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Entry tags:	fic, incomplete, nano, naruto, naruto/sakura

[NaNo] Close Quarters 4/7 - Naruto - Naruto/Sakura
And another! The sooner the better! Like ripping off a band-aid!

Title: NARUTO AND SAKURA'S DOMESTIC ADVENTURES! Close Quarters, chapter four
Series: Naruto
Length: 5893 words.
Character/pairing: Naruto/Sakura, Konoha ensemble.
Rating/warnings: Set about two years from current canon, so just speculation for future events. Rated M for lingerie?!
Summary: Her house, as she'd expected, was gone.



“What?!” cried Naruto and Sakura at the same time. Sakura was too busy staring disbelievingly at Tsunade to chance a look at Naruto’s face, but she expected that his expression was mirroring her own. She felt absolutely incredulous – it was one thing to share a tent for a couple of days on a mission, but sharing a house was another thing entirely! Cohabitation was simply too much, and as punishments went it was downright mean. To both of them. Sakura was well aware that Naruto wasn’t the tidiest guy in the world (‘slob’ was probably the first word that came to mind) – and even though she hadn’t been there in a while, she recalled his apartment as being decidedly puny. Cosy enough for one, maybe, but definitely too small for two people.

“Are you crazy, baachan?!” Naruto’s bellow was as insulted as Sakura’s thoughts had been. “My place won’t fit two people! Where is Sakura-chan supposed to sleep, in my –“ he broke off and was quiet for so long that Sakura checked to see if he’d fainted mid-sentence, only to find he was staring off into the distance with a dreamy expression on his face. A spot of blood clung to his left nostril and fury bubbled in Sakura’s veins at the sight. She knew that look.

“Shishou, you can’t be serious!” Sakura pointed at Naruto, who was now drooling. “You can’t honestly expect me to share a place with Naruto! He spent two years with Jiraiya, who knows what perversions he picked up!”

Tsunade was unmoved. “Refresh that selective memory of yours, Sakura. When Anko and Genma return, they’ll be bringing with them the first wave of refugees from the Grass country. Every household in Konoha will be expected to take in at least one displaced citizen, and Naruto is no exception. The only difference is that you two already know each other. Consider it a blessing I’m not foisting a stranger into your home!”

Sakura deflated. She was serious! She truly intended for Sakura to stay with Naruto, possibly until the Harunos bought or built a new home. Randomly her thoughts turned to Ino, and her friend’s words floated through her mind – You need to move out, and soon. She pushed back a touch of hysteria. I bet this isn’t what Ino had in mind.

She tried a different tack. “But Shishou, wouldn’t this be highly irregular? I’m a woman, and Naruto is…not –“

“Thanks,” muttered Naruto, miffed.

“-- and living in such close quarters, anything could happen!” She wondered where she was going with this train of thought, and judging by the interested look on Tsunade’s face, her teacher was too. “Like, um, after a long day or a hard mission, perceptions might be altered and barriers might come down, and things might happen that we’ll later regret.” Sakura’s face was very hot now, and with an oddly heightened sensitivity, out of the corner of her eye she could see Naruto looking studiously at his feet, lifting and dropping his toes individually. Sakura’s mouth felt a bit dry. “And the consequences –“

“The only consequences I can see here are ridiculous ideas planted into your head from reading too many of Jiraiya’s worthless novels.” Tsunade’s tone was bored. “I can assure you, Sakura, that a few weeks living with Naruto will not leave you wanting to tear off his clothes upon his return from a mission. You’re letting your imagination get the better of you.”

The room was once again thrown into a tense silence as Sakura waited for her inconvenient blush to die down. Of course she hadn’t meant that she’d suddenly find Naruto irresistible – it was Naruto, seriously! – but it had been worth a shot. She’d hoped Tsunade would recognise the inappropriateness of her order, but that had been a bust. Really, she should have expected that she’d be shot down – Tsunade regularly assigned people to assassination missions. Sakura couldn’t complain about being forced to stay at her friend’s home. Especially seeing as she didn’t have much of a backup plan. Or, you know, a backup house.

“Eh heh, heh.” Naruto broke the silence with an awkward laugh. “Yeah, Sakura-chan. That wouldn’t happen.”

“I know that, obviously,” she retorted crossly. His smile slipped a bit. “I was just saying.”

