. It's your sex life, do with it what you want. Still, I guess...well, it's weird, okay, but I feel oddly hurt that none of you thought you should've mentioned why the fuck you were so angry with one another." By the end of it, aside from swearing--something she didn't do often--she was gritting her teeth too.
Anything would have been better than staring, gaping like a fish. There had to be something he could say to try and shift the conversation or cover it up. But he couldn't nudge the lodge in his throat that kept him from denying her claims, his eyes trained on her as she continued to speak. Of course he wanted to yell that it was none of her business. That she had no business being angry.
This was simply too difficult to do when that pain was brought to Naruto's attention, all defenses lowering just as quickly as they had come up. Was there really no simple way out of this? No, life wasn't that fair. He took a deep breath and lowered the towel, fiddling with it before setting it aside altogether. "What is it y'want me to say, Sakura? It's not like you got any business it. I don't have much say in what y'did with your life. It goes both ways."
Bitter truth. He didn't want to linger on it so he pushed on. "Neji told you, right? That we were drunk. Ten months ago?" And for a moment he actually thought the situation was horrible enough to laugh, just under his breath. He scrubbed at his cheek with his hand, "He counted the months. I can't believe the bastard has been keeping track."
"Yeah, I know," she replied, and god that felt like a punch to the stomach. But either way, she swallowed her pride and guilt and whatnot, and picked the towel up again. Pressed it against his eye.
"So I'm not going to think about it, or be angry about it anymore. Now that I know why you started a fight and all...seeing how it's your business. And seeing how I don't have much say in what you do with your life." Her jaw tightened, before she relaxed again. "You don't need ribbons."
"It's nothing like that!" Blurted would be the appropriate term for what he did just then, his hand snapping up to hold her there in place against the towel, his eyebrows furrowed and jaw fixed. "I need a lot of ribbons, Sakura! You're in my life so... So don't be stupid and think that isn't more important, ok?!"
These things... These life things were giving him a headache. Half the time he didn't really know what was coming out of his mouth and why. Stuff he would never admit out loud or give a second thought to because the people around him should damn well know already what they meant to him and why. Sure Sakura had stepped into the insanity a bit late in the game and he could give her that much credit, but... he couldn't help but be a bit angry that on top of hurting Neji he seemed to be compiling an unwritten list of people he'd fucked over by being an idiot.
Sighing, he continued. As best as he could. "I thought it would go away. It didn't. I'm a moron."
She let him hold her there, and looked down at him, eyes fixed on that blue eye still visible. Look at them both, in her kitchen. Him with the black eye, and her with the steak to make it hurt less. It was in a way adorable, and it make the corners of her mouth want to twitch up in a smile. She lifted her other hand, and poked his cheek with one finger. "You're only human."
That hand fell back to her sides and she shifted her weight to another foot. "You should learn better with this, I think. Things like those don't just go away because you stop thinking about them. Had it been a stranger, then sure--but you know it's Neji. I've been trying to weasel out whatever was bugging him all this time, and had no idea. I'm not angry because you didn't tell me you got drunk and fucked one of my best friends. I'm just...I'm just angry, because I was aiming to be one of your people, you know? One of those people you could always go to when you had a problem, who'd listen and offer advice if you needed it, or just give you ramen if you didn't. I want that still."
Whether or not it meant anything it needed to be said. After all these years he was still bad with understanding that whole human interaction thing. He knew how he felt about specific friends and he acted on those feelings the best he could, the fear of losing it always at the back of his mind. When a situation like this happened, as rarely as it did, he wanted nothing more than to tell her it would be alright. That there was no reason to fear because he was going nowhere without her.
It was with good intentions that he grabbed that other hand once it fell away, too. Holding it there in his as Sakura spoke, not gently, not tightly. Just held it. For his own insecure reasons he didn't want to feel like she could walk away at any moment, his eyes trained on her face and never looking away. Not even when her common sense slapped him in the face. He was human. That much he could accept for now.
While that seeped in his listened, nodded, sighed. All things that let Sakura know that he was paying attention and that he had already gone over these things in his head quite a lot already. Sure, Neji wasn't a stranger. He was a friend. Naruto knew that part of the equation. There was however... another piece he wasn't quite placing yet and wasn't at all ready to face. So he put it as easily as he could, "It's different."
