Hey, bet you never thought you'd hear from me again. Sorry about that, I've been really busy lately with school work, moving back TO school, plus doing the revisions, etc. etc. All in all it's been a busy time. But I'm back with another chapter. It's not the one I promised, sorry again. But there were some things I wanted to accomplish before I put up the chapter with Shinigami. I'm already working on that chapter, so I'll give some teasers in the end. Also, I've proofread all the previous chapters, and actually extended them. For example, I added more to the Danzou rebellion and to the Kyuubi fight. So if something in this chapter doesn't make sense, it's because I've added something. So be sure to check that out. (Long introduction, huh) And with that, on with the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own this story
Also, big thanks to my beta-reader deafdrum, he's a great help. He's also writing a story called The Fall of Naruto, in case any of you readers want to check it out.
Chapter 9: It's a filler, With a Purpose
Naruto woke up early in the morning, and noticed that Sakura was still asleep in his arms. He winced as she snuggled into his chest, but he didn't dare wake her. He didn't want to disturb the loving and peaceful look on her face. After all they had been through the night before, she deserved to sleep.
He couldn't believe it, the girl of his dreams actually loves him. Naruto quickly brought his finger up to his face and bit it, "Ow!" 'Yep, definitely not dreaming.'
Sakura woke up when she heard Naruto, and quickly entered medic-mode, checking his condition.
"Sakura-chan, it's okay, I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming." Sakura just stared at him confused. "I mean, I've always dreamed about you...and me. And I just wanted to make sure this was all real."
Sakura giggled at Naruto, before leaning in and giving Naruto a kiss. "It's not a dream Naruto-kun." Naruto just flashed his trademark grin, as he held tightly to Sakura.
"Besides, if this were a dream, I would be beautiful, and not covered in mud and blood, with wet clothes and ragged hair." Sakura said while quickly looking herself over, noticing she hadn't showered since before the Shinsei no Matsuri.
"It's okay Sakura-chan, you're amazingly beautiful no matter what."
"You're sweet, but that's no excuse to be filthy. Besides, we need to get you cleaned up as well, as well as get you some clothes." Sakura stared at Naruto's body, hungrily, noticing the defined muscles through all the bandages, while Naruto blushed bright red because he had just noticed that he was only wearing his boxers.
"I'm going to get cleaned up, then we'll see about getting you cleaned up. I'll need to clean and dress those wounds, so it would probably be best if I gave you a sponge bath." Sakura said as she went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, but not before Naruto noticed the smile on her face.
Naruto looked around the room and saw his traveling pack on the floor. 'Guess Ero-Sennin brought it while we were asleep.' He walked over and quickly changed into his swim trunks (which were orange), and took out the only set of clothing he had left (the clothes he wears in part 2). He then quickly laid back down, and waited for Sakura to finish her shower. Slowly a smile much like Jiraiya's crept upon his face, 'I'm going to enjoy this.'
Shizune quickly made her way down the hall to the Hokage's quarters. A meeting was supposed to be held today to decide the fate of the traitors and to fill out all the paperwork with the Kazekage to once again become a nation. She opened the door, and quickly noticed Tsunade with Jiraiya in a VERY compromising position. She quickly shut the door and walked away, praying that they didn't notice her, and that she wouldn't have any nightmares about what she just saw.
Naruto sat in a large tub, no, it was bigger than large. It was HUGE! (Think of a wading pool that's as deep as a bathtub) They spared no expense in building the Hokage tower, and the bathroom was a prime example of that fact. A walk in shower in the back, two toilets, two sinks, sand color tile covering all the floor, a similar color paint on the walls. Naruto was going to enjoy living here, especially with Sakura. Naruto smirked, laughing lightly to himself.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing Sakura-chan, just happy."
Sakura smiled as she continued what she was doing. Sakura sat in the tub with Naruto, her hair pulled up in a bun, in a red two piece bikini. She was unwrapping Naruto's bandages, and cleaning all the dirt and blood off with a sponge.
Sakura dabbed the sponge lightly across his back, mud and blood melting from his body. She then reached over to a tray and pulled out a pair of surgeons scissors, and began to remove the crude stitches that she and Tsunade had created the night before. As she removed the stitches, she was careful to clean and disinfect the wounds, before using her chakra to close the wound.