“Well, say it at your leisure, in your new home.” Tsunade rolled her neck until it cracked on both sides. “Believe it or not, I have more important living arrangements to take care of. Shizune’s busy today –“ Sakura dropped her eyes, uncomfortably aware once more of having added to Shizune’s workload “—but come in tomorrow and we’ll see about replacing some of your possessions, Sakura. You should be able to get a pay advance as well. And Sakura?”

Sakura snapped to attention and gazed at a spot above Tsunade’s right ear. “Yes, Shishou?”

“Try not to blow up Naruto’s apartment.” She didn’t smile, but her face softened. “I’d appreciate it.”

Sakura relaxed and met Tsunade’s eyes. “I’ll do my best not to.”

“Good. Now run along.”

They didn’t need to be told that twice. In a flash, they were outside the office and moving down the corridor to the outside stairs for the second time in one day.

Sakura glanced around for her mother. The ANBU couldn’t have taken her far – perhaps downstairs, in the mission centre? There were a few empty rooms kept there for debriefing and informative purposes, so that would be a likely place as any to begin a search. Having never dealt with a refugee situation before, Sakura had no idea how long it would last, so it could be a while before they saw each other again. Her lower lip wobbled. Sure, she was almost seventeen, but there was nothing wrong with missing her mother! She was an only child, after all, and they were family! It was natural! No matter what Ino said about mommy’s girls and –

“Where are you going, Sakura-chan?” She’d walked straight past the exit, intent on taking the internal stairs down to the common area on the ground floor. Naruto was paused at the outside door, a questioning look on his face. “Did you have something else you had to do?”

“I have to find my mother,” she replied in clipped tones. Wasn’t it obvious that she had to see her off, since they’d be separated for goodness-knows-how-long? “I want to say goodbye before she leaves for my aunt’s place.”

“Oh, okay.” Naruto’s face cleared and he gave her a quick smile and a wave. “I’ll see you back at my...at home.” He frowned. “Whoa, that sounds weird. You remember where it is, right? If you go past Ichiraku, you take the first left and then –“

“I remember, it’s fine.” Sakura nodded, distracted. “I’ll see you there.”

“Bye, Sakura-chan!”

She waved and kept going, taking a few steps before realising that Naruto hadn’t expected her to find her mother precisely because it wasn’t obvious to him. She spun and sent a pained look down the corridor, but he was already gone. Stupid! she berated herself. When would she learn to think about other people?

Lost in her self-directed irritation, she turned again and kept going, reaching the stairs before she knew it. An ANBU had just come up – Sakura recognised the mask as the one who had taken her mother away. “Excuse me,” she called, jogging over to the ANBU. “Do you know where Haruno-san went?”

The ANBU gave her a flat stare and said nothing for a long moment. Sakura fidgeted under their impassive regard. “Meeting room four,” they said eventually, androgynous voice a low, dry rasp.

“Thanks,” Sakura replied, relieved when the ANBU continued down the hall. She turned and made her way downstairs. The ground floor was packed. Everyone had something to do, it seemed – green-vested chuunins and jounins were everywhere, arms full of scrolls and paperwork, their expressions ranging from determined to harassed. Rock Lee was a beacon of youthful serenity in the middle of the bustle, and his face lit up with happiness when he noticed Sakura inching through the busy crowd.

“Sakura-san! Hey, Sakura-san! Here!” He waved eagerly to draw her attention, as if were possible to miss a six-foot-plus green and orange pillar of exuberance. She smiled and continued her slow progress across the floor.

“Hi, Lee-kun. How’s it going?” The question was fundamentally moot, since Lee was perpetually positive and never had a bad word to say about anyone or thing. She could bet her small savings on his response being cheerful and optimistic, and unlike her ill-lucked Shishou, she’d be guaranteed a tidy return.

He beamed at her. “It’s going very well, Sakura-san! It’s wonderful to see everyone doing their best to prepare for the relief effort, and I have already set up a bedroll in my living room for my very own refugee, when he or she arrives.” His smile dimmed a bit and he gave her a compassionate look. “How callous of me, I’m sorry for bringing up the subject of homes. Tenten told me what happened. Are you all right?”

