Many thanks to scarlett71177 for the final read-through, and for always being there. All recognizable characters, locations, and concepts are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.


Chapter 7

Sakura carefully stretched her muscles, chasing away the last traces of the second nap she had taken. Naruto was reclining beside her, flipping through the pages of the herb book she had brought from the cabin. It was impossible to tell if he had slept again too, but she doubted it. He didn't need as much rest as she did right now, and he was never one to tire easily.

As she sat up the collar of the old man's shirt she wore slipped down over her bare shoulder. It was too big for her, and the dark blue fabric was soft from years of wear. That's why the stupid top button wouldn't stay fastened. It wouldn't matter so much normally, but due to the awkward circumstances of her bath earlier she had been in such a hurry to cover herself that she hadn't put on any underclothes. So even though she looked dressed, it didn't quite feel like it.

She pulled the shirt back into place and tried the button again. Getting the sleeves above her elbows would help keep it from slipping, so she began to roll them up.

Naruto shifted his position slightly, and although he tried to hide it from her he winced. It was the last straw, and this time she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"All right. On your back so I can have a look," she said.

"I told you I'm okay, Sakura-chan."

"No, you're not so quit stalling." She reached past him and their driftwood headboard to grab her medical kit out of the pile of gear.

"I'm not stalling, I'm reading," Naruto replied innocently, pretending to study a sketch of true indigo.

"Uh huh. You want to read a book?" She smirked and snapped her fingers. "Come on, let's go."

He sighed and tossed the book aside, and she resisted the temptation to help pull his shirt over his head.

"I just don't want you to get so tired again."

Naruto unzipped his pants and worked them down over his hips, just far enough that she could easily treat the angry skin around the seal on his abdomen. Leaning back on his elbows then, he didn't seem embarrassed at all.

Sakura hoped he didn't notice the steadying breath she had to take.

"I'm not going to stress myself or anything so you can relax," she said, taking a fresh bandage from her medical kit and soaking it in herbal liniment. She wanted to keep this as professional as possible, but couldn't hide her smile at his concern. "If you ever paid any attention to me, you would have heard me explain that I can ease at least some of your pain without using any healing chakra – just a little antiseptic and a local anesthetic."

"I pay attention to you, Sakura-chan," he said, his voice somehow rough and soft at the same time.

She really couldn't argue with him. Naruto had been very attentive in the hours since she regained consciousness, hovering at her side while she rested, assisting with any task he thought might exceed her level of strength, and entertaining her between naps by building an elaborate sand fortress and attempting a string of goofy card tricks that he didn't actually know how to do.

Even now he was watching her fingertips glide over his skin as she gently tested the temperature of his burns, and while there was nothing unusual about that – he had watched her heal him countless times before, after all – this time it felt different and she wasn't sure why.

Maybe it was because their chakra had been so intimately intertwined, and the echo of Naruto's thoughts… of his soul… had lingered in her heart since they'd fought the Seven Tails together.

Maybe it was because she had figured out that the warm, protective energy she had sensed surrounding and supporting her during stasis was Naruto's own pure chakra, and that regardless of his mission orders he had ignored his own pain, exhaustion, and hunger to take care of her, holding her and keeping her warm even while he slept.

Then again, maybe it was only because she couldn't stop thinking about her little bathtub accident. About the way Naruto had caught her. About exactly where his bare hands had been, and how it had felt to be naked in his arms. She couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to be in his arms again… if they were both naked, and his hands slid over her body on purpose…

Sakura shivered and blinked a few times. So much for being professional, she thought.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" said Naruto.

"I'm fine," she lied. Reaching up to tuck a loose lock of hair behind her ear, she glanced at him with an uncertain smile.

The expression on his face was unnerving to say the least. It was like the smile he had given her after she'd bloodied his nose – a cross between mature sincerity and boyish perversion. But there was more to it than that, and Sakura got the same strong impression she'd had once before – that somehow, on some level, Naruto could tell what she was feeling. He knew she was thinking about him. About them being together… naked. Somehow, he knew.

