My first fanfiction. w00t. (My classmates are rubbing off on me.)
In the Hokage's Tower…
"You really mean it, Grandma Tsunade, Sasuke's been spotted!?" yelled a hopeful Naruto.
"Will you stop calling me that! But yes, he spotted deep in the forest… standing over Orochimaro's corpse," answered Hokage Tsunade, frustrated with the wording used by Naruto.
"Orochimaro's corpse?"
"Yes, a ninja who witnessed it said that the demon form created by the curse mark lost control and murdered him," said Tsunade, momentarily remorseful over the death of her friend of many years ago.
"Ah... So, when will I be leaving?"
"As soon as the Kazekage arrives. All of our ninja are out on missions, except for Sakura who's been training in medical jutsu, and he was the only one of our allies willing to go with you two. Funny. When we had the meeting, the second I mentioned your name, he glared at me as if he'd kill if I protested his going."
"So, when is Gaara supposed to be here?"
"Hello, Naruto," said Gaara, almost joyfully, as he walked in.
"Does that answer your question?" responded Tsunade.
--
"Sakura, you'll have to work on that technique when you get back. Naruto and Gaara are ready to leave," interrupted Tsunade as she walked into the medical room.
"Yes, of course," said Sakura grabbing her sack of weapons and medical supplies.
At the Gate of Konoha, later that day…
"Pervy Sage, what you doing here?" asked Naruto.
"How many do I have to tell you not call me that?" Said Jiraiya, annoyed.
"It's not like there's no reason behind it," commented Sakura, surprised by the smile that appeared on Gaara's face.
"Anyways, I'm going to be coming along with you. Didn't the Hokage tell you?" asked Jiraiya.
"What? Why do need you need to come along? We have Gaara. He's the strongest person I know," retorted Naruto, causing a blush to come across Gaara's face that only Sakura noticed.
By a lake in the forest, day 2…
"Man, it's hot out here," announced Naruto, taking off the t-shirt he was training in and leaned over the edge of the lake.
When he did this, Gaara blushed and tilted his head to look down into his bowl of noodles so nobody would notice. But it was too late…
"Gaara, are you okay? You look like you have a fever," asked a concerned Naruto, after pulling his head out of the cool refreshing water.
When Naruto pressed his hand on Gaara's forehead, it only made him blush harder. Before Naruto could say anything else, Sakura beckoned him…
"Naruto, could I speak to you in private?" Sakura commanded more than asked.
"Uh… Sure. Did I do something wrong?" answered Naruto.
"Sorry about Naruto, he's a little slow sometimes," quietly reassured Jiraiya. But Gaara barely registered the comment, still trying to recover from the pleasure he felt when Naruto touched him.
"Naruto, are really that dumb? Gaara's all but said it aloud, and you still haven't figured it out!" whispered Sakura trying to keep from yelling.
"Say what aloud?" asked Naruto, completely confused.
"God, you're slow. But if I know you, you'll figure it out on your own, eventually."
"Figure what out?"
They found Sasuke, day 3…
"Sasuke! Is that really you?" yelled out Naruto, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, it's me. I'm so sorry… for what I've caused… the pain, the suffering, especially that to you and Sakura, my true friends… I'm sorry!" confessed Sasuke.
"Oh… Sasuke," said Sakura, so happy she thought she'd cry.
"You're sorry, all right," said a voice hidden in the trees.
"Itachi! I thought I lost you days ago," said Sasuke, astonished he had let them get under his radar.
"Did you really think you could lose the Akatsuki?" asked Itachi in his usual monotone matter.
"Yes. It was a stupid mistake, but I'll make sure it never happens again!" Sasuke yelled at the top his lungs as he started the battle he's waited for so long.
In the midst of the battle going on in front of him, Naruto failed to notice the ninja gathering around him. That is until he felt a searing pain in his back, causing him to scream out.
When Gaara whipped around to see Naruto hurt, he became extremely angry.
Naruto braced himself for more pain, relieved to find that Gaara had made a barrier of sand. Only to be horrified to find that Gaara had caught the weapons, turned them on their owners and with perfect control hit all of his targets on the mark. They all fell to the far away forest floor with a thud, they were dead. When he turned to face Gaara, he saw an outraged, out-of-control Gaara.