"Neji... is different." A pause. "That's as far as I get with it. How do you tell someone about that? I can't even figure it out for myself." Again, it was a sad sort of funny that made him laugh. "Don't be stupid and think you're not one of my people 'cause I didn't say anything this time. You've always been my people, Sakura. And... and I could have tons of people but you'll always be one of the closest. It's. Just... different. This time... Ok?"
She listened too, her mouth twitching up into a smile. She'd have to talk to Neji about this too. She'd do her own thinking again, and call him as soon as she was more comfortable with the situation. Comfortable enough to laugh at it, because that would be what would assuage Neji, at least. She nodded silently, and slid her hand until her palm rested in his.
"Okay," she answered at last, then let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Okay."
A smile was good, right? Small successes. He would be happy with this for now, painfully unaware of what Sakura was planning. Her hand felt warm and nice there in his as he brought it to his lips and kissed it softly, smiling quite contentedly as well once he pulled her hand away. Things would be alright. Between them. Perhaps not for everyone else and that was ok, too. They weren't here to be dealt with anyway.
"Okay," he repeated, half to make completely certain for his own well being, "That means we're okay?"
There was a nervous flutter in her belly when he kissed her hand, but she shook it away without remorse. This wasn't the time or place. They were fixing things. She moved her hand out of his and brought it to cup his cheek, her thumb brushing on the marks there idly. "Yeah, we're okay."
"I have ramen."
Those scares we capable of being the most sensitive things on his entire body and it drove him crazy. Like an itch in the center of your palm or ticklish tingle all over your body that you can't quite pinpoint and scratch. That was what he felt when Sakura touched his cheek and lingered there, his ears and bridge of his face going entirely too red for his liking. He made a grab to still Sakura's hand before it got too bad.
"I like ramen. And you. So you should make some. I'll even help!" As long as y'don't do that again.
Her eyebrows rose and she grinned. "Are they sensitive?" she asked, all too amused by the way his ears were turning red.
His face grew more red by the second, sputtering as he worked quickly to deny the obvious. "What? No! What are you on about, huh? They're just lines, Sakura!"
She barked out a laugh and d r a g g e d her finger along one line. "Hah, that's so adorable."
Picture a physical keysmash. That was Naruto in that exact moment, the hairs on the back of his neck standing, weakly batting the woman's evil hand away before covering up the marks entirely. "Sakura! Would you stop it with that?!"
She kept on laughing, but pulled away and left the towel holding to him. She had ramen to prepare. "That's going in the bribe folder."
He stood there boneless for a moment, catching his breath and scratching his cheeks and that horrible sensation away. Though not long after was Sakura walking away and saying threats that had Naruto on edge again. "You... you're not gonna actually tell anyone are you? We're supposed to be friends! You're my people!"
"Nope!" She opened the cupboards. "This is going to be my secret knowledge, don't worry. Beef or chicken?"
Now that wasn't threatening. He highly doubted Sakura would creep into his apartment to tickle his face in the wee late hours of the night. He sighed in defeat and leaned in his chair, head propped back and letting the towel sit there all on it's own. "Chicken. No, both. In a big bowl. With tequila."
"Ew, Naruto, that's gross." She pulled a face, and took out one pack of instant ramen of each flavour. She set the water to boil on the fire. "Besides, I don't have tequila."
WHAT: So, supposedly there's movies and stuff and talk about their stalker. But then again Sakura knows he and Neji did the nasty. So. I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE???
WHEN: 13th of October
WHERE: Sakura's lair.
WARNINGS: I DON'T KNOW AHAHA
The storm had mostly passed. In the end, talking to Shino had been good for her. It had helped her calm down enough, especially after the news she'd gotten from Neji.
But now was when the uncertainty started to seep in. Naruto was supposed to come over for them to discuss the issue about their stalker or someone. She didn't know how to react to him. Shout? Ask him nicely why he never told her? Did she really even want to know about his sex life? Was she honestly interested in knowing all the people he'd banged? Definitely not. But then, if something had bothered him for ten months, ate at him for ten whole months, had he told anyone about it? (And there was that green monster) Had he kept it to himself? Both Neji and Naruto deserved a good punching for not saying anything--but they'd both gotten punched, so she had no rights. She really had no say in the matter either; it was their own life. And sex life.
And yet, and yet, the green monster persisted. It stepped on her conscience, and squeezed her heart hard enough to make it hurt, and settled in the pit of her stomach so she'd feel sick and uncomfortable and not even know why exactly. She wanted to get rid of him, really. Really, but she couldn't. And for that reason, she paced; paced up and down her small room, while waiting for Naruto to come. Paced and thought about how she would react, what she would do, what she would say. The only conclusion was she didn't know.
