Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Fly	By : sharingank Category: Naruto AU/AR > General Views: 1063 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Fly
- 1
So I had this up on fanfiction.net, but they booted it off
because apparently it was to ‘graphic’ or some crap…that pissed me right off,
so I decided to put it up here, and they can just kiss my arse…GRRRR!!!!
Let me know what you think, pwease?
Disclaimer: My name is not Masashi Kishimoto, therefore I do not own Naruto. Wow. What a revelation.

Fly

The
war was over. Akatsuki was destroyed, Orochimaru dead, having met his demise at the hands of an
exceptional boy, a boy who had struggled so to be acknowledged as a child, a
boy who had finally proven himself worthy of being considered for the Hokage name by his actions. Naruto
had set aside his own personal goals and risked everything to protect those he
loved, almost losing himself to the Kyuubi that now
slept, at peace, inside of him. Sasuke, his friend
and teammate, lay in a coma, for the effort to fight off the effects of the
curse seal had been too great, and after his brother’s death, he had collapsed.
He barely clung to life now and Tsunade-sama had him supervised at all times. At the hospital, the number of
patients that she looked after was at its highest, and many were not able to
recover from their injuries. She was determined to keep Sasuke
alive because of that.
Sakura
sat by his bedside, her head in many places at one time. Naruto
was with her, on the other side of the bed, and she found that her thoughts
strayed to him more often than they ever did, which made no sense. Come to
think of it, her behavior in general since Naruto
returned did not make sense, either. She’d had horrible dreams every night when
Naruto and some fellow Genins,
led by Shikamaru, had gone off to find Sasuke, and they were always of her, surrounded by broken,
lifeless bodies, holding Naruto in her arms as he
died. When she woke, she would be sobbing at the images, but the dreams still
baffled her, particularly the fact that she’d been cradling Naruto
and not Sasuke. She spent quite a bit of time at the
flower shop with Ino, telling the blond girl of her
dreams, trying to figure out what, if anything, they meant.
“I don’t understand what’s wrong with me, Ino. Why am I so confused all of a sudden?” Sakura put her
head in her hands. Ino was silent for some time,
organizing her thoughts. She had been evaluating her own feelings for Sasuke in the past month, and she found that she had come
to resent him for tearing her and Sakura apart. Now that their relationship was
on the mend, she realized that she wanted nothing more to do with Sasuke. He only cared about himself, and his revenge, going
so far as to allow Orochimaru’s power to seduce him.
She did not say any of these things to Sakura, however.
“I know that this isn’t a great
answer, but I think you need to just give this time. There’s so much going on
that it would be stupid to try and figure things out now, anyway. Besides, Naruto was your teammate, and you got to know him as a
friend, right? Naturally you would be just as worried about him as you are
about Sasuke. Does that make sense?”
Sakura pondered those words.
“Yes…and no. But you’re right. I won’t worry about it now.”
“Good.” Ino
replied. “You can help me put together these flower arrangements, then.”
Sakura paused in her thoughts to
check on Sasuke, and her eyes met with Naruto’s. Her heart
began to beat furiously against her chest, and she had to force herself to look
away. What is going on? Why am I feeling
so strange? She reached forward and grasped Sasuke’s
limp hand, trying to make herself remember who it was that she wanted to be
with. Her mind wandered again, and she recalled the day that Naruto had returned to the village, her heart continuing to
pound.
“Sakura!” A voice that she recognized cried out to
her. Sakura turned her head slowly, afraid that she was only imagining having
heard anything. What she saw made her break into a run.
“Naruto!” She shrieked, tears flying from her face by
the force of the wind against her as she ran. The blond boy held out his arms
to her, and she barreled into him, the momentum nearly driving both to the
ground. How long they clung together, neither could say, but Sakura was loathe
to part from him when Naruto pulled back to examine
her. He frowned.
“You’re hurt! What happened?”
Sakura had forgotten the wound on
her leg, received in a nasty fight when the village had been attacked a few
days earlier. “It’s nothing.” She replied, not wanting to talk about herself.
Instead, she looked Naruto over, her stomach teeming
with butterflies. He seemed different, older somehow. Out of the corner of her
eye, she could see Sasuke being supported by Shikamaru and Kiba, but,
strangely, she did not rush to his side as she normally would have. All she
could think of was the boy who stood before her, and nothing else. Naruto smiled at her, and her breath caught.
