OTL
I'm a horrible excuse for a writer & I can't believe I left you guys hanging, again, this time for almost 4 months. *shame*
The only reasoning I really have is that time kinda got a way from me, with a new semester of college starting up again, and when I left off with this chapter I wasn't content with the ending (in fact, the end you'll read here is not what was originally written). But, I realized it'd been too long since my last update, and I really need to get writing on this fic again (you've officially caught up with me).
On a lighter note, I remember really enjoying writing this chapter; it's probably my favorite out of all of them, thus far. It's pretty much a huge fluff-ball of a chapter. ^^ The beginning is probably OOC for Sakura, but I don't care; I needed the fluff.
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters; all such belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter Nine
The weeks passed by more rapidly for a while as Naruto and Sakura continued to put their whole hearts into helping the village regain its footing; of course, now that things seemed to be back to normal between them, the constant tension had faded, making it seem as though time was finally moving forward again. To say the least, it was a huge relief for them both.
The Leaf ninja had been in the Grass Country for just over two months; it was by far one of the longest missions they'd accompanied together to date. In a way, it was a learning experience for them in more ways than one.
For example, Sakura learned that, despite her initial assumptions regarding Naruto's cleanliness, or lack thereof, the blonde was actually meticulously clean about certain things. Sure, he often tossed his clothes on the bathroom floor after a shower and left them in a pile to mildew unless she scolded him, but he always made the bed and was even a little obsessive about how his weaponry was handled. It amused her to see the differences between their living-styles.
She hung her clothes up in the closet according to style and color, dirty ones in the hamper, while Naruto dumped his in a corner, somehow able to differentiate the clean from the dirty; Sakura's toiletry items, such as her toothbrush and hairbrush, were lined neatly on one side of the sink while Naruto's were strewn wherever there was space enough; Sakura kept her shampoo and body-wash in the cabinet next to the shower while Naruto continuously left any and all of his shower supplies scattered across the bottom of the stall floor.
Naruto liked to have the room pitch black at night whereas Sakura preferred soft moonglow; they had compromised this by pulling the curtains closed with a relatively wide crease in the middle so that the majority of the room was dark while still allowing moonlight to sneak in. The blonde enjoyed excessively long showers with the temperature set to nearly scalding, while the pinkette liked to relax by having a long soak in the tub.
Even despite these differences, as frustrating as they sometimes were, they managed to share their personal space with one another excessively well. In fact, there was one thing in particular they both enjoyed equally, though neither had found the courage to admit they engaged in it more often than not.
Cuddling.
Every night, especially since their sparring session however many weeks ago, the two ended up cuddled with one another; it was usually an unconscious action, where one subconsciously turned to the other in their slumber, seeking warmth and comfort. Many times, however, the action was not accidental...for either Naruto or Sakura.
Naruto woke one particular morning, his arms wrapped around the pinkette's waist, his forehead resting between her shoulder-blades; her hair tickled his nose, tempting him to sneeze, but he held back in fear of waking her.
The blonde smiled, snuggling closer to the girl, nuzzling her back gently. She made a quiet noise in response to her slumber being disturbed before falling quiet again. Naruto grinned to himself; never in a million years would he have believed this moment could have happened! Yet here he was, cuddled up in bed with Haruno Sakura, his longtime crush and, he firmly believed, the love of his life. It was like a scene from a movie!
Sighing contentedly, Naruto glanced at the clock and growled at the time; he was going to be late if he didn't get up and begin getting ready. Groaning quietly in disappointment, he untangled himself from Sakura, instantly missing her body-warmth when he sat up and the chilly air rushed over his exposed skin. Shivering, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, stretching his arms above his head and yawning hugely.
He felt Sakura roll over and jumped in surprise when her arm came around his waist and yanked him down so that he was laying with his back to her. She made a quiet sound of appreciation and snuggled up to him, nuzzling his back happily.
"Warm..." she murmured, still mostly asleep. Naruto chuckled quietly and tried to sit up again, only to find her arm was effectively pinning him down. He sighed and took hold of her wrist, intending to move her arm so that he could get up and get ready. The young woman's limb tightened stubbornly, her fingers digging into the sheets to hold him in place.