He'd taken his time to ice his now bruised eye socket before stopping by, tending to it as to make it less noticeable in the long run. Even now it was a lost cause, the skin puffy and an assorted arrange of purples and browns. He'd let it be, already assuming that Sakura would make well with her promise to stare it into submission. That much had made him happy. That she could still threaten him and be semi-merry about his pain despite how pissed she seemed to be before. He couldn't for the life of him figure why, but it never hurt to try and dodge hurt feelings.
Not wasting much time, Naruto crept out of his apartment, a place he'd been hiding away in since his birthday night. A week off work and a nice vacation from school was just what he needed.
If only he could ditch the creepy letter as well. Why did his life feel the need to rape him with the 'if not one thing, then another' conspiracy?
Arriving at Sakura's door in record time he rung the bell, once... twice. Five times in quick recession to alert the woman of his presence. He didn't know what waited behind the door or what he was getting himself into. The only thing on his mind was a nice night to be with one of his close friends, a smile already stretching on his face for when the woman opened the door.
He was there. This is the time. She went to the door, opening it--
And he was smiling. He was smiling like that, and it took all her dignified anger away. In that one moment, in that one small moment she saw his face. Part of her hated herself for being so easy when it came to him, and the other part wondered if this wasn't still due to the amount of self-guilt she felt for something she'd done when she had been thirteen. Leaving him...maybe that had triggered the lack of trust. Maybe that was why he hadn't told her.
Maybe she was just being a complete moron to get angry over something like this. Angry, or sad, or utterly confused. That much, the utter confusion, she knew she was going through it. But, she could take a page out of his own book.
If he didn't want her to know, there had to be a reason. If she didn't tell him she knew, there'd be a reason too. He looked so happy to see her, too. The idiot.
After a long pause, she leaned against the door jam. "You look like shit."
Had he not been so used to awkward stares then he might have fussed a bit more with himself. Instead he braced his hands against the door frame and leaned in, eyes narrowing at Sakura and face only a breath away from hers. To give her a good look. That black eye was going nowhere any time soon and as content as he was to have the woman look him over he wasn't about to stand in the hall all day.
"Look it? You should be on my end." If possible the grin grew larger and he took it upon himself to bump Sakura's nose with his own, not knowing the intense boundary there now was between them soley based on what she knew and what he didn't know. "Gonna let me inside? I wanna look and feel like shit in the apartment."
She pulled away slightly, more at his invasion of her space bubble than to let him in. "Yeah, come in," she muttered, and opened the door wide.
It hadn't bothered her before. She'd gotten used to Naruto's way of being in her face whenever he could--hell, she'd even gotten used to flirting right back. But today was different. She supposed she'd have to thank Shino later for having insisted on her venting off all her worries. While not all of them had left her mouth, there was definitely less of a burden on her shoulders now.
"I doubt I'd be on your end, though." I for instance don't get drunk and fuck my friends then pretend nothing happened for ten months.
Naruto wasn't the intuitive sort. He couldn't pinpoint what was going on in the heads of others or do much with a situation that isn't truly vocalized. But their were familiarities he'd come to expect in his life that if they were to change he would definitely notice. When Sakura pulled away it left him gawking at the empty space she was once standing, leaving him to stand there in momentary shock deterred once again by the tone in the woman's voice?
'Course he'd fucked up at the party. Sure he angered a lot of people. Though that was no reason to have a chip on her shoulder? The grin faltered slightly, but he didn't let it completely fade in hopes that the attitude in the room would shift more positively.
"You're not stupid, Sakura..." he pointed out under his breath, scratching the back of his neck once he was inside, stepping a bit away from the woman. There was an odd imbalance with the atmosphere today. He didn't want to test it and stayed in the safety of his own personal bubble, watching for Sakura to make the next move. "You'd have ducked."
"That," she pointed out, "to begin with." She made her way to the kitchen, and pulled opened her freezer. She had a steak frozen in there, he could use it for his eye.
"I also wouldn't have started the fight. I haven't started a fight since...ages ago." She made a motion with her head, hinting that he should sit down, while wrapping the steak in a towel.
That earned an eyebrow perk. "Who told you I started a damn thing? Hyuuga threw the first punch." Not that he was tattling. But he wasn't about to take credit for the whole massacre of his birthday party. Maybe Sakura just hadn't seen the fight very well from where she was. He shrugged the idea away and sat down as he was silently told, leaning back in the chair and eying the towel.
