"Have you ever wondered what it's like to fly?" Sakura asked, breaking the comfortable silence as both she and Naruto watched a large bird soar overhead.
Naruto rolled over to face her from his spot next to her on the grass, watching her curiously. "I guess I do. Sometimes. Why?"
"Just curious." There was another long silence. "I'll bet Sai knows what it feels like. He's flown before." She let out a sigh, watching the bird dip, roll, and make several sharp turns many feet above them, almost like it wanted to show them how fun flying was. "Have you ever wanted to fly before?"
"Yes. But not just for fun," Naruto replied, crossing his arms behind his head as he continued to watch the bird.
"Sometimes I wish I had wings. I could just spread them whenever I wanted, and fly away from all of my troubles. Everything I'd even been afraid of would just disappear. Everything I ever worried about, I could just leave behind."
"You'd leave me behind?" Naruto asked, grinning at her.
"Of course not. You could go with me."
"What if I didn't have wings?"
Sakura's brow creased as she thought. Finally, she glanced over at him, giving him a small smile. "You've always had wings, Naruto."
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, turning away from her and trying to figure out what she meant. He shook it off in the end, returning his attention to their original conversation. "Maybe it feels like running. When we're flying through the trees as fast as we can, jumping from branch to branch. Maybe it feels like that."
"Nah," Sakura replied. "I don't think it feels like that. Flying is probably weightless, like you don't have gravity pulling you down constantly. And I bet you have this feeling in your stomach, like...kind of like the feeling you get when you're around someone... someone that's special to you."
Naruto placed a hand on his stomach absentmindedly.
"I wish I knew what flying felt like," Sakura said wistfully. She heard a soft rustle next to her, and saw that Naruto had scooted closer so that his arm was brushing against hers.
"I thought I was the one who was supposed to be childish," Naruto said, laughing softly.
"I'm allowed to have my moments," Sakura responded, ignoring the butterflies creeping into her stomach as Naruto brushed up against her once again.
Both teenagers glanced up at the bird one last time, to see it head off over the trees and out of sight. "It's gone," Naruto commented. "And I don't see any other birds."
"Me either," Sakura agreed.
Naruto sat up slowly, glancing around them to see that nobody else was around. It was getting late, and most people were already home, getting ready for bed. It was beginning to get dark. "We should go." He offered his hand, and Sakura eyed it suspiciously for a second, letting him help her up.
What she didn't expect was to be pulled up straight into Naruto's arms, which were now wrapped around her tightly in a secure hug.
Sakura flinched for a moment, wondering if he could feel her racing heart, before nervously hugging him back, forcing herself to relax in his grip. She noticed that she seemed to fit perfectly in his arms.
He let her go after a moment, suddenly very embarassed with himself, but something made Sakura grab his shirt and tug him back towards her, slowly letting his lips meet hers in what both of them considered their first real kiss. Naruto made some sort of gasping sound in the back of his throat, but re-wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer until they were flush against each other as they kissed.
And for the first time in her life, Sakura knew what it felt like to fly.