A/N: Hey guys! Welcome back to the next chapter of Heaven & Earth: Their Future Together. I just want to start out by saying thank you to everyone who has dropped a like & favorite on this story so far. Rather than bore you guys with a lengthy author's note, I'll let you dig into the next chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishi Does.
Chapter 1: The First Date
It was currently five minutes to seven. Naruto was leaning against one of the stone pillars that stood at the gate to the Hidden Leaf hospital, waiting patiently to pick up his favorite pink-haired teammate for their date.
The hyperactive blonde would be lying to himself if he didn't say that he wasn't at least a little bit exhausted. But who wouldn't be after spending the better part of the afternoon with their face buried in textbooks, studying for the upcoming Jonin exams.
What many people didn't know is that while Naruto was laid up in the hospital, recovering from his recent fight with Sasuke at the time, the Fifth Hokage had decided to pay him a visit and promoted him to Chunin.
Flashback
Tsunade had intended to do it long ago, but the elder council consisting of Koharu, Homura and Danzo either constantly objected or put-up countless roadblocks whenever she tried to bring up the matter for discussion. With Danzo no longer in the picture to meddle or interfere, Tsunade decided to try again and ran the idea by Koharu and Homura once more during their first meeting since the war had concluded. After taking everything into consideration that Naruto had done such as defeating Pain and his large role in bringing the war against Madara to an end, the elders wholeheartedly agreed that the only son of the Fourth Hokage had more than earned the promotion.
Once the Godaime had left, the first thing Naruto did was go to visit Sasuke in the adjoining room next to his and tell him the news. Sasuke didn't really say much, instead sporting a cocky grin and said to the blonde, "Promotion or not, you'll always be the deadlast of our class."
This quickly made the hyperactive blonde lose his cool as he shouted, "Shut it, Teme!"
The two friends would continue to bicker and poke fun at one another for a few hours until Naruto finally worked up the nerve to ask Sasuke what his plans were now that the war was over, to which the Uchiha replied.
"I'm not concerned about taking part in the next round of the Chunin exams right now. Besides, as soon as I get released from the hospital, my next stop for the foreseeable future is likely to be a cold jail cell." Sasuke told Naruto as he stared at the ceiling pondering what it was going to be like in jail.
Just as Naruto was about to open his mouth to protest or argue, Sasuke quickly added, "Before you even think of trying to use your pull with the village higher ups, dobe, I need to face the consequences for the crimes I committed while I was a rogue shinobi. Furthermore, I also need to earn back the village's trust and respect before I can even feel ready to carry that title as a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf again."
"This village meant so much to Itachi, even despite what it did to our clan. I need to understand why it was so important to him if I plan to honor his wishes and continue protecting the village as he once did."
End Flashback
As he finished reminiscing on the events of that day, Naruto felt he now had a better understanding of what Sasuke had been trying to tell him. This journey was meant to be one of self-reflection, healing and potentially help the Uchiha see the errors of his ways. Plus, Naruto knew that when the time was right, Sasuke would return and take the Chunin and Jonin exams on his own terms.
The blonde was pulled from his musings when he finally noticed a familiar figure out of the corner of his eyes exiting the hospital.
Slowly coming his way was arguably the most beautiful kunoichi in the entire village, Sakura Haruno. The pinkette was still garbed in the same attire as earlier that morning, her infamous sleeveless red blouse accompanied by a pair of black shorts and a purple medic apron combo. Her knee-length combat boots completed the look. The only noticeable difference in Sakura's appearance now was the fact that her hair was tied up in a high ponytail.
Naruto had to admit that it felt a bit weird seeing Sakura with long hair again after she had kept it short for so many years. Naruto wasn't one to complain, because she'd always be the prettiest girl in his eyes no matter how she looked.
When Sakura saw Naruto waiting for her by the gate, her emerald eyes lit up with excitement.
"Hey you!" Sakura exclaimed as she ran up to Naruto and wrapped her arms around his torso while nuzzling her head of soft pink hair against his neck.
