火火Chapter 8 : Heaven and Earth restored火火
The sun rose over Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. Today it was particularly well hidden as a cloud of mist was currently suffocating Konoha. Two people still linked by fate awoke at the same time thinking the same thoughts, it seemed as if fate had something planned for today as both got up at the same time heading to the same place.
火火Naruto's POV火火
I can't believe she said that...does she really hate me...? If she does all that has happened up till now mean nothing. All the times we were together...they mean nothing...I finally got my head clear, I thought that I understood what she said; I thought I understood how she felt. I was completely wrong, she hates me...me...I need to do something. I need to go to the training grounds and clear my head, doing something will help me forget this pain...this pain I know too well...
火火Normal POV火火
He got out of his bed and looked out of the window, not far off in the direction he was looking a girl was staring directly at him but neither of them knew and neither of them of them knew what the day held for them.
Sakura was standing at her window in her underwear; she had just come out of her bath and had frozen at the window.
火火Sakura's POV火火
What was that weird feeling just now; it felt like...Is there someone watching me. Hold on...Shit there are people in the street, I really shouldn't go to the window half naked. I've been really out of it since yesterday; I said the complete opposite of what I felt to Naruto. But he deserved it how could he betray me like that, I know we weren't exactly together together but...I – I still feel like we had a connection. But he still doesn't seem to realize that, he can't just go off with another girl and come back expecting everything to be ok. He can't even explain to me why he kissed her, even though he apologized it's still not enough. If he wants me to trust him again he's gonna have to do something bigger than that.
火火Normal POV火火
Sakura tied her hair back with her headband, froze for a second and decided to tie it around her waist instead. She stepped out of her room surprised to find the rest of her house asleep, then she realized that it was only five in the morning, Why I went to sleep so early I don't know but I think I'll go over to the training grounds, hopefully right now Naruto's thinking of flashy, over-the-top ways to get me back. She giggled to herself as she considered what Naruto might do to get back in her good books, she pulled on her gloves as she left the house wondering were all the fog had come from.
火火break火火
Naruto made his way out of his apartment he decided to do some harsher training; so he decided to wear just a black shirt and black trousers, seeing as he felt like doing some intense taijutsu today her wore some protective gloves. As he came up to his door he saw on a table next to the door his old goggles, on a whim he decided to wear them thinking, On a foggy day like this they might be useful...
Naruto left his house and decided to take a detour to the flower shop, embarrassed at having to go into a flower shop he decided to use a jutsu he hadn't used in a while (mainly because he feared what Sakura would do to him if she saw),
"Oiroke no jutsu!"
Having transformed into a twenty something woman in a suit he decided to go in,
"Hello!"
He was surprised to receive such a warm welcome from Ino then he remembered that he was not himself,
"Hello, I'm thinking of getting something for a friend who's feeling a bit down at the moment, could you recommend anything."
"How strange I have a friend who's down at the moment right now too, she broke up with her boyfriend..."
Naruto's ears twitched at hearing this news, could she be talking about Sakura...and if that's true then she thinks of me as her boyfriend... He decided to extract a little more information from her,
"Is that so my – uh – friends in the same kind of predicament, her boyfriend went off with another girl."
"Well mine he wasn't exactly her boyfriend, more a close teammate..."
Naruto did an anime drop at these words that somehow didn't go noticed by Ino, coming to the conclusion that she was half asleep he decided to dig deeper,
"Were they close – I mean – Did she love him?"
"She told that to me once – I think..."
She said what...
"She was crying to me once, she didn't say much only that Naruto – I mean – aha – someone did something to her..."
If so does that mean...
"I spoke to her this morning though and she seemed alright-ish..."
"Wha – uh not meaning to be nosy – what was she like this morning?"
"She was surprisingly bubbly, apparently they were alright she didn't say much about him though..."
"Did she say who it was?"
"Well it's obviously Naruto, a five year old could tell that they were together..."
"Can I get 200 pink roses then?" (Do pink roses exist? If not they do now)
"Uuuuuuh...Hai..."
"How come you're so tired this morning?"
"Well it's only six in the morning if you didn't notice and I was up late last night with..."
She blushed and Naruto wondered who she was thinking of, I should say something that an adult would say...uhhhhhh...
"Young love...so – uh – unpredictable..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She said firing up suddenly,
"I mean – uh – think nothing of it – I was thinking out loud...ahahaha!"
"I thought so...What was it again 200 pink roses?"
"Uh – yeah..."
火火break火火
Sakura arrived at the training grounds not surprised to find it empty, no one would be here this early except a certain blond ninja, that I shouldn't be thinking about – train, train, train! That's what I'm here to do. She walked over to the three posts and remembered what had happened there.
火火Flashback (haven't had one of these in a while)火火
Kakashi looked down on his three students thoroughly disappointed,
"You have absolutely no teamwork, that's why you three haven't got any of these bells yet."
