Chapter one: This kind of thing never happens.
It plagued Naruto's thoughts even though he didn't give much time to thinking. There was a time he had felt tied down by the Rasen-Shiruken, and he learned how to throw it. Even though he had accomplished a great deal in a small amount of time, he was not satisfied. He was tied down again - trapped, because of the existence of Genjitsu.
It was Itachi and his eyes. He couldn't escape them. Sauske might have the same eyes someday, and that twisted Naruto up inside. He had no natural ability for it. He could work hard at it, but he was no genius.
"I have to have some way to defend against it." Naruto told himself.
He sat under a tree in shadow. The sun's light warmed the ground and heated the air. It was humid out by a rock formation where Naruto had trained before with Yamato and Kakashi. Water no longer poured from where once was a complete waterfall built by Yamato. Without the waterfall there it looked quite beautiful with a bridge made of sculpted wood and trees, and a mountain carved from the water. Across the rocks were a large cut into the mountain where Naruto had cut the water in half. It reminded him of the scratch he put on Sauske's forehead protector.
He missed Kakashi.
"Naruto?" Sakura said.
"Sakura-chan. What are you doing here?" Naruto said back startled.
"I've actually been looking all over for you." She said with a light smile. The corners of her lips turned up and her eyes grew wider. She looked excited. She was trying to show confidence to hide her shyness, but Naruto saw she was blushing.
"For me?" Naruto said with his eyes now even wider than hers. Their eyes met for a moment but Sakura couldn't hold the stare any longer. She turned and looked at her feet scuffling in the dirt. Naruto looked down too, thinking too much about how stupid he must have looked - instead of thinking of something to say. But, the awkwardness passed.
"Look, Naruto, I wanted to tell you something." Sakura said. "The whole village is a mess, for sure. But you were there to protect us. Don't feel bad for what Akatsuki has done. I wanted to thank you for what you've done for us."
"I was the one that got you guys into it." Naruto said.
"What?" Sakura said.
"Sakura-chan, I was the one they were looking for."
"I know that!" Sakura said wanting to slap some sense into him. She rarely saw him so down. "Please, don't think of it that way."
"It's not what you think." Naruto said. "I'm not sad. I'm not depressed about it. I just know that I have to do something. And I don't know what it is yet."
"What do you mean?" Sakura said. If he really wasn't depressed, she still rarely saw him this thoughtful.
"Just let me think." Naruto said.
"But, I'm not finished..." Sakura said.
For a while both of them stood up in silence. Sakura waited for Naruto to stop thinking. Naruto waited for something to come to him. But when Naruto felt that there was no deep desire forming, he felt empty. Naruto breathed in and out with no special emotion. Even knowing Sakura was beside him didn't stir him. Something was wrong. This emptiness - this must feel what it is like to give up.
Tears swelled up in Naruto's eyes. They dropped off his face like stream of water running down a stone statue. He was crying there, standing still and confused. There were so many reasons why this was happening. He couldn't pin this feeling on one exact thing. It could have been Kakashi, Jiraya, or that he just didn't understand the world he lived in enough to protect the people he loved. It was everything and nothing. So many people had died.
He dropped to his knees and caught his flowing tears into his hands. The water pooled in his palms and fell out between the cracks of his fingers. He tightened his hands and made claws out of them. Naruto trembled at the sight of it. The beast was within him. And as long as it was inside him, people would pursue its power.
Naruto's trembling turned to quaking and realized it wasn't him wobbling - it was Sakura shaking him.
"What's wrong Naruto? What's wrong? Please talk to me." Sakura said sobbing.
Sakura had waited what had seemed like an hour for him to snap out of it.
"I know what I have to do Sakura." Naruto said looking at Sakura's hands on his shoulders.
She pulled them away and kneeled in front of him putting her hands in her lap.
"What, what do you have to do?"
Naruto looked straight to Sakura with gleaming blue eyes covered in tears. Sakura couldn't stand seeing him like this for much longer. She noticed that the whole time he cried he never blinked. He gave her such a piercing stare, unflinching, and with a passion unrivaled. Naruto smiled a bit, but didn't try to hide his emotions too much for Sakura. He put up a clenched fist then extended a thumb upward.
It wasn't that Naruto felt like giving up. It was that, for a moment, he thought that he would have to sacrifice the love he had for the people he cared about. But in his heart and in his mind he realized he must do both.
"A beautiful girl like you doesn't have to worry about things like this. I'll take care of it. Don't you worry Sakura-chan, leave it to me." Naruto said with less intensity than usual.
"Ah, Naruto..." Sakura said, with a sour face. "I'm not totally worthless you know."
Naruto laughed.
"What are you laughing at? I'm not just some girl!" Sakura said.
"I know Sakura-chan." Naruto walked up close to her. Sakura was a bit shocked by how forward he was being but she didn't turn away.
"I wanted," Sakura could barely get a word out. She was breathless from being in his presence. She had never felt this before with him. It was different from the dream she had. "I wanted to tell you something. And, you aren't letting me finish."
Naruto had her hands raised to her chest with his own hands wrapped around them. He could feel her breath on his fingers. He was so dirty from training; he must have smelled like an animal. She smelled like fruit.
"Tell me." He said.
She hung her head a little to recall the dream she experienced the night before. She let out a whimper and a cry. Sakura then shook Naruto's hands away and wrapped her arms around him. She pressed herself against him, digging her face into his chest.
"I had a dream. It was about you and Sauske. Like when we were younger. Something happened, and I saw an explosion in the distance. I just knew something had happened. I ran towards it." She said this and held him tighter. Naruto didn't know whether or not to put his arms around her. He kept asking himself if it was appropriate.
