LOL. My name is now LONGER than it was before. I apologize. :D Anyways, thank you all for the reviews and hopefully I'll be getting more when the action starts. J Kay, thanks all. (Read Below)

Chapter 4

Make Me Warm

"Hey, hey, hey Grandma!" Naruto yelled, jumping out of his bed and running to the window that showed the corridor of the hospitals main exterior where a frustrated-looking Tsunade was leaning against a hospital chair, head in hands.

Naruto beamed as the Hokage looked up at him, the creases on her forehead seemed to deepen in confusion as she seemed to try and see what she should do or say to him.

Feeling his smile strain a little, Naruto turned his back on his so called 'Grandma', his face now feeling like someone had stomped on it while he tried to work out why Granny Tsunade was suddenly so frustrated and confused at something. From what he could see, it was probably something that was either life-changing or something terrible had happened to another team and his Granny Tsunade was letting her mind linger over it.

Oh well, whatever it was he was sure that he could cheer his old Granny up so that she would at least tell him how Sakura was doing and if she wanted his help in those 'special' missions - as Tsunade had called it.

A large frown came to his face at this thought, how stupid was everyone in this damn hospital!? Couldn't they see that he was READY to go help Sakura? Why did they always persist and pester that he was simply not strong enough. Hah! Strong enough! Surely they knew the chakra that was running through his whole body? Surely they knew how powerful he was when he needed to be? Surely?

Stomping his feet in aggravation, Naruto grunted as he flung himself on his hospital bed to yank his dark crimson shirt off just to fling it to the ground so that he could sit there cross legged, eyes unmoving and distant.

It seemed unfair to him, he was twenty-four after all and yet nobody believed he could look after himself, that he was weak and needed to be looked after so that he didn't get himself into another 'insane' accident.

Where was Sakura? She had promised to visit him whenever but after three weeks of promises, the pink-haired woman had not shown once to visit him and nobody had told him where she was apart from these special missions that she seemed to love going on.

Pouting his lower lip, Naruto scratched his bare scar blemished chest whilst he let his thoughts travel over where Sakura could be at this precise moment - that was if she was still alive…

Nonsense! Curse him for thinking like that! Sakura-chan couldn't die on him! She was a strong Kunoichi and Naruto knew that from the way she got on the ANBU squad after one attempt of going through the examinations.

A bitter smile crept across his face. "Sakura will probably be a stronger Hokage as well…" Shaking his head, Naruto lets himself lean back into the warmth of his two soft pillows.

"I suppose I shouldn't get so jealous of Sakura-chan…Besides, she's my best friend. If she ever became Hokage then I should feel proud of her, not sour like some old man about it." Naruto mumbles, letting his blonde locks that have seemed to grow longer over time tickle his face.

Letting his legs uncurl so that they could stretch out at the end of his perfectly laid-out bed, Naruto muffled a yawn with his arm while his thoughts once more seemed to want to explore so much that he was finding it hard to think properly about what was going on around him and what he should do so that he could sort it all out for everyone.

Naruto feels the latch on his door switch up, the metal slowly scraping against the wood and the wood then slowly scratching the hospital's tiled floor.

"Naruto." A quiet but commanding voice says his name, like a captain talking to his lowers, passionate but forceful.

A smirk settles on his face as he recognises the voice immediately at the same time as padded footsteps crossed over to him so quietly that Naruto felt his ears strain to hear it.

"Granny Tsunade! Hey there!" He doesn't leap out of his bed like he used to anymore, besides, what would the point be? To show everyone how he HASN'T grown up? Not an option.

Instead he lies there, arms still covering his cerulean eyes, covering and hiding his emotions away like he has learned to.

"We'll be letting you out soon, y'know? I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you." The tenderness in Tsunade's voice makes Naruto's body tense guiltily for a second before it once more relaxes as a gentle hand is placed on his arm. "Everyone's missed you, y'know? Even Temari said that she missed you, even if you ARE an annoying little twerp."

A low chuckle escapes Naruto's sore throat, startling them both at how raw his own voice sounds.

"Well gee, let me guess. She was the one who said that?" Naruto asked, letting his arms move slowly away from his face to uncloak himself so that the world could see him once more.

