The next morning, Naruto opened his eyes. He could feel a heavy weight and his vision was a sea of pink. He blinked a few times and realized that it was Sakura's hair. It had fallen over her face. She had snuggled even closer to him during the night. He took a deep breath and looked up at the white ceiling.

He had always wanted to be with her, but he didn't think that she would grow so dependent on him. He had never wanted her to change for him. He thought about the past few weeks. She had been her usual assertive self for most of the time that they were together. Then she had learned about the scar on his chest. They had both silently agreed that it could never drive them apart. Then they had slept together after returning from their mission. Naruto wondered why she had wanted to. He hoped it wasn't just because he had been depressed over his parents.

After that, it began to seem that rather than the truth of the promise driving them apart, it instead had the effect of Sakura always wanting to be in his arms. And though this was quite pleasant for him, he had always thought of her as being very independent and determined. He had never thought that being with him would have changed that. He had to talk to her and try to understand her better. He couldn't leave this alone.

The blonde thought about what he should say for some time. Finally, he felt her form stirring on top of him. He watched her open her eyes and smile when she saw him.

"Naruto..." Sakura said.

He grinned awkwardly.

"Hi, Sakura-chan. How are you?" Naruto replied.

She chuckled before separating from him to stretch her arms.

"Haha... I'm fine. Sorry for rolling on top of you like that. I hope you slept well anyway."

He nodded.

"You could never be a problem for me, Sakura-chan. But, I've been thinking. Can we talk about something?"

Sakura swallowed and looked at him with concern.

"Sure... What's wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled softly at her, putting her mind at ease.

"Well... I've always thought you were amazing. You're a hundred times smarter than I could ever be. You're so beautiful. And you've always been so gentle and caring. So I'm really happy to be with you."

She smiled warmly.

"You're sweet, Naruto."

His eyes moved to one side.

"It's precisely because you're so amazing that I love you. It's why I would do anything to protect you. But I'm worried."

Naruto looked back at the pinkette, who raised an eyebrow.

"Because I never thought that I would have to. Sakura-chan, you were always so strong. What have I done to you?" he asked.

Her green eyes widened.

"You haven't done anything, Naruto..."

He looked at her desperately and gripped one of her hands.

"Why do I feel like you've given me so much power over you? I never wanted that, Sakura-chan. I never thought I would change the way you were. I never thought you would need me so much. Don't get me wrong, I'll always be there for you. But I thought you were amazing all on your own."

Sakura frowned sadly.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. But I just felt so unworthy of your love. I kept thinking that the next time I would see you, you would have realized how horribly I treated you and not want to be with me anymore. And I don't feel like I can ever make up for what I did."

Naruto grasped her hand more tightly.

"But I don't care about what you did, Sakura-chan. You made it up to me by being yourself. If you ever needed to make it up to me, then you did back when we went to visit Teme. I was so miserable back then. You took that misery away and replaced it with happiness. It was more than I could have ever asked for. I told you before that it doesn't matter what you do to me. I choose you. I chose you a long time ago. Can't you see that?"

She nodded slowly.

"I do. I know that. It's just that I felt so guilty. I felt like I shouldn't be able to get away with it. It's hard to explain."

He sighed deeply.

"You mean, like what you were talking about last night? You think I should have punished you for it?"

Sakura gave him a surprised look.

"Well, I know you never would. That's what makes me feel bad."

Naruto looked at her seriously.

"Sakura-chan, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be here. I think you made up for it. I am not going to hurt you, take advantage of you, or anything like that. You're my most precious person. You can't expect me to purposely hurt you or to try and make you feel like you aren't worth anything. Even if you weren't my most precious person, you saved my life. So that would be unthinkable. It would be so disgusting. I could never do something like that."

She watched him for a few moments, examining his serious expression. He was always so heroic. She finally smiled.

"Okay, Naruto. You don't have to. I'll try to be the strong-willed Sakura again. But I still love you. And since it's unconditional, I would love you even if you hated me, Naruto. That's why I struggled so much with this. I never knew about it. I've always had such strong feelings about protecting you and I never realized that I had betrayed them in the worst way possible. I wish you had told me."

The blonde smiled weakly back.

"Maybe I should have. If I knew that promise would end up hurting you so much, I would never have made it. I was only trying to make you happy."

Sakura laughed.

"Haha. I think that's the problem. We both try so hard to make the other person happy. When really, we would both be happy without either of us needing to do anything. So all we do is make each other feel guilty."

