Well, I appreciated the reviews so much that I was quick to update! Enjoy!


Sighing loudly, Sakura swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed and slowly stood to her feet, legs wobbling the slightest bit as she did so. She groaned when she saw how exposed she was and fought back the wave of embarrassment and anxiety that tried to come in. She placed her hands once more on her forehead. She couldn't go out there. Not looking like this!

… But it was all she had.

Sakura carefully pulled at what was left of her torn tank top in hopes of covering her stomach, but that only served to further expose her chest. Frustrated, she pulled her top upwards again. She looked to her tray of food once more, along with the glass of water, and ignored it as she made her way towards the door.

It actually hurt a bit to walk and she was quite clumsy when she tried. Sakura made her way down the familiar hallways, ignoring the stares from the other nurses and medics, and approached the main entrance lobby.

As promised, Naruto awaited her by the doors and she quickly threw her arms up to cover her chest when his eyes fell on her; her cheeks pink.

She watched as he made eye contact with Tsunade from one of the hallways and noticed their exchange of looks before turning towards her again and escorting her out the door.

The minute Sakura stepped outside she immediately scrunched her eyes into a tight wince, not at all used to the brightness from the sun. It was amazing to her. It was amazing what you could come to appreciate in just approximately 72 hrs.

She took in a deep breath and sighed in relief as the clean crisp air traveled into her lungs. It was of course so much better than the moist thickness she had become so accustomed to. She almost felt the tiniest smidgen of happiness, until she looked to Naruto. He had that same expression. That same stiffness to him and that same reserved face. She could see anger and irritation in his eyes and she hated it. Hugging her arms tighter to her chest, Sakura continued to walk forward, passing by him in hopes of escaping his smoldering gaze.

Neither of them talked the whole way and she felt a sense of relief take over her the minute she saw her house. She let one of her arms fall from her chest and she quickened her pace, tripping slightly when doing so, and hurried to her front door. She brushed her hand along the wooden exterior lightly and reached for the cold doorknob to open it, frowning when it wouldn't budge. Damn! She had locked it! She continuously shook the knob in response to her frustration and stopped when she heard a sigh from over her shoulder.

Naruto held her key in front of her face and she timidly took it from him before unlocking the door and opening it.

Sakura flicked the light on quickly and took little to no time as she rushed right to her bedroom. She began to just raid her dresser and closet. She quickly grabbed the comfiest things she could find and held them close to her. She could cry from relief.

Her clothes! Her clean house! She never loved her house so much before.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked quietly, propped up against the frame of her doorway.

She jumped again and looked up at him, slightly startled. She almost forgot he was there.

Almost.

"I'm getting ready to take a shower." She answered, looking back down now at one of her dresser drawers.

"No." He said, lifting himself from off the door frame and stepping in slightly.

"Eh-excuse me?" She asked, not knowing how to respond. His demeanor almost freaked her out a little.

Naruto saw the look she was giving him and quickly threw his hands up, defending his words.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way. Uh, I meant like, no…no shower right now. I need to make sure you eat something first." He corrected.

She set her clothing down and relaxed a bit.

"Oh. Well, I'm not hungry." She argued.

Naruto sighed tiredly. "Sakura, please. I was instructed to make sure you fed yourself before anything else."

She could see the seriousness in his face and tried to understand that Tsunade ordered this of him.

"Fine." She pouted and stood up, walking past him and making her way to the kitchen.

Sakura opened her refrigerator and saw a small fruit salad she had purchased just a few days ago. Flipping the plastic container around, she checked the date and saw that it was still good. She took it out and lazily walked over to a drawer, grabbing a fork and closing it again with a swing of her hip, and had a seat at her table.

Naruto searched through a few cupboards until he found all the glasses and grabbed a tall one. He then moved to the sink and filled it with water, turning his head to watch as she slowly took bites of the mixed fruit. When the glass was full he shut the faucet off and walked towards Sakura, placing the glass in front of her on the table and receiving a confused look.

"You need to drink that, too." He said as he pulled out seat out and joined her.

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued to make progress as she ate her food, occasionally taking sips of the water and giving Naruto a sarcastic smile of sorts as she did so. And of course, it was another several minutes of silence. She went to take another bite but stopped as it neared her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, confused as to why she suddenly stopped eating her fruit.

"I- I don't…" She dropped her fork and quickly stood up, tossing the chair behind her, and ran towards her bathroom.

