tampered | RP Log: Ongoing

Sakura snorted softly. "Come on, Naruto. You know what I'm talking about," she prodded, narrowing her eyes at him, though for once, it wasn't out of anger or annoyance. Well, maybe slight annoyance. But mostly just for emphasis. Sakura still had his hand in hers, so it wasn't like Naruto could get away any time soon.

"If you don't, just tell me, hmm? I'm just curious," she explained, smiling at him a bit coyly now. Even Sakura had to admit that she had a fair amount of respect for this version of Naruto. And yes, shockingly enough, he was rather good looking on top of that. There was something about him. It was completely strange and somewhat startling for her to even put 'good looking' and 'Naruto' in the same sentence, but it was true.

"You used to. When you were younger, remember? Don't think I didn't notice. I'm not as dense as you are," she smiled teasingly. "Besides, I heard you a minute ago. You sounded jealous," she added, swinging his hand in hers back and forth distractingly, watching his face curiously still.

"I have another question," she perked up. "It's kind of selfish, but... what am I like? Where you came from? You said I was there..." she trailed off, another light blush on her cheeks.

"What do you mean, 'dense'? Jeez!" Naruto wrenched himself away from her, hiding his ever-present blush as he turned away. "Now you're just asking too many questions! And I was NOT jealous!"

The cat was out of the bag. He'd never heard, straight up, that Sakura might have been aware of his feelings towards her. It made him uneasy, anxious and uncertain, as he had been years ago. For her to acknowledge him that way... it was something that not even his future self was prepared for.

"Did you hit your head when you came here, or something? That's not important, now. And yeah..." He began, in an effort to answer her question. "You... where I come from, you're really strong! You have it within you, Sakura-chyan. Took lotsa training under that Tsunade-hag to bring it out in you, but you it's there! You're not apart of Team Seven for nothing, you know. I've never thought of you any less... you just..."

Naruto turned towards her, rubbing the back of his head and smiling shlyy, "Quit making me say all these things. It's embarrassing. I think we should go find Sasuke now..."

As she had said earlier, Naruto was a terrible liar, and Sakura could see right through him. Anyone could right now, judging from how he had quickly pulled away from her and was trying to hid his face. "I'm asking too many questions? That's great, coming from you, Naruto," she laughed, shaking her head.

"And yes, dense. Hinata has, er... had? I don't know, Hinata has or had a huge crush on you and you never noticed. I, on the otherhand, notice things like that, especially when the person in question is on my own team," she smiled mischievously. "And I can also tell that you were too jealous," she added. "Girls are more intuitive than boys," she shrugged.

The silly, smug little look on her face faded as Naruto began to describe the Sakura he knew, and her eyes widened once again in shock. She was strong? That was more than a little hard to believe, judging from her strength at that very moment, but...

She blushed again a bit, but smiled as Naruto became bashful again after praising her. This Naruto was easier to talk to. She'd only felt like hitting him a few times.

"Sasuke-kun..." she murmured, sombering up again. "Should we tell him everything we know about... him? Everything about you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Hinata?!" Naruto whirled around to face her, completely shocked and dumbfounded that he himself hadn't noticed such earlier on in life. Then again, Naruto had always been a very one-track mind kind of guy, and there wasn't much that distracted him. "That's crazy..." Nevertheless, that anyone from his youth would see him in that way, he thought that it was pure insanity, and he blushed hard. Hinata was a sweet girl but he never...

"No, I don't think we should tell him," he told Sakura in response to her questions about Sasuke. "I think that... fundamentally... people are the same. He'll seek out the same kind of power in this time... there's no point in us telling him what happens. He's going to do what he wants, because he's a bastard like that." The fists at his side clenched. The hurt, the betrayal, surfaced then, and a dark shadow passed over his eyes and perpetual smile.

Naruto wouldn't let Sakura see it. Instead, mustering all his strength, he turned to her and beamed brightly. "Maybe this is my chance to do things over. I'll stop him this time, Sakura-chan, you'll see..."

