The next morning, Sakura had woken up first. She glanced over to see Naruto sleeping peacefully before quietly taking her bag into the bathroom to take a shower. When she had finished, she came out fully dressed to see that he was still asleep. The pinkette smiled at this.

She lightly sat in the bed, garbed in all her kunoichi gear. She leaned her head on her hand and watched him. He looked so calm as he slept. She wished he could be like this more often. He was always tightly wound, always trying so hard to do so much for everyone. She wished he would just take time to relax for his own sake.

A few minutes later, he finally opened his eyes. He turned and his eyes widened as he saw Sakura. She smirked at him.

"Did you sleep well, Naruto?" she asked.

Naruto rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, I did... How long have you been awake?" he replied.

"Not that long. Don't worry about it. You can stay in bed if you want to."

The blonde shook his head.

"Nah... I'm sure you want to get back to Konoha. I'll start getting ready."

He got out of bed and glanced at her. She had a concerned expression on her face.

"Actually, why don't we go look around the capital? It might be fun, since we're here."

Naruto nodded and grinned lightly.

"Sure, Sakura-chan. Let me go take a shower and get ready."

Sakura grinned as well.

"Okay."

The pinkette stayed seated on the bed, watching as Naruto's back disappeared behind the bathroom door. She thought about the way his life was. He had always had a great burden, ever since the day he was born. But things were peaceful now, and the burden he was born with wasn't even a burden anymore. He was glad to have Kurama. Yet it still felt like he had to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. And it would certainly be no easier for him after he was Hokage.

She wasn't sure if she had actually reduced his burden. He was happy to be loved by her. But he still had those same questing, active eyes. Sometimes when the two of them were together, they'd go away. He would look at her tenderly with a real smile. Not a grin that embodied how heroic and capable he was. But Sakura found it all too rare.

She wondered if it'd always be this way.

/

The pair were walking around the capital side by side. There were a lot of people there. Sakura turned to look at Naruto. His eyes were a little wide as he looked around at all the impressively tall buildings. The pinkette smiled at this.

"Hey, Naruto. I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat, okay?" she said.

He looked at her and grinned.

"Sure," Naruto replied.

They walked off towards the commercial area. Glancing at him again, Sakura saw the familiar questing look. She frowned lightly.

A few moments later, she wrapped an arm around him and rested her head against his shoulder. He looked at her in surprise.

"Sakura-chan..." the blonde mumbled.

Sakura smiled. She preferred that he focus on her, even if it would make the both of them a little self-conscious.

"This is okay, right?"

Naruto smiled softly back.

"I guess it is."

/

They had bought some ice cream that came in small paper cups. Naruto got vanilla while Sakura got strawberry. They sat on a bench as they ate it with plastic spoons.

Sakura smirked, remembering something. She set her cup on the bench and glanced over at him.

"Naruto... Give me your spoon," she playfully ordered.

His eyes widened a little at the look on her face.

"You want to try mine, Sakura-chan? Sure," Naruto said, handing her his cup with the spoon in it.

Sakura took it from him and collected a small amount of the frozen treat in the spoon. She held it a few inches in front of his face.

"Here."

He stared at the spoon for a moment, blushing lightly. Then he opened his mouth and accepted it. She immediately scooped up some more and presented it to him.

"Sakura-chan... You..."

Sakura only grinned in response. She scooted closer to him, leaning her shoulder on his as she continued to feed him. Naruto started to relax and just enjoyed being fed by her. When the cup was empty, he looked almost drowsy.

The pinkette found that she liked the way his eyes looked now. It was a job well done. She set his empty cup down and stood up. Naruto looked at her questioningly as he stood as well.

"But, Sakura-chan... What about your ice cream?" he asked.

She put her arm around him and leaned her head against his shoulder again.

"Nah, I'm done. Let's go back to Konoha, Naruto."

The blonde stared at the top of her pink head for a moment before finally smiling. He understood her. She didn't care about the ice cream. She cared about him.

As they walked off, Naruto again wondered how he had gotten so lucky as to become her precious person.

