Chapter 7

Sakura could not remember a time where she felt more alive than she did in that moment. As Naruto jumped rooftop to rooftop the wind whipped across her face blowing her hair back. She felt her skin absorbing the sun's warm rays and hummed happily resting her chin on Naruto's shoulder. She peeked at him out the corner of her eye. He had grown even more handsome over the years. His hair wild and untamed but that just added to his charm. Her eyes moved to his lips and she could feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She could still feel his lips burning her cheek, it was an intoxicating feeling. One she longed to feel again.

'Stop,' Sakura was angry at herself for letting her mind get carried away. There was nothing to think about because her and Naruto weren't anything. She didn't know where they stood at all. Before she left they were barely teammates let alone friends. She knew what this was, it was unresolved guilt he was trying to rid himself of. She was going to enjoy it while it last, before Naruto went back to realizing he was too good for her. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the warmth clearing her mind like she was so used to.

Naruto looked over at Sakura and felt his heart melt, Sakura looked like an angel, her hair glowing in the sunlight almost giving her a halo. He smiled at her, "Hey Sakura-chan anywhere in mind that you want to go?" She opened her jade eyes to see him looking at her with a genuine smile. She was memorized by the way his eyes twinkled in the light, like a clear blue lake. She just shook her head looking around to see where they were. They weren't too far from the training grounds so Naruto decided to go there. He jumped off the roof and onto the ground and heard Sakura let out a small squeal. He peeked at her to make sure she was okay and small her smiling lightly clutching the fabric of his jacket. They came to a secluded training ground and Naruto slowed his pace to a walk making his way over to a group of shaded trees.

Once at the base of the tree Naruto knelt down slowly. Sakura took this as her que to get off. She placed her knees on the ground as well reluctantly unwinding her arms from his shoulders. Naruto sat back and leaned back on his hands watching Sakura as she looked around taking in every detail. Everything she did had his full attention, she was memorizing. He only then realized that she was only dressed in her hospital gown and had thin ankle socks on, even in a plain white baggy dress she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She surprised him by laying down next to where he sat. She put her hands by her side playing with the blades of grass and looked up and sighed happily. Naruto laid down next to her and looked up through the tree's branches towards the sky. The sun's beams cut through the leaves and branches making a memorizing picture.

Sakura felt her heart jump in her throat when she felt her hand being grabbed. She looked down at her hand to find Naruto's finger intertwined with her own. She looked up to meet his face and saw him watching her pensively. Sakura pulled her hand away and watched his lips frown a bit before putting on a fake smile she knew too well. He picked up his hand and moved it away from hers and back to his respective side. Sakura turned her hand over so her palm facing upwards and slid her hand under Naruto intertwining her fingers with his. She watched a look of shock cross over Naruto's features and she felt his hand squeeze hers as a real smile replaced the impostor. A warm fluttering feeling took over her belly. Sakura tried to return his smile with a small one of her own but it felt strange so she turned her attention back up at the leaves. There was silence between the two but it didn't feel awkward, it felt content, it felt natural. .

She inhaled a big breath of fresh air, "I've missed being outside, I've missed everything." Naruto didn't say anything, just looked at her profile as she stared in a trance up at the sky. "I never thought I was going to get out. I gave up hope of ever getting out of there at some point along the way," She looked at him out the corner of her eye and saw his jaw clenched. "It wasn't always like that, at the beginning I thought if I could just get free," she closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists. "But there was no getting free, even if I did they would have won. They made me feel so powerless. I thought death was the only thing that would bring my peace," She whispered. She felt Naruto squeeze her hand and scooch closer to her. "I never thought I would be back in the village. With you," She breathed out, turning her head to look at Naruto. "Thank you for not giving up on trying to rescue me.. But I want you to promise me that you won't do that again," Sakura looked at him with a deathly serious stare. "My life is not worth yours. You are too important to the village.." She swallowed hard trying to keep her voice firm, "To me, to be throwing your life away."

"Sakura-Chan," Naruto gasped. He shook his head not believing what she was saying. He felt his throat tighten and she leaned up on his elbow leaning over so he was looking over her. He used the hand that was not interlocked with Sakura's and brought it to her face he slowly touched her cheek gently stroking it with the pad of his thumb. He was shocked to see that she didn't flinch away but just looked up at him sadly, waiting for confirmation to her ridiculous request.

"I would do anything for you. Anything! Whatever it takes if I could make you happy, but I will not do that! I will not ever stop putting your life before my own," his voice shook with conviction. Sakura looked at him, her jade eyes wide with shock. "You can't ask that from me Sakura-chan. That's one thing I'll never be able to give you."

"Why not," She whispered with tears forming in her eyes.

"You know why Sakura. All those years ago I was angry and hurt," he looked away from her looking up at the leaves trying to find the right words. "I was confused and I rejected your feelings. I dismissed them and that may have made you think my feelings towards you have changed but they have not. I'm more in love with you than I have ever been," he looked back down at Sakura's bewildered face. "That is why Sakura-chan. I can't offer you any better explanation than that."

