Chapter 5: Finding love!

Everything was dead quiet for several minutes. The smoke eventually dispersed, and the result of the great ninja battle was revealed. Lying inside a broken tree, was Naruto. One of his legs was sticking out of the trunk.
It twitched briefly, then it slid into the trunk. It wasn´t untill a full minute later that Naruto emerged from the broken tree.
The blonde teenager was panting hard, and for a good reason. Most of his orange jacket had been blown away.
His black undershirt had several rips in it. His pants had been reduced to little more than shreds. Naruto was bleeding from several parts of his body. His right arm was hurting rather badly. As was the rest of his body.
He had cuts and bruises everywhere. Naruto coughed up a few drops of blood. He used whatever energy he had left to pull himself out of the tree. He landed with a thud on the ground. Naruto winched but didn´t say anything.
He opened his eyes and looked around. He didn´t see Sasuke anywhere. (Damn...it...! That was...one...big...blast...! My Chakra...has been...reduced...to zero!) Naruto thought. He used the tree beside him as support and tried to stand up. He got up halfway, then his legs wobbled and he fell down again. His legs felt like spaghetti.

"Damn! I don´t even have enough...energy to...stand up anymore! And...Sasuke is...nowhere in sight...damn this smoke!" Naruto cursed.

The smoke had faded somewhat, but not enough to see what was in front of you clearly. He sighed and laid back against the broken tree. He blinked lazily. His thoughts were a mess. Kyuubi´s Chakra had left him completely. His vision was slowly blurring. Naruto knew he was fainting, but he didn´t care. Naruto´s eyelids slowly closed and he slipped into the darkness. How much time that went by, he didn´t know.

(Hey? C...ou...hear me?...ruto! Please...ake up! Oh please don´t...e dead!) (Hmm? Who...who is it? I can´t...hear too well...) (Naruto!...ake up! Don´t...eave me!...If you...eave me then...uldn´t know...at to do...!) (Someone´s calling...who...who is it?) (You can´t be...ead!...ease! It´s me...kura!) (Kura? Who...is that? Wait...not kura...Sakura! It´s...it´s Sakura-chan!)

Naruto´s eyes opened. He blinked. All he could see was a blur of colours. He saw a mix of pink, green, and red.
Slowly, but surely, the colours took form. Naruto blinked again. Lying with her head on his chest, was Sakura!
Sakura was sobbing into his chest. That much he could register.

"Don´t leave me Naruto! If...if you died then...then I´ll...!" Sakura had trouble getting out the words right.

Naruto tried to lift his arm but his limb refused to move. He tried to move his mouth and found that it worked.

"Sakura...chan?" It was barely a whisper.

But it did the job. Sakura stopped talking to herself and lifted her head. Her cheeks were stained with tears and from the looks of things, more were on their way. She saw that Naruto´s eyes were open.
Naruto blinked once, and Sakura´s eyes widened. She flung herself at Naruto and slung her arms around his neck.
Naruto winched slightly in pain at this, but didn´t comment on it. Sakura sobbed into his shoulder.

"Naruto! You´re alive! Thank god! For a minute I thought, I thought...Naruto!" Sakura said all this in less than five seconds.

It was clear that she had been panicking just seconds before. Naruto was perplexed. He had never seen Sakura do something like this before. Not when it concerned him. She was always hugging Sasuke and asking him how he was doing a zillion times over and over. Not him. Did Sakura care about him that much?

"Sakura-chan? W, what are you doing here? You´re...supposed to be...in Konoha..." Naruto mumbled.

Sakura looked up at him and smiled widely.

"With you out here fighting for your life? Not a chance, Naruto! There is no chance in the world that I would just sit at home and roll my thumbs while you are out here fighting!" Sakura said.

She wiped her cheeks and eyes and laughed slightly. Naruto blinked. He was even more confused now. Naruto could feel his strenght slowly, slowly returning to him. He tried to move his arms and this time it worked.
He put his arms around Sakura and he managed a ghost of a hug. Sakura was breathing somewhat more normal now. She had managed to calm down a bit.