"Hey yourself." Naruto chuckled in reply, surprised by the pinkette's sudden display of affection, "You seem pretty happy to see me."
Noticing that her bold advance may have made the blonde a bit nervous, Sakura looked up at Naruto and asked, "Why shouldn't I be? It is our first real date after all. Unless you're beginning to have second thoughts." The pinkette teased watching her knuckleheaded teammate fidget.
"No, of course not!" Naruto stammered, "So are you ready to go?"
"Yeah!" Sakura chirped happily.
And with that, the two set off for the heart of the village to enjoy a good meal and each other's company.
"So how was work?" Naruto asked, pondering how Sakura can do what she does, being one of the best medical ninja in the shinobi lands at such a young age.
"Oh it wasn't too bad. I saw a lot of patients for follow-up visits. Nothing really eventful happened beyond that except for one patient who had to have his shoulder popped back into place after he injured it on a job site. I don't want to bore you with the details." Sakura said, as she really didn't want to talk about her work that much while on a date.
"No, it's totally fine! I'm genuinely curious and interested to hear what a typical day is like for you. If I'm going to be the leader of this village one day, I need to know how some of its inner workings function." Naruto reasoned with his best friend as he truly did need to know when he finally became Hokage.
Coming to an abrupt stop, Sakura looked at Naruto with a puzzled expression on her face and asked, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Naruto?"
"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, tilting his head sideways in confusion.
"It's just so weird hearing you talk like that." Sakura replied vaguely, giving Naruto a curious look.
"Like what?" Naruto asked once more, curious about what she meant.
"You dummy. What I meant is it's weird listening to you talk like an actual adult who takes their responsibilities seriously." Sakura explained, hoping the blonde-haired goof would understand.
"You don't have to be so mean about it, Sakura-chan." Naruto pouted, "I have to grow up sometime, y'know!?"
"Says the person who told me I hadn't changed one bit when I asked him if I had become more womanly." Sakura retorted, not forgetting the hopeful chance Naruto might try to flirt with her.
"Ha ha… Very funny. I admit that wasn't the best move on my part, nor was it when Konohamaru tried goading me into revealing my new sexy jutsu. Nevertheless, I meant it when I said that you hadn't changed one bit. You were just as beautiful then as you were before I left on that training trip with Pervy Sage. If it makes you feel any better, you look prettier now than you have ever before." Naruto smiled brightly, making the pinkette blush.
"Even when I'm all gross and sweaty?" Sakura asked, biting her lip.
"Yes, even when you're gross and sweaty." Naruto chuckled; he couldn't help but think how beautiful she is when she blushes.
"Aw, you're sweet. I think that deserves another one of these." Sakura smiled as she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Naruto's face turned as red as a strawberry, making the pinkette giggle.
"So tell me, what were you up to after our little chat this morning?" Sakura inquired, curious what he had done with his time before their date.
"Umm, well I had to go to the academy to meet with Iruka-sensei. He's helping me study for the Jonin exams." Naruto replied, as he put his hand on his chin as he thought about his day.
"But I thought you were still only a genin?" Sakura asked, genuinely surprised that Naruto would be able to take the Jonin exams.
"No. It turns out that while I was recovering in the hospital, Granny talked with the old geezers about promoting me to Chunin. She came to tell me the news of my promotion herself. So now I'm working on becoming a Jonin!" Naruto boasted, puffing out his chest.
"You're nothing if full of surprises. Still, I'm proud of you," Sakura smiled, and couldn't help but notice how cute Naruto looked.
Before Naruto could reply, his ears picked up the sounds of women whispering and giggling. Glancing in the direction of the sound, Naruto saw a small group of his fangirls chatting amongst themselves.
"There he is!" A feminine voice shouted.
"Let's go say hi to him." Another added.
'Oh no. Why of all times did they have to choose to pester me now?' Naruto cursed to himself.
"Naruto-sama, please accept this gift." One girl said, blushing.