With a sigh he added, "I don't remember much after. So feel free not to fill in the blanks."
"Who started it isn't that important. The fact is, there was a fight. On your birthday, to boot." She moved closer, standing between his legs and pressing the towel with the steak inside it to his eye. "Keep it there."
And, well, she hated secrets between them, really she did. So she would just... "I know why."
"It was on my birthday. Therefor! I should be gettin' a get out of jail free card 'stead of everyone on my ass." He bit his tongue to keep himself from kissing, his hand clenching over the towel to hold it in place. One of the better reasons for dropping by was Sakura's growing medical expertise. He would obey her every whim as long as he felt 100% better in the end.
Then again...
He was somewhere in the negative the moment Sakura spoke again, his heart dropping to his stomach as he jerked his head up to stare at her. She could mean anything. She... everyone knows something. HER something was surely not HIS something and... Fuck his head hurt.
"I was drunk. Neji is a dick. Things like that happen sometimes, Sakura."
She looked at him blankly for a moment, then decided to just be frank. Maybe if she were frank, he'd be frank. "I don't know, I've never had sex with a friend after geting smashed drunk, and then fought about it ten months later."
After a pause, she ran a hand through her hair. "Look, I'm not pointing any fingers anymore. I'm not pulling the dignified friend card in this, I mean, whatever. It's your sex life, do with it what you want. Still, I guess...well, it's weird, okay, but I feel oddly hurt that none of you thought you should've mentioned why the fuck you were so angry with one another." By the end of it, aside from swearing--something she didn't do often--she was gritting her teeth too.
Anything would have been better than staring, gaping like a fish. There had to be something he could say to try and shift the conversation or cover it up. But he couldn't nudge the lodge in his throat that kept him from denying her claims, his eyes trained on her as she continued to speak. Of course he wanted to yell that it was none of her business. That she had no business being angry.
This was simply too difficult to do when that pain was brought to Naruto's attention, all defenses lowering just as quickly as they had come up. Was there really no simple way out of this? No, life wasn't that fair. He took a deep breath and lowered the towel, fiddling with it before setting it aside altogether. "What is it y'want me to say, Sakura? It's not like you got any business it. I don't have much say in what y'did with your life. It goes both ways."
Bitter truth. He didn't want to linger on it so he pushed on. "Neji told you, right? That we were drunk. Ten months ago?" And for a moment he actually thought the situation was horrible enough to laugh, just under his breath. He scrubbed at his cheek with his hand, "He counted the months. I can't believe the bastard has been keeping track."
"Yeah, I know," she replied, and god that felt like a punch to the stomach. But either way, she swallowed her pride and guilt and whatnot, and picked the towel up again. Pressed it against his eye.
"So I'm not going to think about it, or be angry about it anymore. Now that I know why you started a fight and all...seeing how it's your business. And seeing how I don't have much say in what you do with your life." Her jaw tightened, before she relaxed again. "You don't need ribbons."
"It's nothing like that!" Blurted would be the appropriate term for what he did just then, his hand snapping up to hold her there in place against the towel, his eyebrows furrowed and jaw fixed. "I need a lot of ribbons, Sakura! You're in my life so... So don't be stupid and think that isn't more important, ok?!"
These things... These life things were giving him a headache. Half the time he didn't really know what was coming out of his mouth and why. Stuff he would never admit out loud or give a second thought to because the people around him should damn well know already what they meant to him and why. Sure Sakura had stepped into the insanity a bit late in the game and he could give her that much credit, but... he couldn't help but be a bit angry that on top of hurting Neji he seemed to be compiling an unwritten list of people he'd fucked over by being an idiot.
Sighing, he continued. As best as he could. "I thought it would go away. It didn't. I'm a moron."
She let him hold her there, and looked down at him, eyes fixed on that blue eye still visible. Look at them both, in her kitchen. Him with the black eye, and her with the steak to make it hurt less. It was in a way adorable, and it make the corners of her mouth want to twitch up in a smile. She lifted her other hand, and poked his cheek with one finger. "You're only human."
That hand fell back to her sides and she shifted her weight to another foot. "You should learn better with this, I think. Things like those don't just go away because you stop thinking about them. Had it been a stranger, then sure--but you know it's Neji. I've been trying to weasel out whatever was bugging him all this time, and had no idea. I'm not angry because you didn't tell me you got drunk and fucked one of my best friends. I'm just...I'm just angry, because I was aiming to be one of your people, you know? One of those people you could always go to when you had a problem, who'd listen and offer advice if you needed it, or just give you ramen if you didn't. I want that still."