“It’s good to see you again, Sakura-chan,” he said simply, his eyes holding hers. “I missed
you.”
Before she could reply, Shikamaru and Kiba were there,
and events passed in a blur. That was the last time that Naruto
and Sakura spoke before the final attack came, but Sakura would never forget
those words. They rang in her ears when Naruto went
off to save them all, and she could hear them still, even when she kept a vigil
by Sasuke’s side.
“…so
I guess we should probably leave now.”
She
was so absorbed in her thoughts that Sakura did not realize Naruto
had been talking. “What? I’m sorry.”
Naruto smiled. “Tsunade-sama
needs to examine Sasuke again, so we have to leave.
She said she’d get word to us if his condition changes at all,” he added
quickly, mistaking Sakura’s look for one of disappointment. “I’m sorry. I know
you’d like to stay…” Naruto trailed off, trying to
keep the bitterness from his voice. He knew full well that Sakura would never
care for him as she did Sasuke, but the knowledge
still stung.
Squeezing
Sasuke’s hand one more time, Sakura got to her feet.
“No, it’s all right. We’d only be underfoot.”
Naruto stood after
her, and together, the two departed. They walked in silence for a while, both
thinking, without knowing it, about each other.
I won’t get in her way anymore, Naruto told himself. If
being with Sasuke is what will make her happy, then
who am I to jeopardize that?
What is happening to me? I love Sasuke, don’t I? So why, then, am I having doubts? Nothing
matches up anymore…
“How is your leg
doing, by the way?” Naruto inquired out loud, tilting
his head to the side like a bird. “Does it still hurt?”
“Oh, no, it’s
fine. It’s almost healed completely now.” Sakura felt her cheeks flush. “What
about you? I mean…I know that you went through a lot when you were away…”
Naruto sighed. “Yeah.” They were
nearing a small park with benches, and Naruto sat
himself down on one, with Sakura next to him. His face was drawn. “I’m just
glad that it’s all over. I had to do some stuff that makes me sick to think
about,” Naruto paused, remembering his fight with Sasuke. Tentatively, Sakura covered Naruto’s
hand with hers, and he smiled. “But I just kept reminding myself who I was
fighting for, and it made things easier,” he turned his hand and laced his
fingers through Sakura’s. “I only hope I made my father proud.” He added
softly.
It had been
revealed during the course of events leading up to the war’s ending that the
Fourth Hokage had indeed been Naruto’s
father, leaving Naruto with an enormous sense of
obligation to be just as good of a person, and a shinobi,
as the Yondaime was. Sakura knew that.
“You did,” she
replied, a slight quaver in her voice. “You showed everyone, Naruto. They can’t ignore you now.”
Naruto looked down. “And…did I…are you proud of me, Sakura-chan?”
Her heart, which
had only just begun to beat normally, started racing. “Of course I am,” she
whispered, unable to get the words out any louder. “You’re a better person than
I could ever be.” Her eyes went wide.
She had not expected for something like that to come out of her mouth. Naruto himself was shocked, and he blinked, those blue eyes
that Sakura felt she could drown in locking with hers again. A loud clap of
thunder startled both so badly that they jumped, and Naruto
looked to the sky: it was growing darker by the second.
“Wonderful time
for a storm,” he muttered.
The spell broken,
Sakura allowed herself a laugh. “Yeah, no kidding.
Let’s get the hell out of here, what do you say?”
“You always were a
smart girl,” Naruto replied with a grin.

Later that night,
Sakura had been drifting off to sleep when she heard tapping against her
window. At first she ignored it, but when it became more insistent, she got out
of bed and peered outside. Naruto, who had been
tossing rocks in order to get her attention, motioned for her to open the
window, which she did.
“He’s awake!” Naruto called. “Come on! Tsunade-sama
said he’s been asking for us.”
Without
hesitation, Sakura threw on her sandals, deciding not to waste time by changing
out of her pajamas. Naruto grabbed her hand when she
raced out the door, and together they took off in the direction of the
hospital, arriving in less than five minutes, red faced and panting. Bypassing
the front desk in the main wing, Naruto and Sakura
went up two flights of stairs to the second floor and entered Sasuke’s room. Tsunade, who had
been speaking to him quietly, turned her head and raised an eyebrow, smiling.
“That was fast.”
She whispered something in Sasuke’s ear, and rose.
“I’ll be back in an hour.” She winked, and was gone, leaving Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke alone.
