Finally

by IloveBrittney1994

I know it's 6 years late, but this is my NaruSaku version of the ending to Naruto. Hope you all enjoy:-D

1. Chapter 1

Finally

I know it's 6 years late, but this is my NaruSaku ending. Hopefully, you all enjoy.

"Characters talking"

'Character's thoughts'

"Kurama speaking"

The fight was over, and already a change in the atmosphere was felt. The sun started to emerge from the dark clouds that covered the sky previously during the fight between the two warriors that laid upon the floor now in peace. They both chose not to say a word to each other. Sasuke out of shame of his ways, and Naruto because he was in bliss of keeping his promise to the girl of his dreams Sakura. Naruto was taking in the warm sunlight that he felt conveniently matched the warm emotions he felt coursing through his body. Sasuke on the other hand glanced over at the blonde boy with the goofy smile plastered on his face.

Sasuke was shocked at Naruto's behavior. They had just went through a war, both of them had just lost an arm and yet here Naruto was with a smile never leaving his face, happiness in his eyes never wavering no matter the circumstance. Sasuke wondered briefly why Naruto went through all of the trouble of rescuing him even after all he put them through, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. Sasuke just had to know what he had ever done to deserve the unconditional love from his former teammates.

Naruto, completely ignoring the stare of the Uchiha was smiling to himself, he could feel his heart swell by the second with bliss as he realized that he kept the promise to the woman he loves, Sakura. He allowed himself to selfishly think about how she would react with him once she noticed he did indeed bring Sasuke back, pushing the nagging thoughts of her loving Sasuke to back of his mind. He refused to let anything ruin the most happiness he felt in years. He imagined Sakura holding on to him tightly as she purred the word thank you in his ear. He was about to imagine her telling him she loves him until he heard the Uchiha break him from his fantasy.

"Naruto..." Sasuke asked in a questioning tone.

Naruto looked over to Sasuke with a content smile on his face. "Hmmm?"

Sasuke noted that Naruto seemed to be in complete peace, complete contentment. Sasuke almost didn't want to interrupt him, but he had questions that he needed to be answered.

"Why did you go through so much trouble save me? I surely didn't deserve it." Sasuke asked, guilt written all in his eyes as he couldn't look Naruto in the eyes completely.

Naruto's smile was replaced with a more serious look. Naruto then took his remaining hand and rested it under his head as he looked back into the sky and watched three birds pass by in harmony. "You're right, you don't deserve it..." Naruto trailed off.

Sasuke watched the same birds pass by as he stayed quiet acknowledging the fact that Naruto had more to say. It hurt Sasuke a little to hear Naruto say it, but he knew to himself that he deserved that type of response.

"But I did it for her." Sasuke's eyes widened a bit, but he wasn't that shocked as he knew mildly of Naruto's feelings for Sakura, he didn't however know of how strong they truly were.

"You mean Sakura?" Sasuke replied to which he saw Naruto smile at hearing the pink haired girl's name.

"Yup, I did it for Sakura-Chan. You see I made a promise to her a long time ago that I would bring you back to her no matter how much it hurt me, no matter how much it killed me inside." Sasuke chose to continue looking at the sky, he was a little interested in the topic at hand if he was being honest with himself, so he probed for more.

"Hurt you? But why would it hurt you?" Sasuke questioned genuinely. If he could listen carefully after he asked this question, he could swear he heard the blonde's heart beat even faster than before.

Naruto smiled a little, as he spread his legs open a little to feel more comfortable. "It's because I love her. I never told her, I never told anybody this. But I love her with all my soul, all of my being. That's why I was willing to go through all of this pain and suffering, it's to see her smile once again and to see her happy."

Sasuke couldn't believe that this was the blonde dobe of Konoha who was speaking to him. He never heard Naruto speak with so much depth, he never knew he had this much depth to him. Naruto chuckled and then spoke once again.

"I know it must sound backwards for me to be bringing another guy into the arms of the woman I love, but at the end of the day, her happiness is all that matters to me, even if it isn't with me." Naruto then sniffled a bit. Regardless of how much times he prepared for this day, of knowing that Sakura will be out of grasp once again for God knows how long, it hurt him to no end but he promised not to ruin her day with his selfishness so he was attempting to suck it up, but failed miserably.

Sasuke could hear that Naruto was holding back tears. "Naruto..." Sasuke called again, but this time in an attempt to cheer him up. Naruto didn't answer but he did noticed Naruto nodded his head a little notifying him to speak.

But Sasuke realized he had nothing to say, he was speechless. He always noted Naruto's feelings for Sakura as a crush, but he didn't know it was full blown love. Suddenly, he heard Naruto speak.

"Let me tell you something Teme, she loves you... she wants to be with you and I won't dare come in between her happiness, but if I ever hear that you hurt her, make her cry, make her sad, or if I even see her smiling wrong, I will make the beating I gave you seem like a walk through flowers, you understand me?" Naruto said as his face took on an extremely serious look and then he looked back at the sky.

Sasuke smiled at Naruto's boldness, but he respected it. "Whatever dobe." Was all Sasuke could say.

Naruto turned back over to look at Sasuke, as his serious demeanor was replaced with his trademark smile. Sasuke couldn't help but smile back because of Naruto's contagious smile.

---

Back on the battlefield where all of the bloodshed occurred, the Infinite Tsukuyomi had been released and as a result the cocoons that entrapped everyone before starting to peel away into the wind. After being released, the teams started to look for each other, husbands looked for wives, wives for husbands.

Ino was looking around, calling her team member's names one by one. "Choji?! Shika?!" Her blue eyes wandered the battlefield, but seeing nothing but other teams reuniting, she was starting to worry about the fact that her team mates could have been dead. But she continued to search vigilantly around the field, every square inch of the field but found neither one of them. Losing hope, she started to think her suspicions was true as she fought to fight tears from forming in eyes.

Her thoughts soon changed as she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. She looked back tears forming in her eyes to see Shikamaru smiling lazily at her while scratching the back of his head. Ino noted the lazy smile and through tears formed a smile of her own.

"Must everything you do be lazy?" Ino asked in a teasing yet happy manner, allowing her tears to flow freely now. She then grabbed him in a firm yet gentle hug which Shikamaru was surprised at at first but returned afterward. Shikamaru smiled at the platinum blonde holding him as he held her at arms length trying to looking to her eyes.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you missed me Ino." Shikamaru said in his usual lazy drawl. Ino didn't have to say a word to signify that Shikamaru's words were right in any way he wanted to put it. Friend, beyond friendship; it didn't matter she missed him. Her eyes did the talking for her.

"I missed you too Ino..." Shikamaru said as he was cut off by Ino reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. Shikamaru's face was flushed as she started to whisper something nasty into his ear. Ino then started to smile with a blush of her own as she noticed her handiwork of making the sloth of Konoha blush so hard.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru replied with a smile betraying his words.

Ino then went into thought. "Wait Shikamaru, where's Choji?" Ino asked with genuine concern, she noticed Shikamaru turn his head to the right and she followed suit to see Choji sitting on a boulder waving at them while eating a bag of his favorite Barbecue chips.

"Hey guys!" The Akimichi yelled out with a moutful of chips and a grin.

Ino couldn't help but feel relief wash over her, followed by laughter at the fact that no matter what, Choji will always eat in any situation. Shikamaru smiled to see the girl next to him who was about to cry earlier, so happy now. It strangely made him happy. After realizing what was going on with his feelings he once again muttered his trademark word with a smile.

"Troublesome."

---

On the other side of the battlefield, Rock Lee was comforting Ten Ten about Neji's death. It was just as hard, if not harder on Rock Lee than it was on Ten Ten but he knew he had to be strong about it especially for the girl next to him.

"I just can't really believe he's gone... even when it happened right in front of me, I was hoping it was just a nightmare that I would wake up from." Ten-Ten spoke through tears. Rock Lee looked down at the girl who was kneeling down on the ground touching the dirt as if Neji would emerge from the earth with a sad look and kneeled down next to her and hesitantly put his arm around her shoulder as an attempt to make her feel comfortable. He felt her get stiff at his touch but he spoke.

" I know how you feel Ten-Ten, he was as much a friend to you as he was to me, but he would not want us sitting here crying, instead he would want me to become even stronger than I am, and you to be the beautiful weapons specialist that you are."

Ten-Ten blushed a little bit at Rock Lee's comment, not totally used to compliments like this. From the corner of her eye she could see him smiling with his nice guy pose. Ten-Ten then felt Rock Lee start to stand and she watched him extend his arm to her. She was a little hesitant about taking it wondering how he could be so at ease about Neji's death.

"Lee, how are you so at ease about Neji's death?" She inquired thoughtfully. She noticed the smile he had completely disappeared. He looked down a little bit, his eyes out of range of hers. Ten-Ten immediately felt bad about the question she asked as she was about to apologize but heard him speak.

"Trust me Ten-Ten, it is really hurting me inside, but as a ninja and for you now I have to be strong. I cannot allow myself to cry as that will not do anything about the situation, only action can. That is why instead of crying I will just get stronger and make sure the same does not happen to you." His nice guy pose renewed, he extended his hand once more to the blushing Ten-Ten who without hesitation took his hand and hugged him.

"Thank you Lee." Ten whispered into his chest. Rock Lee smiled and watched the girl hugging him with warm eyes and hugged her back. Then he watched her release him and ask him a question he wished she didn't ask him.

"Did you mean it?" Ten-Ten questioned in a shy voice. Rock Lee hesitated to answer at first, but decided to reply.

"Did I mean what Ten-Ten?" Rock Lee awkwardly asked and blushed as he seen the cute look in her brown eyes.

"Did you mean it when you said I was beautiful?" Ten-Ten questioned softly as she placed her fingertip to her lips. Rock Lee had to admit it was uncharacteristic of Ten-Ten to act this way with anyone being the tomboy she was, he guessed it was probably the death of Neji that caused her to be so emotional, but he liked this side of Ten-Ten admittedly to himself.

"Of course I did Ten-Ten, I do not know stupid enough to think otherwise." Rock Lee stated honestly. Ten-Ten looked down and then looked back at him with a look so sweet that he could have sworn he had instant cavities. She hugged him once again and then she looked back up at him with a smile and a lustful look in her eyes.

"Tell me more about how beautiful I am tonight over dinner." Ten-Ten offered happily. She smiled at the blush that now adorned Lee's face. But Lee quickly regained his cool while stuttering in the process but trying to sound cool at the same time.

"S-Sure thing T-Ten-Ten!" Lee said trying to make up for his stuttering by going into his nice guy pose once again.

"You know that pose doesn't solve everything right?" Ten-Ten teased as she chuckled at Lee's antics.

"But the nice guy pose never fails..." Lee trailed off in disappointment. Ten-Ten smiled and cut him off from saying anything else.

"Shut up and let's go Lee, you have a date to prepare for." Ten-Ten commanded as she dragged the crying Lee away with her.

They never noticed Guy-Sensei chasing after them in his wheelchair ready to make Lee do 500 laps for not properly utilizing the Nice Guy Pose.

---

Kiba finally reunited with Akamaru and he couldn't be any happier. He vowed to never let anything like this happen to his buddy again no matter if it kills him.

"Akamaru! Come here boy!" Kiba yelled with a giant smile on his face after seeing his companion searching the field for him. Akamaru's ear lifted when he heard his best friend call to him. Akamaru then smiled and ran to Kiba, standing before him happily wagging his tail. Kiba hugged Akamaru before speaking to him.

"I won't ever let anything like that happen to you again, you hear me bud?" Kiba promised as he held his furry companion with a tight hug.

Akamaru gave Kiba a few gentle licks to the face before jumping on his owner in a playful manner letting him know how much he missed him. Kiba was laughing heartily as he felt Akamaru licking his face continuously before noticing his purple haired teammate looking around for something. This caused Kiba to frown as he knew what, or better yet who she was looking for.

Kiba in one fluid motion slipped from under Akamaru and stood back up before petting Akamaru. "Hold on boy, I'll be right back."

Kiba was in love with Hinata even though he did a good job of hiding it for the sake of pushing her to Naruto, Akamaru had an idea of it as he understood fully why Kiba was going to Hinata.

"Hey Hinata." Kiba said lamely as he scratched the back of his head and looked at the the back of Hinata's head as she continued looking around for something yellow, anything yellow that would be a sign of Naruto.

"Hey Kiba-Kun." Hinata said as she started walking in another direction to which Kiba followed sadly. He hated seeing Hinata looking like this. He knew she was trying appear strong, but she was failing miserably at it.

"Who are you looking for? Naruto?" Kiba growled out in jealous anger. Hinata turned around as she looked in another direction still not looking at Kiba. This started to piss Kiba off to no end, but he sucked it up and awaited her response.

"Yes, have you seen him?" Hinata asked in her naturally soft, sweet voice. Kiba couldn't help but just love everything about the girl before him, but his mouth slipped.

"Nope, and quite honestly I could care less where he is at the moment." Kiba said, displaying his blatant jealousy. He then realized what he said and covered his mouth as he heard Hinata gasp and watched her turn around to finally look at him.

Kiba laughed awkwardly in an attempt to withdraw his first statement. "I guess that's what it takes to get some attention out of you, huh?" Kiba said in a joking matter while scratching the back of his head, but the look on Hinata's face told him she was less than amused. She wasn't mad but she was more so shocked and confused at his statement.