Naruto laughed quietly, turning over to face her and whispering, "Sakura-chan, I have to get ready for work." He reached up to place a strand of her hair behind her ear from where it had fallen to tickle her nose.
"Mmm...no," she argued, tightening her hold even more. Naruto raised a brow in amusement and replied, "I have to; Haruka's got this plan in mind that will help us finish the two buildings we're currently working on by this afternoon." Sakura frowned in her sleep at the name of his boss before she surprised him by cracking open one eye to gaze up at him sleepily.
"Don't care; you're warm." She said simply, as though that were the best reason in the world for him to be late. Naruto grinned; he guessed it kind of was. Sakura was cuddling with him—knowingly! How much better an excuse did he need? Besides, Haruka would understand; he had been the one to tell Naruto to continue to pursue Sakura, after all.
"Okay." The blonde replied just as simply, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. She reclaimed her own arm, tucking both against his chest and nuzzling her head against his throat as she fell back asleep.
It was hours later before either of them woke again; this time it was Sakura to wake first, finding herself wrapped around Naruto in an effort to share body-heat to ward off the chill. She blinked owlishly for a moment before letting out a huge yawn, moving away from the blonde and stretching, giving little noises of satisfaction as she loosened her limbs.
A glance at the clock showed it was nine in the morning; it was a good thing it was Saturday or she'd have been extremely late to work. Satoshi had instructed for her to take the weekends off for the remainder of their stay since the patients were recovering so well. She had agreed without much argument, prepared to enjoy the opportunity to relax and spend time with Amaya and Naruto.
Smiling, she gave the blonde a quick glance—he was sprawled across most of the bed now that she'd moved away—before quietly getting out of bed and padding to the bathroom to shower.
Naruto woke not long after Sakura, gazing blearily at the ceiling before glancing at the clock; his blue eyes widened in horror as he saw the time and he leapt from the bed, rushing around the room to gather clean clothes even as he discarded his pajama shorts before bursting into the bathroom to grab a quick shower.
Sakura chose that exact moment to step from the steaming tub, reaching to wrap a towel around her. Naruto yelped once he realized she was occupying the bathroom, having assumed she had already left for work since she hadn't been in bed; Sakura shrieked in surprise, jade eyes wide with shock. Naruto tried to come to an abrupt stop but the tiles were slick with condensation and his arms wind-milled as he fought to catch himself; he was unsuccessful and soon found himself colliding with Sakura.
The two toppled onto the tiles, Naruto pinning Sakura down while they each groaned in pain from the fall. Silence ensued for all of two seconds while they stared at each other in mortified shock before Sakura shrieked again, fighting to pull her towel over her breasts.
"Naruto! Get off of me! Perv!" she shoved at his chest, her skin still slick with water, resulting in a rather unsuccessful push. Naruto's face blushed scarlet while he fought to find purchase on the slick floor, crying in denial, "Sakura-chan, it's not like that! I thought you were gone! I'm sorry!"
"It's Saturday, where the hell else would I be?!" she retorted, her face ablaze with a massive blush. Naruto finally managed to push himself to his hands and knees, still kneeling over her as he stuttered for a response.
It was then that Sakura realized she wasn't the only one naked; she shrieked again, slapping a hand over her eyes as her blush intensified.
"Naruto!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he yelped, still unaware of the new predicament. Sakura gave a low growl and hissed, "Why are you naked?!"
Naruto stopped his stuttering long enough to let her words fully dawn on him, even glancing down as if to check and see if she was right. Seeing that she was, his blush intensified tenfold as he yelped and jumped up, searching for the clothes he'd had from when he'd entered the bathroom in the first place. Grabbing the first piece of cloth he could find, he hurriedly covered himself, apologizing in earnest all the while.
Sakura peeked through her fingers, ignoring his apologies; her gaze instantly locked onto strong, muscular calves that lead upward to just as powerful thighs, which in turn lead to prominent hipbones, a washboard abdomen, a wide chest and broad shoulders. Muscular arms tapered down to callused hands, which were now clutching a small towel, not much larger than a dishcloth, to shield her wandering innocent eyes from more intimate areas.
Sakura's blush deepened to crimson even while her first thought was, 'Holy shit, when did Naruto become so...sexy?!'