A hot and tingly shock wave burned along her nerves, and she tried her best to still the sudden trembling of her hands. She wanted so much to understand what was happening between them. Why he acted this way. She wanted to feel calm again. She wanted to either move forward with him or go back to the way it was before – before she cared whether he was in love with her or not. She wanted to know how to act, what to say, and what to do next.

But she didn't.

Looking away, Sakura sought balance in the facts instead. This guy – the one with the pervy blue eyes who was able to unzip his pants for her without so much as a blush of protest – was the very same guy who just hours ago had flat out denied kissing her in front of witnesses. They were frightening, horrible, monster witnesses, she admitted, but they were still witnesses.

The whole situation was impossible, and she was being ridiculous again. What was wrong with her? She knew better than this. She had been trained better than this.

It simply wasn't smart to be daydreaming about sex. Not on a critical mission, and not with a man who was careful not to admit or follow through on anything. An accidental groping was just that – accidental – and it was embarrassing for her to think that Uzumaki Naruto, of all people, might have more self-control – and less interest – than she did.

Sakura sighed and renewed her attention to the task at hand. She had a patient with painful injuries that hadn't been treated for days because of her mistake, and she still wasn't doing her job.

She took a tin of salve from her kit and pried off the lid. Dipping the tips of her middle and ring fingers into the soft, oily balm, she began to carefully spread it onto the worst of the crusted burns. Naruto flinched but didn't complain.

"Which one did you beat?" she said, smoothing a thin film of salve around the fourth tomoe that had appeared on the seal.

"Oh, it was Kokuo."

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I didn't catch all their names. Which one is that?"

"The Five Tails." He was watching the movement of her hands once more. "He's the one who looks kind of like a white horse except with a dolphin head. He's pretty old-fashioned and doesn't say much, but those horns… man. He got really close to stabbing me." Naruto shuddered. "I thought he was going to kill me for sure."

She didn't like the sound of that. "What happened?"

"It was weird," he said, a slight smile curving his lips. "I thought it was going pretty good – they were all just talking to me at first."

While she had seen them for herself and interacted with several, Sakura still didn't get how Naruto could have regular conversations with the biju, or how he could behave as if he was halfway fond of them. His relationship with the tailed beasts was unlike anything she had ever seen or even heard of, and one that wasn't simple to understand.

She touched a particularly crusty wound then and Naruto flinched for the second time, his face momentarily contorted in pain.

"I'm sorry," she cringed.

"I'm okay, Sakura-chan."

That line had become his anthem of reassurance to keep her from doing too much for him. It would be easier and far better to treat him with chakra, but she'd given her word that she wouldn't. It was ironic that she had to promise him she would take it easy – something he rarely did for her.

"The biju were talking to you? About what?" she prompted. It was a standard medic technique to get patients talking during simple procedures; it helped distract them from their pain. She loaded her fingertips with salve again.

Because he was leaning back on his elbows it wasn't easy, but Naruto managed a small shrug. "You, mostly."

He shifted his gaze to meet her eye for a moment, and although he was smiling his cheeks colored beneath the whisker marks. Her cheeks colored too.

"M-me? What about me?"

"It's hard to explain because the way they say things is kind of mean, but I know they were impressed with what you did – how you figured out a way to be there with me, and how strong you are."

"Right," she said, brushing the hair from her face with the back of her hand. "Like when I fainted and made myself look like a rookie idiot?"

His smile seemed to glow. "Yeah. They all thought so – even more when Kurama said—" He paused and his blush deepened.

"When Kurama said what, Naruto?" Sakura was staring at him in rapt attention.

"Well, when he said you reminded him of my mom. She was jinchuriki before me, you know."

So… it is her. Hmm… it's just as I thought.

