Yeah well, sorry to all those people who actually LIKED my stories. But I've decided, the stories I post are crap. I'M REALLY SORRY! The stories I'm posting in their place has a few similarities, but yes, I am changing the majority of it. Please tell me it's better than the old one, otherwise I'd think it was a waste of time.
So anyways, disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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Chapter 1
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Naruto POV
Impossible heat mixed in with the air, making the heavy weight on my shoulder more evident. Damn has Sasuke gained! What the hell?! He must be around two hundred-seventy-five pounds, at least! I'm not even sure if it's muscle or just unseen fat anymore. But then again, running around in this temperature with a long-awaited friend on your shoulders can jumble someone's brain. I shifted him closer to the base of my neck, assuming a more comfortable position, and with an annoyed grunt, preceded on advancing beside Sakura. Oh! I'd like to make a note here before I continue: She's mine.
Okay, after Sasuke went missing, I left with Jiraya to advance my training. (Kaka-sensei was booked, in both senses, so I didn't bother). Years passed and I obtained new techniques. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, you name it. Only after I had mastered ANBU worthy tactics did I go back. Sadly, I wasn't considered any higher than when I left, and it dawned on me, what I had forgotten to think through; I hadn't taken any ranking tests.
But Tsunade-baa-chan thankfully believed in my abilities, considering my still genin rank, and chose to ignore such a position, claiming that there was no time for me to take the Chunin and Jonin Exams. So I guess you can say my rank is nullified. Too soon, I found that Baa-chan was right; I was way too busy, up to the point that it was considered unhealthy. But you know me: stubborn and childish. You con throw obnoxious in there to, but I don't think it's necessary. Anyways, back to the story. I was training to bring Sasuke back and may hell freeze over before I started slacking off. I was so close to a break through, I couldn't stop my hands from shaking.
And that's were Sakura comes in.
Baa-chan must have realized I was going to work myself to death, so in her worry she sent Sakura-chan to care for me. Ah, I can still feel the light touches of her skin against mine; be it to heal or not. I loved her so much, it sometimes became unbearable.
Training was long and months fallowed; we began to meet of our own free will, using our personal time. She'd long convinced me to rest every so often, using big and confusing words to trick me. You can guess I finally snapped when she brought a cup of ramen to the field and ate it right in front of my face. It was a cruel and unsettling punishment that worked almost ridiculously perfect.
I remember the routine clearly: Tuesdays we'd meet at the old, red bridge (like the genin days) and walk to Ichiraku's in complete familiarity. The first two stools on the left were practically reserved for us and we would sit and laugh with Akane and the old man behind the counter. We'd order for each other (sometimes being dared to eat the most revolting thing they could cook up) and tell of any stories that stuck out in our minds. When we were full (or tired of puking) we'd walk home, returning around sunset or nightfall in a contented silence. From there, I'd drop Sakura off and walk home absolutely perky. Yes, Sakura did have that effect on me.
It scared me how much her very presence entranced my thoughts. How the most subtle of contact could throw me in a state of frenzy. How her voice jumbled my mind and made me quake in pleasure. Shortly it began to show in practice. Genjutsu and Ninjutsu I could handle, but when it came to sparring… that's were it came difficult. The tiniest strike to the back of my head sent me face flat on the floor, eyes clenched in mute bliss. The lowest of grunts could make my knees go weak and my guard sloppy. It wasn't long before Sakura got genuinely worried. She visited my house more and more often, checking in and staying for extensive periods of time. I was saddened by her change and felt guilty to know it was me causing her grief. So, after a lot of contemplation, I decided on the one thing I could do to lift the weigh off her shoulders.
I was going to confess.
It's harder than you think, expressing your feeling to the one you hold most dear. On the one side, if all goes well, you be closer than ever before. A closeness and bond than could be only severed by the gods of death. You'd be free to hold them as you please and intake every aspect others may find insignificant. Like their sent, and how it blends in with you. Like how her hand fit so perfectly with yours. Like the way your name rolls off her lips in the most loving of manners. You'd have her, she'd have you.
On the other hand, if you're responded with a rejection, awkwardness could fill your days. The string of friendship that you'd built together could be horribly altered, or even severed. The words spoken between the two of you lessen and lessen with every encounter and topics would be harder for you to decide and converse on. Nothing would be the same, and in the worst case scenario, you'd stop any contact all together.
But I loved her. My heart belonged to Sakura and only Sakura. Trust was a virtue all couples needed to have a working relationship, right? So why not start now? Those were the kinds of things running through my head during the entire lunch/dinner date. I was reassuring myself, and plus, I already trusted Sakura with my life, guess my heart came next.
On or walk home, that was a bit more tense than usual, I gathered all my courage and ran in front of her, effecting blocking the rest of the path. She gave a curious glance, and my heart began to beat rapidly in my chest. Pants sounded from my mouth and my face smudged the faintest of reds. In my state of nervousness I did the only thing my body could do. I bowed low and-
"NARUTO LIKE SAKURA! NARUTO ASK IF SAKURA BE NARUTO'S!"