The three of them looked away from him apart from Sakura who gave Sasuke a concerned look,
"I'm going to give Sasuke and Sakura these lunches, Naruto doesn't get any because he tried to steal them for himself."
Naruto looked down crestfallen at not getting any lunch,
"I'll be back in a little while, then you can try to get the bells again. If you fail then you go back to the academy."
"Nani!" Two voices answered in unison,
Kakashi poofed away leaving the three genin to themselves. Naruto stood there watching the other two eating their lunches, he let out a nervous laugh after his stomach growled. Then through some miracle Sasuke offered Naruto his lunch,
"Here..."
"Uh – Nani?"
"You can have some, you'll need your strength if you're gonna help in any way to get the bells."
"Wah – Thanks!"
"Wait Sasuke-kun I'll give him mine."
"Thanks Sakura-chan!"
"I'm kinda on a diet anyway – here..."
Sakura offered her plate to Naruto despite her stomach growling,
"But Sakura-chan my hands are tied, so..."
"I'll have to feed you..."
Sakura started to feed the food into Naruto's mouth when Sasuke suddenly started choking Sakura abandoned Naruto,
"Sasuke-kun are you okay?"
Sasuke fell on his back grasping his throat, Sakura tried helping him out by tapping his back but Sasuke continued to choke just barely spluttering out,
"Sa – kura – It's no – use – you'll have to – use your - mouth to take it out - cough -"
"You mean a – a - kiss ?"
"Yes if - cough - if it works then – I'll owe you my life -"
Sakura decided to grasp the chance and kiss Sasuke, she knelt down and was about to press her lips on his when she realized, Why the hell am I kissing Sasuke?
"Naruto's the one I love!"
"cough - Na – ni!"
"I said I love Naruto."
"Do you mean that Sakura-chan?"
She ran up to Naruto and placed her hands softly on his cheeks,
"Yes! Yes I do! I don't hate you! Please don't hate me! I love you!"
火火break火火
"I love you!"
Sakura was surprised to find her self lying in damp grass, staring into a sky half blocked by fog,
"Huh..."
She looked around and remembered that she was at the training grounds; she sat up and saw nothing but fog around her,
"I must have fallen asleep; I hope it wasn't too long..."
She stood up and brushed off he clothing which was now slightly wet, she started towards the training posts which she had somehow got so far away from. She was then surprised to hear the sounds of someone training. She decided to step forward and see who it was.
...It can't be him...
She couldn't see well because of the fog but she thought she saw the shapes of a two people fighting.
...It can't be him...
She looked closer and saw that there were two figures dressed in black, both had blond hair and looked exactly the same,
...It is him...
火火Sakura's POV火火
It...It is him...what do I do? I don't think I'm ready to face him after what I said yesterday, I didn't expect to see him training here this early. He kinda looks good training as well, his body glistening with sweat, working his perfectly sculpted muscles, I never noticed before because he always wore that orange jacket – I'm getting distracted again - I don't have the courage to face him now...but if I don't face him now then when will I? I can't walk away from this I have to apologize or something. If I don't tell him my feelings then he might never be able to acknowledge them, truth is that I didn't want to say what I did yesterday...but...but at that time I...I just hated him for what he did to me. I guess I should just go I – I mean he...he probably doesn't want to see me either,
"So you're awake, you gave me quite a fright there."
火火break火火
A hand rested on her shoulder and slowly turned her around, she found herself staring into a pair of bright blue eyes,
"I found you lying down next to the posts and thought you might have fallen asleep training. You know you really shouldn't push yourself; I'll get worried if you hurt yourself"
Naruto moved his hand as if he was going to place it on her cheek, as he always did to comfort her. But suddenly stopped remembering the position of their relationship, We're just teammates nothing more, I can't be here doing this...this false act. I love her but I've got to let her go...haha...that's so cliché...
Sakura had seen Naruto's hand move towards her face and wanted desperately for him to place it on her face that alone would show her that he still loved her. She watched it slowly rise and felt her heart drop when it stopped, Does that mean...he doesn't...he doesn't...
"I should get going, I mean...if you're gonna be training then I should go elsewhere...it's probably for the best..."
"You could train here if you want..."
Naruto stepped back and turned around; Sakura looked up eagerly at him when she spoke but she looked hurt because his back was too her,
"I...I should just go..."
Sakura looked on as the man she loved walked off into the mist, he walked and then suddenly froze.
火火Naruto's POV火火
What's this feeling...it's welling up in my chest...It feel's like...like,
"Guilt..."
Where did that voice come from? I can' have been Sakura it sounded like a male. Could it be?
"Me of course, who else?"
Kyuubi, how the hell are you talking to me?
"I'm trapped in your head of course I can talk to you! Don't you think this situation is wrong?"
I - well...I think she made her feelings clear before...so as much as I want to do something...anything to save our relationship...I can't
"So all this is based off what she said yesterday?"
Well...yeah, why?
"Don't you see how she's acting now, it's hardly like she hates you. You don't know much about women do you?"
