DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I want it, I do not own Naruto. I am still only borrowing the characters and promise to return them in good condition – well, maybe slightly battered... or if their extremely lucky - sexually used! This chapter is dedicated to Hanmac - sorry it doesn't quite end the way you're hoping, but it's close...

Chapter Ten:
No Apologies

So please, please, just let me make my peace.
I refuse to let your words be the death of me.
Please, please, just let me live my life.
Stop living in my shadow and just make it right.
~Falling in Reverse~

"Mah, you two kids might want to take that somewhere private."

Kakashi's voice broke through the passionate haze surrounding Naruto and Sakura. He slowly pulled back. She took a little longer to recover her wits. Naruto had to help her take her hands away from the back of his neck.

"I'm not going to say I'm sorry," he said in a gruff whisper, internally smiling over the look of bemusement on her face. "I've wanted to do that for a long, long time." She still hadn't recovered from his touch, and that fact pleased the hell out of him. Not that he had fully recovered either. He was breathing hard and having trouble controlling the urge to kiss her again. "Sleep with me, Sakura," he blurted out before he could think. "I can make you so happy."

He heard her gasp before a hand cracked soundly against his cheek that had his ears ringing and teeth rattling. Her simmering temper needed an outlet, one that wouldn't be misconstrued, and she took it.

Naruto had looked up instantly, only to meet the emerald fury in Sakura's eyes. That had been no light slap of feminine outrage to make a point. A potent rage had been behind that blow. And she was not done.

"I will not share like a…like a… like an odalisques'," she hissed in a frigid tone.

"An Oda what?" said Naruto bemusedly as he watched her stomp away. When she walked out on him, he saw red. He hadn't realized how much of that haze had been due to lust.

He knew now.

"An odalisques' is a woman that is part of a harem," said Kakashi, not taking his eyes off the page he was reading. "There's a really great story about them in the third Icha Icha book."

Naruto fingered his cheek absently as he watched her turn the corner and disappear from his sight, and then suddenly a glint of humor appeared in his eyes. She was feisty and opinionated, and he wouldn't have it any other way. She was just so passionate about everything. A low growl escaped his lips as he privately wondered if she would be just a passionate in bed.

To Naruto's great surprise, Kakashi suddenly grabbed his arm and used the Body Flicker technique to move them far away from prying eyes.

"What gives?" he asked as he found himself in an empty training field.

Kakashi stared pointedly at Naruto's hands and said, "You tell me."

Naruto looked down in confusion. His nails were sharp and pointed and if he had a mirror, he just knew that his eyes were most likely red and slitted in an animalistic way. "Oh… damn… not again," he groaned.

"This has happened before?"

"It just started pretty recently. Usually when I'm asleep and having dreams."

"Are you losing control?"

"Not exactly," he sighed and then threw himself down on the ground. "Kurama says it's not him. He thinks it's more of an animal instinct thing."

"Animal instinct?"

"Yeah, well you know that I have a little bit of all the other beasts' chakra in me. He thinks that when I'm feeling really strong emotion, some of their behaviors overpower mine. I don't know… it's hard to explain."

"So what kind of animal instincts are we talking about?"

Naruto turned bright red and mumbled something.

"What was that?" asked Kakashi.

"I said the need to mate."

"But you've been with other girls before."

Desperately wishing he was not having this conversation with his sensei, he muttered, "Yeah well, I wasn't in love with any of them. I mean, I liked them and all, but that's all."

And then he remembered what he had stupidly said to Sakura. "Oh god, I'm such an idiot." He looked as if he wanted to bang his head against the nearest tree. "Just put me out of my misery and kill me now."

"Mah," chuckled Kakashi at the look on Naruto's face, "That's just how it is… men have been making fools out of themselves since the beginning of time when it comes to women. You're not the first and certainly not the last."

~o~O~o~

In such a fury, Sakura completely missed the street leading to her apartment and soon found herself at the location that was once her old house.

