***Not much of a difference but I didn't like how the chapter was written originally so I've updated it since.
It was supposed to be a vacation…
It was supposed to be a fucking vacation.
It all happened so fast. The last thing she remembered was arguing with Naruto before the helicopter started shaking and-
Sakura woke up suddenly, lifting her head before immediately dropping it back on the hard surface. Was that sand? Her eyes burned when she opened them, taking a few seconds to adjust to the blinding light above her. She saw blue in the midst of the blearing yellow light, what she recognized as the sky. Shifting slightly, she was able to confirm her previous discovery as she felt the gritty expanse of sand beneath her palm. However this only lead one question. Where exactly was she?
"Good to see you're finally awake, Haruno-san."
Hearing the deep voice immediately dispelled any inkling traces of sleep in her system. Despite her body's protest she pulled herself up to a sit with a heavy groan.
"I checked, you have no injuries, which is good because you can finally start pulling your weight around here."
She looked to the source of her irritation. A mop of yellow hair, tanned skin, and a huge shit eating smirk: Naruto Uzumaki. Of fucking course.
The annoying blond was unfortunately her co-worker. From day one he had been her biggest competitor at the company. Both being co-presidents of Icha Inc. meant that either one of them is eligible for CEO when Jiraya and Tsunade retire. For this reason, Naruto and Sakura were always competing in whatever they were doing.
Naturally, when it was announced that the company was holding a fundraising competition for a paid vacation, both vice-presidents were on each other's throats again. By the end of it, Icha Inc. had donated nearly half a million dollars and due to a draw, both co-presidents were given a paid vacation. Together.
"Of course you're annoyingly alive." She mumbled, a heavy hand held her head. "What happened?"
"The helicopter's autopilot mal-functioned. You passed out during the turbulence and yours truly maneuvered the 'copter to crash onto land."
Sakura rubbed her temples, taking in this information. That's right, she passed out. The last thing she remembered was the flashing lights and the blearing alarms before he-
She dug into her temples a little harder, more painfully. Her last memories were of Naruto wrapping his arms around her semi-conscious body, moments before the crash. But that couldn't be right…
Glancing at the blond, she noticed firstly that he was out of his usual business attire. His Armani suit and tie were exchanged for something more casual, khaki shorts and a plain white tee. It suits him, she noted, before quickly discarding that thought.
A stretch of exposed skin quickly discarded any of her previous thoughts.
"Uzumaki-san you're hurt." She grimaced at the expanse of his arms and legs that were littered with random bruises and cuts.
"I knew you were ogling me," He pulled together a pert smirk seeing her worry change into distaste. "I'm fine it's just a couple scratches, I happen to be a very fast healer."
He took a moment to glance down at her. "Our main concern right now is getting you out of those clothes."
"What!?" Her cheeks immediately flushed at his remark.
The blond snickered at her response. "Don't be so flattered, I meant it's a tropical island, we're literally on the stretch of the equator, and it's probably not the smartest idea to sport a Louis Vuitton blazer and pants."
"As if I could be flattered by the likes of you." That quickly shut him up.
"Whatever. I pulled your luggage out of the wreckage, it's over there," He pointed at a neatly laid out pile of bags and supplies. "So quickly go get changed and you might finally be of use around here."
Sakura left before she could get another word in. As grateful as she was for his concern and his efforts to the situation at hand, Naruto always had a way of completely diminishing any of her positive emotion and pissing her off to no avail afterwards.
Well at least my luggage made the trip, she thought as she rummaged through her suitcase. Her hands dug through the rich fabrics as she sighed. The pack was filled with newly bought clothes that she had intended to wear for the trip. She felt the silky pieces of her bikini, feeling herself blush. Ino had persuaded her to buy a swimsuit a little out of her comfort zone, convinced that she was going to need it for all the 'handsome exotic men'. Her mind wandered back to Naruto, currently crouched by the shore. Well there goes those plans…
She found a pair of shorts and a sensible tank top, and made her way to change (making sure her co-president partner was out of sight). By the time she had finished, he had already began building a pile of banana leaves.
"So what's our plan?" She watched him hunched over the banana leaves as he counted the stack.
He chuckled. "When did you start taking orders from me?"
Already, she could feel a vein protruding on her forehead. "I just figured you had a plan."
"Not really, but seeing as I am obviously the leader figure here I guess you can go and pick up wood for a fire." He held back his amusement seeing her fists curl at her side. Boy it was too easy…
"Ugh fine, whatever. I'll start scavenging." Seriously, a little more time away from Naruto would probably do her some good.
