Sakura's Promise
The days was bright and warm a gentle breeze blowing off the little lake and falls at the valley of the end .
the village hidden in the leaves was still recovering from the devastation bought by pain , and even with the rebuilding going on Konoha was prepping for war. But on this day two weary shinobi have taken sometime for themselves a break from the everyday life and death struggles that seem to plague them too often of late.
" here you go Naruto ", Sakura said handing Naruto a large slice of watermelon.
"thank you Sakura chan "Naruto added "he knew she wanted to talk , there really hadn't been time since there last confrontation with Sasuke and Kakashi becoming Hokage and grandma Tsunade recovering and resuming her title as Hokage , well things had just been chaotic and the two teammates didn't get to talk . Sakura had supported him when he told their classmates that he personally would deal with Sasuke , And only she and Kakashi sensei knew what had been said between he and Sasuke.
while lost in these thoughts , Sakura surprised him sitting down close to him on the blanket holding her own slice of melon. She sat by his side looking out over the lake nibbling at her piece of fruit. a cloud passed over head and the wind briefly picked up a hint of rain on the wind , A thunderstorm far off in the distance. Naruto could see the wind tugging at her ribbon and pulling her hair away from her face
at that moment Naruto had never seen her look so beautiful . She suddenly turned and caught him staring at her. he thought she was going to hit him he winced inwardly , Sakura-chan's punches hurt .
She smiled , at him then and turn back to look over the made Naruto very uneasy what was she thinking , She scared more when she did the unthinkable , Sakura leaned her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his holding him.
"um.. Sak ..Sakura-chan ", she raised a finger to his lips ,
"Don't speak "she whispered and let her hand fall away
Naruto didn't know how long they sat there like that her head on his shoulder , his heart pounding in his chest , the blood thundering in his ears , Naruto only vague realized that sakura had moved and put her face into his shoulder ,it only slowly came to him that she was crying.
"uhm ... Sakura-chan whats wrong?"
Sakura looked at him with tears in her eyes and a sad rueful smile. on her face . To Naruto her tears only made her more lovely.
D" Do you hate me Naruto "
"Why would you thin... How could I ever hate you ?" "Sakura chan you are " he paused ,looking for the right word "you are very precious to me .you are..."
"Sai told me how you feel Naruto , that you love me, that you've always loved me "
" Oh ",he said stupidly he did not know she knew of his feelings "then why ask.."
"Because I don't deserve your love Naruto , how I've treated you" Sakura's voice shook with her crying ."how I've burdened you , with a promise to me about Sasuke, "
"Naruto suppose you had been successful and brought Sasuke back to me what about you, what about your feelings "she looked at him pleading for answers answers he wasn't sure he could give.
" Sakura , I would have been happy knowing you were happy. " Naruto said, looking inward " I have always been alone and you and Sasuke are the closest I have come to having a real family. I would have been happy just to be with the two of you " He said loneliness welling up inside of him. Would he have actually been happy? True, he loved Sasuke like a brother and loved Sakura like a sister but part of him always yearned for something more with Sakura , he truly loved her and when they spoke in the Land of Iron , the things she said then about her loving him and them spending their lives together truly touched him thrilled him ,He could have all ever wanted if only .. if only. He stopped himself then. That thought had plagued him many years and secretly he wondered if the reason they had failed so often was because he wasn't giving his all , that's why he took more risk
he would try harder , not because he was naive but he wanted to no excuses no regrets , He would bring his "brother " back home and Sakura would be happy , after that..., well after that Life would be what it would be. "Sakura , I know that what you said in the land of iron ..."
" No Naruto " She had stopped crying now , though tears still streamed from her eyes and that small smile appeared again " I meant it when I said I love you" I don't know when but when Sai said it I started to realize how "precious" you were to me , How throughout our time together I missed you when you weren't around , I started to realize that whenever there was a problem I came to you expecting you to make things better. I don't know when but I realize I do love you and I have for a long time now. Sakura dried her tears and held Naruto's hand in hers. Shel suddenly squeezed it hard, hard enough to hurt and then she slapped him with her other hand. Naruto was startled and hurt his eyes asking why she caught the side of his cheek and pulled him close into an embrace . her cheek next to his she whispered , "You said Top ranked shinobi could feel whats in each others hearts with an exchange of blows "she pulled Naruto's hand up slowly to her breast "
,Naruto suddenly realized she was healing him . Can you feel it Naruto " of course he could feel it , it sent electricity through his body , but he realized she wasn't talking about her breast , he could feel it her heart beat. She was holding him close and she could feel his heart beat as well . She asked again "can you feel the nervous rhythm of your heart with mine , can you feel whats in my heart as well ,Naruto" , she released her grip on his hand but held it in place upon her breast then she held him close while still holding his cheek to hers she wrapped her arm about his waist , " what do you feel Naruto,, .. -chan" He stiffened, his heart pounding against his was afraid to move for fear of shattering this precious moment. He couldn't believe , What did she just say?
She chuckled in his ear" answer the question Naruto "she whispered what do you feel and then he felt it he really felt it her voice changed while still a whisper now it held something hard and fierce in it ". I failed before Naruto. I failed you and I failed when I tried to stop Sasuke , I promise I will not fail again Naruto . I will not lose you both"