Sakura remembered Kurama saying those words. He'd said them the moment she had run into the circle of monsters to stand at Naruto's side. They were curious words that had made it sound as if he already knew her, but until now she hadn't understood what they could possibly mean.

She had no right to it, she knew, but the comparison filled her with a strange sense of pride and it left her speechless. But Naruto seemed to misinterpret her hesitation. His attitude changed abruptly, instantly bringing to mind the lonely misfit he used to be.

"Yeah, I guess it's kind of lame," he mumbled.

"It's not lame at all, Naruto," Sakura said quietly. "Your mother was a jinchuriki and a Hokage's wife. Being compared to her… I don't see how it could be anything but an honor."

As quickly as his glowing smile had disappeared it returned. For a while neither said a word, although Naruto continued to watch her finish touching up his burns.

"I'm going to use some chakra now, but just enough to seal this, okay?" Sakura said finally.

Naruto answered by nodding. He settled down flat on his bedroll so it was easier for her to apply the cool, clean bandage, and he covered his eyes with the back of his forearm. When he spoke a few moments later his voice sounded far away.

"Where do you suppose he is now, Sakura-chan?" His mood seemed to have shifted completely again.

"Where who is now?"

"Sasuke."

Because she was still building back her reserves, Sakura had to concentrate harder than she normally would to get her chakra tuned correctly. Nevertheless, the bandage was quickly fused in place.

"I don't know," she said, wary of this unexpected mention of their old teammate. "The last word I got from Kakashi-sensei was just a guess, but he said that Sasuke was probably hiding out with Tobi and Uchiha Madara."

She patted Naruto's thigh to let him know she was done, but he didn't move.

"He feels so far away… farther away than ever, and every day… every minute it's getting worse."

Unsure what to say, Sakura began to repack her medical supplies. "Well, Sasuke chose his path, and—"

"It's not getting worse because of him, Sakura-chan." Naruto hesitated and she could hear him swallow hard. "It's getting worse because of me."

She clicked the lid shut on her kit and frowned. "What do you mean? How is it getting worse because of you?"

After a long silence he said, "Because I want… because I'm starting to—"

Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head then, obviously changing his mind about what he'd meant to say. The fingers of the hand at his side slowly curled into a fist, and he began to pound a well into the sand beneath his bedroll.

"What is it, Naruto?" Sakura rested her hand on his thigh again. "Can it be so bad that you can't tell me?"

He nodded, and it took a second for her to realize what he meant. "You can't tell me?" she said softly.

"No." He tried harder to hide his eyes with his arm. "I can't."

She wasn't entitled to any private thoughts he didn't want to share, but it was like a stab in the heart to know he felt he couldn't confide in her.

Before she could recover and think of something to say, there was a jarring lurch and the cave pitched violently without warning. Naruto quickly fastened his pants and pulled on his shirt, then sat up beside her. They both instinctively scanned the driftwood landscape.

A rapid series of rhythmic jolts indicated that their toad host was on the move. The grey-green interior quickly dimmed and became much colder. They faced each other with wide eyes that were silently scrambling to adjust to darkness.

"He's changing positions – diving deeper into the lake," Sakura whispered, as if her voice could be heard beyond the toad's thick skin. "What does it mean?"

"It means they're looking for us," Naruto said, his certainty making her shiver more than the invading chill.

"But who? Who's looking for us?"

"I don't know. I can't tell."

"But I thought with Kurama's chakra you could tell – that you could sense lies and bad intentions?" As her mind worked through the possibilities, Sakura felt a fleeting sense of hope. "If you can't tell – if you can't sense anything bad – does that mean it's the alliance?"

"The diving toad blocks chakra both ways, Sakura-chan," he said, glancing at the ceiling for a moment before meeting her gaze. "If they can't sense us, we can't sense them."

Us. We. She knew he wasn't talking about the two of them; he was talking about himself and the biju. She shivered once more, uselessly searching the walls for information as the toad continued to swim.