Giggling in amusement at Naruto's reaction to that little revelation about Hinata, Sakura merely nodded. "Yep," she replied. "She did. Does. Something," she shrugged, the whole time difference between them confusing her again. Who knew if the Hinata this Naruto knew still had a crush on him. And funnily enough, Naruto was still dodging her question. Ah well, she'd harass him about it later. It didn't seem like he was going anywhere any time soon.

Then again, none of them were, it looked like.

Nodding again, this time seriously, Sakura had to agree. "I think you're right. But Naruto, if Sasuke-kun is going to do what he wants, how can we stop him?" she looked at him skeptically, a bit downtrodden at the thought. Sasuke was just as stubborn as Naruto. They both had things they wanted and pursued them ruthlessly and with passion.

Blinking at the sudden dark expression on Naruto's face, Sakura quirked her head to the side, never having seen such a look on his face. But it disappeared as quickly as it came, as Naruto seemed determined to remain optimistic. For her, it would seem.

She couldn't help but smile back. It was contagious. "Mm! And like I said, I'm helping. I'm not going to be a useless member of the team anymore, Naruto. I'm going to do something. Prove myself," she informed him determinedly. She reached out and this time, took Naruto's hand in her own, squeezing it tightly in a show of support and determination.

Sakura's guess on Hinata was as good as Naruto's. He hadn't noticed anything pecularliar since the beginning, would probably forever remain ignorant to any shows of affection or admiration in the future. Hinata, however, would never stop being a dear friend. It was what was most important, above all else.

"No, we'll stop him," Naruto began, brow set and frown curling his lips downward. "Even if we have to break both of his legs, we'll stop him. I don't care how strong he gets...

If he gouges my eyes out, I'll curse him to death. If he cuts my legs off, I'll bite him to death. If he cuts off my head, I'll stare him to death. It doesn't matter. In the end, he's as good as mine. He's no different than me, Sakura-chyan..."

He squeezed Sakura's hand, looking down towards her with an energetic smile. "Then, when we get him, we'll go eat ramen together, okay? ...uh. Does this world have a ramen shop we can visit?"

"Well, I'd rather none of that happens, if you don't mind," Sakura shuddered, shaking her head, eyes wide. "I'd prefer both of my best friends in one piece, and not trying to kill each other, although that's hardly stopped you before," she remarked, raising an eyebrow at Naruto once more. Sakura hated when the two of them fought. Why did boys have to be so damn competitive?

Sakura wasn't sure how all of this was going to end up working. If Sasuke really wanted to leave them, how could they stop him? From the sounds of it, this Naruto had had a very hard time of it.

But at his remark about ramen, she had to laugh. "Well, if I ever had any more doubts about whether or not you're really Naruto, they're long gone now. I haven't seen any ramen shops, so far," she replied, looking exasperatingly amused.

"Eh? Well, there better be at least one ramen shop!"

Naruto sighed despairingly after his quick surveying of the square turned up nothing. All he could see were numbered buildings, an odd backdrop set against the plethora of people that looked just as strange. He hadn't taken much time to really look around and let it all sink in before meeting up with Sakura. Inexorably, his gaze fell on the carousel. After a few silent moments of staring at it, he decided he'd spent enough time observing. That thing was just damned creepy.

"Man. What is UP with this place?! And any idea where Sasuke might be? Or... anyone? Is anyone else here besides us?"

"No one really knows, I guess," she shrugged, looking up at the carousel with him, eyeing it warily. Sakura looked back at Naruto again and nodded.

"Sasuke-kun said he was near the cafe. As far as I know, he, Kiba, Hinata and Kakashi-sensei are all here somewhere. And that Chuunin exam judge, the one who died. He's here too," she explained, looking thoughtful and still a little surprised by that.

"I haven't run into any of them, though," she added. "And as far as I know... they're all from where I came from. But I could be wrong. I assumed you were the same Naruto I knew before I actually saw you face to face," she smiled, shrugging again. It was still all more than a little confusing.