"What is that supposed to mean Kiba-Kun?" Hinata asked innocently, confusion making her features look all the more beautiful to Kiba. Kiba thought about backtracking and attempting to flip the script, but he knew Hinata wasn't a fool so he decided to be a man.

"Look Hinata..." Kiba trailed off. He noticed he had Hinata's full attention now which made him extremely nervous, but he puffed out his chest and let out a deep breath.

"The fact that you're over here searching for Naruto like this drives me crazy to no end, as a matter of fact the fact that you are always after him really pisses me off. You're literally like a Angel on earth and all he does is burn you for Sakura" Kiba continued confessing in his own Kiba like way. Hinata's eyes widened a little before responding.

"But.. why?" Hinata questioned honestly.

Kiba knew talking about his feelings wasn't his strong suit, so he decided to let his feelings be known by his actions. Kiba walked up close to Hinata, closing the gap between them causing their faces to be in close proximity. Kiba began blushing like a fool as he noticed a small blush plaster Hinata's beautiful features as well as their eyes met. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her even closer to him and pressed his lips to hers quickly concealing Hinata's slight gasp. The kiss went on for a full 10 seconds without Hinata returning the kiss due to shock and then Kiba pulled back with an even bigger blush on his face and looked into Hinata's eyes which now had a strange look in them. He couldn't put his finger on the look she was now giving him.

"I'm sorry Hinata, I didn't mean to kiss..." Kiba apologized, expecting the worst but what was said next shocked Kiba to the next century.

"No, no it's okay Kiba-Kun, I kind of liked it." Hinata admitted shyly while looking away trying to hide her blush to which Kiba noticed and couldn't fight the smile that was welling up on his face. Hinata looked back at him only quickly before looking away and began smiling as well. Kiba decided to push his luck even more.

"So Hinata..." Kiba trailed off as he put both his hands behind his head attempting to avoid her Pearly eyes.

"Yes Kiba-Kun?" She said, trying to encourage him to say what he had to say.

"How about me and you go on a date later on?" Kiba stuttered out afraid of the answer as he began to walk away pre-rejection. But he felt a soft hand touch his shoulder. He turned around to see her smiling at him with a blush on her face.

"I would like that Kiba-Kun." Hinata said to Kiba's pleasure. Kiba in an attempt to suppress his happiness, kissed Hinata on the cheek quickly before running to Akamaru. Hinata giggled as she witnessed Kiba hug Akamaru and screaming.

"She said Yes!" To which Akamaru barked happily for his friend.

Hinata continued smiling before hearing the voice of a certain bug tamer. It was smooth yet firm. "That was really nice of you, but what of Naruto?"

Hinata looked down a little bit, but looked back up with a soft smile on her face before turning to look at Shino. "When he transferred his chakra to us, I felt it… I felt the true source of his happiness."

"Huh?" Shino questioned, curiosity lacing his tone. "What was it?"

"It was Sakura-San. I could have felt how deeply he loved her when we were on the field." Hinata smiled contently. "I have come to realize a while ago that Naruto-Kun's heart will never be mine, it belongs to another. Strangely, it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. As long as Naruto-Kun is happy, so am I."

If Hinata used her Byakugan she could have seen Shino behind his cloak smiling proudly. Shino was truly happy for her and her decision, in his opinion this was long overdue. But he had another question.

"Then why were you looking for him previously?" Shino questioned with a soft tone, patiently awaiting Hinata's response.

"I was only looking for him to make sure he was okay, I don't have to want to be with him to make sure he's still alive." Hinata let out a small chuckle at her own statement and to her surprise so did Shino. She then looked back at Kiba.

"Besides it would be nice to give Kiba a chance, he seems to really care about me." Hinata said, still blushing at the kiss between her and Kiba that happened a few minutes ago. "It wouldn't hurt to give him a shot, now that I don't have Naruto-Kun clouding my thoughts, Kiba is kind of cute." Hinata said as she continued looking at Kiba jump around excitedly on the field.

"Yeah boy! She said yes!" Kiba shouted happily not caring who heard what he saying, Akamaru barked in happiness for his owner as he gave him a high five. Hinata smiled at his antics as she walked over to meet Kiba.

Shino watched his friend's reaction and he finally got another idea in his mind, he pondered what it was like to have a girlfriend. But changed his mind quickly.

"Nah." Shino said, adjusting his glasses as he walked over to Choji to go see how he was doing.

---

Sakura's green eyes scanned the whole battlefield and she was quite shocked to see all of her comrades getting together like this. She couldn't help but feel happiness for them especially after going through such a rough time during the war. But with watching everybody reunite she started looking for her own teammates as well. She called out their names as she began covering ground of the battlefield.

"Naruto! Sasuke-Kun?! Kakashi-Sensei?!" Sakura yelled out, putting her hands around her mouth to help amplify her voice. She didn't hear anybody answer her, but she was determined to find them she couldn't give up on them. Sakura began walking through the school of Shinobi on the battlefield calling out their names to which she still received no answer. As she continued searching the battlefield she heard someone call out to her in a familiar voice.

"Sakura!" Sakura heard call out to her. Her jade irises followed the direction of the voice as she could then see Kakashi waving at her. Sakura smiled a little bit and started running to her sensei.

"Kakashi-Sensei have you seen Naruto and Sasuke-Kun?" Sakura asked with upmost curiosity and worry in her voice. Kakashi stayed quiet a little bit as he remembered Naruto told him don't say anything, but he could see the worry in the pink haired girl's eyes.

"Naruto mentioned something about having a promise to keep to you." Kakashi said with his naturally smooth voice. Sakura's eyes widened and her heart started to beat a lot faster to know that both Naruto and Sasuke could be dead, however the blonde boy occupied her thoughts especially.

"Kakashi-Sensei do you know where they are?" Sakura questioned frantically.

Kakashi lifted his hand to his chin, Sakura could tell he was thinking. Then Kakashi spoke once again. "I think I may have an idea."

"Please take me there Kakashi-Sensei." Sakura pleaded with eyes full of hope. To respond, Kakashi opened up a portal with his own Sharingan. Sakura looked at the portal and then to Kakashi with a questioning look.

"The reason I opened the portal was to take us to the Valley of The End where both Naruto and Sasuke fought the first time. That seems to be the obvious choice since Naruto and Sasuke wanted to fight again." Kakashi explained as if Sakura should have known that already.

Without hesitation, Sakura headed into the portal and Kakashi followed closing the portal behind him.

---

"So dobe, why didn't you ever tell her how you feel? You seem to be so confident about everything else, why not Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the blonde boy who was still smiling as he took in the sun rays.

"I had a promise to keep to Sakura-Chan, how could I confess to her if I couldn't even keep a promise to her that will make her happy again, you know? I just didn't feel worthy of confessing to her until I was able to keep the promise. And besides, Sakura-Chan is the most important thing, person in the universe to me. I can handle losing The Hokage position, I can handle losing a fight, but I can't handle losing her, especially not over something selfish like me wanting her to return my feelings. Just seeing her smile everyday, having her there around me, romantic or not is all I need." Naruto explained to the raven haired boy, though Sasuke could tell that Naruto wasn't satisfied with being just friends with Sakura.

"But won't you eventually just get tired of waiting on her, especially if you feel like you will never have a chance?" Sasuke inquired with genuine concern for his brother. His eyes widened a little as he saw Naruto smile a determined smile.

"You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do teme, don't you know who I am? I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I never give up... and I definitely won't ever give up on Sakura-Chan tebayo!" Naruto confidently exclaimed as he pumped his fist enthusiastically in the air. Naruto continued to speak as he noticed Sasuke had nothing to say.

"I just have to wait for the perfect time to reveal my feelings to her, until then I will love her with all my being and show it to her." Naruto explained as he felt a massive blush adorning his features at the thought of revealing his feelings to the girl of his dreams.

Naruto never failed to amaze Sasuke. He always stayed full of hope no matter the situation, always happy and cheerful, Sasuke never showed it though because of his pride being in the way. Before Sasuke could respond, they saw a bluish light appear before them. Naruto gritted his teeth and pulled out a kunai regardless of having a missing arm, expecting more enemies to be after them. As they waited for their "enemies" to appear, Naruto tightened the grip of his kunai in anticipation.

"Stop being a bunch of pussies and come on!" Naruto screamed out. Sasuke however remained quiet as he already knew who it was coming through the portal. As the figures finally made their way to where the two warriors were, Naruto dropped the kunai in his hand and sighed in relief when he saw Kakashi first appear through the portal.

"Kakashi-Sensei! Nice of you to drop in on us like this! A little late though!" Naruto laughed a little as he nodded to his severed arm.

Kakashi smiled a bit at Naruto's statement and then he looked at both boys' condition before stepping to the side revealing another figure. When Naruto stopped laughing he opened his eyes and blushed hard. He saw Sakura walk out from the portal. He was speechless for words at how beautiful she looked regardless of what she just got done doing, whether it be a war or taking a shower and putting on makeup. He missed her to death, but he was hurt at what happened next. He noticed she was completely focused on Sasuke.

He watched her kneel down next to Sasuke and watch him with a look that Naruto could only describe as look he wished she would give him. To the contrary, Sakura only focused on Sasuke because she couldn't bare to see Naruto in this kind of condition, she knew it would hurt her to no end. She knew it was selfish of her, but she knew she would have broke down crying into him and she didn't want that. Naruto turned his head in sadness so he couldn't witness the sight before him. It was a lot different seeing the girl of dreams being taken away then him just imagining the day that it would have happened, and it hurt infinitely worse than anything he can imagine.

Kakashi focused his eye to Naruto, noticing the sadness that overtook him and walked over to comfort him a little. Kakashi kneeled down and looked into Naruto's eyes to see a look unlike any other he has ever seen before. He could look into the blonde boy's eyes and see an endless pool of pain, so much that Naruto could smother everyone in the universe with his pain and still have some leftover.

"Hey Naruto, you alright?" Kakashi asked as he laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto stayed silent for a couple of seconds before responding.

"Of course I am Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura-Chan is happy, I kept my promise and that's what matters." Naruto responded with a sad smile.

Kakashi could hear Naruto's once determined voice faltering under the weight of the pain he was feeling. Kakashi couldn't even begin to imagine that pain. Kakashi then glanced at Sakura to see that she was stealing glances at Naruto as tears were welling up in her eyes. The glances were quick, but Kakashi noticed the amount of care that filled her eyes with each glance she directed at Naruto. Kakashi always knew she had feelings for Naruto, but he knew that it wasn't his place to say anything about it. He had to let her do it herself.

"Listen Naruto, you have been through a lot of pain in your years, you are the most selfless guy I have ever seen, but why would you drive the girl you love so much into the arms of another man?" Kakashi asked softly to keep the atmosphere of the conversation calm.

Naruto chocked back a slight sob before answering. "My ultimate dream is to be with her Kakashi-Sensei, however her happiness means much more than my own selfish dream. She would never be happy with me because she loves Sasuke and I have to accept that for her sake." Naruto gripped his chest out of the pain of saying that last sentence.

"If it was up to me, I would have killed Sasuke when he attempted to take Sakura-Chan's life not once but twice. It drove me off the edge, but when she was there my personal feelings didn't matter to me because of her and her heart's desires. Her smile is more important so I kept him alive and went through all of this for Sakura-Chan." Naruto then forced one of his rehearsed smiles on his face through the pain. "Now I can see her smile everyday."

Kakashi was astonished at the depth of Naruto's feelings for the pink haired girl, he thought Obito had strong feelings for Rin, but Naruto's for Sakura surpassed that indefinitely. "Naruto, promise me something." Naruto finally looked at Kakashi, his blue eyes shining thanks to the sunshine above.

"What's that Kakashi-Sensei" Naruto questioned curiously. Kakashi already knowing of the girl's feelings for Naruto as well, spoke with a smile on his face and wanted to give him a small hint.

"Make sure when you get Sakura that you always show her how much you love her, don't ever hold an ounce of it back." Naruto noticed Kakashi's choice of the word 'when' and blushed slightly complimenting the warm the feeling he felt in his heart.

"O-Of course I will, I have been waiting for that opportunity for 17 years. I would never let her go!" Naruto stuttered out. With that Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair as he stood up and walked back to his previous position.

As Sakura was healing Sasuke, she found herself getting more irritated by the second. Just looking at Sasuke made her want to punch his face into a crater. She found the urges of hurting the raven haired boy getting stronger by the second as she thought more and more of what he put her through, of what he put Naruto through. That last part was really getting to her, as she could hear her Inner Sakura calling for Sasuke's blood, but she had to think of Naruto and she definitely didn't want Naruto upset at her so she ignored her Inner self's ramblings. As she thought of the golden haired boy, she decided to look at him to make sure he was doing okay as much as she knew it would have hurt her, she took a deep breath and bit her lip before looking at Naruto, what she saw him do broke her down. She noticed his one eye that wasn't swollen shut was already looking at her, as she continued to look at him with her already sad look he flashed her his trademark smile and a thumbs up.

Sakura couldn't hold back the tears as she knew why he was doing it. She knew it was because of the promise he made to her. To see the lengths that he would go for her while all she did was cause him pain added to her tears. Naruto's smile melted away and it was replaced with a sad look. Naruto being Naruto, hating to see Sakura cry wanted to comfort her and spoke.

"Sakura-Ch-" Naruto was cut off when he heard Sasuke start to speak to Sakura. He witnessed Sasuke reach up to wipe the tears from her eyes which Sakura was too focused on Naruto to care.