Sakura held her palms up. “Of course I’m all right! The house is a write-off, but I’m safe and sound, thanks to Naruto’s quick reflexes.” Amazingly quick, her mind added. She thought again of the holes in his sandals, the raised, pink flesh on the soles of his feet. If it had been anyone else, she’d probably be dead by now. It was a sobering thought.

Lee nodded fiercely, apparently touched by Naruto’s heroics. “Very fortunate indeed, Sakura-san! I’m glad that you’re both okay, and that you’re here to help. I only wish Neji could be here to assist us, but he’s visiting relatives and was unable to attend.”

Sakura considered telling Lee that his teammate was actually recovering from day surgery on an ingrown toenail, but decided against it. Everybody had secrets, and if Neji didn’t want to admit that he was human, she wouldn’t tell anyone. Although she would laugh at him next time she saw him. Hard.

“Me too,” Sakura replied, more to his first comment than his last. She’d been pretty ungrateful back in Tsunade’s office – at least she was alive! Hopefully Naruto’s lax housekeeping skills wouldn’t change that in any way. She didn’t think his place was that bad, but it had been a while since she’d dropped by. She shook off the notion and remembered the task at hand. “Sorry Lee-kun, I’ve got to keep moving. My mother is waiting for me in meeting room four.”

“Of course!” He moved to let her pass. “I’ll see you some other time, Sakura-san. Have a good rest of your day.”

Well, it can’t get any worse, Sakura thought tiredly, weaving through the group of nin. There was just a limit to the crappiness a single day could contain, and she was pretty sure that she’d reached that limit already. Any more and she just didn’t know what she’d do.

- - -

“I just want you to know that I don’t blame you,” said her mother. They’d left the Tower and were standing at the main gate. They’d spent a couple of hours picking through the debris, but very few items had survived the blast, and of those few, only a handful were intact. Sakura had piled them into a box for later perusal, since her mother was already weighed down with the bags she’d carried to and from Sakura’s aunt’s place already. It was too much to expect her to lug along a carton as well. Sakura wished she’d stuck around to learn that neat little storing and summoning jutsu in the lab room yesterday. It would have come in handy. But then again, she wouldn’t be needing it right now, since she wouldn’t have been home to blow up the house, which wouldn’t have forced her mother out of town. Hmm. That was quite the conundrum. “I mean, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been working on that thing in the house, or if Naruto-kun hadn’t surprised you, but it wasn’t your fault. It’s okay.”

Sakura thought her mother might have been laying on the kindness a bit thickly. She totally blamed her. “Thanks, Mom,” she replied warily.

Her mother continued blithely. “And I just have to tell you that if I get arrested for beating my sister into the ground, having been driven insane by being forced to share a house with her over the next few weeks when I have deliberately kept visits to twenty-four hours or less because we get on each other’s nerves that much, I won’t be blaming you.” She gave Sakura a beatific smile. “So don’t worry about anything, darling.”

Sakura pouted. “Are you guilt-tripping me?” One of the guards manning the gate box snorted, but when she sent him a warning glare both he and his partner were looking innocently at anywhere but Sakura’s face. The other one started to whistle.

“Maybe!” Her mother smiled again, gently, and lowered her bags, before reaching out and folding Sakura into a hug. “No, I mean it. It’s not your fault. I’m just glad you’re okay. You took ten years off my life with that scare, you know?”

Sakura leaned into the embrace. Her mom was, and always had been, a symbol of normality in her crazy ninja life. She was her civilian touchstone, the one person she could count on to not expect anything of her as a kunoichi. To her mom, she was just Sakura, her little girl. She stepped back and rubbed angrily at her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry, dammit! Ino would have a field day if she knew! “Sorry,” she mumbled inadequately.

Picking up her bags again, her mother lifted her hand in a wave. “Don’t get into too much trouble, you hear? Take care of yourself and remember to do your washing at least twice a week! Eat lots of fruit! Don’t sleep in too late, you do have a habit of doing that, and absolutely don’t skip breakfast! Lock the bathroom door, it’ll save you from embarrassing accidents that may ruin your friendship with Naruto-kun! Don’t let the dishes pile up in the sink! Don’t –“

“Mom, enough!” Sakura’s face, ears and neck region were burning from a traumatised blush. The guard nins weren’t even hiding their amusement any more, and one of them seemed to be writing the Haruno matriarch’s life tips down. “I’ll be fine, now go! You’ll miss the cart!” Forget Ino, if this got around the village she would never be able to live the shame down. “Miss you, love you, all that. Bye!”