"Exam judge?" The Chuunin exams were a while ago for him, and leave it to Naruto to forget little details like the identities of their examiners anyway. He blinked and scratched his chin as he tried to put a face to the title. "Exam judge, exam judge... exam judge?

"OH! The coughing guy? He's here? Alive? How's that?" Beyond perplexed by that, Naruto rubbed at his head. It was beginning to hurt. First the field of candy flowers, then the carousel, then finding Sakura two years younger than him, and now the dead were coming back to life?

Unless, of course, the exam judge came from a different point in time, but thinking of all the possibile reasons why made his head throb. All that mattered was that he was alive, he supposed.

Whatever the guy's name was. Naruto made a mental note to ask.

Naruto looked more than a little confused, and Sakura rolled her eyes in amusement and nodded. "Yes, him. His name is Hayate, I think," she replied, folding her arms again and absently drumming her fingers.

"It's probably connected to the same reason that you're older than me, and we're stuck in this strange city with no exits," she shrugged, glancing around them again. "Whatever that may be. Like I said, no one seems to know. Maybe we're supposed to figure it out."

"I've been staying with some friends that I made, but I was thinking," Sakura continued, switching subjects. "When we find Sasuke-kun, we should get a place to stay together, don't you think?" she raised her eyebrows inquisitively. "The three of us? And then we could try to find the rest of us who are here and get back..."

Sakura paused again and frowned. "If we find a way back, you'll go back to wherever it is you came from, and I'll go back to where I came from, but that won't be the same place..." Now Sakura's head was starting to hurt.

Feeling very much like his head would explode trying to figure it all out, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and dismissed it all with a carefree laugh. "Well, whatever! Things'll work out, somehow! I think you're right, now we should find a place to stay! We'll drag Sasuke on over and make him stay with u--"

Naruto stopped abruptly. Someone was saying something. He tilted his head back and looked towards the sky, as if the speaker would pop out of the clouds. Cocking an eyebrow, he listened hard so that he might figure out what it was saying. He remembered that voice; it was the same voice he heard when he arrived in the city.

It promised destruction. It promised to stroke his massive hero-complex. It promised both the end and the beginning and was laced with something that grabbed at him and pulled him in. The look in his eyes became distant and his head felt light.

"Hey... hey, Sakura-chyan..." His voice was so detached, it felt like it hadn't even come from his own body. "Do you hear voices?"

Blinking as Naruto stopped short and started looking up at the sky, Sakura felt a shiver run down her spine, sending goosebumps along her bare arms and legs. Shuddering a little, she looked up with him, but didn't see anything. For a moment, she thought she caught a whisper, faint and fleeting, but it passed quickly, and she didn't hear anything above the murmurs of conversation as people walked by them.

Naruto sounded really strange, and Sakura lowered her gaze back down to him, looking at him oddly. "No... nothing unusual," she replied slowly. He still wasn't looking at her, and sounded distracted and far away, as if he was daydreaming about ramen or kicking Sasuke's ass. Except that usually when Naruto daydreamed, he had a stupid smile on his face and muttered nonsense. It was different this time. And a little unnerving.

"Naruto?" she said softly, stepping closer and resting her hand on his arm carefully, still watching his face warily. "Are you in there?" she added, waving her hand in front of his face.

Snapping out of it with a sharp intake of breath, Naruto shot around to look at Sakura. His hand covered her own, and there was an edge to his voice that wasn't there before. "Okay, this place is officially weird! You didn't hear any of that? I heard it when I first got here, too! It's like something's calling to me every now and then. I can't really explain it, but I don't think it wants us to leave. Whatever it is."

Grumbling something out of frustration, Naruto shook his head to clear his mind, hoping the bad vibes would take a hint and follow suit. He had enough of being freaked out for one day. As if the carousel and living dead weren't enough!

Jolting in surprise along with him as Naruto spun around to look at her, Sakura continued looking at him with mild concern on her face. Any other time, she probably would have brushed it all off as the product of Naruto's over active imagination or something along those lines, but he looked and sounded genuinely anxious, which was starting to rub off on her.