/

On the road back to Konoha, they had been making small talk. Naruto wondered about something. He glanced over at the pinkette.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. Do you think I should cut my hair?" he asked.

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Cut it like how?" she asked in reply.

"Like, kinda short? Like the way Uchiha Obito had it? I thought his hair looked cool."

She only needed to think about it for a moment.

"Naruto... I don't think that would look good. I don't love you for your looks, but please don't do that."

Naruto gave her a confused look.

"But... How come?"

Sakura looked at him like a sensei would a student.

"Well, do you remember how I told you that you were handsome like your father was? Your father had this nice blonde hair that was kinda long. It framed his face in a good way. Yours isn't as long, but it still does the same thing for you. So you definitely shouldn't make it any shorter."

Naruto nodded.

"I see."

After a moment, he frowned.

"Wait... Are you saying that my dad was better looking than me?" he asked.

Sakura chuckled.

"No, not really. I'd say that, to me, you're more handsome. Because you're Naruto. I thought Yondaime-sama was handsome, and I liked him when I met him, because he was your father, but he's not you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled. Of course she would say that.

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded.

"Don't mention it, Naruto."

/

When they arrived back in Konoha, it had gotten pretty late. They were both very tired. It was too late to go report to Kakashi. Sakura glanced at Naruto wearily as they entered the gates.

"I'm really tired. Is it okay if I just crash at your place? It's closer," she said.

Naruto nodded.

"Of course, Sakura-chan. You don't even have to ask. You can go there whenever you want," he replied.

Sakura yawned.

"Thanks, Naruto..."

When they arrived at his apartment, they left their gear in the kitchen area. They went to the bedroom.

Sakura casually disrobed as she had before, but Naruto was too tired to be enchanted by it. He got undressed as well, changing into a pair of pajama pants, but staying shirtless. Nights in the Fire Country were still somewhat hot. He glanced at the pinkette, who was clad in her undershirt and underwear as before, laying the clothes she had worn into a neat pile that she set at the foot of the bed.

"I'm sorry you don't have any sleeping clothes here, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled at him weakly in reassurance.

"I'll be fine once I'm under the covers. I'm just tired. Maybe I'll bring some over here that I can use next time. But let's go to sleep now, Naruto. I feel like I'm going to pass out."

Naruto smiled back and got into the bed. He waited for her to lie down and put the bedsheets over both of them.

"Night, Sakura-chan."

She didn't respond, having fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Naruto followed soon after.

/

Sakura opened her eyes, hearing a quiet sobbing. There was a small amount of light shining in through the window. She thought that the sun must just be starting to rise. She looked over at Naruto, who was sitting up in the bed shaking a little with his face in his hands. Her eyes widened and she sat up in the bed as well.

"Naruto... What's wrong?" she asked.

He lowered his hands and turned to look at her, his eyes red with tears.

"Oh... Sakura-chan... I'm sorry I woke you up," Naruto said.

Sakura frowned.

"Don't worry about it. What happened, Naruto?"

He looked down at the bedcovers.

"Well... I had a dream."

She cocked her head at him.

"A nightmare?"

Naruto shook his head.

"No... My mother was there."

Sakura's eyes widened. She had heard a little about Uzumaki Kushina. Naruto had gotten to meet her when he had been training with Killer Bee. The pinkette felt bad that he only got to meet her the one time. She didn't know what she would do without her own mother. Her mother had always been such a big part of her life.

"Oh..."

The blonde smiled wistfully.

"She wanted me to tell her everything that happened since the last time I saw her. I told her all about you. Everything about you. She was really happy. She said that you sound a lot like her. I told her that you were. I told her how happy I was. She said that she was proud of me."

Sakura smiled softly.

"Well, I'm flattered that you think I'm like her. You make her sound so amazing."

Naruto looked up to meet her eyes.

"I... didn't know it was a dream, though. It felt real. We were just standing outside. I thought that she somehow came back. So when she said that, I told her I couldn't wait for her to meet you. But she said she couldn't."

He sighed. Sakura's eyes softened.