“We got here as
soon as we heard,” Naruto said, taking a seat near
the bed. Sakura bit her lip, and followed him, putting a smile on her face.
“We were so
worried about you, Sasuke-kun. We’ve been to visit
every day.”
A ghost of a smile
made its way to Sasuke’s face. “I figured you’d both
be too furious with me to even want to see me at all.” He croaked, the effort
of using his voice bringing on a hacking cough. Sakura sat on the bed and
rubbed his back gently until the fit subsided.
“Don’t be an ass,” she scolded, fixing Sasuke
with an arch look. “You screwed up royally, I must say, but we’re still your
friends.”
Sasuke
tried to chuckle, but he started coughing again.
“Maybe we should
come back later, when you’ve had time to rest-” Naruto
began, but Sasuke shook his head forcefully.
“No. I’ll whisper,
if I have to, but I need to say this now.” His dark eyes traveled from Sakura
to Naruto. “Please…don’t go yet. I’ll be fine.”
Naruto’s brow furrowed as he and Sasuke
exchanged a glance, and then he sighed. Because Sasuke
had been in a coma, there was no closure between them over what had happened on
the day that they fought each other, and he had a feeling that Sasuke was about to change that. Sakura herself could sense
the tension without having to ask where it came from, and she knew that it
needed to be abated now, or else it would always exist.
“Go on, then,” Naruto replied, folding his arms across his chest.
Sasuke took a breath. “What I did…it’s unforgivable…I
betrayed you…I betrayed the Leaf…” he broke off when hot tears spilled from his
eyes, and he was unable to stop them. “I thought that the seal would give me
the power to kill my brother, I believed
it! I didn’t see…I didn’t realize…both of you were what made me strong, and I
tossed you aside like you were nothing!” Sasuke wiped
away the tears angrily and closed his eyes, trying to get himself under
control. Sakura sat with her hand over her mouth, forcing her own tears back. Naruto’s face was unreadable.
“You did, didn’t
you?” He said, his voice dangerously quiet. “You always
valued your friends so much. Did you ever once stop to think about us? What
about Sakura? She’s always believed in you, and you stomped all over her, but
I’m sure you were too preoccupied with your own bullshit to notice.”
A part of her
wanted to scream at Naruto to take those words back,
the part that thought she loved Sasuke, but something
caused her to hold her tongue. Hadn’t she thought those very same things at one
point? She had made her feelings quite clear to Sasuke
before he left, yet he did not pay them any heed. Time after time, she’d tried
to make him see that she cared about him, but her efforts were all in vain.
Even though she would never admit it out loud, Sasuke’s
standoffishness hurt her deeply. She bit her lip. In this case, Naruto spoke for them both.
“I know.”
Sakura looked
sharply at Sasuke. Naruto’s
arms remained crossed, and he raised an eyebrow.
“I know,” Sasuke repeated. “I’m not proud of the way I’ve behaved,
and if I could go back and change everything, I would.” He bowed his head. “I
guess, in the end, I’m no better than my brother.”
“Stop feeling
sorry for yourself,” Naruto
said, his stern attitude beginning to dissipate. “What’s done is done. All we
can do now is try and rebuild things the best we can.” Naruto
stood, and joined Sakura on the side of the bed. He put a hand on her shoulder.
“I have no place condemning you, Sasuke. I think
living with the knowledge of what you’ve done is punishment enough.”
He’s matured so much, Sakura found herself thinking, painfully aware of the slight pressure on
her shoulder.
“What do you want,
Sasuke?” She asked softly, her eyes meeting with his.
She was alarmed at how little his features affected her anymore, and she was
not sure whether she wanted to scream, to cry, or both. How was it possible for
feelings to change so quickly? Stop it! She
scolded herself. You do love Sasuke, you’re just anxious
because he’s awake, that’s all.
Are you sure that’s what it is? A dry
voice in the back of her head inquired. Or
are you afraid to admit that Naruto means more to you
than you want him to?
Sasuke spoke then, and the dry voice was gone, leaving
Sakura even more shaken than before.
“I want you to
forgive me, even if I don’t deserve it. You guys are all I have.”
Naruto’s expression became serious. “That will come with
time,” he said gently. “I’m willing to work at it, and I think that Sakura is,
too,” he paused to glance at Sakura, who nodded. “I won’t lie to you, though. I
don’t know if things will ever go back to the way they were.”
