;Sorry that this took so long…I was distracted by finals and Avatar fan fiction. Does anyone think that I should post a one shot showing how it happened...?
"Yo!" Kakashi ignored his bickering team to smile at the gaping ninja. Actually…if Ino looked closely enough, she'd swear that it wasn't his general smile but a smug smirk. She and her former teacher shared a look. Something was up.
Sakura looked up from where she'd been shoving at her teammates, keeping them apart as they tried to strangle each other. Sometimes, she'd swear that they were still twelve.
"Hey, Ino-pig!" Abruptly, the kunoichi let go of Sasuke and Naruto, letting the duo, surprised by the sudden release, bang heads.
"Teme! You did that on purpose!" The dark-haired boy scowled at his supposed-love-interest's idiocy, which Ino took as a good sign.
Sakura smiled, raising an eyebrow at her friend's silliness. Did Ino think that they'd act all gushy toward each other if they admitted their feelings? Feh, showed how much the blond girl knew. They'd practically tried to kill each other when they were just friends, who knew what they'd do as lovers?
"Dobe, how could I have done that! Besides, do you think I want to be bonking heads with you?"
There was a pause as the entire restaurant blinked at the double entendre while Sasuke tried valiantly to ignore the stares. Luckily, it went right over the blonde's head.
"How am I supposed to know how you did it! You're supposed to be the genius." The very nice sneer on his face almost made up for his nonsensical words.
"Okay, okay, why don't we just eat now?" Aware of their audience, Sakura tried a more diplomatic method of stopping their fight than she usually did.
Asuma and Kurenai watched their friend's team with interest. Sure, their teams had fights, but never like Sasuke and Naruto. That was why Asuma'd felt safe making the bet; the idea of the two boys thinking anything but violent thoughts about the each other was just…unfathomable.
Just as the group was sitting down, half of it still grumbling, the curtain was pushed aside once more.
"Hey, Naruto! You guys are back from your mission already? How'd it go?" Iruka smiled as he caught sight of his favorite ex-student. He, Gai and his team, and Kurenai's team crowded into the restaurant. Over the past few years, Ichiraku really had become the place for the younger crowd of ninja to eat.
After the newcomers had finished ordering, the entire group sat around talking. Ino and Asuma kept their eyes peeled for any signs of feelings other than animosity between Naruto and Sasuke, but smugly noted that the two acted just as they always had.
What they didn't notice was that they themselves were being subjected to more than a few laughing looks from Sakura, Kakashi, and Iruka. Kurenai, Chouji, and Shikamaru were the only ones to note the fact that Iruka and Kakashi were casually touching each other every chance they got, and everyone noticed the shy, blushing looks Kiba and Hinata were exchanging.
The real fun started once everyone had finished eating, though. Gai, impatient to end the bet as soon as he could, decided to subtly question the boys.
"So, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, what have you been up to lately."
Kurenai almost groaned out loud as the boys gave the Jounin a 'what are you on?' look.
"We," Naruto spoke slowly as he gestured to his teammates. "Just got back from a mission. Remember? We explained it earlier…?"
"Naruto, you idiot, he means it in a more general sense." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Eh? Oh, not much. Training, missions. Oh!" He turned to Ino, "do you have any spare pots? Mr. Spiny had babies." He beamed.
"Yeah, sure." For a moment, the rest of the group was ignored as the two blondes discussed when best to pot plants. Finally, Sakura interrupted, reminding Naruto that they were training early the next day, and that she was going to get some sleep.
"Hai, Sakura-chan! I'll walk you home!" This started a short argument with Lee, who offered the same. The tiff was ended by Sakura smacking Naruto's head and telling him that she'd see him in the morning. After a cheerful goodnight to everyone else, the pink-haired girl linked her arm with her escort's and left.
"Dobe," seemed to be Sasuke's opinion on Naruto losing the fight to walk his friend home. Cheerfully, the blonde stuck his tongue out at the group in general.
"She wanted him to take her home, anyway. I was just foolin' around." For once, Gai was speechless. But not for long.
"What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"
Strangely, it was Sasuke who answered. "None of you noticed? Che."
"Maa, maa, boys, let's let Sakura's business stay her own." The smirk that they just knew was on the copy-nin's face belied his words.
"Since when are you so smart about relationships, Naruto?" Shikamaru decided that it was time he did some fishing of his own. Hinata turned pink and clutched Kiba's hand underneath the table.
"Just what--"
"Animal instinct," Sasuke interjected dryly, causing Neji to snort and Tenten and Chouji to laugh outright.
"Teme! I'm gonna totally beat you," he yawned, "tomorrow!" Laughing again, the group began to break up, as everyone began to think about bed. It really was late, after all.
Right before everyone left, though, Ino had a sudden inspiration about how to prove Sakura wrong.
"Hey, Naruto!" The blond boy turned back from the exit with a curious look.
"Kurenai mentioned that you'd been giving Hinata advice on…stuff. Relationships. Then, you knew Sakura's business…Really, what's up?" It seemed like the entire room was holding its breath,--and Hinata and Kiba turned a very pretty shade of pink, but that's another matter--but Naruto just grinned cockily and shook his head.
"Why does everyone always think I'm dumb?"
Ino turned a bit red; she hadn't really meant to insult him that time. Sasuke, standing next to the loud boy, rolled his eyes.
"You really love screwing with people's heads, don't you dobe…?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, teme! And don't call me that!"
"Che, like you don't know, dobe." The dark-haired prodigy smirked.
"Uh…guys?" The rest of the group watched the verbal sparring with varying degrees of amusement.
Naruto blinked and glanced at their audience before smiling and scratching the back of his head.
"Eheh…um, well, I knew about Sakura, 'cause she mentioned it…and Hinata didn't need advice, she needed someone to confirm what she thought and tell her to go ahead and tell him." He gestured with a thumb towards Kiba, who seemed to be turning even redder, if it were possible. Seemingly done, Naruto and Sasuke both turned back to the exit.
"Oh, yeah!" Both boys halted again. Why did Sasuke seem to be waiting for Naruto, Ino wondered uneasily.
"Plus, I got a boyfriend before either of 'em." This time, his gesture almost banged Sasuke in the head. However, no one seemed to have noticed, since they'd gone into shock with his casual comment.
"Che, you've made your point, dobe." Sasuke caught the flailing hand; due to her shock, Kurenai almost didn't notice that he didn't let go, that Sasuke Uchiha was actually holding Naruto Uzumaki's hand.
"Teme!" The two continued out the door, leaving a gaping--and, in Kakashi and Iruka's cases very smug--crowd in their wake. Ino could hear them bickering as they continued down the street.
"You're such a girl, dobe. Always have to be dramatic."
"Yeah, well, you kept wussing out about telling 'em, teme! At least I did it!"
"Excuse me if I don't find it necessary to shout my business all over town!"
As the voices faded from earshot, Kakashi turned triumphantly to the other Jounin.
"So…When will we be having that dinner? Oh, and what was it you guys were doing for Sakura? Jutsu?" Iruka had to hang onto Kakashi's arm to keep from falling over in laughter.
Hinata blushed, giggling herself at everyone's expressions. Even Shino was stunned. She was glad that she'd known about the couple before they'd decided to have Kakashi and Sakura make those bets. She feared that if she hadn't already known, she and her team would have gotten involved as well.