"I was really confused. I didn't see why she couldn't. So I asked her why not. And she said... 'I'm sorry, Naruto. This is only a dream.' Then I woke up," Naruto explained.

The pinkette rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto... That must have been hard... I wish I could've met her, too."

Naruto looked down again.

"It's just so unfair. I loved getting to know your parents, Sakura-chan. They're so great. I wish my parents were still around, too... But I mostly just wish I could have my mother. It was great meeting my father, but when I met my mother... She was just incredible. She was more amazing in reality than anything that I ever imagined she might be like. I really loved her."

Sakura's eyes softened even more. She remembered a time when she thought Naruto was lucky to not have parents. What a fool she had been.

"Naruto... I'm so sorry. I feel really bad."

He looked up at her and grinned lightly.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan. It usually doesn't bother me. It's not that big of a deal."

Then he laid his head back on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling with a neutral expression. Sakura stared at him with a growing look of dread in her wide, green eyes.

This was exactly what she hated. This made her heart hurt. He took on everything by himself. He never whined or complained. No one helped him and he didn't ask for help. He helped others, but never helped himself. He worried about others, but never worried about himself. He just kept soldiering on through everything. She wished he could just feel like it was okay to show weakness. She wanted to carry the burden for him when he couldn't. She never wanted him to struggle. She never wanted him to grin like that when there was something wrong. She wanted him to look to her. Because she had made his happiness her responsibility. She wasn't sure that he understood how seriously she took that responsibility. It wasn't just pretty words. His happiness was everything to her. She would protect it. She had to.

She thought that to do so must be her way of the ninja.

Sakura pulled her shirt off and threw it over the foot of the bed. Naruto looked at her with surprise.

"Sakura-chan, what are you-" he started to ask.

She rolled on top of him and started to kiss him on the lips, on the cheek, and on the side of his mouth, eventually going down to his neck. He wasn't being very responsive, but she continued on to his bare chest. She ran a hand through his hair as she kissed quickly down his body. After getting to the abdomen, she worked her way back up. But after she had gotten back up to his neck, she froze for a moment. Then she moved to sit up over his midsection, her weight balanced on her knees at either side of him, staring down at him with desperate intent. Naruto still looked bewildered.

"Sakura-chan..."

"Take it off," she said firmly.

Naruto blushed as he glanced down at the pink rose-patterned bra for a moment before meeting her eyes again.

"But..."

"I want to be with you. But I can't if you don't do anything. I feel like I'm just making you uncomfortable. There has to be something you've always wanted to do with me, Naruto. I don't want to deny you anything. I can't bear to do that. So please... Take it off."

His eyes widened. He swallowed hard.

"But, Sakura-cha-"

"You won't hurt me. Please don't say that we shouldn't. I want to... I've been wanting to for a while."

He gaped at her for a couple seconds until he finally sat up on the bed. He took a deep breath and slowly reached up, undoing the clasp of the bra. Then he moved both straps off her delicate shoulders, watching as they hung loosely around her arms. Sakura relaxed and let it fall. Naruto's eyes followed it as it dropped onto the bed. He stared at it for a few moments before looking back up at her face. She was still locking eyes with him.

Suddenly, she reached out to touch his face. There was a teardrop from earlier that had started to dry. She wiped it gently with the side of a finger, staring at him with intensity as she did. She then brought her hand to her mouth, tasting the salty liquid. Naruto stared at her with wide eyes for a few moments before looking down at her bare torso.

He had always thought of her figure as being very slender, but looking at it now, it was a bit different from what he had imagined. She had a little more body fat than he was expecting. But this generosity was something that he found quite appealing. Her curves were fairly pronounced despite her small build. She had a hint of a tummy, with an inward belly button that he found very cute. And though her breasts certainly weren't big, he felt like it would be a lie to say that they were small. He thought that one of them could fill his hand. And he found that he really wanted to try. He wanted to know how soft they were. He'd felt the vaguest sense of them through their clothes several times, as she always embraced him with so much abandon. She had never worried about it possibly looking improper, because she cared about him too much. Naruto wished that he hadn't taken so long to see that.