"Obviously, don't be fooled by her though. She's very fond of you." Tsunade grinned, flicking Naruto's nose lightly before resting on the end of the hospital bed. "Though at the moment I think all you need is a good party and some sake." Her face dropped for a second.

"On second thought, drop the sake." She added, looking dismissively into her pocket before looking up at him once more.

Nodding, Naruto let a grimace cover his face, his eyes hardening and his whole body tensing once again at his own thoughts.

"Hey." Something poked him hard in the chest and Naruto found himself looking up into deep caramel eyes. "Don't look so down, everyone visited you when you was asleep and most tried to get in to see you, including Sakura, but we couldn't let them in because of reasons that at the moment we'd like to keep to ourselves."

Instinctively, Naruto growled angrily at her. "Fine. But I don't like what you're doing. I don't even like what Sakura-chan is doing. It's dangerous and I really wished she'd stop seeming as she will never be able to manage do it." (1)

Ignoring his angry glance, Tsunade laughed heartily, ruffling his blonde spikes affectionately and letting her nails catch against his scalp occasionally.

"You sound like a grumpy old man." Tsunade scowled jokingly, hitting the blonde man over the head with two fingers. "Anyway, wasn't it YOU who asked her to do these missions?"

Snorting, Naruto crossed his arms and glared directly at his old Granny Tsunade with such vehemence that Tsunade eyed him wearily so that she looked like she was trying to keep her anger in - which of course was to hide that she was actually checking his chakra levels so that it warned her whenever the Kyuubi's chakra was going to come into play.

"I was on my deathbed at that time! I mumbled something stupid and that was the most stupidest idea I've ever had! I don't want her to do it no more! And she knows that! That's why she hasn't come to visit me in the three weeks because she knows I'll tell her to stop!" Naruto snarled, his nostrils flaring. "It's because of me that she's addicted to this stupid ass mission! It's because of me that she has to go look! For Kami's sake! Why can't I keep my fucking mouth closed, huh Granny Tsunade? Is it because of the Kyuubi? Or is it me? Everyone seems to think it's me seeming as the Kyuubi is INSIDE of me. It might as well be me…" Naruto finished off weakly, his glare softening into a small frown.

A quick swipe of air, flesh colliding with flesh, flesh becoming red, scowls and shocked looks and that was what left Uzumaki Naruto speechless along with holding his cheek with both of his hands.

"Uzumaki Naruto…Never in my life of knowing you have I EVER seen you take pity on yourself. Get a grip! If you can't, then there is no point of telling you what has happened to Sakura and why she is in this hospital! Seeming as you might FAINT at the news I'm about to give you!" Tsunade glowered, her cheeks red with rage at the Jinchuuriki, her hands balled up into fists of fury.

Feeling that his heart had stopped, Naruto could only nod numbly at the Hokage which was no surprise that his senses dulled thanks to the wonder shouting at he had just received.

"W-What happened to Sakura-chan?!" His heart leaped into throat, the covers that had only been partially covering his chest slid down his body when his muscular body leaned back up from the hospital bed.

"Are you positive you aren't going to run into the room and shake her so much that the pain that has probably only just left her body come back again?" Tsunade asked stiffly, still not really forgiving (or maybe the right word was understanding) Naruto or his actions.

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto pleaded, trying to pout his lower lip so adorably that Tsunade would at least talk (listen) to him a bit more.

"Fine. Fine. Just don't freak out ya? We still have to tell Ino about this y'know? So shut your trap after hearing this." Tsunade sniffed huffily, crossing her legs and leaning back against the railings of Naruto's bed.

"Right, where do I begin…" Tsunade started, tapping her chin thoughtfully with her index finger. "Okay, well as you know about Sakura's special missions, I'm just going to tell you that after resting up at the Iorka Inn that she was…" She trailed off.

Naruto arched an eyebrow questioningly at the muddled Hokage.

"Poisoned wouldn't be the correct word, but it's as close as we're going to get to the right name for it so…Let's just say that Sasuke had something to do with it. And because of that…" The Hokage looked down at her hands. "Sakura now has Orochimaru's Curse Mark at it's first stage and to make things worse we believe that Sasuke has somehow been trying to get to Sakura through her dreams. As well as trying to control her body for his own doings…"

A shatter of glass was heard, Tsunade looked up to see that Naruto was hunched over while his fist was imprinted into the glass vase that had been beside his hospital bed despite the fact that it was impossible seeming as Tsunade had directly told the hospital staff to make sure the glass was PLASTIC.

