"Rise and shine!" Sakura heard Kakashi's cheerful voice call from somewhere above her. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and recalling the events from the night before.
She shook her head and a disgusted look crossed her face. "I can't believe I wanted to kiss Naruto! He's so..." She heard a sound from a few feet away and turned to see Naruto sit up and stretch...with no shirt on.
"...hot..." her mind finished for her. Sakura realized she was staring, and tore her eyes away with a blush. As soon as it faded away Sakura twisted her mouth into a frown and turned to look at him. "Naruto! What are you doing, put a shirt on and let's go!"
Naruto yawned and blinked at her feet. "Sakura-chan, why do we have to get up so early!" he complained. "I'm hungry, aren't we going to have any breakfast?"
Kakashi's voice came from above them again, and Sakura realized he was standing on a nearby tree branch. "Don't you want to catch Sasuke, Naruto?"
Naruto's half-closed eyes jerked wide open and he hopped into the air, putting his shirt on quickly. "Of course I do! What are you waiting for, Sakura-chan? Let's go!" He hopped up onto the tree next to Kakashi, who Sakura realized had Pakkun on his shoulder. Sakura rolled her eyes and jumped up to join them.
"Alright Pakkun, can you find his scent again?" Kakashi asked. Pakkun sniffed the air.
"It's faint, but I've got it. Let's go." He led them through the woods once again, pausing to check every clearing they passed.
A few minutes later, they found another clearing and stopped again. "Hey!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing at something in the middle of it. "That's a fire...or it was."
"You're right. Good job, Sakura. He must have spent the night here," Kakashi concluded.
"Do you think he knows we're following him?" Naruto asked, hopping forward to another tree. Sakura stared at the branch he was standing on.
"Is that...damn!" she thought.
"I don't kn-" Kakashi stopped mid-sentence as Sakura came barreling towards Naruto, tackling him off the branch. They both went flying towards the ground, belly-up, and Naruto saw the branch explode above them.
"What..." he said, staring at it in shock.
"An exploding tag," Sakura explained, grabbing Naruto with one arm and a tree branch with another, stopping their fall. Kakashi jumped down towards them, along with Pakkun.
"That was close..." Naruto said quietly. "Thanks, Sakura."
"No problem," Sakura told him, pulling them both up to sit on the branch.
"Good job, Sakura. Naruto could have been seriously injured. I'm sorry I didn't notice it before," Kakashi apologized.
"That's okay, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura told him.
"Well, he must know we're following him. We have to watch out for traps now," Kakashi told them. Naruto nodded.
"Pakkun, you still have the scent, right?" Naruto asked. Pakkun nodded, and Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Then let's go."
The four of them took off through the trees in a diamond shape, Pakkun leading the way, Naruto on the left, Sakura on the right, and Kakashi in the back.
Ten minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Sasuke or of any traps. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" Naruto asked.
"Postive. I'm following Sasuke's scent," Pakkun told him.
"Well...if you say s...SAKURA LOOK OUT!" Naruto shouted, spotting something on the branch she was on.
"Huh?" Sakura glanced over at Naruto as a tag exploded right next to her foot. She jumped into the air as quickly as she could, avoiding the worst of the explosion, but when she came back down and landed on another branch, she felt a pang in her ankle. The others jumped over to her, and Kakashi bent down to look at her foot.
"How does it feel?" he asked.
"It hurts a little...I think my ankle's sprained," Sakura told him, trying to move it. "Ow!" she exclaimed.
"Do you think you'll be okay? Can you fight?" Kakashi asked her.
"Maybe. I don't think I can run, and it hurts to jump from branch to branch, but I can still use my fists," she told them.
"Alright," Kakashi stood up. "Naruto!"
Naruto jumped in surprise next to him, taking his eyes off Sakura's ankle. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Carry Sakura. We can't risk her ankle getting worse. We'll stop in a little while to bandage it, if we don't find Sasuke before then."
"B-but..." Naruto looked from Kakashi, who was staring at him, to Sakura, whose eyes were trained on the ground while a pink tinge covered her cheeks. "What if we get attacked? I won't be able to defend myself!"
"Let me worry about that," Kakashi told him. He lifted a surprised Sakura over his shoulders and handed her to Naruto, who held out his arms flatly in front of him.