I guess not...
"She's asking you to train with her; I don't think that she's thinking of you in a bad light."
Then why did she say what she said yesterday?
"Because she was probably feeling very emotional yesterday, so she said she hated you. I think yesterday night it hit her."
What did?
"The pain you know all too well, I believe you were thinking about it this morning."
The pain...of being alone...
"Yes think about what happened with that Uchiha boy."
When he left...she probably felt alone again...having the boy you love leave you like that...it's painful...Now I'm the boy she loves and I'm leaving her...
"Think kit, if you leave her now do you want her to feel that pain?"
I...no...
"Then you must do anything so that she can never experience that pain, you may think that she won't return your love but I think the feelings mutual."
I...I don't want to feel the pain of being alone again either...that's why...I'm going to...
"Hopefully with this I can stop the rain in this place as well as outside of it."
火火Normal POV火火
Naruto stood stock still in the fog and decided on what to do,
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan..."
He continued to walk into the mist leaving behind the only comfort he now had in the world, until a pair of cold arms closed around his body stopping him where he stood,
"Naruto-kun...please...don't leave me alone..."
Naruto could hear her voice breaking and he continued to stand there, he could feel her icy arms around him, Was she waiting here for me, is it my fault that she's like this? Naruto stared into the just barely visible sky and realized something; No-one can escape loneliness...
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan..."
He turned around and placed his hand on he head,
"I never properly apologized for what I did."
Sakura just continued to stare into his eyes; she seemed to be in shock,
"You must be really cold maybe this can warm you up..."
Naruto placed the hand that was previously on her head and put it on her chin; he lifted her face and planted a soft kiss on her lips,
"Naruto-kun - I should be the one apologizing – I didn't mean what I said yesterday -"
Naruto stopped her talking with another kiss,
"You must be really cold we should go inside..."
"But Naruto -"
He placed his hand on her head again,
"Don't worry its okay..."
It was these words more than anything that comforted Sakura, he loved her, and she loved him, that was all that mattered. She suddenly gripped Naruto in an intense embrace,
"Naruto-kun – please...never...ever leave my side..."
"Don't worry I'll always be here, by your side whenever you need me or whenever you don't!"
Sakura looked up and saw that he had that goofy grin on his face, she suddenly smiled remembering how much she loved his smile and how safe it made her feel, He'll always be here...forever.
"That's the face I want to see, you should smile more Sakura-chan, or you'll end up like baa-chan."
Sakura laughed she loved everything about him the way he spoke, the nicknames he had for everyone, his timid yet fiery nature. He goofed around most of the time, hardly ever acted serious and yet he was respected...somehow.
"We should go, Sakura-chan."
"I think so too..."
Her face was buried in his shoulder and was rubbing softly on his jacket. Naruto wrapped his hands around her, formed a seal and then they poofed away into the mist.
火火break火火
When Sakura awoke she found that she felt very snug and warm, all around her was soft and smelt good. She opened her eyes to see a small table that wore a few empty ramen cups, she looked around to find the place generally messy, and she realized were she was, This must be Naruto-kun's house...then that means. She looked up and her suspicions were confirmed, she was lying in Naruto's bed with Naruto beside her. She wasn't surprised to find that she wasn't angry, in fact she was happy that they could share a bed together, Not in that way though...not yet anyway... She placed her hands on the arm that Naruto had placed over her, He really has got bigger. She was about to continue when suddenly his arm stirred, What's he doing? Does he sleep walk? He felt his hand sliding down her right leg, she was about to stop him when it went into her ninja tools bag, he pulled out a kunai then lazily threw it out the window to be caught by,
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"My, my you two certainly have been busy asleep at four in the afternoon."
"Just what are you implying?"
"Nothing, nothing at all...I just strolled by to see why Naruto wasn't at training and found...well – you as well."
"I thought training started at one so how come you're here three hours later?"
"Well I would have got to training earlier but – uh – I had to help an old lady with her shopping..."
"What a load of bull -"
"Shit what have I missed?"
Naruto suddenly sat bolt upright, before realizing that Sakura and Kakashi were in the middle of a conversation,
"Yo!"
He looked over to Kakashi and then his brain finally clicked,
"Whaddayoudoinere?"
"It seems you have both forgotten training..."
"Training...oh yeah sorry I was asleep."
"Asleep (So you threw that kunai subconsciously...do you hate me that much Naruto?) Well seeing as you two seem to be doing some kind of endurance training..."
"What was that!"
"I'll just train with the other three..."
"Other three...I forgot Amachi and Hana are joining us..."
"When did you here about this Naruto-kun?"
"Ummm – that's it – baa-chan told me!"
"She told me as well, I think we should go it would give a bad impression if we skipped our first training session."
"I agree..."
"Naruto where are my clothes?"
"I hung your dress out to dry outside, it was all wet. I put one of my shirts on you instead because I didn't want you to get cold."
"Did I fall asleep when I got inside because I can't remember?"
