tampered | [in-progress] midnight snacks

[in-progress] midnight snacks

When; December 11th, night
Rating; PG-13?
Characters; Haruno Sakura [

betterthanthen] and Uzumaki Naruto [

frogonaleaf
Summary; I quote: "It's midnight, one day after Naruto's arrival in the City; he's sleeping on Sakura's couch, and raiding her fridge and snoring loudly." And Sakura just can't sleep.
Log;

Tick, tick. Tick, tick.

Tomorrow she had an afternoon shift at the hospital, thank God. And thankfully, all the trauma related to the mistletoe mishaps had faded. Sakura had brushed her mouth repeatedly, showered three times, and mentally ordered herself to forget the first kiss of December 10th. Obviously, it would be some time before she'd go to the forest to train again. Obviously.

At least it hadn't been as bad with Neji or Tenten, but still. There was noise coming from the living room. It wasn't that she had the sharpest hearing around, but she'd gotten so used to the silence in the apartment once night settled in, that any little movement reached her ears. Deciding that if she couldn't sleep, she might as well go out and assure herself that her new 'temporary-of-sorts' housemate wouldn't wreck her place, Sakura got up. It could have been a bit warmer in the apartment, she mused as she pulled a comfortable white bathrobe one.

Apartment #24, building 3, had four rooms. Three bedrooms--the larger one belonged to Sakura, who'd gotten into this apartment first; then one accross from hers down the narrow hallway, was Rin's; then a third, Shikamaru's. Many people had slept in those two latter rooms, yet Sakura remained constant. She'd taken to calling it her apartment, at least in her mind. Her house, her little comune, where all the newcomers spent a night. Sometimes.

The hallways opened to the living room, the third room--and largest--of the house. As Sakura stepped into it, she could see the orange couch placed in the middle of the room, right in front of the TV set. In the left corner, by the window, was the dining table--hardly ever used, sad to say. Left of the table was a door leading to the kitchen. There was light coming from under the kitchen door, and so she followed it. On her way, she paused to smile at the plant on the coffee table, courtesy of her newest freeloader.

"Of all the things," she murmured to herself, and opened the door to the kitchen. "Can't sleep?" she asked, leaning against the doorway and crossing her arms.

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There had been a lot of commotion when he first arrived in the City and the shock of it hadn't entirely worn off yet, but all things considered Naruto was pretty good at adjusting to new environments. Traveling around with Jiraiya used to mean adjusting every single day, but if he thought of his recently passed Sannin now he would just remember every reason why he shouldn't be stuck in this place. No matter how nice it was to see familiar faces and hear familiar voices, the fact remained that his training wasn't complete.

As long as he was here, he would have to make use of this City's forests and try to complete the sage training on his own. For that he needed plenty of food. A couple of Konoha-nin already lived in this place, so he kept that in mind while he fished through the fridge -- shouldn't deplete all of their resources. The bedrooms were all filled, so he knew he couldn't stay for too long, but --

He heard footsteps in the hallway and poked his head out from the open fridge when Sakura appeared. For the most part Naruto was still dressed the way that he'd arrived, minus his jacket and pants which were draped over the couch. They almost blended in, as a matter of fact. A simple black t-shirt with a spiral design in the center and a pair of boxers were comfortable enough for pajamas.

Naruto grinned at her in greeting and finished chewing and swallowing the piece of bread he'd swiped. "Oi, Sakura-chan," he called out a bit too loudly for the middle of the night.

After a moment's consideration he lowered his voice, face washing over in blankness, and spoke again: "Did I wake you up?"

Sakura had seen him in his pyjamas--the improvised version, anyway--before, so she shouldn't have felt embarrassed. She didn't, but it was more because she was in her pyjamas as well, it was way too late at night, and her brain was sufficiently muddled to not register the whole 'guy-in-underwear' thing.

She closed the door softly behind her. Her brows were still furrowed from when she'd been so close to reprimanding him from talking so loud. "I was already awake. The others might be asleep, though," she said, her voice lowered too.

She stepped towards the counter, pulling a cup from the above cupboard. "What are you doing, anyway?" she asked, nudging him over to grab the milk from the fridge and pour herself a glass.

