Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto
Missed You
2 reviewsIt seems Sakura's emotions have started surfacing as she has to deal with the fact that her blond teammate is gone for a full 3 month long mission without her. Perhaps it was time for her to admit ...
2Ambiance
A/N: Well...i hope you guys enjoy it ^^ Reviews afterwards would be nice so i know where i should head with the writing or how its going so far.
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The 21 year old sighed as she walked through the empty hallways, 'Doctor Haruno' could be seen on her nametag that was on her jacket as she strolled on. It was 1:50AM and Sakura was getting ready to get off. It had been a rough night at the hospital, not only did she have nothing to do most of the night, the only patients she had to deal with were the most needy group she had to deal with in the hospital, not that she didn't want to help the patients, but it was more of assisting people than it was actual hospital work. Getting people up, helping them go to the bathroom, bringing them food and making sure that recently born babies didn't stir during the night, along with the fun of checking the medication of every patient and drawer to make sure that nothing had been misplaced or lost.
The constant up and down of the hospital was also getting to her, she went from doing completely nothing for what seemed like hours before finding her face full of patients who needed to be tended to every little issue there could be. She would never blame any patient for having issues more difficult than others, but the constant dead moments which could instantly become a busy hassle was beginning to irritate her, not only that, she had a rowdy group of drunks who caused a mess on one of the floors before checking her out and trying to flirt with her before she got them to leave.
Of course she could thank the short skirts that the nurses now had to wear as part of their outfit for that. All thanks to her best friend who suggested to a drunk Tsunade that purchasing this outfit would be best because it was the most 'sexy'. Normally Ino would have gotten smacked for a stupid comment about such things but with Tsunade drunk agree'd with Ino's statement saying how maybe it would get herself some attention. That was the part where Ino left with shivers as she got an image of Tsunade getting picked up by some guy at the hospital. Sometimes she wondered if Tsunade realized how often she got taken advantage of when she was drunk.
She hated getting the night shift though, it always ended up with a dreary night and no morning seeing as she was so exhausted she'd end up sleeping until about noon. Not only that but she had to walk from the hospital to her apartment which was located on the opposite side of Konaha. She always wondered what would happen to her if she had an accident at her home and she needed to be brought to the hospital, knowing that it was a 25 minute or longer walk from her house to the hospital wasn't very appealing. It was strange that Tsunade would have her watch the hospital during the night though, though it could be because all the other doctors who qualified asked for day shifts so that they could spend the nights with their children. It was so fun being young and single, perfect for being a scapegoat. She had nothing to do during the day now that she had retired from being an on duty ninja and pursued her career at the hospital only to find out that she was only needed at night.
Even though Sakura had retired from her field work, she still worked on her skills when she had the chance. She wasn't put on missions unless there was no other medic nin was able to go. That barely ever happened though, in the past 4 years in which she decided that the hospital was her career she had only been called on about 10 missions, which were almost all escort missions with her old team as they brought some person to their home, or helped them get some item that was needed back in Konaha. She had the feeling that Naruto was the only reason why she was even called on those missions. Sakura sighed as she finally reached the exit of the hospital and was getting ready to leave, she just had to think of him again…"Naruto" she whispered to herself as she sighed. The real reason why the recent month had been a drag, it had taken her a while to realize how much of her life involved him. Every night she got to that exit she was reminded of him though. For some reason he always had the need to come walk her home, even at 2AM in the morning he would be right outside waiting for her. She wasn't sure why he always did, he knew she was fully capable of getting home herself. Though she couldn't complain seeing as some company was nice, sometimes he'd even carry her home when she was too exhausted from the shift and tell her stories of his little adventures during his missions.
Of course if that didn't catch her attention he'd lift up his shirt or pull up his sleeve to show her a scar and exaggerate about some heroic mission he was on along with how he barely escaped, then right as he got to the climax of the story he'd start laughing and tell her how he just scraped his knee or cut his arm when he wasn't paying attention and slipped on a tree branch or tripped over something while walking down the street. He was such a goofball. It had been a while since she'd seen him though, he was on a 3 month long mission that he had yet to return from. Everything seemed normal the first week he was gone, but as time went on she felt more and more alone as she spent her days doing the same routine. It surprised her how much of her day involved Naruto, from when he picked her up after work, or when he'd drag her out in the afternoons to get lunch. Sometimes he'd even come on shopping trips with her as she went to go pick up a dress for some special event, or even force him to buy some vegetables to put into his fridge. She had gone shopping with Ino a few times during the time Naruto was gone, but it just wasn't the same. Naruto always found a way to make their shopping trip a bit exciting seeing as being a man he didn't really enjoy the gossip talk that her and Ino did. But he'd always find himself in some little situation that would make the shopping trip quite the experience. The first time they went was probably the most entertaining as she found herself laughing at Naruto's amazement of the fact that restaurants would give out free food. He dragged her around town sampling every 'free sample' there was, of course around the 3rd one Sakura had to pull him aside and explain to him that a free sample meant he should only grab one of the samples on the tray instead of trying to swallow everything there before any other customers could reach it. When he heard the news his pout was too much for her to handle as he complained about how it was all free so he didn't see why he couldn't just take all of it. She giggled a bit and after a minute or two of him pouting she ended the silence as she proposed to him that he could have any free sample that she didn't want. The rest of the day was spent running around the market trying to find any restaurant that gave out 'free food' as Naruto called it. Though without the blonde running around to keep her busy, she found herself without anything to do during the day, often finding herself being at the hospital more to kill time during his absence.
"Ugh…Crap" Sakura whispered as she finally reached the two sliding doors to get outside. She had been so busy thinking about her day that she didn't realize it was raining out…since when did it rain at 2AM? She sighed and began lifting her jacket over her head, today had been a bad day…
"Hey"
Sakura shrieked a bit as she jumped up from the invading sound. Not only that but she knew whos voice it was, and there was no way that he could be here. She slowly turned her head to find out that it was exactly who she thought it was, causing her to sigh and give him a dazed look. "I can't believe im hallucinating now…"
"Wait what?" The blond chuckled softly as he heard her questioning herself, she blushed as she realized she said that out loud before he walked over and pulled an umbrella over their heads. "Good thing I came back early from the mission aren't you? We found the intel a bit faster than we thought we would, you'd be in quite a situation if I weren't here."