"Actually I think it was when you hugged me in the training grounds."
"Oh...and – uh – how did we end up in bed together?"
"I laid you down first and then I sat down on the edge, I started to feel a bit tired so I think I instinctively went to lie down."
"Oh...I thought that we..."
She cut off at the last part blushing, Naruto understood what she meant,
"We won't do – it – until we think we're ready."
To Sakura it was comforting to hear these words, Naruto was as kind and caring when they were together as he was when the weren't,
"That's good to hear...I think we should go..."
"Let me get changed quickly, I know I have a shirt somewhere..."
Sakura watched Naruto search around for a shirt, when he finally found one she watched him putting it on taking note of how developed his muscles were. She realized that when he didn't wear his forehead protector his hair went down further than usual,
"I'm gonna get my dress quickly."
"Okay..."
Naruto turned towards the window once more wondering how he had managed to sleep for so long, he saw that the fog had cleared and the sun was now shining down on Konoha, he looked down on the street to see that they were very busy; it was then that Sakura decided to tie his headband on his arm,
"Huh – what's this?"
"I like your hair when you don't wear your headband."
"Really? I thought you'd think it looks messy."
She ruffled his hair as she had now attached the forehead protector on his arm,
"Well messy is good, it reminds of someone. I can't remember who but they had messy blond hair as well and it suited him."
"If you like it like this why didn't you say before?"
"Before...when?"
"Don't you remember ages ago, I had my hair like this on the training grounds?"
Sakura had a confused look,
"I don't remember seeing you dressed like this before, are you sure you're not thinking of someone else?"
"I'm sure it was you."
"Whatever then, I must not remember. Crap look at the time we should go."
She walked towards the door but Naruto grabbed her hand,
"My way's faster."
Naruto formed a one hand seal and then both of them disappeared.
火火break火火
Kakashi had started teamwork training and as the three of the hadn't seen bell training before he decided to do that, at the particular moment Naruto chose to appear all three had thrown a hell of a lot of shuriken at Kakashi, at the particular place that Naruto had chosen to appear he was in the line of fire of almost all of them ping,
"Hello everyo – Argh!"
When the smoke cleared somehow Naruto had managed to substitute it with a lump of earth,
"My, my that could've been dangerous...Naruto I think you can come out now..."
Naruto's head popped out of the ground below, he looked around with his kitsune like face on and four faces looked down at him, one with a worried look,
"Uh – Hi everyone!"
Naruto popped out an arm and used it to pull himself up; his other hand was still in the hole,
"Sorry about that but it's better than removing half a million shuriken from various parts of your body..."
His hand pulled out a pink haired kunoichi that was covered in dirt,
"It's okay I'm sure it wasn't on purpose -"
It was then that she looked up and saw four faces staring down at her,
"H – Hi!"
Kakashi strode over to them,
"Three and a half hours late (you beat my record I think) I was doing some bell training..."
"I suppose you weren't expecting us."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well you've already suffered a humiliating defeat from us once, I'm sure you wouldn't want another one?"
"You talk big but I've finished the book already, it won't be as simple as before -"
"Because I'm here too."
Naruto and Sakura turned around to see Yamato leaning against a tree,
"Yamato!"
"Yes and I believe you interrupted our training."
"Can't we join in?"
Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder,
"I think you and Sakura should do personal training whilst we work with these three"
"And from what Kakashi-san's told me I would prefer if you actually trained rather than -"
"I think that's enough Yamato-san."
Kakashi must have noticed the amount of killer intent coming from Sakura towards him because he immediately ushered them off. Naruto and Sakura were in a small grove of tree's that looked as if it was personally created by Yamato. There was silence between the two which was very uncharacteristic for both, Naruto decided to break it,
"So whaddya wanna do?"
"I dunno maybe we could practice with weapons."
"Okay, basic weapons or I have a few more complicated ones?"
"I think we should start on basic ones."
Naruto reached into his ninja bag for a scroll,
"Okay!"
He rolled out the scroll and placed his hand on it,
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
An array of weapons appeared on the ground in neat rows, there were also some targets next to it,
"Whatcha wanna start with?"
"Uhhhh...Kunais maybe"
"Okay then!"
Naruto formed another seal and the targets flew to various places on the trees, he formed another one and various rocks came in the way of the targets,
"We should aim for all the different targets simultaneously, the rocks block the way so you need to hit the kunai in a specific way."
"I think I'm a bit rusty, I haven't done weapons training in a while...I've been focusing on medical ninjutsu lately..."
"I'll let you go by yourself first then."
"O – Okay!"
Sakura stepped into the middle of the grove of trees and took up eight kunai in her hands. She jumped into the air and let off the first two in each hand, they soared towards the right and left of the targets respectively. She then twisted her body and released the other four kunai, the four that were to her left and right hit almost perfectly, the two kunai that went behind her deflected slightly off the rocks and just scrapped the targets. The two in front of her rebounded off the rocks and headed back towards her. She saw them coming and crossed her arms in front of her prepared to block them...she waited for the impact but it never came, just barely opening her eyes she looked and saw Naruto twirling the two kunai,
"You're right you are really rusty, just barely getting four."