Sasuke sighed, and fell back against his pillows. This
little chat had exhausted him. “There’s a lot that won’t be the same,” he
mumbled. His voice was practically gone. “At least we’ll be able to salvage something.” His eyes began to close, and
just before he fell back into unconsciousness, he added, “Right?”
Neither Naruto nor Sakura had an answer, and they remained where
they were, silent, until Tsunade returned. Sakura had
plenty to think about, and she did not sleep that night. Her world of which she
thought she knew everything had been turned upside down. She felt like the
ground had been pulled out from under her, and she was falling, her destination
unknown. That was the most frightening thing of all.

Sasuke was never normal again. The effects of the curse
seal lingered, toying with his mind, putting him in a dark place that he could
not seem to get out of. His temper flared at unexpected intervals, and he
snapped at everyone for no reason other than that he was agitated. The only
time he wasn’t brooding was when he was with Naruto
or Sakura, and even then he was still moody. Naruto
claimed that he didn’t notice much of a difference between the old Sasuke and the new Sasuke, but
Sakura was not fooled. Having overheard a rather involved conversation between Naruto and Shikamaru, she knew
that he was more aware of the changes than he let on to her. Personally, Sakura
felt an ache in her heart whenever she thought of how altered Sasuke had become, and found herself growing further and
further away from him, despite her efforts to do otherwise. Something inside of
her fought to keep pursuing him, but that was a battle that was slowly being
lost.
As the years went
by and they grew older, Sakura found herself spending more time with Naruto than ever before. The dry voice in the back of her
head took to speaking whenever she tried to ignore how her heart raced when she
was close to him, or how her breathing became ragged when she daydreamed about
what his callused hands would feel like against her fevered skin…
You never had thoughts like that about Sasuke, now did you? The voice grated, jarring her out
of her fantasy. She was in her room, and had zoned out on her bed. Your deepest, darkest desires you saved for Naruto, little imp. How long are you going to pretend that
nothing is changing? Your body clearly knows what it wants.
Sakura blushed,
grateful that this time, she had been alone before letting mind wander, and put
her head in her hands. Now that the truth had been smacked in her face, she
could no longer ignore it. There was something blooming between her and Naruto, and whatever it was, she was terrified to call it
by name. Her love for Sasuke had always been a solid
object that she could close her hands around and cling to, becoming almost like
a crutch. That it was capable of shattering was a concept she was not ready to face.
“I need Ino,” she said out loud, and picked up the phone by her
bed. A male voice answered on the other end.
“What do you
want?”
Sakura raised both
eyebrows, a bit startled, and then realization dawned. “Shikamaru? What in the hell are you doing over there?” She heard Ino giggling in the background, and her jaw dropped.
“Er…yeah…um…oh blast it.” Shikamaru
took the phone away from his ear and yelled something at Ino,
and she got on the line.
“Hey! What’s up?”
Sakura blinked,
her mouth still gaping.
“Are you there?
Hello!”
“I’m here, I’m
here! Geez…”
“Well why didn’t
you say anything then? Ouch, Shika! Knock it off!”
Sakura heard
muffled noises that sounded like pillows being thrown. “Can I come over?” She
asked quickly, before she lost the nerve. “I need to talk.”
Ino immediately grew serious. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you
everything when I get there.”
“Get your ass here
now!”
By the time Sakura
arrived at Ino’s house, Shikamaru
was gone. Sakura assumed that she’d kicked him out so that they could talk in
private.
“We’re together
now,” Ino said point blank before Sakrura
could ask, and grinned. “I finally got over my immaturity and told him that
I’ve loved him for ages.”
Sakura laughed. “I
guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I always had a suspicion that you had a thing
for him.”
Ino’s grin grew wider. “Yep! And
now he’s mine!” She giggled, and dragged Sakura up to her bedroom, closing the
door behind her. “Talk. Now.”
For the next hour,
Sakura poured out her heart to Ino, telling her best
friend everything that she was thinking and feeling, and how frightened she was
of what was happening. Ino listened with a
sympathetic ear, nodding or shaking her head occasionally, not speaking a word
until Sakura had finished.
“I understand how
you feel,” Ino said, putting an arm around Sakura’s
shoulders. “Look at Shika and me. We could have
gotten together years ago, but I still had a lot of garbage to take out, you
know what I mean? Some things are so hard to let go of, and it took time, but I
figured it out in the end. At least you admit that Naruto
isn’t just a friend anymore. I couldn’t even do that until a few days ago.