Naruto chuckled ruefully.

"Haha... Yeah... Listen, there's one other thing I want to know."

She looked at him curiously.

"What is it, Naruto?"

He looked quite serious again.

"Why did we sleep together? Did you want to do that for me because I was hurt over my parents?"

Sakura's eyes widened. She certainly didn't want to make him feel guilty. Fortunately, she didn't have to lie to him.

"I'm not going to tell you that it had nothing to do with that. Of course it did. But I wanted to do it regardless. I'm in love with you, Naruto. So I wanted to show you how much I loved you. And how much I trusted you. Yes, it was my first time, and that should have been a big deal... But nothing involving you could ever be scary. Didn't I tell you that I didn't want to wait that long?"

Naruto smiled in relief.

"Yeah, you did. Okay... That's a load off my mind. I didn't want to make you do something like that before you really wanted to, Sakura-chan."

She smiled back at him. He didn't need to know that a large part of why she had wanted to was her guilt. She simply saw no good reason to deny him that after what she had learned. Not with the way she felt about him. The pinkette loved him so much that it sometimes caused her physical pain. Sentimentality had as much chance as an ice sculpture in the Suna desert.

She didn't really see anything wrong with it, though. She likely would have done so even without that revelation. It was just natural for her to want to comfort him. For better or for worse.

"I'm glad, Naruto. But hey, I have to work today. Unfortunately. So I'm going to get ready now."

He nodded.

"Okay, Sakura-chan. You can use the bathroom first."

/

They were walking together to the hospital after Naruto had insisted on doing so. Sakura had changed into her hospital garb and carried her bag with her. She turned to look at him.

"Hey, Naruto. Do you mind if I stay with you again tonight? I don't have to work tomorrow, so we can do something together."

He looked at her with surprise.

"Sure, Sakura-chan... But why? Is there something going on with you and your parents?"

The pinkette looked off to one side.

"Not really. They're not mad at me or anything. It just might be a little awkward, and I really like sleeping with you."

Naruto gave her a concerned look.

"Well, okay. But I think you should talk to them tomorrow, at least. They'll be worried about you. And I don't want them to think I'm trying to keep you from them. I like them."

She nodded.

"I will. Thanks, Naruto."

He finally smiled.

They eventually arrived at the hospital. Sakura gave the blonde a hug which lasted a while.

"I'll see you tonight, Naruto. I love you."

They pulled back and smiled softly at one another.

"I love you too, Sakura-chan."

Sakura quickly waved and darted into the doors of the hospital. Parting with him was like ripping off a bandage, it was best done as fast as possible.

Naruto slowly walked off, unsure what to do with the rest of his day.

/

Naruto ended up going to the Hokage office for a few hours even though he wasn't expected there. He had to endure the summary ribbing from Kakashi, but the older man relented quickly. While he was studying, he heard someone walk up behind him.

"Kakashi-sensei, I said no," Naruto said, sounding irritated.

"It's me, Naruto-kun," a female voice replied.

Naruto turned in his chair to look. It was Shizune. She had a kind smile on her face.

"Oh, sorry. He's been so annoying. Why doesn't he get a girlfriend of his own?"

The raven-haired medical ninja blushed lightly.

"I don't know. He seems happy with his books."

Naruto grimaced.

"Yeah... So what's up, Shizune-nee-chan?"

She shrugged.

"Nothing much. How are things with you and Sakura?"

The blonde had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"It's complicated. Do you know anything about relationships?"

Shizune flushed, looking rather sheepish.

"I don't like to admit this, but I've never been in one."

He gaped at her.

"Really?! But you're..."

She glared at him playfully.

"Old?"

Naruto shook his head rapidly.

"No! I wasn't going to say that! But you're so pretty, Shizune-nee-chan. And you're around the same age as most of my senseis. How come you've never been in one?"

Shizune sighed.

"I don't want to blame her. It was my choice. But it was because of Tsunade-sama. I didn't want to leave her alone. She drank and gambled, and she was lonely. I was fearful that someone would take advantage of her. So I didn't want to leave her. And since we moved around constantly, there was no time to get to know anyone."

"But... Wouldn't you have time for one now?"

She frowned.

"Yeah, I would. But there's really no one... Well, except for Hokage-sama. But we both know how he is."

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. I feel like he must be in the same boat as you, though. I get the impression that he always kept to himself because of his past."

"I think you're right. But he never looks up from his books. Tell me about you and Sakura, though. Maybe I can help anyway."