“Bye, darling!” She waved, then turned to the road, the setting sun playing off her auburn hair. Sakura brought a clammy hand up and pressed it against her cheek, trying unsuccessfully to temper her flush. The guard nins conversed quietly between themselves, and she whirled to face them, bright eyes snapping and red face grim.

“I don’t have my gloves on me,” she said carefully, indicating the empty spot on her waist where her pack usually sat, “but I’m pretty sure I can still cause a fair bit of damage with my unprotected fists. I’m willing to take that chance. Are you?” She cracked her knuckles, privately impressed by the menacing sound they made.

Apparently the threat of violence was enough, because the two men fell silent and sat up straight. The one that had been transcribing her mothers speech crumpled up the paper and stuck it in his mouth.

“Yeah,” she said. “I thought so.”

“You thought what?” A familiar voice and presence came from behind her, and she turned to find Yamato standing there, looking curious. It seemed like he'd just come back from a mission. Sakura smiled.

“Oh, nothing,” she replied with an airy flap of her hand. “Sakamoto and Yuuta and I were just having a nice chat. About how I know where they live.” The two men gulped.

Yamato raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Sounds…fascinating,” he said, though he looked as if he found it anything but. “I’d love to stay and join in, but I have a report to give and a home to go to, so if you’ll excuse me—“

Home. Sakura’s shoulders slumped at the word, and she hoped she’d be able to kick that reflex action soon. It was annoying. And then she remembered Naruto’s objection, about how he wasn’t sure where he could even fit another person…

“Actually, Yamato-taichou,” Sakura gave him her best smile, the one that said I like puppies and I don’t want anything from you and I’m completely serious, please stop looking at me like that, honestly I’m not up to anything! “Do you have a few minutes to spare?”

Yamato seemed unimpressed by the smile. “That depends,” he replied carefully, taking a few steps towards the town. “What do you need me for?”

Sakura’s smile widened and she tilted her head as innocently as she could. “Renovating!”

- - -

They made good time to Naruto's apartment building, the grubby, run-down complex looking just as appealing as Sakura remembered. She hadn't been there in a while – thinking back, the last time had probably been before he'd left to train with Jiraiya, and even then it had only been to drop off some books or something. Knowing Naruto, it was more than likely something since he wasn't really the reading type. There'd been no need to drop by his house since they spent much of their time on missions together anyway, and the few times that she had been there, it hadn't been exactly what she'd call clean. Or, you know, fit for human habitation.

So there hadn't been any call for Sakura to drop over for a casual visit, but as she and Yamato made their way gingerly up the rickety stairs, Sakura couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at the easy camaraderie Ino had with Shikamaru, that they were close enough to make decorating suggestions. It was a petty thing, to be sure, but it was an area where Ino had the clear victory over Sakura and that was a nasty blow. Although...she brightened. Sakura was going to be living with her teammate! She deflated. Sakura was going to be living with her teammate.

Yamato seemed amused by the whole situation. “I see,” was all he'd said after she'd explained Tsunade's decree. Sakura would have sworn she caught him snickering to himself on the journey across town. She grew further embittered. Nice to know someone was deriving entertainment from the whole fiasco. Because she sure as hell wasn't.

“Here we are,” said Yamato, stopping in front of a battered green door that looked the same as all the other battered green doors they'd passed already. He raised his hand to knock but Naruto must have heard them coming, because he threw the door wide before Yamato's knuckles could hit the wood.

“Sakura-chan! And Yamato-taichou.” Naruto's welcoming smile turned suspicious. “Why are you here? Are you moving in too?”

Sakura hid a grin. It seemed that Naruto had been cleaning in preparation for her arrival – a cloth was tied over his hair, and while she was relieved to see that he'd changed shirts, the replacement was covered in dirt and muck and he'd somehow managed to get a big grey smear over his right cheek.

“I really don't think I'll fit, but thanks anyway,” said Yamato easily, gesturing politely to the room behind Naruto. “Can we come in?”

“Oh, yeah.” He stopped back and let them in, closing the door behind them. Sakura bent to remove her boots, stepping out of them before setting them neatly beside Naruto's sandals. He watched her with a grin. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Come into the kitchen, I guess.”