"S-Sakura-chan...?" Naruto said tentatively, afraid of what she might do next. Even as trepidation coursed through him, he couldn't help but let his gaze roam over her. Her skin was flushed from both embarrassment and the fresh shower, her hair clinging to her cheeks, neck and shoulders, leading his eyes to the swell of her breasts, barely concealed by the towel she clutched over her torso; he could make out the subtle curves of her hips from beneath the flimsy cloth, hips that flared and tapered to strong thighs and calves, ending with dainty ankles and tiny feet. The blonde gulped as awareness shot through him; Sakura had always seemed pretty to him, but like this...damn, she was breathtaking.
The two were silent as they studied one another, mortified yet still curious as to the new sides they were seeing in each other. Finally their eyes met, awareness strong between them when it had been previously absent. Neither spoke, afraid to make an already awkward, albeit eye-opening, situation even more awkward.
Eventually Sakura began to giggle nervously; she clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to shield the sound but it became too much and she burst out into laughter. Naruto, recognizing that he'd barely managed to avoid a minefield, began chuckling in nervousness as well before he, too, was bent over in laughter.
They laughed away their nerves and embarrassment, the tension dissipating. Sakura sat up, her sides aching from laughing so much and she gasped out, "Baka...you really should learn to knock!" Naruto let out a loud laugh of amusement, nodding his head in agreement.
"I think I'll remember to do that next time," he chuckled, blue eyes twinkling as they met her jade ones. Sakura snorted, pushing herself to her feet and waving a finger at him playfully.
"I'm not counting on that; I'll just lock the door from now on!" Naruto grinned back at her, calling out as she exited the bathroom, "You know, that'd probably be a good idea!" He was rewarded with her merry laugh of agreement before he turned towards the shower to at least accomplish one of his intentions from that morning.
XxXxXxX
"Naruto-kun, Sakura-san! Come quickly!" called Amaya excitedly from the kitchen later that morning. After their little incident in the bathroom, Naruto and Sakura had kept a bit of space between themselves with Sakura working on knitting a new sweater (something Amaya had been teaching her) while Naruto, after realizing it was Saturday and therefore not a workday, had stayed in their bedroom to clean his weaponry.
At the sound of Amaya's cries, both Leaf nin jumped up from their chosen seats and rushed to the kitchen to check on their hostess. They reached the room at the same time, Naruto yelling, "What is it, baa-chan? Is everything okay?"
Sakura rapped her knuckles against the back of his head with a little more force than necessary, causing him to whine at her in pain; she nudged him, rolling her eyes, and said, "Naruto, there's no need to yell. We're all in the same room."
He stuck his tongue out at her, earning himself a slap to the back of the head this time, but he laughed at the halfhearted action. Amaya watched the two in amusement a moment or two before replying excitedly, "Look!" She pointed out the window above the sink to the backyard.
The two did as asked, turning their gaze to the window. Sakura's lips turned upward in a delighted smile as Naruto cried out happily, "Snow!"
"The first of the season," Amaya smiled, turning to her previous task of fixing lunch. Naruto giggled like a small boy and grabbed Sakura's hand, yanking her toward the door; Sakura squeaked in surprise, pulling back, crying, "Naruto! What are you doing?"
"C'mon Sakura-chan, let's go outside!" Naruto insisted, tugging her harder. Sakura shook her head in dismay, replying, "Naruto. We're not kids; besides, you'll freeze going out there in shorts and a tank-top!" Naruto looked down at his clothes in surprise, as though he'd forgotten he'd dressed in them.
"Yeah I guess you're right. Well, c'mon, it's not like we didn't pack for this kind of thing! Let's go change!" he grinned at her, changing direction abruptly and beginning to pull her towards their bedroom. Sakura protested, pulling at her wrist in an attempt to dislodge her hand from his; Amaya laughed and called to the disappearing pair, "I'll prepare you a thermos and some supplies." Sakura gave the old woman an exasperated look before disappearing around the corner.
After a good amount of time spent begging and whining, Naruto finally convinced Sakura to go play in the snow with him; he grinned in triumph, skipping away as she changed into her winter apparel. He gathered a basket full of various items from Amaya, gave her a kiss on the cheek in thanks, then grabbed Sakura's mitten-clad hand to drag her out into the snow.