As she slowly drifted through the construction site, thoughts were spinning madly in her head. She trailed her fingertips over her lips and then blew out a long sigh. With the firefly mission coming soon, she knew she had to figure things out quickly. The memory of that kiss and her reaction to it bothered her. It was what she wanted, wasn't it?

Leaning her head back against the building, she closed her eyes. Naruto's image immediately sprang to the forefront of her mind. Piercing blue eyes. Broad shoulders. Lean muscled chest. Large hands… She shivered, remembering the touch of those hands on her arms, on her skin. The hard length of his body pressed against hers, the way his tongue had plundered her mouth…

Shivers raced through her body and then like a cold dousing of water, the cloud kunoichi's image came to mind. How could she compete with something like that? And then she thought of Naruto's invitation. Yeah, so maybe he was really interested in her, but she didn't want to become just another notch in his bedpost.

Sakura grimaced. She has slapped him, and not just a love tap. She really wanted to talk to Ino to help her figure things out, but she was spending time with her mom. What she really needed was clarity.

"Baa-chan says that a little bit of sake helps her think more rationally."

Naruto's words echoed in her head. The more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded… not that she was trying to avoid her conflicting thoughts or anything … "A couple of drinks wouldn't hurt," she said aloud.

~o~O~o~

Naruto was breathing hard, his muscles were on fire, and he was covered in sweat. After talking to Kakashi, he decided to go for a very long run. He had just barely returned home, stripped down to a baggy pair of shorts to cool off, and grabbed a bottle of water when he heard a loud thump from the hallway.

Naruto made his way to the front door. He pulled it open and stopped. There, sitting in her door way, with one hand still on the knob and her back leaned against the door, was Sakura.

"Naruto!" she shouted.

"Great!" Naruto thought. "Not only has she been drinking, but she is absolutely smashed."

"Hi Sakura, been doing a little drinking tonight have you?" Naruto couldn't help but smile as she made an adorable scrunched up face while thinking about her answer.

"Nope, been doing a lot of drinking. I feel all tingly."

"Tingly?"

She abruptly grimaced. "Except for my nose. I can't feel my nose at all. It's still there, isn't it?"

Naruto swallowed a laugh as he reached out to lightly tap her nose. She was unexpectedly endearing when she was tanked. "Safe and sound in the center of your face," he assured her.

"Good. I don't like it very much, but I wouldn't want to lose it."

"No, a nose is a good thing to have," he said with a touch of humor.

Sakura ran an appraising eye up and down his bare chest and smiled. "What have you been up too? Having hot monkey sex with some super-hot, big breasted, perfect little slut? That's what all the boys are doing these days." With that final statement, Sakura's door gave way and she fell backwards into her apartment with a muffled oomph.

Naruto, taken aback at her comment, stood there watching as her back and head hit the floor. "Sakura, are you alright? Would you like me to help you up?" Her only response was a very small giggle.

"You look really good from down here." Naruto was standing above Sakura, trying to assess if she was hurt. "Maybe I should stop wearing underwear under my clothes too. It would be one less complication in my life."

He stared dumbfounded at the woman lying on the floor, until Sakura's words finally registered in Naruto's brain and he jumped back several feet. "I was… um just running."

Since he couldn't leave Sakura laid out in the door way to her apartment while he went to change, he quickly scooped her up off the floor and headed toward her bedroom.

On the way there, Sakura was all hands. She was twisting and turning and touching everywhere on Naruto she could get to.

"I've always wondered what your muscles would feel like under my hands. It's even better than I imagined. Only I always thought you'd be sweaty from some acrobatic sex, not whatever you've been up to."

Naruto stumbled momentarily at her admission, but he held tight to Sakura and got his footing back. Sakura's wandering hands were gliding over his biceps to his chest and then lower still to map each individual abdominal muscle.

"Sakura, stop! You're drunk and don't know what you're saying or doing. I'm going to take you to your bed, lay you down, get you a glass of water and an aspirin and let you pass out in peace." It took all of Naruto's will power not to notice how perfectly Sakura fit against his chest, or how right her hands felt exploring his body like he'd imagined her doing for so long.