"I see," Sakura sighed, her cheeks pink and warm. She wanted to look away from his intense stare but she couldn't bring herself to look away. Her mind was racing. She had so many questions, she was confused and thought he was with Hinata. They had been together when they came to rescue her. She couldn't remember it all. It was still pretty hazy but she knew they were both there, together.

"Naru-," she stopped suddenly and sat up almost smacking her head against Naruto's.

She could feel someone approaching. She felt her breath hitch in her throat. She scrambled backwards, ripping her hand out of Naruto's, her back hitting the trunk of the tree. Naruto sat up confused by Sakura's sudden change, he was about to ask her what was wrong when he felt someone coming in their direction. He frowned deeply, he hadn't been paying much attention where they were safe enough in the village. Sakura guard was still way up even when she was in the Leaf village, she didn't feel safe anywhere yet. Naruto cursed at himself that he should have been paying more attention. He held his hand out to her as he watched her try and use the tree to help prop herself on her feet. She quickly took his hand with a look of panic on her face. Naruto stood quickly and gently pulled Sakura with him. He held her close to help her support her weight.

"It will be fine, no one is going to touch you. I swear it," he had taken her face in between his hands and leaned down so he was eye level with her. She nodded her head and grabbed his elbow snaking her arms around him. He turned around to see who their intruder was.

Kakashi appeared a few meters away. He took in the stance of his student, Naruto was in a defensive stance, slightly in front of Sakura. Sakura had her arm wrapped around Naruto's arm leaning into him with a clear look of anxiety across her face.

"Yo," Kakashi called out gently, waving at the two. He watched Naruto frown at him before looking over at Sakura and whispering something in her ear. Kakashi watched as she looked at Naruto questioningly before looking back at him with a pensive stare. Naruto bent down slightly and Sakura climbed on to his back before Naruto slowly started walking towards him. He stopped a couple feet away whispering to Sakura one last time and squeezing her thighs lightly.

"What's up Kakashi-sensei," Naruto asked politely, his voice trying to mask how annoyed he actually was. Kakashi just smirked and chuckled lightly. Shaking his head at the two, raising his eyebrow.

"Out looking for you two by orders of Tsunade," he laughed as he watched Naruto's face fall. The kid was hopeless.

Naruto let out a low laugh shrugging his shoulders, "well I didn't think they would notice us missing that quickly."

"Yeah well you did make off with the VIP patient," Kakashi looked over at Sakura and saw she was watching him like a hawk. Watching his body language closely ready to bolt at any given second. "Glad to be home," he asked Sakura directly.

She looked at him for a second before nodding her head, "Yeah I never thought it would happen, still a bit hard to believe." She looked like she was beginning to accept his presence but he could see how rigid her body was with stress.

"Well I'm supposed to bring you both back to the hospital but why don't we go get some ramen? I bet you guys could go for something to eat?"

"Well that's up to Sakura-chan. Are you hungry at all," Naruto asked her in a tone that Kakashi barely heard him use. In fact the only time he heard it was when he was talking to or about Sakura. Kakashi looked at Sakura who looked deep in thought. She shrugged her shoulders and rested her chin against Naruto shoulder. "Well if you don't ramen we can always go get something else," Naruto suggested. He wanted to make sure Sakura had food whenever she was hungry, he was going to make sure that she got full strength back. He wanted to kick himself for not asking her if she was hungry before.

Sakura hesitated, hunger was something she had become so familiar with she didn't even know what it felt like anymore. It was just a constant for her. She sighed heavily, "I don't know if I'm hungry. I'm not used to having food, I'm just used to always feeling kind of empty," she said quickly. She didn't want them to think she was being difficult; she just wasn't used to eating.

Naruto was frozen. He didn't know what to say to her, what he could say to make any of it better. Kakashi could see the clear distress on Naruto's face. He could see that he was fighting with the demon in himself trying to keep his anger under control,

"Well I guess we're just going to have to change that then," Kakashi clapped spinning on his heel walking ahead of the two. "Ramen on me! My treat," he called back over his shoulder.

He expected Naruto to yell out something childish but much to his surprise it was Sakura's voice that answered, "Thank you Kakashi, but are you sure? Naruto could probably eat right through your wallet. I haven't seen him eat once since I've woken up."

"I'll cut him off after three bowls," Kakashi laughed.

"Sakura-channn! Why'd you have to go and say something like that," Naruto groaned. Sakura just hummed lightly in response, tightening her hold on Naruto's shoulders as they neared the village's roads. She could see people in the distance and felt her anxiety creep up. She felt on edge around people. Anyone of them could be an impostor, ready to drag her back to her cell. Naruto felt Sakura's heartbeat pick up and slowed his walk.

"Hey, we don't have to do this. We can just go right back to the hospital. Or if you don't want to go there I'll take you wherever you want," he tried soothing her nerves.

"No, I'm fine. Just," Sakura swallowed hard, moving her head up a bit so she could see his face a little better.

He looked at her and smiled reassuringly, "Just what Sakura-chan?"

"Just don't leave me okay?"

