Sakura was thinking to herself: "Where is that idiot… I haven't finished scolding him yet… He's more than half an hour late… Is he really spending all this time making up with her?!"
Suddenly, she heard a sound coming from the direction of the door. When she looked over, she saw the last thing she could have expected—something that never would have crossed her mind.
Naruto and Kushina were laughing happily together at the doorway. Kushina then left, saying, "Alright, dear… I'll go make another cup of tea to replace the one I broke." Then, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Don't forget to apologize to her… and stay calm no matter what she says to annoy you."
Naruto sighed in frustration. "Fine..."
She left for the kitchen, feeling happy. "He gave me the greatest gift on this special day…"
Sakura turned off the TV, staring at him. Then she stood up, speaking mockingly, "It looks like you managed to lie to her so easily."
Naruto, confused, asked, "Lie? Why would I lie to her?!"
Sakura, surprised, responded, "Are you saying you told her you were trying to cheat on her?!"
Naruto said calmly, "I told her what happened last night… but I never tried to cheat on her."
Sakura, now angry, retorted, "So… you were just messing with me?"
Naruto smirked. "You know… you're really bad at guessing."
Sakura stepped up right in front of him, anger flashing in her eyes. "Well, since I'm so bad at guessing… why don't you tell me what you were trying to do? Maybe I'll be just as happy as she is."
Naruto smiled. "Honestly… I doubt that. I don't think your reaction would ever be like hers… but if you insist… Before I explain, I have a question for you."
Sakura looked at him, puzzled. "What do you want?!"
Naruto smirked. "Did you really believe I was going to kiss you?!"
Sakura quickly turned her face away, stepping back in embarrassment. She struggled to speak. "Isn't… that what you were trying… to do?"
Naruto: "Well… since you think that's what I was trying to do… why didn't you push me away?"
Sakura froze at his question, unable to answer. She tried to come up with an excuse, but Naruto just stood there waiting. Eventually, she said, flustered, "You didn't give me a chance to stop you… you were holding my—"
Naruto cut her off quickly. "We both know I wasn't holding your hands tightly. You had plenty of chances to push me away. And even if you thought I was holding them firmly… you're strong enough to break free."
Sakura turned her face toward him, locking eyes. He leaned slightly closer, challenging her. "But you didn't resist."
She averted her gaze, releasing a frustrated sigh, though inside, she was burning with embarrassment.
After a moment of silence, Sakura suddenly asked, "Wait a minute… why would you want me to push you away? Ugh… You're going to drive me crazy… You were so close… I don't understand why you backed off. It was the perfect chance, the moment you always dreamed of… why didn't you take it?!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, giving her a sly smile. "Looks like it wasn't my dream."
Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. Her face flushed with embarrassment while Naruto kept smiling at her. She quickly turned away, snapping, "Of course not, you idiot! Who would ever dream of kissing someone like you?! You completely misunderstood me! I meant if you didn't want to kiss me in the first place, why did you act that way?!"
There was a brief silence. Then she suddenly heard Naruto laughing. She looked at him, confused. "I don't think I said anything funny…"
She stepped closer, her face right in front of his. "What is it? Why are you laughing?!"
Naruto smiled at her. "You look really cute when you're angry."
Sakura's cheeks turned bright red. She thought to herself, Why is he suddenly acting so sweet?!!
Quickly regaining her composure, she spun around, telling herself, Don't lose your balance, Sakura… Don't let him control you like he did last night…
She glanced back at him, her voice uneasy. "I… I don't understand… What do you… mean?"
Naruto smiled. "Alright… I'll tell you."
He walked over and sat on the couch. Sakura followed, standing in front of him, waiting intently for his explanation.
Naruto finally spoke. "It all started when I caught you before you fell. Honestly, I was sure that the moment you opened your eyes and saw me, the first thing you'd do was punch me… like you always do. But that didn't happen. You were completely calm. You even thanked me… while lowering your head in embarrassment. I couldn't understand what had changed… And for a moment, I actually missed the angry Sakura—I'm just not used to this version of you yet.
Then, when you walked toward the door, looking so flustered… I got an idea. I wanted to make you mad. But even then, you didn't react how I expected. You didn't resist me—not even a little. So I kept going… and you actually believed it. I even got close to kissing you… and still, you didn't move. When I realized you wouldn't fight back, I decided to end my little game… but I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the situation. That's when you assumed I was mocking you. But that wasn't my intention at all."
He stood up. "That's what I was trying to do."
Sakura was utterly shocked. She stared at him in disbelief before finally exclaiming, "So… you did all of that… just so I'd hit you?!"
Naruto leaned closer. "Not exactly, idiot… just to annoy you."
She kept staring at him, deep in thought. What… is this? I never imagined it would be something so… simple. Is that really all? No… he must be lying… He was so serious last night…
Lost in thought, she suddenly spoke. "Naruto…"
He looked at her attentively.
She continued, "Is that what you told Kushina?"
Naruto, slightly surprised by her question, replied, "…Yes."
Sakura: "And she believed you?!!!"
Naruto: "Without question."
Sakura, quickly: "How?!!"
Naruto looked at her as if he didn't understand the question.
She clarified, "I mean… how could she believe you did all that just to make me angry?!"
He thought for a moment before standing up. "Because she loves me… and trusts me. And I will never betray that trust."
Sakura felt a shiver run through her at his words. She could tell they came straight from his heart.
Naruto snapped her out of her thoughts. "What's wrong, Sakura? Don't you believe me?"
Sakura, fuming, retorted, "Of course not! Even if she believed you, I won't! You were completely serious last night… If what you're saying is true, I would have noticed at least!"
Naruto teased, "Well, Sakura… Everyone knows you have a problem with noticing things. You usually don't even realize how others feel. So I wouldn't rely on you to tell whether I was lying or not."
Sakura, glaring: "Oh, so now I have no emotions?!"
Naruto: "See? That proves my point. Of course, that's not what I meant at all—"
Before he could finish, she turned away, walking toward the other side of the room.