"Sakura... I'm sorry." Sasuke said with a soft voice as his hand was still on her cheek. Sakura looked down at Sasuke, listening to him but her mind was on the blonde baka next to her. She didn't say a word as she continued to cry. Even though Naruto wanted so badly to hold Sakura in his arms and comfort her, he knew it wasn't his place as Sakura would rather want Sasuke to do it. Naruto never felt so heartbroken his life, he knew the day would come and he prepared for it over and over again but there was a difference in imagining it and it happening in reality.

Sasuke noticing Sakura wasn't speaking to him to which she finally lifted her hand and removed his hand from her cheek which shocked him a little bit, but he continued to speak. "I would really like to make it up to you." Sasuke said with a small smile on his face which was actually genuine.

Sakura could hear Sasuke's words but they were fuzzy as she didn't have any focus on the Uchiha. All of her attention was on Naruto, the more she thought of the pain she put him through, the fact of what he was willing to go through for her. She wondered what she did to deserve him to be so good to her and at that she began to cry even harder, not noticing she was still holding Sasuke's hand. She promised herself not to cry anymore, especially not in front of her team... especially not in front of him, but the pain she was feeling was unbearable.

Naruto witnessed the whole thing from Sasuke's words to Sakura crying even harder, to her continuing to hold Sasuke's hand. Naruto continued to look at the scene before him with his eye widened a little bit, but it turned into a small sad smile that rivaled his smile when he made The Promise of a Lifetime to Sakura.

Sakura looked back at Naruto again but gasped a little as she noticed he was returning the gaze with a familiar sad smile on his face. Tears glazing her eyes, her emerald eyes widened as that smile immediately took her back to a certain part in time when said boy made a promise to her, she didn't know what that smile meant then, but now that she looked at it, it all became clearer, she could see hurt in his eyes, pain that she couldn't even fathom. She remembered Sai telling her that Naruto loves her, but she still didn't know to what extent; after all Naruto never said a thing to her about it and Naruto was a guy that always spoke his mind, he didn't show any signs of loving her besides asking for dates to Ichiraku which were innocent gestures that a teenager with a crush may do, but he never showed any serious signs of wanting to be with her. She continued looking into the blonde boy's eyes and noticed they wasn't on her face anymore, she followed his eyes and looked down to see she never let Sasuke's hand go. She gasped silently and released his hand but noticed Naruto's head was already turned to avoid looking at the sight before him. She called out to him to comfort him.

"Naruto-" However he didn't respond to her. Starting to feel worried, she looked over his body from the spot she was currently in and noticed his breathing slowed down dramatically, his heart was beating slower, and he wasn't moving as much as he was before. Sakura's worry increased at least 10 fold as she called to him again.

"Naruto!" She called his name a little bit louder and once again no response. All thoughts of wanting to avoid looking at him in his current state escaped her mind. Thinking he was dying, Sakura felt tears threatening to come once more as she was hoping her mind was just playing tricks on her, she started to run over to him but Kakashi stepped in front of her and stopped her. Sakura attempted to maneuver around him but failed at doing so as Kakashi read all of her movements.

"Get the hell out of my way Kakashi-Sensei! Naruto needs me right now!" Sakura shouted. She looked up at her sensei with a pleading look as the tears finally started streaming down her eyes. Kakashi looked at Sakura with his usual aloof look as he rested both of his hands on Sakura's shoulders.

"Sakura calm down, Naruto is fine. He's just sleeping." Kakashi soothed with a smile as he noticed the instant relief the girl in front of him started to feel. He then chuckled a little as Sakura responded to him.

"The little baka, I'm going to beat his ass into next century for making me worry like this." Sakura said with a small, relieved smile on her face. She allowed herself to look at Naruto for a few seconds as her small smile turned into a warm one. Kakashi however snapped her back into reality.

"He may be sleeping now Sakura, but he has lost a lot of blood and he may die if we don't get him taken care of." Kakashi explained in a serious tone. Sakura knowing her sensei was right wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded in agreement before walking back over to Sasuke to help him up. Kakashi followed suit as he walked over to Naruto and hoisted him on his back. Kakashi opened back the portal to the battlefield.

"Thank you Sakura." Sasuke said in a soft voice as she put his arm over he shoulder to support him. Sakura however didn't really care for what Sasuke had to say at the moment, but decided not to ignore him or be rude.

"Mhmm." Was all that managed to escape her mouth. Sasuke smiled a little at her behavior as he knew why she was doing it, but he smiled also because he knew he deserved it; especially from Sakura after all he had put her through. He took it as a sign of her growing out of her childish crush for him that he mentioned earlier before his fight with Naruto and he was happy about it, now he wouldn't have a weight on his heart for denying her advances all the time and leaving the village again. He also noticed the looks she had been giving his best friend as of lately, he wasn't an expert on love or anything but he knew she felt something for Naruto.

The members of Team 7 made their way through the portal and back onto the battlefield. Upon arrival, Sakura walked over to Naruto while he was on Kakashi's back and stroked his hair in almost loving manner. "Everything will be alright Naruto okay?" Sakura whispered soothingly. As she continued stroking his hair and talking to him, she heard Sasuke speak to her which irritated the hell out her.

"You can be lovey dovey and tell the dobe how much you love him later on..." Sasuke smirked at Sakura's reaction. Sakura blushed heavily as she briefly lost her temper for a moment.

"Shut the hell up Sasuke-Kun before I kick your ass! Shanarooo!" Sakura growled out before Kakashi interrupted their mini argument.

"Sasuke's right Sakura, we kind of have a situation on our hands." Kakashi said in a calm tone as he was pointing directly in front of them. Sakura felt her anger subside as she looked forward and realized exactly what Sasuke and Kakashi was talking about. Every shinobi besides The Konoha 10 were headed in their direction,all of them had weapons in their hands with looks on their faces that seemed like they were ready to draw blood.

"You're dead you traitorous scum!" One of the shinobi screamed out amongst the others as words of agreement to the statement shortly followed. As much as Sakura didn't like the boy at this time, he was still somebody that belonged to Team 7 and she didn't want Naruto's hard work for her to go in vain. Sakura cracked her knuckles and stood her ground in front of Sasuke and Kakashi soon followed as they both stood in front of Sasuke.

"If you want to get to Sasuke-Kun, you'll have to go through me!" Sakura yelled as she slammed her fist into her palm, ready to strike. Kakashi however, watched them keenly but remained quiet, he didn't want hurt anybody from the village but if it came down to it, he would do what he had to do. Sakura and Kakashi didn't back down no matter the number, and opposing villagers were closing in on them yelling out nasty words.

"If you want to protect that traitorous scum, then you two are scum along with him and we will kill you as well!" One of the shinobi yelled out to Sakura and Kakashi. Sakura then looked at the sleeping boy on Kakashi's back and a look of determination plastered her face.

"If we have to be traitorous for protecting a teammate then so be it! But I won't allow you to hurt one of my friends!" Sakura barked back to the crowd.

Kakashi looked at Sakura momentarily admiring her attitude. He could hear a lot of similarities to Naruto in Sakura's words, smiling at the phrase, you become like the one you love.

As the crowd was closing in on them on them, Rock Lee was the first to join Sakura and Kakashi. He flashed the duo a nice guy pose with a smile before standing in front of Sakura and Kakashi and then he spoke to the crowd. "I am sorry but I cannot allow you all to come any further!" Rock Lee stated, entering his Taijutsu stance as he noticed them still coming.

Kiba and Akamaru joined the team as well and stood next to Lee. "Which one of ya wants ya throat ripped out first?!" Kiba said in a snarl as he showed off his canines in a carnivorous smile and nails which were sharpened to the point. Akamaru started to growl ferociously, showing off his insanely sharp teeth at the crowd while his hair stood up, causing the crowd to hesitate a bit, but they continued to come.

Shikamaru and Ino joined in as Shikamaru stood next to Kiba and Ino next to Sakura. Ino flashed Sakura a smile. "Don't worry, we got your back girl!" Ino assured Sakura cheerfully.

Sakura nodded to Ino with a determined smile as they gave each other a fist bump. Shikamaru on the other hand was wondering just how when he wasn't looking for trouble that it always seemed to find him. He lazily removed his hands from pockets as he formed the hand signs to activate the Shadow Possession Jutsu.

Shino had an army of bees that matched the amount of shinobi on the field, he adjusted his glasses as he looked just as mysterious as ever. He didn't say a word but you could tell he meant business due to the fact that he had his bees in attack mode.

Soon, Hinata joined in as she stood next to Kiba with her fighting stance already in display, smiling confidently. "Hinata, are you sure you want to do this, especially with your clan?" Kiba questioned in a worried tone. Hinata then looked up at Kiba with her milky eyes and a smile of determination.

"Yes Kiba-Kun, I am sure. I've spent all my life letting people make decisions for me; I refuse to stand back in the shadows anymore. I will help my friends out no matter what it costs me." Hinata replied proudly. Kiba stood wide eyed at the girl he loved, she was now even more amazing to him than before, he knew she was strong and seeing her actually show it made him smiled warmly at Hinata. He had so much to say to her, but decided it could wait until later.

The whole team surrounded Sakura who was holding Sasuke and watched as the army of shinobi began to charge them with kunai and shuriken in their hands, and like that The Konoha 11 was in attack mode ready to kill if necessary.

Before they could meet up to attack each other, they felt a strong presence come in between them and with a strong voice everyone stopped. "Enough!" The voice commanded, calm but firm.

"Everybody fall back, this boy is extremely hurt. How dare you all go after him in this condition!" The lady said with extreme anger in her voice, her normally calm earth tone eyes reflecting said anger.

"Now we just came out of a war, we don't need anymore useless bloodshed! I need everybody to go about their business and leave this boy alone or else I will deal with every one of you myself!" She threatened so powerfully, they could feel the earth shake. The Hokage was intimidating even when she was calm, but when she got upset that's a whole different ball game. She had the power of Hercules with an insane skill set to match and nobody wanted to deal with that so they did as they was told and retreated.

"Thanks Tsunade-Sama." Kakashi said relieved as he truly didn't want to hurt anybody. Tsunade turned around with nothing but seriousness in her eyes as she eyed both boys from her spot on the field. She first walked over to Naruto and scanned his whole body, she didn't show it but it hurt her to see him like this. She looked over the spot where his arm used to be and she noticed that he lost a decent amount of blood which explained why he wasn't conscious.

"Sakura..." Tsunade called with firmness in her voice.

Sakura felt her heart pound rapidly as she already knew what was about to asked. Sakura tried to avoid Tsunade's gaze but luckily for her, Tsunade wasn't looking at her while she was speaking.

"Y-Yes Tsunade-Sama?" Sakura barely muttered out.

"You care to tell me why you tended to the Uchiha boy but neglected Naruto?" Tsunade said in a low yet threatening tone, causing Sakura to flinch. Sakura attempted to say her piece and defend herself, but Tsunade cut her off.

"I'll have to see you in my office later on Sakura." Tsunade said as she walked over to Sasuke who hadn't lost as much blood as Naruto, but he was still looking pretty weak as he had lost a decent amount as well. Tsunade then spoke to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, we will have to take them to the hospital they have both lost a lot of blood, I can also make them prosthetic arms to compensate for their lost arms." Kakashi nodded in agreement as Sakura stood by and tried to listen in on the conversation that Tsunade was trying to make private. She tried to hear if she could make out Naruto's name in the mix of conversation, but so far it didn't sound too bad. Nevertheless, she was a little worried at how Naruto didn't wake up through all of the commotion that took place earlier. Sakura bit her finger in thought as she looked at said boy on Kakashi's back with a worried look.

As Tsunade was still looking over Naruto, she could see Sakura from the corner of her eye gazing at Naruto with a look she knew all too well. It was look that surpassed even the one she used to give to Sasuke when she had her crush on him. Tsunade would describe the look in Sakura's eyes as loving, caring... emotions she always knew Sakura had for Naruto but refused to come to the terms with due to her stubborness. Tsunade allowed a quick smile to grace her lips before she decided to check on The Uchiha.

Tsunade walked up to Sasuke who was still being supported by Sakura. Sakura felt intimidated to see her teacher so close to her, she remembered that Tsunade was upset with her, and she braced for any unexpected attack that might be coming her way, but was surprised when Tsunade instead spoke to the boy she was supporting.

"Sasuke I also need to have a word with you after I get you fixed up." Tsunade said in a calm tone, looking around Sakura like she wasn't even there. Sasuke looked her with only one eye open and a smirk on his face as his eyes expressed to her that he was in agreement.

Tsunade nodded back to the boy before facing everyone in the field. "Okay everybody! Let's go home!" Tsunade shouted in a powerful, commanding voice. Everybody cheered at their job well done, most cheered because they can spend time with their family and live another day.

Sakura continued to look at Naruto. 'Thank you Naruto.' Sakura thought to herself as she allowed herself through all of her pain that she was feeling earlier to finally smile at him with the warm smile that she reserved only for him.

---

The once empty village was now beginning to get populated again as the shinobi made their way back into the gates of the Konoha. Sounds of cheers and laughter lit up the village as husbands and wives hugged each other and decided to spend a lot of quality time with each other. Parents were glad to find their children alive and in one piece, and Konoha 10 prepared to go on their dates or hang out with each other.

