Revelations
"Mornin," Jiraiya yawned
"Huh," Gaara exclaimed, as stoic as he was, he longed to sleep, for once in his life, just to know what it was like, to not be consumed by a horrid monster inside of himself, "even Naruto can sleep," he thought out loud, envying almost all others, "But you gave me a gift, Naruto, that surpasses sleep, you gave me the gift of love, and of friendship, and that is something I'll never forget,"
Slowly everyone started to awaken, and they packed up camp, and gathered up a meager breakfast.
"Were are Naruto and Sakura?" Jiraiya asked Gaara.
"Same as last night, I watched over them as they slept, but I felt no need to disturb them, it was a tender moment, I might not understand it, but I realize they needed to be alone, from everyone," putting emphasis on the last word, clearly telling Jiraiya to back off.
"Now look Gaara, you understand this mission, so I'll just go get them now," and he found he was unable to move, "again with the sand..." he said gloomily.
"I do believe I said they needed to be alone, from everyone,"
"I understand, but the mission-"
"Will be completed when they are ready," and that this Gaara forced Jiraiya back to the others, much like a final say-so, "Ok, listen up, the nine of you will be carrying out the main part of the mission from here. Naruto and Sakura are unable to make it, but I assure you they'll be along, no doubt this mission has greatest importance to them, that is also why they cannot accompany you from here. To make up for the loss in combat skills, Temari and Kankuro will meet up with you and carry out the rest of the mission in your group. I understand I am not in charge of this group, but I was appointed by your Hokage to come, and even if I wasn't I do hope you would listen to the Kazekage regardless, friends,
"YES, KAZEKAGE!" Lee shouted, remembering the times Gaara and him had come in contact, the chuunin exam, the hunt for Sasuke, the time Gaara almost died.
"Tch, alright, move out, this mission counts on you. Locate, infiltrate, and recon the area of Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke's residence. Contact me Jiraiya, if you find it,"
"Fine, fine, lets just go we're wasting time," he retorted.
'Temari, Kankuro, did you get that?" Gaara spoke into his headpiece
"Sure did, we'll meet up with them immediately," Temari replied.
"I suppose I'll just scout the area for now, Naruto, don't take to long, you've still got a mission to do,"
hr /
A slight gust of wind and the hint of an abandoned campsite passed over Naruto as he arose from his slumber. He went to give a good yawn, but then realized Sakura was still clinging onto him. He let out a slight smile, as he stroked her soft, delicate back, and brushed his head against hers as he worked one of his hands up to her soft, pink hair and ran his fingers through it, she's so peaceful, and so beautiful when she's asleep, especially like this. He ran his arms together along her back, then lifted her slightly and kissed her neck gently. I love you, so much, did you know that? I'm not the kid I was before, I'm a man, and I can protect you, and whether or not you like it I'm going to. As he kissed her she stirred slightly, at first Naruto stopped, but when he noticed she was stirring because she enjoyed it, and was not disturbed by it, he continued to kiss her, and stroke her, he still couldn't forget the sight, the horrid sight of seeing her fall to her death. The image in his head reopened the fear he had locked inside the embrace, he held her more tightly, and tears slowly started falling onto her shoulder, he brushed his head against hers to try and wipe away some tears. He shook her around a little too much, and caused her to stir. He wasn't aware of this, and continued to tear and hold her in a steady, but still firm way. She woke up this time, and noticed why he was holding her, even if she couldn't comprehend what was entirely wrong.
"Naruto," she whispered into his ear, "Hey, Naruto, It's ok," he held her even more tightly, and tried to speak, but couldn't bring himself to. She finally noticed how strong he was, and found extreme comfort in his grasp. "Hey, Naruto, come on, I'm ok,"
"Sakura, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't be there. I was so absorbed, that I ignored you and just kept going, I would have let you die." he forced out, "I, I tried to get to you but when I heard you hit the floor, I broke inside, I was so scared, that you were hurt, or,"
"Shh, I'm ok," She began to realize just how much she meant to him, "I promise I'm ok,"
"I did everything I could, and yet I could do nothing," he told her, "if not for Gaara, you would've,"
"Gaara?" she said confused, "but that doesn't matter now, what matters is that you're here with me now, that you sat here and comforted me when I was injured. You shed tears of remorse for me when you looked back on what happened. And more importantly, you're here now, and to tell the truth, last night and this morning I've never blushed so hard, never felt this close to anyone,"
"I promise, I'll-," he went to say, but he was cut off as she put a single finger on his lips.
