I Think I

Chapter 20:Next Up

"Bye sensei!" Eriko waved to the blonde jounin before disappearing down the road.

Naruto waved back before turning around with a sigh. Three days had passed since Teruo's little confession, and while Eriko had admitted that she had been disappointed at Naruto's refusal of her niichan, she had come to terms with it rather quickly. Naruto, on the other hand, had been mortified when Eriko blurted out that her parents had been rather disappointed as well to learn of her rejection of their son. She scrunched up her face as she walked towards the apartment in the orange sunset light. She wished she could explain why she had to let him down like that – Mr. and Mrs. Tanake were nice people whom she quite liked, and they deserved the truth, but Naruto couldn't quite risk it yet. Especially since she was sure this 'marriage' wouldn't last. The fewer people who knew of it, the less she had to explain when it was all over.

She ran a hand through her hair and absently realized her hair was getting longer. She lifted one hand to rub at her temples. What on earth did she have that made both Teruo and Gaara like her? Was she producing some pheromones or something? She sort of remembered Shino mentioning something about female bugs giving off pheromones to attract male bugs, and that the Aburame exploited that fact when it came to using their bugs for tracking. She brought her hand down and sniffed at it curiously.

Nope. Nothing she could smell that was unusual, even with her enhanced senses.

"Hey Naru-chan."

"Hey Sai. I told you not to call me that," she replied a little irritably, having sensed his approach a while back. She turned to look at him, and stopped in surprise.

"What's with the clothes, Sai?" she asked curiously.

The brunet was clad in a formal silk shirt and slacks, something Naruto had never seen him dressed in. He looked at her and smiled, keeping his hands behind his back.

"I read about it in a book, Naru-chan," he said, but didn't elaborate. Naruto scowled at the nickname.

"Stop calling me that, Sai." She ran a hand through her hair. "When did you come back from your mission? Couldn't have been today, since you're all dressed up."

Sai shook his head. "No, I got back two days ago and spent some time in the library looking for an explanation as to certain physiological changes I experienced."

Naruto blinked at him. "Physiological changes…?" she asked slowly, and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. My heart tended to speed up and my palms sometimes became a little sweaty when I was around someone. I tended to feel nervous and sometimes shy near that person – like there were things flying around in my abdomen, and when I wasn't around that person I found myself thinking of that person often, wanting to be near that person and hoping that person was thinking of me."

Naruto suppressed a jolt of realization. She seemed to have the same symptoms, and in her case, the person was Sasuke.

"Oh? And what did you find out? Coz I kinda have the same symptoms, I think," she said in an interested voice.

The brunet looked at her in surprise, and, was that hope?

"I told the librarian what I was going through, and she directed me to the self-help section, and gave me several books on love," he said, and Naruto started to feel uneasy. Sai, unaware of the blonde's feelings, continued. "I spent the past two days reading through those books. Generally, I came to the conclusion that these changes I experienced, and the strange emotions I felt were what the books called a crush, or being in love."

In love…? Naruto asked herself in her mind shakily. In love?

Outwardly, she grinned at Sai. "Oo! Sai's in love! Who's the lucky girl? I bet you're going to meet her – all dressed up like this!" she said teasingly, and Sai actually flushed faintly – the first time she ever saw Sai turn red. She grinned at him and wiggled her eyebrows playfully. "And I bet you've got a bunch of flowers behind your back for the love of your life!"