It took a moment for Sakura to realize she wasn't alone in the tent as she ducked under the entrance flap and tied it behind her. Wind was pushing against the fabric walls and spitting icy sleet, sounding vaguely reminiscent of hail falling against windows. It had been quiet outside as she made her way from the Medic tent to her sleeping quarters, a quiet that disguised the violence of the coming storm. She wished they had been assigned somewhere warmer: the Land of Fire maybe, or even Wind. Her and Naruto had been given maddeningly vague orders to await a group of wounded anbu while Yamato went to intercept them; in the meantime, Sakura had busied herself with setting up a medical space and laying out supplies. Why hadn't they just traveled with Yamato and taken more easily transportable medical tools?
Sakura shook her pink head, both to clear the annoyance from her mind and dislodge the snow that had gathered in her hair. Glancing over, she caught Naruto's blonde spikes peeking out from a mess of blankets.
"If you're trying to hide, I see you." She said distractedly, turning away from him to shrug out of her heavy layers. "Why aren't you in your own tent?"
Her teammate's sigh was muffled. There was a pause before he answered sheepishly, "I left to go to the bathroom and when I came back it was gone."
Sakura couldn't hold back a laugh. "I told you a storm was coming. You probably didn't even hammer your stakes down, did you?"
His silence was answer enough. "Idiot." She snorted without any real venom. Now stripped down to her usual clothes, she finally faced her sleeping pad again. She hadn't realized how sore she was until this point-the climb up the mountain had exhausted her more than she would admit, and the ambiguity of the mission was making her uneasy and tense.
"Scootch." She ordered wearily, tapping the boy-shaped bundle with her foot. He gamely wriggled to the side, surrendering a blanket for her to lay on, and Sakura let out a soft groan as she flopped down next to him.
Blue eyes and a thatch of loud yellow hair emerged from the sheets as he rolled on his side to study her. Sakura felt his gaze and looked over at him, too tired to turn her body.
"You smell like snow." Naruto announced. Sakura let her eyes drift closed again. Drowsiness was settling over her like stifling velvet.
"What does snow smell like?"
She had asked with absent, half-hearted sarcasm, but his answer was honest. "I dunno. Like...something fresh and clean. You smell nice, Sakura."
The tent was nearly cold enough to expose soft clouds of breath at each word, but Sakura felt something warm uncurl in her chest. Somehow she was touched, as if he'd paid her a meaningful compliment. Naruto was all wild personality and silliness but she secretly treasured his moments of profundity, few and far between as they were.
In a burst of playful contentment, she rolled to her side and stretched her neck, sniffing the top of his head. "And you smell like ramen noodles." She chuckled. "Big surprise there, huh?."
Naruto was silent. Sakura pulled away from the top of his head to smile at him, showing she was joking, but her grin froze at his expression. The intensity of his gaze reminded her of his focus in the training room- hungry, focused, blind to all else but his goal. With the closeness of their faces she could feel his breath on her chilled skin. This wasn't the nervous, hopeful Naruto who had followed her around school. She wondered, suddenly feeling less drowsy, when his showy confidence had been replaced with something mature and steady.
"So serious," Sakura whispered into the muted lull of tent. She had been trying to mock him, to destroy the strange mood, but she just sounded nervous. Hell, she was nervous. Since when did she feel nervous around Naruto?
"Sakura." His voice was soft, barely audible over the wind outside. She met his eyes reluctantly. "You know how I felt when I found my tent missing?"
A joke was on the tip of her tongue, but somehow she couldn't say it. Heat, embarrassing and unfamiliar, was filtering through her body. She could feel twin spots of color appearing on her cheeks at the intimacy in his voice.
"I was happy," he murmured. "Because it gave me an excuse to come to your tent and see you." His eyes darted down as she unconsciously wet her lips. "I wanted to be close to you."
"Naruto." Sakura interrupted, distressed. She was confused at the mix of discomfort and anticipation churning in her abdomen. She liked the easy friendship the two of them shared-changing that made her nervous. This intense, sexy Naruto was a stranger to her.
Three things happened in that next instant. Naruto's hand reached out to a strand of pink falling in her eyes, and the feeling of his hand running through her hair sent a visible shudder of pleasure through Sakura. Her lips parted.
And that was all it took.
Naruto surged forward and kissed her, hard. The eagerness in his lips betrayed how much he wanted this, and Sakura found herself yielding, kissing him back, soft against the pressure of his mouth on hers. She had kissed boys who used their experience with the cool detachment of machinery operators: this was not Naruto. He seemed new, pressing too forcefully against her mouth, but his enthusiasm was something secret and wonderful that he was entrusting to her. She darted her tongue against his before she could think better of it and his quiet, answering moan made her decision to kiss him back that much easier.
Naruto, now braced on top of her with his arms, pulled back to kiss his way down her jaw to her throat. Sakura sighed and stretched her neck to allow him better access. The tent had become somewhere warm and separate, a fever dream that seemed more real than anything else that had ever existed. His tongue was in her ear. Her hands were unzipping his firm, smooth skin of his chest was rubbing against her breasts.
And Naruto-could she even call this stranger that anymore?- suddenly stopped. Sakura opened her eyes, disoriented at the lack of motion and touch. Her legs were spread and she had been grinding against him without realizing; they were both still wearing underclothes, but the friction seemed to have dazed the boy above her.
"Fuck," he exhaled. The uncharacteristic profanity was oddly exciting to her. "Should we stop?"
Sakura writhed slightly underneath him, breathless and feverish. Her sense of responsibility appreciated the importance of the question- but the rest of her just wanted to his lips to return to her breasts. Another decision made suddenly, carelessly: Sakura shook her head. The quickness with which he returned to her body made her glad she had ushered him on.
"You are fucking incredible." Naruto breathed softly into her ear as he kissed along her jawline again.
Sakura smiled and teased, "Better than your ramen noodles?"
He was too busy making his way down her stomach to answer. As he slid her panties down and began to do things that made Sakura really glad she had ushered him on, a part of her realized this had been inevitable.
After all, she had lied when she'd said he smelled like ramen. He had somehow smelled not of food, or snow, but the familiar scent of summers in Konoha. Like...warmth.