You’re definitely one step ahead of where I was. Don’t rush, though. You need
to come to terms with what your heart’s telling you before you can fly.”
Sakura nodded,
imagining herself as a bird, unfurling her wings and gliding on the wind. There
was too much that held her down now, and she wanted to be free of the shackles
she’d put herself in. “I know,” she replied. “It’s all so strange…I used to
think that Naruto was an idiot and Sasuke was perfect…well, okay, Naruto
still is an idiot, but he can’t help that-” She paused as she and Ino laughed. “I just…I like who I am with
him. He makes me feel so beautiful. I’m always depressed with Sasuke, especially now. He’s changed so much…” She didn’t
need to elaborate any further.
Ino wrapped her other arm around Sakura and hugged her
tight. “I’m a firm believer in the saying that there is a reason for
everything.” She smiled, and whispered in Sakura’s ear, “You’ll find it.”
Sakura left
feeling much better than she had in a while, and she whistled a merry tune as
she began the walk home, not noticing that Naruto had
come up behind her. He put his hands over her eyes.
“BOO!”
“AUGH!”
She yelped, and spun around, glaring. Naruto grinned
wickedly back at her.
“Come and get
something to eat with me. We can bring some over to Sasuke
later.” Without waiting for a response, he grabbed her hand and towed her
along, watching the birds swoop through the air. He pointed. “Don’t you just
wish you could fly like them? It would make traveling much easier.”
Remembering her
thoughts in Ino’s room, Sakura started to laugh. Naruto looked at her quizzically, and she shook her head,
still laughing. “Never mind.”

As Sakura neared
her twenty-first year, it was apparent that there would be a new Hokage before long. Tsunade had
never desired the position, accepting out of duty, and ever since then her
health had been on the decline, though she never revealed her suffering to
anyone save Jiraya until recently. It was only a
matter of time before she named her successor, a topic which became The Thing
among all circles. It was not uncommon to hear people gossiping about who they
thought would be the next Hokage, but only one name
cropped up consistently.
All who knew Uzumaki Naruto on a personal
level believed that he was a shoe in for the title, and even those who only
knew of his deeds in the war felt that he was the best choice. Sympathies had
changed since Naruto’s painful childhood, villagers
who once scorned him because of the thing sealed inside of him seeing the error
of their ways, finally coming to accept him as an accomplished shinobi and a man with a heart of gold. He was always out
and about among his people, chatting with them about their lives, lending a
hand with monotonous, every-day tasks while telling lively stories to make time
go by faster. Sakura often joined him on these excursions, adding in her own
tales of a certain fox-faced young man, and rousing laughter as she bantered
back and forth with him. On the occasions that Sasuke
was feeling more himself, he would accompany them as well, though he rarely
spoke. Sakura would catch him looking at her strangely every now and then
before his eyes shifted to something else, which made her
feel oddly uncomfortable.
Their relationship
had been rather strained as of late, neither having much to say to each other
except a few meaningless ramblings in passing. Sakura hated that they had
become so distant, but she did not know for the life of her how to breach the
gap. On the other end of the spectrum, she and Naruto
grew closer by the day, though she was still unable to bring herself to tell
him that she loved him. He told her on a day to day basis how he felt, though
he never pushed her to do anything she did not want to. Naruto
had a boundless store of patience, not to mention hope, that
she would come around eventually. He was happy enough as it was to just spend
time with her, and he was not about to frighten her away by admitting that he
would marry her now if she would have him. The crush that began in childhood
had grown by leaps and bounds, and Naruto could
safely say that he was head over heels in love with her. He also noticed Sasuke’s fleeting glances, though he did not mention to
Sakura that he was keeping an eye on their friend: she would only get upset if
she realized that Naruto no longer trusted Sasuke to be alone with her. The dark haired young man had
only sunk deeper into the twisted realm of hollow shadows that the seal left
behind in his mind as the years passed, and Naruto
feared that he would soon lose himself entirely.
Within the week, Tsunade came forward and announced to all that she had
indeed decided upon Uzumaki Naruto
to take up her mantle and become the 6^th Hokage.
She appeared drawn and tired, but there was a sense of relief manifest in her
features when she gave the date and time of the Ceremony of Passing, as if a
giant weight that had sat on her shoulders for years was lifted at last. Naruto’s friends took him out to celebrate that night, and
he got so drunk that Sakura, along with Ino and Shikamaru, ended up supporting him home.