After some time, she finished with his back and arms, and turned Naruto around to work on the front of his body, and his legs. She began to remove some stitches on his chest, she noticed him wince and she hesitated. Naruto smiled at her, and regaining her confidence she continued. She continued to wash and heal his chest, his stomach, and his legs, until Naruto looked almost normal again, except for some slight scarring.
She took the sponge and started to clean Naruto's face, to which he laughed and protested slightly, but soon gave in. Sakura looked at his healed, tan, body. His rippling abs, strong defined arms, calloused hands that, though tough, were surprisingly gentle. A slight blush crossed her cheeks as she looked over his body, she looked up and locked eyes with Naruto. Those eyes, so full of love, passion, and longing.
Naruto was thinking much the same thing. Sakura with her smooth, pale skin, that was just covered by the red two piece. He noticed the subtle curves of her chest, her slender waist and full hips. Her hands, long, slender, gentle. To think those are the hands that have pummeled him constantly. He looked up into her eyes, her beautiful jade eyes. Eyes full of love, passion, and longing.
Sakura straddled Naruto's waist, her hands wondering across his body, the firmness of the muscles. Naruto slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her up into a passionate kiss. With the steam from the water, how they were wet, it was quite...romantic. They held, touched, and kissed for what seemed like hours, until they were both out of breath. Naruto placed his forehead against Sakura, both of their eyes closed, and softly wispered "I love you, Sakura-chan."
"I love you too Naruto." Naruto smiled the biggest smile Sakura had ever seen, she had never seen him so...happy.
Naruto stood up, and held out his hand to bring Sakura with him. "Well, lets go, I need to get some more clothes."
"Yeah, me too."
As Sakura followed Naruto into the main room, Inner-Sakura chimed in, 'Dammit! I was so close to finally getting him. You had him, in the palm of your hand, Why!'
'Shut up, Naruto wouldn't do anything like that, not now anyway. He may be the number one ninja at surprising people, but he can also be a gentleman at times.'
'Well then, we'll just have change that then won't we.'
'Damn straight!'
"Sakura-chan, are you okay, you spaced out there for a minute."
Sakura quickly waved her hand in front of her, "Of course, I'm fine, hahaha."
"Okay then," Naruto just stared at her, and scratched the back of his head.
Kakashi sat at a table of one of the new restaurants, waiting for a late lunch, and reading his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. He looked up and noticed Shino walking down the street reading one of the books as well, and smiled. 'Ahhh, finally other people are beginning to appreciate this fine literature.'
Kakashi then noticed his two students, well former students, coming out of a clothing story. Sakura tossed what looked like Naruto's old orange clothes into a nearby dumpster, and Naruto was now wearing the clothes he wore back at the festival. Naruto was carrying tons of bags, all full of clothes Kakashi assumed.
"Yo!" Sakura turned and noticed her sensei.
"Kakashi-sensei! Come on Naruto, lets go get something to eat." She had to drag Naruto because he couldn't see due to the fact that the bags of clothes were piled higher than he was. Sakura quickly sat down, and Naruto quickly dropped the bags and sat next to her.
"New clothes Naruto?" Kakashi eyed him suspiciously.
"H-Hai...Yeah, two..of the b-bags are mine." Naruto finally managed to huff out, exhausted from being drug from store to store carrying all of those bags. "All the rest are Sakura-chans." Kakashi nodded his head, "Ah, I thought as much."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, a vein started to pulse just above her eye.
"Nothing, nothing at all." Kakashi said quickly, waving his arms in front of him.
A waitress came up to take their orders, and Sakura noticed that she was staring at Naruto...HER Naruto. As the waitress left she winked at Naruto, and Naruto had to grab and hold Sakura down to keep her from going after the waitress.
"That dirty little whore...How dare she!" She said through clenched teeth.
"Calm down Sakura-chan...It's okay, I love you, not her."
"Well, okay. But if she does that again, I'LL BREAK HER LIKE A TWIG!"
Kakashi laughed as Naruto sweat dropped at her declaration.
As they were waiting for their food, they were joined by Neji, Lee, Hinata, Kiba, and Ino, Chouji, and Tenten. The first thing they noticed was that Lee no longer had thick eyebrows, they had been...waxed.
Sakura looked shocked, and it took all she had to keep from laughing, "Lee-kun, what happened?"
"Neji defeated more ANBU soldiers than I did, so..."