Sakura's grin vanished. For all Ino's crowing about having her own place and being her own boss, at least she'd made the conscious decision to move out. It had been her own choice. Naruto hadn't been given that choice – he'd been forced into isolation, and then endured the rejection of the townspeople, adding to his loneliness time and time again. He'd been living here his whole life, all alone. Sakura had mourned the destruction of her house primarily for the fond memories she had of growing up within its walls, the things she had done with her family. She wondered, if Naruto lost his home, would it hurt less, because the memories it had for him were his and his alone? Especially if he was that happy about having someone else's shoes next to his. Her eyes prickled. Dork.

They followed him further into the apartment, Yamato pausing to dispense with his footwear as well. Sakura had a brief impression of a door leading off to the bathroom and laundry, and then they were already in the kitchen, having reached the end of the tour. Naruto hadn't been joking when he'd said she might not fit. The kitchen area was roomy enough, or that might have just been a misleading impression since the space wasn't taken up by furniture, unnecessary or not. A counter lined the far wall with the usual necessities for cooking, a steamer and a rice cooker and a sink piled high with what seemed to crusting dishes. She wrinkled her nose and continued looking around. Cabinets over the sink held possible wonders, but she leaned towards the more likely reality that they were either empty or full of cobwebs. Naruto didn't cook often; that was a fact. If he wasn't down at Ichiraku he was partaking of the culinary magic known as instant ramen.

Her stomach rumbled and she realised that she hadn't eaten since her apple at breakfast. Dammit. Sakura tried to be conscious about her weight, but she didn't regularly skip an entire days' worth of meals at a time. Suddenly she was ravenous. “Do you have any food?” she asked, salivating.

Naruto looked thoughtful. “Maybe?” He went to the fridge and pulled open the door, bending over and sticking his head into its mysterious depths. Sakura peered past him and caught a glimpse of something green and furry before he jumped back and slammed the door. “Um, nope, nothing in there.”

That hadn't looked like nothing. That had looked like a giant, misshapen milk carton, but Sakura had only gotten that one look. And milk cartons didn't usually grow that way. Or turn green. “Cupboard?” she prompted when Naruto just stood there, staring at the fridge apprehensively.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry.” He crossed to the cabinets and opened the one closest to the window, withdrawing two plastic cups and holding them up for her to see. “Pork or chicken?”

“Chicken, please.” She took the cup and sat it on the counter, grabbing the kettle off the table and filling it up. Setting it to boil, she turned back to find Naruto and Yamato conversing in low tones.

“Maybe if I move my bed?” Naruto was saying, bringing his hands up and shaping a rectangle in the air. “It's against the window right now, but I could turn it ninety degrees and then there would be more room. But still no privacy,” he mused. “Seriously, what was Tsunade-baachan thinking?!”

“Ah, but you see, I've already thought of a way to fix the privacy issues,” Sakura interjected, impressed by her own incredible brain powers. “Let's go to your room, Naruto and I'll show you what I've got.”

He blinked. “Um...okay?” He staggered back out into the hall.

Sakura watched him go, frowning. “I wonder if he did suffer a head injury, after all?”

Yamato fell into step beside her. “Oh, I'm sure he's fine.”

Naruto's bedroom was about the same size as the kitchen area. There wasn't much space in here either, but if they moved some of the furniture out into the other room, there'd be just enough room to live. Sakura hoped. She clapped her hands together and went into dictator-mode. “Okay, here's what you need to do. Naruto, you were right about the bed needing to be shifted.” She pointed at his bed, which was flush longways against the window. And hmm, he didn't seem to have curtains. Maybe they'd need to fix that. “If you moved it along the wall here, or closer to the door there, and take this chest of drawers and the tv out into the kitchen, there'll be enough space for Yamato-taichou to put a dividing wall down this line here.” She planted herself in the middle of the room and pointed at an imaginary line on the floorboards. “Oh, and then extra walls, and maybe a door each?”

“I'm not a carpenter, Sakura,” Yamato put in dryly, dark eyes moving about the room as if to ascertain whether the plan would work. “Yes, I can definitely set up a few dividers for you, but doors and latches are out of my control.”