Ignoring the rare event of how the plastic had somehow managed to turn into shards of glass, Tsunade gulped before resting a trembling hand on the Jinchuuriki's shoulder.

"N-Naruto. I know that you think this is your fault but it isn't…S-She's going to be okay, she's just managed to get through the pain and it seems that the mark has gotten used to her chakra and-" Tsunade cut herself off, irritated at hearing how she had been in control which slowly turned into useless nonsense.

"Did she find out where Sasuke is?" A deep voice emitted from Naruto's throat in addition to that, before Tsunade knew it, dark crimson chakra was outlining Naruto's body faintly.

Uncertain on what to say, Tsunade had no idea if she was talking to the Kyuubi or a very furious Naruto. (2) It didn't matter, she wouldn't say anything personal to Naruto or Kyuubi, despite that she trusted Naruto with every ounce of being that she held inside of herself. And that was A LOT of trust. Believe it or not.

"Are you scared of me? Or didn't you hear me very well? Did she find out where Sasuke was or not?" The strangled voice called out to her once more, once again feeding on her well-hidden fear.

Shinobi do not show fear. Everyone knew that. Anyways, Tsunade had a bet that the Kyuubi (or Naruto) could smell it anyway so showing her fear would just add to the satisfaction of knowing that she was indeed afraid.

"Who am I speaking to?" Tsunade questioned the hunched figure cautiously, her eyes flickering over everything in the room which she could use if needed to try and calm Naruto down.

"Me Granny Tsunade…It's always been me." The voice seemed to have the power to squash the oxygen out of Tsunade's rigid body, seeming at how the Hokage found it hard to breathe.

Nevertheless, Tsunade wasn't feared for her strength and many other abilities (some say even the most ridiculous things on that subject) for nothing and she soon found out that she would need to actually speak to get herself out of this situation - getting Naruto to calm down would just be an added bonus.

"Naruto…Calm down properly or I'll be forced to call the ANBU down here…And that's something I do NOT want to do." Tsunade warned, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the still hunched over blonde man.

"You're scared of me?" The voice crackled, to Tsunade it seemed that Naruto was finally calming down enough that his voice would turn to it's normal bubbly tone soon.

"Worried. Not scared." Tsunade corrected, hands clenching as a trickle of sweat ran down the back of her neck and down her spine.

"I'm sorry…" Naruto spoke back sombrely, his body shaking with tremors and his body coated with a sheen of sweat over his bare chest.

"I already told you Naruto, it isn't your fault about what happened." Tsunade paused for a second, placing a hand on Naruto's shaking shoulders and squeezing reassuringly. "In fact, if anyone's fault and I don't say this lightly. It is Sakura's fault for going on with it." (3)

Naruto flinched at her words, not knowing if he should feel rage that Granny Tsunade would say that about someone who she saw as her daughter or because he knew that it was true in addition to that knowing that being angry at himself was a waste of time and effort.

"Is she gonna be okay?" He only just managed to get out, his brow creased in worry for his best friend. He had already lost a so-called friend. He didn't see why he had to lose another for the same reason.

"Do you want me to be honest with you?" Tsunade asked, her eyes guarding the truth from the Jinchuuriki until she knew his answer.

"I thought that you was always honest with me." Naruto replied seriously, a grimace featuring on his face.

A sincere smile instantly found its way on Tsunade's face, lighting up her face in a somehow manageable childish amusement.

"Of course. I'm sorry for sounding like I wasn't." Pressing a light kiss on the Jinchuuriki's forehead, she leaned back once more.

"And to answer your question…We believe she'll be fine." Tsunade muttered softly, her hands sliding down Naruto's shoulders to rest under his elbows.

"You believe?" Naruto's voice had once more become hard and an irritating tone of fury at such little information that he had translated his anger into his voice to use against her again.

"We aren't a 100% sure Naruto. Surely you must know that we are trying our best to stop another Sasuke re-run." Tsunade was surprised at her own shoot of ferocity that had managed to flow into her voice.