"Naruto, please you're the only who can through to him, the only one who can stop him," pleaded Sakura.
"She's right Naruto," agreed Jiraiya, using a barrier to protect Sakura from the sand spears flying around and the occasional blast of fire or lightning from the battle of the Uchihas.
"What do… you… mea…" Naruto's eyes widened as realized what Sakura was talking about, even what Tsunade talked about, before.
Slowly, Naruto walked into the swirling storm of sand, being cut from cheek to hand to leg. When Gaara looked him in the eye, his face showed rage. His eyes, however, showed a mixture of sadness, relief, and fear.
"Gaara, stop this. I don't want you to become who you were last time we fought. Please, stop, please," whimpered Naruto, holding into Gaara's shoulders.
"How dare you cross my line of sand! I will kill you," Naruto could feel Gaara shudder, as he could feel the presence of a large sand spear forming behind him.
This was his last chance. Gaara had lost all control. There was one thing he could hope would stop him… At the moment their lips touched, Gaara felt a chill of pleasure go down his spine and his face heat up as he blushed.
Naruto was relieved when the sand spear hit only to disintegrate, without so much as cutting his clothes. More so because he didn't want Gaara to live with the guilt that he died from one of Gaara's own jutsu. Then, Gaara fainted some from fatigue, but mostly from shock.
"Naruto, I love you," admitted Gaara, before he passed.
"I love you, too," said Naruto to the now limp Gaara.
When Sasuke heard this come out of Naruto's mouth, he let his guard down long enough for Itachi to send him flying through three trees behind him.
"Now, you're dead!" snarled Naruto as he pulled the sword out of his back and charged at Itachi, while Kyuubi's chakra took over, in blatant rage.
At the hospital in Konoha, day 5…
"Naruto!" yelled Gaara, waking and sitting-up so fast that Sakura nearly fell out of her chair when she jumped.
"Gaara, you're awake! For a while there I thought you were going to die, too," Sakura nearly pulled Gaara out of the bed, embracing him as he was a long lost brother.
"What do you mean 'too'? Where's Naruto? Where is Naruto?" saying all he could think.
Sakura pulled away, put her hands in her lap, looked down not wanting to see his devastated look, and could only muster-up a feeble: "I'm sorry, Gaara"
Gaara couldn't accept it. "What happened?"
"Gaara…"
"What happened?" Gaara was now screaming, giving a death glare towards Sakura.
"Well…" started Sakura.
Flashback…
"Now, you're dead!"
'Fire-style: fire-ball jutsu' Itachi shouted in his head as he turned around to faced Naruto and hit him right on, killing him in seconds.
Naruto's ear-splitting cry he let out in his death was heard by Sasuke, giving Sasuke a new found strength. He finally met the goal Itachi set for him, he finally had enough hatred to fight Itachi.
Itachi veered around to Sasuke's status. And in less time it took for somebody to blink, or even register movement, Sasuke took the sword that was still in Naruto's hand and slit Itachi's throat, killing him in seconds. When Itachi's corpse hit the ground, it hit head first, completely decapitating him.
"Sakura, place me by Naruto," commanded Sasuke, unable to move.
"Why?" asked Sakura, unintentionally using a cold tone.
"I think I can revive Naruto, but I have to do it before I die."
So, Sakura did as she was told. He made some hands signs and the yelled…
"Life-stealing jutsu."
"What are you doing?" asked Sakura, frightened.
"I'm using a jutsu that takes the life of a person and adds to mine. Orochimaro stupidly taught it to me," Sasuke said now leaning over Naruto.
"But, how does that help Naruto?" she questioned, truly confused.
"Usually the person I use on is living, so I gain life. But…" Sasuke trailed truly frightened of what he was about to say.
"But this time he's using it on a dead person, so he'll gain death," Jiraiya finished with a somber tone in his voice.
"Wait, you're going to die to do this?" Sakura realized, now crying.
Sasuke confirmed this by falling on to of Naruto. The last words that came out were:
"Naruto's worth it."
