Disclaimers: Naruto is mine! I own him! ::gets attacked by crazy lawyers:: Ow.... my spleen...

Chapter 4: Complimentary

"Nice going, genius." Sasuke reprimanded as they prepared for bed.

Naruto grumbled as he lay his mat down on the tatami floor.

"Are you two going to keep rubbing that in my face?"

"Of course." Sakura giggled as she entered the small room, closing the screen door behind them.

Tazuna and Tsunami had been extremely generous; feeding them dinner, lending them clothes to sleep in, the whole job/staying here thing, but there was one major flaw in the whole thing, they had told their host they were family.

Naruto glanced over at Sakura, who was humming happily and fluffing her pillows between him and Sasuke. He had never slept in the same room as a girl, ever. His face felt hot enough to cook ramen on. His stomach felt like it had lodged itself somewhere between his heart and his lungs, which would make sense, considering he was having trouble breathing properly.

Think about something else, he thought as he lay down facing the wall. Sasuke hit the light switch. The room went dark blue, with light patches left by the sliding screen door leading to a balcony.

"Good night," Sakura called out jovially.

"G-good night." Naruto stuttered.

Somewhere at the far side of the room, Sasuke grunted.

Yes, something else, like miso ramen. Naruto's stomach started to deflate. Yeah! Miso ramen, that stuff is good. Naruto smiled sleepily. I'm okay now.

He rolled over to get comfortable and found Sakura's nose five inches from his. For a moment, his stomach exploded, spraying acid all over his heart and lungs.

WAH! Miso ramen! Miso ramen!

He bit his blanket. There was something about the way the moonlight hit her face that made her even cuter. The pale light softened her features, giving her skin an angelic weightlessness. Her unnaturally black hair coiled itself like a vine all over her pillow. Her eyes rested lightly on dark eyelashes, her lips slightly parted to swallow her rhythmic breathing; Naruto wanted to reach out and touch her.

Wait. She's asleep already?

Naruto loosened him grip on his blanket. He could've spent hours watching her sleep.

Crap, he cursed himself. I'm never going to get any rest like this. And we have work tomorrow. I bet that idiot Sasuke is fast as-

A shadow cast itself over his sleeping princess. Naruto looked up and saw the figure of Sasuke standing by the door. He opened it with his uninjured arm, limped out on to the balcony, and propped himself on the rail, staring out onto the moonlit water.

Naruto unraveled himself from his covers and followed his friend out onto the veranda.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" Sasuke said, still glaring out over the water.

"Nope, what's your excuse?"

"Pain." Sasuke rubbed his leg. "You?"

Naruto blushed and didn't answer, but, apparently Sasuke didn't need one.

"Naruto," he began, "if we're attacked here, and I mean really attacked, will you released him?"

Naruto put a hand on his stomach.

"You're going to have to release him eventually, right?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

Sasuke looked over at Sakura, sleeping peacefully inside. A light breeze blew dark hair into his face and he looked out over the water again.

"She's going to find out eventually, are you going tell her first?"

Naruto grimaced and clutched the cloth over his stomach.

Sasuke could understand the apprehensions. He had never forgotten the day he had learned of Kyuubi. Their first real fight, at Shodaime's waterfall, just before Sasuke had left to join Orochimaru, Naruto had unleashed part the beast within him. Sasuke had never felt such a level of fear, not even as he witnessed Itachi covered in his parent's blood, their lifeless corpses at his brother's feet. When Sasuke returned from Orochimaru's hell hole, Naruto had begged him not to tell Sakura, fearing her reaction, fearing she would react the same way the other villagers had for the past 14 years.

"Don't lecture me." Naruto muttered squeezing his shirt. "I'll tell her, just not now…"

"I'm worried, that's all."

"Huh?"

Sasuke glared out into the bay as if staring down an invisible enemy.

"I have a bad feeling. Something's going to happen."

Naruto let go of his shirt and looked at the sleeping Sakura. He would have to tell her sometime… Sasuke followed his gaze to the still figure asleep on the mat.

"She's… really cute when she's asleep, isn't she?"

Naruto jerked his gaze back to Sasuke and noticed his comrade was blushing profusely.

"Idiot! What's all this about 'pain'?! You can't sleep for the same reason I can't!"

Sasuke turned redder at the undeniable truth.

-

"What's wrong with you two?"