"Will you go out on a date with me?" Another one of the girls requested.
All the while, poor Sakura was standing there, having to bear witness as Naruto was badgered by his fangirls. The very sight of what was playing out before her own two eyes not only disgusted her, but it also reminded Sakura of the days when she and many other girls used to do the very same thing with Sasuke.
'These hussies have some nerve trying to interrupt my date with Naruto. I know he's trying his best to be polite and let them down gently, but there's only one way to get them to understand.' Sakura thought to herself.
With her temper having quickly reached its boiling point, something inside Sakura finally snapped and she was about to unleash her wrath on the unsuspecting fangirls.
"He's not interested! So back off you hussies!" Sakura shouted as she began emanating a killer intent.
"Who the hell are you?" One girl asked.
"I'm his teammate, Sakura Haruno." The pinkette responded, pointing her thumb at herself.
"Well then, Sakura, what makes you think that you have the right to tell him who he can and cannot interact with?"
"Because I'm also his girlfriend, you skank," Sakura said, insulting the girl.
"Who are you calling a skank, you ugly pink cow?"
"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, a tick mark throbbing on her forehead.
"You heard what I said. Surely Naruto can do better than a woman like you. It's no secret that when everyone else gave up on Sasuke, you continued pining after him."
Sakura had had enough. This girl had some nerve bringing up past memories. Sakura wasn't proud of how she treated Naruto at first. Now that she had finally come to terms with her feelings, however, Sakura was about to make it abundantly clear that she had moved on from her childish crush on Sasuke.
"That's it!" Sakura shouted as she channeled just enough chakra into her fist to make a huge girls ran off in fear after seeing this shocking display of power.
"There! Maybe that will teach those skanks a lesson," Sakura huffed in annoyance as she dusted off her hands.
"Uh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked nervously, reminding himself not to make his girlfriend angry.
"Yes, Naruto?" Sakura sweetly replied, trying to act innocent.
"Why did you just tell those girls that you're my girlfriend when we're going on our first actual date?" Naruto inquired, making Sakura smacked her palm against her face.
'Leave it to Naruto to be a dense moron like usual.' Sakura thought to herself.
"Well for starters, we did admit our feelings for one another this morning. Plus, we have also shared our first kiss, so I think it's pretty safe to say that we've gone beyond the point of just being friends, doofus." Sakura answered sagely.
"Oh…" Naruto said, making sure not to say too much to put his foot in his mouth.
"Yeah, oh is right. Now speaking of which, oh boyfriend of mine, you never did tell me where we were going to eat." Sakura said, looping her arm around Naruto's as they continued to walk.
"I was originally going to make a reservation for us at the sushi restaurant, but I decided against it when I thought about how exhausted you might be after your shift at the hospital got through. So, I figured, why not do something a bit more casual and intimate?" Naruto said, hoping he made the right decision.
"I never pegged you as the romantic type." Sakura joked, "Nevertheless, I think it's sweet that you put so much thought into this."
"I can't help it, Sakura-chan. This is something I've been dreaming of doing with you for years." Naruto said, nervously rubbing the back of his head as he often did whenever he was nervous.
"Well now that dream is coming true. Lead on, baka, because I'm starving." Sakura smiled warmly, reaching for Naruto's hand.
"Yes ma'am," Naruto chuckled in response.
Sakura could only chuckle as she followed her best friend to the destination of their first real date.
(A little while later…)
"Um, Naruto. What are we doing at training ground seven?" Sakura asked curiously, wondering what brought them here.
"You'll see." Naruto smirked rather cryptically.
As Sakura followed Naruto into the dense forest of their old training ground, the pinkette couldn't help but wonder what Naruto had planned for their first date. Sakura was almost certain that he might have chosen Ichirakus, but now it was clear that he had something else in mind. Whatever it was, Sakura wouldn't have to wait much longer to get her answer.
