Before Marriage | SasuSaku [ON HOLD]

/ 15 /

/ Disclaimer: A big part of the story onwards will be based/inspired on Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of love, riding upon spring breeze by Tomohito Osaki and Masashi Kishimoto, the third book of Naruto Hiden series, so part of the story credit goes to them. I tried to combine my story with canon as much as I can, but it will not be perfect or as accurate, after all, this is still fanfiction lol! Thanks! Also, since I left this fic on 2017, I advise you guys read it from the start... 👉🏻👈🏻/

-✘-

After placing the last box on the floor, he sighed with relief and stretched his arms.
"Arigato, Naruto" the old woman said. He smiled in response and told her to let him know if he needs anymore help.

Naruto decided to take the whole week off of missions and started to volunteer in the Academy for instructing sparring lessons and basics.

"Narutooo! Wanna come eat?" Shikamaru shouted from a distance.

Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Sai were together, holding a basket full of freshly caught fish. Sai was a bit new to the group as it seems, but he really had been here for years now and had easily connected with them. He was pretty much a yes man too.

The five of them were surprisingly mission-free at the same time, and thought it was a good idea to have a good time at this rare occasion. They built a small campfire place nearby the forest river and started cooking and lying down the grass as they watch the sunset.

"So... I saw you and Hinata together after the gathering." Shikamaru smirks as Naruto startles. "Yea.......What do you mean by that?"
"You two have been going out, right?" Sai asks.
"Y-yea, as friends!" He shouts, feeling a bit embarrassed and guilty.

"Poor Hinata" Kiba laughs.
"What about you!?!!" Naruto rages.
"Hey, Tamaki and I are going steady. We might get married soon at this point" Kiba snorts.

Chouji chokes and everyone else evidently looked shocked. "What?" Kiba asks, confused.
"Marriage?" Shikamaru shrugs.
"Hey, we're all getting older. I'm more surprised you guys haven't thought about it yet."

Sai nods in approval, earning a confused look from Naruto. "The next generation depends on us, the potential women here aren't getting any younger so it makes sense to make a move."

Naruto bursts out laughing, but quite nervously. It was surprising when it came from Sai, a man who was deemed emotionless, but he was right.
"Well what about you Choji? I know you've been spending time with Karui!" Naruto throws back.
Choji chokes on this as if he was caught.
"Why are you pinning this on me? Shikamaru started this! He was talking to Temari the other day, excited and red as tomato!"

"Tch, enough about women, this is suppose to be a trip, not a marriage counseling." Shikamaru says, smoothly hiding his guilt and redirecting the topic.

They had spent the rest of the night eating and laughing. Talking about missions and their personal epic fails for hours until they got tired and fell asleep on their own tents. Past midnight, Naruto lie awake on his tent, thinking about what Kiba and Sai said. It was weird thinking of marriage or women, even at this age. A flash of Hinata's face, saying Tadaima to him, came into his mind. He blushes at the thought, and gulps in response. It was something he'd like to see in his future, a family of his own. Somehow, this thought scares him more than any of the battles he ever had.

--

"Ino?" The pinkette shouted. Snapping the blonde out of her daze. "I- what?"
"That's the fourth time I called your name." Sakura says. The two of them was at their first ever meeting. They were planning to facilitate a small clinic within the Konoha Hospital. They've been meaning to do this after the war, specifically for the children and the state of their mental health, but a lot of projects were assigned to them individually that this agenda was pushed to a much later date than expected. Still, they wanted to proceed with the project. Now that they have time, they were finally granted permission and a big part of Konoha hospital has been provided after the last patient in the area has been discharged.
"I'm sorry.. I was thinking of something.." Ino fidgets.
Sakura rolls her scroll back and positions herself into her I'm-listening mode.

"It's Sai."

"What about him?" Sakura leans her elbow on the table this time.
"I can't stop thinking of that guy and I hate it." She facepalms herself.
"Someone's in love." Sakura giggles. Ino squints at her. "This is your fault. You set us up!"
"Wha- I did not!!"
"Gah- now my parents like him and I do too and-"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Sakura, we don't know his true feelings. He's.. well, emotionless, and if not, he just masks everything with a stupid robotic smile. How am I supposed to know what he truly feels and what goes on in his head?"

It was true though. Sai was a nice guy and very helpful too. It would be no surprise if women would think he liked them just because he had helped them. Sakura was with him for a while, but she could never read the guy. Other than his smile, his stupid nicknames and him being straightforward. He's a jerk but he was reliable.

Ino came into her senses and decided to shove Sai out of her head for now. She wanted to focus on the clinic and hope for its success. There was no time to waste. And even if there was, she'd rather spend it to something else rather than thinking of that pale handsome looking guy.

Sakura secretly felt happy for her though. Despite her worries, she feels like Sai is most likely to return her feelings someday. She felt happy with the thought, and somehow envied the situation. At least, they were not far from each other like she was to Sasuke. She wanted to send Sasuke things too, to know that she cares and she had thought of him, but she didn't know his situation all the time and she didn't want to be a hindrance or the cause of his own danger. It's been months since she and the rest of the Hokage team had heard back from him. She wasn't too worried because she knows how powerful Sasuke is, none could be a match other than Naruto, but a part of her still worry and miss him. She wishes he writes a report back soon.

-✘-

Naruto was pacing in the road for solid 3 minutes that people nearby started to worry about him, some are weirded out.

He was outside the Hyuga residences.

After his acamedy lessons with the young ones, he suddenly thought of visiting the Hyuga hime. Was he missing her? What was he supposed to say now that he's here?

Hinata, on the other hand, came out to water her flowers a few minutes ago, she noticed the whiskered blonde before he noticed her. She hid from the door for a while to appreciate the fact that he was nearby and had blushed while wondering what made him come here. Was it for a mission of some sort?

Suddenly, she felt conscious of what she was wearing and how she looked like. She straightened the hems of her top, and dusted off her shorts. She finger combed her hair and coughed to clear her voice. As she went out, she tried to pretend seeing him was a surprise, but the blush and nervousness on her face could give it away. She walked naturally and greeted Naruto who finally stopped pacing.

"Naruto-kun?" she squeaked.
"H-hinata-chan!" Naruto says, much surprised than she was. Now she thinks he just passed by.
"Are you on your way to somewhere?" Hinata asks.
"No, I'm actually here to see you."

Hinata swallows and hopes the redness of her face isn't too noticeable.

"Why? Is there something you need to tell me?"
"I uhhh- wanted to check if you're free.." Naruto shrugs.

"Is it for a mission?"
"Uhm no- just with m-......." Naruto flushed.
"I-I would love to!" Hinata says enthusiastically, unable to help her excitement.

At that moment, Naruto feels at ease, knowing he might be wrong for thinking he was being a bother.