"Naruto. I´m so glad that you´re okay! Well, not okay but, the next best thing right? If, if you had...you know. Then, then I...I wouldn´t know what to do. You haven´t been in my life for that long, but I can´t even imagine how my life would be without you Naruto. Maybe in the old days, but not now. No, definately not. I care for you too much for that." Sakura said.

Naruto´s brain started to work overtime in analysing what the young woman before him was saying.

"Sakura-chan...do you...like me?" Naruto breathed out.

Sakura´s cheeks turned red as she tried to find something fitting to say. She should be prepared by now. But it sure didn´t feel like it. As she was searching for something to say, her mind brought up a fresh memory.

"Flashback"

"Sakura-san?" A bobbed haired boy asked.

The pink haired ninja turned to him with a gentle smile. They were standing on the same bridge where she had given him flowers.

"What is it, Lee-san?" Sakura asked.

Lee looked out over the water and seemed to think about something before continuing.

"Just out of pure curiousity. How do you feel about Sasuke?" Lee asked.

Sakura was taken aback by his question. She recovered quickly though and smiled slightly.

"Sasuke-kun is the most handsome guy in the whole village! He always get top marks at whatever he does. He´s kinda mysterious too. And...I don´t know. He´s just my type of guy, I guess." Sakura answered.

Lee nodded slowly to himself. Sakura noticed the serious look on his face and couldn´t help but wonder what was going on in his head. Lee then turned to her and said:

"I see. Then...what about Naruto-kun?" Lee said.

Sakura was again taken aback by Lee´s question. She opened her mouth to answer, but something stopped her. She found herself actually thinking about it. It was strange. When Lee asked her how she felt for Sasuke, the answer came to her like the flash of lightning. But when he asked her how she felt about Naruto, it wasn´t that easy.
She actually had to think about it. Sakura looked out over the water. She sank into deep thought. Lee saw this and waited for her to sort out her thoughts. After a full minute, Sakura finally turned back to Lee. The martial artist faced her as well. Sakura slowly smiled. As she began talking, she got a faraway look on her face.

"Naruto is my teammate. More importantly, he´s my friend. He´s not the brightest of the bunch and he can be quite annoying. I always scold him about...well, many things. But no matter how much I scold him, he never says anything mean back. Naruto is almost always smiling and he has a really positive attitude. He´s always asking me how I´m doing and if I´m feeling okay. Whenever I´m down, I can always count on Naruto to come and try to cheer me up. Even though he looks like a child on the outside, deep down, he´s an honorable man who makes a lot of mistakes. And grows stronger from it! To sum it all up, he´s a really sweet guy." Sakura said.

After Sakura had finished, Lee turned away and smiled. He chuckled softly.
Sakura snapped out of her state of trance and blushed after she realised what she had said. She opened her mouth to say that she didn´t mean everything she said. But her mouth remained closed.
Something about what she had said earlier rang a bell deep within her. If her words were wrong, then why did they sound so true in her heart? Sakura blushed hard.

"I see. Sakura-san, listen. You don´t really like Sasuke, do you? You like Naruto-kun." Lee said.

Sakura blushed crimson and turned away from him. She tried to say something but all she managed to do was stutter. Lee smiled at this. He had struck gold. Sakura put her hand on her heart.
She could feel it beating clearly against her hand. Sakura´s feelings were a mess at the moment. (Ok, ok, ok. Slooow down, girl! Take it easy!) Sakura thought. She repeated this in her head like a mantra over and over again. She took a deep breath. (Okay, let´s see now. So I don´t like Sasuke anymore.
Somehow...Naruto has managed to sneak in and steal my heart. I don´t know how or when it happened but...when he gets back, I´m going to sort out everything.) Sakura thought. Her eyes widened in surprise at herself. She hadn´t thought "Sasuke-kun"! She had only thought "Sasuke"! Sakura looked down into the railing and tried to calm herself.
Her hot cheeks just wouldn´t cool down.

"Sakura-san. Naruto-kun is out by the border fighting in order to retrieve Sasuke. Naruto-kun is strong enough to beat Sasuke and the others are strong enough to beat the Sound Jounins. I am completely sure of that. However..." Lee trailed off.

Sakura´s blush faded and she turned to face Lee again. The Taijutsu expert had a very serious look on his face as he turned to Sakura.