"Uh..." Sakura said as she was being placed sideways in Naruto's arms. "Are you sure we have to do this Kakashi-sensei?"
"Positive. It'll be faster this way, and I'll still be able to defend us," Kakashi explained. He let go of Sakura and Naruto held her up in front of himself, gasping.
"You're heavy, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura's whole face turned red with anger. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!"
Naruto's eyes widened as Sakura raised a fist.
"Now now, calm down Sakura. This'll be easier if you two stop fighting," Kakashi told her.
Sakura lowered her hand and grumbled. "He called me fat!"
"Hey! I did not!" Naruto exclaimed. "I said you're heavy. It's probably from your muscles!"
"Yeah, whatever..." Sakura said, crossing her arms. "But don't you dare drop me!"
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I'm not THAT weak!"
Kakashi turned away, shaking his head. "Teenagers."
When Naruto finally got used to Sakura's weight, they started off again. While Pakkun followed Sasuke's scent, and Kakashi and Naruto kept their eyes peeled for Sasuke and traps, Sakura focused on staring at the arm wrapped around her legs, watching Naruto's bicep work to hold her up. Even with his shirt in the way she could almost see it flexing. She was distracted from these thoughts when she felt herself slipping. "Naruto, you baka! If you don't move your arm up higher my butt's gonna fall!"
Naruto blushed and looked down at her middle without stopping. "Um...I didn't think you wanted me to put my hand there..." Sakura realized what he was saying and her face reddened to match his.
"Er...well, if you don't I'll fall..." Sakura glanced away from him, feeling her face heat up even more.
"Uh...okay, Sakura...but don't kill me...you brought it up..."
Sakura felt Naruto's hand move slowly up the underside of her legs, and she struggled to stop herself from shivering. His hand reached her butt, and she bit down on her bottom lip nervously. Neither of them said anything, but Sakura could almost feel the heat radiating off of Naruto's face.
"If he squeezes...I swear..." Sakura thought, although she wasn't really sure what she would do.
"Naruto, on your left!" Kakashi called out, and Naruto jumped to a branch on his right to avoid another exploding tag. Pakkun looked back, and seeing no injuries, didn't stop. Sakura and Naruto both sighed in relief.
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called back to him. Kakashi nodded in response.
"Naruto, look out!" Sakura shouted, and Naruto turned back around in time to dodge a large tree trunk. Sakura growled in annoyance. "You're going to kill us both!"
"Oh, stop being so dramatic, Sakura. You would have cushioned the blow, so I wouldn't have died!" Naruto said with a smile. Sakura glared at him, then turned to look around Naruto at Kakashi.
"What time is it Kakashi, sensei?" Sakura asked him suddenly. Kakashi looked up.
"The sun's about to set, so it's pretty late. I don't know exactly what time it is."
"And still no sign of Sasuke..." Naruto said with a sigh.
Sakura nodded.
Pakkun looked back at them. "Should we stop?"
Kakashi looked over at Naruto, who seemed to be tiring more quickly from holding Sakura. "I think so." He looked around. "I don't see any clearings around here, so we'll just have to sleep in the middle of the woods." Naruto opened his mouth, but Kakashi cut him off. "No, Naruto, I know you're tired, I can tell. And Sakura's got a sprained ankle that we need to fix up. We'll stay here for the night."
Naruto glared at Kakashi but jumped down to the ground all the same, dropping Sakura about a foot.
She landed with and "Oof" and looked up at him. "What the hell, Naruto! Lay me down softly!"
Naruto frowned and rubbed his neck awkwardly, looking at her legs instead of her face. "Sorry about that, Sakura."
"Language, Sakura!" Kakashi called from a few feet away.
"Since when do you care?" Sakura asked. Kakashi didn't reply. Sakura rolled her eyes and stood up on one foot, hopping over to Kakashi and reaching into a bag he had just laid on the ground. She pulled out a bandage, wrapping it around her ankle. Kakashi sent Naruto to gather logs, and when he returned Kakashi started a fire. By this time, Sakura had begun to heal herself, and Pakkun was already asleep. Kakashi sighed and yawned, lying down near Pakkun.
"Goodnight, Sakura. Goodnight, Naruto. No fighting after I fall asleep, alright?"
Sakura and Naruto rolled their eyes, and Kakashi closed his with a smile. Both Sakura and Naruto sat down by the fire.