“Thanksh, Shakura,” he slurred,
grinning stupidly at her. She bit back a giggle, and patted his cheek.
“Go on to bed now
like a good boy. I’ll come round tomorrow to check up on you.”
Still grinning, Naruto leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, his kiss
long and lingering. He tastes like alcohol, she thought
giddily, and pulled away. She was sure he had no idea what he was doing, that
he had just given her the first kiss of her life. This time she did laugh. It
was not the romantic affair that she imagined a first kiss would be, but it was
perfectly typical of Naruto.
“Go to bed,” she
repeated, and when he still did not move, she took him by the arm and led him
up to his room, making sure that he was all tucked in before leaving.
“I love you,” he
said before he fell asleep and started snoring.
Sakura felt the
familiar tug in her heart when she looked at him, and she smiled. I love you too, you great oaf. I only wish I
could tell you how much.

The entire
village, along with those who had been specially invited to attend, gathered
together to witness the Ceremony of Passing on a beautiful Sunday evening,
three days after Tsunade made her declaration. She
stood at the center of a clearing that teemed with fireflies, with the crowd
standing on either side of her in the grass. Sakura’s breath caught in her
throat when Naruto, garbed all in white, came forward
and knelt before Tsunade: when the moonlight shined
on him, he appeared to glow, making the atmosphere all the more ethereal.
“We are here today
to Pass the honored title of Hokage
to a new recipient,” Tsunade began, pitching her
voice. “He has proven himself worthy on many accounts, as a warrior, as a
person, as a leader. If any person present would voice an objection, do so now,
or we shall proceed.” There was silence, and Tsunade
smiled slightly. “Uzumaki Naruto,
do you accept the responsibility of Hokage of the
Village of the Hidden Leaf?”
“I do,” Naruto replied in a clear voice.
“And do you swear
to do well by your people, to protect them when they are in danger, to listen
when they have need of your advice, to ensure that the secrets of our village
will remain among us?”
“I do,” Naruto said.
“Do you swear that
you will lay down your life if the circumstances require you to do so?”
“I do.”
Tsunade removed a long, ornate knife from a box made of oak
and drew the blade across her palm. A line of blood oozed from the wound, and
she placed her hand on Naruto’s forehead. There was a
jolt of power that could be felt by all as Tsunade
completed the final ritual, and then it faded away.
“Rise, Rokudaime, 6^th Hokage
of the Hidden Leaf,” Tsunade said, smiling. As one,
the crowd sank to their knees before him when Naruto
turned to face them, his eyes sparkling with tears. Sakura’s own tears flowed
freely, and her heart swelled almost to bursting with pride.
“Hail Rokudaime,” she said, and the rest followed suit.
“Hail Rokudaime!”
One voice did not
sound among them, but the only person to notice was Sakura. Sasuke
remained silent throughout the entire Ceremony, his dark eyes narrowed, filling
Sakura with a sense of foreboding. She put on a happy face for Naruto when he came to her, but her uneasiness remained
long after the Ceremony’s ending.

Naruto’s first order of business as Hokage
was to form a link between the Sand and the Leaf through Onyx, the spy network led
by Gaara whose headquarters was located near the Konoha Borderlands. Naruto was so
busy with getting used to his new duties and working things out with Onyx that
Sakura did not get to see him as often as she used to. She knew that he would
spend time with her once things settled down, so she began to think about
joining up with Onyx herself in the meantime. She had always loved snooping,
and she was skilled at gathering information. The idea of becoming a spy
thrilled her, and Gaara seemed to think that she had
the talent they needed, so he took her on after a few meetings. Naruto was pleased when he heard the news, and sent her a
large bouquet of roses, along with a beautiful card that made Sakura cry. She wash getting close
to the point of declaring her love openly to him, but there was still something
that held her back. An event that took place a few days later would change
that.

Sakura had been
sitting outside in the park doing some research on a city for Onyx. The black
clouds that roiled overhead threatened to spill their contents any minute, and
she began to pack things up when Sasuke appeared. He
sat down next to her on the bench, his expression unreadable.
“What are you
doing here?” Sakura asked, surprised. “Is something wrong?”
“I thought you
said that you would always love me,” Sasuke replied,
his voice harsh, deeper than usual. Sakura’s heart began thrashing against her
chest. Where did that come from?
