Sakura wasn't too sure of how she was going to handle what was happening. Being rejected out of hand had a way of confusing one, and she knew that this wasn't something that she just wanted to do on the fly. But she wanted a future that she could see, and not one where she would just be one of the crowd.
Besides, she had already brought herself this far, and she was doing it without actually focusing on the concept. So, if anything, she might as well go through with it. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair to herself, to Naruto, or even poor Hinata.
Going in wasn't the problem, as he lived in an apartment complex, so there was an entryway to go to. She could head in and not seem strange. All that she had to do was to find his room, and she'd be able to knock on his door, hopefully taking something very personal and intimate into a private place.
What she got when she went to head in through the front gate was the sight of the boy himself coming her way from down the block. And he was certainly not alone.
"What did you do with her?!" Sakura yelped despite herself as she took in the sight of her sister laying in his arms.
Looking hurt, Naruto blinked back at her. "I didn't do anything to her!"
"Then why is she.... Why is like this?"
"I'm not sure. Hinata came to me to... well...."
"Offer herself to you."
"You knew about that?!" he blurted.
"Well, duh."
"You say that like it was obvious."
"Come on, she's liked you since the third grade."
"Right," he muttered, trying to sound sarcastic. "Only from then?"
"It took her until then to work up enough nerve to admit it out loud."
"Oh. Okay."
The pink haired petgirl heaved a sigh. "Still, I should have realized that she had gone to you."
"But I don't why she had to. Or what's wrong with her."
"Nothing is wrong with her," Sakura muttered. "She's Impressing on you."
"I don't know what that's supposed to be."
"Listen, she has chosen you to be her Master. When we Impress, our minds focus on whomever it is that we are going to belong with. After we go through it, we see that person as our owner, and we can't help but do what they tell us."
"That's kind of... big, isn't it?" the blond boy asked.
"Of course it is! And she is already bonding to you as it is."
"At least that is good, the way that I figure it."
Rolling her eyes, the conscious girl sighed. "That much is obvious. In the mean time though, we should get her to your room so she can be comfortable while she goes through it."
"You're probably right. It's real nice of you to look after her like this."
"She's my sister. Doing it is only natural."
"That's true enough. But at least now she has me to help her out."
"Ha!" Sakura bit out. "You need someone to take care of you too!"
"Hey, I get by fine enough."
"You're a goofball, Naruto. There's nothing that you seem to take seriously enough. And you both need someone to watch over you."
With just a bit of a teasing look, Naruto smirked at the pink haired girl. "Planning on volunteering?"
"And what if I am?"
"Huh?"
"Isn't it clear enough?" she ground out.
"But what about Sasuke, huh?"
"He doesn't want to be with anybody...."
The blond teen winced before collecting himself enough to speak again. "I guess that'd be a problem. 'Course, I didn't think that you'd even try to check up on me. You left her to come to me."
"No, I respected the fact that she wanted to be with you. She's always stepping back for other people, so I figured that giving her a chance to be with you on her own would be nice enough."
"Sure it is. What do you get out of this?"
"A chance to see you. If anything, you need someone to keep things straight for you. And my sister will be very happy to support you, but won't be strong enough to keep you out of the stupid stuff."
"Thanks for volunteering for the job," Naruto commented, and then grinned. "I'm sure that you'll do great at it."
"I already knew that I would."
"That's good, but the main thing is that I'm going to take good care of you."
Hearing him say that made Sakura stop in her tracks, and she couldn't have avoided that if she tried. It was like lightning had just shot up her spine and crashed into her brain. For a few long moments, she couldn't even stay straight and found herself blinking to try to get back into focus.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"Sure I am. It's just that I'm a little lightheaded."
"We should get you some rest then."
"Yeah. Sure thing," she whispered, not totally focused on it all.
"Would you like to sit down here?"
"Of course not. You have to get us to your room so we can settle in and be ready to feel the changes."
"Then maybe you can go back home when you like."
Sighing heavily, Sakura began to wonder what she was letting herself in for. Obviously, he didn't understand what it was that he was getting, but then she had to cut him some slack in that regard. That didn't change the fact that she could feel herself bonding to him, which was going to be a trip in of itself. About all that she could think of was that she had chosen this for herself, while:
Thu Jun 17 00:55:59 2010