A blank silence blew in with the wind as seconds clocked by in forms of hours. I didn't move, or breath, and I was about to drop unconscious before finally I got my answer.
…She laughed. A loud and full outburst. But what threw me off, was the fact that it wasn't a mocking, rejecting sound, but rather a happy and… relieved melodic ring. That was officially my favorite moment in time; my most precious memory.
The day Sakura said yes.
Oh trust me, I was more in a state of shock than you. I'd always fantasize about it, dreaming of what it would be like to hold her without an angered punch. To have her wrap comforting arms around my torso. To have her nimble fingers intertwined with mine, a beautiful smile directed solely at me. And guess what, it was a million and one times better than anything I had ever imagined. Never before had I felt such warmth engulf me than when I was with Sakura. Nothing made me happier than when I heard her voice. Nothing in the universe can compare with my Sakura-chan. You know, I've always liked the sound of that; my Sakura-chan.
And yes it is mushy and no I will not dull it up for you. These are my feelings and if you don't want to feel smothered, then don't listen.
I leave the rest of the details to your imagination, but I'll give you a hint: We're still together. Complications came along (which I'm sure you'll find out later) and now we wouldn't be able to split even if we wanted to.
Our energy was put, full force, into our legs. It could have been soaked with our chakra… or not. I wasn't entirely sure and checking meant getting left in the dust by my inhumanly fast teammates. Joints ached, muscles pulled, I felt absolutely awful; but Sai must feel worse.
You see… the battle was fierce. We barely made it out alive. The true reason we won was probably not due to skill, but because I out did Sasuke and his team in stamina. I do have the Kyuubi inside me. And, we had a pretty solid plan worked up from months of preparation.
Before we were even informed of the mission, Sakura told us of this special jutsu she'd created. Only she could perform it 'cause of the fact that her chakra is the only one on the planet that has been blended to fit this type of control. You'd have to have an exact copy to so little as to attempt it. So, to all the villains out there, what I'm saying is not to waste your time. It is a complete hassle and you'd probably come up empty handed anyway.
During the fight, we made sure to cover Sakura as much as possible. She was the key to bringing Sasuke-teme home. And when everyone was passed out, Sakura had enough in her to go up to each and every one of them, sealing their thoughts and abilities with even the smallest of her chakra; didn't matter if they were leftovers or whatever. The trick, Sakura told me, was to insert a tiny amount into the base of your opponent's neck and control to charge through their entire stream. I asked if I could try, and attempted it on fish from the river.
I kept shocking them dead.
Even when I knew exactly what Sakura was explaining, it was terribly hard to place your chakra into something else, much less something living. But after many failed efforts, I found that I hadn't even gotten to the hard part yet. I was almost impossibly difficult to control your chakra while it was inside another person's body. As expected from Sakura-chan, her chakra control was extraordinary. Before we headed back, she demonstrated it on one last fish. I saw as it was slowly pulled from the world, and thrusted back. It may not sound like much to you, but when you actually see it, you'll understand the real superiority of such a complicated jutsu.
It so obviously has been effective, do to the fact that not one of them has woken. Though the beating was brutal, humans aren't physically capable to sleep for so long freely. Unless of course, that said person was dead. But hey, I've checked multiple times and their heartbeats were perfectly normal, so becoming paranoid about it was unnecessary.
The "victims" I like to call them, who fall pray to this jutsu turn powerless and are at the complete mercy of the wielder. I'd say it was more than handy in this type of situation.
Speaking of the battle, no we did not win in a glorious way, untouched, unwounded, and utterly glowing with a god's aura like others picture. Actually, we won by barely six seconds (with the exception of Sakura. Then it would be more like twenty) and gory would be the only way to describe it. Completely rated M. And that's saying something, considering we're some of Konoha's finest. A sad way of looking on it, but we got what we wanted, so it's all good!
A few men from a near by village found us in a bloody mess near the boarder of Mist. Luckily, they were kind enough to carry us to one of the particularly larger homes and treated our injuries. We were happy to find that Team Hebi was also well taken care of. We wouldn't want them dying before we reached Fire, not after all we went through to capture them.
The people had been friendly and did not question our presence, rather embraced it. We were in such debt, but they wouldn't accept our money. We felt responsible for the burdens we caused, and insisted on helping them in the fields and watching the children. Especially Sai, who was extremely curious with such a foreign feeling. He was the one under continues surveillance for any pain he might have been enduring. The wounds inflicted on him were nothing to sneer at and had almost cost him his life. The women were always fussing over him, treating him as a child who had hurt themselves playing. It was quite amusing actually, to stare at his blank/confused face while the female relentlessly reminded him of his health, which, afterward, quickly dragged him into the closest bed. But Sai was very stubborn when the time came, and when the "Mother Hen" was out of sight he would kick the covers off and escape to were he thought safe. Apparently, he hid in the exact same places where the village kids did, and was easily found. The cycle just repeated from there.