Her blush slowly receded before she sighed again and let him lead before hopping onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and had him carry her piggy back style before resting her head on his shoulder. "Im tired…" she mumbled as she closed her eyes. He chuckled as he held her with one hand while the other held up the umbrella.
"You're lucky that I made it back a bit sooner or else you'd have quite the stench to deal with" the blonde chuckled a bit as he pulled her up and began their trek to her apartment. "I showered just before I came so it shouldn't be too bad"
The only response was a small "Mhm" as she rested her head on his shoulder, perhaps it was just him but she seemed a bit more sluggish than usually. As tired as she usually was during the night shift Sakura would still have a decent conversation with the blonde, sometimes she'd even be more lively than him when she was on his back, looking around and pointing out random late night restraints or signs around town that they passed by as he brought her home. Telling him about how her and Ino had gone into that store once, or how she wished that she could be the lady who was seen on the advertisement one day. He found it funny when he suggested that she was already more beautiful than the women on the advertisements, she actually came to the defense of the women saying how great they looked, and of course how dull she was. He wished she wouldn't look down on herself so much sometimes. Tonight was rather different though, unlike usual, Sakura was quiet, her head was still resting on his back and he was pretty sure she had her eyes closed, which most likely meant she was already asleep.
"How much have you been working?"
She slowly turned her head and mumbled something that Naruto couldn't catch. He sighed and adjusted her positioning as his grip was slipping, making her yelp a bit as she was thrown up into the air for a half second before falling back down onto his back and in his grip. "Sorry," he chuckled a bit as she finally settled back down against him, "so what was that before Sakura-chan?"
"I worked the night shift and a little bit of the day shift today, just like 9 hours or so…I know I seem really tired, it's because I had to do the same shift yesterday too."
Naruto tilted his own head back as he looked up at the pouring rain that was just out of their reach thanks to the umbrella, he sighed before speaking, "and the night before that…and the one before that…and from what Tsunade told me earlier you have been working 12 hour shifts, not 9."
"Wha-What?" She blushed as she put her face against his shoulder, hiding her blush even though she knew he couldn't see her, "I've only been working 9 hour shifts, I swear! How did you hear from Tsunade anyway?"
"Mission report, I had to stop in with her before I came to get you," he smiled a bit at how startled she was when he told her. "She told me you've also been helping tutor some new nurses at the hospital and showing them how everything works. That counts as working Sakura-chan."
Sakura fell silent as the blonde continued carrying her home. She was just glad they were over half way there now as she let her head hang in defeat and closed her eyes as she felt even more exhausted after her little outburst.
The silence finally broke when they nearly reached the young doctor's home, Naruto finally broke the silence as they came to a stop light, "Sakura…if you wouldn't mind, would you want to go out tomorrow night? Just you and me?" he blushed a bit as he spoke, Sakura chuckled as she pictured him pulling his hand up to scratch his head again as he usually did when he was nervous, this time was different as she was behind him though.
That set aside, she still blushed a bit as she was surprised he had asked her, usually she would have said that she was busy at the hospital, which she was the next day, but today was…a bit different. After the whole month without the blond, it felt like she was beginning to feel a bit more attached to the blonde than she had been a month ago. Luckily she had a way out of this before she had to think about it any longer, "I would love to Naruto but, I have to work tomorrow night again" She let a sigh escape her lips as she felt the nervous tension fade away while they made their way to her apartment.
"Actually…I talked tsunade into giving you the next few days off" He chuckled a bit as he wasn't sure whether that would upset his former teammate, or make her joyful. "I would love to" She whispered. He was a bit surprised as he was used to Sakura being a bit vicious when it came to him doing her favors, or at least back when they were younger and she would still smack him around when she felt that he was doing too much for her. After a few seconds of reminiscing it occurred to Naruto that his pink haired passenger was now asleep on his shoulder. He finally reached her apartment bent down before putting some chakra into the crack of the wall that Sakura covered with a simple genjutsu before pulling out her hidden key and opening the door. He had to suppress his cheer of happiness as he didn't want to wake her.
When he got inside, he was a bit surprised to find Sakura's place was actually a bit messy, not as bad as his own but still, she wasn't one to let anything get by her as she always preached to him about his hygiene. Not that he ever let it go but his own apartment was a bit messy and littered with a few ramen cups here and there. He was a bit surprised to see her letting herself slip up with housework that much, but seeing how exhausted she was when he brought her home he could see why she might not have had the time to clean anything up. He finally made his way to her bedroom before setting her down, but just as he heard her body reach the bed, he heard her turn up before reaching her hands around his upper body and wrapping around him as she rested her head on his back again. It was probably one of the biggest suprises tha had come to either of them, Sakura began blushing fiercely after she realized what she had just did while Naruto sat there also a bit confused as she pressed herself up against his back. There was a small silence before Sakura backed off, whispering a small "sorry! I don't know what got into me" before rolling onto her bed. She hid her still tinted cheeks under her blankets and in her pillow as the blond sat at the edge of her bed with a blank face. He wasn't sure what to do as he sat there, trying to decide whether to get up and leave or turn around and ask her what had just happened. Before he could make a decision he felt her hand run over his own that was resting on the edge of the bed. She quickly laced it before she pulled herself to sit next to him. "Naruto…"she whispered softly as she rested her head on his shoulder, this time as they sat side by side, and he felt her gently beginning to pull him with her as both their heads landed on the soft mattress. "I missed you" she whispered, this time the words barely escaped her lips as he could feel the blood rushing to both their cheeks. He rested his chin atop her head before closing his eyes and whispering back "I missed you too."
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Naruto slightly stirred as his eyes slowly opened, the memories of last night slowly came back to him as he laid in a bed...a bed which he could clearly tell was not his. Unlike most mornings he wasn't greeted with the usual chirping of the birds from his window, the plain white walls and ceiling of his room or the slight buzzing noise that could be heard coming from his fridge which always seemed a bit too loud. No, this was far from his usual mornings seeing as he awoke to find that the walls were painted pink with white stripes streaking downwards from the ceiling, which was plastered with decorations of every sort. And not only had he woke up to find that he wasnt in his own room, he glanced down to see a pink haired beauty sleeping in his arms, she was snuggled up against him and his arms were loosely draped around her waist while her soft breaths trickle against his neck and scooted herself closer to him.
