Legendary Lovers

Part Six:

 “And how would we do that?”

“Truth or dare.”

Ino look positively appalled. “That’s so childish.”

“Hey, if it gets the job done... I promise you the dares and truths I’ll be using won’t be so childish either. Not for you or Shikamaru. I think he likes you more than you think,” Sakura said, adding the last as an after thought.

He was always there for her, protecting her. He was the strong silent type who loved from a distance. A romance could be there between them. And at least one of them was going to leave happy.

“I guess.”

As it turned out, having Naruto with Sasuke when they knocked on his door did help, but not without menacingly evil glares from Sasuke every time Naruto let someone new in. They were ushered into the living room where Sai and Shikamaru sat, in the middle of the floor next to a small table with drinks on it.

“What’s he doing here?” Ino asked, pointing to Sai, and while at the same time turning towards Naruto. “I mean, no offense to him, but this was supposed to be just us nine, for nostalgia reasons.”

Naruto shrugged, looking a little like a deer in headlights. It was funny how he could save the whole world, but couldn’t handle a slightly angered Ino. Sakura chuckled. Both of them were a force to be reckoned with.

“I bumped into him on the way here and thought it’d be okay. We haven’t seen each other in a while. I’m sure Sakura feels the same,” he said and turned towards her with a ‘help me’ expression. “Right, Sakura-chan?”

She was tempted to not answer, just to see how red in the face he’d get from Ino’s irritated reaction, but his teeth biting into his bottom lip distracted her.  She nodded quickly, tearing her gaze away from his mouth and walked towards the other two seated on the floor, leaving the others behind. Another new change of events—her more physical reactions to Naruto were more… intense than they were before the war.

She sat next to Sai, so closely that their bent knees touched as she went towards him for a hug. “I missed you,” she said as she pulled away.

He nodded with a smile. “You too, Ugly.”