Naruto blinked back his tears hard. "Yeah…I know. It's just that…" He looked down at his trembling hands before gripping them into tight fists. "Without Sakura-chan…I have nobody. Not really. I'll be alone again."

With those four words, Tsunade felt her restraint crumble into shards, her guard suddenly dropping, her emotions of guilt and shame finally surfacing on her delicate features.

Her barriers…They used to be so heavily guarded that even the most gentlest man or woman in the world wouldn't affect her in the slightest. Yet, this boy (this man) made her and her walls collapse into dust.

Heaving a large sigh, Tsunade wrapped her arms around the emotional-stricken boy and let him sob dryly onto her shoulder whilst whispering sweet soothing words into his ear.

"Oh Naruto…" Eyes closed, Tsunade rested her chin on his right shoulder. "You'll never be alone…By Kami, Sakura will be fine. I promise you."

All Naruto could do was nod, tears still spilling from his eyes and making his cheeks even wetter than before.

.X.

"You freaking crazy bitch!" Sakura yelled, shielding her eyes from Temari's eyeliner of doom as the sandy-haired blonde repeatedly stabbed her with her make up essential.

"Ha! Oh come on! Just let me repaint your mark! It will look GREAT in GREEN." Temari persisted, giggling as Sakura slapped her eyeliner away once more.

"Fucking crazy, you do know that this thing is powerful right?" Sakura shrieked, placing both of her hands over her curse mark.

"Oh relax! Or I'll tickle you!" Temari cackled, putting down her eyeliner on the shelf next to Sakura's hospital bed before turning back to the pink-haired woman and giving a mischievous snarl.

Sakura - who by now had forgotten the faint pain that was on the back of her neck - squinted her eyes at the Sand Ninja.

"You wouldn't."

Temari braced her fingers, her grin still painted on her features as she took a step towards Sakura's bed.

"Oh fuck!"

Laughing, Temari let her fingers caress and tickle every weak spot that she could find, enjoying that she was bringing Sakura to whimpers and squeals with her actions.

A slam of the door awoke both of them from their laughing fits and that was the thing that made both of them look up to see a very distraught-looking Ino and a disapproving (grimacing) Shikamaru.

Ino's eyes narrowed sceptically, taking in how Temari's and Sakura's bodies seemed to look VERY close together and how they both seemed to look shocked to see her presence.

"Ahem." Ino cleared her throat, her forehead creased in frustration at how her doubts seemed to have risen once more no thanks to Temari's and Sakura's close proximity towards each other.

"Ino!" Sakura's face lit up, a grin taking her features whilst her arms opened wide to try and beckon the blonde Jounin into her sweet embrace.

Crossing her arms, Ino let her steely eyed gaze rest on the still surprised Sand Ninja and it took everything inside of her not to march up to the Sand bitch and show her that Sakura was hers and hers alone!

"Am I…" She trailed off so that she could look at Sakura once more. "Interrupting anything? Should I go?" Ino bit her lower lip to restrain herself from yelling abuse at them both, she was just so jealous.

"Yes." The Sand Ninja murmured grumpily, her teal eyes also having the flicker of resentment in them that reflected Ino's.

"NO! Don't listen to Temari! She's just joking. RIGHT TEMARI?" Sakura nudged the Sand Ninja in the ribs, grinning sheepishly at how Ino was giving Temari more death glances.

Before Temari could reply, Shikamaru stepped forward. "Temari, I think Naruto wanted to see you."

Temari instantly looked up, confusion replacing the rage for a moment before the woman nodded and lifted herself up from the hospital bed.

"See ya Saku, Shikamaru." She waved, ignoring Ino completely as she unlatched the door to head out into the busy corridors.

"Uh. Well. Gotta go. Need to see the Hokage for something." Shikamaru mumbled quickly, also leaving the room without looking back to see what he was sure would be an argument and awkwardness that he didn't want to be involved in.

"…" Ino refused to let her gaze linger on Sakura for even a second, she wouldn't allow herself to do so. It would be wrong and Ino hated it when she did things wrong. Besides, Sakura had to pay for what she kept doing to her and Ino knew that refusing to talk to the pinkette would only be a very subtle punishment - seeing as Ino always seemed to cave in at the end of it all.