Though the current state of this morning was nice, Naruto couldn't help but feel like he was in a bit of a pickle. Though the moments with Sakura last night were a bit...shocking to him, and he wasn't sure if the best decision right now would be to snake his way out of the bed and run home and pretend it never happened, or to lay there and waited until Sakura woke up. Not that he didn't enjoy having her arms around his mid drift, in fact it was quite the opposite. He loved feeling her face gently resting against the crook of his neck and feeling her soft breaths find their way across his skin as if she were giving him little kisses along his neck as he held her. It was more than what he could have ever imagined. He felt completely at ease and yet his heart was racing, he wanted to sit there and cherish the moment while they laid there together, yet he had the urge to jump out and scream mindlessly as he ran around the village claiming that he was the happiest man on earth. Now thinking about it, he could probably make a shadow clone and do both.
Anyway, getting back on track, deciding which happy situation he wanted to go with wasn't really the debate at the moment. What he was really contemplating was whether to jump out of bed and run like hell to his house before getting in bed and pretending it never happened, or to stay snuggled with the girl who was presently sleeping in his arms. Of course running home and hiding in his bed wouldn't resolve the chances of him getting smacked around if she were to wake up in a fit of rage and claim that they were nothing more than friends. It just gave him time to send some decoy clones around the city and hope that by the time she found him she had slapped enough decoy clones around to make her not want to mutilate him.
Naruto's few minutes pondering came to an abrupt end as he felt her arms loosen up from him and her grip giving him the chance to slip away. He pulled his arms away from her and began to slowly inch his way across the mattress and crawl out of her arms which were still partially ringed around him. He held his breath and was nearly trembling now as he was so focused on getting out of her grip that he forgot to let another breath in. That wouldn't matter soon though, once he got her laced fingers to retract he would be home fre- "Naruto?"
"Y-yes?" a blush quickly made its way onto his face as he let himself flow back into her grip and acted as nothing happened. He closed his eyes and one of his hands was once again rubbing the backside of his head symbolizing his nervousness as he tried to look away from her. He was preparing for it, the slap, the kick which led him off the bed and face first into the floor along with a scream about being a pervert. To his surprise none of these things happened, instead her fingers laced themselves behind his back and she pulled him a bit closer to her and gave him a beaming smile. "what did you think you were doing?"
The blonde blushed a bit as his eyes still wandered away, "well uh...you see...i was trying to...i was going to...uh...what I meant to say was, im claustrophobic!" he lied. But it was okay, he would be prepared for it now, he smirked and began rolling the other way as he yelled so that when she called him a baka and pushed him off the bed for making up something so ridiculous he would be prepared to land safely on the ground. Though unexpectedly, instead of a slight push off the bed or smack across the face, the blonde heard a small giggle escape her lips and felt the bed shift before she planted a quick kiss on his lips and whispering to him. "I know your not claustrophobic baka"
"I am too! I'm totally claustro...pho..." His quick defense and screaming response slowly came to an end as he stared at her wide eyed, the last few syllables seemed to take minutes to roll off his tongue before his hand came up to brush across his lips. "you...you just...you just kissed me!"
"yea...so?" She giggled a bit again as she snuggled against him once again while Naruto stayed silent, a bit puzzled by the current situation. Naruto's blank stare slowly came to an end, though he'd love to sit there and contemplate what was going on for all day if he could, there was only one conclusion that he could come up with, and that was that women didn't make sense. He let a sigh out before letting his tense body loosen up and rest against her.
Perhaps it was just Naruto being dense again, or simply that he was used to being rejected by her, maybe even the fact that he couldn't gracefully take in the fact that Sakura actually kissed him. Not just hugging, or holding, or some accidental brush of the lips(like one experience that he had with a certain someone in the classroom) but she actually KISSED him. He couldn't believe it, and it was apparent as he began touching his lips with his hands again, trying to decipher whether what had just happened was reality or if he was in some sort of daydream. And in his...shocked stupor, the only words that could escape his words were, "What just happened? Why did you just do that?"
Sakura once again found herself smiling this morning, she could tell it was going to be a good day and the way things were going it only seemed to get better. If she knew Naruto's reaction would be this cute when she finally decided to bring their relationship past friendship perhaps she would have done so a long time ago. Her lips quickly found their way to his once again before she pulled back, "thats what just happened" she giggled a bit before pulling herself against him, "and why wouldn't I do that naruto? Theres nothing wrong with kissing someone if you like them from what I remember" she smiled and let herself begin to drift off again. She could tell that he was still exhausted himself, his hands were slow to find their way around her hips and he began drifting off himself. Though daylight had come and their body reacted to the light correctly, waking up after 4 and a half hours of sleep just wasn't enough for either of them.
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To Naruto's surprise his next awakening didn't start the same way the one he had just experienced just a few hours ago. His peaceful dreams were interrupted this morning by the loud coughs which could be heard coming from Sakura's kitchen. The light pink and polka doted blanket that wrapped around the two recent couple last night was tossed aside as he made his way out of her bedroom. He hadn't noticed til now, but Sakura really took a liking to color coating her whole room to match her. Heck, he hadn't even seen her wearing an outfit that didn't have at least one piece of clothing that wasn't red or pink in her apparel since he'd come back form his trip.
"Hey" The weak words barely escaped Sakura's lips as he heard her from the cough. Even sprawled out in her pajamas she still managed to look stunning to him as she was flipping through the channels and eating a bowl of cereal which layed on her stomach while she laid face up on the couch. "watcha staring at?" Blood rushed to the blonde's face as he quickly looked away mumbling "nothing" while she giggled a bit to herself before sitting up and tapping the seat besides her. The cough gently shifted as his body made its way down and she leaned her head on his shoulder while pushing the unwanted cereal bowl onto his lap. He took it in his hands, a bit puzzled about what was going on. Her fingers were around his as he held the bowl. She stared on at the television, while she was in her slight daze of staring at the tv Naruto couldn't help but feel as if there were something wrong. There still was a silence as the blonde wasn't sure what to say while Sakura seemed perfectly content with sitting in silence while she enjoyed her television program, every once in a while he could feel a smile grace her lips as the show hit a comical moment or frown when something bad had happened.
