This is just a short one-shot I made after I was a narusaku fanart on. Deviant Art. Dot. Com. It had the words 'Just for a moment, let be be HIM…let me stay like this.' And it was a cute but heart-breaking picture. So I made a story. By the way, I borrowed part of what goes on from the anime. This is unBETA-ed so sorry for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy!

/a/s/d/f/g/h/j/k/l/q/w/e/r/t/y/u/i/o/p/z/x/c/v/b/n/m\

Naruto Uzumaki sat up quickly in his hospital bed.

'Oh no! Sakura-chan! What if she tries to…'

He ran his fingers through his sun-kissed blonde hair before sighing and ripping off the white sheets. He quickly changed out of his hospital gown and threw on his orange jumpsuit. Pushing the window open, he jumped out before anybody could realize he left. Running his fastest, he headed for his apartment. A minute or two later Naruto stood fumbling with his keys before inserting them into the look and walking through his doorway.

'Now where did I put my backpack?'

-Meanwhile-

Tsunade sat at her desk in the Hokage's office. Looking at the pile of documents and treaties in front of her, she let out an exasperated sigh.

'If I had known there would be this much paperwork…I wouldn't have agreed to this.'

Checking to make sure Shizune wasn't around, she pulled out a bottle of sake and took a swig. Even Hokage's needed a break now and then, she decid. Thus, she stood up and grabbed a bag of money off the floor. (A/N: Three guesses what THATS for, first two don't count.) Her moment was interrupted, however, by an urgent knock on the window. Recognizing the chakra signature, she spoke aloud.

"Come in, Jiraiya."

The legendary Toad Sennin put a hand on the windowsill and hopped over it with more grace than most his age would have. He had a serious expression on his face as he slowly turned to face Tsunade. They stood like that, staring at each other, for about a minute before Tsunade decided to break the silence.

"Well? I'm sure you didn't come here to have a staring contest."

He shifted his gaze upward and stayed silent for a second before replying. "I need you to write up a special mission."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. That was unexpected. "For who?"

"Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno."

-Back to Naruto-



Naruto searched around his room, looking underneath his bed and in his closet before finding his backpack. Putting a change of clothes, toiletries, some ramen cups, and shuriken in it, he looked around to make sure there wasn't any other necessary items. He peered into a few dusty drawers, and sneezed.

"Hmmm…somebody must be talking about me. I feel famous!"

He did a little dance before realizing he was supposed to be packing, and got back to work, grabbing his sleep cap that Iruka had given him and stuffing into the almost overflowing-by-now bag.

After one last scan with his deep cerulean eyes, he took off again, not even bother to lock up. He ran straight for the park, taking shortcuts that he learned from the many years of running away from villagers. Arriving there, he slowed down and glanced around cautiously. It wouldn't bode well if they were caught. He decided to head for the bushes alongside the path. Raindrops slowly fell from the sky like an ill-omen. Walking through shrubbery, he peered out between the cracks in the branches. Eventually he found what he was looking for. A glimpse of pink. Rushing forward and shot out of the bushes and yelled.

"Sakura-chan!"

The pink-haired kunoichi, turned around in surprise. After seeing who had called out her name, she hardened her face into a glare. Sticking her nose up, she tried to act more confident than she was.

"I won't let you take me back Naruto! I'm going to find Sasuke!"

Naruto visibly flinched at her words, although they weren't near as bad as many things she could have said. Eyes saddening, he met her defiant gaze.

"I know…Sakura-chan. I want to help."

She seemed surprised, and she softened a bit. "I'm sorry Naruto, but this is something I need to do alone. You don't know what its like to lost the one you love…!"

Naruto paused before muttering something to himself.

"What was that?!"

He spoke quietly. "I said, if you left I would know exactly how it feels."

Sakura didn't know how to respond to that. A strange urge to stay there in the village, where she was raised and grew up with wonderful friends and rivals like Ino, arose, but she quickly squashed down. 'I promised I would find Sasuke, I can't turn back now!' With that she turned around without a word, not wanting this conversation to continue. Before she could take more than two steps, however, she was stopped by two arms wrapping around her in a hug from behind. She was about to turn around and beat the crap out of him, but she was suddenly frozen with the pleading words that came out of his mouth. Words laced with hidden grief, sadness, pain…loneliness. Things that nobody should know how to feel. Let alone a young boy. I was so weak and pathetic and yet…



"Just for a moment let me be him…let me stay like this…"

…Yet her heart broke hearing it. Guilt seeped into her and her knees shook, making her legs feel weak. She felt something wet hit her shoulder. 'N-Naruto is…crying…? But h-he never d-does anything but s-smile…'

Falling to her knees, she felt him follow her. Slowly a few salty tears began caressing her own cheeks as she realized how cruel life is. The one she supposedly 'loved' turned his back on her. She knew how bad it felt to not have the one you liked love you back, and it was horrible. But all this time, Naurto had cared for her and helped her, and she turned him down worse than Sasuke. Yet she could tell Naruto's love for her was different than the love she held for Sasuke. Her's was more of a crush, but Naruto's was so deep and profound that she could see it now. Th way he looked at her like…it was like he saw all of her flaws and still saw her as perfect. He never berated her for being weak. He simply loved. Because that was the way he is.

She didn't know how long they stayed there, in the rain. All she knew is that at one point a certain Sannin showed up and, after yelling at them for trying to leave the village, gave them a mission. To locate Orochimaru's hideout. And find Sasuke.