He sighed.

"Well, I always loved Sakura-chan. I always wanted to be with her, and I never thought she wanted to be with me. I never thought she even really cared about me. And I was just completely wrong about everything. And now, she really cares about me and she always wants to be around me. And I'm just scared that I'm changing her. I never wanted her to change for me."

The Hokage's assistant had a pensive look on her face.

"Hmm... Well, people change, Naruto-kun. With or without you. I feel like I've changed a lot in the years since we first met. And I wasn't in a relationship with anyone. You can't really expect Sakura to stay the same in any case."

Naruto looked at her more intently.

"But all of this is because of me. She's told me as much."

"Well, what can you really do about it? As long as it doesn't break you two apart, I don't think you need to be concerned about it if Sakura is happy."

The blonde frowned as well.

"She's happy, but only when she's around me. She says she's really stressed out otherwise."

Shizune cocked her head to one side.

"Hmm. I don't know what to tell you, Naruto-kun. It sounds like something Sakura needs to work through on her own. I'd say just try to be there for her as much as you can."

Naruto looked at her with a weak smile on his face.

"I was going to do that anyway, but thanks, Shizune-nee-chan."

She nodded sharply.

"Anytime, Naruto-kun."

The dark-haired woman walked back to her desk. Naruto turned and resumed his work. He was more distracted now than ever before.

/

Naruto had left the Hokage office. He headed towards the ramen shop. Many more people took the time to greet him by name when he wasn't with Sakura. He wondered why this was so.

When he arrived, he sat down at the counter and ordered several bowls of ramen. He began eating them in quick succession.

As his stomach was almost full, a somewhat unfamiliar figure sat down next to him. Naruto looked up from what would be his last bowl and saw that it was Shino. The bug ninja was as unreadable as always.

"Shino? I didn't know you ate ramen," Naruto said.

"I don't. Unfortunately, I don't care for it," Shino replied.

Naruto regarded him with a blank stare.

"Uh... What are you doing here, then?"

Shino bowed his head very slightly.

"I have been made aware of something that leads me to believe that my reasoning was incorrect the last time we spoke. I apologize for this. Why, you ask? Because I caused you unnecessary alarm."

Naruto shrugged.

"It's OK. Whatever. It was a while ago."

"It is most distressing that my logic failed me. Why, you ask? Because as an Aburame, I-"

The blonde held up a hand.

"Shino, I'm done eating, so I have to go. I'll listen to this later."

The Aburame stared at him for a moment before nodding.

"Very well."

Naruto stood up and quickly walked off, leaving Shino's presence at the ramen stand without a purpose. He realized this and departed as well.

/

Kiba was walking down the street near where the hospital was. He saw a distant pink-haired figure walking away from him. Anger rose in him as it usually did and he started walking faster.

After he had closed half of the distance, the awning of a sundries shop was in his path. As he walked under it, he found himself immobile. He couldn't move a muscle no matter how much he struggled. He noticed that Akamaru was under the same effect. He realized what had happened and just glared bitterly at Sakura as she walked away. When she was out of sight, he felt the power that had taken hold of him release itself.

Kiba quickly spun around and saw Shikamaru standing directly behind him. He flinched at the close proximity of the frowning Nara.

"Shikamaru! What are you thinking, using your jutsu on me?" Kiba demanded.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"I think you know exactly why I did that. You were going to be troublesome," he replied.

The dog ninja glared at him.

"So what? I was just going to talk to her."

Shikamaru examined him for a few seconds before replying.

"What kind of person do you think Naruto is?"

Kiba smirked in his usual haughty fashion.

"He's just an idiot. I know he's strong, but if you expect me to be scared of him, you're not as smart as everyone says you are. He wouldn't do anything. He's too concerned with having a squeaky clean image so that he can be the Hokage."

The raven-haired man frowned.

"Do you know of a shinobi named Sabaku no Gaara?"

Kiba nodded.

"The Godaime Kazekage? He was such a scary ass dude back then. Aren't you dating his sister? Good luck with that."

Shikamaru sighed.

"I'm not, though I wish I was. But Gaara once made the mistake of threatening Sakura's life when Naruto was in a position to do something about it. Back then, Naruto had no great accomplishments to his name. Yet he defeated a bijuu to protect her. Defeating a tailed beast as a rookie Genin... Needless to say, he's closer to her now than he was back then. But you're well aware of that, aren't you?"

Kiba shrugged. Shikamaru continued to speak in a grim tone.