Naruto was also used to being casual around his teammates and friends, which sometimes meant meandering around in one's underwear for the sake of comfort. Of course, if Sakura had shown up in the doorway in her underwear, that would be totally different -- but he had to shove those sudden thoughts away or risk blushing five different shades of red.

If he dwelt on the mental image, she would definitely see right through him. When she stepped closer and pulled milk from the fridge he fidgeted around to make room for her, raising his arms so he could check if there was anything good in the freezer while he was here.

"Right," he sputtered, laughing somewhat sheepishly and probably still too loud. "I was just, you know, looking for some late-night snacks -- still getting used to all this new stuff, and all," Naruto rambled. "Got any ice-cream?"

"In the freezer," she answered, putting the glass in the microwave to heat it. She returned the bottle to the fridge, and maneuvered around him, opening the freezer door and pulling out a carton of chocolate ice-cream. "If you were hungry, you should've told me at dinner, instead of sneaking around," she muttered, giving him a stern look.

She almost offered to make him a proper snack, a sandwich or something--but she doesn't want to coddle him. No matter how much she had missed her team, how lonely she'd felt, how frustrated at having to deal with Sasuke on her own, fruitlessly; on having to go through a year and a half in this place, to see them come and go and to always return, it did not make coddling any more justifiable. But no-one could stop her taking care of her friends, and Sakura loved doing that. So while her milk heated, she was already making a sandwich. With lettuce, because it was healthy, and tomatoes, because Sasuke liked those, and ham and cheese because she had leftovers in the fridge--and mayonnaise.

"I never asked if the couch is comfortable enough for you," she said, adding a smiley face with ketchup before pushing the plate with the sandwich at him. "Eat that instead."

When he closed his hands over the frozen carton he noted the way it was especially cold to the touch, the way details like those didn't often register in dreams. Naruto came to terms with the fact that this City was real at that very moment -- and nodded a bit distractedly at Sakura's stern tone, blinking.

He peeled off the top and found a spoon easily enough. By that time he noticed Sakura was already working on a sandwich, and promptly assumed that she was making it for herself and was happy to have the company while he ate. Leaning back against the counter, Naruto dug his utensil into the carton and drew out a huge spoonful of chocolate goodness, opened his mouth wide -- and froze in place when she pushed the sandwich towards him. The wad of icecream on his spoon dripped and then plopped back into the carton, untouched.

"Huh, for me?" Naruto queried, forgetting to answer whether the couch was comfortable or not (it was, definitely more comfortable than anything in the frog village with its places of rest clearly not designed for humans) while fumbling to place the carton of ice-cream down. "Really?"

She rolled her eyes and gave him a nod. "Yeah, if you're going to have a midnight snack, at least make it healthy. It's December, you can't eat icecream in December without asking for a cold."

To emphasize her point, she took the carton of icecream from the counter and replaced it with the plate. "There." She took a spoon herself, and dug into the carton. "Not me, though, I'm a medic-nin so I'm like...immune to it," she explained, grinning slightly as she took a bite. All according to plan.

As a point of fact, Naruto couldn't remember the last time he'd actually gotten a cold, but that had a lot to do with Kyuubi and much less to do with the reasonable expectations of the immune system. As a result he was largely ignorant of the basics of health to this day. So he watched, with wide eyes, as his ice-cream was snatched away from right under his nose and felt sad.

Not that the sandwich didn't look good. Still: Naruto's gaze followed Sakura and then snapped into indignation. "H-hey! That doesn't make any sense," he countered, pouted, and then took a big bite out of his sandwich just before he started pointing with it. "Explain how you're immune!"

"I can heal myself easily," she mumbled around a mouthful of ice-cream. "And you made me crave it anyway. Shinobi rules, Naruto~ Never give your oponent the upper-hand," she said, waving the spoon under his nose. "Or the better food in this case," she grinned.

"Besides, your diet needs a change for the better." She'd been struggling with that issue with every Naruto she'd met in the City. Ramen was good and all, but no, it wasn't the best food to consume daily. Nightly. And every damn morning.

Eating ice-cream made everything chillier, including the kitchen floor, so she walked towards the door. "Let's move to the living room. I can't sleep, either."

"So can--" Naruto started to retort, but was distracted by the way that Sakura actually taunted him with the ice-cream she'd just snatched away. He made a pathetic grab for her spoon in the air and then elicited a whining noise when she started to lecture him about his diet. Those were facts that were harder to argue with.