"However?" Sakura repeated.

Her voice quivered slightly and a wave of worry went through her. Sakura was surprised at herself. She had never felt like this before. It was as if she wanted to protect Naruto from everything harmfull. She somehow knew that he would do the same for her. Sakura was immensively surprised at her own emotions.

"Even if the others are successfull in defeating the Sound Jounins and Naruto-kun manage to defeat Sasuke, then there´s still a good chance that Orochimaru or someone else of his henchmen comes and abducts Sasuke. Naruto-kun and Sasuke will fight each other. This won´t be a match to determine their strength. This will be...a deathmatch." Lee said seriously.

Sakura´s eyes widened. She felt as if she had swallowed a huge ice cube. Her blood turned ice cold. Sakura managed to get herself together thought.

"Sasuke and Naruto would NEVER fight to kill each other! They wouldn´t!" Sakura almost yelled.

Lee looked at her and sighed. He shook his head.

"In the old days, they wouldn´t. But things are different now, Sakura-san. They are different now. This time, the winner will be the only one breathing!" Lee exclaimed.

Sakura felt tears whell up in her eyes but she quickly wiped them away. No more. She wasn´t going to cry anymore. She was done crying. Sakura set her jaw straight and looked at Lee.

"...I´m going." Lee raised an eyebrow in question.

"Where?" Lee asked.

Sakura frowned with her eyes shining with determination.

"I´m going to the border. I don´t know if I will be able to do much, but I just can´t leave him all alone. Besides, they won´t listen to anybody but me. I am going, Lee-san. And you can´t stop me." Sakura stated.

"Who said I was going to stop you?" Lee was smiling and so was Sakura.

Lee raised the arm he wasn´t using to hold his supporter and waved. Sakura smiled and waved too. Then she spun around and ran away from the bridge. She had only one thought in her head. Find Naruto. Sakura didn´t see Lee drop his supporter and running in the same direction as her. He just took another way.

"End Flashback"

Sakura finally made up her mind. She turned back to the blonde boy before her with a smile.

"No. I don´t like you." Sakura said, still smiling widely.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in question at this.

"...what?" Naruto managed to get out.

"I said I don´t like you." Sakura went in close with her mouth at his ear.

"I love you."

Naruto didn´t believe it. He had heard it with his own ears but he still didn´t believe it. Sakura, the girl of his dreams, the one he had loved ever since they were small, actually loved him back!

"You...love me?" Naruto stuttered.

Sakura smiled and nodded.

"I think I finally understand. I mistakenly believed that my old school crush on Sasuke was love. In reality, it was just a crush. A crush I couldn´t get over. Everything else than Sasuke became all foggy and prevented me from seeing all the other people around me. But the veil has been lifted. I can see everything clearly now." Sakura said.

Naruto was speechless. He looked deeply into Sakura´s green orbs and saw nothing else than warmth, trust, and love. A strong feeling of happiness spread through his body. Naruto was so overcome with happiness that he grabbed Sakura and pulled her to him. His lips crashed down upon hers in a fierce kiss.
Sakura was shocked at first, but she recovered in no time and kissed him back. Naruto suddenly felt a searing pain in his side and had to break the kiss. He grit his teeth and grabbed his chest in pain. Sakura immediately went from being happy and content to extremely worried.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I think some of my ribs are broken. Damn...! That last blast sure took it´s toll on me." Naruto exclaimed.

"Come on, Naruto. Let´s get you out of here!" Sakura said.

Then she remembered something rather important.

"Sasuke! Where´s Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

The pink haired ninja couldn´t believe that she had almost forgotten about her friend. Naruto shook his head and shrugged.

"I don´t know. After we both gave our all in the last attack, we were thrown in opposite directions. Sasuke should be somewhere in that direction." Naruto said.

He pointed straight ahead of him. Sakura nodded and put one of his arms around her neck. With Sakura´s help, Naruto managed to stand up. They slowly traveled forward in the direction Naruto had pointed earlier.


I'm SO, SO sorry everyone! I missed to comment the last chapter, AGAIN! I promise to try harder! Well, anyway... I hope you liked this chapter. It's a nice break from all the fighting, don't you think? Well then, on to chapter 6!