“I…I did love you,
Sasuke,” she said, clasping her hands before her to
keep them from trembling. “But you never showed any interest in me…”
“So you decided to
fuck around with Naruto then, is that it?” He spat,
his eyes glinting dangerously. “You said you would always love me!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” She shot back, her own
temper rising despite the warning bells that were shrieking in her head. “You never cared about me, you bastard!”
“You said you would always love me.” He repeated for the third time, grabbing her
arms and holding them tight enough to bruise. She winced, and stared at him,
horrified. Sasuke had never tried to hurt her before,
and he was now. “You’re a lying whore,”
he whispered scathingly, and gripped her even tighter. “If I can’t have you, then I’ll make sure no one else can.” He
yanked her forward and crushed his mouth against hers, the force bruising her
lips.
How she remained
calm enough to get her hand into her pocket for the brass knuckles that were
given to her as a gift from Gaara, she never could
figure out, but she managed it, ripping her arm free of his grasp and slashing Sasuke across his right cheek. He pulled away from her and
put his fingers to his cheek, examining the blood that was on them in shock. He
looked at her, his eyes wide.
“What have I done?”
He whispered, sickened. The madness was slowly starting to eat away at his
control, so that he did no idea what his body was doing while his mind was in
that other place.
Sakura closed her
eyes, breathing deeply. “Please go, Sasuke. Please. I
don’t want to look at you right now.”
The rain began
coming down in buckets then, a fierce deluge that would not stop. Instead of
waiting for him to leave, Sakura jumped up and began running blindly, her feet
slapping against the pavement as she went. Naruto’s
new residence loomed ahead of her, and she sped up, nearly slipping once or
twice. She pounded on the door a few seconds later, and when it slid open, she
launched herself at Naruto, sobbing.
“Hold me,” she wept, her arms about his neck. After getting over the shock
of impact, Naruto lifted her off her feet, backing
into the hall so that he could close the door.
“Shh,” he whispered in her ear, walking slowly into the
living room, where a fire was burning. He sat cross-legged on the floor in
front of it, Sakura in his lap, and stroked her hair, continuing to whisper to
her. When she’d calmed down a bit, she lifted her head from out of the crook of
his neck and began kissing him over and over, almost to reassure herself that
he was real.
“I love you,” she
said, resting her forehead against his. “I could never say it…I don’t want
anyone else but you.”
Naruto blinked, and brushed a piece of Sakura’s soft pink
hair away from her face. His came to rest on her cheek. “What happened?” His
thumb traced her swollen lips, and his eyes locked with hers. “It was Sasuke, wasn’t it.”
“Yes,” she
mouthed, unable to use her voice. Naruto seemed like
he was about to tear the door down and go after Sasuke,
but he thought the better of it when Sakura gave him a pleading look.
“Stay with me.”
He nodded, and hugged
her close. I’ll kill him, he thought
in fury. What in the hell was he trying
to do?
Sakura was kissing
him again, which drove all the angry thoughts away. He kissed her back,
cradling her head and tangling his fingers in her hair. Both were panting when
they broke apart, and for a few seconds, the only thing either could do was stare at each other in wonder. Wordlessly, not taking her
eyes from his for a second, Sakura lifted her arms above her head. With
trembling fingers, Naruto drew off her rain-soaked
shirt and set it aside. More clothing followed, until it lay in an
unceremonious heap off to the corner.
Sakura’s heart
pounded as Naruto beheld her naked body, a rosy blush
finding its way to her cheeks. “Well?” She asked in a small voice, afraid that
he thought her ugly.
“Perfect,” he
said, smiling tenderly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as beautiful in
my entire life.”
Tears welled up in
her eyes as he took her in his arms again and kissed her. She started tugging
at Naruto’s shirt, having to break away for a minute
to get it off, her hands then moving down to the
button of his pants. He caught her before she could go any further.
“Wait…are you sure? Are you sure that I’m really what you want?”
In response,
Sakura gently pried his hand away and undid the button, sliding the zipper of
his fly down. “I’m yours,” she whispered, caressing his face. “Take me.”
Those words seemed
to be all the encouragement he needed. The pants were gone in an instant, and
she was beneath him on the floor. All of the desire that he’d held back drove
him on, and he trailed fiery kisses everywhere, down her neck, over her
collarbone, across her breasts, and then moved lower, his hands taking the
place of his lips as he lavished attention on her. Though neither had ever done
anything of this sort before, Naruto was going by
instinct, gauging Sakura’s reactions to different areas of her body that he
touched and using them to determine if he was doing things right. They both
fumbled and laughed often, and when it came time for things to get serious, Naruto admitted that he was incredibly nervous.
