Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights are reserved to Masahi Kishimoto.
Naruto and Sakura walked back to the apartment in silence. There were a lot of things going through Naruto's mind and Sakura could tell he was distracted. Sakura sighed and pulled her sweater around her tighter. Naruto saw her out of the corner of his eye.
"Are you cold?" Sakura jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. She looked at Naruto and shrugged.
"A little…"
"Here." Naruto said as he shrugged off his jacket and held it out to her.
"Oh… no Naruto I'm ok… and besides you'll be cold." Naruto stopped walking and looked at Sakura.
"I'll be fine, and I don't want you getting sick while you're pregnant. It's not good for the baby…" Sakura looked from him to the jacket and back to him before slowly reaching out and taking it.
"Ok…" She grumbled, slipping it on over her sweater. Naruto stuck his hands into his pockets and continued to walk.
"So… what did you do today?" Sakura asked, trying to break the silence that was driving her mad. Naruto shrugged.
"Nothing really. I dropped off the report to Tsunade no Baa-Chan and then I went and trained with the guys…" Naruto said, conveniently leaving out the details of their conversation. "Oh, Tsunade no Baa-Chan told me to tell you hi." Sakura nodded. She sighed and walked into the apartment as Naruto closed the door behind her. She turned to face him.
"Naruto…" Naruto looked up from where he was kneeling, taking off his sandals. "Is something wrong?" Naruto sighed inwardly before pushing himself off the ground.
"No."
"Are you sure? You seem a little…distracted. Did something happen while you were talking to Tsunade-Shishou?" Naruto looked away from her. There was no way he was going to be able to keep his mission a secret from her. 'Well I might as well tell her now…' he thought as he tried to find the best way to say what he needed to.
"Sakura…I've been assigned a special mission and I leave in a few days…"
"A mission?"
"I'm going be an escort. I was requested." Sakura shook her head. Was she hearing him correctly?
"You have a mission?" She repeated, the word mission lingering in her mind. Naruto rubbed his eyes and nodded.
"Yes. I'll be gone for two weeks."
"Two weeks?!?" Sakura said, her pitch increasing a little. Naruto could hear panic rising with every word. Naruto sighed.
"You can probably stay with Ino or Tenten… Or Hinata…" Naruto grimaced at the look on Sakura's face. He looked away, trying not to feel guilty. "Sakura…" He was cut off when she started backing away from him, shaking her head rapidly.
"No… N-No…"
"Sakura…Please."
"No…Y-You can't…l-leave me here." Naruto ran a hand through his hair, obviously frustrated.
"Sakura… I have to. I'm the captain of the ANBU, not to mention I have to pay for my apartment and the food somehow." She frowned, angry tears pooling in her eyes.
"I. Hate. You." Sakura whispered in a deadly quiet voice. Naruto frowned in shock.
"What?"
"I. HATE. YOU." She yelled as she turned and slammed the door to Naruto's room, locking it behind her. Naruto stared at the door in disbelief for a few minutes before shaking his head and letting out an exasperated sigh. He mumbled angrily to himself as he grabbed his jacket and left the apartment.
Naruto sat on top of Fourth Hokage's head. He'd been up there a lot in the past few years. That spot overlooking all of Konoha was a place for him to be alone, to think, to relax. He'd been sitting there for about an hour. He didn't mean to stay that long but he needed to clear his head and calm down.
"Naruto… figured you'd be up here."
Naruto sighed softly but didn't move from his spot.
"Kakashi-Sensei…" Kakashi walked over to Naruto and stood next to him, his gaze flicking over the darkened city.
"Ino saw you leave your apartment quickly on her way home. I guess she was worried about Sakura so she went and told Tsunade…"
"And of course she sent you…"
"Naruto… What's going on?" Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I don't know… I guess Sakura is afraid that I'll end up like Sasuke if I go on a mission, even though I am the captain of the ANBU…"
"Uh huh…"
"But I can't just not go. I was requested and…" Naruto trailed off. He sighed and shook his head. "She says she hates me." He mumbled in a low voice. Kakashi sighed and looked down at Naruto.
"I'm sure she didn't mean it, she was just upset." Naruto shrugged.
"It doesn't matter anyway. Tsunade no Baa-Chan won't let me off the hook. She got a little peeved when I told her that Sakura wasn't going to handle my absence well." He sighed and stood up.
"Well I better get going. I still have to get dinner and stock up for the weeks I'll be gone…"
"Naruto."
"Yeah?"
"Give it time…"
"Yeah…" Naruto said as he waved goodbye to Kakashi and flickered off the monument. He made his way to the market. His eyes landed on a young couple that was ahead of him. The two were holding hands and smiling, idly window-shopping together. Naruto sighed and shook his head. He slipped into the market, placing the essentials for the two weeks in the basket.
"Ahh… you're buying more than you normally do Uzumaki-Dono… Do you have another with you?" The elderly woman at the counter asked as she rung him up.
"Just a friend Obaa-Chan… They are staying at my apartment for a while and I have a mission coming up soon so, I just want to make sure they have everything they need."
"Such a good boy you are. I wish we had more of them like you. I say any girl is lucky to have you. All those girls don't know what they're missing." Naruto chuckled softly and picked up his bags.
"Oyasumi Nasai Obaa-Chan."
"Goodnight dear."
Naruto headed to his apartment. 'Well here goes nothing…' he though as he opened the door and walked in.
"Sakura?" He called, kicking the door closed behind him. The silence that resonated in the apartment didn't surprise him. Naruto set the grocery bags down on the kitchen floor before heading down the hall to his room. He took a deep breath before knocking lightly on the door.
"Sakura?" He waited for an answer. "I bought something for dinner… are you hungry?" Naruto frowned at her lack of response. He reached out for the door handle, turning it slowly before pushing the door open. Scanning the darkened room quickly, he slowly walked in.
"Sakura…" He mumbled as his eyes locked on the ball of mass dead in the center of his bed. He made his way over to her, sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked at her and grimaced; He could still see the tear trails that ran down her cheeks glistening in the moonlight. Never in his life had Naruto had such a massive feeling of guilt. But she deserved the pain, didn't she?
A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for their reveiws. I'm trying to update as fast as I can but with school and stuff things get hard. I love my beta Alter-Kyo and R&R!