Kakashi, Sakura, Tsunade, Sasuke, and a sleeping Naruto was the last to walk into Konoha to which Kakashi looked around the village with extreme interest.

"Hmm, I sure missed being in the village." Kakashi said with a visible smile as he looked over to Tsunade who in turn nodded in agreement.

"Yes Kakashi, so did I. But I do intend on making some small changes to the village before my reign as Hokage is over." Tsunade responded as she smiled warmly at the boy on Kakashi's back, thinking about building a statue for Naruto as he was the hero of the war.

Sakura was looking at Naruto intently as she bit her lip wondering if he was okay. She had an overwhelming feeling to take Naruto as her own and take care of him by herself, but she knew that Tsunade wouldn't allow it to happen especially when she thinks that she was neglecting the boy earlier. But that was far from the truth as she just couldn't bare to see Naruto in such a condition. It felt a little better now as she could see his swelling going down dramatically which she had to thank the Fox in his belly for.

Naruto was now snoring slightly but to Sakura it was cute as she couldn't help but giggle. Her once worried jade irises which were dull because of her crying earlier were now filled with happiness just looking at the blonde boy on her sensei's back. She noticed for a while that just watching him was enough for her to be happy, even if her day went like shit, seeing Naruto made her day a whole lot better even though she didn't want to admit it to Naruto himself.

Sakura had then realized that she was practically gawking at Naruto in front of everybody. She felt her heart race as she looked around first at Kakashi who she noticed was watching the clouds with a peaceful look in his eye. She sighed inwardly in relief, but as she went to look at Tsunade her heart began to race so fast that she thought it would have phased through her chest. She witnessed Tsunade smiling at her, the look in her teacher's eyes was a teasing one and it didn't help that she had an equally teasing smirk plastered on her face. Sakura blushed heavily and looked away shyly to avoid Tsuande's gaze to which Sakura smiled a bit at Tsuande catching her admiring Naruto.

Sakura's eyes widened a little as she heard Tsunade call her name. Her heart started beating even faster if that was possible as she thought her teacher was about to question her in front of Kakashi and Sasuke. It was one thing to just stroke Naruto's hair and tell him everything would be okay because that can be looked at as an innocent gesture for a friend or even an family member, but to be caught practically gawking at Naruto, not focusing on her surroundings with a warm smile focused on him, that was a whole different story.

Sakura waited in anticipation when she heard Tsunade speak. "Sakura?"

Sakura could feel herself getting more nervous by the minute as Tsunade continued to smile teasingly at her with her hands placed on her hips. Sakura felt like Kakashi sensed the awkardness in the air because she noticed that Kakashi's focus changed from the village to Tsunade and then to looking at Sakura dead in her face. Sakura started to sweat a little as she heard Kakashi speak.

"Hmm? Is everything alright?" Kakashi asked in his normal aloof tone. Sakura began to silently curse Kakashi's innate senses inwardly as he continued to stare at her directly in her face as if her face were a magnet to his eyes. She then heard Sasuke chuckle from the side of her, which really pissed her off, she spoke to him through gritted teeth.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Sakura spat out with venom as she began to tighten her fist to give him an chakra enhanced punch. She just wanted an excuse to pummel Sasuke into the dirt and right about now he was giving her excuse upon excuse.

Sasuke not phased by Sakura's Hulk-like anger continued chuckling before responding in a whisper so only she could hear. "You're not doing a very good job of hiding your feelings for the dobe, it's pretty amusing to see you sweat over getting caught."

Sakura blushed heavily at Sasuke's statement as she began to allow her hand to get drunk in chakra to give Sasuke a chakra enhanced punch he would never forget. She now wanted Sasuke's blood more than ever. Just where did he get the right to be able to tease her like this. "If you don't want me to cut your balls off and feed them to you, I suggest you shut the fuck up!" Sakura hissed through gritted teeth while smiling to make it seem like nothing was going on.

Sasuke stifled laughter, to him her anger was amusing. "I appreciate the offer, Sakura. But, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I'm sure the dobe likes that kind of thing though." Sasuke countered teasingly, excitedly waiting for her reaction.

Sakura's whole face turned red from the blush that adorned her face. She felt herself losing control as she wanted to just give

Sasuke an chakra enhanced punch to the face hard enough to knock out all of teeth so he wouldn't be able to smile anymore, she was about to follow through with that action, but luckily for Sasuke, Tsunade interrupted the process.

"Sakura?" Tsunade questioned with mild amusement in her voice, noticing the Uchiha was teasing her as well.

"Yes Tsunade-Sama?" Sakura answered in a shaky voice.

Tsunade already noting that Sakura was nervous decided to draw the teasing out a little longer at her own expense. She decided to hold her response in as she was sure that Sakura was thinking that she was about to call her out on the fact that she was close to drooling over Naruto and at this she laughed inwardly.

"We need to get these boys to the hospital and I will need your help in order to create their prosthetic arms." Tsunade said while trying to hold in a chuckle at witnessing Sakura finally release her breath and let out a sigh in relief.

"Alright Tsunade-Shishou! Let's go!" Sakura responded with renewed confidence which then turned to anger really quick as she heard Sasuke began to add to Tsunade's teasing.

"Barely dodged a bullet there didn't you Sakura?" Sakura felt as though Sasuke was now trying to recuperate for his failed dreams of beating Naruto, killing off all the Bijuu, and becoming The Hokage to recreate the Uchiha Clan by now trying to piss her off at any chance he can get and if that was his plan it was working excellently. Sakura felt a vein pop out of the side of her head as she clenched her fists together.

"Say one more word and I swear to Kami you will wish Naruto killed you in that fight." Sakura growled through gritted teeth as her emerald eyes took on the most threatening glare signifying that she wasn't making an empty promise.

Tsunade smiled warmly at her former pupil as she could see a herself in Sakura all the way down to the T. She was proud of Sakura for seeing that Sasuke wasn't good for her and even though Sakura didn't entirely notice it, her actions that she displayed for Naruto and Sasuke showed she was growing up. She was then snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed Kakashi approaching her.

"Lord Tsunade?" Kakashi questioned innocently.

"Yes Kakashi, what is it?" Tsuande asked as she focused her earth toned eyes on the masked man before her.

Kakashi then pointed at the bickering Sasuke and Sakura while still looking at Tsunade. "What is that all about?"

Tsunade smiled at Kakashi's cluelessness as she already knew of why Sakura was acting the way she acted. After spending years upon years with Sakura, getting to know her more everyday she has almost an motherly instinct when it comes to Sakura. Every word Sakura speaks, every action she takes, Tsunade already knows what it means and how to decipher it.

"She just has some things to figure out, is all." Tsunade replied feeling that it isn't her place to tell Sakura's business as she should do that herself.

Tsunade examined Kakashi as she noticed that he was trying to wrap his head around her answer. She chuckled under her breath as he shrugged his shoulders not wanting to indulge in whatever Sakura and Tsunade had going on. Tsunade however didn't want to leave Kakashi completely in the dark.

"Just know that she will come to understand a little more about herself really soon." Tsunade said as she refocused her eyes back to Sakura who was still arguing with Sasuke. She then heard Kakashi chuckle which broke her out of her muse.

"I'm sure she already figured it out, she just has to come to terms with it." Kakashi said as he handed Naruto over to Tsunade who hoisted Naruto onto her back.

"You have always been the intuitive one Kakashi." Tsunade was admittedly impressed by how smart Kakashi could be, she didn't want him to figure it out but it seemed that he already knew.

"I always see underneath the underneath, I couldn't have became a Jounin without it." Kakashi said as he closed his visible eye signifying that he was now smiling. Tsunade laughed a little louder at his response.

"Well, they couldn't have had a better teacher." Tsunade complimented, briefly placing her hand on Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi started to rub the back of his head bashfully, he wasn't used to this much praise and from the Hokage of all people.

"Thank you Lord Hokage, but maybe you should save some praise for the Future Hokage on your back." Kakashi emphasized by pointing to the sleeping Naruto.

Tsunade laughed before turning her neck slightly where just Naruto's hair was visible. "I don't think that's such a wise idea Kakashi, knowing Naruto it would go straight to his head and he would get even more cocky if that were possible."

It was now Kakashi's turn to laugh. "He wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't cocky..." Kakashi said in between laughs, but he calmed down a little bit before smiling with his usual one eyed smile. "But he came a long way from being the most hated in the village to earning everyone's respect, he said he would be a village hero and he's done just that. I think he deserves all of the praise in the world and more."

"Yes, he sure does Kakashi. Words can't explain how proud of him that I truly am." Tsunade responded with motherly affection in her voice. "It's just hard to believe that the little brat I knew when I first came developed into such an amazing young man."

"He reminds me of his father, except Naruto truly has what it takes to be better by leaps and bounds." Kakashi ruffled through Naruto's hair before looking at Tsunade with a determined glint in his eye.

"Lord Hokage, do you think you can do me a favor?" Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at Kakashi's statement as it was rare for Kakashi to ask for any favor of any sort.

"Sure Kakashi, what's that?" Tsunade questioned curiously.

Kakashi used one of his hands to block his mouth so his voice couldn't be heard by Sakura. "Make sure our hero gets the 'All-Star treatment.' If you know what I mean..." Kakashi said quietly to Tsunade as he nodded in Sakura's direction.

Tsunade chuckled a bit.. "Kakashi, I'm pretty sure she will do that all on her own regardless if I tell her to do it or not, but just for you, I'll make sure I have a hand in it."

Kakashi closed his eye in a visible smile. "Thanks Lord Hokage, I should get going, I actually have some things to take care of."

Tsunade smiled before nodding at the departing Kakashi. She then called out to Sakura. "Let's go Sakura."

Sakura who was just about to finally knock Sasuke silly due to his teasing and taunting, stopped mid action as she turned around to The Hokage's voice. "Okay Tsunade-Sama!"

Sakura's eyes then focused to Kakashi who she noticed was getting ready to poof away. Sakura looked at Naruto who was now on Tsunade's back and smiled softly before coming up with an idea especially since she would be busy in the hospital helping Tsunade with Naruto and Sasuke's prosthetic arms.

"Kakashi-Sensei, wait." Sakura called out to him as she slowly walked up to him while still supporting Sasuke.

"Hmm? What is it Sakura?" Kakashi questioned in a smooth tone as he faced her directly.

"I need you to do me a favor..." Sakura responded as she took a small, caring glance toward Naruto to which everyone but Tsunade missed.

"Sure, tell me." Kakashi said calmly, but he was also getting nervous as he hoped it wasn't anything big. He was tired due to the war and extended use of the Sharingan but he didn't want to admit it.

"Well, Naruto will be hungry when he gets up, do you think you can buy a few bowls of ramen for him and I will pay you back later?"Sakura requested with happiness in her voice. Kakashi could see the hope in Sakura's eyes, the willingness to do anything to make sure Naruto was happy and alright.

"Sure Sakura, of course I can." Kakashi's visible eye closed signifying he was now smiling.

"Thank you Kakashi-Sensei. Please try to bring it before Naruto wakes up." Sakura exclaimed with slight excitement in her voice as a beautiful smile graced her face.

"Anything for one of my favorite students." Kakashi admitted honestly with his one eyed smile. But this proved to be a mistake as he noticed that Sakura now had a an extremely large grin on her face rivaling Naruto's. Kakashi was starting to regret letting that statement out in the open.

"Okay Kakashi-Sensei now that you mention it, can you also teach me how to get away with killing somebody?" Sakura asked sweetly as she shot a sideways glance at Sasuke with a devilish smile on her face to which Sasuke began to sweat nervously.

"Ummm.. well Sakura..." Kakashi started to sweat as well as he tried to come up with a rational answer to Sakura's question. Tsunade saved him as she interrupted the conversation between her former pupil and the Copy-Nin.

"Let's go Sakura, we have to get the boys to the hospital. Besides, Kakashi here has a well deserved rest waiting for him at home."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Tsunade looked back at him and offered him an expressive smile and wink that said, 'you owe me.' Kakashi nodded, taking the opportunity Tsunade was giving him and quickly poofed away.

Sakura heard Sasuke sigh in relief at the sight of Kakashi poofing away and Sakura turned her head to look Sasuke in the eye with a terrifying look on her face. "I guess torturing can be just as fun." Sakura whispered in a menacing tone as they began to make their way to the hospital which made even the former psychopathic Uchiha begin to fear for his life.

---

Tsunade and Sakura made it into the hospital to which they heard a familiar voice call out their name. "Tsunade-Sama, Sakura!" The woman with the voice came running up to them in urgency.

"Is there anything I can help with?" The lady said in between breaths as it seems like she has been helping around the hospital with all of the patients that had been hurt during the war.

"Yes Shizune, we have to get these boys into a room on a floor by themselves, fix up Room 707 and Room 705 for the boys and then you can go home and take a rest." Tsunade offered with a smile.

Shizune was touched by the offer but she declined. "No Tsunade-Sama, I want to stay and help you and Sakura."

Tsunade then walked up to Shizune and gently placed her hand on Shizune's shoulder. "You haven't gotten any rest since the War, and I can't afford for you to work your way into the ground. Go home and take some rest even if it's a nap and then you can come back if you want."

Before Shizune could speak, Sakura interjected. "Yes, you deserve a rest Shizune-San. We can handle everything from here." Sakura smiled assuringly to Shizune to which Shizune began to eye the both of them with stubborness.