Something was definitely wrong, Sakura was never this quite. His thoughts were correct as he heard her once again break out into a fit of coughs to his suprise her hands were now tightly wrapped around his while he sat in awe next to her, before he knew it she had found her way closer to him and her head rested against his chest as the fit ended, he could feel her deep breaths as air slowly made its way in and out of her body while she tried to get control of her breathing once again. The cereal bowl which had been in their hands was now laying on the ground face down with its contents covering the ground, including the milk which was now soaking into the rug. He let out a sigh before slowly letting his arms wrap around her and pull her a bit closer to himself. She was already nearly asleep by the time he began picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom. He set her down carefully on the bed before making sure the her blanket was wrapped tightly around her before going back into the living room and cleaning up the mess.
'why didn't you tell me you were sick?' The blonde wondered as he stood infront of the sink, his hand scrubbing away at the bowl and spoon which held Sakura's quickly wasted breakfast. He sighed as he rinsed off the dishes and made his way to the couch and laying down. His unease after the lack of talking between himself and the pink haired woman who he was currently worried about began getting to him, she had been too quiet last night while coming home, and this morning wasn't exactly a very conversational morning either. Besides when he woke up with her in his arms this morning she had barely said anything at all, and her being sick only added to the uneasy tension that the blonde felt, there was definitely something wrong that she wasn't telling him.
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Sakura shifted slightly in her bed before leaning in towards the warmth radiating from her blond teammate. She could feel an arm draped around her midsection as they laid together in her bed once again. Hopefully her small coughing fit didn't freak out the blonde too much. She slightly smirked as she placed small kisses on his bare neck, guiding her to his lips. The goofball would probably freak over her cold. He was such a spazz. His recent reactions after the kiss only affirmed the fact that he was a spazz. She really hoped she wasn't moving too fast for him, not that she ever planned on moving at this rate with her first relationship either, it was just that…perhaps with the realization of her harbored feelings for the blond which recently surfaced along with the addition of the loneliness that accumulated with her first infatuation she needed something to make up for the lost time. Her eyes slowly drooped down as she pressed her lips softly against the blonde's. Hopefully the date that he had planned wouldn't be too chaotic.
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Naruto awoke slowly to find his face full of…pink…once again. He chuckled to himself as he slipped out of bed. This definitely was something he would have to get used to…seeing pink everywhere when he woke up. From the wall to the blankets and her clothing, and of course to top it all off, her one and only pink hair. How could Sakura stand one color for so long? As 'obsessed' with the color orange he had been previously, even he threw it away in order to wear a plain black and dark blue outfit. Though a certain someone mocked him for trying to be like a black haired teammate he had, it was something that Sakura had given (forced) him to wear when they went out shopping once. Honestly he couldn't complain, everything fit pretty nice, not too baggy but not too tight. Just enough to make him feel comfortable, a pair of black sweats and a plain dark blue t shirt, how could he complain?
She slept so peacefully. Naruto couldn't help but smile as he sat down in the chair that had been set up in her room. "Hm…" his chin pressed against his fist as he pushed around the books on her table, someone had been studying a bit too much...Hopefully she wouldn't mind if he went through some of the stuff she had laying around. "Whats this?" he smiled as he found an old photo book. Who would have guessed that she would have kept everything from her times out with team 7?
He flipped through slowly as he looked at the pictures of their old team. There seemed to be a part of everything they did together…from the time they spent in the land of the mist to their group photo right before they began the chunnin exams. She even had pictures from the fights between himself and Neji along with Sasuke's fight with Gaara. Why hadn't she shown him this before?
He smirked as he found another photo, the best one in his opinion. It was after one of the last missions he and Sakura took as teammates. After the rough mission they were at the ramen shop because Sakura let him pick any restaurant he wanted seeing as he'd been badly injured after the mission while trying to help her. She was forced to feed him as his arm was a bit damaged from the battle. Ayame took a picture of Sakura feeding him before commenting that they were a cute 'couple' which caused them both to immediately blush and turn the other way.
It was funny though, Sakura actually was kinda mad at him at first for being overprotective…but hey, was it really his fault? He didn't want the creep to hurt her when they were ambushed. Of course being stubborn as usual she had to pick a fight right after they finished cleaning up the scrappy ninjas who ambushed them. The few kunai that they managed to put together managed to pierce his arm, he had to hear a nice long lecture from the pink haired beauty that she could take care of herself, of course that all stopped when she asked him why he would do something so stupid and risky. He responded that he didn't want her soft skin to be grazed by the blade of the kunai or else he would be reminded how he failed every time she looked at him or came to heal him. He couldn't help but laugh thinking about how she blushed and quickly claimed that she dropped something after he said the words. It seemed so opposite to her current actions. It was all so strange, a month ago before he left for his mission she was yelling at him for coming out so late to pick her up and bring her home, now shes all over him and giving him kisses. Ugh, Jiraiya and Kakashi were right, women don't make sense.
"Hey" Sakura smiled as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, he smiled as she felt her weight spread onto his back. Her voice came out smoothly and soothed his ears as she pointed her finger down at the photo album. "Remember this one?" she was lightly giggled as her finger pushed against the photo of the hot springs, Sakura was blushing and had her body hidden underwater as she peered up through her eyes while Tsunade had a towel wrapped around her body with her eyes pinched together and her mouth open wide, clearly screaming as she was blushing. Naruto could be seen slipping from the tree branch and falling into the hot springs beside the person taking the photo, who would be nobody other than the world's most notorious pervert, Jiraiya. Some sort of projectile, most likely some sort of cup filled with tea that Tsunade was sipping on could be seen hurled and heading in a blur towards the camera.
"How could I not?" Naruto chuckled as he flipped through the photobook. "how did you manage to get all these photos?"
She pulled her hand back up around his shoulders as she held herself tightly against him and laughed a bit, "well I always had them, it's amazing how much time you have when you're not a ninja though, I didn't know what to do with all these pictures so I kinda made a little scrapbook for us to look at one day. Honestly I was keeping this for you when you got back from your mission, but someone was too nosey"
Naruto's fingers were frantic as he blushed before beginning to close the book, "Sorry, I didn't mean to, I wouldn't have opened it if I knew you were saving it for me"
She giggled a bit before taking the book and flipping it open. "It's alright silly" she smiled as got to the last page of the scrapbook, "you're already home, so I would have given it to you soon anyway, I just wanted to show you this" He could feel the smile across her lips as her arms dangled from his shoulders, a finger pointed down towards the large cut out heart with 'I love you' above it, inside of the heart were both of their names. "I woke up earlier to put this last part in, good thing you're too deep of a sleeper to notice when I slip out of bed huh?"