"So it could be Tsunade-sama or Madara, Kakashi-sensei or Tobi, Sai or Shikamaru… or even Sasuke – we don't know and there's nothing we can do to find out," she said.

"Yeah." Naruto sighed with heavy resignation. "Remember, the diving toad has pretty much the same orders as me – to stay hidden until I'm ready. Somebody must have got a little too close."

The toad's motion eventually began to slow, and as a final ripple rolled through the floor of the cave they drifted for a few seconds before coming to a stop. The fire seemed twice as bright and warm now, casting long, dancing shadows across their small camp.

Naruto's face was bathed in firelight as well, his hair taking on a golden glow. He looked older again. And unhappy.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said quietly, at a loss for better words.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Just… because."

"Come on, Sakura-chan." He leaned against her shoulder in a good-natured way. "You can tell me anything."

"Right." She nodded to herself. "I can tell you anything, but you can't tell me?" There were tears in her eyes before she could stop them. Hoping he wouldn't see, she turned away to stare at the fire's flames.

"Sakura-chan—"

"I said I was sorry because I know you're restless," she said, cutting him off before he could voice whatever excuse he might make up. "Because the people you want to stop and the people you want to save are out there but you can't go to them. I'm sorry that fighting the biju is so difficult and painful, and that you're stuck in a cold, dark cave with no one but me," she paused to have an empty laugh at her own expense, "a medic who lets her chakra get drained and leaves you on your own for days."

Naruto didn't answer right away, but when he did his tone held the same blend of rough and soft as it had earlier. "I'm okay," he said thoughtfully. "And it doesn't feel that way to me – like I'm stuck with you or anything. I like it."

She could see he was trying to catch her eye with a silly grin, as if he thought he'd better hurry and make light of what he'd said or she might hit him.

"You're the one who's stuck," he continued, "on a boring mission where there's nothing to do but hang out in this toad and heal my sorry ass over and over."

Her mouth twitched with a smile. "The burns are on your abdomen, Naruto," she corrected, wagging a finger at him, "not your ass."

At the sound of his easy laughter she burst into giggles too, and Sakura was nearly overcome by a sudden urge to throw her arms around him and never let go.

"I don't feel stuck either, you know," she said, not able to look directly at him. "Wherever you are, I know that's where I'm supposed to be… where I want to be."

They were saved from fumbling their way through another awkward moment by the loud growling of Naruto's stomach.

Sakura tugged the shirt up from her bare shoulder again, and turned to him with a fresh smile. "Will you let me make us some food? Because we really need to eat."

"If you let me help," he said quite seriously, quickly adding, "not help cook or anything – since I suck at it – but I mean build up the fire and get stuff for you."

"Deal."

As good as his word, Naruto filled the pots with water and stoked the fire while she set about making another kettle of fish stew. She never got to taste how it turned out before, but Naruto had said it was great and it was easy enough to put together.

Not surprising, the hardest part of the process was waiting for the rice to cook, and Sakura's mind wandered. She was worried about their stash of supplies. It was going to be even harder to replace now that they were farther from shore. If someone had drawn close enough that the toad changed positions for Naruto's safety, they would have to think carefully before she made another scavenging raid.

Everything depended on how long it was going to take Naruto to complete his mission, and she had to try harder – think harder – to find ways to help.

"Naruto?" she called, frowning at the dried sand left behind in a bowl and cup he had used to form the battlements of his miniature fortress. She grabbed a nearby scrap of towel to wipe them clean.

He was busy pouring kerosene into the torches that framed the camp when he answered. "Yeah?"

"There's something I don't understand. It seems to me that… with each of the biju's chakra that comes under your control, you should be getting burned less. But your wounds are the same, and you still get the fever."

He set the kerosene bottle by the supplies and came to sit cross-legged beside her. "Just because I control their chakra – that doesn't mean they're not still mad, Sakura-chan."

She shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I just don't see how they can be mad at you. You haven't done anything to them – in fact, you're trying to help them."