Naruto quickly stood up and followed after her, stopping once again in the doorway when he saw Sakura hunched over the toilet emptying her stomach.

He frowned and grabbed one of her hand towels from off the rack and knelt down beside her, holding her hair back to prevent any of it from falling in her face.

Sakura had gone days without eating and her stomach was now rejecting any food she put into it.

She coughed up any remainder she could before accepting the hand towel Naruto had provided at the ready.

She held it over her mouth and breathed in through it, calming herself down and dabbing her mouth with it.

"You okay?" He asked as he helped her to her feet.

Receiving a small nod, he started to guide her out of the bathroom until she stopped dead in her tracks, bringing him to a halt when she caught a quick glimpse of herself in the mirror.

Sakura was unable to even move at first, but she quickly stepped in front of the reflecting glass, gripping the edges of the sink tightly. She could not believe what she was seeing. She didn't even look like herself! Her mouth parted and tried to say something, but she just couldn't. Sakura knew she was dirty, but not this dirty…

Her face was caked on with dirt, her hair was one big ratty mess, and there were little scrapes all over. Of course she didn't miss the big bruised ring on her temple either. She lifted her fingers to brush over her somewhat swollen and bruised lips, and fought back the threatening tears when she did so.

Naruto watched as she quickly exited the bathroom, stepping out of the way so she didn't run him over, and gathered up her clothes once more from her dresser.

"Sakura you didn't finish-"

"-I need a shower." She interrupted, not at all willing to negotiate.

"I'll be out there if you need anything." He said before exiting her bedroom.

Sakura took a couple deep breaths and walked back into her bathroom again; closing the door and locking it. Without wasting any time, she practically ripped her current clothes off of her and threw them into a corner. Standing in the nude, she was no longer proud of her body. All confidence had left her and now she felt vulnerable and disgusting in her own skin. She covered her chest once again with her arms and pulled open the shower curtain, turning on the water to as hot as it would allow. It took very little time for her bathroom to fill up with steam, and when it had she knew she could get in.

Sakura let the piping hot water cover her skin all at once and let a small yelp escape from her mouth, quickly muffling it with her hands. She suppressed any further sounds that threatened to come out as her body screamed from the heat. But she didn't care.

She first squirted some of her favorite scented shampoo into her hands and relished in the wonderful smell before applying it to her hair. She began to massage it into her scalp and hissed at the sudden wave of pain. It was still very tender from all the abuse and the hot water didn't help matters either. But she proceeded to clean all of the dirt and grime she could before rinsing it out.

Sakura then applied its matching conditioner and let it set in her hair as she prepared her soap and washcloth. She looked down at her body again with hatred before attacking it with the soap. It was unbelievable how many scrapes and cuts she found due to the soap's sting. And after she lathered herself up in it, she began to claw and scrape at her skin with her nails, scrubbing away everything.

She paid extra special attention to her stomach and chest, rubbing the surface raw. And her mouth… she must have spent several minutes scrubbing at it too, even spitting once in a while as some soap got into her mouth. It felt like she couldn't get it off though… couldn't get them off! Every area of her body she focused on she could remember each action of theirs, and she just couldn't wash that away.

Naruto was beginning to get concerned with the amount of time Sakura had spent in the shower and wasn't sure if he should check on her or not. Deciding he should, he rose to his feet and walked into her bedroom before knocking on her bathroom door.

"Sakura… is everything alright?"

No response.

"Sakura?" He called again, pounding on her door.

Nothing.

Dammit. He went to turn the doorknob and cursed when he found it was locked. He heard the shower shut off though and let out a sigh of relief before exiting the room once again. He wasn't trying to over exaggerate. But he was worried about Sakura. She wasn't being rational.

Sakura stared at the door for a long moment before stepping out of the shower carefully, grabbing her towel and wrapping herself tightly in it. She looked at herself again in the mirror and frowned. She'd heal herself tomorrow when she had the strength and chakra. It was nice to have the dirt off of her though. She slipped into a pair of her favorite panties and her matching bra, and pulled on an oversized black t-shirt. She felt incredibly comfortable now, and it felt absolutely amazing. She then brushed her hair and teeth, and opened her door, allowing a curtain of steam to poor out.

"Naruto…" she called out, biting her nail nervously as she waited for him.

"Coming." She heard in the distance and took a deep breath before quickly running her fingers once more through her hair. She had done some thinking in the time that she was in the shower…

"Yeah?" He asked, now in her doorway. He noticed her attire and suddenly became uncomfortable. He felt as though it was inappropriate to see her dressed like this.

