DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
[Light Duty Mini-arc]
Chapter 28: Normal Again
"Naruto-kun."
Naruto's eyes began to tear up as his name was called out in her voice. A voice he almost believed he would never hear again but here she was, alive and well in Konoha's hospital. Naruto rushed to her side and grabbed a hold of her hand. She, however, pulled him in and hugged him and gave him a passionate kiss.
"I'm so sorry for being a jerk beforeā¦"
"It's okay, it doesn't matter anymore," Sakura interrupted. "I'm just so glad you're here now. You just need to know that I love you"
"I love you too," Naruto said. "So how are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling better, Tsunade-sama said I'll be released tomorrow," Sakura answered.
"What happened out there?" Naruto asked.
"I don't remember," Sakura said. "All I can remember is I found a man wearing that blue cloak about to hurt and elderly man, after that I can't remember anything. Tsunade-sama said when I was brought back, I was unconscious from near chakra depletion and she said I might have taken a blow to the head."
"Sakura-chan, I was so scared that I had lost you," Naruto said, getting emotional. "Nothing has ever scared me this much since Gaara during the Chunin Exams until now."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped into a fight with these Tatsumaki ninja," Sakura said, squeezing Naruto's hand.
Silence fell between the two as Naruto tried to calm himself down. Sakura was waiting for Naruto to feel better before asking him about her students.
"Has Ankoku or Aki come by to see you?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know, I regained consciousness yesterday morning," answered Sakura. "I haven't asked Tsunade about them."
"Ankoku is the one who made it to the village and made us aware you were in trouble in the first place," Naruto began. "Tsunade-baachan arranged a team of me, Hinata, Kiba and Shino led by Kakashi-sensei to find you and your other two students. The first day of our search, we found Aki and send her back with Shino. We just got back from picking Shinji up from Sunagakure's hospital."
"Shinji ended up in Sunagakure?" asked Sakura. "I feel like a horrible teacher for telling them to run away."
"No, you're not," Naruto said. "You did the right thing, these Tatsumaki ninja are not to be taken lightly."
"You let your team fight off the Tatsumaki when you went to rescue Konohamaru in Nami no Kuni," Sakura. "So I feel like I didn't believe in my students' ability to help fight."
"What happened in Nami no Kuni was different, my Genin were attacked and forced to fight, if I had been in your situation, I would have told them to run too."
There was a knock on the door and Sakura yelled for whoever it was to come in. The door opened to reveal her three students.
"I'll let you have some time with your students," Naruto said and he walked out.
The door opened to Naruto's apartment as Naruto carefully ushered Sakura into the living room. He sat her down on the couch and went to the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from the top cabinet and filled it with water. He walked back to the couch with the water and gave it to Sakura who took it from his hand and drank it. She finished it without stopping to take a breath. Naruto took the glass from Sakura and placed it in the sink.
"I was a real mess when we were searching for you and your team," Naruto said breaking the silence. "I didn't know what to do and I felt like shit thinking that you might have died and the last things we had said to each other was a dumb fight."
Sakura got up and walked over to Naruto and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I'm so sorry you went through all of this but let's make a promise right now," Sakura said.
"What kind of a promise?" asked Naruto.
"No matter the fight, let's promise not to go to bed or go out on missions angry at each other so that we never have to feel this way again," Sakura answered.
Naruto turned around and was now face to face with Sakura. Sakura was surprised to see tears had been leaking from his eyes.
"I promise," Naruto said and the two kissed passionately.
The two broke the intense kiss and Naruto finally felt better than he had in the last week. The sound of Sakura's stomach broke him out of his thoughts and he laughed a bit.
"You keep resting and I'll make us some instant ramen," Naruto said.
At first, Sakura was going to protest the instant ramen but decided against it since it was the only thing he could really make besides toast.
"Ok, thanks," Sakura said as she sat back down on the couch.
Naruto grabbed two instant ramen cups from the food pantry and filled an kettle with water to boil it. While doing this, a knock came to the door.
"Who could that be?" asked Sakura. "You expecting any visitors today?"