So he gave up and started trailing after her when she moved to the door, taking bites out of his sandwich at the same time and probably getting crumbs on the floor.

"How come you can't sleep?" He questioned with a full mouth, following her lead.

"I keep hearing noises from the kitchen," she answered in a dry voice, throwing him a look over her shoulder. It was a lie, of course. She couldn't sleep because she was still very much traumatized from the day before, thank you; and because she'd developped some serious insomnia over the months spent in the City. Living with many people might assure you were not alone, but it wouldn't stop you from feeling lonely.

She took a seat on the couch, pulling one of the two blankets she'd left for him around her shoulders, taking special care in covering her feet and toes. 70% of the colds are caught from the feet. Then she took another spoon of ice-cream, and wondered if she was a good medic for doing this in the middle of the night.

"So, have you explored around?"

Naruto plopped down on the other side of the couch, sprawling out his limbs for a careless contrast and finishing off the last of his sandwich. He'd made quick work of it and then shot her a smirk. "Liar. You said you were already awake."

"Not too much yet," he admitted. Naruto stretched his arms and folded them behind his head, glancing up at the ceiling contemplatively. "It's a damn big city. Are there any quiet places to train?"

"Well, the forest's a rather appropiate place," she said. Up until yesterday, that is.

She left the carton of ice-cream on the coffee table, rubbing her hands together to bring heat back to them. Contemplatively, she gave Naruto a once-over look. Obviously, his training with the frogs had paid off. Any medic-nin could see that his muscles had a more defined shape, and that he was definitely growing into a very well-built ninja. Sakura didn't know what it was that his training had consisted of, but she had a feeling it was dangerous--elsewise they wouldn't have taken him in another village, right? So knowing that he wanted to go back to it, unattended, worried her. "What was training like?"

OOC: HOLIDAYS ATE ME BUT I'M BACK

So there was a forest to train in around here. Good. Naruto studied a tiny crack in the ceiling and silently pondered how he was even going to approach training without Fukusaku, even though it turned out it was impossible to fuse with him anyway. There was no way he was going to let a bunch of incredibly useful sage techniques just go to waste.

He scratched at his cheek, glanced at Sakura when she spoke again, blinked, and then snapped into a grin. "Oily," he answered, truthful but mysterious. "And painful. Man, and I thought the beatings you doled out were painful, but those damn frogs--"

"I could beat you up again, if you missed it that much," she offered in a snide tone.

At that offer he shrank back against his side of the couch, after lifting both arms and waving them in a semi-frantic gesture. "Haha, no, that's alright!"

Naruto settled down and sent her a much more genuine smile just a second later, fondness tinting his expression. "Though I did miss you."

"How are things back home?"

A pained expression crossed her face, and she hid it by hiding her face in her hands and sighing deeply. She had given him bad news once while here--maybe not this version, but she had--about Jiraiya. She didn't even want to tell him what could--hopefully-- be rumours, about Konoha's state. "It's been a while since I left this place, so...I don't know."

She hated lying like this, especially to Naruto, but he didn't deserve being shoved into that pool of regret on the second day there.

He sat up straighter, trying to get a better look at her face while she tried to hide it. There were a few times he remembered Sakura looking like that (and sounding like that, seared into his memory, like when she'd avoided talking about Sasuke's curse seal) and it concerned him to see her looking like that now.

Naruto's brow furrowed. He did know her pretty well by now, after all. He prompted her, doubt clear in his tone: "Sakura-chan?"

She tensed up for the smallest moment, the looked up at him, all smiles and fake waves of her hand, like there was nothing wrong in the world. Even though, maybe there was. A lot of things were wrong in their world, to begin with. "What I know, I heard from strangers, who I can't even trust...shouldn't trust. So obviously, those're lies."

"What did you hear?" Naruto persisted, a frown settling over his features. If there was something maybe going on back at home (exactly what he'd been worrying about recently) he needed to know.

She fretted nervously over this for a few minutes, unsure of how to go around it. With Naruto, it was better to just up and say it, she figured. There was no other way. "I heard," she started, turning around to face him, "that there's a war starting."

Feeling more and more impatient as the seconds ticked by, Naruto grew visibly tenser until she finally answered. But it wasn't an answer he liked and it didn't help him calm down; he finally jolted off his spot on the couch and started pacing around the living room.