"Shut up! I'm sure you'll do much better!"
"Watch and learn then..."
Sakura sat down next to a tree and watched Naruto intently, Like he'll do any better!
Naruto took four kunai in between his fingers, he threw four kunai in four directions from the ground, he then leapt into the air and threw the other four identically, the two to the left collided rebounded off one another hitting the targets squarely in the middle, the two to the rightdid the same. The two to the front rebounded but it only slightly altered their courses and landed a little off the middle, the two behind him seemed to be heading away from each other and suddenly bent slightly together, they bounced off one another unbelievably hitting the centre of the targets,
"You cheater! You bent the two behind you using chakra!"
Naruto landed in front of her and showed her his hands which were glowing blue with chakra at the tips,
"Did I ever say I wouldn't?"
"Hmph!"
"Well seeing as you're terrible with small weapons we should start with those."
"Terrible! I didn't use chakra like you! I'm sure that if I did my perfect control would guide them all to the centre!"
"I'm pretty sure they would" Naruto said playfully,
"Whatever I think we should leave smaller weapons till later, say what larger weapons do you have?"
Naruto pulled out another scroll,
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
Three fuma shuriken appeared,
"I've seen these before...yeah when you were fighting Zabuza!"
"Yeah I usually use these in combination with my kage bunshins, It comes in handy from time to time. I hve one more weapon but I was kinda hoping to surprise everyone with it..."
"What is it? Can I see?"
"I guess so...I haven't trained with it that much so I can't use it that well."
Naruto pulled his last scroll, this one had strange seals on the inside,
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
When the smoke cleared Sakura saw that Naruto was holding a well crafted sword, it was quite plain but it had the words wind, water and fire carved (in Japanese of course) into the centre of it's blade, Sakura stared in awe,
"Wow! Since when did you have a sword?"
"Well I kinda asked Sai to get it for me, I wondered were he got his and he said that it was ANBU standard issue. He also told me that there were special ones that channeled the users chakra type, this version has wind, fire and water."
"That's so cool! Can you use it yet?"
In Naruto's mind he thought, I can't really use it yet but I can try something I was practicing. Naruto placed his sword directly in front of him,
"I can try one that Temari sorta taught me, but I need you to stand waaaaaay back this is really dangerous."
Sakura took a good few steps back and Naruto who had been watching her over his shoulder turned back around, I hope this works right.
He started to run wind chakra into his sword, the symbol for wind began to glow purple, he then formed the cross seal,
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Five Naruto's appeared all wielding swords, they all pulled them back and aimed away from where he could feel Kakashi, Yamato and the rest's chakra,
"Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!"
They all swung their words forward and a great gust of wind was let loose shredding all the trees and anything else that was in that direction for at least a hundred meters, Sakura looked on in amazement at Naruto,
"Wow that is soooooo cool!"
She ran forwards and hugged the Naruto in the centre,
"I can't believe it actually worked this time, I've been trying to get it right for a while now."
The other four Naruto's disappeared leaving just Naruto and Sakura in the now rather large clearing,
"I've been trying to figure out how this sword works I think I need to put in wind chakra not just normal chakra."
"You've been training a lot haven't you Naruto-kun?"
"Well yeah after learning chakra manipulation I had to perfect my own jutsu like Kakashi-sensei said -"
"- And it would seem that you have."
Naruto and Sakura turned around to see Kakashi and everyone else standing at the edge of the clearing, Sakura gave Kakashi a dirty look as she always seemed to do nowadays,
"My, my you two certainly have been busy, look at all this mess"
Naruto quickly sealed his sword in his scroll and placed it in his ninja pouch,
"Well the wind element does cut everything up; I believe it was you that told me that."
"So it was you who did this, I have to admit your control over your element has increased since you've learnt it. But you think you could have a little more control over it – it could be dangerous if you're training with other people."
"I can try, I never really tried restraining it because I'm usually trying to force it out."
"So what exactly have you two been doing?"
"We did a little weapons training and...Yeah we did a little weapons training. We practiced hitting targets with kunais. I – ahaha – was a little rusty."
"If you've found something that you're weaker at then you can practice that in your own time."
"What me and Kakashi have been thinking is that we should let everyone get to know each others abilities, so we thought we would have sparring matches."
"Sparring matches..." All five said in unison,
"Yes sparring matches, I think we should start with Naruto and Sakura."
"I think that Naruto and I know each others abilities well enough so it would be pointless to fight."
"You bring up a good point so I think that we should do tag team matches instead."
"Tag team sparring matches..." The five said in unison,
"Yes Naruto and Sakura against...against, let's make this interesting, seeing as your teamwork is so good go up against me and Yamato."
"Against you and Yamato...isn't that a bit unfair, a jounin and an ANBU against a chuunin and a genin, yes I'm technically still a genin."