Whether or not it meant anything it needed to be said. After all these years he was still bad with understanding that whole human interaction thing. He knew how he felt about specific friends and he acted on those feelings the best he could, the fear of losing it always at the back of his mind. When a situation like this happened, as rarely as it did, he wanted nothing more than to tell her it would be alright. That there was no reason to fear because he was going nowhere without her.
It was with good intentions that he grabbed that other hand once it fell away, too. Holding it there in his as Sakura spoke, not gently, not tightly. Just held it. For his own insecure reasons he didn't want to feel like she could walk away at any moment, his eyes trained on her face and never looking away. Not even when her common sense slapped him in the face. He was human. That much he could accept for now.
While that seeped in his listened, nodded, sighed. All things that let Sakura know that he was paying attention and that he had already gone over these things in his head quite a lot already. Sure, Neji wasn't a stranger. He was a friend. Naruto knew that part of the equation. There was however... another piece he wasn't quite placing yet and wasn't at all ready to face. So he put it as easily as he could, "It's different."
"Neji... is different." A pause. "That's as far as I get with it. How do you tell someone about that? I can't even figure it out for myself." Again, it was a sad sort of funny that made him laugh. "Don't be stupid and think you're not one of my people 'cause I didn't say anything this time. You've always been my people, Sakura. And... and I could have tons of people but you'll always be one of the closest. It's. Just... different. This time... Ok?"
She listened too, her mouth twitching up into a smile. She'd have to talk to Neji about this too. She'd do her own thinking again, and call him as soon as she was more comfortable with the situation. Comfortable enough to laugh at it, because that would be what would assuage Neji, at least. She nodded silently, and slid her hand until her palm rested in his.
"Okay," she answered at last, then let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Okay."
A smile was good, right? Small successes. He would be happy with this for now, painfully unaware of what Sakura was planning. Her hand felt warm and nice there in his as he brought it to his lips and kissed it softly, smiling quite contentedly as well once he pulled her hand away. Things would be alright. Between them. Perhaps not for everyone else and that was ok, too. They weren't here to be dealt with anyway.
"Okay," he repeated, half to make completely certain for his own well being, "That means we're okay?"
There was a nervous flutter in her belly when he kissed her hand, but she shook it away without remorse. This wasn't the time or place. They were fixing things. She moved her hand out of his and brought it to cup his cheek, her thumb brushing on the marks there idly. "Yeah, we're okay."
"I have ramen."
Those scares we capable of being the most sensitive things on his entire body and it drove him crazy. Like an itch in the center of your palm or ticklish tingle all over your body that you can't quite pinpoint and scratch. That was what he felt when Sakura touched his cheek and lingered there, his ears and bridge of his face going entirely too red for his liking. He made a grab to still Sakura's hand before it got too bad.
"I like ramen. And you. So you should make some. I'll even help!" As long as y'don't do that again.
Her eyebrows rose and she grinned. "Are they sensitive?" she asked, all too amused by the way his ears were turning red.
His face grew more red by the second, sputtering as he worked quickly to deny the obvious. "What? No! What are you on about, huh? They're just lines, Sakura!"
She barked out a laugh and d r a g g e d her finger along one line. "Hah, that's so adorable."
Picture a physical keysmash. That was Naruto in that exact moment, the hairs on the back of his neck standing, weakly batting the woman's evil hand away before covering up the marks entirely. "Sakura! Would you stop it with that?!"
She kept on laughing, but pulled away and left the towel holding to him. She had ramen to prepare. "That's going in the bribe folder."
He stood there boneless for a moment, catching his breath and scratching his cheeks and that horrible sensation away. Though not long after was Sakura walking away and saying threats that had Naruto on edge again. "You... you're not gonna actually tell anyone are you? We're supposed to be friends! You're my people!"
"Nope!" She opened the cupboards. "This is going to be my secret knowledge, don't worry. Beef or chicken?"
Now that wasn't threatening. He highly doubted Sakura would creep into his apartment to tickle his face in the wee late hours of the night. He sighed in defeat and leaned in his chair, head propped back and letting the towel sit there all on it's own. "Chicken. No, both. In a big bowl. With tequila."
"Ew, Naruto, that's gross." She pulled a face, and took out one pack of instant ramen of each flavour. She set the water to boil on the fire. "Besides, I don't have tequila."