Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, either the story, characters or locales. Additionally, parts of the following story have been taken directly from the source material. I lay no claim to such parts, I am merely borrowing them for a form of fan appreciation.

A/N: I wrote this when I first watched the end of the Sasuke retrieval arc. It's just a short NaruSaku story based on episode 135. Hope you enjoy.

Broken promise, new beginnings.

Shikamaru sat on the end of Naruto's hospital bed. His blonde comrade was wrapped in bandages, completely covered head to toe apart from his face and hair. They were discussing the outcome of their latest mission, the disaster that had started out as a rescue mission and ended up almost costing them three lives, Neji, Choji and Naruto himself. Needless to say, the emotion in the room was pretty grim.
Both boys looked up at the sound of the door sliding open. Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, and Sakura, Naruto's third teammate, entered the room. Shooting a glance at Naruto, Shikamaru watched his face grimace with pain and guilt. He turned to look down at the bed as Sakura said his name, tears brimming in her eyes. It was clear that Naruto was uncomfortable, and he had a pretty good idea of why. Naruto had made her a promise, a promise he hadn't been able to keep.

Tsunade tried to lighten the mood a little bit with a comment on Naruto's rapid healing, but the attempt was about as pointless as trying to swim against a tsunami. Naruto was clearly absorbed in his guilt, convinced that he had let Sakura down in such a fashion that she would never forgive him. His attempt to apologise was brushed off with a poor attempt at humour on Sakura's part as she moved over to the window. She opened the curtain, perhaps hoping that the sunlight would be able to chase away the dark shadows in the room. Naruto chose that moment to try and say what was on his mind.

"I haven't given up. Listen, I'm still going to keep my promise. After all, it was the promise of a lifetime, right? I meant it!" Naruto's voice carried a desperate sounding edge, one that begged Sakura not to hate him, to not walk away and abandon him because of his failure, like so many others in the village would do. Sakura responded without turning away from the window, not giving a single clue as to whether she truly meant the words or not.
"It's okay Naruto. Really."

Naruto's shoulders slumped, as if whatever invisible weight they carried had just become too heavy for him to bear any longer. Shikamaru couldn't stand it any longer and decided to jump in himself.
"He tried Sakura." She turned and looked at him, her eyes clouded and dull.
"I know he did Shikamaru, I know he did." Sakura left the room without another word. Shikamaru got up to follow her out. Naruto didn't react to either, he'd become lost in his own world. Tsunade pulled up a seat and prepared for a long evening.

Shikamaru grabbed Sakura by the arm, stopping her in the corridor.
"What the hell was that? Huh?" Sakura shook off his hand, but her body language showed more withdrawal than anger.
"I, I don't know what you mean." Sharp, clear anger flashed in Shikamaru's eyes.
"I mean you treating Naruto like that. Like he'd done something wrong. He thinks he's failed you, the least you could have done was look him in the eye when you said it was alright." That was it, Sakura broke and the tears began to flow.
"He promised Shikimaru. He promised he'd bring Sasuke back to me. "
"He tried his best. I don't even know why you made him make that promise. Why do you care so much about that jerk when he betrayed all of us?"
"Because I love him! Sasuke is everything to me."
"So what's Naruto then?" Her sharp intake of air was ignored as he continued his rant. "Naruto was right there in front of you, sitting in a hospital bed, covered in bandages and all you could think about was the jerk who put him there. Do you have the slightest clue what your precious Sasuke did to him? I do. I overheard the nurses talking. They say that when Kakashi found him he had a mark near his shoulder, on both sides of the body. The kind of mark that could only have been made by a Chidori going straight through his body. Sasuke tried to kill him!" By this time Sakura was shaking, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"No, no that can't be true. Sasuke wouldn't do that, he wouldn't!"
"You don't believe me? Then go ask Naruto himself! Hmph, I'm out of here. I want to be there when Choji wakes up." Shikamaru walked past Sakura with his hands in his pockets, leaving her alone to think through what he'd said.

It was noon the next day when Sakura next visited the hospital. She was wearing her usual red dress, black shorts and headband. In her arms was a basket. She knew from a talk she'd had with Naruto some time ago that he liked blueberry muffins and it just happened that the bakery down the road had baked some fresh that morning. She had no idea if he had a favourite flower, so she'd just picked out a bunch she liked. She smiled at the nurse behind the front desk as she walked past, she already knew where to find Naruto's room.

Sakura slid the door shut behind her. The curtains were closed again, darkening the room and shading Naruto's expression from her slightly. His face was turned away from her even though he must have heard the door. She crossed the room and sat gingerly on his bed, hoping that he would just look at her. This wasn't the Naruto she was used to seeing. Where was the face splitting grin, the hearty, warming chuckle? She hadn't realised it before, but Naruto was like living sunlight that someone had trapped and then moulded into human form. Right then and there she knew that she had to do something to bring back the usual Naruto. She didn't want to live without him.

Sakura slid her hand through her hair. She was quickly getting frustrated, and increasingly desperate, nothing was working. She had replaced the flower at his bedside with her own, unwrapped the muffins and put the plate on the other bedside table where their scent would reach him. He wasn't responding to anything. Her last option was the one she really wasn't looking forward to, talking to him about what happened.
"Naruto, Naruto, I need you to talk to me." Sitting back on the bed again, she placed her hand on where his arm lay under the covers. "Naruto, I know that you did your best to bring Sasuke back. I also know it's not your fault, ok? It's not your fault!" Squeezing his arm and saying those words seemed to get a flicker of a reaction, then he turned his head slightly towards her. Sakura brushed her fingers lightly through his hair. "Naruto. I've already lost Sasuke, I couldn't bear to lose you as well. Please Naruto, come back to me. Show me that beautiful smile of yours. Please." 'It's not working, he's just staring at me. What more can I do?' Sakura bit her lip, then came to a startling decision. She braced herself on the bed, leaned over and pressed her lips to his. The moment seemed to last forever, but when it ended it felt like it had flashed by. She pulled back to see if she'd got a reaction, absently brushing her hair out of her eyes.

Naruto had been working his brain hard to try to follow Sakura's words since she had first started speaking, but the pain medication made it hard to think. He had still been trying to work out what she meant when she pressed her lips against his. At that point his brain shut down altogether. His right hand moved up to touch his lips and suddenly, with utter clarity, he knew what was happening.
"Sa...Sakura?" Emeralds met Saphires and for the first time that day she saw emotion sparkling in his eyes.
"Oh Naruto." Sakura threw her arms around Naruto's neck. The two young genin spent the next few hours in quiet companionship. They enjoyed the muffins Sakura had brought and eventually fell asleep together. When Tsunade walked in later that afternoon she smiled at the pair, knowing that something special had begun that day that would change their lives forever.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. I really enjoyed writing this one-shot. Take care everyone.