Sakura laughed lightly at the blonde's enthusiasm, pulling back just under the porch, causing Naruto to stop and toss her an impatient look over his shoulder. Sakura smiled softly, clutching his hand and pulling him back towards her gently. His blue eyes widened a bit as she leaned in, but all she did was reach up to pull a cap over his head and twine a scarf around his neck, tucking it into his winter coat snuggly. She pat his chest, satisfied, and then stepped out into the snow, leaving Naruto to stare after her a moment before grinning and running to catch up.
"It's been snowing way before Amaya-san called us to see it," Sakura mentioned in slight surprise, her breath coming out in a puff of air. She surveyed the yard; everything was covered in at least two feet of snow, proof of how long the snow had been falling. If she had to guess, it had probably begun even before she and Naruto had woken; with the events of the morning, however, neither had paid much attention.
"Awesome! That means there's more to use!" Naruto announced happily, his boots crunching softly as he made his way towards the middle of the yard. Sakura raised a brow, though amusement shown in her eyes, and she asked simply, "Use?"
"To build a snowman, of course!" he answered matter-of-factly. Sakura laughed, shaking her head as she touched a hand to her face, hiding her grin. What a kid.
Naruto stopped, looking over a section of the ground before nodding seriously and flopping onto his back, snow puffing up around him as he proceeded to make a snow-angel, giggling like a little child. Once he had finished he carefully picked himself up, trying his best not to ruin the newly-made shape. He teetered a moment as he regained his feet, but jumped forward before he could ruin the snow-angel. Grinning, he pointed at it and looked at Sakura.
"Your turn!"
Sakura raised a brow and replied in a serious tone, "I don't know Naruto...I happen to be the champion snow-angel maker. You might not want to chance it." Naruto stared at her a moment before bursting out into laugher.
"Sakura-chan!" The kunoichi grinned, making her way towards him; she studied his angel a moment before 'tsk'-ing as though disappointed, shaking her head for emphasis.
"No, no; let me show you how it's done." And with that, she flopped on her back into the snow beside his angel, proceeding to make her own. She finished and flawlessly removed herself from the imprint, leaving a perfect snow-angel. Naruto raised a brow.
"Tie," he finally declared, nodding decisively. Sakura mock-glared at him and shook her head, replying, "No way. Mine's totally better." Naruto met her gaze, challenge blazing in the blue depths.
"What, you wanna go to war over it?" he questioned, smirking. Sakura smirked back and stepped up to him, murmuring, "So what if I do?"
Naruto grinned and disappeared into a cloud of smoke as a snowball smashed into the back of pinkette's the head. She whirled in surprise, jade gaze locking to cobalt; Naruto was on the other side of the yard now, tossing a new snowball in his hand. He grinned at her, and then winked.
"Then its war!" he declared, firing the snowball. Sakura yelped, ducked, and ran to take cover behind one of the few trees in Amaya's yard. Naruto laughed, firing yet another, this one splattering against the bark of the tree.
"Wait, wait!" Sakura laughed, holding out her hands. Naruto lifted his arm, preparing to pelt her with another snowball, but paused, lifting a brow in question. Sakura smiled and suggested, "Can't we at least build ourselves a decent fort first?"
Naruto grinned proudly; Sakura was finally willing to play. As a reward, he agreed to take a time out long enough for them each to build forts before they once again declared war.
The snowballs fell like miniature bombs, most hitting flimsy snow-forts or the sides of the house, though some managed to hit their mark. Amaya watched from her living-room window, sipping on coffee and smiling at the two young one's actions. It was nice to see them having so much fun after having worked so hard since they'd arrived; they were still children, after all, at least in comparison to her. She felt they deserved the chance to act like children, at least for a little while.
Outside, Sakura was getting slammed by a barrage of snowballs, her rickety little fort failing to protect her. She gasped as snow found its way beneath her clothes, chilling her skin, but had no opportunity to call for a time out before a new barrage of snow came at her. She shrieked, laughing, covering her head with her arms as she ran for sturdier cover.
Naruto grinned as he saw Sakura retreat to the edge of the house. He held up a hand, signaling the clones he'd made to cease fire. He waited a moment, listening, before calling out, "Do you surrender, Sakura-chan?" Receiving no answer, he grinned and motioned for two of his clones to sneak around the side of the house and ambush Sakura from one side, instructing two more to do the same by following the same route she had taken to go into hiding. This left him with six clones, three of whom were continuing to create snowballs for their arsenal.