"So according to his rule, he had to let me wax his eyebrows." Neji smiled, quite enjoying what was happening. The boys quickly sat down, while the girls grabbed Sakura and quickly ran away. Naruto just watched as they left.
"Well, guess I'm stuck taking the clothes home..." He turned back around to the table and noticed that all the guys, even Kakashi-sensei, were leaning in close.
"So...Naruto, fill us in on your little sleep over."
"Come on forehead, give us the juicy details. We've all seen that solid body of his, tell us what it feels like."
"Well, we haven't gotten that far."
"Why not, you've got him wrapped around your little finger."
Tenten quickly put her arm around Sakura, "Come on, you're the only one who is still a virgin."
"What! You're kidding. Ino, you and Chouji, Ino nodded her head, Tenten, you and Neji Tenten held up a peace sign and even you Hinata!
Hinata blushed, "Y-yes, me and Kiba-kun."
"So come on forehead," All the girls looked towards the table where Naruto was setting. "Look at him, one of the most powerful ninja I've ever met, probably going to be Hokage someday, and lets face it. He's just hot."
"Well..."
"So come on, did you score or not?" Kiba elbowed Naruto in the ribs.
"No, I didn't."
"Come on Naruto-kun. You can tell us, we're your friends." Lee said, his newly waxed eyebrows pleading.
"I'm being honest, really."
Kakashi looked at everybody, "I think he's telling the truth."
Chouji slapped Naruto on the back, "Don't worry Naruto, your time will come."
Naruto looked at Chouji, "Wait, so you mean that you (Naruto points to Chouji), and you (Neji) and you (Kiba) and even you (Lee) have..."
"That's right!" Lee smiled triumphantly.
Kakashi stared for a moment at Lee, and Neji answered his unasked question.
"Lee fell to a girl that beat him in taijutsu."
"Yosh, her youthful spirit was simply amazing in fighting and in..." Neji quickly put his hand over Lee's mouth.
"I think that's enough."
"Face it Naruto, you're the only one at this table who is still a virgin." Kiba said, Naruto slumped his shoulders. "But don't worry, when it happens it will be amazing. Like with me and Hinata, she may be shy in public but man is she a freak in private." Kiba laughed to himself, but stopped when he sensed a strong desire to kill.
Kiba turned and looked at Neji, veins appearing around Neji's eyes. "What did you say about my cousin..."
"Now, c-calm down N-neji. C-c-can't we t-talk this over?"
"You'll pay for disrespecting the Hyuugas like this."
"Oh...my...god!"
Kiba jumped up and quickly ran away screaming, Neji right on his heels, Lee and Chouji quickly followed.
"Bye, Naruto-kun. Remember, don't give up."
Hinata looked up and saw Kiba running from Neji, "Oh god, Neji's going after Kiba-kun." Hinata quickly ran off after them, with Tenten right behind her.
"Well, I guess girl talk is over, see ya forehead. They might need a medic-nin to tend to Kiba's injuries."
Sakura stood there for a moment before turning to go back to the table where Naruto was.
Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, noticing he was still down. "Don't worry Naruto, everything will be fine. When the time is right, it will happen. It's not just something that you go and give to anybody. No, this is the ultimate act of love, made to share only with your special person. It connects you both on a spiritual level, connecting your hearts, washing away all trials troubles, regrets. It's like a new start for you both. And when the time comes, you'll know. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto smiled at Kakashi, as Kakashi just ruffled his hair before leaving.
Sakura walked up to Naruto, and leaned over and kissed him, and Naruto just smiled.
"Come on Naruto-kun, lets get home and put our clothes up, and just relax. We need to take it easy, because tomorrow Jiraiya-sama is going to brief us on our mission to save you." She tapped Naruto on the end of the nose before walking towards the Hokage tower.
Naruto watched her sway her hips as she walked, and sighed as he picked up the bags and began to follow her. 'When the time comes I'll know it...right.' Naruto quickly shook his head as he followed his girlfriend.
(A/N): Well, there it is, another chapter. And as I said, I'll give you a hint of the next chapter. They go to the Ichidou no nai (Shrine of the dead), to perform the blood ritual like the ancients did, in order to summon Shinigami, and...who is the, the Yondaime! Why is he here? Well, I know, and you'll just have to wait and see. I'll try to update as soon as I can, so until then. Peace to you all.