Sakura rolled up her mat the next morning in high spirits. She slept so well, though she couldn't say the same for the other two. They were sluggish, and moody, like women PMSing.

"Just don't ask, okay?!" Naruto snapped as he wrestled with his mattress. It wouldn't roll up for some reason, and after his third try, he gave up and started stamping on it.

"Stupid piece of-"

"Naruto!" Sakura rushed forward to save the poor pad, "That's not yours to step on." She easily mastered the mat within seconds and Naruto growled at her.

Sakura couldn't pinpoint the exact reason she'd slept so well. Maybe it was because this was the first time she'd hit a bed since they left the village or because she had gotten so little sleep due to taking care of their wounds, but Sakura had a hunch that she slept well because of another reason. For the first time since her parents died, she hadn't had to sleep in a house alone. If she had woken up, they would have been there; a luxury she had taken for granted. There was also the fact that it was Sauske and Naruto who were there; people who had already proven they were ready to lay down their lives for her. She felt so safe, so secure, that worry slipped her mind and she had dropped off into sleep.

But now was time for wakefulness, for readiness, and, as she watched Naruto trip over nothing visible, she wondered just how long this day would turn out to be.

"Are you kids up yet?" Tazuna knocked on the sliding door. "Breakfast is ready."

"Coming!" Sakura called as she stashed the mattress in a sliding closet. She grabbed Naruto's hand with her right and Sasuke's with her left. "C'mon, Mr. and Mrs. Moody."

The two boys flushed and muttered curses under their breath, but followed her willingly down the stairs and into the dining room where Tazuna already sat waiting.

"Akane-chan," Tsunami called from the kitchen, "can you help me with this?"

"Of course." Saskura skipped off into the kitchen. Tsunami stood there holding a tray. Like her father, Tsunami hadn't changed much since their last encounter. Sure, she looked a little older, but that didn't stop her from being as active and cheerful as she always was.

"What's wrong with your brothers?" The woman asked as she handed the tray to Sakura.

Sakura looked over her shoulder and saw the boys pulling back chairs to sit down. They moved like the dead; Naruto nearly fell again as he tried to sit down. Chuunin level ninjas, huh?

"I don't think they slept much last night."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah, we'd better join them quickly. They have a tendency to get into fights when they're angry."

Sure enough, as the two entered the room, Sasuke and Naruto were already glaring each other down.

Sakura set the trays in front of them and she and Tsunami sat down as well.

"Let's eat!" They chanted together.

Sasuke's head pounded like extended base just behind his skull. He evenly snapped his wooden chopsticks and held them to his plate. White hot pain shot up his arm. Sasuke quickly clasped his arms under the table and bit his lip to keep from yelling.

"Is something wrong, Aoi-kun?" Tsunami asked; he was the only one who hadn't touched his plate.

"Tsunami-san," Sasuke whispered with difficulty, "I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling well. Do you mind if I step outside?"

"Not at all." Tsunami looked concerned but didn't pry. The other side of the table echoed of Tazuna and Naruto fighting over rice. Sasuke stood up and hobbled away clutching his arm, chopsticks in hand.

"Akane-chan," Tsunami inquired softly, "I noticed Aoi-kun has a limp, did something happen?"

"Yeah." Sakura answered but didn't articulate. She glared at Sasuke's back as he left the room, thinking hard.

"Tsunami-san, when we're done here may I use your kitchen?"

-

A small pebble slipped and fell back on the earthen ground.

This is harder than I thought… Sasuke heaved.

His right arm rendered useless; it shook feverishly and searing pain tore through him every time he tried to use it. So Sasuke had done the only thing he could.

He stared intently at the pebble and held the chopsticks in his left hand, inching forward and struck like a vulture to a carcass. The rock quavered uneasily between the wooden sticks before tumbling back to the ground.

Sasuke collapsed into a heap, his stomach whining and his arm throbbing worse than it had in days.

At least my headache is gone.

He looked up at the tall trees. He remembered these trees; the hundreds of slash marks had faded away, but he could still recognize them. Sasuke closed his eyes. In his mind, he could see Kakashi-sensei scaling the tree to his left with those crutches.

"I thought you'd be here." A pure voice echoed into his thoughts.

"Sakura."

With some effort, Sasuke rolled up and noticed her walking towards him carrying a white box.

"I came to check up on you." She descended gracefully next to him, sitting on her knees.