Upon reaching the edge of the forest, Sakura was greeted by a familiar sight. There stood a waterfall similar to the one that Captain Yamato had created during Naruto's chakra manipulation training. The most striking feature of the scene before her though was a lone sakura tree that sat just a little ways off to the side of the waterfall, with a picnic basket sitting on top of a neatly spread out red and white checkered patterned blanket.
Sakura had to stop and do a double take just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. When Naruto asked her out on a date earlier, she hadn't been expecting him to plan something so extravagant like this.
Taking a moment to compose herself, Sakura turned to Naruto and asked, "Naruto, did you do all this?"
"Not exactly. The idea was all mine, but the credit really goes to Captain Yamato and Aiko at the sushi stand. Without their help, I wouldn't have been able to pull this off on such short notice. Besides, it's not like I could've done it all by myself with only one arm right now, y'know." Naruto replied, looking down in disappointment at the arm that he had lost while fighting Sasuke, which served as a reminder of the price he had paid to bring his friend home.
"That's right. I've been so busy seeing other patients that I totally forgot Lady Tsunade is working on a new arm for you and Sasuke. I imagine it must be pretty difficult to do a lot of the same tasks you're accustomed to with only one hand." Sakura empathized, putting a hand on his upper arm.
"Yeah, it has certainly come with a learning curve to say the least, but I'm trying to make the best of what I've got right now." Naruto grinned, giving her his patent smile.
"Hmm," Sakura hummed to herself, wishing that there was something she could do to help expedite the process of getting Naruto his new prosthetic arm.
The pink haired medic had to keep in mind, however, that it would take time for her master to finish creating one using the cells of her grandfather's genetic tissue. For now, Sakura figured the best thing she could do was try to be supportive and help Naruto through this process until his new arm was ready.
Acting out of instinct from her training with Lady Tsunade while Naruto was away on his training trip, Sakura reached for Naruto's hand and entwined it with hers. She gave it a gentle squeeze and offered him a small smile. Naruto reciprocated the gesture with a small of his own.
This was one of the things that Naruto had come to cherish about Sakura's company. Her mere presence could be so calming. It was almost as though the pinkette seemed to have this special gift, knowing just what to say or how to lift his spirits. In some cases, even just a simple gesture like what Sakura was doing right now was enough to remind Naruto of why he liked to spend time with Sakura.
In an effort to break the brief moment of silence between them, Sakura was the first to speak. "Well, why don't we go have a seat and see what Aiko prepared for us?" Sakura suggested, as she tugged Naruto along with her.
Naruto nodded, following the pinkette as she led him over to the picnic spot. Once they were both comfortably seated, Sakura opened the picnic basket and started to rummage through its contents. Not a minute later, Sakura pulled out two Koraku bento boxes. The first one contained onigiri and the other held some maki-zushi rolls.
"Wow, Akio really outdid himself in preparing these for us!" Sakura commented, her taste buds salivating to take the first bite.
"Yeah, I knew that you liked Sushi, so I went and paid Akio a visit during my lunch break to ask him if he could prepare a few simple dishes for us. It was his way of repaying me for all the hard work I did when I helped him out during the rebuilding efforts after Pain's attack." Naruto said, not really thinking about much else to say.
'Typical Naruto, always putting others first.' Sakura smiled at the thought.
"I gotta say, Naruto, I'm really impressed. When I agreed to go on a date with you this morning, I wasn't expecting you to go all out like this. Wait until the girls at work hear about this." Sakura said, very impressed with the special evening that Naruto had planned for her.
"Getting a bit nosy, were they?" The blonde chuckled, arching an eyebrow in response.
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it. They wouldn't stop bugging me, trying to poke and pry as much as they could to find out who my big date was with." Sakura said with a hint of annoyment in her tone as she started to take the first bite out of her sandwich.
"So, what did you finally end up telling them?" Naruto asked, very curious to hear what his pink haired friend would say.
"What else was there to say? I told the girls that I was going on a date with my teammate. As I'm sure you can imagine though, most of them thought I was talking about Sasuke at first. When I went into further detail a bit and explained that it was my other teammate who had asked me out for the umpteenth time, they were a bit surprised." Sakura smirked, as she took pride in finally admitting to her friends who she was going on a date with.