"Why won't you look at me?" Sakura's voice penetrated Ino's thoughts, almost making the blonde Jounin look at the injured ANBU. "Okay, let me rephrase that, how angry are you at the moment?"

Ino snorted, arms still crossed as she walked over to sit on the end of Sakura's hospital bed.

"Oh from a scale of one to ten, I would have to go with twenty-five!" Ino snarled, turning her head away whenever Sakura tried to touch her face with trembling fingers.

"Kami Ino, I didn't know you was THAT mad. What did I do?" Sakura questioned, throwing her hands up in the air to emphasise herself more clearly to her girlfriend - hopefully, her girlfriend WAS still her girlfriend.

"Oh I don't know." Ino hissed, her nostrils flaring and without realizing it she was actually baring her teeth at the pinkette. "Maybe you going off on these so called missions with Temari no doubt and maybe I'm feeling just a little insecure because someone who I've been going out with for a year hasn't even told me ONCE that she's fucking loved me! Apart from that, then fuck I don't know!"

Sakura felt her heart jump in her throat. Didn't Ino know how much she loved her? Couldn't she tell that she did? Didn't Ino know that when Naruto had whispered in her ear at Asuma-sensei's funeral that Ino loved her that she had felt butterflies in her stomach? Didn't she know how jealous she got whenever Ino would hang around with Lee and Shikamaru and let them help her in her training when she knew that they were both just very good friends to her lover? Didn't she know that she was doing these missions to protect Ino and to try and make everyone happy once and for all?

'No she doesn't. Because you never tell her. You hide it and try your very best to keep it a secret as much as you can. You try to hide your emotions from her, you try to distance yourself but in the end you can't help BUT get close to her. And to be honest with yourself, you know that if you do that maybe the pain will go away. It's YOUR fault that you've got this curse mark and it's YOUR fault that Ino's in so much anguish because of you leaving every twenty-minutes.'

Finally remembering to breathe, Sakura exhaled slowly, her insides aching from how much her conscious seemed to battering her as if it was angry at her as well.

It seemed weird that she thought her conscious was an 'it' but at that time and place, Sakura no longer cared.

Ignoring Ino's whines, Sakura cupped the blonde Jounin's face in her hands and leaned forward to place a peck on the blonde's chapped lips. "One day Ino." Sakura moved her nose so that it nuzzled into the hollow of her neck. "All I ask of you is to wait for me…"

Sakura felt Ino trembled which drew a smile across her face. "Please? Sometimes things are better to wait for."

"Fine. But don't think you're forgiven for this little trick just yet. Shithead." Ino bitterly replied, wrapping her arms around Sakura's lean waist.

Grinning, Sakura snuggled more into the delicious warmth of her lover whilst moving her nose to Ino's collarbone and letting her tongue slowly peek out to lick at Ino's collar lightly.

"Don't do that shithead, I don't want to forgive you at the moment. You're making it harder for me." Ino growled, trying to pull herself away from Sakura's persistent licking, but finding that she couldn't due to her own desire to collapse in said woman's arms.

"Mhm. Maybe I should keep being so stubborn and not listen to you?" Sakura giggled against Ino's skin, letting her tongue trail down so that it rested just above the top of Ino's Jounin jacket. "Or you could just make me warm. Get it?" Sakura winked, her hands trailing up Ino's body.

Before Sakura's hands could go any further, Ino grabbed the pinkette's wrists and brought them down to her crossed legs.

"Wait." Ino whispered. "Tell me something, and I want to know ONLY the truth. Are you prepared to answer me?"

"Depends on what you're going to say to me doesn't it?" Sakura replied, soothing Ino with how patient the pink-haired woman seemed to be with her.

"H-have you ever cheated on me? W-with anyone like…I don't know…Temari?" Ino cringed inwardly, closing her eyes to welcome the obvious yes that was going to spill from Sakura's lips.

Ino honestly didn't expect to be pushed back against the hospital bed, her back hitting the mattress and soft lips mashing with her own in a ravenous attempt to answer her question.

Groaning, Ino tried to tell herself that she must resist this until Sakura gave her an answer. She must.