He didn't want to be rough with her. He had so much respect for her, and to make her feel discomfort would be unconscionable. So he reached up and caressed the underside of her left breast with his fingertips. The pinkette looked down to see what he was doing. He had touched her so lightly that she was sure that if he had put those fingers to her jugular instead, he wouldn't have felt her rapidly beating heart. Then the blonde moved his hand up to gently hold her nipple between two fingers. He touched the skin softly, feeling around the nearby sensitive bumps. Sakura let out a quick and shallow breath as he did. Then he finally covered the mound with his hand. It was indeed the perfect size to fit in his palm. She watched curiously as he did something similar on the other side. She really wanted to know what he was thinking.

When he had finished, Naruto lowered his hand. He looked up at her to see that she was still gazing down at him. There was an unspoken question on her lips.

Naruto... Don't you want me?

His eyes widened. After a moment, he spoke.

"Sakura... I always have... We've always understood each other... And I would be lying if I said my fantasies weren't exactly like this."

Sakura's expression changed to one of slight curiosity. She watched him carefully.

"Okay... So... Just like this, Naruto? Are you sure?"

He nodded hesitantly, though he didn't understand why she needed him to confirm that. Sakura bit her lip as she looked at him. The anticipation in the air was palpable. She lifted herself off of him and stood up next to the bed, facing away from him. He watched as she took hold of the thin straps of her underwear and quickly pulled them down with little fanfare. As she bent slightly at the knees to let the garment fall to the ground, the blonde's eyes widened at seeing the muscles in her toned rump become taut and rigid.

His eyes widened even more when the pinkette turned around, as he found he couldn't look away from the patch of pink hair between her legs no matter how hard he tried. But Sakura either didn't notice, or if she did, she didn't care. She leaned over him and carefully untied the string on his pajama pants before slowly pulling them off and letting them fall off the edge of the bed. Naruto watched more closely as she did the same with his underwear in an even more clinical manner, being careful to lift the waistband up over his obvious arousal so as to not cause him discomfort.

Sakura eyed it for a few moments as she idly rubbed a spot just above her waist. Then, with some trepidation, she crawled back up onto the bed and got into a position sitting atop him that was similar to before. Both their hearts were pounding. As he observed her, she didn't meet his eyes, not wanting to lose her nerve. When Naruto felt the patch of pink hair brush against him for a moment, he finally realized what she intended to do. The pinkette was going to take him into her most sacred of places. His heart leapt into his throat. He didn't expect to be doing this so soon after having just seen it for the first time. As he was about to voice a stuttering objection, he saw and felt her gently take hold of him in her hand. It was slightly cold to the touch. He let out a shallow gasp, closing his eyes in an automatic response.

When he opened them, she had already started to lower herself onto him. He felt a moist and warm sensation as he saw that he was now just barely inside of her entrance. They both let out a brief, excited breath. Then the pinkette inhaled deeply as she reached down and grasped his hands. Naruto watched as she slowly pulled them towards her, trembling slightly as she did, until he found himself holding onto both her hips. He finally looked up and met her emerald orbs. She was looking at him meaningfully. She laid a hand on his abdomen, running her fingers across the chiseled muscles. They both stared at each other as she slowly released the breath that she had been holding. Then she smiled at him nervously and gave him a brief nod.

He didn't think that he could deny himself this either. Nor could he ever reject her in such a cruel way. She was openly offering him absolutely everything that was her, with nothing held back. He could never tell her that he wouldn't accept it. He felt that someone so amazing and beautiful should never feel unwanted. Not even for a second. He could never refuse, even if he wanted to. And he didn't want to. So he held tighter to her hips.

It was awkward and difficult at first. Jiraiya had once told Naruto that for girls, it could be uncomfortable the first time, and there was nothing that could really be done about it other than taking it slow and being patient. So he was careful not to use too much force. As he slowly went deeper, she let out a soft gasp. His movements through the tight and hot space became easier.