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A/N: I hope you guys like it...posted this on a few other sites but didn't get the chance to post it here until i found this site recently, reviews would be nice ^^
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The 21 year old sighed as she walked through the empty hallways, 'Doctor Haruno' could be seen on her nametag that was on her jacket as she strolled on. It was 1:50AM and Sakura was getting ready to get off. It had been a rough night at the hospital, not only did she have nothing to do most of the night, the only patients she had to deal with were the most needy group she had to deal with in the hospital, not that she didn't want to help the patients, but it was more of assisting people than it was actual hospital work. Getting people up, helping them go to the bathroom, bringing them food and making sure that recently born babies didn't stir during the night, along with the fun of checking the medication of every patient and drawer to make sure that nothing had been misplaced or lost.
The constant up and down of the hospital was also getting to her, she went from doing completely nothing for what seemed like hours before finding her face full of patients who needed to be tended to every little issue there could be. She would never blame any patient for having issues more difficult than others, but the constant dead moments which could instantly become a busy hassle was beginning to irritate her, not only that, she had a rowdy group of drunks who caused a mess on one of the floors before checking her out and trying to flirt with her before she got them to leave.
Of course she could thank the short skirts that the nurses now had to wear as part of their outfit for that. All thanks to her best friend who suggested to a drunk Tsunade that purchasing this outfit would be best because it was the most 'sexy'. Normally Ino would have gotten smacked for a stupid comment about such things but with Tsunade drunk agree'd with Ino's statement saying how maybe it would get herself some attention. That was the part where Ino left with shivers as she got an image of Tsunade getting picked up by some guy at the hospital. Sometimes she wondered if Tsunade realized how often she got taken advantage of when she was drunk.
She hated getting the night shift though, it always ended up with a dreary night and no morning seeing as she was so exhausted she'd end up sleeping until about noon. Not only that but she had to walk from the hospital to her apartment which was located on the opposite side of Konaha. She always wondered what would happen to her if she had an accident at her home and she needed to be brought to the hospital, knowing that it was a 25 minute or longer walk from her house to the hospital wasn't very appealing. It was strange that Tsunade would have her watch the hospital during the night though, though it could be because all the other doctors who qualified asked for day shifts so that they could spend the nights with their children. It was so fun being young and single, perfect for being a scapegoat. She had nothing to do during the day now that she had retired from being an on duty ninja and pursued her career at the hospital only to find out that she was only needed at night.
Even though Sakura had retired from her field work, she still worked on her skills when she had the chance. She wasn't put on missions unless there was no other medic nin was able to go. That barely ever happened though, in the past 4 years in which she decided that the hospital was her career she had only been called on about 10 missions, which were almost all escort missions with her old team as they brought some person to their home, or helped them get some item that was needed back in Konaha. She had the feeling that Naruto was the only reason why she was even called on those missions. Sakura sighed as she finally reached the exit of the hospital and was getting ready to leave, she just had to think of him again…"Naruto" she whispered to herself as she sighed. The real reason why the recent month had been a drag, it had taken her a while to realize how much of her life involved him. Every night she got to that exit she was reminded of him though. For some reason he always had the need to come walk her home, even at 2AM in the morning he would be right outside waiting for her. She wasn't sure why he always did, he knew she was fully capable of getting home herself. Though she couldn't complain seeing as some company was nice, sometimes he'd even carry her home when she was too exhausted from the shift and tell her stories of his little adventures during his missions.
Of course if that didn't catch her attention he'd lift up his shirt or pull up his sleeve to show her a scar and exaggerate about some heroic mission he was on along with how he barely escaped, then right as he got to the climax of the story he'd start laughing and tell her how he just scraped his knee or cut his arm when he wasn't paying attention and slipped on a tree branch or tripped over something while walking down the street. He was such a goofball. It had been a while since she'd seen him though, he was on a 3 month long mission that he had yet to return from. Everything seemed normal the first week he was gone, but as time went on she felt more and more alone as she spent her days doing the same routine. It surprised her how much of her day involved Naruto, from when he picked her up after work, or when he'd drag her out in the afternoons to get lunch. Sometimes he'd even come on shopping trips with her as she went to go pick up a dress for some special event, or even force him to buy some vegetables to put into his fridge. She had gone shopping with Ino a few times during the time Naruto was gone, but it just wasn't the same. Naruto always found a way to make their shopping trip a bit exciting seeing as being a man he didn't really enjoy the gossip talk that her and Ino did. But he'd always find himself in some little situation that would make the shopping trip quite the experience. The first time they went was probably the most entertaining as she found herself laughing at Naruto's amazement of the fact that restaurants would give out free food. He dragged her around town sampling every 'free sample' there was, of course around the 3rd one Sakura had to pull him aside and explain to him that a free sample meant he should only grab one of the samples on the tray instead of trying to swallow everything there before any other customers could reach it. When he heard the news his pout was too much for her to handle as he complained about how it was all free so he didn't see why he couldn't just take all of it. She giggled a bit and after a minute or two of him pouting she ended the silence as she proposed to him that he could have any free sample that she didn't want. The rest of the day was spent running around the market trying to find any restaurant that gave out 'free food' as Naruto called it. Though without the blonde running around to keep her busy, she found herself without anything to do during the day, often finding herself being at the hospital more to kill time during his absence.
"Ugh…Crap" Sakura whispered as she finally reached the two sliding doors to get outside. She had been so busy thinking about her day that she didn't realize it was raining out…since when did it rain at 2AM? She sighed and began lifting her jacket over her head, today had been a bad day…
"Hey"
Sakura shrieked a bit as she jumped up from the invading sound. Not only that but she knew whos voice it was, and there was no way that he could be here. She slowly turned her head to find out that it was exactly who she thought it was, causing her to sigh and give him a dazed look. "I can't believe im hallucinating now…"
"Wait what?" The blond chuckled softly as he heard her questioning herself, she blushed as she realized she said that out loud before he walked over and pulled an umbrella over their heads. "Good thing I came back early from the mission aren't you? We found the intel a bit faster than we thought we would, you'd be in quite a situation if I weren't here."
Her blush slowly receded before she sighed again and let him lead before hopping onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and had him carry her piggy back style before resting her head on his shoulder. "Im tired…" she mumbled as she closed her eyes. He chuckled as he held her with one hand while the other held up the umbrella.