"No I wasn't," Naruto said as he walked to the door.
He opened it to find Ankoku, Aki and Shinji at the door. Naruto was surprised, he didn't realize they knew where Sakura lived.
"Who is it Naruto?" Sakura yelled from the other room.
Naruto didn't say anything to Sakura's students but placed his finger up to his mouth signaling them to be quiet. The three Genin nodded and quietly followed Naruto into the apartment.
"Well, who is it?" Sakura asked again.
"Oh, just these three kids," Naruto said as Ankoku, Aki and Shinji appeared.
"Ankoku, Aki, Shinji, what are you all doing here?" asked Sakura.
"We went by the hospital today to see if you were okay, but Hokage-sama said you had just been discharged and then she told us you were living with Naruto-sensei and where he lived," Aki answered. "We also got you these."
Aki held up a bouquet of yellow and white flowers and attached was a get well card.
"Thank you guys so much," Sakura said.
"So are you okay, Sakura-sensei?" asked Shinji.
"Yes, I am fine. I just need to rest for a few days and I'll be back to normal," Sakura answered.
"Hokage-sama gave us a week off, so where do you want to meet up next week for a first mission back from our medical leave?" asked Ankoku.
"Same place at the same time," Sakura answered.
"We better get going but I, I mean we are glad you're okay," Aki said.
The three Genin left and Naruto closed the door and locked it.
"Sweet kids, which kind of freaked me out since Hiroshi told me those three always antagonize him, Shiro and Himawari," Naruto said.
"Well, kids will be kids," Sakura said.
"Oh, the ramen!" Naruto said as he scurried back to the kitchen.
"I'm tired of these lame ass missions we've been given for the past week!" yelled Hiroshi. "When is Naruto-sensei going to get back!"
"You've been saying the same thing every day since Naruto-sensei left, can you please just shut up!" Shiro added.
"Shiro's right, you should be more patient, Naruto-sensei will return soon," Himawari said.
Hiroshi went quiet as they waited for their temporary sensei. As time passed and that sensei hadn't shown up yet made Hiroshi believe Naruto was finally back.
"So did you guys miss me," said a voice that Hiroshi recognized.
The three Genin turned around to find Naruto standing on a tree branch above them.
"Naruto-sensei!" Hiroshi yelled. "I'm so glad you are back!"
"I'm glad to be back," Naruto said.
"So what amazingly cool mission are we going on today?" asked Hiroshi.
Naruto looked at Hiroshi like the kid was going crazy.
"He's been like this since you left," Shiro said. "He's been wanting a real mission for days."
Naruto sighed, "Well I hate to disappoint you Hiroshi, but we won't be doing any 'amazingly cool' missions today. Your finishing your crop harvesting mission that you started yesterday."
"Ah man, I want a real mission!" protested Hiroshi.
"I know, but Tsunade-baachan put us on light duty until the end of the week to help me recover from that emergency mission."
Hiroshi sighed, "I understand."
Naruto opened the door to his apartment. Sakura was sitting on the couch drinking a glass of water. It was already night time as his team didn't finish their mission until nearly sunset. Sakura was happy he was home as Naruto sat on the couch next to her and the two shared a kiss.
"You look tired; you have a rough day?" asked Sakura.
"Not rough, just long," Naruto answered. "I wanted them to finish their D rank mission today and it ended up taking all day."
"I was kind of worried you were sent off on another week long mission or something without telling me," Sakura said.
"No, Tsunade-baachan is keeping us on light duty for the rest of the week. She also said something about something big is going to be happening here soon as well so we'll see," Naruto said. "Besides, she wants me here to take care of you while you recover from those broken ribs you suffered."
Naruto pulled out a scroll and walked to the table and opened it. Naruto released the seal and Ichiraku Ramen appeared.
"Come and eat, I brought home dinner," Naruto said.
Sakura smiled as Naruto helped her to her feet and walked to the table to sit down and eat.
Sorry for the delay in getting the next chapter out and that its a bit short. I decided to write a small arc to have a little break from the action. This small arc will only be two chapters long but enjoy.
Next Up: Without A Trace