"I thought I'd never see the day, Naruto backing down from a fight."
"I didn't say that! Fine then we'll kick both your asses!"
"That's the Naruto I know, okay we'll meet back here in an hour."
"In an hour why?"
"We're wanted..."
Kakashi pointed up into the sky and they all looked up, there was a eagle flying around calling out to all jounins to assemble (not literally). Kakashi and Yamato looked at each other before being covered in a swirl of leaves and disappearing. The five of them looked at each other before Naruto spoke,
"What was that about?"
"Ah well Naruto-kun we should – ah – prepare."
"Yeah I think so too, but I need to speak to Hana quickly."
"Uh – okay, I'll be waiting by the posts."
Naruto walked over to Hana whilst Amachi and Sai engaged in conversation,
"How are you settling in?"
"Well it's been okay, I've seen a few familiar faces none of them recognized me. A few of the older people I knew remembered me; do you know Kurenai-san?"
"Kurenai-sensei, you two are old friends?"
"Yeah she used to look after me quite a lot, she taught me quite a few new moves."
"So you are a lot stronger than before?"
"I'm not a chuunin for nothing and why do you think that I'm needed on this mission."
"I bet it's your bloodline limit?"
"So you realized it was a bloodline limit, impressive you must have got stronger as well."
"I left for two and a half years training so I didn't get to advance to a chuunin, but if I was here I would have easily passed."
"So your still a genin after all this time, that's almost funny. Although I didn't pass till two months ago. I'll watch your fight with Kakashi-san and Yamato-san, it should be interesting."
"I'm not the only one that you should be watching, Sakura-chan is very impressive too. She took out an Akatsuki member with the help of just a eighty-something year old woman."
"Wow! From what I've heard of them they're getting quite powerful, but to take on out that's very impressive. What are her abilities?"
"You should watch – from a decent distance – It'll be – urrrmm – suprising what she can do."
"Well come to think pf it you two should be preparing."
"Oh yeah almost forgot, we need to talk again sometime catch up some more."
"We should shouldn't we...I – uh – I'm staying in one of the apartments in the place just south of the Hokage's office, you should visit sometime."
"Yeah I could show you around, what's the number."
"It's door number nine, I look forward too it."
"Me too – ah – she's calling me I gotta run, see you later!"
"Yeah...I'll see you too..."
As Hana watched Naruto walk away she realized that her heart was beating very fast, Why am I getting so worked up about a normal conversation Naruto? He's got Sakura I should be happy for them...but I can't...because there are still all these emotions locked up in my heart that I...I...can't admit to him because...not yet... she watched Naruto walk over to Sakura, when he got there she fussed over his shirt which had got various rips in it, I guess they are really together, they already look like a married couple. She saw Sakura suddenly embraced Naruto and then they both vanished into the wind.
火火break火火
Naruto and Sakura appeared just down the road from Sakura's house, Naruto quickly covered up Sakura's eyes,
"I need you to close your eyes, okay."
"O – Okay...why?"
"It's a surprise that's why, now don't peek."
Naruto guided Sakura down the road to where her house was. He quickly looked to see that his kage bunshins had done what he told them too correctly, he saw that all was good as the jutsu was just then released, Crap! I need some light if – wait I know explosive tags! No that might injure her and that would be good, wait if I...yes...
"Sakura I need you to keep your eyes closed for a few seconds more till I get it ready, no peeking!"
"Okay but can you hurry it up please we only have about twenty minutes left..."
Naruto removed his hands from her face and then turned around, Sakura waited eagerly for a few moments but Naruto said nothing, she was just about to complain when,
"Okay you can open your eyes..."
Sakura looked at Naruto and saw two large glowing balls of chakra in his hands,
"Naruto...what are you..."
Naruto suddenly made the balls glow brighter and they revealed,
"Na – Naruto...I – they're – beautiful -"
What she saw before her was a large amount of pink roses, all neatly aligned to make out the words, 'I'm sorry Sakura' (technically it would be in Japanese but whatever). Sakura stared in amazement at the arrangement and found that no words could come to her. She suddenly went in front of Naruto and hugged him,
"Naruto you baka! Why do you keep apologizing? It's my fault...my fault...my fault..."
Naruto stopped focusing the chakra in his hands and hugged Sakura back,
"Naruto...love...love means never having to say you're sorry..."
Naruto continued to hold Sakura,
"I think that you're wrong."
Sakura hiccupped slightly as tears were still flowing from her shining jade orbs,
"Na - hic - ni...?"
"The reason you were sad is because I didn't say sorry, if I didn't say sorry then you would still be mad at me."
"Baka!"
She hit him softly (stresses softly) on his chest,
"I'm the one who should say sorry if anyone, I told you I hated you...that must have been really painful...especially with a childhood like yours...I'm sure – I'm sure that you have heard those words too many times..."
Sakura seemed to calm down because she held slightly looser onto Naruto,
"It must...have been really hard..."