"Sakura-chan...!" Naruto called in a sing-song voice, covering for the footsteps his clones would undoubtedly make in the snow. "You can't hide forever, Sakura-chan! C'mon out and admit surrender!"
To his left, three of his clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke, causing him to turn in surprise; to his right, the rest of his clones disappeared as well. Naruto spun on his heel just in time to see a pink blur rush at him; he blocked the halfhearted punch, engaging in playful hand-to-hand combat with Sakura for a while before she leapt at him. Laughing at the uncharacteristic move for the pinkette, Naruto dodged easily but watched in shock as the girl disappeared into a puff of smoke, a mischievous grin on her lips.
"Wha—a shadow clone?!" he cried in surprise, turning to search for the real Sakura. He was introduced instead with a face-full of snow. Sputtering, he wiped at his eyes, blinking through the frozen particles to see a smirking Sakura standing in front of his arsenal of snowballs. He chuckled nervously as two of her shadow clones appeared from around the two sides of the house, flanking him.
"Sakura-chan...we can come to a truce, right? Sakura-chan...?"
Sakura grinned at him smugly, reaching down and grasping a snowball in each hand. Her clones followed suit, waiting for her signal.
"I don't recall agreeing to the use of outside force in our little dispute, Naruto." Sakura said conversationally, her jade gaze filled with amusement as they locked onto his. He grinned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, shrugging.
"What can I say, all's fair in love and war, right?" he chuckled. Sakura snorted, eyes narrowing even as she smiled; instantly, he was pelted with snowballs from the clones. Yelping at the cold, Naruto turned to retreat but Sakura was faster. She leapt forward, grabbing a handful of his coat, turning him back to face her and planting both snowballs in his face.
Naruto sputtered even as he grabbed her by her own coat and pulled her close; their feet tangled and they fell to the ground, Sakura on top of Naruto. She laughed, grabbing another fistful of snow and shoving it under his scarf. Naruto howled at the cold even as he began laughing, realizing how easily Sakura had tricked him and used his own ambush strategy against him.
"That's for cheating," the pinkette whispered in his ear; Naruto's eyes widened as he realized their proximity, the warmth of her breath a direct contrast to the freezing snow. Sakura sat up so that she could see his face; her triumphant grin made him realize for the second time that day just how pretty she was. Naruto smiled softly, reaching up to run his fingers over her cheek, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear; Sakura stopped giggling, now staring at him in surprise, confused by the sudden change in his demeanor. Naruto gave her a big grin, chuckling at his loss, even as he dumped a fistful of snow down the neck of her winter coat.
Sakura squealed, jumping up and away from him as she fought to shake the offending snow from her warm clothing; Naruto continued to lie where he was, laughing as though his little trick was the funniest thing in the world.
A huge armful of snow suddenly cut off his laughter as it landed on his face. Sakura grinned as he jumped out from beneath it, shivering convulsively and coughing, his cheeks apple-red from the cold. Once he'd regained his breath, the two looked at each other, smiling, each expecting the other to try yet another trick.
When it appeared neither had anything else up their sleeve, Naruto stuck out a hand and asked, "Truce?" Sakura giggled and nodded, locking her fore-and-middle fingers with his to create the symbol of harmony.
"C'mon, let's get something warm in our bellies before we make snowmen," Sakura suggested, tugging him towards the porch where they opened the basket, revealing a thermos of hot chocolate and various supplies for adequate snowman building. They sat close together, sharing body heat and hot chocolate, laughing as they discussed their snowball fight and planned how to build their snowmen.
Hope you enjoyed! I'm going to be honest & tell you up-front, I have no idea when the next UD will be. I haven't written the next chapter, and as mentioned above, college is back in session. On the brighter side, I do still know where I want to take this fic; the only thing is, I'm unsure how long it'll take to get there.
Even so, thank you all for sticking with me (and my irregular updating periods) and supporting both this fic and me. I can't express enough how much I appreciate it; seeing that someone has faved/followed/reviewed always makes me smile and brightens my day. THANK YOU, YOU FANTASTIC PEOPLE YOU! :D
~Miah-Chan