"How're you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

"You didn't look okay when you left the table." Sakura opened the box and pulled out an onigiri (a riceball). "You don't need chopsticks to eat this, right?"

Sasuke smiled gratefully.

"Thanks…"

"Now let me see that arm." She gently rolled up his sleeve and began to remove the bandage on his upper arm.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke mumbled through a mouthful of rice.

"He went with Tazuna-san to pick up Inari-chan." Sakura stopped her unraveling and revealed the bruised, blood encrusted mass laced with sickly, black twine that was Sasuke's upper arm.

Sasuke made a face.

"Beautiful…" he muttered feeling slightly nauseous.

Sakura laughed and smiled evilly.

"It'll be even more beautiful once I take the stitches out. It'll feel beautiful too."

Sasuke felt sicker.

"So, Inari's going to be here too?" He said eager to change the subject. Sakura pulled disinfectant out of her box and began swabbing the dark, flaky blood from his wound.

"Yep."

"That idiot, Naruto. He really got us stuck in it this time. Ouch!"

"Sorry."

"How long is Inari planning on staying here?"

"About a week."

"A week? That's it?"

Sakura stopped swabbing and gave Sasuke a dangerously coy grin.

"Apparently, Konoha's giving us a funeral in a week."

Sasuke swallowed the last bit of his onigiri and grinned.

"I guess that means Mission Accomplished."

"Yep, Mission Accomplished."

-

Naruto waited impatiently at the dock, tapping his foot and pouting.

"C'mon, c'mon!" He muttered as loads of people disembarked from the docked ship.

"It was nice of you to come with me, Kirimaru-kun." Tazuna smiled, "but you could stop whining so much!!"

Naruto grumbled. He hadn't come to help Tazuna.

Oh man, that brat Inari, Naruto chuckled to himself, I bet he's all crying and mopey because he thinks I'm dead. Crybaby.

"Grandpa!!" A small beast flung itself out of the crowd at Tazuna.

"Inari!" The old man laughed and lifted the young boy high in the air. The two laugh jovially and hugged before Inari noticed Naruto. "Grandpa, who's this?"

"Oh, this is Kirimaru. He's staying at our house and helping on the O-Sakura-kyo. Kirimaru-kun, this is Inari, my grandson. Eh? Kirimaru?"

Naruto wasn't hearing any of this. His jaw slacked open, his nose scrunched disbelievingly.

This is the crybaby? He knows I'm dead, right? Why is he so happy? What the hell is going on!?

-

"We're home!"

Tazuna stepped in to the house. The masses of people had returned and were buzzing around everywhere. Inari looked a little shocked; Naruto was still in shock. Sakura and Sasuke came in from the back to greet them.

"Inari," Tazuna continued his introductions, "this is Aoi and this is Akane, they are Kirimaru's older brother and sister."

"It's nice to meet you." They smiled pleasantly.

Inari nodded, then looked somewhere over their shoulders.

"Mommy!" He yelled as he ran to Tsunami, distant in the background of the house's chaos. Their merriment could barely be heard above the traffic.

"You three." Tazuna pointed to Sasuke, Sakura and the still brain-dead Naruto. "Let's go."

Together they headed out the door, toward the O-Sakura-kyo.

-

The O-Sakura-kyo wasn't all that different from the O-Naruto-kyo, except that it was much smaller. The group took less than a minute to cross over to the incomplete section. The bridge itself was only about ten short from completion.

"Tazuna-san!"

"Hey, Tazuna!"

The workers called out to the old man as he walked by.

"Shiro!" Tazuna ordered. A man stood up from his work.

"Shiro, these are new workers, Aoi, Akane, and Kirimaru. Show them the ropes and assign them duties, will ya?"

"Eh? You're not staying Tazuna-san?"

"Nah, the office will explode if I don't get back soon." Tazuna waved as he walked away. "Take care!"

"Yeah, you too!"

Shiro turned to his new students.

"Ok kids; let me show you a few things."

He gave them a tour, showing them where stuff went and who did what. He showed them the supplies, and then taught them how to use them.

"Eh? Aoi-kun, you're left handed?" Shiro exclaimed as he watched Sasuke work a wrench.

"Uh…." Sasuke pondered the idea, "sure, why not?"

Shiro gave them each jobs; Sasuke and Naruto both worked on basic construction, welding, bolting things down (much to Sasuke's dismay as he had to awkwardly use his left hand for these tasks) and Sakura got…

"Water girl? Why the hell am I the 'water girl'?!" She cried, outraged.

