Wouldn't You Like To Know

Holy crap, I hope you all remember who I am. I suspect that for the next while, my wide following of fans (just sense the irony oozing from my pores) are going to be poking me to ensure that I actually exist. I do indeed, and I present this chapter in abject pleasure and apology for taking so long. Part of it was due to aff.net's transfer, and the other part...well, this past semester hasn't been the most smooth. Possibly I'll chat about it later.

For now...I do not own Naruto, because if I did, I suspect several angry Japanese people would quickly teach me the curse words my teachers in the language wouldn't.

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In life, there were many things that could qualify as “simple pleasures.” A warm cup of sake, dinner with friends, a challenging spar, a well-thrown kunai; the activity differed from person to person, but all people knew of that one, transcendant moment where all of the pressures and rhythms of life just melted away, leaving only the sense of fulfillment and peace behind. For a ninja, such moments were few and far between, but were treasured beyond all else for their rarity.

With a small but genuine smile on his face and ruddy color in his skin, Naruto made his way home, towel and shirt on one arm, leaving himself clad only in shorts and sandals. Today was a great day for sunbathing! Now for a dinner at Ichiraku, and this day’ll be complete.

Before heading to his beloved ramen stand, he stoppepd at home to shower and put on less revealing clothes. The old man won’t care, but from the way his waitress collapsed last time some guys went in there shirtless, I don’t think I should.

Donning a much more conservative outfit of a pair of cargo pants and a simple black t-shirt, he went to Ichiraku, hailed the chef with an affectionate “hey, old man,” and within a few seconds, the waitress was by to take his order.

As he awaited the arrival of his meal, he sipped at the water and contemplated his day. Thanks to his napping in the sun (kind of makes me feel like a giant cat), he was a dark gold color once again, and he felt well-rested. No one had intruded upon his presence, though he had heard a plethora of strange sounds as he lay there. None of them were enough to disturb me, so I doubt that there was any danger to me, but I will have to find out what those sounds were sometime...

The door to the stand flapped open again, and the waitress threw out a cheerful “irrashaimase” at the newcomer.

Still drinking his water, Naruto was startled by the waitress quietly setting his order down in front of him and the soft sliding of the stool next to him as the newcomer took his seat. Thanking the waitress, he turned toward his barmate and immediately, the newcomer became “she.”

“Sakura-chan!” He greeted her exuberantly. “You’re back from your mission!”
“An hour ago, yes,” she replied. The waitress, who hadn’t left yet, asked her what she wanted. “Whatever he’s having, please.” Turning back to Naruto, she continued speaking. “I’m just really glad to be back.”

“I’d hope so,” Naruto said, breaking his chopsticks apart. “You were gone for two weeks!”

“Adverse weather,” Sakura grumbled. “We were caught in waves that must have been three meters high.”
“Sakura-chan, you weren’t anywhere near the ocean...”
“Tell that to the monsoon.”

He waited for the waitress to return with Sakura’s order before digging into his ramen (she must be really hungry, and I don’t want to be rude...), but it tasted all the better for waiting to eat with her.

“So, was Suna really awesome in its monsoon season?”
“Gorgeous. Gaara-sama showed up these strange spiny plants he called ‘ka-kutasu.’” Sakura stumbled only a little in pronouncing the foreign word. “They held flowers and even some form of fruit called a ‘prickly pear,’ but warned me to never eat them on an empty stomach.”

“Why’s that?” Naruto asked.

She paused to eat a hearty chopstick-full of her ramen before she answered. “Apparently, they cause rather painful stomach upsets,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Some of the other medico-nin I spoke to went into more detail, but I don’t think that’d be good to hear when eating.”

“Yeah, don’t please,” Naruto mumbled around a mouthful of food.
“What did you do after I was gone?” Sakura asked, taking her bowl into her hands to sip at the broth.

His bowl already empty (I really need to stop eating that fast...), Naruto drank some water before answering. “I sparred with Sasuke and Lee, cleaned the apartment, took Sasuke to the onsen for his birthday--”
“You two went out?” Sakura interrupted, a strange twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah,” Naruto answered, a little confused about her subject change. “I figured it’d be safer to do that than to get him a present.”

Her expression became exasperated. “How high was the pile?”
“About the same size as last year’s, maybe bigger.”
“One and a half meters?! Are they insane?!”

Naruto shrugged. “Probably!”

They laughed for a moment before sobering. Sasuke’s fanclub getting him presents was far from being a new thing; he’d been getting presents since he’d hit puberty. More to the point, that was around the time where the girls, frustrated at their parents’ continued refusal for the money to buy their precious “Sasuke-kun” expensive presents, had finally gone out to find jobs. If every Hokage since the Ichidaime hadn’t banned people under the age of seven form working, he’d have gotten gifts a lot earlier in his life.

“Still, they are kind of creepy,” Sakura said with a shiver. “I’m glad I got out while the running was good.”
“Wasn’t that around the time where you came storming into my apartment?” Naruto asked.
“Yeah...”
“Then I think you started shrieking about how the harpies were using you to get close to him--”
“And later, I leveled their building,” Sakura finished with a small smirk. “It barely needed a finger flick. It was so ramshackle that I feared for my skull integrity every time I stepped inside.”

Naruto drank some more of his water. “If you didn’t have a crush on Sasuke around that time, why’d you keep going?”

Sakura shrugged, finishing up her ramen. “Mainly to keep Ino-buta off the scent,” she admitted. “You saw how loud she got when she found out I had a boyfriend before she did. How would she have reacted if she also found out I’d lost romantic feelings for Sasuke before she did too?”

Naruto shivered. And that blond hellcat had managed to practically shatter my eardrums after she found out about Sakura’s boyfriend... He made a mental note to never give Ino information that would make her squeal...or worse, shriek.

“Why is it that Ino is still one of Sasuke’s top fans?” Naruto asked. “Doesn’t she have half the jounin and chuunin corps after her or seomthing?”
“Yeah,” Sakura said wryly. “But she’s a perfectionist.”
“Enough said.”

They paid for their food, then left. ‘You should go report to baa-chan,” Naruto said.
“Done with that. I’m off for some rest,” Sakura replied. “Training field tomorrow at noon tomorrow?”
“You’re on,” Naruto said with a smile. “See you then.”

***||***

I refuse, I absolutely positively refuse, to throw them together in a fashion everyone would expect. I can't write Naruto in such a way that would please everyone, so I'm going to have to ask you to deal. I am doubtless going to get a lot of raised eyebrows at the least at the way he'll be portrayed in the future. I can't think of him as a straightforward simpleton with his eye so focused on the prize that he doesn't pay attention to the caltrops in the road. As he ages (and has aged), he becomes more acquainted with the larger picture...at least in my mind.

This is going to be at least as long as "IDTYU," I suspect. Now that I've started again, the chapters should be coming in greater frequency. Feed my enthusiasm, please!