Tsunade then smirked teasingly. "Besides, you just came out of the war, shouldn't you and Iruka be going out today?"

A small blush tinged Shizune's cheeks as she looked away from the Super duo with an content smile. "Well, I-I guess I could take you up on that offer Tsunade-Sama." Shizune said softly.

Before anything else could be said, Shizune ran towards the stairs to go and fix Naruto and Sasuke's room up with the necessary supplies in order to help the boys get better.

Sakura was impressed, but also genuinely shocked at the conversation that just took place. "I thought Shizune-San was all business. Does Iruka-Sensei know that Shizune-San likes him?"

Tsunade offered Sakura smirk. "Probably not, but I'll make something happen." Tsunade boasted as she complimented her smirk to Sakura with a wink.

"I'm pretty sure he likes her as well, who wouldn't?" Sakura complimented Shizune genuinely. "And since that's the case, you have to let me help. I love seeing two people in love get together." Sakura cooed.

As if on cue after her statement, Sakura subconsciously stole a glance at Naruto with a small smile on her face. Tsunade noticed immediately and decided not to let her get away with it this time. "Oh, you mean like you and the brat?"

Sakura's emerald eyes widened as a huge blush formed on her face. "W-W-What? I don't know what you're talking about Tsunade-Sama." Sakura stuttered sheepishly.

Tsunade eyed Sakura suspiciously. "I know when you're lying Sakura, but we will talk about this later on. Let's get these boys checked in." Tsunade said as she made her way to receptionist's desk.

Sakura let out a relieved sigh as she followed Tsunade to the receptionist's desk and took her place next to her.

"Tsunade-Sama, Sakura-San, how are you?" The lady said with an gentle voice and warm smile.

"We're fine, thanks for asking." Sakura responded with her own grin.

"What can I do for you?" The receptionist asked as she took a sip of the water that was sitting on her desk.

"We need to get these boys checked in. Room 707 for Uzumaki Naruto and 705 for Uchiha Sasuke." Tsunade stated as she adjusted Naruto higher on her back.

"You got it Tsunade-Sama!"

"Thanks Tsura." Tsunade responded in an appreciative tone. She then shifted her eyes to Sakura.

"Come on Sakura, let's get these boys fixed up."

---

Arriving to the top of the stairs, Tsunade was extremely pleased, not only did Shizune set up the rooms for Naruto and Sasuke, but she also cleared out the floor to where only the four of them would be occupying the floor.

"Why is this floor so empty Tsunade-Sama?" Sakura asked with one eyebrow raised as she scanned the hospital floor keenly with her emerald eyes.

Sakura witnessed Tsunade smirk almost cockily. "It's just Shizune being Shizune, doing more than she has to do, it's a good thing she did it, we don't need any disturbances up here."

Sakura shook her head in agreement. "Judging by how they wanted to murder Sasuke-Kun back at the battlefield, I see your point."

"Not to mention our little golden boy here is now a hero." Tsunade chimed in as she closed one eye but left one open in order to see Sakura's reaction to her statement.

Sakura smiled proudly as she stole a glance at Naruto and then looked at The Hokage. "He worked really hard for it,and he deserves it." Sakura simply stated but Tsunade could practically see her swell up in happiness for Naruto, almost as if they were sharing the hero title.

Tsunade smirked teasingly at Sakura once again. "Why don't we get these boys in their rooms and we can talk more about the brat when you help me with their arms."

Sakura blushed lightly at Tsunade's statement to which Tsunade couldn't help but chuckle at. "There's nothing to discuss Tsunade-Sama." Sakura responded flatly.

"Riiiggghttt." Tsunade drawled out while flashing air quotes with her free hand.

Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously at The Hokage. "What's that supposed to mean Tsunade-Sama?" Sakura spat in a low tone but with enough venom to make even Tsunade herself shiver in fear.

"Oh nothing Sakura. Just make sure to get Sasuke situated in his room." Tsunade's reminded Sakura in a serious tone.

Sakura offered Tsunade a small smile. "Okay Tsunade-Sama, I won't be long."

A mischievous grin plastered Tsunade's face as she began to walk off. "I expect you in 10. If I have to wait much longer than that, I already know where to look." Tsunade said while looking back at Sakura and winking, switching her eyes to Naruto.

Sakura catching on to what Tsunade meant, blushed madly as an visible tic mark made it's way to her forehead. "This is a hospital Tsunade-Sama! I would never do that with him in here!"

"At least you didn't deny it!" Tsunade pointed out as she made her way to the surgery room.

Sakura while still blushing, smiled softly at Tsunade's teasing. "I'll make you pay for this when we spar tomorrow!" Sakura barked back with laughter in her voice.

Sakura chuckled a little more as she heard the powerful laughter of The Hokage. Sakura continued to watch her move further through the halls until she was finally out of sight.

Sakura shifted her gaze to the boy that was adding an extra weight to her and she noticed he was no longer conscious. Like Naruto, he was now sleeping. Sakura now being more delicate with Sasuke carefully carried him into his room and laid him on the bed, careful not to wake him up.

Sakura began to look around the room for any piece of cloth she can find to use it as an tourniquet to avoid further bleeding before she set the I.V. up to help with the blood loss. She checked the cabinets, the drawers but found nothing. She guessed a lot of the supplies were used for other patients.

She shifted her emerald eyes towards the window where the sun was shining through. She smiled triumphantly as she noticed a piece of fabric resting on a small desk under the window. Sakura walked over and picked up the fabric, using her great strength to rip the thick fabric in half.

Before wrapping it around the bleeding area of his arm, she sterilized it carefully to make sure it didn't give him an blood infection. As she wrapped the cloth around his arm she watched him carefully, he was sleeping peacefully in a manner she imagined he hadn't slept in for a while. That was the effect Naruto had on the raven haired boy, he seemed to have changed him for the better during their battle.

"He's so amazing.." Sakura thought to herself as she envisioned Naruto in her mind causing a smile to form on her face. Truth be told, she had thought he was amazing ever since she watched what he was capable of during the fight with Zabuza and Haku, but now she has more of an foundation on why he's amazing. Him never giving up, the fact that his attitude can rub off on others, he isn't scared of anything, and how selfless he is...

The last reason, him being so selfess made her chest tighten as her eyes traveled to the floor and began to remember everything he went through just to make sure she was safe, to make sure she was happy. She bit her lip in thought, wondering why would he do all of this for her, she just couldn't wrap her head around what Naruto was thinking, going as far as risking his life for her on more than one occasion.

She tried not to cry thinking about it, but tears threatened to fall all over again. Before she could linger on the thoughts, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Sakura." The voice said a bit weakly.

Sakura looked to the side and noticed that Sasuke was now awake. "Yes, Sasuke-Kun what is it?" Sakura tried to say as sweetly as she could.

"Are you okay?" He asked with care in his tone regardless if his voice came out in a weak manner.

Sakura faced him and offered him a small smile for noticing that he actually cared. "I'm okay, thanks. Just thinking about something."

Only one of Sasuke's eyes were opened but he studied Sakura's face carefully and could see that she wasn't fine like she claimed to be. The halfhearted smile she was giving him was a dead giveaway; he began to chuckle a little. "It's the dobe isn't it?"

Sakura gasped silently as the smile she was giving him faded away into more of sad look and her eyes traveled back to the floor. She didn't want to lie about it. "Yes, I can't help but wonder why he went through all of this for me. He risked his life for me, he put his life on hold for me."

Sasuke watched Sakura intently for a few seconds before slowly turning his neck to look at the wall in front of him with a small smile. "Well, he did all of this for you because you are the biggest part of his life."

Sakura gasped but this time it was audible so that Sasuke was able to hear it. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Sasuke. "W-What? What do you mean?"

"He would give up being The Hokage if it meant making you happy Sakura." Sasuke said trying to say it in ways that she could understand. "That's why he's willing to go through all of this for you."

Sakura felt a warm feeling wash over her body. She wouldn't admit it as selfish as it is but it made her feel happy that Naruto cared about her this much. "He would give up being The Hokage for my happiness?"

Sasuke simply nodded in response as he tried to gauge her reaction. Sakura walked up closer to the bed as she began to make a passageway in his body for the I.V. "But that's ridiculous. Being The Hokage is all he talks about Sasuke-Kun."

"It's not as ridiculous as you may think Sakura. Naruto really l—-" Sasuke trailed off.

Sakura still fixing his I.V. tube into his arm waited patiently for his response but noticed he stopped talking, she looked up to see if he was alright and offered a small smile at the sight of him sleeping again.

Sakura finished setting up his I.V. and allowed the fluid to start running into Sasuke's body. She then started to fluff his pillow to make sure he was comfortable before finally leaving Sasuke's room and closing the door behind her.

She began to walk down the hall lost in thought as she contemplated whether she should go in Naruto's room or not. Biting her lip, she decided to just go and check and make sure he was doing okay.

'Five minutes won't hurt.' Sakura mentally noted as she bit her lip and stopped in front of the room where Tsunade placed the blonde haired boy in. Before even touching the doorknob, Sakura felt herself getting extremely nervous as her heart began to race rapidly. Dusting off her shirt and pants while taking a deep breath, she opened the door to see Naruto was still resting.

Sakura couldn't help but smile warmly at Naruto, seeing how peaceful he looked, the most peaceful she had seen him in years. She walked over to an empty chair that was at his bedside and sat down in it, never taking her eyes off the blonde-haired boy.

She began to softly stroke his hair as her gaze on him softened greatly. "You went through so much for me, all of this pain you're in is because of me..." Sakura said softly as tears threatened to fall from her emerald eyes.

"I keep promising myself that I wouldn't cry around you but when I look at you and see how much pain I caused you, I can't help but break down." Sakura whispered softly as she used her willpower to fight her tears.

Sakura gently lifted Naruto's hand and held it close to her chest. "Why did you do all of this for me? What have I done to deserve for you to put my dream first before yours?" Sakura asked for the severalth time that day. Her answer came as she remembered everything her friends said to her.

"I don't know what promise he made to you... but even I can tell he really loves you!" Sakura could never forget these words from Sai, it tore her heart to pieces to know she was causing Naruto pain without even realizing it.

"Naruto mentioned something about having a promise to keep to you." The statement from Kakashi made her heart beat a lot faster as she couldn't believe how far he would go just to keep that stupid promise to her.

"He did it for you because you are the biggest part of his life... he would give up being Hokage if it meant you being happy." These words from Sasuke, although making her feel happy that Naruto held her so high as a friend, hurt her because she didn't want him giving up the dream he wanted since he was a kid just for her well being.

"That guy, he fought tooth and nail just to keep you safe Sakura." Sakura remembered Sasuke telling her how Naruto risked his life just to save her from Gaara.

"I will bring Sasuke back for you no matter what Sakura-Chan! It's A Promise of a Lifetime!" The memory of the promise that he made to her caused her to break out of her thoughts as she refocused her eyes to the sleeping boy on the bed with a look that even Sasuke never got from her.

Sakura gently squeezed Naruto's hand and she smiled warmly at him.

"Baka."

Sakura softly spoke as she bent down and placed a gentle yet quick kiss on Naruto's cheek. Blushing at her "actions that came out of nowhere" as she would explain it, she walked out of the room and closed the door softly to avoid waking Naruto up.

---

Kurama witnessed the whole scene as he woke up wide-eyed. Naruto as usual missed it, Kurama decided to bring him up to speed.

"Oi Gaki, do my eyes deceive me?"

"What the hell are you talking about now furball?" Naruto said jokingly, looking at the Kurama with one eye.

"That pink haired beauty that you love so much..." Kurama trailed off still in shock at what he just witnessed.

Naruto blushed and gave Kurama all of his attention. "You mean Sakura-Chan?" Naruto exclaimed happily, turning his whole body to face him.

Kurama nodded, his eyes never leaving the spot they were focused on. "Is she alright?" Naruto asked as he immediately stood up in worry.

Kurama used one of his tails to guide Naruto back down to the ground. "She just kissed you.."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kurama.

"Shut the fuck up."

---

Sakura made her way into the surgery room and she could see Tsunade standing up with her back facing the work desk with her arms crossed.

"About time you got here Sakura, I was waiting on you." Tsunade stated in an slightly annoyed tone.

"Sorry Tsunade-Sama, I just wanted to make sure Naruto was doing okay." Sakura replied honestly.

One of Tsunade's eyebrows raised as an amused smirk formed on her features. "That explains why you're blushing so hard."

Sakura's blush magnified as she placed her hands on her hips. "I just went to see if he was alright, nothing more. Besides, I have been feeling a little sick ever since we left the war, which of course explains why my face might look so red..." Sakura lied hoping The Hokage would buy it.

Sakura's hopes were shot down as she heard Tsunade snicker at her response. "You're a terrible liar Sakura. I know you better than almost anyone."

"You have no evidence that I'm lying or telling the truth." Sakura responded victoriously as she stuck her tongue out at her former teacher.

The amused smirk on Tsunade's face only deepened as her eyes stared into Sakura's emerald eyes. "I'm not one of the best Medic-Nins in the world for nothing. I can tell you aren't sick and I can DEFINITELY tell that you're lying, so how about you cut the crap and tell me the real reason?"

Sakura sighed inwardly, cursing The Hokage's perceptiveness. "I may have given Naruto a kiss on the cheek but it was completely random." Sakura tried to reassure herself.