A man large enough to be Choji's uncle laughed as he hefted several iron beams.

"A little girl like you shouldn't be playing with dangerous toys."

Several other workers laughed along with him, including Sasuke, but for a different reason.

"That man," he mumbled to Naruto as his left hand wrestled with a bolt, "just made a huge mistake." Naruto nodded and smiled viciously.

Sakura's eyes shadowed. Her nails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists.

"'Little girl'?" She hissed over the laughter.

With one swift gesture, she snatched the large man's collar, swung him over the bridge's railing and held him tightly above the swift current with one hand. Several other workers cried out in astonishment.

"Who's the little girl now, big man?" Sakura spat at the helpless giant.

"Aoi, Kirimaru, shouldn't you stop her?" One of the men asked in a hushed, breathless tone.

"Nah," Sasuke replied nonchalantly, "she won't hurt him."

"But are you sure it's okay to let her do this?" Naruto whispered.

"You want to try and stop her?" Naruto dropped the subject like a greased watermelon.

Sakura dragged the big man back on to the bridge and pulled his face close to hers.

"Don't underestimate what I can do." She warned and dropped his collar heavily. From that moment on, Sakura was promoted to heavy lifting, where she missed the water-bearing job immensely.

-

The week progressed in a rather typical manner. The three of them worked all day shifts on the bridge and soon grew close to the other construction workers. Sasuke's left hand adapted at an exponential rate; by the third day of their visit, he could write with his left just as well as his right. The days flew by as time does when your having fun, but one thing had not progressed in a positive manner.

"Stupid Inari," Naruto muttered under his breath. Sakura and Sasuke shrugged it off; he'd been acting that way about the kid since the ten year old landed on the island.

Sakura huddled against the cold ocean breeze. Their fifth day had dawned unusually cold and the mystic, shoreline fog had begun it's descent on the lively little town. The nearly complete O-Sakura-kyo was covered in an eerie swirl of white vapor. Inari had spent the day playing water boy for the workers and, now that most of the workers had headed home for the evening, he, Hiroshi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were left to clean up the mess.

Sasuke's bad feeling nagged at him, the hairs stood up on the back of his neck and a sliver of chill ran down his spine.

"We'll take care of the mess." Sakura told Hiroshi politely. "You hurry and get Inari home."

"Are you kids sure about this?"

"Yeah, not problem." Sasuke said reassuringly, though uneasy. He looked from side to side, but all he saw was the bridge, his friends and the endless white oblivion.

Hiroshi scratched his head, but gave in.

"C'mon Inari, let's not make your mother worry." The two walked off into the fog.

Immediately, Sasuke and Sakura reeled on Naruto.

"What?" He said innocently as he stared into their "don't-give-us-shit" faces.

"You know 'what'?" Sasuke muttered.

"Huh?"

"What's your beef with Inari?" Sakura poked his forehead.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't give us that." Sakura pulled on his cheek. "You know exactly what we're talking about."

Naruto rubbed his sore face.

"It's just that…. Well…" Naruto flushed. "Why is he so happy?! We just died! Doesn't he care?! Doesn't he feel sad at all?!"

Naruto heaved with this outburst. Sakura and Sasuke stared at him, wide-eyed.

"That's what you're angry about?" Sakura asked bemused, "You don't think he cares?"

Naruto looked away.

"Naruto," Sasuke began, "People experience grief in different ways. Just because he's not acting a particular way, doesn't mean he doesn't care."

"Yeah," Sakura added, "he's probably just going through some sort of denial stage." She smiled warmly. "Cheer up, Naruto. I'm sure he misses us more than you can imagine."

Naruto opened his mouth to agree and apologize when he was cut off by the blood chilling scream of a child.

Author's Notes: dun dun dun... Yay! Suspense! Does that mean a battle next chapter?! hohoho...

Ok, let me apologize for any spelling/grammer mistakes and the utter lack of sensory detail. I wrote and edited most of this at 2:30am!

I've also noticed that no one has bugged me about pairings yet... wierd... Although this fic is primarily action/adventure, who can do without a little romance, eh?

I'd also to make it clear that the three have their forehead protectors, but they don't wear them...I should have put that in earlier. Gah! This is my first fic! Get off my back! :P

Once again, I'd like to thank you all for your continuing support. Remember, reviews are my fuel! Write something! Thank you, I love you all!