He began to feel a wondrous sensation moving up his body from his position inside her. And as he felt more of her inviting warmth, he grew more and more addicted to her. The soft, reassuring weight of her shapely backside was something that he now wished could always be there. The same was true of the satisfying feel of her hips and of the pleasant sound of her throaty breaths. His normally hyperactive mind had slowed to a crawl. His earthly cares and worries couldn't touch him anymore. All that was in his thoughts was the pinkette and the relaxing bliss he felt as he was being enveloped by her. He wanted to chase this profound happiness.

As he was moving into her, he slammed her down to meet him forcefully. She sank all the way down, crying out as she crashed hard against his pelvis. This felt very satisfying to the blonde. Her reaction, even more so. He wanted to do it again. But he was a little scared of how much he had enjoyed both the impact and her loud cry. He didn't know if Sakura would be okay with that kind of treatment. He never wanted her to feel like he was treating her like a piece of meat. He could never dominate her. She was so much prouder, so much smarter than him.

This was nothing like anything he had ever done by himself. That had been a cheap thrill at best. He had never felt like he was going to lose control like he did now. And he'd never enjoyed anything so much as this. All he wanted was to feel more of this pleasing heat that was clinging so tightly to him. He was completely mesmerized by the sight of himself being repeatedly consumed by the fleshy orifice marked by her pink hair. The beautiful color was a stark reminder that the lithe, pale body that was colliding with his belonged to Sakura. She was the most heavenly creature that he knew of. And though what he was doing with her was sinful, he never wanted to stop.

He wanted nothing more than to stay inside of her. He wished that this could last forever. She fit so perfectly around him. He wanted to let her have all of him. So he slammed her down onto him once more, impaling the pinkette up to the hilt. And as he felt her walls completely encasing him like a cocoon, he started to feel like he was slipping into oblivion, like he was being forced to his knees, being forced to surrender to her and her gentle warmth. This was a battle that he could never win against Sakura. Hearing her high-pitched cry, he knew he never had a chance. He was only growing more and more lost in her, his reason only slipping further away. And this was all happening inside of the soothingly hot place that she had so freely allowed him to enter.

But that was just how she was. There was an especially tender and nurturing care that she gave only to the one she loved.

He had never been more thankful that it was him.

His breath quickened as his head fell back and he stared at the ceiling. Naruto knew that, as powerful as he was, he was being rendered completely vulnerable. If Sakura, or anyone else, wanted to hurt him right now, he would be easily killed. One kunai is all it would take. Any attack on him would succeed. He'd drag Kurama kicking and screaming into the afterlife and the fox would never forgive him for this weakness.

But he knew she would never hurt him. She had told him that so many times. She just wanted to see him happy. She was not going to be disappointed. He'd never been so content. He'd never been so happy to be utterly helpless. She was doing what she always did, taking care of him in a way that he couldn't even understand. It was just like everything else she had done for him. It was just like her desperate hugs or the faint scratches on her arm. It meant everything, but she treated it as nothing, like it was as simple as breathing. And even that was so very significant right now. Every so often, her body would shift as she gasped or exhaled airily, and these unexpected small movements only deepened his state of bliss.

He knew it wouldn't be much longer until the dam broke. He wished it didn't have to end. He decided to slow down in hopes of prolonging this ecstasy. However, he couldn't see what he was doing anymore, so this change to his rhythm caused him to lose track of where he was. He moved too far and accidentally slipped out of her.

Naruto looked down at the space where him and Sakura had been connected. There was a few drops of a dark liquid staining the sheets. Some of it painted him as well. It was too dark to be from her arousal. He blinked a few times. He realized it was blood. His heart sank and his eyes widened in shock as he stared at the red stains.

He had done the last thing he ever wanted to do. He had gotten so intoxicated by her that he lost himself and forgot about her. He couldn't believe he had let himself become so affected. She hadn't said anything, but her pain must have been obvious if she was bleeding. But he had been at first too embarrassed and later too transfixed to look her in the eyes. So he had treated her, the one person who cared about him more than anyone else, like an object. He had betrayed her. Merely because he had wanted the euphoria that her body could give him. He had caused her pain just so that he could enjoy the feeling of being inside of her. He had hurt her for his own desires.