"What if that's happening right now?! What if that's happening right now and we're stuck in this--"

He trailed off on a frustrated noise, unable to sit still and unable to think of anything to do. "We have to figure out a way to get back home!"

She got up as well, intercepting him and stopping him still by putting her hands on his shoulders. "I know, Naruto. I know." She sighed, looking away before going back to looking straight at him.

"If this is happening, we're still there to stop it. It doesn't matter that we're here right now, apparently...there's a version of ourselves there as well. Either that, or time freezes completely the moment we step into the City, and if we ever return to our world, we just pick off where we left."

Naruto stopped and searched for Sakura's gaze, trying to absorb her explanation. "H-huh?"

"How do you know that's true?" After a moment of contemplation, concern and doubt was still sketching over his face. If that was true, it would be mighty convenient. Maybe it was just something this place wanted them to believe. "How can you be sure?!"

"I've been here for over a year, Naruto. I've left this place countless times, yet when I returned--from what I can remember, it was always to the same point from which I was taken."

"You-- you've left before?" He blinked. The more he heard about the City, the stranger and more complicated it all became. "How?"

"...I don't know. I just...wasn't here one moment. And then, I was again--the less I want to leave, the sooner I do. The more I want to leave...the harder it is..."

"So..."

Eyes blazing, he said it in a way that indicated he was not going to accept it easily: "So that's it? All we can do is wait?"

"There's nothing else," she whispered, cowering away from his gaze just slightly. He was much stronger than her in that aspect. It took her less that it would take him to accept this place and adapt, she had a feeling about that. It made her feel so guilty, that she had done it.

Naruto always became frustrated when he felt as if he couldn't make things happen, so it was at first difficult to pin down that frustration and notice the look in Sakura's eyes. He bit his lip and paused, then finally sighed while lifting a hand to her shoulder. "As long as what you say is true--"

"And, hell, you've been here a lot longer than me," he murmured, corner of his lip curling up for a lopsided smile. "I should be following your lead anyway."

If it were up to her, though, she would rather none of them had to stay in this place. The City was a nice vacation spot, at times, but not when she kept receiving those sort of news from Konoha, about wars, and attacks. That was where they belonged--where she belonged. What if her conclusions were wrong?

Only thinking about it made her stomach clench. "Just a little bit, I guess."

Edited 2009-01-01 17:38 (UTC)

Naruto decided to press his luck after a moment of hesitation: curled his arm around Sakura's neck and tugged her forward for a clumsy sort of half-hug. It was sort of male-bonding-and-or-buddyish in nature, but that was because being there for Sakura as a friend first and foremost remained the most important thing.

"Don't worry. Since we're there to take care of it, I'm sure we're kicking loads of ass."

He was still a bit unsure, of course, but dwelling on it here and now sure as hell wasn't going to help.

Oh, well, he just had to go and be an extraordinarily good best friend, didn't he? Remind her of how and why she'd missed him? Throwing caution and all that reputation she'd formed with him to the wind, she leaned into the hug, pressing her hands against his back.

"Yeah, I bet we will."

Even though he could feel a confident grin widening at the edges after she spoke, Naruto was also pretty sure that his cheeks were a bit flushed when he registered her shape leaning into him, her hands at his back. No, damn it -- he was going to control that enormous crush-thing and keep it in its place.

"Feels like there's always something going on, huh?" He murmured softly and lifted his other arm to rest over her shoulder, pulled her in just a little tighter. Well. As long as she wasn't punching him in the gut yet, he figured it was alright.

"Mm... That's why you have to become Hokage, Naruto. So we can have a bit of peace," she murmured, actually believing that what she said was true.

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[in-progress] midnight snacks

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WELCOME BACK DARLING AND MERRY XMASSSS

HOPE YOUR XMAS WAS GRAND :)

YEP, WAS YOURS?

CLOSE ENOUGH

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gah kris hold me i'm angry as hell

w-wha bb ): i hope you're feeling better by now /HOLDS ANYWAY

i was plagiarized on ff-net lol I'M OKAY NOW /CLINGSTO

UGH.. EW. GROSS. :| ilu bb fandom doesn't deserve you

COME BACK TO ME D:

ASLGFG SORRY T___T

♥