Just when he didn't think he could keep his body under control any longer, he was lying Sakura down on her bed.

"Don't leave. I wasn't done exploring yet. I haven't gotten to the best part!" Sakura attempted to snag Naruto back to her, but he was just out of reach of her greedy little hands.

"Oh god, please stop. What is wrong with you? I've never seen you like this. How much did you have to drink? What did you have to drink actually?" Naruto was staring into Sakura's unfocused eyes as she let out a sigh.

"Why… is the sake gone?" Sakura asked before she broke into another round of giggles. Well that explained what she drank. Now all he needed was for her to talk to him about why instead of coming home and speaking with him, she drowned her feelings in a bottle.

But talking to a drunk about anything was a challenge; especially, when that drunk is unbelievably sexy and trying to use your body as a scratching post. It was impossible.

"Sakura-chan, I need you to talk to me. How did you get home?" Naruto asked hoping she had not walked by herself. There were a lot of construction sites throughout Konoha that could be dangerous in the dark when someone was too drunk to be aware of their surroundings.

"I walked." Sakura stated with a serious face.

"With who? Because I swear if you walked home by yourself in the state you're in, I will bend you over my knee and spank your ass this instant." Naruto groaned and looked to the ceiling. Why did he have to say the one thing he knew he shouldn't? And why did it look like Sakura wanted him to do just that.

"Well, now I want to lie and say yes. You don't make telling the truth easy on a girl." Sakura was sprawled out in what her mind was probably a seductive pose. When in all reality, she looked like a rag doll that had been thrown on the bed.

"Sakura, I'm going to get you some water. Please stay on the bed and try not to fall off." She gave him a salute and Naruto left the room; coming back a few minutes later with a tall glass of water and two aspirin he had found in her bathroom cabinet.

She was still in the same spot he had left her. Only now, adorable snoring sounds were coming from her unconscious body. Naruto shook his head and placed the water and pills on her nightstand. After carefully removing her coat, sandals and headband; which right now were the only articles of clothing his poor nerves could handle being removed from her, Naruto gently moved Sakura's head to rest on her pillow. He pulled her comforter up to her chin, kissed her on the cheek, and with one last look back, left the room.

After picking up her purse and keys from the entry way, Naruto made sure her lights were off and the door was locked, before leaving her to sleep it off.

Once back in his apartment, Naruto threw himself down on the couch. What the hell had that all been about? Even though he knew she had enjoyed their kiss, she had been angry about it after she came to her senses. Of course, that could have been because of his thoughtless remark. But since when had Sakura become so sensual and provocative? And why was she talking about his body like it was a present she couldn't wait to unwrap?

Naruto had to keep reminding himself of the circumstances. She was drunk. It didn't mean anything. She would have acted the same way with anyone else. That thought made Naruto see red. He needed to get his head together; both of them. He went to take a shower.

As the warm water cascaded over his tense muscles, all Naruto could think about was the woman sleeping in the next apartment. How right she had felt against his bare chest. How the spark of desire he had seen in her eyes was now igniting what was turning out to be one of the most painful erections he had ever had. No matter how hard he tried, Naruto could not will it away.

After washing his hair and body, Naruto took his hard shaft in hand. With a firm grip, he began pumping up and down with quick jerks. With every pass of his hand over the sensitized head, Naruto's mind imagined Sakura on her knees in front of him; placing her warm, wet mouth over the head and with almost painful suction taking him all the way to the root.

Ever since that day at the hot springs a few months ago when he accidently saw her naked, anytime he needed a release all he had to do was think about her strong athletic body rising out of the water, and he was on the edge in seconds.

With that final thought in his head, Naruto's seed exploded all over the back wall of his shower. His hand kept sliding up and down his now semi erect shaft until every last spasm had left his body.