Naruto stopped walking, and looked into her eyes leaning his face in closer to hers. "That I can promise," he whispered, kissing her forehead lightly. He watched her cheeks fill with color and Sakura bite her lip gently before burying her face in his neck. Naruto chuckled and picked up his pace to catch up to their old sensi.

Sakura sat in between the two men at the ramen stand. Naruto took the liberty of ordering her bowl of ramen, not that she cared. To be honest the smell of food was making her feel queasy, that mixed with the constant anxiety of looking over her shoulder. She felt sick to her stomach and was ready to bolt, she looked at Naruto helplessly and he just smiled at her reassuringly and rested his hand on the small of her back. Sakura couldn't help but jump at his touch, and not because she was scared. She felt her breathing start to come easier and smiled at him lightly as a way of thanks.

A bowl of ramen was placed before each of them by Tuechi. Naruto surprised them all by not attacking his ramen as soon as it hit the counter. He just watched Sakura with a concerned look on her face. Neither ninja said anything as they both gauged Sakura's reaction.

She took a deep breath and picked up her chopsticks. She messed with the sticks a few times trying to get the noodles on. As the noodles slipped through the sticks again she could feel she was being watched, she felt her palms getting sweaty.

'Hey, why don't you tell them you're not a circus show and to look elsewhere,' her inner voice yelled. She couldn't help but agree with her. Unfortunately for Tuechi he met her glare first. He quickly spun around making himself busy already wiping down the already clean grill.

"You do know it's rude to watch someone when they are trying to eat," Sakura bit out annoyed, she glared at both men out of the corner of her eye. She attempted yet again to gather some noodles and his time was met with success. She brought them to her mouth and slowly chewed them before swallowing loudly. She grimaced and blushed with embarrassment. "Sorry a little out of practice," She mumbled, gathering another small bite with her utensils. She saw neither of them had yet to start their bowl but they were at least using a bit more stealth while watching her. "This stuff gets cold quick," she chewed another small bite grimacing at the weird feeling of food pushing down her throat.

Kakashi started eating, he was glad to see his former student eating something even if she was having a hard time. He was no fool, bringing her home wasn't a magic cure. She still had a long way to go before she was halfway back to being normal, well as normal as she could be. She was just a shell of her former self now. He saw flashes of the girl she once was, looking at her now you'd never think it was her. The usually aggressive confident kunoichi had been reduced down to nothing. He could see the constant tenseness in her shoulders, her head whipped around at the smallest sounds. The once proud strong girl he knew looked like she would be blown away if the wind was strong enough. He frowned under his mask wondering what he could have done differently to prevent this for his former student.

He watched as she tried to bring a bigger bite to her mouth. She less gracefully tried to get it in her only to have it start to slip in between the sticks partially, noodles hit her chin as she covered her mouth with her hand and tried to slurp them in quietly. She looked at Naruto to see him staring at her intently, like she was ready to disappear in thin air. She glared at him using the hand holding her chopstick to point at his mouth and then down at his bowl. Naruto laughed softly using the hand that wasn't on Sakura's back to pick up his chopsticks and he too began eating. He watched the two with great curiosity, he wondered how this would all play out for his old students. If they would get a happier ending then his first team.

Sakura had eaten a fourth of her bowl when she set her utensils down, she sighed heavily not used to the feeling of being full. Naruto quickly looked over at her worried that something was wrong.

"I don't think I can eat another bite, I'm so full. Thank you for treating us Kakashi. Sorry I wasn't able to finish it all," Sakura said bashfully looking at the two who were sitting on each side of her.

"Anytime Sakura. Glad I was able to treat you to your first bowl of ramen since being back in the village. I'm sure you'll be coming here quite frequently if you let that one hang around," he pointed at Naruto with his chopsticks who was currently shoving a comedic amount of ramen in his mouth. He slurped the remainder of the noodles, splashing both of them. "Really Naruto? How classy," Kakashi let out dryly wiping ramen broth off his eyebrow.

"Not fair Kakashi! I do eat other things, this just happens to be the thing I enjoy the most often," Naruto pouted. Tuechi placed another bowl in front of Naruto and laughed heartily shaking his head at the three. It had been a while since the trio had been in his shop, he thought he would never see the day the three of them would be reunited.

"He is my most loyal customer that's for sure! I don't think there has been a day where Naruto has been in the village and not come here at least once," he laughed warmly. He looked at Sakura and smiled gently. "It will be nice to see Naruto with your company again. You're the only one he seems to behave himself for. He drives me nuts when he's by himself," he joked. Kakashi couldn't help but agree Naruto hadn't been himself either, it was good to see the life back in his eyes now that Sakura was safe. He was terrible company for the past few years, not even Kakashi could handle much time around him.

Naruto just rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. "Are you going to finish that Sakura-chan," he asked, trying to get the topic of his state while Sakura was away. She shook her head and pushed the semi cold bowl to him, he was quick to start stuffing his mouth. He was making a mess.

Sakura looked between the three men and could help but feel calm. She felt herself relax more into Naruto's hand, even inching closer to his started laughing quietly to herself and gained their attention. She just shook her head lightly, "I'm so happy to be back." She looked at Naruto and could see his grin was practically splitting his face, she couldn't help but give it right back.