Leaving Her Alone

*Chapter 10*

A snort of laughter escaped Sasuke before he could stop it, and he quickly attempted to mask the sound with slightly over-exaggerated throat clearing. Naruto pointedly rolled his eyes.

"Well, seeing is believing, loser." the raven-haired boy stated matter-of-factly, rubbing at his brow before shoving his hand back into his pocket. "And I'm not entirely convinced that you can keep this act of yours up."

"It's not an act and I can too keep it up, believe it!" the blonde retorted, dropping his hands back down to his sides and breaking into a jog. "Now let's get to the inn and get this briefing thing over with so I can find some damn food."

"You're the one who was dragging his feet getting there." Sasuke groused, but picked up his own pace and followed him anyway.

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The patter of footsteps drew both Sakura's and Kakashi's attention to Naruto and Sasuke as they hurriedly approached where they stood in front of the inn.

"You two certainly took your time getting back here." Kakashi commented in a borderline scolding tone as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, but we are here now, aren't we?" Naruto countered with a grin. "Alright! Let's get this brief done so I can eat!"

"Ugh, will you quit yelling before you wake up the whole village?" Sakura snapped, her hands going to her hips. "And where exactly do you think you're going to find food at this hour anyway?!"

Naruto shrugged. "Dunno. But I'm sure I'll be able to work something out."

The pink-haired girl drug a hand over her face at that. Honestly...he can be such a total dweeb...

"That being said, do you think you could, uh..." Naruto started but cut out, bringing up a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

"Do I think I could what?" Sakura asked. Her tone and outward expression exuded mild exasperation, but inwardly, she was screeching in vindicated victory. I KNEW IT!! Predictable moron's finally out of his funk and now he just can't help himself! Go on, SAY IT!!

From his spot just behind Naruto, Sasuke looked at the boy with an expression that was equal parts knowing and annoyed. Tch...so much for "keeping up the act..."

Though his face remained blank as ever, anticipation hummed through Kakashi's veins as he watched what was playing out before him. Naruto...what are you about to do...?

"C'mon, out with it already." Sakura urged as she fought to keep her expression in check.

Naruto heaved a deep sigh before responding. "Well, do you think you could maybe...hurry it up a bit? With your brief, I mean..."

Glass shattered to pieces somewhere in the plains of Sakura's mind as her jade eyes became dinner plate-sized. ...Hold on...w-wait a minute... N-no way, did he just...!!

"WHAAAT?!?" the girl very nearly shrieked.

"Well earlier, I'd noticed that this inn has a kitchen in it." the blonde explained. "Since I know I won't find anything anywhere else right now, I figured I could just scavenge something from out of there. But who knows how early the kitchen staff gets here to do their prep stuff for the day, right? So the longer we stand here, the time I have to find food gets shorter and shorter."

"You can't just go and raid the inn's kitchen, dummy!!"

"And now you're the one yelling..."

"Let's put this argument on hold, shall we?" Kakashi suddenly interrupted as he lightly tapped Sakura on the shoulder. "Sakura...your brief, please?"

The pink-haired girl eyed the blonde in front of her for a second more before shooting her gaze to the ground between where they stood, her cheeks pinking up from embarrassment. "Right, o-of course..."

As she began giving her recap, Kakashi's eyes shifted back to Naruto. The boy had managed to shock him once again, so much so that he almost reacted completely uncharacteristically. Even now, the urge to burst into laughter was almost too much to resist, especially as he watched the reactions of the other two.

Sasuke looked as if he thought he'd slipped into an alternate universe, and he was seeing this even more unpredictable Naruto for the very first time. Granted, it was actually true that he was...but it was still incredibly hilarious to see this normally emotionally void boy gaping at his teammate so openly. He had no idea the boy's eyes could get so wide.

And then there was Sakura... If he was being truly honest, he almost felt bad for her. She'd done her very best to conceal it, but he'd still seen it - the smug confidence that she masked with pseudo frustration. She'd been so sure that Naruto was about to ask her out, so sure that he was about to fall back into that same hapless pattern that she'd probably thought he'd fallen out of...

It truly amused him to witness that presumptuous bubble be utterly obliterated, even more so upon the realization that Naruto most likely had no idea what he'd just achieved...

A small smile curved his concealed lips. And with this, the dynamic has finally begun to shift...

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Cliffhangers, amiright?

This chapter actually almost ended up being way longer...so long, in fact, that I ended up splitting it into two. 😏

I'll see you guys again really soon!