Fools

"Naruto! You're not eating right, are you?"

It had only been a few minutes since she'd arrived, and already Sakura had slipped into "mother" mode. It was easy to do so with Naruto; everything was always such a mess! It was a wonder he didn't have any bugs in his house! "And this place is a mess! How can you live in this?!"

"D'aww, Sakura-chan, you came to visit because you were worried about me!" Naruto grinned, though he flinched a little when she raised her hand. "Okay, okay, I'll clean, I'll clean!"

As the blonde picked up some of the junk lying around the room, dressed in only his black T-shirt and jeans, Sakura couldn't help but smile. Oh, Naruto. What would you do without me? Though, in all honesty, she wondered what she would do without him.

Her smile faded as quickly as it had appeared and she sighed deeply. Stop thinking that way, Haruno! If you keep this up, you may end up feeling strangely about Naruto. How could she feel "strange" about him? He was so sweet and adorable...so endearing, in fact, that she had to tell him no just to fight her own instinct to become subdued by the sweetness in his baby blue eyes. "Please, Sakura-chan?"

She shut her eyes quickly, her hands to her sides. You're doing it again, Haruno!

He picked his head up to smile at her, wiggling his brows at her. "Sakura-chan, if I finish early, will you go ice skating with me? I've always wanted to go, y'know, and it'd be fun if you could come too!"

For a moment she thought to say no; Christmas in general was more of a couple thing, so it may...May what? Become awkward? Naruto and I aren't like that.

"A-hoo! A-hoo!"

“Ice skating?” She almost told him it was a couple’s activity, but his pleading sapphire orbs cajoled her into sighing and nodding as she crossed her arms over her chest as she cast her eyes away from him, staring at a wall so that he couldn't see her blushing slightly. “Alright…but you’ve gotta buy me cocoa whenever I ask for it.”

“YOSH!” The blond exclaimed, before he grabbed their coats and took hold of her hand, suddenly in a hurry.

She should have expected such a reaction to “yes”. It’s just like him to get overexcited over something small like this. The pinkette couldn't help but giggle a bit as he hastily pulled her along. “Naruto! You didn't finish cleaning yet! That was the deal!”

“Yeah, well, I’m buyin’ ya all the cocoa you want, so don’t worry about me cleanin’ my house ‘til later, y’know?!” He teased. "It's already noon, Sakura-chan! We gotta hurry before it gets really crowded, y'know!"

"Alright, alright, but stop pulling Naruto! I'm right behind you!" Sakura complained, closing her eyes as she rested her fingers against her temple, but secretly, she enjoyed holding his hand.