Naruto had been silent all this time and just held onto Sakura, Sakura wondering why he hadn't said anything or even moved looked up at his face but it was too dark to decipher it,
"Naruto..."
He looked down at Sakura with a smile on his face,
"I told you before all that happened before doesn't matter, we should look forward to the future and grasp it with our hands for only then can t story continue."
Sakura was staring at Naruto in awe, Every time how can he just shrug it off as if it never happened, Was he really not affected by it or was it...is he just to used to it? Sakura suddenly gripped him harder,
"Naruto I'm sorry for being so cruel to you I – I'm really truly sorry, although you say that we should look to the future I don't think I can go on without at least saying sorry."
She looked up again with a watery smile, Naruto looked down with a more serious look.
"Then I guess..."
He moved his face closer to hers, she suddenly felt goose bumps run up her arms and back,
"...That your apology..."
He placed his hands on her waist once again,
"...Is accepted..."
Sakura allowed her arms to grip on to Naruto's back. She closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly as she moved closer, Naruto slightly closed his eyes and used the little he could see to guide him,
"My, my...what's all this...?"
Naruto and Sakura's heads quickly turned to the source of the noise but they saw nothing in the darkness,
"Who would have thought that these two would hit it off..."
Naruto suddenly recognized the voice,
"Temari...?"
"You could tell it was gonna happen sooner or later if you saw how they were around each other..."
"Shikamaru...?"
"Come to think of it they were oddly close last time I saw them..."
Sakura frustrated at being ignored turned her body around to view the intruders,
"What do you want?"
"Riley aren't we, don't worry me and Shikarmaru-kun were just passing through."
"Is that so? Then what are you two up too?"
"Isn't it obvious we are coming back from an exciting and romantic night out."
Shikarmaru crossed his arms and had an annoyed look on his face,
"Urhhhhhh – It's not like that -"
"Now, now no need to be modest. He has a very romantic side to him, he doesn't have a IQ over 250 for nothing."
"Urhhhhhh – she's at it again..."
She threw her arms over him and laughed into his left ear,
"Why are you always like this when other people are around, should I tell them what you said earlier?"
Shikarmaru arms tensed and a vein appeared on his forehead,
"Do not tell them what I said, I might as well take it back if you're gonna act like that."
"It's too late I've already locked it away in my heart and thrown away the key -"
"I'm sorry but can we leave now we kinda have an appointment in two minutes."
"Yes you should go then maybe my shiki-kun will act much more pleasantly when you're gone.
Naruto and Sakura giggled as they turned to leave, Sakura once again held onto Naruto who formed a hand seal and was gone in a swirl of leaves.
火火break火火
The other five members of team seven plus were all standing in wait for Naruto and Sakura who were uncharacteristically late even Kakashi had come on time. There was a sudden rush of leaves and they appeared before them, Naruto placed his hands in their favorable position resting behind his head,
"Sorry bout that...we got stuck with a rock and a drunk but we're here now."
"I won't even ask...anyway we will have to postpone our match -"
"Oh I see...who's running now?"
Yamato felt to cut in at this point,
"Naruto we will not be here hence the postponing of the match."
"So what will you two be doing?"
"Well we'll be -"
火火break火火
An intense ringing filled Naruto's ears and he wondered what the strange sound was, the intensity of the sound increased until it felt as if it was scorching his ears, he stumbled blindly forward attempting to find the source of the sound. He swung his arms out and felt nothing until his arm met something solid. The ringing suddenly stopped and he had the irresistible urge to open his eyes. He saw before him that his arm had met sand, he looked at the boy who stood merely feet from him and recognized some of his features, he had blazing red hair that danced in the invisible wind, he also had thick black rings around his eyes. The only difference was that he was a lot smaller than normal about the size of a six year old,
"Garra..."
Garra walked towards him and offered out his hand, he suddenly noticed that his voice had come out very squeakily. He looked down to find that he was much closer to the ground than before; he also had smaller hands, arms and a smaller body probably that of a six year old. Naruto moved his hand towards Garra's noticing that he had a smile on his face,
"Why are we..."
He hand stopped because the sand had suddenly stopped Naruto's hand from reaching Garra's. Garra's smile faltered for a second and then suddenly the sand reared back it seemed to sense no danger from Naruto so it allowed their hands to meet, when they did a bright light engulfed both their hands. Naruto quickly shut his eyes to stop it blinding him, when he opened them he saw that he was on the battle field where he had rescued Garra, they were surrounded by most of the sound-nin plus team seven. Their hands were still clasped together and Garra was looking into Naruto's eyes,
"We are friends Uzumaki Naruto..."
His view was suddenly complete black and he was not sure whether his eyes were open or not, he tried to walk forward but could not then suddenly his view changed and he was in the training grounds again trapped in his younger body, he looked in front of him and saw that there was a stump in front of him that had a picture of a younger Sasuke,
"What the..."