"And there you both were, in the rubble. I tried to heal Sauske first." She said. Energy drained out of Naruto hearing that. She could feel him starting to back away. But she held him tighter, and she went on.
"I couldn't save him, and I was crying but I had to go to you too. And when I went to you, you were gone. I couldn't save you either." She said. Sakura sobbed for a moment. "I realize how stupid I was for doing what I did. It killed me inside Naruto. I woke up and... And I missed you. It was you who I missed. I was stupid for going to him. I knew that morning, when I woke up, how stupid I was to go to him and not spend every second that I could trying to bring you back."
"Sakura-chan." Naruto said.
"Naruto, I can't lose you." Sakura said. Naruto put his hand on Sakura's back with care, almost not even touching her. He was afraid.
"You could have died when we got attacked." Naruto said, still unsure, trembling as the words came out. "I can't lose you either. I'm in love with you Sakura. I've wanted you for so long."
"I've known it." She said. "And I've fallen for you. I want you too. I love you so much."
He couldn't let it go easily. She had always approved of Sauske, not him. She had always rejected him. Something had always gotten in the way.
"Please hold me." She said.
And he did.
He held her slender body for a moment in the warmth of a purple sunset. Her breasts were firm against his body and she pushed her hips up to meet his, if not only to have more of her body touching his. There was a sort of squeezing match between them for a while, and it turned into one bear hug after another. After the last squeeze they laughed and smiled looking into each others eyes, finally comfortable with staring. They both knew what they wanted.
It was a slow kiss. Both of their foreheads touched each other. Naruto found her adorable - how pretty her red hair was hanging in her face. He ran his palm across her cheek with his fingers sweeping away her hair. His hand tucked in under the back of her head and down her neck. Sakura shivered with pleasure as he pulled her towards him. She opened her mouth slightly and put her face forward but didn't find Naruto, and she opened her eyes for a moment to look.
He was instead brushing his cheek with hers and taking a deep breath. Her ear turned red with warmth. She immediately shut her eyes again at the sheer pleasure of hearing him breathe. He was close enough to tell her a secret. And he didn't have to say anything. Her mouth widened as if being hurt by the amount of tension. Sakura noticed she wasn't breathing and had to catch it. She whimpered as she forced a first breath. And then systematically let in some oxygen. Her head was spinning.
He kissed her cheek softly again and again, closer to her mouth each time. With every kiss he brushed her hair back and her breathing followed in-sync. Naruto seemed to pull away and Sakura opened her eyes slightly wondering if he could possibly be stopping.
Naruto straightened up fast and pulled her close by her waist. Her legs were hanging with the tips of her toes touching the ground. She was hoisted up so fast that her face almost slammed into his, but she caught his head on both sides. He had a soft boyish grin on his face and his eyes closed, half of his fang tooth seemed to be biting his lower lip. Sakura was happy and excited. She had no idea Naruto could be so attentive.
She pulled his head a little closer and stretched her torso a bit taller. Their lips came together one on top of the other, and stayed there for a moment with energy shooting out from that point into their bodies. Naruto closed his mouth sucking on Sakura's bottom lip. And afterwards, they went on for a succession of kisses as she pulled him backwards onto the dirt and grass.
Sakura looked over and saw a fire pit when taking a breath.
"Were you going to camp here tonight?" Sakura said.
"Yeah, I have supplies. Only one sleeping back though." Naruto said.
"Hmm, where will I sleep?" Sakura said with sarcasm.
"Oh, you can take the sleeping bag." Naruto said.
"Ah, you dork. We're sleeping together in the same bag." Sakura said.
Naruto giggled to hide his bewilderment. He couldn't believe this was happening.
"I want to try something." Said Naruto.
"What?" Sakura said. "Nothing perverted, this is our first date still."
"Don't worry, trust me. Close your eyes." Naruto said. "Kage Bunshin no Jitsu."
She knew what he was doing. Everything else had been so blissful. This was going to be bad. He was going to take it too far. She felt his hands on her leg running over her calf muscle. Her hair stood on end and she could feel the goose bumps forming on her arms. He ran his palm over the hairs on her neck, ticking her and making her squirm. She giggled but wanted him to continue.
She counted ten hands forming a train that ran around her body. She could hear foot steps walking around her. More hands were running finger patterns up and down her back. Some of the hands were giving a deep tissue massage in certain places that found tension or any imperfection of chakra flow. Sometimes she was floating and being carried by hands, shoulders, arms, and knees. He massaged her feet. And, once she felt the familiar popping sound and felt a puff of smoke - she had to open her eyes to see what was going on.
Naruto had fifteen clones minus any that had already disappeared. All of them were exploring her body carefully. They were counting every hair on her head. They touched and kissed every available piece of flesh and ran their fingers over every strand of clothing. She twisted around, moving with them. Sakura made it a challenge for herself to find out which one was really him. She pet his hair like a puppy while he nuzzled her thigh. She pecked him on the cheek as he walked by brushing her stomach with his nails. She kneeled a bit and turned around.
One Naruto was just standing there looking. And he talked to her.
"Do you know how my shadow clones work?" He said.
"They're working just fine with me." She said with her body intense with pleasure. She twisted and turned with them in a bizarre dance.
"All of the information that they receive is returned to me when I let them go."
An echoing of knowing laughs came from the clones.
"Let them go then, I want to see." She said.
They all went up in smoke. And when the smoke cleared Naruto brought his lips to Sakura's ear again as if to tell a secret.
"Sakura, I know your body so well I could sculpt it into stone. I know every inch of your body and where your chakra flows. I know where you are sensitive. I know where you are ticklish. I know how to give you goose bumps. And now I know-" He said, interrupted.
"Touch me."
He waited there for a moment.
"Oh god, Naruto, touch me."
***
Next Chapter: It seemed too good to be true and it probably was.