“I don’t want to
hurt you,” he said, his face inches above hers.
She smiled, and
lifted her head to kiss him. “Don’t worry about it. It has to happen some
time.”
Lacing his fingers
through hers, Nartuo plunged himself inside of her,
and held still when he saw Sakura’s face scrunch in pain. “I’m sorry!” He
repeated again and again, kissing her eyelids, her nose, her
lips. She squeezed his hands.
“Pins and
needles,” she muttered, trying to maneuver herself
into a position that would make things more comfortable. Of course, her
movements were sending jolts of sensation tingling through his body, and Naruto had to gnash his teeth together to keep from losing
it right there. When she realized she was unintentionally torturing him, Sakura
giggled helplessly.
“You are such a
gentleman,” she said, and kissed the tip of his nose. He growled at her, and
she giggled more.
“Sakura, if you
don’t stop it, I’m going to go crazy…so…so, don’t move, or let me…let me…” he
was finding it difficult to speak.
“Go ahead,” she
whispered, smiling up at him.
He took things
slowly at first, moving in and out of her at a steady pace, giving her time to
get accustomed to him. Once she did, however, the slowness became exasperating.
“Naruto,” she moaned, her eyes clamped shut, “faster, damn it. You’re killing me
here.” To encourage him, she locked her legs around his waist.
Naruto’s eyes went wide. He had wanted their first time to
be romantic, but that idea had just flown right out the window, to be replaced
with an animalistic desire to hear Sakura cry out his name, and he began to
pound into her with such force that her head flew back and her chest pressed
against his.
They were working
towards something that both wanted more than anything, and Sakura could feel
pressure build up inside of her, pressure that sought desperately for release.
Her hand went behind Naruto’s neck and she drew his
head down, sweat dripping from his face onto hers. She wanted to be able to see
every detail of his face, to hear every sound that issued from his mouth. She
was struck by how beautiful he was as he moved in her, how beautiful they were
together, and found that she never would have been able to share this part of
herself with Sasuke. Her thoughts were interrupted
when Naruto’s thrusts became more frenzied, and
something snapped.
The sound of his
name echoed through his ears as Sakura screamed, and Naruto
lost all of his control, burying his face in her neck to muffle his own cries.
They held on to each other, feeling as if they would fall, even though the
ground was solid beneath them. When it was over, they still clung together,
breathing fast, hearts beating out a mismatched rhythm. Naruto
pulled back enough to look into Sakura’s eyes as she stared lovingly up at him,
and the realization of what they had just done hit him like a ton of bricks.
This was the stuff of his dreams, to have Sakura here with him like this, their
bodies twined together, yet it was all real. A smile lit his face as he cupped
her cheeks, still inside of her, and he kissed her.
“I am going to marry you, I hope you know,”
he said as he pulled away and rolled them over so that she was sprawled on top
of him. “As soon as possible, preferably. We’ve wasted
enough time as it is to get here, and I’m not letting any more slip away.”
Sakura laughed.
“So was that my proposal, then?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, I believe it
was,” Naruto replied, winking.
Sakura laughed
again and rested her head against his chest, the fire crackling merrily nearby.
They remained in silence for a while, enjoying the feel of being in each
other’s arms. “Why do you love me?” Sakura asked all of a sudden as her eyes
followed the dancing flames.
“Because you make
me happy,” Naruto replied simply, tracing patterns on
Sakura’s back with a fingertip. “And because your spirit is bursting to fly,
just like mine. We’re going to do great things together, you’ll see.”
Sakura closed her
eyes and smiled, slowly drifting off to sleep, feeling loved and protected, no
longer afraid of what the future held. You
were right, Ino. I found my reason, and it is to fly.

A few weeks after
Sakura and Naruto were married, Sasuke
disappeared, leaving no hints as to where had gone. There were rumors that he
had killed himself, but neither Naruto nor Sakura
believed them. Sasuke could not bring himself to look
her in the eye after the incident in the park, and Sakura regretted more than
ever that they couldn’t have smoothed things over before he vanished. She still
thought about him every now and then, his memory a dull ache in her heart, but
eventually even that passed, as most things do. She had finally found her place
by Naruto’s side, and she prayed that wherever he
was, Sasuke had found his, too.

For those who may be wondering, I decided to repost this, because it looked like the first half had gotten cut off entirely, so...yeah. ^^
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