"I told you, its ok,"
Naruto stared intently at her, even though they had broken the embrace long ago, they still sat close to each other. As the leave shifted, Naruto saw her face more clearly then before. The thing that stood out was how vigorously she was blushing. She still had her finger to his lips, not physically preventing him from speaking, but he understood well enough what it meant. She looked at him directly in the eyes, and she felt her heart beat, loudly, I've, never felt this way before, and I'm blushing, and he's looking right at me, what am I gonna do? He looked back at her, and felt his heart beat loudly, What's this feeling, its like nothing I've ever experience before, I can't stop thinking about her, how beautiful she is, and how much I love her, I want this feeling to end, its starting to hurt. Sakura moved her head closer to his, but it was a bit of a struggle due to how much he had grown. She removed her finger from his lips, and replaced them with her own, but just barely. She reached her arms up and around his neck for support, and Naruto reached his arms down to her lower back and legs and supported her up. He lifted her a little to much to fast, and the two met lips again, both thinking the same thing, both beating the same heart, this, is what I've longed for, this is what I want. Sakura made a more initiative move and opened her mouth a little, and moved her tongue out a bit, and forced it through his lips. Naruto realized what was going on, and opened his just a little as well, and forced his own tongue into her mouth. He was uncertain of what to do, and was caught off guard, if he had been expecting anything it wasn't this. Before he had anymore time to think about it he felt himself being dragged down on his left side, by Sakura none-the-less. Moving his body hurt, must be cause I sat upright with Sakura on me all night. As he was mulling things over he felt Sakura press herself against his chest and stay there. She didn't move, aside from the deep breathing. Naruto rolled onto his back, being on his side was uncomfortable. Sakura followed suit by putting herself right on top of him, laying off to an angle. Naruto subconsciously started stroking her back, while gazing up into the treetops. They were both very silent for a long time, as if they could understand each other without words. They both recognized they were missing time on the mission, but they had no will to leave the patch of earth they already resided on. Sakura made the final initiative by crawling up to meet him face-to-face. They looked intently into each other's eyes. Sakura leaned in and kissed Naruto on the cheek, then hugged him. Naruto returned the embrace with his left arm, which she promptly laid back down on. They were both laying on their backs, Sakura on Naruto's left arm. It was a long time before either of them would talk, both too deep in thought. Eventually the silence was broken as Sakura sat up.
"Naruto," she began, looking for the right words to say, "I honestly never thought I would lean on you like that, need support like that,"
"Hey, Sakura, its ok," Naruto began, "and I'll understand if you want to put it behind us, and forget about what we did,"
"Naruto," she said softly, he's grown, a lot, if this were the old Naruto he'd be crawling over me by now, "why would I throw this away,"
"Huh,"
"Naruto, as unbelievable as it is, I am happy about this, you were there for me, and still are here for me," She explained so him as she sunk into his lap, "I can't just leave you now, Naruto,"
"Sakura-Chan," what's going on, is this even possible, "I, um,"
"Its ok," she said with a smile at his shyness, "I won't ever leave you, Naruto-Kun,"
"I won't ever leave you, Sakura-Chan," he said as he went back to stroking her hair, and her soft skin, "it's a promise,"
"Shh,"
"Honestly, I hate to interrupt, Naruto, but I've given you long enough, there is a mission to complete," Gaara told them
"GAARA!" Naruto Shouted, causing Sakura to wince in pain from the sound of his voice
"NARUTO, CALM DOWN!" Sakura yelled back at him
"Sorry Sakura," Naruto glared at Gaara, "well, I suppose you're right, lets get going, the three of us I suppose.
"Fine, Temari is supposed to contact me when they find the location of Orochimaru,"
"Temari?"
"Yes, to make up for the loss of you two I sent Temari and Kankuro along with the others,"
"Oh, well then, looks like the three of us have to catch up to them,"
"I suppose,"
"Alright then, lets go," Sakura cut in
"Tch, we've been wasting time," Naruto agreed, "Lets get the hell out of here!"
Sakura smiled at him, and nodded, as she went to go ahead of the two and tease them her legs gave out. Damn, I must not have fully healed yet.
"Sakura, are you ok!" Naruto called to her, "You're still injured, you shouldn't move much then, we can wait,"
"No, this is the final strand of the easy part of the mission," Gaara told them, "Temari just contacted me, they've located and are approaching the target,"
"Naruto, I can't go on alone," Sakura told him, "please, just go, I'll heal myself when I have the strength,"
"Tch, like I would let that happen, I said I'm not leaving you, didn't I," he said as he lifted her onto his back, "we'll go like this for a while," he finished with a smile.
"Right, I suppose I was a bit foolish, I just don't want to risk you getting hurt as well, that's all," She told him
"I know," He replied, "Anyhow, get on," he told her, as he shifted his bag from his back to rest over his chest as he made room for Sakura to be carried.
"Yea, I suppose we do have to go,"
"Will you two hurry up," Gaara interrupted
They both blushed a little, for being so childish with each other. Naruto then secured Sakura into a comfortable position and got ready to leave.
"Gaara, you know were we're going, right," Naruto confirmed.
"Yes, I do, just follow me," Gaara reassured
"Hey, be careful with me Naruto," Sakura told him, leaning her head down next to his face, "I don't want to get even more injured you know,"
He answered her by turning his head to face hers and giving her a kiss.
"Will that do?" He asked her.
"Ye- Yes," she stuttered, caught off guard, and blushing very brightly.
Gaara sighed and started off towards Orochimaru's castle.
"Hey Gaara! Wait up!" Naruto called to him as he followed him.
And the three of them, Naruto, Sakura, and Gaara, made way to their other twelve companions, and their greatest enemy.
Ok, to my reviewers, thanks a ton, and now i need some reviews to help plan for future chapters. Your reviews will help me decide how to set the tone ofthis fanfiction
Also, i'm taking a poll, the winner in the poll will be used in the fanfiction: Which pairing/couple should i put in future capters. (No same sex couples)