As he turned the water off and went to get ready for bed, one thing kept running through Naruto's mind. There was no possible way for him to keep his feelings bottled up inside now that he knew how good her hands felt on his skin, and that she had apparently thought about him or at least his body a time or two herself.

He laid in bed for an hour before he got up and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He needed to talk to someone.

~o~O~o~

Naruto decided waking the bastard up wasn't going to be easy. Especially since he had knew Sasuke went to bed only an hour or two ago. He grabbed a handful of ice from the freezer and headed in the direction of Sasuke's room with an evil grin on his face. Naruto gave a soft "rise and shine Sasuke" a second before depositing the handful of ice on Sasuke's bare stomach.

"Ahhhh!" Sasuke screamed as he jumped off the bed smacking the ice in every direction. "What the fuck is the matter with you? Who wakes someone up like that? A simple 'wake up Sasuke' would have done just fine."

"My way was a lot more fun." Naruto said with undisguised mischief.

"Fun will be me tackling your ass to the ground and making you beg for mercy." Sasuke still looked half asleep as he made the threat.

"Quit your bitching. I need your help with something and after all the times I've helped you out, you owe me." The sooner they started talking, the sooner Sasuke would tell Naruto to quit being a pussy and go get laid. Sasuke's answer for any problem involving a woman was to find another less complicated one.

"Can't this wait? I just went to bed like three hours ago. If you want to talk to someone, than talk to the other idiot that lives here." Sasuke had started to climb back in bed when Naruto grabbed his arm.

"If you don't get up right now, it's going to be a bucket of ice water next. And besides, Sai would be clueless." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto, but got back up and headed into the living room.

"Do I have time to make tea before we talk or am I forbidden from that too?"

Naruto laughed and told Sasuke to sit down while he got the tea ready.

Ten minutes later, Sasuke was slightly less grumpy after taking a few sips of his tea. He looked up at the clock and asked, "So are you going to tell me what has your panties in a wad at such an ungodly hour?"

"Well, it's a just little confusing. I kissed Sakura tonight, then she hit me, ran away and then she got drunk and basically said she wanted me.

The gulp of tea Sasuke had just taken was now deposited all over the front of Naruto's shirt. Naruto reached for a napkin to wipe off with while Sasuke sat in the chair across from him laughing like a fool.

Naruto relayed all the events of the past several hours to Sasuke. Everything from Sakura finding out about Suzume, her getting drunk, the comments about his body and the looks she gave it. After he finished the story Sasuke had lost all of his cockiness and became somber.

"So you kissed and then insulted her a second later by asking for a quick fuck? Tch, you really are a moron."

"I really need to talk to Sakura, but I don't know what to say to her. This is all so messed up. I don't want a quick anything from her… I want it all." Naruto could no longer sit still. He got up and started pacing around the small kitchen.

"So you said something stupid. Sakura's used to that by now and yet she still likes you. Man up and grow a pair already. Just talk to her. Tell her what you really want. You two are already best friends. Adding some making out and sex to that can only make it better." Sasuke said with a slight smirk.

Finally a small laugh came from Naruto. "Man, only you would make this whole thing about sex. But thanks, you actually have helped a lot. I guess I already knew what I have to do."

"That's just the kind of sweet guy I am. Now go tell your woman you love her and let me get back to bed. This is too many emotions for me at three in the damn morning."

With a nod and cheeky grin goodbye, Naruto left the kitchen and entered his room. One thing was for sure, he needed to talk to Sakura. By the end of the day, he would know one way or another where he stood with her.

Naruto got in bed and fell into an uneasy sleep. Dreaming of a pink haired woman that meant more to him than any one person should.

AN:

Thanks to everyone that followed/favorited/commented on the last chapter!

The Tale of the Orange Hokage by b.b. miller: Starts when Naruto is returning from his training. Will skip forward quickly until about 5 years post war. It's still pretty early in this fic, it's not too bad so far. There are a few spelling and grammatical mistakes, but nothing too major.

Ja Ne,

AZFAERYDUST