"But it's what I said before… they're sort of like old friends who don't really get along, and they've been put in a spot they don't want to be in." He sighed and thought for a few seconds. "They're mad because – well, they're just mad at the world. They're mad because of the way they've been treated by people, and they want revenge. They want to be acknowledged. The more I'm with them, the more I understand."

"How can you understand them? They seem so—"

"Because, Sakura-chan," he said, meeting her gaze, "it's the same with Sasuke and me."

"You're nothing like Sasuke." It was good to say those words and feel certain they wouldn't hurt his feelings the way they might have years ago.

"I used to be – more than you think," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"See… before Mom helped me take Kurama's chakra, I had to meditate at this place – it's called the Falls of Truth, I think – on the turtle island. Bee took me there for training."

"The Kumo island," she clarified.

"Yeah. Anyway, I had to sit there… and the waterfall – it made me face the truth about myself – face the hate and need for revenge I had hidden in my heart because I was alone for so long – and because of the way everyone in the village had treated me. I had to let it go before I could be strong enough."

Sakura felt another urge to throw her arms around him. "Naruto—"

"Sasuke doesn't know how to let go – that's why I have to help him."

"And what about the biju, Naruto? Will they ever let go of their hate? Of their need for revenge?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

It sounded a lot more like the answer Naruto thought she wanted to hear than what he truly believed.

With the rice finally cooked and the fish stew steaming hot, they abandoned conversation for the time being and settled down to eat as much as they wanted. When they'd finally had enough, they left the dishes in a stack by the hearth and took their sandals off, then scooted backward over their bedrolls.

She wasn't really tired again – not yet, anyway – but Naruto insisted she had done enough for a while, and that it was time to rest. He positioned the single pillow they had between them and the headboard in such a way that they could share it, and pulled the thin blanket over her lap. Once they were situated he put the wild herb book in her hands.

"What is it with you and this book?" she said, not bothering to mask her skepticism.

He was sitting so close to her that when he shrugged she could feel it. "It's better than the other one. At least this one has pictures."

"You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the value of this book, Naruto," she scolded. "There are herbs in here that combined with my skill could save your life."

"It's just not very interesting." After a suspicious pause he added, "But maybe it would be if you read some of it to me." He leaned closer and nudged her feet with his. "I liked that one with the pink flowers—"

She didn't buy for a second that he meant it, but it was technically possible that he might learn something by accident anyway. At least it would mean he wasn't dirtying up her dishes by playing in the sand.

She began to fan the pages, looking for the sketch he had been looking at earlier. "It was true indigo, wasn't it?" she said sweetly, giving him no sign of her plans to torture him with knowledge.

"I guess so."

"Ah, here it is." Sakura smoothed the page and cleared her throat. "True indigo. While its native habitat is not known, this plant has been cultivated for many centuries and is one of the original sources of indigo dye. The dye is obtained by the processing of the plant's—"

"Indigo?" Naruto interrupted.

"Yes, haven't you ever heard of indigo dye, Naruto? It was probably used to turn the fabric of this shirt blue."

He reached over and tested the texture of her sleeve, as if how it felt had anything to do with its color.

She backtracked a little from where she'd left off and started again. "The dye is obtained by the processing of the plant's leaves. They are soaked in water and fermented in order to—"

"What does fermented mean?" he interrupted again.

"Well, it means… it's the state that results when sugar is combined with yeast or bacteria, and converted into other substances – like acid or alcohol."

"Huh."

She cleared her throat again. "In order to obtain the compound necessary to form the dye. The precipitate from the fermented leaf solution is mixed with a strong base such as lye, pressed into cakes, and—"

Naruto perked up. "Cakes?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not the kind of cakes you're thinking of."

"Figures," he said with a sigh.

"True indigo is a shrub one to two meters high. It may be an annual, biennial, or perennial, depending on the climate in which it is grown. It has—"

"Sakura-chan?"