"Nothing random about that Sakura. Five years ago when you were in the Academy you wouldn't have dreamed of doing that would you?" Tsunade questioned as she motioned Sakura to take a seat.

Sitting down, Sakura answered Tsunade's question. "Probably not because I was so hung up on that stupid crush I had on Sasuke-Kun. Besides, Naruto has been through so much with me, always protected me, picked me up when I was down.. he earned it."

Tsunade focused on Sakura's eyes during her explanation and could see so many emotions flash through as she talked about the Hyperactive Ninja. "Don't you think he needs a little more?"

Sakura cluelessly raised one of her eyebrows at Tsunade's response. "A little more of what?"

Tsunade sighed as she grabbed the bridge of her nose. "Sometimes you can be even more thickheaded than Naruto. He has been trying to win you over for all of his life and you never noticed."

Sakura blushed at Tsunade's statement. "I want nothing more than friendship with Naruto, Tsunade-Sama." Even though that's what Sakura says, she knows that it's the furthest thing from the truth.

Tsunade could sense that Sakura was lying as well and began to interrogate her. "You don't?" Tsunade questioned as she rested her arms on the back of the chair.

"...No I don't.." Sakura trailed off as an pained expression crossed her emerald irises while looking at the floor avoiding Tsunade's glare afraid her eyes would betray her once again.

"At least I think I don't." Sakura continued softly still looking down at the ground.

Tsunade smiled genuinely. "Sakura, tell me why Naruto is so amazing."

Sakura's eyes shot up and looked at Tsunade in her earth toned eyes. Almost automatically, Sakura began listing reasons. "That's easy Tsunade-Sama. He has the world's biggest heart, He's funny, smarter than people give him credit for, he never gives up, he doesn't go back on his word, he can change people for the better, he's afraid of no one, he has an ability to make me smile through any situation, he's confident, motivated, determined, handsome, always there for me, those blue eyes you can just get lost in... Just to name a few..." Sakura realizing what she just revealed, covered her mouth in surprise.

Tsunade's smile grew into an teasing grin. "Oh really, I didn't know you felt that way about the brat." Tsunade said innocently.

"How did you do that?" Sakura asked as she removed one of her hands from her mouth and pointed at Tsunade with an accusing finger.

Tsunade looked up innocently, avoiding Sakura's glare. "I didn't do anything Sakura, I just simply presented you with an suggestion and your heart couldn't help but answer the question for you; now that it's out in the open do you have anything else you would like to share?" Tsunade questioned with a triumphant smile on her face.

Sakura remained silent for moment before sighing and avoiding Tsunade's gaze with a small blush on her face. It was a little embarrassing talking about it. "Well, as we got on teams together, I began to acknowledge how amazing Naruto truly was. Before that, I was blinded by my crush for Sasuke-Kun.."

Tsunade interrupted her. "I'm curious, why did you like Sasuke so much?"

"I always had an crush on him ever since I was little, he was strong, cute, and cool. Just like any other girl would like him; but it was nothing serious until that day we spoke on the bench.." Sakura sighed and rested her chin on her palm as she looked to the ground once again.

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock as Sakura brought up the memory of the bench. 'I remember Kakashi telling me about this whole thing with the bench. If what he is telling me is true, it was in fact Naruto who told her these words on the bench.'

Tsunade now out of thought, motioned for Sakura to continue. "Mhmm? And what happened at the bench?" Tsunade pressed.

"I had a fantasy of Sasuke-Kun telling me how charming my forehead is and how he wanted to kiss it, then it happened in reality. But something about the whole thing seemed a little off..." Sakura trailed off once again.

"What do you mean?" Tsunade questioned curiously.

"When I looked into his eyes, I didn't see Sasuke-Kun. The look was much warmer, I could see love and affection for me in his eyes, but because I wanted to be with Sasuke-Kun so bad I convinced myself that it was truly him. When I reached up to kiss him, I could tell he was feeling the same thing I was feeling." Sakura blushed a little at the memory.

"Ten minutes later, after Sasuke-Kun ran away he came back the complete opposite of how he was before. He called me annoying, the look in his eyes towards me was cold. I didn't understand how it could have been him who had complimented me earlier. But due to me wanting him, I held on to that."

Tsunade leaned in closer with curiosity. "Okay, and what of Naruto?"

Sakura couldn't help the small blush that crept on her face as her heart began to beat faster at hearing the blonde boy's name. "I couldn't stand him at first, I thought he just wanted to get in the way of me being with Sasuke-Kun, but I realized after a while that he wasn't the annoying troublemaker I thought of him as, he proved me wrong by a long shot. He was there to support me, he would always praise me and make me feel beautiful. He would cheer me on and try to keep a smile on my face, but still I wanted Sasuke-Kun and treated Naruto like he wasn't there." Sakura's emerald eyes casted down in guilt as she felt pain rise in her chest.

Tsunade chose to say nothing as she realized Sakura had more to say. "It wasn't until Sasuke-Kun left and Naruto made that promise that I realized how far he would go for me. Even through pain he was willing to do it for me. When I look back at it, it was a blessing that Sasuke-Kun left because I got to spend more time with Naruto and see him for who he truly was, he was everything I wanted Sasuke-Kun to be and more." Sakura smiled while thinking of her blonde-haired teammate.

"When Sasuke-Kun was leaving, he knocked me out and placed me on the same bench he complimented me on..." Tsunade could see that this memory made Sakura mad because she could see Sakura clenching her fists until they became white. "But when I told Naruto about it, he gave me hope again. He made a promise to me that showed me how far he would go just to see a smile on my face again and from that day on I started to look at Naruto differently." Sakura's anger was washed over by a warm, content smile.

"When did you feel like you started to love Naruto?" Tsunade questioned curiously as she got more comfortable in her chair.

Sakura sighed contently as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "When Naruto left on the training trip with Jiraiya-Sama, I missed him so much. When he finally came back, I felt something for him that I couldn't place my finger on, but it was stronger than what I had for Sasuke-Kun by leaps and bounds. His dreams became my dreams, his fights became my fights, his feelings became my feelings. I didn't want Sasuke-Kun back, I only wanted to bring him back to help Naruto fulfill the promise that he would risk his life just to keep it for me." Sakura felt tears welling up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

"When we were in The Land of Iron, I confessed to him... he didn't believe me, I poured my heart out to him but he didn't believe a word I said, I did it for his safety and I still wasn't entirely sure at the time, but everything I said to him was true. I knew his feelings for me never evolved past a crush and I felt like I deserved that because of how I treated him the past, constantly hiding my feelings for him while always acting like I loved Sasuke-Kun, when that wasn't the case."

"Why did you hide your feelings for Naruto? And why did you feel the need to act like you loved Sasuke when you didn't?" Tsunade asked patiently awaiting Sakura's answer.

Sakura could feel her heart breaking to pieces at this question. "When Pein attacked the village and Naruto was pinned to the ground, Hinata risked her life to save him. She even confessed her love to him. As much as it hurt me, I felt like Naruto would be better off with Hinata than with me, all I've done was cause him pain, burden him with my problems. I can't even do the simplest of things for Naruto to keep him happy, I just decided to hold back my love for him and let Hinata get him.." Sakura said as she tears finally started to flow freely from her eyes.

Tsunade moved her chair up closer to Sakura and lifted her chin so she could look Sakura in the eyes. "Sakura, nothing makes Naruto happier than you do. I can see that he really loves you, and he regrets nothing he has done for you."

"Tsunade-Sama, not even Naruto could ever love me after all that I've put him through. Besides, somebody like Naruto would have told me if he loves me or not." Sakura cried out as her tears continued to fall.

"Naruto isn't exactly a regular guy, he's selfless. When he loves, he loves forever. Even if he never told you his feelings, doesn't mean he doesn't love you. I would know.." Tsunade trailed off with sadness in her tone.

Sakura's emerald eyes widened in shock for a moment. "What do you mean Tsunade-Sama? How would you know?"

A bittersweet smile appeared on Tsunade's face as she copied Sakura's action and looked at the floor. "Because Jiraiya and Naruto are alike in many ways."

"Jiraiya-Sama was in love with you?" Sakura asked with noticeable shock in her voice.

Tsunade sat back in her chair and raised an eyebrow with a smirk to match. "Yes he was, why does it come off as an shock to you?"

"I didn't mean it like that Lady Tsunade, what I meant is he always seemed to be against settling down. He always chased after different women and he always seemed a little..."

"Perverted?" Tsunade finished Sakura's sentence with an amused smirk on her face at how Sakura couldn't finish the sentence.

Sakura simply nodded to which Tsunade laughed heartily at. "That's Jiraiya for you, but I suppose you could say that I'm the cause for that."

"How?" Sakura questioned curiously.

Tsunade's eyes took on a sad look with a smile that reflected her sadness. "Much like you, I turned down Jiraiya multiple times, I punched him into orbit regularly, I even went into a relationship with another man; yet his love for me was so pure and unconditional that he made sure to assure me that his heart would always be mine no matter what."

Sakura's eyes widened at Tsunade's response because of the fact that it sounded so similar to her in many ways. "When did you realize you loved him?" Sakura sadly asked.

"After his 10,000th attempt of asking me on a date." Tsunade joked trying to lighten the mood which successfully made Sakura laugh at the thought of Naruto and how he always asks her on dates constantly. "It goes from annoying to extremely cute after a while." Tsunade remarked with a small smile on her face.

Sakura chuckled at Tsunade's statement. "I know exactly what you mean Tsunade-Sama." Sakura responded as the blonde-haired boy invaded her thoughts even deeper, all of his date attempts even when they were younger were secretly cute to her but she could never admit that to him due to her always chasing after Sasuke at the time.

Tsunade smiled at Sakura knowingly before continuing to speak. "I got so used to knowing that his heart would always be mine that I never paid him any attention, in a way the selfish part of me enjoyed him always making attempts to make me his..." Tsunade trailed off as her once powerful voice began to break under the pain she was feeling.

"But finally I realized how much I needed him in my life when I realized that he could be walking to his grave by fighting Pein. I promised him and myself if he came back alive I would let him take me on a date." Tsunade fought to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"I feel like it was karma that came and bit me in the ass, because when I was finally ready to give my heart to him he was ripped away from me. Before, I would do anything to get him away from me, but now I would give up everything just to have him back." Tsunade cried out in a sob as her tears started to fall freely.

Sakura watched Tsunade with a soft gaze and before Sakura could comfort her, Tsunade gently grabbed Sakura's hand and looked her in the eyes. "What I'm saying is, you never know what may happen to you, what may happen to him. Don't wait until he's dead to realize how much you love him." Tsunade then offered Sakura a sweet smile which shocked Sakura momentarily.

Sakura breaking out of her mild shock, returned the sweet smile before reaching over and hugging Tsunade. "Thank you Lady Tsunade."

"You're welcome, Sakura." Tsunade responded as they released themselves from the hug.

"Okay, we should get started on these prosthetic arms..." Sakura said as she stood up and stretched all of the muscles in her body after sitting down for so long.

Tsunade glanced at Sakura and once again smiled at her. "Sakura, go and check on Naruto, I will take care of the arms."

"W-What? Are you sure Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked hardly able to contain the grateful smile that was forcing it's way to her lips.

Tsunade offered Sakura a small smile, noticing the excitement in the pink-haired girl's eyes. "Yes, Sakura. I'm sure Naruto would enjoy waking up to his "Sakura-Chan." Tsunade finished with an chuckle.

Before leaving, Sakura walked up to Tsunade and pulled her in a for a hug. "Thank you Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade smiled warmly at her protege. "You're welcome. Now hurry and get out of here before I change my mind." Tsunade commanded as she released the hug between her and Sakura.

Sakura happily nodded and walked out of the surgery room closing the door behind and headed to the blonde boy's room.

---

Sakura arrived in his room, the nervousness she felt now made the nervousness she felt earlier pale in comparison. She walked over to chair next to his bed and she examined his face with a soft gaze.

She took his hand into hers and she smiled at how innocently he was sleeping. She gently lifted his hand and gave his hand a small kiss before gently laying it back down at his side. She then began to stroke his hair gently, getting slightly worried at how he hasn't stirred, moved, or even snored in the past few hours.

'Naruto everything will be okay...' Her thoughts was interrupted as she heard a sharp knock at door. She looked back and saw the silver haired Jounin standing in the doorway with a bag in his hand.

"Am I interrupting something?" Kakashi asked in his usual aloof tone, but an lecherous smirk could be seen by the look in his eye.

Sakura blushed a little at Kakashi's statement before responding. "DON'T start!."

Kakashi laughed as he advanced a few steps into the room and paused. "Is he alright?" Kakashi questioned as he began to look over Naruto's body.

"Yes, he's fine. He hasn't moved but the I.V. should help." Sakura responded, turning in her seat to face Kakashi.

"Okay, that's good then." Kakashi said with relief as he walked up to Sakura and handed her the bag that was in his hand. "Here is the ramen you wanted. I put them heat trapping bowls so when he wakes up, the ramen will still be hot."

Sakura shot Kakashi a grateful smile as she took the bag from his hand and placed it under her seat. "Thank you Kakashi-Sensei, I really appreciate it."

"Anything for my favorite-" Kakashi's eye widened and quickly covered his mouth as he noticed the mischievous glint in her eye, similar to when she began to ask him favors earlier. "No problem Sakura." Kakashi finished as he chuckled nervously.