"Never. Never have. Never will." Sakura replied in between kissing just under Ino's jaw line. "Believe it or not Ino, I don't say those words to you because I'm afraid. All I need is time. And all I need for you to do is wait for me. Can you do that?"

Ino faintly felt her Jounin jacket being pushed off her shoulders as she thought to herself over the question that Sakura had just asked her.

Could she? Of course she could, she had told herself that she loved Sakura and many people told her that they could SEE that she loved Sakura. The only problem was if she would wait. Why should she anyway? Sakura hadn't exactly been the most truthful one in the relationship, why should she wait for someone who hadn't been honest with her.

"I think I can…" Ino murmured, only just noticing that her black Jounin sweater along with her blue tank top underneath was rolled up so that her lace-covered breasts were showing for only Sakura to enjoy.

"That's all I ask for. And why aren't you stopping me if you're angry with me?" Sakura questioned the blonde, knowing for sure that she was risking her chances of having the blonde woman before she would go home and cuddle together on the couch - whilst eating curry of course.

"I-I forgot what I was angry about…" Ino panted, her eyelids half-lidded because of Sakura's actions of massaging her breasts and letting a hand travel down south towards Ino's Jounin pants.

Sakura smirked, letting her mouth envelope Ino's nipple through the lace before beginning to lick and nibble around the pert nipple - these actions making Ino clutch at Sakura's scalp whilst moaning at the shoot of warmth that ran down her body and in between her legs.

Now that she had two hands free, Sakura used one of them to massage Ino's breast whilst she continued her actions on Ino's nipple, letting the pads of her digits pinch and tease around Ino's breast until the blonde was forced into whimpering at how much of a turn on Sakura was when she was being dominant.

"Okay horny lesbians. Get up." A voice commanded behind them and Sakura let out a huff of frustration.

"Fucking hell Tsunade, you do pick your moments." Sakura cursed loudly, letting go of Ino's nipple and sitting up to directly glare at her mentor.

"At the moment, I'm still very angry with you so I'm just going to ignore what you just said." Tsunade spoke in such a childish manner than Sakura almost rolled her eyes at the act.

"So you want to talk to Ino?" Sakura asked, looking away from Tsunade and back down to the wonderful girlfriend she was straddling.

Grinning like a mad woman, Sakura was overly pleased at how flush Ino's skin looked and how much the woman was panting, it seemed that the woman was almost out of breath. And it was all because of her.

"Gee Ino, you look out of breath? You okay?" Sakura teased, leaning forward to place a kiss on Ino's forehead.

"Ugh. Shithead." Ino grunted, leaning up so that she could see Tsunade over Sakura's shoulder.

"Sakura get dressed, Ino let's go outside for a second. I think there is something you might want to know."

(1) Naruto is a grown man. He's become more mature and he knows disaster when he see's one. Jeez. I despise fictions when they make Naruto such an idiot that even the Naruto used in the series is more mature. God people, Naruto is more mature than most of the characters.

(2) I decided that Naruto could have the ability to let Kyuubi take over his body if he wanted to. Believe it or not. I think Kyuubi is attached to Naruto in a guardian kind of way. Does this make Naruto dangerous? No. Only if his emotions explode, that's the only time Kyuubi will be able to get out of Naruto.

(3) Yes, Tsunade believes it is Sakura's fault. Why? It's pretty simple. Sakura has become addicted to being a hard worker. She thinks that these missions are now just a schedule in her life that she has to do everyday. Besides, who else to believe it is Sakura's fault apart from Tsunade? As I've said before, I believe that Tsunade is a good mother figure for Sakura.

Hah. Review...Now. Thank you. Oh and for the people who are confused. I was originally TeenTitanDoctorTorch.

Updated 11/3/09: I'm not sure if I'm discontinuing or putting this fiction on hold. I just wanted you to know that if I AM putting this fiction on hold then I wouldn't be expecting an update until two months from now. Yeah, sorry.
If I'm discontinuing this fiction well...You won't get an update will you? I dunno. I just don't want to update on a fiction that nobody is really bothered with. I'm not DESPERATE for reviews. On the contrary, reviews are really only to make me update faster and to help me with my writing. Apart from that, I don't mind. But nothing's happening and I don't want to continue on a story that as I said before, nobody is bothered with. So, I'll think about it.