He knew for a fact that Sakura would rather die than do that to him. And he was sure that she believed he felt the same way. Which he did. He didn't understand how he could have done something so horrible. He had hurt the person he adored. And it was not in anger or for personal gain. He had done so because he enjoyed the feel of her flesh. The blonde couldn't think of a more disgusting betrayal. He wondered what she must think of him. He remembered the nervous smile she had given him. She had always trusted him to keep her safe and protect her. She hadn't expected this to be any different. So she had smiled at him to show her encouragement and trust. And he had abused that trust in the worst possible way.

He had turned his love for her into something selfish and twisted. He thought about how good he had felt while he was hurting her. He realized that her blood would have acted as a lubricant. Her suffering had made it feel even better. He felt sick to his stomach. He remembered the satisfaction he had felt at hearing her loud cries. He felt like he was going to throw up. He was profoundly ashamed. He knew that Sakura would be so hurt and saddened by this. She thought that he was such an incredible person. She must have been waiting for him to come to his senses. She believed in him more than anyone else. He wasn't looking forward to the confusion and pain he would see on her face.

Naruto finally looked up at her with a horrified expression.

She was smiling at him. Her eyes were a little watery, but she was wearing that familiar warm smile that he loved to see. Ever since she had accepted him, he had always melted before that smile.

"S-Saku..." he stammered.

The pinkette quickly put a finger to his lips.

"Shh... It's okay."

With her remaining hand, she reached down to where they had become one. A faint glow could be seen. She moved her other hand to grip his shoulder and used her strength to gently pull him up to meet her face to face. Her expression changed to one of great worry as she saw his terrified eyes up close. She had never seen Naruto so scared before. He was actually trembling.

She kissed him tenderly until the glow disappeared. Then she pulled him into a close embrace, gently massaging his head as she held him tightly to her chest.

"I'm fine. I told you, you won't hurt me with this. Please don't be afraid. You could never do anything wrong to me, my dear, sweet Naruto. I love you," Sakura whispered.

When he had stopped trembling, she met him face to face again and carefully inspected his features. He was still a bit wide-eyed. She began planting quick kisses on and around his lips, examining him after each as if he were a patient. When she saw that he had calmed down, she slowly laid him back down onto the pillow. She watched him with concern and spoke up again.

"Hey, let's keep going. I was starting to feel good, too. You didn't have to stop."

Naruto hesitantly nodded. She smiled reassuringly before reaching down and taking hold of him again. His arousal had faltered some, but he responded quickly to the gentle way she held him. She was soon able to lower herself on top of him again, and much more deeply than she had the first time. She moaned softly, involuntarily closing her eyes. When she opened them, she met his icy blue orbs. They both started to move at the same time. There was no more talking.

/

They lay side by side with the bedsheet draped haphazardly over them. They were both very relaxed, zoning out as they gazed at the ceiling. Sunlight was pouring in through the window.

"So... Is everything okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

There was a small smile on Sakura's face.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," she said.

The blonde turned his head to look at her with a tentative expression on his face.

"Was I okay?"

Sakura turned to meet his eyes, still smiling softly.

"You did just fine, Naruto. Don't worry. It was nice."

Her expression grew curious.

"But I was wondering about something. When we started, I was surprised that you were so interested in that part of my anatomy. I never thought I had much to offer there compared to Ino. To say nothing of someone like Hinata..." Sakura mused.

Naruto looked at her seriously.

"Well... I think you do. You don't understand how beautiful you are, Sakura-chan. Ino and Hinata don't have what you have. No one does."

The pinkette raised an eyebrow.

"You really think so?"

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah... It was also the look in your eyes. You were looking at me the same way as you did when you asked me if I wanted to run away with you. Because you were looming over me, and because you were... Well, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. You looked like a goddess trying to breathe life into one of her creations."

Sakura gave him a blank stare, blinking a few times.

"Wow, Naruto. I've never known you to be so poetic. I'm no goddess. I'm just Sakura-chan."