Sakura found that rather rich, coming from the man who frequently made moated castles for his team when they were on a mission. But she wasn't about to look a gift ninja in the mouth, and any semblance of personal space was something to be treasured. She'd take what she could get. “Sure, okay!”

Naruto had his hands on his hips and was looking from one side of the room to the other. “You can have the balcony side, Sakura-chan,” he said, coming to a decision. “It's nice out there in the morning, at sunrise. You can see the whole village!”

“Thanks, Naruto.” She was touched by the obvious thought he'd put into it, even though she was a terrible morning person and was only awake to see the sun rise if she couldn't avoid it. “You should take some extra space, then, since I'll have a few metres of balcony as well. All I need is room for my--” she broke off. “I don't have a bed!”

Yamato's face was sympathetic. “I can make you a frame, but you'll have to sort out the mattress on your own.”

Sakura turned to Naruto. “Do you have a bedroll or a sleeping bag that I could borrow? I'll just need it for tonight.” She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation – she'd be living here, imposing on him for however long Tsunade deemed fit, and she was worried about asking for a sleeping bag? Man, did she need to get her priorities straight.

Naruto nodded and crouched next to his bed, opening one of the drawers underneath it before rooting around inside. Sakura gave Yamato a significant look.

He sighed. “Yeah, okay. I'll make one with drawers in it.”

“Thanks, Taichou! You're the best!”

A shrill whistle pierced the air and Sakura remembered the ramen. Her stomach growled. Naruto pulled out his sleeping bag, holding it aloft like a prize. “I knew it was in here somewhere!” He rose and kicked the drawer shut. “Here you go, Sakura-chan.”

She reached over and took the proffered bedroll, trying very hard to resist the urge to remark on its cheerful pattern of dancing frogs. Where the hell did he buy these things, anyway? His quilt even had a spiral motif. She kind of liked it; it was cute. Perhaps not entirely appropriate for a sixteen-year-old boy, but who was she to judge?

The kettle continued its loud reminder and Naruto glanced past her, toward the kitchen. “Go and eat,” he prompted. “Me and Yamato-taichou will change the room around.”

“Oh, I couldn't,” gushed Sakura, taking a few steps towards the other room. “I mean, I am hungry, but I should help! Are you sure?”

Yamato raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Naruto chivvied her out of the room. “It's okay, Sakura-chan! We'll take care of it.” He gave her a serious look. “You'll feel better after you have some food.”

Heartened by his concern, Sakura smiled and nodded. “Okay.” She turned and jogged into the kitchen, slapping the kettle off and tearing the lid away from the ramen cup. She dropped the flavour sachets on the counter and tipped in the boiling water until it reached the fill line. Sticking the lid back down, she grabbed the least-grotty plate off the precarious tower in the sink, resting that on top to keep the steam and heat in. She spent the entire three minutes of standing time searching for a pair of clean chopsticks, which she eventually found in an unused bento box on a shelf by the window. By this time she was so hungry she could have eaten the furry monolith in Naruto's fridge, so she ripped the lid right off, gave the noodles a cursory stir, and then scarfed the entire cup down in about twenty seconds. She knew she'd regret it later, but for the time being, damn it felt good.

She was tipping her head back to pour the last drops of broth into her mouth when Naruto and Yamato emerged from the bedroom. Naruto’s face lit up as he took in her apparent ramen appreciation.

“Sakura-chan!” he cried. “I had no idea you liked cup ramen that much. Have as many serves as you want, I’ll definitely buy some more. It’s great that you love it so much!”

Sakura rubbed her belly. It was already protesting about the too-fast meal. “Er, one was enough,” she replied weakly. “I was just really, really hungry.”

“Oh, I get like that too,” Naruto said, nodding sagely. “And then I have to lie down because I’m so full.”

Sakura deigned not to mention that he was usually too full because he’d eaten his own bodyweight in ramen. She really wasn’t feeling well. “Did you get the room finished?” she asked brightly in an effort to distract herself from her roiling stomach. She hadn’t heard any banging or wall-growing but she had been pretty focussed on her chopstick-hunting and subsequent ramen-guzzling.

Yamato nodded and stretched. “All sorted. And while I’d love to stay and help you both get settled, I really do have to see Hokage-sama and give her my report.” He retreated to the doorway and Sakura and Naruto followed him out. “Enjoy your cohabitation. Living with other people can be...interesting.” He snapped on his sandals and gave Sakura an enigmatic smile. “You learn so much about someone when you share their home.” He lifted his hand in a wave that was strangely reminiscent of Kakashi, then let himself out.