"You're lucky that I made it back a bit sooner or else you'd have quite the stench to deal with" the blonde chuckled a bit as he pulled her up and began their trek to her apartment. "I showered just before I came so it shouldn't be too bad"
The only response was a small "Mhm" as she rested her head on his shoulder, perhaps it was just him but she seemed a bit more sluggish than usually. As tired as she usually was during the night shift Sakura would still have a decent conversation with the blonde, sometimes she'd even be more lively than him when she was on his back, looking around and pointing out random late night restraints or signs around town that they passed by as he brought her home. Telling him about how her and Ino had gone into that store once, or how she wished that she could be the lady who was seen on the advertisement one day. He found it funny when he suggested that she was already more beautiful than the women on the advertisements, she actually came to the defense of the women saying how great they looked, and of course how dull she was. He wished she wouldn't look down on herself so much sometimes. Tonight was rather different though, unlike usual, Sakura was quiet, her head was still resting on his back and he was pretty sure she had her eyes closed, which most likely meant she was already asleep.
"How much have you been working?"
She slowly turned her head and mumbled something that Naruto couldn't catch. He sighed and adjusted her positioning as his grip was slipping, making her yelp a bit as she was thrown up into the air for a half second before falling back down onto his back and in his grip. "Sorry," he chuckled a bit as she finally settled back down against him, "so what was that before Sakura-chan?"
"I worked the night shift and a little bit of the day shift today, just like 9 hours or so…I know I seem really tired, it's because I had to do the same shift yesterday too."
Naruto tilted his own head back as he looked up at the pouring rain that was just out of their reach thanks to the umbrella, he sighed before speaking, "and the night before that…and the one before that…and from what Tsunade told me earlier you have been working 12 hour shifts, not 9."
"Wha-What?" She blushed as she put her face against his shoulder, hiding her blush even though she knew he couldn't see her, "I've only been working 9 hour shifts, I swear! How did you hear from Tsunade anyway?"
"Mission report, I had to stop in with her before I came to get you," he smiled a bit at how startled she was when he told her. "She told me you've also been helping tutor some new nurses at the hospital and showing them how everything works. That counts as working Sakura-chan."
Sakura fell silent as the blonde continued carrying her home. She was just glad they were over half way there now as she let her head hang in defeat and closed her eyes as she felt even more exhausted after her little outburst.
The silence finally broke when they nearly reached the young doctor's home, Naruto finally broke the silence as they came to a stop light, "Sakura…if you wouldn't mind, would you want to go out tomorrow night? Just you and me?" he blushed a bit as he spoke, Sakura chuckled as she pictured him pulling his hand up to scratch his head again as he usually did when he was nervous, this time was different as she was behind him though.
That set aside, she still blushed a bit as she was surprised he had asked her, usually she would have said that she was busy at the hospital, which she was the next day, but today was…a bit different. After the whole month without the blond, it felt like she was beginning to feel a bit more attached to the blonde than she had been a month ago. Luckily she had a way out of this before she had to think about it any longer, "I would love to Naruto but, I have to work tomorrow night again" She let a sigh escape her lips as she felt the nervous tension fade away while they made their way to her apartment.
"Actually…I talked tsunade into giving you the next few days off" He chuckled a bit as he wasn't sure whether that would upset his former teammate, or make her joyful. "I would love to" She whispered. He was a bit surprised as he was used to Sakura being a bit vicious when it came to him doing her favors, or at least back when they were younger and she would still smack him around when she felt that he was doing too much for her. After a few seconds of reminiscing it occurred to Naruto that his pink haired passenger was now asleep on his shoulder. He finally reached her apartment bent down before putting some chakra into the crack of the wall that Sakura covered with a simple genjutsu before pulling out her hidden key and opening the door. He had to suppress his cheer of happiness as he didn't want to wake her.
When he got inside, he was a bit surprised to find Sakura's place was actually a bit messy, not as bad as his own but still, she wasn't one to let anything get by her as she always preached to him about his hygiene. Not that he ever let it go but his own apartment was a bit messy and littered with a few ramen cups here and there. He was a bit surprised to see her letting herself slip up with housework that much, but seeing how exhausted she was when he brought her home he could see why she might not have had the time to clean anything up. He finally made his way to her bedroom before setting her down, but just as he heard her body reach the bed, he heard her turn up before reaching her hands around his upper body and wrapping around him as she rested her head on his back again. It was probably one of the biggest suprises tha had come to either of them, Sakura began blushing fiercely after she realized what she had just did while Naruto sat there also a bit confused as she pressed herself up against his back. There was a small silence before Sakura backed off, whispering a small "sorry! I don't know what got into me" before rolling onto her bed. She hid her still tinted cheeks under her blankets and in her pillow as the blond sat at the edge of her bed with a blank face. He wasn't sure what to do as he sat there, trying to decide whether to get up and leave or turn around and ask her what had just happened. Before he could make a decision he felt her hand run over his own that was resting on the edge of the bed. She quickly laced it before she pulled herself to sit next to him. "Naruto…"she whispered softly as she rested her head on his shoulder, this time as they sat side by side, and he felt her gently beginning to pull him with her as both their heads landed on the soft mattress. "I missed you" she whispered, this time the words barely escaped her lips as he could feel the blood rushing to both their cheeks. He rested his chin atop her head before closing his eyes and whispering back "I missed you too."
---
Naruto slightly stirred as his eyes slowly opened, the memories of last night slowly came back to him as he laid in a bed...a bed which he could clearly tell was not his. Unlike most mornings he wasn't greeted with the usual chirping of the birds from his window, the plain white walls and ceiling of his room or the slight buzzing noise that could be heard coming from his fridge which always seemed a bit too loud. No, this was far from his usual mornings seeing as he awoke to find that the walls were painted pink with white stripes streaking downwards from the ceiling, which was plastered with decorations of every sort. And not only had he woke up to find that he wasnt in his own room, he glanced down to see a pink haired beauty sleeping in his arms, she was snuggled up against him and his arms were loosely draped around her waist while her soft breaths trickle against his neck and scooted herself closer to him.