He shook his head.

"No... That wasn't Sakura-chan. You really did have such an unearthly beauty then that it looked like a different person. She looked a lot like you, but I wasn't completely sure that it was. And I had been so emotional. So I thought that it was a goddess... And her name was Sakura... And she wanted me... So I felt like crying for a completely different reason."

Sakura grinned.

"You seem quite taken with this Sakura. Do I have anything to worry about?"

Naruto laughed.

"Haha... No you don't, Sakura-chan. But I'd like to see her again."

He regarded her with a concerned look.

"Hey... What happened, when you were bleeding? I was really scared. I thought I really hurt you," Naruto said.

Sakura sighed softly.

"You didn't... Girls have a... Well, it's not really important. Basically, it happened because I've never done that before. Naturally, you're the only one I've ever been with. And that happens the first time."

Naruto looked down in thought.

"Oh... I was so worried... So it wasn't bad...?"

Her expression softened a little.

"No. It did hurt a little, but it wasn't that bad. I'm sorry that I scared you. I should have said something about it."

He looked up to meet her eyes.

"But if it hurt, how come you were smiling?"

She smiled similarly to how she had before. His eyes softened at the sight.

"Well, it felt good at the same time. But I saw how relaxed you were. I'd never seen you look like that before. And I knew that you were like that because of me. That made me feel really happy. It would have had to hurt a lot more than it did to get me to stop smiling."

Naruto finally smiled as well.

"I see... I don't know how I would feel about it if anyone else had gotten to do that with you. It really was absolutely amazing. I can't wait to do it again."

Sakura chuckled.

"Haha. Yeah, I could tell you didn't exactly keep your cool."

Naruto blushed at the memory. After a few moments, something occurred to him and he looked at her thoughtfully.

"Man... I feel like if Sasuke had known how amazing it was to be with you, and I'm not talking just about this, he would never have done all the crap he did. He would have stopped caring about his damn revenge. It would be impossible for me to care about something like that if you were there, Sakura-chan."

She looked away pensively.

"To be honest, I never thought about what it would be like to do that with him."

He moved his head a little closer to her.

"Really? Didn't you love him, though?"

Sakura looked back at him and sighed deeply.

"I'm not sure anymore that I did. I thought I did. But I really wanted him to acknowledge me. To look at me. At most, I would have wanted him to kiss me. But the one time I thought he was going to kiss me was actually you..."

She playfully punched Naruto in the arm. He smiled sheepishly. Then the pinkette gave him a bright smile.

"With you, it's completely different. I love spending time with you. I feel like nothing can hurt me if you're around. And you always make me feel special. So I adore you so much. I feel like I want to give you everything, and I don't need to get anything from you in return. You don't have to lift a finger for me. I'd do this with you, and I'd do a million other things, just to see you smile. All I would ever ask of you is that you do your best. As long as you love me, and you're happy... I'm happy," Sakura explained.

Naruto grinned.

"I always wanted you to be happy too, Sakura-chan. And knowing that you love me makes me happier than anything. I guess I feel the exact same way."

Sakura smirked.

"So... Did I make you happy, Naruto?"

He nodded.

"Of course. I thought that was obvious."

The pinkette laughed.

"Haha. It was."

Naruto laughed as well. After a moment, his eyes widened.

"... Hey, I just thought of something. Shouldn't we have used something so that you wouldn't get pregnant? I'm not saying that I don't-"

Sakura interrupted him, a casual smile on her face.

"You don't have to worry about it, Naruto. Tsunade-shishou gave me a jutsu. That was what I talked to her about on that one night I came to your apartment."

He stared at her blankly.

"Oh... Wow... You're always taking care of me, Sakura-chan. I'm always such a fool, and you're always the responsible one that saves me from screwing up."

Sakura chuckled.

"Haha. You're not that much of a fool. You're just really passionate. And I'm glad that you are. That's what I love about you."

She leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. Naruto gazed at her in admiration as she lay her head back on the pillow.

The sun had reached its apex, fully lighting the room. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.