Time went by fast for a proclaimed workaholic, and before long the sun had already began to make its descent. Wiping the sweat off her brow, Sakura plopped next to her haul. She had scoured the beach and procured a good supply of dry driftwood for kindle. The helicopter had also provided an emergency supply kit full of dry foods and bottled water, as well as a basic medical bag. She also gathered a few useful looking pieces of metal scraps from the wreckage that could be sharpened for a knife and one that was dented in enough to be used as a cooking pot. They got lucky with the metal shrapnel, she thought, no cuts or injuries. Although…
Her mind wandered back to the menacing blond. As much as he wanted to brush it off, the cuts on his arms looked serious. She shook her head as memories from the last moments of the crash kept rushing back. All she remembered was the blond wrapping his body around her protectively. But seriously, that couldn't be right.
"You're back." And speak of the devil. "Took you long enough."
Of course it couldn't be true. We're talking about Naruto here, she reminded herself. Naruto, who was late to every meeting since the day she met him. Who scheduled a 'company lunch' of instant ramen noodles in the staff room. Of course he wouldn't save her. She was the only thing standing between him and becoming CEO of Icha Inc, as the successor to Jiraya. Sakura chuckled inwardly, why on earth would he help her?
"I thought you would need help gathering firewood." He dropped the load with a loud thud, a stack of three large logs. Naruto smirked down at her. "God knows how long it takes you to get coffee."
"I'm sorry I don't consider anything out of a vending machine to be coffee." She snarled back in reply. "And as a matter of fact I've got plenty!" A slim hand gestured him towards her stockpile.
He whistled in agreement, eyes scanning the piles of dry food and water. "And here I pegged you as a good-for-nothing city slicker."
"Well not all of us can be primitive cavemen." That shut him up. "And anyways, I found something to treat your wounds with." Pointing at the first aid kit.
"Ah I told you I'm fine it's-"
"Seriously Uzumaki-san if I need to nag you for another hour I will, now sit somewhere where I can work on you for a while." Sakura wasn't having any of his banter. It was so like him to be stubborn like that and never accept help when he needed it. Egotistic bastard.
"God fine. If it saves me from hearing you nag…"
She rolled her eyes before following him out of the sun. Just behind a thin canopy of leaves, he unveiled his project. Well damn. For a guy who barely knows how to tie a tie, Naruto did a good job. The structure was near completion, a small tent of banana leaves covering a skeleton made from thick branches and rope. The only thing it needed was layer of protection on the ground for when they sleep-
Shit.
Were they going to sleep in that thing together? Sakura panicked. Leave it to Naruto to build a tent just small enough so that they were close enough to be awkward.
"Here should be fine right?" He laid down a couple banana leaves under the structure, completing the 'bed'. His eyes looked questioning at her lack of reply. Of course he'd see nothing wrong with the situation, Naruto was as dense as a brick.
"It'll do. Now take off your shirt so I can sanitize those injuries."
"Yeah yeah…" He waved her off, taking off his shirt before settling onto his belly in the leaves.
As he disrobed, she got a true sense of how fit he really was. Sure he had filled out his suit a lot better than most of the men in the company, but having only seen him in starchy business attire, she had never realized how physically toned he was. Just an observation, Sakura was quick to remind herself, nothing more.
"Alright this might sting a little." She warned, approaching him with an alcohol soaked cotton ball.
"It's nothing-" He began before breaking into a sharp hiss. God, he didn't know what hurt more, getting the injury or treating it.
"Nothing? I guess I can just breeze through the rest of them then." Sakura smirked. It was always a pleasure seeing Naruto bite down his ego.
"Shut up- FUCK!" He bit his tongue as she sanitized a particularly deep cut on his upper back. Holy crap, he thought as tears welled in the corner of his eyes, I'm going to die in the hands of this pink she-devil.
"Oh my god you should've seen the look on your face!" She was clutching her stomach in amusement. Normally, the blond business man would've been angry at antic. But the pain subsided quickly and was easily forgotten. Plus, it wasn't everyday you got to see the company's stone-faced business protege laughing. It was a refreshing, almost contagious, as he found himself smiling along. And the snort! He couldn't believe he caught that.
"Didn't peg the co-president of a multi-million dollar company to be so childish," he mused, watching her finally calm from her high. Her laughter had died to a cheeky smile.
"Well then, Uzumaki-san, you've got a lot to learn"
Naruto only smirked. Who knew the co-president could be so cute?