Mom

Alright Sakura, it's time to do this. No backing out now, forehead.

Sakura's eye twitched.

Cha! A hard punch knocked the door over and Sakura marched in, grocery bags in hand.

Yep, going shopping with all those old women really paid off in the end. Sakura proceeded to use the dingy stove and boil soup, frying eggs, and cooking rice.

When Naruto woke up to the smell of breakfast, he thought he was still dreaming.

Until Sakura stood over his bed like the demon from hell cracking her knuckles—supposedly as loud as his alarm clock, because before she even uttered a word, Naruto jumped out of the bed and ran for his life—into the kitchen.

Sakura waited.

"WOW WHAT'S ALL THIS FOOD IS THIS REAL—WOW AND SAKURA-CHAN TOO-WOW AM I DREAMING OR IS THIS REAL?!"

Sakura charged into the kitchen and punched at his cheek, knocking Naruto to the floor. "Naruto, wash your hands and sit down!"

So he did.

But his eyes were still bubbly and shiny when Sakura dumped a plate of rice and eggs and soup onto his table.

"Now eat up and we're off to school! Also, no pranking!"

"S-Sakura-chan…does this mean we're dating?" He said between greedy mouthfuls. That roach.

"NO YOU IDIOT! I'm your temporary guardian until you learn to do things right!" Sakura growled. "But don't call me mom or dad in public, baka! And keep this a secret. I also won't be walking home with you or anything. Blow our cover and it's over."

Naruto didn't care, he was elated for life. "YATTA! You're the best Sakura-chan. In fact I still think this is a genjutsu but I don't care! I'mma keep dreaming this for life!"

Sakura, once again, resisted the urge to facepalm. "Whatever, let's get to school—"

What's a way to get there fast enough to decrease the chances of being seen together? I mean, it's not like I want Sasuke-kun to know he has a rival—

"Naruto, race you to the academy!"

Got it!

For the first time in ages, the dead last won in something, and against the top kunoichi nonetheless!

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Pant. Pant.

Sweat. Sweat.

Exhausted and in pain, Sakura clutched on the railing caging the Academy's front yard nearby the swing and the entrance.

Naruto hadn't even broken a sweat, and he was currently looking around for Sakura-chan by the looks he was giving the scattered crowd of kids making their way inside.

He spotted Sakura and bolted over, but Sakura held up a hand and squeaked out "Wait." She still needed to catch her breath.

Naruto's eyes widened and he dashed away.

Confused at his reaction, Sakura shrugged it off as Naruto being an idiot again and released the railing to land on her butt. She relaxed while watching the others, and spotted Sasuke leaning behind a tree in the shade.

Sakura was about to call out to him but Naruto came back with a water bottle.

She stared at it skeptically before she smiled. She uncapped the water and gulped the whole thing down, and tossed it to the trash bin with her shuriken skills and a quick physics calculation based on its weight and shape and the air friction and other nerdy stuff.

Naruto's grin split his face as he grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her to class in a faster run than before.

Sakura didn't even get to spare Sasuke another glance!

Suddenly a thought of Sasuke being like a father to Naruto crossed her mind and she burst out laughing just as they reached the classroom.

The thought of it was so absurd and the look on Iruka-sensei's face didn't help either. She clutched her stomach and giggled hard, until the blonde pig started giving her worried looks.

Sakura climbed up and walked to her seat, Naruto following behind. Ino wondered why Sakura would trade her esteemed seat that was closest to Sasuke-kun for the seat next to the dead last. What she didn't know was that they had a prank to plan. Although that was starting to become questionable itself.

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