"You might think Naruto is just a carefree idiot. You might think that you can do whatever you want to him. No matter how many times you make a fool out of him, he'll never retaliate. He'll just laugh it off. And you're probably right," he continued.

His expression darkened.

"But if you do anything to hurt Sakura, you're going to find that you never truly knew Naruto at all. If you're lucky, you'll deeply regret being so troublesome. If not... You won't be able to regret anything anymore. Because he's not going to care why you did it. He's not going to care that you're a Konoha shinobi. If Naruto thinks you're hurting the woman he loves, your existence will become intolerable to him. He will destroy you without thinking twice about it."

Kiba paled and swallowed hard. He had never seen the Nara like this before.

"I wouldn't count on him making the distinction that you were only using harsh words, that you weren't actually hurting her physically. Don't get me wrong, there's a very good chance that he would. But it seems like a foolish gamble to make."

Shikamaru pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a draw from it and glanced at Kiba. His casual demeanor had returned. The dog ninja just stared at him wide-eyed.

"That's all. Goodbye, Kiba."

Kiba couldn't think of anything to say. He turned and quickly walked away.

/

Sakura had decided to visit Ino before going to Naruto's apartment. She had changed back into her normal clothes. It was still early enough that Naruto might not be home. She had hoped that her Yamanaka friend would have visited her during her lunch break, but she had been alone. She felt much better today than she had yesterday, but she wanted to talk to someone, and Ino was the only one who she felt like she could talk to about this.

She walked through the open door of the flower shop and saw Ino standing behind the counter. Fortunately, there were no other customers. Ino brightened up upon seeing her friend.

"Hey, Ino-pig," Sakura said.

"What are you doing here, Forehead? It's been a while since you came to the shop," Ino replied.

Sakura frowned lightly. She went up to the counter and spoke quietly so as to not be overheard.

"I wanted to talk to you some more."

Ino watched her curiously.

"You mean about Naruto, right?"

The pinkette nodded.

"Yeah... Nothing bad happened, but I think I'm scaring him a little."

Ino tilted her head to one side.

"You mean, when you asked to move in with him? Maybe it was too soon."

Sakura sighed.

"No, I didn't even ask him that. He's just worried that he's changing me because of how emotional and clingy I'm being. He wants me to be the confident Sakura again."

Ino stared at her blankly.

"You mean, he doesn't know that was all an act?"

Sakura glared at the blonde woman.

"Gee, thanks, Ino-pig. Tell me how you really feel."

Ino smiled apologetically.

"I'm not saying you aren't a strong person, Forehead. You're really forceful about the things you care about. But you've always been so insecure about your appearance and other things. It was the entire basis for our friendship."

Sakura looked away thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

"So Naruto never understood that?"

The pinkette looked back at Ino.

"I suppose not. He has too high of an opinion of me to really see me as being flawed. I guess that's an issue."

Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he loves you. Speaking of which, how is that going? Did you two do anything else?"

Sakura looked down with a troubled expression.

"No. I did something stupid. I think he's probably not going to feel comfortable doing that again because of it."

The blonde gaped at her.

"Really? What did you do?"

Sakura looked up at Ino imploringly.

"There was a misunderstanding. I don't want to say what it was. It's really personal."

Ino chuckled.

"Haha. Okay, I won't force you to tell me. But you know, there are other things you can do besides having actual sex, Forehead. You could get more comfortable with each other and work your way up to doing it again."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Like what?"

Ino's eyes lit up.

"Well, there's..."

She went into detail on many things. Sakura was more wide-eyed than ever by the end of it.

"How do you even know about all that stuff? I thought you hadn't even been in a serious relationship yet?"

Ino sighed.

"After Daddy died, my mom started to get overprotective. She wanted to make sure that I wouldn't endanger the Yamanaka legacy. She didn't want someone unworthy to get me pregnant and end up gaining control over the clan. So I needed to learn how to be intimate with someone without the risk of pregnancy."

Sakura nodded with a wry smile. Ino had always been a dangerously free spirit.

"That makes sense. I guess you really don't need me to teach you that jutsu, then."

The blonde woman frowned.

"You're so ungrateful, Forehead."

Sakura grinned.

"I'm just kidding. I'll teach it to you some other time, Ino-pig. I have to go. Thanks for the advice."

Ino nodded.

"Sure. Good luck, Forehead."

The pinkette waved and quickly exited the premises. Ino sighed and smiled knowingly after she had gone.