Too much thinking…

Sakura swallowed hard and slowly walked up to him, leaving only inches between them. She raised a slightly shaky hand and gripped the neckline of his shirt before tugging gently to make him walk towards her.

Naruto hesitantly complied and followed her as she sat at the edge of her bed, pulling him down with her.

"What is it?" He asked, sitting beside her stiffly.

Sakura bit her lip and pivoted her body as she placed her hands on both sides of his neck, leaning in quickly and pressing her mouth to his.

Naruto's eyes widened and his cheeks took on a light shade of pink.

"Sakura wh-" he was cut off when Sakura began moving her mouth against his own, effectively silencing him.

He didn't know what to do! It all happened so fast! Something deep inside told him that this was wrong; very wrong. But, this was Sakura we were talking about. His childhood crush. His love. He had spent years doing everything her could for her. Everything he could for her to accept him. And so now here she was, kissing him! How could he protest?

He had never kissed a girl before, and so he tried to follow her lead, moving his mouth in timing with her own.

Sakura gave him time to get a feel for it before gliding her tongue across his lower lip, earning what sounded to her like a small sound of surprise, and inserting it upon permission.

She tilted her head a bit in attempt to deepen the kiss, and lead the two of them to movebackwards, allowing more comfort.

Sakura pulled away only to press her hands into his broad chest, pushing on him just hard enough to signal for him to lie back, and he did.

Naruto let his head fall back onto her pillows and he searched to look her in the eyes. But she quickly avoided it when she climbed on top of him and straddled his hips.

He began to notice an increase in his breathing and a heat in his body as a result of their new position. Before he could even dwell on this any longer, Sakura was kissing him again, roughly.

She began to kiss the corners of his mouth before making her way along his jaw line and up to the space just below his earlobe, to which she allowed her tongue to lick and suck gently on, earning a low groan from the blond.

Sakura felt a new sense of power and relished in it, allowing her hot breath to cover his ear and causing his body to shiver. She continued to kiss her way down his neck, stopping here and there to give a quick lick or nip, and to his color bone. She then sat up and pulled her shirt from over her head, leaving her in just her undergarments.

Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He must have been dreaming. Never before had he seen something so beautiful. He never would have imagined this, her like this. With him. He didn't realize it, but all he could do was stare, and he couldn't bring himself to look away.

Sakura leaned forward, enticingly forward, just the tiniest bit and grabbed each of his hands before placing them onto her breasts, covering them with her own to hold them there.

Naruto's mouth parted and he blinked. Again, he didn't know what to do. Well, he did know, but it didn't seem right. He was still in shock. He looked up to search her eyes again, but she closed them the moment he did and tilted her head back ever so slightly.

He gave her mounds an experimental squeeze and shuddered at the soft moan that came from Sakura. She bent down again and once more started to kiss him. Her kisses were urgent and addictive. He gave her breast another squeeze and relished in the feeling her moan caused against his mouth.

Everything came to an unexpected stop though when he felt her free hand travel down his body and suddenly rub up against his inner thigh, earning a cry of surprise and pleasure. Realization crashed into him fully and he quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back, equally surprising Sakura.

"Sakura! What the hell!" He cried, unsure of what just happened.

"Naruto, don't…" She protested before kissing him again, a small hint of desperation in her voice, only to be forced off of him. Naruto quickly slid himself from underneath her and immediately got to his feet, leaving Sakura hurt and confused. She turned to face him and saw his angry expression as he looked upon her.

He quickly left the room to allow himself to calm down and figure out what the hell just happened.

Meanwhile, Sakura remained unmoving. Her mouth was left open and she hardly blinked. When she finally came to, she licked her lips and closed her mouth before her body kind of just… slumped over. Her chest was tight, her face was hot, and her throat felt constricted… which all meant one thing. And this time, she didn't hold it back. She gave in as she finally allowed herself to cry;

And to really, earnestly cry.

She let her body fall back onto her bed and she buried her face into her pillow, letting out painful sobs.


Well, again- perhaps not the longest. But I can update a bit faster this way. I don't know that I will always be this fast, but who knows? Your reviews may very well encourage me :D So I will say this, if I get 5 reviews, I will update soon :) Fair? Feel free to leave more than 5! But we will start with that~ Thanks so much everyone!

Aaand some possible fluff next chappy!