"You know Kakashi-Sensei, Naruto would probably like to see you when he wakes up." Sakura explained ignoring Kakashi's blatant nervousness.

A lecherous smile formed on Kakashi's face, he was going help Naruto get his "All-Star treatment" as he liked to call it. "Nah, I'm tired right now. Besides, the bed is only big enough for the two of you if you know what I mean."

The smile that was on Sakura's face melted away slowly and transformed into an embarrassed scowl as a heavy blush made it's way to her face. "EVEN IN A TIME LIKE THIS YOU STILL FIND A WAY TO BE A NASTY PERVERT?!" Sakura screamed loud enough for the receptionist downstairs to hear.

'This isn't good.' Kakashi mentally noted as he noticed the pink-haired girl walking up to him with fireballs for eyes and cracking her knuckles dangerously. He held out his arms defensively. "Now Sakura, let's not be-"

KAPOW!

Sakura punched Kakashi in the face sending him flying into the wall outside of the room her and Naruto was currently in. Sakura walked to the door and stood in it's frame staring down Kakashi angrily for a few seconds with an warning glare before walking back in and closing the door.

"So this is the thanks I get for trying to help out Naruto." Kakashi said quietly to himself as he began to dust himself off, but he heard an menacing voice which made his spine shiver.

"What did you say?!" Sakura threateningly asked as she found her way glaring at him from the doorway.

"Oh nothing, nothing!" Kakashi relented as he threw his hands up defensively.

Sakura glared at him for a few more seconds before closing the door. Kakashi blew a sigh of relief as he began to lift himself up from the floor, but as he was getting up his copy of Icha Icha Paradise came flying at his head courtesy of Sakura, making him go back into the heap he was currently in.

---

An hour passed and Sakura had Naruto's hand in her hand watching him with an gaze full of care. She wished he was up right now, she missed his antics, his smile, the jokes he always cracked, how they never had an dull moment when they spoke, she missed how he would always say things and be so dweeby yet so smooth with it, she missed the small, innocent advances he makes on her.

Sakura had doubts in her mind that Naruto would wake up anytime soon, she had doubts that he may ever wake up at all but she didn't dwell on those thoughts because they were small compared to the confidence she had in him. Naruto always bounced back no matter what. He promised her that he would never leave her side.

FLASHBACK

After finding Sasuke again, Naruto battled him and ended up hurt in the hospital. Sakura helped him through his recovery and made sure he was alright. She made sure to heal any of his sore spots and broken bones that he had from the battle.

"Naruto, please stop going after Sasuke-Kun. I don't want you going after him if it means me seeing you in the hosptial every other day." Sakura begged in an pleading tone.

Naruto smiled at her warmly. "Being hurt kind of has it's benefits you know?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow feeling confused at the blonde boy as usual. "You being a masochist is a given..." Sakura trailed off jokingly. "But what benefits could getting hurt possibly have for you Naruto?"

"I get to spend more time with you." Naruto replied simply as he shot her his signature foxy grin. "I wouldn't mind getting hurt everyday if it means me being able to spend more time with you."

Sakura blushed a bit at his response but continued healing his broken arm. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Naruto questioned.

"Talking crazy." Sakura responded simply.

"I'm serious Sakura-Chan, as long as I get to spend time with you, as long as I'm doing it for you; doing it to protect you, I don't mind getting hurt." Naruto confidently spoke to her while giving her a reassuring smile.

Sakura fought the urge to smile back at him, but the blush on her face couldn't be hidden. "Naruto, I don't want you to die. You're one of my best friends. I couldn't afford to lose you."

"You will never lose me Sakura-Chan, I will be at your side at all times no matter what and that's a promise!" Naruto flashed her a toothy grin and gave her a thumbs up similar to his Promise of a Lifetime only the smile was genuine this time.

Sakura not being able to hold back her grin anymore offered Naruto a warm smile. "You're just a big baka, you know that?"

Naruto's grin grew wider. "Yeah, but I'm your baka."

Sakura laughed and playfully slapped his arm. "I guess "my baka" will have to treat me to dinner for healing him for the tenth time today." Sakura said as she added the air quotes.

Sakura noticed the excitement that made it's way on Naruto's features and laughed a little more at the big grin that never left his face. "It will be the best dinner you ever had Sakura-Chan, dattebayo!"

FLASH IN

Sakura couldn't help the warm feeling washing over her body at the thought of the memory. Of course Naruto only acted like it was a friendly outing which was understandable since he believed that she loved Sasuke. She was hoping he would get the memo and realize that was her way of asking him on a date.

She raised his hand up and placed a gentle kiss on his knuckle. "You better come back to me, you promised you would." Sakura spoke softly to blonde boy's sleeping body.

She began to feel her own eyes start to get heavy as she let out a yawn. She was exhausted from the war and plus using the last of her chakra to heal Sasuke. She didn't want to go to sleep because she wanted to make sure Naruto stayed alright and nothing happened to him, however all the nonstop fighting she was engaged in began to take it's toll and with Naruto's hand still placed in her hand, she laid her head down on the bed and fell asleep.

---

Three hours passed and Naruto began to stir. His eyes fluttered open but everything was blurry, he closed them again to try to help and adjust his eyes so everything would be clear. The third time was the charm as he was now able to see his surroundings. He recognized that he was in the hospital, he hated being in hospitals but he understood it was because of his condition that he had to stay. Naruto attempted to stretch himself out to loosen some of the tight muscles that he had but realized he couldn't because of an unknown weight latching itself to his arm. "Huh? What the-?"

Naruto looked down and a massive blush adorned his face. Naruto saw the girl he had been in love with ever since he was a child holding his hand and sleeping so peacefully.

'Sakura-Chan.'

Naruto smiled warmly as he began to gently remove her bangs from her face but then suddenly a wave of worry washed over him as he reevaluated them holding hands.

'Sakura-Chan will pound me into the next century if she wakes up and catches us holding hands!' Naruto thought to himself as he contemplated whether he may have had one of his dreams again and slipped his hand into hers. Another part of Naruto however didn't want to remove his hand from hers, her touch was sending butterflies into his stomach and sending a warm feeling into his heart and decided to hold onto it a little longer as she was still sleeping.

'A few more minutes won't hurt.' Naruto mentally noted as an perverted grin crept up on his face. Naruto never got the chance to actually check Sakura out without her noticing and either scolding him for it or giving him an bone breaking punch which she always healed afterwards. But now he was able to drink in all of her beauty, and finally get a few seconds to appreciate it.

Blushing, he couldn't help but smile like an idiot as he removed his hand from her hand gently and began to stroke the bangs of her hair out of her face to see the features of her face that he thought surpassed a goddess. His eyes met her forehead and the seal that graced it. He just wanted to lean down and plant a kiss on it while telling her how much he loved her, his eyes then traveled down to her eyes and he frowned.

Naruto could see that Sakura had been crying, he could see leftover tears on her cheeks and eye that ran all the way down to her chin. The frown on his face was now replaced with an angry scowl. "That bastard must have made Sakura-Chan cry, now I'll have to go in his room and finish kicking his ass."

Naruto began to push himself out of the bed until he heard a small moan of disapproval upon him removing his hand from her hair. Naruto forgot about Sasuke for the moment as his sapphire eyes shifted back to Sakura to which he noticed her starting to stir. Sakura's eyes slowly fluttered open to see the blonde boy smiling at her with a toothy grin. Her eyes widened in surprise, she didn't believe it was real until he spoke. "Hey Sakura-Chan- oof!"

Sakura wrapped Naruto into a tight hug and Naruto being shocked at her actions awkwardly patted her back as a small blush tinged his cheeks. "Naruto, you're okay!" Sakura exclaimed with relief in her voice.

"Of course I am, I promised you I would always come back to you Sakura-Chan!" Naruto tried to sound confident to cover up the sheer bliss he was feeling at her holding him so tight.

Sakura released herself from the hug and looked up into his sapphire eyes with a smile reflecting nothing but happiness. "I don't know what I would have done if you didn't wake up Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened at Sakura's words. He had never witnessed her caring this much about him, and as much as he didn't want to show it he couldn't hide the small smile that made it's way to his face.

"You know I would never break a promise to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did." Naruto responded honestly to the pink-haired love of his life.

"You and your promises Naruto, it's a good thing you always deliver because those promises of yours always worry me." Sakura replied as she sat back into the chair she was currently in.

"Beating up Sasuke was a piece of cake, keeping this promise to you was a walk in the park. No need to worry Sakura-Chan." Naruto flashed her a triumphant smile.

Sakura chuckled at the cockiness of his that she loved so much about him. "It's not so much what you do, but how you carry them out. You do everything in the most impossible way ever."

"Would I be the Naruto you know if I didn't?" Naruto questioned, his grin never leaving his face.

Sakura sighed and shook her head with an amused smirk on her face. "Of course not which is why the next time you get the bright idea to do something as dangerous as going after Sasuke-Kun with most of your chakra gone, I'll kick your ass myself."

Naruto chuckled nervously before narrowing his eyes at the tear stains around her eyes. "Speaking of Sasuke, was he the one that made you cry?" Naruto asked in a low yet dark tone.

Sakura looked up at Naruto and met his pained look. Sakura didn't want to say anything because she knew if she told him that he was the reason she was crying he would be really hard on himself. Naruto however took her silence as a way of her confirming his thoughts to be true. "I told that bastard if he made you cry, I would finish him and I meant it! I'll rip his other arm off and beat him with it!" Naruto growled.

Naruto clenched his fist tightly as he attempted to get up but he felt strong yet dainty hands push him back on the bed. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Sakura asked as she raised one eyebrow awaiting Naruto's answer, slapping him in the back of the head in the process.

Naruto pouted. "Saaaakurrrraaaaa-Chaaaan! Teme made you cry, I can't allow that to happen."

Sakura inwardly smiled at Naruto's protectiveness over her. She would never tell him that she liked when he would try to protect her from anything he viewed as a threat to her or anything that he felt like would hurt her, but she would never admit that to him because he can be a little over the top sometimes.

"Sasuke-Kun didn't make me cry Naruto." Sakura responded dryly.

Naruto's sapphire eyes widened and then narrowed in confusion. After thinking for a few seconds, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Point me in his direction Sakura-Chan and I'll beat the shit out of him!"

Sakura laughed at Naruto's response while pointing at his missing arm. "With only one arm?"

Naruto pouted once more which earned a giggle from the girl of his dreams. "That's not fair Sakura-Chan." Naruto whined.

"Besides, I got one hell of a head-butt." Naruto finished as he thought about him finishing Gaara off with a head-butt to save Sakura from him.

Sakura continued to laugh and then pointed at the bed Naruto was laying on. "The guy on this bed made me cry Naruto."

Naruto started looking around on his bed and shot Sakura a confused look while scratching the back of his head. "I don't see anybody on my bed Sakura-Chan."

To say Sakura was at a lost for words was an understatement. Her mouth was opened wide and her eyes matched the size of her mouth. Naruto then snapped his fingers and threw his finger up in the air signifying he had an idea.

"I get it now Sakura-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he shot her a smile.

Sakura breaking out of her shocked state returned Naruto's smile. 'It was only a matter of time before he understood.'

Naruto giggled creepily before slowly lowering himself and looking under the bed. "Gotcha!" A confused look overtook Naruto's face before raising himself up to look at Sakura.

"No one's under here Sakura-Chan."

Sakura's mouth completely dropped as one of her eyes twitched in the process at what she witnessed. She couldn't scold him for being stupid however because secretly she actually loved his cluelessness, it was cute and he wouldn't be Naruto without it. But she wouldn't tell him that yet. "You made me cry you baka!"

Sakura sighed and her eyes softened. "I didn't want to tell you that because I know how hard you would have beaten yourself up over it."

Naruto's eyes widened. "I made you cry Sakura-Chan?"

Sakura gently placed her hand over his in order to make him calm down before he inevitably started going crazy. "Yes Naruto, but you didn't do it intentionally. I was crying because I thought you were about to die. I was crying because-" Sakura trailed off as remembered him giving her a thumbs up in the battlefield about the promise.

"Because what?" Naruto asked calmly trying to fight the heat that was arising in cheeks from Sakura touching his hand.

It took a few seconds for Sakura to respond before giving Naruto's hand a squeeze and smiling at him. "Nothing Naruto, it's not important."

Naruto watched her intently for a few seconds with a look of worry before deciding to change the subject. "Sakura-Chan?"

"Yes Naruto what is it?" Sakura asked with full attention on him.

"Why aren't you with Sasuke?" Naruto questioned with a look of confusion on his face.

Sakura's emerald eyes locked with Naruto's sapphire eyes before answering him honestly. "I would much rather spend time here with you, that's why Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock for a second before they went back into his confused look. "But why?"

Sakura started to get aggravated at Naruto's questions about Sasuke. "Naruto, why are you asking me so much questions about Sasuke-Kun? I'm here with you because I would much rather be here, but if you want me to leave just say so!" Sakura responded with a pained look in her eyes.

Naruto noticed that he caused pain to Sakura, and he quickly attempted to fix the problem. "Of course I want you to stay Sakura-Chan, but I brought him back for you, I'm curious as to why you're not in his room spending time with him like this."

"I have my reasons, just know that I would much rather spend time in here with you." Sakura responded with a reassuring smile.

A teasing smile formed on Naruto's face. "And what exactly might those reasons be?"

A small blush tinged Sakura's cheeks. "How about I give you one reason not to start asking questions like that." Sakura replied sweetly while cracking her knuckles.