"Deja vu, huh?" Naruto asked after a moment. Sakura let the green chakra fade from her hands. She looked up at him.
"Yup. Anything else you need to let out?"
"Yeah..." Naruto looked into the fire seriously. "Your butt feels nice." His face broke out into a grin, and Sakura growled angrily, taking a swing at him. Naruto easily dodged it, meeting her eyes with another smile.
"Hey!" Sakura's anger disappeared. "You looked at me!"
"Yeah, well...while I was out gathering logs I thought about it, and I figured out a way to fix my problem."
"How?"
"Promise me you won't laugh...I kinda took the fake memory of you and Sasuke...and put my head on Sasuke's!"
Sakura's jaw dropped. "You perv!" she exclaimed.
Naruto smiled. "Better stop shouting or you'll wake Kakashi-sensei back up." He pointed to the man in question, who was now on the ground, snoring.
Sakura rolled her eyes but smiled back anyway, putting a hand on the ground and leaning sideways. She stared up at Naruto, who was now looking back into the fire, and admired his face for the second time. Her eyes were immediately attracted to his lips again, and this time she didn't stop her thoughts, or deny them. After picturing herself making out with Naruto for the fifth time, Sakura snapped out of it. "Oh my God...I can't believe I like Naruto! Silly, annoying, goofy, funny, happy-go-lucky Naruto...who's had a crush on me forever..." She ripped her eyes away from his face and let them travel downs his arms and body, blushing the entire time.
"Hey, Naruto..."
Naruto turned away to look at her. Both of them laughed when he met her eyes. "I can't believe you..." Sakura said, shaking her head. "But...are you sure that will last forever? Maybe it won't help for very long..."
Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Well, I don't know what else to do. What do you suggest?"
Sakura sat up and looked at him, shrugging. "Maybe...you should have something real instead..." She looked away shyly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked with a grin. "I seriously doubt that you're trying to hit on me...so are you saying I should kiss Ino or Hinata?"
Sakura frowned. "No way!"
Naruto frowned too, tapping his chin. "Tenten?"
Sakura glared at him. "No! What makes you think I wouldn't hit on you? You're a guy, I'm a girl..."
"So...you're saying you are hitting on me?"
"No! Well...maybe...why do you care?" Sakura crossed her arms and huffed at him. Naruto grinned.
"Maybe?"
"I didn't say maybe! Ok...yeah I did..."
Naruto raised his eyebrows.
"Ok...what I'm trying to say is..." Sakura looked at Naruto, who looked back, slightly confused. Sakura glanced at his lips again just as his tongue unconsciously darted out to wet them. Sakura stared, licking her own lips with a sigh. "Oh, screw it."
Naruto cried out in surprise as Sakura practically tackled him to the ground. "What are you..." Sakura cut him off with a kiss, and Naruto relaxed under her, sighing against her lips as she deepened the kiss with her tongue.
"Hey, get a room!" a voice called out from nearby. They broke apart with equally red cheeks to see Pakkun glaring at them. Kakashi sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around. He saw Sakura sitting on top on Naruto, and they were both gasping for breath and looking at Pakkun.
"Uh..." Kakashi said aloud, and the other three looked at him. "When I wake up in the morning, this never happened." Sakura and Naruto nodded quickly, and Pakkun blinked at him. Slowly, both Kakashi and Pakkun laid back down and closed their eyes nervously. Sakura turned back to Naruto and smiled down at him.
Naruto blinked up at her. "Does this mean you like me?"
Sakura sighed. "Yes Naruto, I think it's pretty obvious."
Naruto let out a girly scream that could even beat an excited Ino, and Kakashi and Pakkun grumbled and rolled over, while Sakura stared at him. "Never do that again."
"Sorry, Sakura-chan."
Sakura climbed off of him and sat down, while Naruto sat up and faced her. "Are you gonna sleep with no shirt on again?" Sakura asked.
Naruto grinned and gave her two thumbs up. "Anything for you, baby."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't do that either."
"What, call you baby?"
"Yes. And the other thing."
"What thing?"
"The thing with your thumbs!"
"What, this?" Naruto gave her two thumbs up and a cheesy Rock Lee smile.
"YES, THAT!"
"SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP!"
"...Yes, Kakashi-sensei."
