• Chapter 2: Us

    tab A note. Not anything special, just a simple piece of white lined paper with a messy note scrawled on it was sitting on my doorstep when I came home after a mission. It was on the ground, undisturbed, and I bent over to pick it up.
    tab “Sakura-chan, come to Ichiraku Ramen at 6:00 tonight. Something special will be waiting for you. Love, Naruto.”
    tab Love. Every other letter had been “from” Naruto. Now it was “love” Naruto, and I couldn’t be happier. I pondered what could possibly be waiting for me at Ichiraku as I opened the door. We were only 18, so I excluded the thought of him proposing to me. Besides, we had only been dating for almost a month now, so it was unlikely.
    tab “I wouldn’t mind if he proposed today!!!” Inner Sakura squealed, beginning to sing “Here comes the bride,” “Ohoho I hear wedding bellllllssss!”
    tab I blushed, picturing what it would be like if Naruto and I were married. Suddenly, my vision was interrupted by a loud knock on the door and a hoarse, “Sakura! Open the door!” I rushed the door and swung it open, revealing Ino with a creepy smile on her face.
    tab “I can’t keep quiet any longer!” my platinum blonde friend giggled, grabbing me by the shoulders. Her excited, bubbly bouncing made me dizzy as she began, “Guess what?! Naruto’s gonna—
    tab I quickly covered her big mouth, not wanting to spoil my evening, “Shut up, Ino! I want it to be a surprise!” I hesitated before releasing my hand, making sure Ino wouldn’t continue talking.
    tab She crossed her arms and created a fake pout on her face, turning away from me, “Fine, fine. I guess you deserve to find out on your own…”
    tab “Yeah, I—wait… Ino-chan…how do you know what Naruto’s going to do tonight?” I asked, puzzled.
    tab “Because he asked me for advice, of course!” Ino replied, lifting her chin and placing her hand on her chest, as if she were bragging. Then, realizing she shouldn’t have said that, she covered her mouth, “Damn! I’ve said too much! …Well anyway, you really should get ready! Oh yeah, here!” the blonde handed me a large, flat box she had been holding to me. Ino giggled once more, then sashayed out my front door and shut it firmly.
    tab By the time I was finished getting ready, it was 5:40. I stepped out of my closet, wearing the short red dress Ino had given me earlier. I had tied my hair up in a bun, and clipped it on the side to keep hairs out of my face. As I made sure my dress was wrinkle-free, I laughed at myself for getting so dressed up just to go to Ichiraku Ramen, but apparently Naruto’s favorite ramen shop was his idea of a fancy restaurant.
    tab I walked down a narrow alley on my way to Ichiraku, beginning to run late. I tried to hurry, careful not to get sweaty or to fall. A voice behind me called my name then, causing me to stop walking and whirl around.
    tab “Sakura! Hi, Sakura!” the dark-blue haired girl shouted as loud as she could with her petite voice and waved in my direction. She was in her usual white and purple jacket and dark violet pants, and she ran a bit faster to catch up with me.
    tab “Oh, hello Hinata-chan,” I said with a sincere smile, clutching the box that was in my hands even tighter.
    tab “So, why are you so dressed up, huh, Sakura-chan?” Hinata inquired, obviously curious about my attire.
    tab I pictured Naruto waiting for me at Ichiraku, probably casually dressed in a t-shirt and those silly orange pants. I imagined him holding a bouquet of flowers and rubbing the back of his head and grinning in his usual Naruto way. I giggled to myself, but snapped out of my daze when Hinata said my name again.
    tab “Oh! Sorry, Hinata-chan…” I began, embarrassed for spacing out, “I have a date with Naruto.”
    tab Hinata looked down at first, but then raised her head again and smiled, trying to hide the fact that she was sad. I knew because she had confessed her love to Naruto all those years ago, although I thought she would have been over Naruto by now, since she was dating Kiba Inuzuka.
    tab Looking at my watch, I cut our conversation short, “Sorry Hinata, but I have to hurry!” I said, darting towards Ichiraku and watching Hinata wave at me over my shoulder. There he was, Naruto Uzumaki; he was standing there just like I pictured he would be, although he was wearing a tuxedo! I smiled softly, making my way in his direction.
    tab “Sakura-chan! There you are!” he said as I reached him, “Ha, silly me! I thought you had been kidnapped by bandits or somethin’… I guess I forgot girls take a long time to get ready.”
    tab I giggled at his sincerity and added, “Hmmm, why don’t we go inside?” I took his hand and began to head inside, but he resisted, “Huh? What’s wrong, Naruto?” I asked in a confused manner.
    tab “Oh, we’re not going to Ichiraku, Sakura…I just told you to come here to make sure we could meet somewhere that we both knew about!” He rubbed the back of his head and grinned, the way he always did, and it made me smile on the inside. I was befuddled at where he could possibly be taking me, but I thought, that as long as I was with him, I’d be happy.
    tab The excited blonde boy grabbed my hand and we ran together until we arrived at a rather fancy-looking restaurant called Kusabana (flower). We stepped into the building, and the interior was gorgeous! The tables were made of glossy, dark brown wood, as well as the chairs. There were beautiful paintings on the wall; some that were familiar, and some that were new to me. The entire establishment was sweet with the scent of roses and cherry blossoms, and people clad in tuxedos and ornate dresses gabbed and gossiped in booths and at the 21 and older bar.
    tab “I have a reservation for two under ‘Uzumaki’, please,” Naruto said to the maitre d’ in a professional tone; one I had never heard from him before. The kind man then showed us to our table, a small one by a window with two chairs seated across from each other. My handsome, blonde, blue-eyed date and I took our seats and talked until the waitress came to take our order, and then again while we waited for our dinner.
    tab It seemed as though we had been together in that restaurant forever, but I didn’t mind. By the time we had finished our food and our conversation, it was 9:45, and everyone else had left Kusabana.
    tab “Sakura-chan…” Naruto said, reaching across the table to place his hand on mine, “I…have something to tell you.” He began to blush a deep red, but instead of looking down in embarrassment, he raised his unfathomable blue eyes to meet my green ones and said, “I know I’ve waited much too long to tell you this…I have felt this way since we were 13 years old…Sakura-chan…I…love you.”
    tab My eyes began to tear up without my consent, even though I had always known of Naruto’s feelings for me. But still, it made me happy that he had finally confessed. Feeling that it was fitting, I smiled wholeheartedly and replied, “I love you too, Naruto.”
    tab Naruto stood up and came to my side of the table then, helped me to stand, and there by the window where the moonlight flooded into the building, he pulled me into a kiss. Not an extremely passionate kiss, but a sweet, loving kiss, enough to make Inner Sakura say “Shannaro!!” As we shared our first kiss, it was just him and I. Naruto and Sakura—no, it was just us.