Glancing around warily a few times, she looked back at him and shook her head. "I felt something," she admitted, chewing on her bottom lip. Seeing Naruto bothered like that was unnerving, and she squeezed his arm gently, and attempted to lighten the mood.

"Hey, nothing horrible's happened yet, right? It's been weird, but not bad," she remarked thoughtfully, but this time, with a hesitant smile.

The blond-haired shinobi wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled at her. "Of course! Everything will be okay. We should go find Sasuke now!"

Each moment Sasuke wasn't being watched by them like a hawk was one more moment that history could potentially repeat itself. Naruto wasn't keen on the idea of that happening. Even if Orochimaru hadn't shown his face yet, Naruto was sure the slimy bastard would follow them to the city eventually.

Without giving Sakura time to protest, Naruto grabbed her by the hand and took off into the air, leaping onto the top of the carousel for a better view of the place. He remembered Sasuke mentioning something about a cafe...

He had no idea where to start.

"Do you know where this cafe is Sasuke was talking about?"

It was a good thing Sakura had shinobi reflexes, as she definitely wasn't ready for Naruto to grab her hand and yank her up atop of the carousel. Regardless of any quick reflexes, she skidded to a halt beside him, grabbing onto his arm to keep from falling over. A nasty remark was about to come out of her mouth, accompanied with a sharp smack over the head or a punch to the jaw, but something stopped her from letting it out.

Instead, she focused on the question Naruto had just asked. "Oh, yeah. The cafe Juliet, it's called, and it's over there," she pointed in the direction of the cafe, and then glanced down at the carousel beneath their feet. It really was odd, and she could only barely hear that obnoxious ticking.

"What're you going to say when you see him?" she asked softly, looking back up at Naruto curiously. "It's been awhile since you've seen him, right?" she added, and then seemed to realize that she was still clinging to his arm. Blushing, she quickly let go and clasped her hands behind her back, glancing away again towards the cafe.

Squinting into the distance, Naruto thought he saw the cafe Sakura was talking about and nodded. "Okay! Sounds good! We'll head there now!"

But he hesitated because Sakura was blushing and it wasn't often she blushed around him, because of him, and when she had in the past it usually had something to do with Sasuke. Confused, he tensed up just a bit. This Sakura sure was weird.

"I'm not sure," he began in answer to her question. "I don't think it'd be fair to totally ream this Sasuke if he hasn't done anything yet... he seemed pretty ignorant of... stuff... when I spoke to him. As much as I'd like to tear him a new one, it just wouldn't be fair. Haha, but I can't wait to see what he has to say if he's the same age as you! His reaction is going to be priceless!"

Sakura was pretty confused herself, and her embarrassment grew as Naruto actually caught her blushing. Whoops. Stupid, Sakura! She'd never done anything like that around Naruto before. Then again, this Naruto was different. Older. But still the same, in a lot of ways. Confusing.

Shaking it off and pretending like nothing happened, she nodded in response. He was actually making a lot of sense. "Alright. We'll just see what happens, hmm?" she smiled hopefully.

"And if you two decide to fight to see whose stronger than the other, I'll kick both of your asses. Got it?" she added threateningly, raising her eyebrows and giving him a look. Sakura hated when the two of them fought. "It's crazy enough here without fifty million Naruto replications or Chidori's flying every which way," she muttered.

Eyes as wide as saucers, Naruto knew that Sakura did not hand out idle threats. Her beatings were worse than any of those he'd encountered by his enemies. Ever. He became so tiny and insignificant around her when she was like this, shrinking and making sure he put enough distance between them so that his bones remained in tact.

"I promise! I'm not gonna do anything! Honest!"

A dumb idea dawned on him then and he couldn't resist the urge to poke at her. "You were just blushing!" He pointed out, leaning in and grinning wide, almost lecherously, really. "You crushing on me like this, Sakura-chyaaaaan~?"

About to reply with one last (and mostly idle) threat, complete with waving a clenched fist around for emphasis, Sakura froze before the words could come out of her mouth. Crap, how did Naruto get so smart? Crush? No, no, no. That was ridiculous? Her, having a crush on this older, smarter and good looking version of Naruto? No way. Right?