Though the current state of this morning was nice, Naruto couldn't help but feel like he was in a bit of a pickle. Though the moments with Sakura last night were a bit...shocking to him, and he wasn't sure if the best decision right now would be to snake his way out of the bed and run home and pretend it never happened, or to lay there and waited until Sakura woke up. Not that he didn't enjoy having her arms around his mid drift, in fact it was quite the opposite. He loved feeling her face gently resting against the crook of his neck and feeling her soft breaths find their way across his skin as if she were giving him little kisses along his neck as he held her. It was more than what he could have ever imagined. He felt completely at ease and yet his heart was racing, he wanted to sit there and cherish the moment while they laid there together, yet he had the urge to jump out and scream mindlessly as he ran around the village claiming that he was the happiest man on earth. Now thinking about it, he could probably make a shadow clone and do both.
Anyway, getting back on track, deciding which happy situation he wanted to go with wasn't really the debate at the moment. What he was really contemplating was whether to jump out of bed and run like hell to his house before getting in bed and pretending it never happened, or to stay snuggled with the girl who was presently sleeping in his arms. Of course running home and hiding in his bed wouldn't resolve the chances of him getting smacked around if she were to wake up in a fit of rage and claim that they were nothing more than friends. It just gave him time to send some decoy clones around the city and hope that by the time she found him she had slapped enough decoy clones around to make her not want to mutilate him.
Naruto's few minutes pondering came to an abrupt end as he felt her arms loosen up from him and her grip giving him the chance to slip away. He pulled his arms away from her and began to slowly inch his way across the mattress and crawl out of her arms which were still partially ringed around him. He held his breath and was nearly trembling now as he was so focused on getting out of her grip that he forgot to let another breath in. That wouldn't matter soon though, once he got her laced fingers to retract he would be home fre- "Naruto?"
"Y-yes?" a blush quickly made its way onto his face as he let himself flow back into her grip and acted as nothing happened. He closed his eyes and one of his hands was once again rubbing the backside of his head symbolizing his nervousness as he tried to look away from her. He was preparing for it, the slap, the kick which led him off the bed and face first into the floor along with a scream about being a pervert. To his surprise none of these things happened, instead her fingers laced themselves behind his back and she pulled him a bit closer to her and gave him a beaming smile. "what did you think you were doing?"
The blonde blushed a bit as his eyes still wandered away, "well uh...you see...i was trying to...i was going to...uh...what I meant to say was, im claustrophobic!" he lied. But it was okay, he would be prepared for it now, he smirked and began rolling the other way as he yelled so that when she called him a baka and pushed him off the bed for making up something so ridiculous he would be prepared to land safely on the ground. Though unexpectedly, instead of a slight push off the bed or smack across the face, the blonde heard a small giggle escape her lips and felt the bed shift before she planted a quick kiss on his lips and whispering to him. "I know your not claustrophobic baka"
"I am too! I'm totally claustro...pho..." His quick defense and screaming response slowly came to an end as he stared at her wide eyed, the last few syllables seemed to take minutes to roll off his tongue before his hand came up to brush across his lips. "you...you just...you just kissed me!"
"yea...so?" She giggled a bit again as she snuggled against him once again while Naruto stayed silent, a bit puzzled by the current situation. Naruto's blank stare slowly came to an end, though he'd love to sit there and contemplate what was going on for all day if he could, there was only one conclusion that he could come up with, and that was that women didn't make sense. He let a sigh out before letting his tense body loosen up and rest against her.
Perhaps it was just Naruto being dense again, or simply that he was used to being rejected by her, maybe even the fact that he couldn't gracefully take in the fact that Sakura actually kissed him. Not just hugging, or holding, or some accidental brush of the lips(like one experience that he had with a certain someone in the classroom) but she actually KISSED him. He couldn't believe it, and it was apparent as he began touching his lips with his hands again, trying to decipher whether what had just happened was reality or if he was in some sort of daydream. And in his...shocked stupor, the only words that could escape his words were, "What just happened? Why did you just do that?"
Sakura once again found herself smiling this morning, she could tell it was going to be a good day and the way things were going it only seemed to get better. If she knew Naruto's reaction would be this cute when she finally decided to bring their relationship past friendship perhaps she would have done so a long time ago. Her lips quickly found their way to his once again before she pulled back, "thats what just happened" she giggled a bit before pulling herself against him, "and why wouldn't I do that naruto? Theres nothing wrong with kissing someone if you like them from what I remember" she smiled and let herself begin to drift off again. She could tell that he was still exhausted himself, his hands were slow to find their way around her hips and he began drifting off himself. Though daylight had come and their body reacted to the light correctly, waking up after 4 and a half hours of sleep just wasn't enough for either of them.
---
To Naruto's surprise his next awakening didn't start the same way the one he had just experienced just a few hours ago. His peaceful dreams were interrupted this morning by the loud coughs which could be heard coming from Sakura's kitchen. The light pink and polka doted blanket that wrapped around the two recent couple last night was tossed aside as he made his way out of her bedroom. He hadn't noticed til now, but Sakura really took a liking to color coating her whole room to match her. Heck, he hadn't even seen her wearing an outfit that didn't have at least one piece of clothing that wasn't red or pink in her apparel since he'd come back form his trip.
"Hey" The weak words barely escaped Sakura's lips as he heard her from the cough. Even sprawled out in her pajamas she still managed to look stunning to him as she was flipping through the channels and eating a bowl of cereal which layed on her stomach while she laid face up on the couch. "watcha staring at?" Blood rushed to the blonde's face as he quickly looked away mumbling "nothing" while she giggled a bit to herself before sitting up and tapping the seat besides her. The cough gently shifted as his body made its way down and she leaned her head on his shoulder while pushing the unwanted cereal bowl onto his lap. He took it in his hands, a bit puzzled about what was going on. Her fingers were around his as he held the bowl. She stared on at the television, while she was in her slight daze of staring at the tv Naruto couldn't help but feel as if there were something wrong. There still was a silence as the blonde wasn't sure what to say while Sakura seemed perfectly content with sitting in silence while she enjoyed her television program, every once in a while he could feel a smile grace her lips as the show hit a comical moment or frown when something bad had happened.
Something was definitely wrong, Sakura was never this quite. His thoughts were correct as he heard her once again break out into a fit of coughs to his suprise her hands were now tightly wrapped around his while he sat in awe next to her, before he knew it she had found her way closer to him and her head rested against his chest as the fit ended, he could feel her deep breaths as air slowly made its way in and out of her body while she tried to get control of her breathing once again. The cereal bowl which had been in their hands was now laying on the ground face down with its contents covering the ground, including the milk which was now soaking into the rug. He let out a sigh before slowly letting his arms wrap around her and pull her a bit closer to himself. She was already nearly asleep by the time he began picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom. He set her down carefully on the bed before making sure the her blanket was wrapped tightly around her before going back into the living room and cleaning up the mess.