Sakura stared at the door for a moment, wondering what he’d been implying with his cryptic words and cryptic faces. She’d forgotten how often he did that – he was always going off on random tangents and imparting wisdom and not finishing sentences so that they didn’t make sense. She scowled.

“Sakura-chan?” Naruto indicated the bedroom area. “Come and take a look!”

Sakura traipsed after him and paused at the doorway, pleasantly surprised. Yamato had been as good as his word, and where the room had once been an open space, now the door opened into a narrow extension of the hallway, a new section of wall on her left set with two doorways, sadly bereft of doors. She took a few steps forward and peeked in the first one – Naruto’s bed was now parallel to the original wall, the new division starting about two-thirds along the window. He’d shoved all his furniture into his new, miniscule room and there was maybe thirty centimetres of walking space between the bed, chest of drawers and TV. Maybe they could work on that tomorrow.

She ducked out of Naruto’s room and approached the second one. Yamato’s handy jutsu had set up a bed frame identical to Naruto’s and his jolly sleeping bag was already unrolled and placed on the top. The door to the balcony was ajar and when she went to peek outside, she saw that Naruto had been right – she could see the entire village from here. Her eyes sought a familiar building before she could stop herself, and her heart sank. Well, almost the entire village. It was impossible to see something that wasn’t there, after all.

Letting herself back inside, she shut the outside door with a soft click, and turned to find Naruto hovering in the new hallway, watching her with concern. “Is it okay, Sakura-chan?” he asked. “I know it’s small, and you don’t have a real bed, and –“

She crossed the room in two strides (it was small, but his was smaller) and threw her arms around his neck, pressing her head against his shoulder and finally giving in to the emotions that had taken a back seat since the explosion that morning. “It’s gone, Naruto,” she sobbed, her tears soaking in to the collar of his shirt. “Everything’s gone. And it’s all my fault!”

He’d stiffened as she flung herself at him, but after a bout of sobbing, he lifted his hands and cautiously patted her back. “Not everything,” he said reassuringly. “You’re still here, I’m still here, your mom wasn’t hurt. It could have been worse, Sakura-chan, but it wasn’t. It’ll be okay.”

She hiccupped against his neck. “Really?” She knew that Naruto couldn’t guarantee anything, that her life, her fate, was out of his control, but he was always so earnest and sincere that she suddenly needed to have him say it, just so she could believe in the earnest warmth of his voice.

His hand made slow circles on her back as he swallowed, then nodded. “I promise, Sakura-chan.” His voice was a low, comfortable rumble against her ear. “It’ll be okay.”

Sniffing, Sakura drew back. It had worked. She felt better already. She dragged the back of her hand across her nose and thumbed the tears from her eyes, before meeting Naruto’s worried gaze and giving him a tremulous smile. “Okay,” she said. Disgusted by how thready and weak her voice sounded, she tried again. “Okay.” Better. Stronger that time.

She suddenly realised it was night-time already, and her half of the room was strangely dark. “Where’s the light?” she wondered, glancing up at the ceiling.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. “Well, it was kind of more to my side of the room and Yamato-taichou just looked at me and said, ‘I’m not an electrician, Naruto,’ so he couldn’t do anything about it. You might have to get a floor lamp or something.”

“Oh.” Sakura wasn’t sure she really minded; strangely she was now so tired that she could barely keep upright. “Well, since it’s dark now, I might as well go to bed. Big day,” she joked.

“Yeah, good idea.” Naruto backed out of the room until he was in the hallway, his silhouette backlit from the light in the kitchen. Sakura resisted the urge to rub her eyes until he was in focus again. “Night, Sakura-chan.”

“Night, Naruto.” Unzipping the sleeping bag, Sakura folded herself in, uncaring the Naruto apparently didn’t have a spare pillow for her to use. She rolled herself in the length of fabric, dimly aware that it smelled like nights in the forest and something else that she couldn’t put her finger on, and then she was drifting into the sweet unconscious that came from being both physically and emotionally drained.

Her last thought before sleep claimed her was that the ramen had really been a bad idea.



I really really really like cup ramen.

/random