Still, that wave of panic that washed over her was coupled with her now natural instinct to wallop the blonde idiot for teasing her like that. It looked like that raised hand was going to come in handy after all.

Not wanting to completely knock him off the carousel, she smacked him upside the head, HARD. So hard it stung her hand a bit, and she rubbed it grumpily when she finished. "Shut up, Naruto! I don't... have a crush on you!" she snapped, blushing even brighter now.

Naruto screeched in pain and surprise, though he really should have expected as much out of Sakura. Flinching away while cradling his injured head - God, did that sting! - he offered her a sheepish grin.

"Well, you're acting so weird around me, I couldn't help but jump to conclusions! Besides..."

Sombering up, Naruto straightened himself and looked down at the crowd below them. Not really seeing them, but it felt more comfortable than looking at Sakura at that point. "You asked me before, and I didn't really answer... I've always liked you. Just... one of those crazy things I've always been stubborn about, I guess. Even if it's futile, even if it's not meant to be... it's how I feel. But we're from different times and so much has happened, and I don't want to monopolize on anything or make things feel weird. I think I finally came to realize long ago that you liked Saskue..."

Besides that, her comment about not having a crush on him, as if it were the most dispicable thing in the world, hit a soft spot. He shot a thumbs-up and weak smile in her direction, nonetheless. "As long as Team Seven stays together, I don't really care what happens!"

Sakura had long since lost track of how many times she had found herself gaping at Naruto since they had first met up again. This one topped the cake. To know that someone had feelings like that for you was one thing. To hear them outloud, and from that person, was a completely different story. Sakura's hand was still stinging from whacking Naruto over the head, and for once, she actually felt guilty.

The look on his face was like a slap in itself. Words were stronger than physical blows sometimes, and all of her indignant anger from only seconds before deflated as fast as it had come. The fake smile and thumbs-up weren't helping, and neither was Naruto's obvious willingness to put his own feelings aside for her happiness. How many people were willing to do that for her? Not many.

Her stomach twisted in anxious knots while she nervously fiddled absently with her hands. "Right. As long as the team stays together," she replied, chewing on her bottom lip. "Though you know, Naruto. Things may not always be as futile as they seem...?" she trailed off, cheeks rosey pink again as she looked away, out over the crowd of people below them. Sakura still loved Sasuke of course, but these weird feelings... as unexplainable as they were, were there.

Maybe it had something to do with the crazy city they were in. Those drinks at that club? The carousel? So confusing. She looked back at Naruto, wondering if the idiot had caught on to what she had meant.

Whatever the reason, though Naruto could be pretty dense at times, he was not unable to pick up on what she meant. His eyes widened yet again and he kneeled down so that he could look at her face-to-face.

It was still so odd, being so much taller than her.

"What are you talking about?"

His tone was gentle, assuring her that no mockery whatsoever was implied behind it at all. He honestly wanted to know what she had meant by that. It wasn't all futile? Did Sakura harbor feelings of her own, for himself, and he just hadn't been aware of it?

"You can tell me the truth. Anything. I don't care, whatever you have to say. You'll always be my special girl, Sakura-chyan."

Thank god for an older, smarter Naruto, and damn him both at the same! Light colored eyelashes rested on blushing cheeks as Sakura looked down at him, her mouth suddenly very dry. She hadn't really expected him to catch on, or react this way, for that matter.

Why was he being so perfect? Stupid Naruto! Getting under her skin like that in every good and bad way possible, looking up at her with those gentle, warm blue eyes that were about to make her spill her guts out to him. Not to mention him callign her special. Crap.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, Sakura met his gaze firmly, regardless of the embarrassed flush on her cheeks and her trembling hands. "I just meant... that maybe your crush on me isn't as hopeless as you assume. Maybe I feel something for... you... too," she replied slowly, wanting to tell him and wanting to run away at the same time. This was Naruto, for goodness' sake! What the hell was she doing?

RP Log: Ongoing

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