"Oh? And why's that?" Naruto asked.
"Well for starters, you haven't exactly been subtle with your feelings for me over the years. Plus, it's not like everyone else knows that you were the one who complimented my big old forehead instead of Sasuke." Sakura explained, with a hand on her chin acting like her boyfriend.
"I know, but you can't honestly blame a guy for trying. Besides, it's not my fault that you have such a large and charming forehead, that it makes me want to kiss it." Naruto smirked, as he made his girlfriend blush.
"No, it is your fault for getting my hopes up though, you idiot! Had you not disguised yourself as Sasuke and made me think he actually had feelings for me, it's possible that we could've been a thing that much sooner." Sakura chastised the blonde-haired knucklehead.
"To be perfectly honest with you, Sakura-chan, I'm glad that it happened the way it did." Naruto said, knowing too well that Sakura would ask why.
Intrigued, Sakura went on to ask, "Oh? Would you care to explain a bit more?"
"I was still pretty immature and unsure of what I wanted after the war was over. Becoming Hokage has always been my dream, but I'm talking about the bigger picture, y'know?" Naruto said, sagely as they both knew he was immature when he was 12.
"Bigger picture huh? And what exactly is my role in all that going to be?" Sakura asked playfully, knowing fully well she would get a reaction from Naruto.
"Eh!?" Naruto shouted, completely caught off guard by the pinkette's question.
"I-I honestly haven't planned that far ahead yet." Naruto briefly stuttered, pausing to regain his composure before continuing, "Obviously, I'd like to take you out on another proper date, but how can I do that if I don't even know whether or not you're having a good time with me right now. This is not how I'd hope things would go…"
While Naruto continued to babble on, Sakura couldn't help but giggle at how cute he was whenever he got nervous. 'It's so much fun to tease Naruto and watch him scramble to come up with an answer whenever he's nervous.' Sakura thought to herself.
"Naruto, would you calm down!? I was only teasing you!" Sakura said, finally getting the blonde to shut up.
"You're so mean, Sakura-chan." Naruto pouted in relief.
"Oh, lighten up baka. Learn to take a joke every now and then." Sakura chastised the blonde-haired knucklehead. "And just so you know, I am having a good time with you so far."
"Really?" Naruto asked, trying to contain his excitement.
"Yes, why is that so hard for you to believe? You didn't have to go through all this trouble just to plan a special night for me." Sakura said, putting her hand over his.
"But I did it anyway… Because you were worth the wait." Naruto interjected, blushing like crazy.
Sakura's eyes widened a bit. Of course, she had known about Naruto's feelings for her since they were younger, but Sakura hadn't really considered it to be anything serious. At least, not until Sai confronted her and told her just how far that Naruto was willing to go just to make her happy.
Memories came back from the day at Tenchi bridge. That was the first time that Sakura realized just how much pain the promise she had asked Naruto to make was causing him. Sakura wished that she hadn't been so ignorant of Naruto's feelings for her. She felt it was time to discuss the elephant in the room. Her confession in the Land of Iron.
"Naruto, do you mind if we talk about something?" Sakura asked, wanting to desperately change the subject.
"Uh, sure. What's up?" Naruto said.
Taking a moment to compose herself, Sakura began by saying, "Well, it's about my confession in the Land of Iron."
"Now that I've had some time to sort out my feelings..." Sakura looked off to the side momentarily, "I want to start by saying how sorry I am. I put you through so much, just to keep a stupid promise."
"And I did it without taking your own feelings into consideration." Sakura looked down sadly, still troubled by the weight of her decision that fateful day.
Sakura knew if she was going to clear up those doubts between herself and Naruto, now was time to quash them once and for all.
Looking up once more, she went on to say, "But I want you to know that I wasn't lying when I said that I loved you." Sakura shouted as loud as her lungs would permit.
Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing this.
"I don't want you to doubt for a second that my feelings for you aren't genuine. I truly love you, Naruto, and I want to be with you." Sakura boldly declared, tears running down either side of her face.
Naruto was at a loss for words. The last thing that he had been expecting was for Sakura to bring up the events of that day when she had professed her feelings for him the first time. While he knew that her reasons for doing it were to alleviate him of the burden that she had once placed on his shoulders to bring Sasuke home, Naruto had forgiven the pinkette a while ago, even if they never discussed the subject until now.
The blonde decided to take a bold step and make sure Sakura knew how he felt. Naruto gently grabbed the back of Sakura's hand, which took the pink haired medic by complete surprise. He pressed his lips against hers, their tongues clashing violently in a moment of heat and passion.
When the two finally separated after their steamy series of kisses, Naruto put his hand on the pinkette's shoulder and said, "I forgive you, Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered.
Tears continued to trickle down Sakura's face. These weren't tears of sadness. No, these were tears of joy and relief.
"Shh, it's okay." Naruto reassured the pinkette, gently stroking her back while she continued to sob into his shirt.
"I wasn't mad at you. Sure, I may have overreacted at first, but I could never stay upset like that. You were the one person, aside from Pervy Sage, that was always there for me after Sasuke left. I knew that as long as I had you beside me, Sakura-chan, I could always count on you to be that pillar of strength if I needed someone to lean on. That's why, I Love you too." Naruto said as he kissed the top of Sakura's hair.
The two friends turned lovers stayed like this for a while.
Once Sakura had finally settled down, Naruto thought it might be a good idea to get back to eating their meal and enjoy each other's company. "Do you wanna pick up where we left off and continue eating this delicious meal prepared for us?"
"Delicious? That's something I never thought I'd hear you say about a food other than ramen." Sakura teased with a grin on her face, making Naruto pout.
"So, tell me, Naruto, what's your plans in this time of peace aside from becoming the next Hokage and finally working up the nerve to confess your feelings to me?"
"Uhm, I don't know. I've thought of potentially taking on a genin team? I feel like there's a lot of valuable lessons and teachings that I could pass onto the next generation of shinobi." Naruto reasoned, surmising that is what his sensei Jiraiya would have wanted him to do in order to continue growing as a shinobi before he one day taking over the mantle of Hokage.
"I think that's an admirable goal. Just make sure you don't share any of Master Jiraiya's dirty habits." Sakura gently reminded the blonde in hopes he would focus on imparting Jiraiya's ideals and beliefs, excluding the late Toad Sage's perverted behavior.
"Right…" Naruto paled a bit at the thought of Sakura giving him a good scolding just as Tsunade used to do with his master.
"What about you? Anything in particular that you want to do?" Naruto inquired curiously, wondering what the pink haired medic was planning to do next in her career.
"Hmm, well aside from taking the Jonin exams like you and the other members of the Konoha 11, I'll probably work my way up through the ranks at the hospital. Lady Tsunade will eventually retire one day, so someone will have to take her place as head medic." Sakura said.
"What about in the short term? Surely there has to be something else that you want to do." Naruto pressed his friend for more, hoping that it might encourage Sakura to expand her horizons further.
"Well, seeing as you brought up the prosthetic arm earlier, I may ask Lady Tsunade if she would let me assist on the project. Besides, someone has to make sure that you don't blow your arm off like an idiot all over again. It might as well be me." Sakura said, playfully elbowing Naruto in the chest.
"I'm so lucky to have you, Sakura-chan." Naruto grinned happily.
"Me too. This is only the beginning of our future, together." Sakura replied.
A/N: Okay guys! So, I tried to keep this short and sweet. The biggest plot point that I wanted to tackle was the Land of Iron confession because I really felt like that was a source of tension between Naruto and Sakura that never got addressed or resolved after the Kage Summit or the War arcs had concluded. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to leave a like, follow, or even a review to let me know what you think! Until next time, this is Nate, signing off.