'why didn't you tell me you were sick?' The blonde wondered as he stood infront of the sink, his hand scrubbing away at the bowl and spoon which held Sakura's quickly wasted breakfast. He sighed as he rinsed off the dishes and made his way to the couch and laying down. His unease after the lack of talking between himself and the pink haired woman who he was currently worried about began getting to him, she had been too quiet last night while coming home, and this morning wasn't exactly a very conversational morning either. Besides when he woke up with her in his arms this morning she had barely said anything at all, and her being sick only added to the uneasy tension that the blonde felt, there was definitely something wrong that she wasn't telling him.
---
Sakura shifted slightly in her bed before leaning in towards the warmth radiating from her blond teammate. She could feel an arm draped around her midsection as they laid together in her bed once again. Hopefully her small coughing fit didn't freak out the blonde too much. She slightly smirked as she placed small kisses on his bare neck, guiding her to his lips. The goofball would probably freak over her cold. He was such a spazz. His recent reactions after the kiss only affirmed the fact that he was a spazz. She really hoped she wasn't moving too fast for him, not that she ever planned on moving at this rate with her first relationship either, it was just that…perhaps with the realization of her harbored feelings for the blond which recently surfaced along with the addition of the loneliness that accumulated with her first infatuation she needed something to make up for the lost time. Her eyes slowly drooped down as she pressed her lips softly against the blonde's. Hopefully the date that he had planned wouldn't be too chaotic.
---
Naruto awoke slowly to find his face full of…pink…once again. He chuckled to himself as he slipped out of bed. This definitely was something he would have to get used to…seeing pink everywhere when he woke up. From the wall to the blankets and her clothing, and of course to top it all off, her one and only pink hair. How could Sakura stand one color for so long? As 'obsessed' with the color orange he had been previously, even he threw it away in order to wear a plain black and dark blue outfit. Though a certain someone mocked him for trying to be like a black haired teammate he had, it was something that Sakura had given (forced) him to wear when they went out shopping once. Honestly he couldn't complain, everything fit pretty nice, not too baggy but not too tight. Just enough to make him feel comfortable, a pair of black sweats and a plain dark blue t shirt, how could he complain?
She slept so peacefully. Naruto couldn't help but smile as he sat down in the chair that had been set up in her room. "Hm…" his chin pressed against his fist as he pushed around the books on her table, someone had been studying a bit too much...Hopefully she wouldn't mind if he went through some of the stuff she had laying around. "Whats this?" he smiled as he found an old photo book. Who would have guessed that she would have kept everything from her times out with team 7?
He flipped through slowly as he looked at the pictures of their old team. There seemed to be a part of everything they did together…from the time they spent in the land of the mist to their group photo right before they began the chunnin exams. She even had pictures from the fights between himself and Neji along with Sasuke's fight with Gaara. Why hadn't she shown him this before?
He smirked as he found another photo, the best one in his opinion. It was after one of the last missions he and Sakura took as teammates. After the rough mission they were at the ramen shop because Sakura let him pick any restaurant he wanted seeing as he'd been badly injured after the mission while trying to help her. She was forced to feed him as his arm was a bit damaged from the battle. Ayame took a picture of Sakura feeding him before commenting that they were a cute 'couple' which caused them both to immediately blush and turn the other way.
It was funny though, Sakura actually was kinda mad at him at first for being overprotective…but hey, was it really his fault? He didn't want the creep to hurt her when they were ambushed. Of course being stubborn as usual she had to pick a fight right after they finished cleaning up the scrappy ninjas who ambushed them. The few kunai that they managed to put together managed to pierce his arm, he had to hear a nice long lecture from the pink haired beauty that she could take care of herself, of course that all stopped when she asked him why he would do something so stupid and risky. He responded that he didn't want her soft skin to be grazed by the blade of the kunai or else he would be reminded how he failed every time she looked at him or came to heal him. He couldn't help but laugh thinking about how she blushed and quickly claimed that she dropped something after he said the words. It seemed so opposite to her current actions. It was all so strange, a month ago before he left for his mission she was yelling at him for coming out so late to pick her up and bring her home, now shes all over him and giving him kisses. Ugh, Jiraiya and Kakashi were right, women don't make sense.
"Hey" Sakura smiled as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, he smiled as she felt her weight spread onto his back. Her voice came out smoothly and soothed his ears as she pointed her finger down at the photo album. "Remember this one?" she was lightly giggled as her finger pushed against the photo of the hot springs, Sakura was blushing and had her body hidden underwater as she peered up through her eyes while Tsunade had a towel wrapped around her body with her eyes pinched together and her mouth open wide, clearly screaming as she was blushing. Naruto could be seen slipping from the tree branch and falling into the hot springs beside the person taking the photo, who would be nobody other than the world's most notorious pervert, Jiraiya. Some sort of projectile, most likely some sort of cup filled with tea that Tsunade was sipping on could be seen hurled and heading in a blur towards the camera.
"How could I not?" Naruto chuckled as he flipped through the photobook. "how did you manage to get all these photos?"
She pulled her hand back up around his shoulders as she held herself tightly against him and laughed a bit, "well I always had them, it's amazing how much time you have when you're not a ninja though, I didn't know what to do with all these pictures so I kinda made a little scrapbook for us to look at one day. Honestly I was keeping this for you when you got back from your mission, but someone was too nosey"
Naruto's fingers were frantic as he blushed before beginning to close the book, "Sorry, I didn't mean to, I wouldn't have opened it if I knew you were saving it for me"
She giggled a bit before taking the book and flipping it open. "It's alright silly" she smiled as got to the last page of the scrapbook, "you're already home, so I would have given it to you soon anyway, I just wanted to show you this" He could feel the smile across her lips as her arms dangled from his shoulders, a finger pointed down towards the large cut out heart with 'I love you' above it, inside of the heart were both of their names. "I woke up earlier to put this last part in, good thing you're too deep of a sleeper to notice when I slip out of bed huh?"
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A/N: I hope you guys like it...posted this on a few other sites but didn't get the chance to post it here until i found this site recently, reviews would be nice ^^
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