Sakura-chan was overly welcomed by the mothers and children. She was normally seen babysitting, cooking, cleaning, daily duties of the women, you know? The men were equally impressed by her determination and medic knowledge, and held her in their highest respects. She was basically the village's favorite, but none of us could blame them. She was our favorite to. Every day, Sakura was the one who took the kids and played with them in a clearing a safe distance from the huts. Every night, Sakura was the one who cleaned and guarded the families until the real watchmen came. And Sakura was the one who had the teens open up more; teaching the girls basic healing techniques that didn't require chakra, and trained the boys to do a few defensive attacks they could use in the future. She perked things up more, in the words of the oldest teenager. He did have a slight pink tinge on his cheeks though, so I made sure Sakura wasn't all to close with him.
Kakashi was the… "Heartthrob" I guess you could call it. His lecherous ways seemed to bury themselves underground at the time, but I don't think he intentionally attracted a bunch of middle-aged women to him. I could see him twitch and get chills whenever one of them would look his way, usually fallowed by a giggle. And since the farm was in perfect view of all the houses, it didn't make things better. Every time he plowed the soil and flexed his muscles, we would hear women swoon. I'd admit, from a distance, but we heard them. Poor Kakashi. It turned pretty hot when working in the fields, and he didn't want to pass out from heat stroke, wearing a tight black shirt. That would give the women a reason to touch him again. He always shivered at the thought. The men had no grudge against him and found it as funny as I did each time he twitched from the eyes of the females. He would often describe them as… smothering? Something like that.
And then there's me. Like Kakashi, I helped with the farming and, yes, shed my jacket. Even THEN I sweated like a pig! But I didn't mind, considering I often found Sakura staring as she passed, a possessive glint in her eyes. I thought that was hot. On other days, when all we had to do was wait for the water to sink into the seeds and roots of the plants, I would fallow Sakura to the forest and baby-sit with her. I had to admit, I was fun. I loved that warm feeling in the pit of my stomach as I raised a baby up and down as he giggled. It was the happiest thing in the world to me. And by the end of the day, the kids would run back laughing as Sakura and I walked behind at a slower pace, joking with one another. The villagers commented once that when we ambled back together like that, me holding the baby in my arms, we looked like a couple of newly-weds with their first child. At this, we both blush heavily and avoided looking at anything else besides the ground or walls. This may sound a bit mushy, but I can picture a future with Sakura much better than one without. I love her.
When it was time to go, the villagers looked heartbroken and the children clung to our legs like there was no tomorrow. In the end we were able to pry them off, after a promise to come back and visit of course. We set back towards Konoha and didn't stop to rest for days at a time. Our drive was back and we were as determined as ever.
And that is how we got to our current position, flooded with a sense of accomplishment and pride. Bringing Sasuke-teme and his team home was going to be the topic of the century; maybe even bigger than when Obaa-chan accepted the role of Hokage. And guess what, WE GET TO TAKE ALL THE CREDIT! YES! Not that Team 7 wasn't notorious already. I mean, come on:
Kakashi, the Copy-Cat ninja, Sai, the only one who has ever regained emotions after training in Root, Sakura, Godaime's apprentice, the one who's surpassed her mentor in looks AND skill, and me, the Kyuubi container. We were the worlds dream squad.
Now you may have noticed that Sasuke isn't anywhere on the list. That's simple really; he was long shunned from everyone's memory. Oh no, they remember him, but refrain from lumping him with us. To the entire village, he is the number one criminal, bigger than even the Akatsuki. It's understandable they feel that way, and no one tries to correct such a dark thought, but why is it practically forbidden to add him back into our team? Name wise at least. I can already tell that he isn't going to be welcomed back so warmly.
The trees began to get familiar and the path wider. Stray sounds of chatter faintly reached our ears. Close, so close. I felt chakra signatures, Jonin I believe. It must be those two guards again. Do they ever leave that post? I thought gate people were supposed to alternate or something... Meh, whatever.
I could see it through the leaves, Konoha's doors. Oh my god, I'm getting anxious. Butterflies infested my stomach, and I started to get queasy. I hope Obaa-chan doesn't kill the poor souls.
We jumped from the trees and landed on the unpaved trail, confident strides used by each of us. I surprised myself actually.
We walked beyond the gate, catching the ninjas' reactions from the corner of my eye. It was priceless. We didn't stop or anything, considering they knew we were from the village already, but we paused at what they said next.
"I thought it was impossible."
I turned, maybe a little bit too dramatically slow, and said with a grin, "Well, I guess we made it plausible."
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Okay, yes that was short, but it's basically the intro anyway. The real stuff begins in the next chapter. So beware. Please tell me that was better than the other one! I'm self conscious and lonely. Some parts may be hard to understand, so any questions I'll answer.
Rewrite to Out of Place.
Feedback please, or else I may just go Emo.
xXxXxTainted-WingxXxXx