He turned around to see that there was a person quivering behind a tree,
"Hinata...?"
She poked her head out saw him looking at her and shrieked resuming her place behind the tree. Naruto walked over and was surprised to have her suddenly hug him, as blinding light emitted from her body he had to once again close his eyes. When he opened them he was holding a fully grown Hinata in the rain over training grounds,
"We are friends Uzumaki Naruto..."
He was then instantaneously ( can you believe that I spelt this word right first time) suffocated by darkness. He felt as if he could move this time so he tilted up his head but before he could see what was before him he was his six year old self thrown into an endless blue expanse. He walked forward and looked around to see if anybody was there when suddenly a six year old Hana appeared, he was unable to control his body as he suddenly turned his back to her. Blinding bright light once again blinded his vision and he was at the gate of the park with Hana standing behind him, he willed his body to turn but it wouldn't. He felt her arms close in on his waist and could do nothing to stop her nor respond,
"We are friends Uzumaki Naruto..."
He was then shut down by that now familiar darkness, he felt more movement in his body and moved his arms forward groping for someone or thing his hands met nothing not even air, he was then transported to an endless green expanse. He saw before him a dark haired boy whose hair looked like someone set off a bomb in his face. He had his back to Naruto but he turned round as soon as Naruto took a step towards him, he had a wide smile on his face and half ran over to Naruto,
"Sasuke..."
He held out his hand to Naruto and extended his pinky, Naruto did the same and they linked, a blinding black light emitted from it unlike the ones before. Naruto looked up to see Sasuke standing on top of a heap of rocks, he had his cursed seal activated and had his three tome Sharingan activated. Naruto was standing on top of the still water, Sasuke looked down at him with a mad smile on his face,
"We are friends Uzumaki Naruto..."
Sasuke suddenly bent over in pain, he struggled for a few moments before looking down at Naruto again,
"That's why you must save me from the darkness..."
Naruto ran forward and leapt upwards as he did he felt the blackness engulf him but as it did he began to fight back, I can't stay here! I have a promise to keep! I must save Sasuke! He felt the fury of his heart break whatever binds were on him, he could fully control his body he went onto all fours before springing off into the unknown darkness as her did there was a sudden swirl of cherry blossoms that increased in intensity as they approached him, they surrounded him and threw him into an endless pink expanse, he saw before him a pink haired kunoichi. her hair was long about nearly waist length she wore an ANBU outfit that had all the silver guards and the sword. She turned and had the same green eyes as she always had. It was then that Naruto realized that he also had an ANBU outfit on, the image would have been had it not been for her face it held a painful expression and she had a great amount of tears flowing down her eyes.
火火Naruto's POV火火
I took a step towards her and began to think, more than being with Hinata...more than being with Hana...I took another step towards her and the tears flowed down her cheeks even more so. Being with Sakura is much more enjoyable...her angry face, her pouting face and her sad face, Sakura is always cute, but...the one I like best is...definitely the smiling Sakura...So please don't cry...I was directly in front of Sakura and she was still crying, I held pulled her into my arms and she continued to cry,
"Sakura-chan, please...don't cry..."
She cried even harder into his arms, she then held her head up to my ear and whispered into it,
"Naruto-kun...sob please don't leave..."
I was shocked to here this,
"I – I'm not going anywhere..."
"Yes you are! You've already left once for five years; do you know how tough that was for me? Naruto-kun you are the man that I love so please for at least my sakes don't leave!" Sakura half shouted in my ear.
I couldn't begin to understand how I was in this situation or where I was but I did know I would have to stop Sakura crying. It was then that a single drop of rain dropped onto my face and suddenly Sakura burst into thousands of cherry blossoms.
"With correct preparation the rain will not fall again."
火火break火火
Naruto turned around to see that Uchiha Madara was standing behind him, he got up and then looked around. He was in a forest a dark forest how he had got there he did not know,
"Uchiha Madara...to what do I owe the pleasure...?"
"There is some information that must reach you immediately."
"Was it really necessary to use all those genjutsu beforehand?"
"It was...you will understand after we speak."
火火End chapter eight : Heaven and Earth restored火火
That was a very prolonged chapter but it seems as though it came out quickly. I think that I wrote this correctly but I may have missed a non essential detail or two as always R&R I'd like to know what people think of this chappie. I hope to wrap everything up in the next chappie if not then I will do another one after this chapter ended very oddly but all will be explained in due time.
火火Authors note火火
I said that eventually everything would be as it should be and it finally is. Haha it feels so good to be writing this. Heaven and Earth has finally been returned but what about everyone else. I think I'll admit that lately I've not been proof reading my work very well so if yousee sily erors then plz pay them no attention. By the way I'll just mention incase anyone doesn't know I'm a member so the NaruSaku fanclub there is called heaven and earth, Heaven being Sakura and Earth being Naruto so in this chapter all is returned to how it should be.
NaruSaku 4eva and eva and eva and eva and eva and eva and eva and eva and eva
RoaringSasuke