"What now?"

"I've been thinking—"

"Well, that's always dangerous," she said with a smirk. "Thinking about what? Not indigo, I'm guessing."

Naruto was unfazed by her tart comment, and when he spoke again his voice was very near her ear. "I've been thinking that maybe… maybe I should just go ahead and kiss you – for real – I mean, since you were so disappointed that I didn't really kiss you before."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could he dare to make such a stupid and untrue statement? How could he dare to make it sound as if she had imagined those kisses – kisses that happened insidehis mind – and then act as if he's willing to do it now as some kind of pity favor? It was a completely outrageous thing to say even for him. Her temper flaring instantly, she snapped the book shut.

"Disappointed? I never said I was disappointed. All I—" She turned to level her best withering glare at him, but when their eyes met she lost her purpose. The rest of the words she'd planned to fling at him floated out as she slowly exhaled. "Said was…it seemed… real to me."

"Then… you don't want me to?" he mumbled softly. His breath was warm against her lips.

If she said no it would be a lie and he would know. Maybe this had been his strategy all along. To run hot and cold and keep her on the defensive. To take his time pushing all her buttons, making her want him so much she couldn't think straight anymore and then make her beg. But there was no point in pretending or trying to resist. He'd known exactly how to play her and it was over. She was owned.

All Sakura could manage was a small nod of consent. They had already been cut off from the rest of the world, but it ceased to exist entirely the moment Naruto leaned in and kissed her. There simply wasn't room in her thoughts or her heart – in any of her senses – for anything but him.

The way his mouth moved against hers now was nothing like the kisses they had shared in his mind. His technique wasn't practiced or perfect, and that's what she liked about it. Each kiss he gave her was hot and wet and bravely desperate. And here, in the real world, she was able to feel it in her blood and with every inch of her flesh.

Hell yeah.

She didn't know how long they had kissed before Naruto slowly began to ease off. When he pulled back slightly he looked as dazed as she felt.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" he breathed. "Are you getting tired?"

Nodding yes to the first question and no to the second, she closed the space between them and kissed him as slowly and deeply as she knew how. The sound that vibrated in the back of his throat sent another hot and tingly shock wave through her, so she kissed him that way again. And again.

She was lost in sensation. She wanted more… more of his lips, his hands, his tongue… and Naruto only seemed to gain strength from her willing responses.

The shirt collar was off her shoulder again, and he took her exposed skin as an invitation. Although his mouth never left hers, his fingers left her hair to drift slowly down her throat. There was nothing to stop him. The top button had come undone a while ago, and so had she.

Naruto angled his fingers and slid them down inside her shirt, and she thought her pounding heart would burst in anticipation. When his hand smoothed over her breast she nearly swooned, and made a sound against his lips that she had never made before.

Sakura had no experience with men, but she knew how things worked and about the things women did to please them. She had always imagined it would be awkward, or that she would be too shy to try anything, but as her hand began to move up the inside of Naruto's thigh, she was far more excited than nervous.

He let her touch him, but a moment later he seemed to freeze. He suddenly broke their kiss, almost as if the life had been shocked out of him. Sakura opened her eyes. His were shut tight, his heavy breathing warming her face. Before she could speak a word he turned away from her and sat forward, his hands raking repeatedly through his shaggy hair.

"I don't know what's happening to me," he said, his voice rough with emotion.

She thought she understood. "There's no reason to be embarrassed, Naruto. Getting excited is normal."

"I know that," he choked out. "That's not what I mean."

"Then what?" she said softly.

He didn't answer.

"Naruto?"

He shook his head miserably, and as cold disappointment gripped her heart she knew what it meant. Whatever was bothering him, he wasn't going to tell her.

"I'm scared, Sakura-chan," he whispered finally.

"I know you are, Naruto, but I can't help if you won't tell me why."

Sakura took a chance and put her hand in his. He held it, but she knew he was only doing it for her.