Less than a minute later, Naruto woke.
"Naruto. Thank god you're alive," cried Sakura getting ready to revive him.
"Sakura, please heal Gaara. He deserves to live more than I do. He finally has a happy life. Please, Sakura, heal him," pleaded Naruto, tears flowing down his cheek.
"No, you're in worse condition than he is! I've been trained to help the people in worse condition,"
"No, heal him first."
Back at the hospital room…
"We went at each other like that until, in his last breath he said 'I love him, please'"
"That's it. Then there's no other choice," Gaara responded as he made to large serpentine sand spears and aimed them at himself.
Gaara was surprised to find the pink-haired woman leaning over him stopping his attempted suicide.
"Gaara please don't do this. You're the only person left, you can't commit suicide. Please, Naruto sacrificed himself for you. You can't just kill yourself like this. Naruto didn't die just to die. He wanted you to live! Gaara, please," Sakura was crying so hard that she never noticed, until she felt the tremors in his shoulders, that Gaara was crying, too.
Gaara sent back the sand and Sakura was able to completely heal herself, before Tsunade burst through the door…
"Sakura have you been in the room that Sasuke and Naruto were being held in?"
"No… why" asked Sakura, seeing her sensei's fright.
"They're gone."
"But who would do such a thing. Orochimaro and the Akatsuki are dead," Sakura pointed-out.
"I don't know, but I'm going to send search ninja, immediately, to search the forest."
"Bring me the forms and I'll approve a search in the desert," said Gaara.
Hallway outside the Hokage's office, 4 weeks later…
"Did she ask you to come, too," Sakura asked, curiously.
"Yes," replied Gaara.
"All the messenger ninja would tell me was that it was urgent. Did they say more to you?" she asked.
"No," he replied, again.
Sakura knocked on the door and Neji, with Hinata standing behind him, answered…
"Why are you here?" Sakura asked.
"W-we h-have a s-surprise for y-you two," stammered Hinata.
"I don't have time for this," Gaara replied, turning around to walk-away until he heard a familiar voice…
"Then make time," gently commanded the person.
"Or we'll have to make you have time," teasingly added another.
At the sound of Naruto's voice, Gaara was so happy that he turned back around and ran straight into Naruto with so much force that Naruto could barely breathe or keep his balance. For the first time his life, at the sound of Naruto's laugh, Gaara wept tears of joy.
Amazingly, Gaara reacted with even more enthusiasm than Sakura. When she saw Sasuke and Naruto, she just crumpled to her knees, and like Gaara, wept tears of joy.
Sasuke comforted her.
After everybody calmed down, Neji explained:
"When Hinata and I went to pay tributes, we were surprised to find them alive and mumbling. We used our byakugan and discovered that Sasuke's curse mark and Naruto's kyuubi seal acted as permanent reserves that would always contain just enough chakra to keep them alive, even if they sustained a mortal injury."
"So, they decided since they could heal us more thoroughly than any medical ninja in the village, they would take us to their dojo to heal us," continued Naruto.
"I l-left a note, b-but the incense burner ch-charred it, s-so they c-couldn't r-read it," informed Hinata.
"Of course, we'll pay for all the searching that we caused," stated Neji.
Konoha Chapel, 2 years later…
"Will the Maid of Honor please give the bride the ring for the groom?" said Hokage Tsunade acting as chapel leader.
"You'll never forgive me for this, will you?" Sakura asked Ino.
"No way on Earth."
"Very well. Now, will the Man of Honor please give the groom the ring for the bride?"
"Thanks again for being my Man of Honor," Sasuke said to Naruto.
"Of course. You might want to back away. Gaara's glaring again."
"Very well… You may kiss the bride," finished Tsunade, with a sigh.
Not wanting to look like pigs, they kissed each other as delicately as possible. Naruto and Gaara were late to the after party because they had to put out the fire Naruto caused when he accidently knocked over the candles...
"You're an idiot," Gaara said snidely.
"Oh, shut up and help me!" Naruto responded.
So there's my first fanfiction. Thanks for reading. Please review.