Sweat started to drip off of Naruto's face as he began to laugh awkwardly. "Damn blood loss, got me asking stupid questions, please forgive me Sakura-Chan."

Sakura giggled and playfully slapped Naruto on the arm. "Nope, I don't forgive you just yet."

"Oh come on Sakura-Chan! I'll make it up to you!" Naruto replied with a hopeful smile.

Sakura playfully rested her hand under her chin to give Naruto the impression that she was thinking. "Hmmm... and how do you plan on doing that?."

Naruto smiled. "I'll surprise you Sakura-Chan, tebayo!"

Naruto's smile faded as a familiar aroma hit his nose. Naruto's eyebrows raised as he began sniffing around dramatically. Sakura shot him a confused look but couldn't hide the amused smile that she felt make it's way to her face at his actions.

"What are you doing Naruto?"

"Is that ramen I smell?" Naruto questioned to himself loud enough for Sakura to hear and earned a small giggle from the pink-haired girl.

Sakura sniffed the room a few times. "Nope, I don't smell anything." Sakura stated with a "innocent" look in her eye.

"When it comes to ramen, I'm a professional Sakura-Chan. My nose never fails me, I can smell every ingredient!" Naruto continued sniffing the room to find the location of the familiar aroma.

"You're right Naruto, the blood loss must have gotten to you. I don't smell anything." Sakura repeated as she tried to keep the smile that was threatening to form from surfacing.

"No Sakura-Chan, this is one thing I am definitely perfect at! I smell Pork Miso Ramen!" Naruto said in a whiny tone as his stomach started to crave for it. "And it's making me really hungry!"

Sakura sighed and allowed her smile to finally surface as she noticed the innocent, pouty look on his face, she really loved when he made that face. It was one of the reasons she enjoyed teasing him so much, it made her want to drown him with kisses. At her thoughts she blushed and quickly reached down for the bag, but took a longer time coming up with it in hopes of her blush going away before he could see it. Knowing Naruto, he would probably think she randomly came up with the flu, but she didn't want to take any chances.

The heat in her cheeks finally cooled down and in response she sat back up in her chair revealing the bag to him. Naruto suddenly whipped his head around and pointed at the bag. "There! That's where the smell's coming from!"

Sakura giggled, clapping sarcastically to Naruto finding the location of the ramen. "I got to hand it to you Naruto, if sniffing out ramen was a class back in the academy, that might have been a class you would actually pass." Sakura poked fun at him in a teasing tone.

"Hey, hey! Classes or not, I'm the best!" Naruto responded confidently shooting her a toothy grin which Sakura couldn't help but return. Naruto's focus shifted to the bag in Sakura's hand and his toothy girn turned into a teasing one. "I knew you would have come around to liking ramen. Nobody can resist it's greatness!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow in amusement at what Naruto thought was a discovery. "The ramen's for you baka." Sakura responded dryly.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock with his mouth slightly open to match. "For me? But why?" Naruto asked dumbly.

"Because I figured you would be hungry when you woke up, so I had Kakashi-Sensei buy ramen and then I promised to pay him back." Sakura responded in a soft tone noticing Naruto's shock.

It was Sakura's turn to get shocked as Naruto wrapped his arm around her in a tight hug. "Thank you Sakura-Chan! You're the best!" Naruto exclaimed through the gigantic smile on his face.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it." Sakura responded softly trying to hide her blush as Naruto released the hug. Sakura began to remove the bowls of ramen from the bag and the size of her blush increased at Naruto's next statement.

"How can I not when you're always so amazing even in the smallest things you do Sakura-Chan!" Naruto retorted with his foxy grin.

"You think everything is amazing Naruto." Sakura replied with a grateful smile as she removed the chopsticks from the bag and pulled them apart.

"They pale in comparison to you though Sakura-Chan!" Naruto responded with a smile not knowing the effect his words was having on the pink-haired girl of his dreams.

"If this is your way of trying to get me to forgive you faster, it isn't working." Sakura shot back teasingly which earned her laughter from Naruto. "Now be quiet so I can feed you."

Naruto blushed intensely while looking at Sakura with a shocked look in his eyes. "You're going to feed me Sakura-Chan?"

"Of course I have to feed you since you obviously can't do it yourself." Sakura articulated with a blush of her own as she put her hair into a ponytail and grabbed some ramen with the chopsticks.

'If this is a dream, I don't ever want to wake up!' Naruto thought to himself as Sakura brought the chopsticks up to his mouth and motioned for him to take a bite with a look in her eyes that he couldn't place a finger on but didn't think too much of.

Sakura reached over and gently wiped his mouth with a napkin before putting more ramen in his mouth. 'Thank you Kami, this is even better than my dreams!' Naruto mentally noted as he savored every bite to make the moment last.

"Is it good Naruto?" Sakura questioned with a sweet smile.

"It's delicious Sakura-Chan! It got an extra kick today!" Naruto responded signifying Sakura was the reason it was tasting so much better. He flashed her a toothy grin which revealed the food he was still chewing.

Sakura slapped him the back of the head, but only hard enough to get her point across. "Eww! A simple nod would have been great! Don't speak with your mouth full!" Sakura scolded Naruto in a tone Naruto appreciated, it showed him she cared about him..but the slap still hurt.

"Oww Sakura-Chan! That hurt!" Naruto exclaimed with a whiny voice as he rubbed the sore spot in his head.

"Maybe next time you won't be so disgusting then." Sakura responded with a mock disgusted face as she began fishing out more ramen to put in Naruto's mouth.

A huge grin made it's way on Naruto's face. "You mean there'll be a next time?"

"If you can show me you can eat like normal people... maybe." Sakura finished with a sweet smile. Honestly, Sakura was hoping there would be more days like this, where they would just have a deep conversation and she could tend to him while making him smile at the same time. The thought of it sent a warm feeling through Sakura's body.

"Alright-" Naruto cut himself off from speaking so he wouldn't show his food to her again as he noticed Sakura glaring at him with warning. Instead Naruto simply nodded while offering Sakura a content smile.

Sakura chuckled at Naruto's behavior. "I thought it would take you at least a week to get it right, I'm impressed." Sakura teased as she clapped sarcastically.

Naruto made sure to swallow his food before responding. "Don't ever underestimate the best Sakura-Chan." Naruto confidently replied as he shot her that smile that never failed to make her heart speed up.

"Oh you mean being the best at getting your ass kicked by me when we spar?" Sakura's lips tugged into an amused smirk.

"Hey, hey, in all fairness you're ridiculously strong Sakura-Chan, I have no shame in getting my ass kicked by you." Naruto said as he smiled at the pink-haired girl. "You're the strongest I've ever seen!"

Sakura just wanted to wrap Naruto in a huge hug and kiss him for a compliment like that. For as long as she could remember, Naruto was the only one to ever compliment her and push her to be stronger, he was the reason she was as strong as she was today. "Thanks Naruto."

Naruto nodded happily as Sakura put more of the ramen in his mouth and he gently chewed careful not to let any come out of his mouth. For a few more minutes Sakura continued to feed Naruto until the bowls were finally empty, she got up and took the bowls over by the sink and placed them on the counter and walked back and sat down in the chair.

"Are you full Naruto?"

"I'm stuffed! Thanks Sakura-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he patted his swollen stomach.

Sakura smiled warmly at Naruto as she reached to remove the rubber band to let her hair fall down to her shoulders again. Naruto's eyes suddenly made it's way to the beautiful sight of the girl of his dreams letting her hair go and his eyes widened in amazement as his heart began to beat faster.

'So beautiful.' Naruto said not realizing he voiced his thoughts out loud until after he heard himself say it. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he quickly put his hands over his mouth to prevent himself from saying anything else and in fear that she may hit him for it but to Naruto's surprise Sakura's reaction was different.

Sakura blushed at Naruto's statement with a small smile while trying to avoid Naruto's gaze. "Thank you Naruto."

Naruto was at a loss for words at Sakura's reaction, to say he was surprised was an understatement. "Uh-Uh... Y-Y-You're welcome." Naruto barely managed to stutter out.

Naruto being Naruto however couldn't believe this was actually Sakura sitting in front of him so he took his hand and placed it on her forehead that he loved so much to make sure she wasn't burning up.

"Uh.. Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura questioned with a chuckle as she removed his hand from her head.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the girl before him. "Who are you and what have you done with Sakura-Chan? The Sakura-Chan I know would have beaten me into submission for a comment like that."

Sakura deadpanned at Naruto's comment. "I would only beat you into submission if you did or said something perverted which in that case you totally deserve it, but what you said just now was a sweet and innocent compliment which girls like to hear." Sakura said with a hopeful smile urging him to compliment her some more.

As usual however, Naruto didn't catch on. "Okay Sakura-Chan I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Sakura sighed inwardly. "Naruto, you're so-" Sakura was cut off as Tsunade opened the door and eyed the both of them with a lecherous smile.

"What's going on in here?"

"Nothing Tsunade-Sama! We were just talking and making sure Naruto was alright..." Sakura said as a small blush made it's way to her cheeks.

Naruto however didn't pay attention to the scene between Sakura and Tsunade, instead as he looked in the mirror he noticed a lipstick mark the shape of lips on his cheeks before finally giving his attention to Sakura and Tsunade.

"Hey Baa-Chan, did you leave this lipstick mark on my cheek?" Naruto questioned as he pointed to it.

Sakura's emerald eyes widened in nervousness and Tsunade's presence wasn't making it any better. Tsunade raised an eyebrow, smiling amusingly at Sakura as she noticed her nervousness.

"Yes it was me, got a problem with it brat?" Tsunade questioned challengingly while her eyes were still on Sakura.

"Ughh, Yuck! I don't need no old woman kissing me with their wrinkly lips!" Naruto exclaimed while jokingly pretending to wipe the lipstick off.

Tsunade's eyes shifted to Naruto which made Naruto start to get nervous. "Wrinkly lips huh?" Tsunade repeated as she began to walk up to Naruto.

Naruto looked as if he had seen a ghost as the busty woman made her way towards him with an intimidating smile that would make the deadliest ninja shiver in fear. "Uh... Sakura-Chan help me..."

Sakura simply giggled at the scene between Naruto and Tsunade. "No can do Naruto, I told you about respect before, face the consequences like a man." Sakura stuck her tongue out teasingly at Naruto.

Tsunade finally towered over Naruto and placed her hands on her hips. "What were you saying now? Something about wrinkly lips?"

"No.. no... my blood loss has been causing me to say a lot of crazy things lately, ask Sakura-Chan!" Naruto explained as he held his arm out in defense with awkward laughter.

Tsunade looked at Sakura with a teasing smile while Naruto's smile looked more like he was telling her 'Please agree with me.' Sakura however decided to side with Tsunade. "I don't know what you're talking about Naruto, you seemed perfectly fine to me."

Tsunade shifted her eyes back to Naruto with a raised eyebrow and an intimidating smirk. Naruto's head slowly turned to meet Tsunade's glare with a more nervous look in his eyes and an awkward smile. Tsunade then lunged at Naruto and began planting kisses of her own on Naruto's cheeks matching Sakura's.

"Sakura-Chan, don't just stand there! Get this old bag off me!" Naruto yelled in between every breather he could get while Tsunade smothered him. "Sakura-Chan!"

"Sit. Still. And. It. Will. Be. Over. a lot. quicker." Tsunade said as she began to restrain him from moving which caused Sakura to laugh even more.

"Ughh! Sakura-Chan!"

---

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tsunade made their way down the hall to the surgery room. Sasuke was still passed out even though the I.V. helped him regain some of his blood back. Naruto's face had a lot of kiss marks on it which made Sakura giggle at the upset look on his face.

"This isn't funny Sakura-Chan." Naruto huffed quietly making sure Tsunade couldn't hear.

"Oh stop complaining before I tell Tsunade-Sama you said her lips were wrinkly again." Sakura threatened with an amused smirk.

Naruto shivered at the thought which earned small laughter from Sakura. "Please don't let me experience that again Sakura-Chan." Naruto pleaded softly looking at the girl who was supporting him with eyes to match.

As serious as Sakura knew Naruto was in this situation, she couldn't help but tease him. He looked so cute to her when he makes his faces, it was one of many things that made her blonde boy so irresistible to her.

"Okay fine..." Sakura responded innocently. "Only if you promise to treat me to dinner tonight."

A huge grin found it's way to Naruto's face. "You know that's a promise!"

Sakura smiled sweetly at him before looking back to where she was going not noticing a sudden look of sadness on Naruto's face.

As Naruto continued to look at the love of his life, a feeling of sadness enveloped him as she looked away from him. The pain in his heart was only growing as every second that passed by was a second closer to Sasuke getting better and then Sakura and Sasuke ending up together, her telling Naruto about getting dinner later only saddened him because he knew it would be Sasuke in his place most likely, after all that's what he brought Sasuke back for so she can be happy again.

"It's definitely a promise.." Naruto repeated so soft that not even Sakura who was supporting him could hear him.

---

Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Tsunade finally made it to the surgery room to which Tsunade closed the door and opened the windows to get sunlight in the room to add to the dim lights of the room.

"Sakura place Naruto on the surgery table over there." Tsunade commanded as she placed Sasuke on a similar table.

Sakura nodded and walked over with Naruto placing him on the table. She looked into his eyes and noticed a sad look which made her begin to stroke the bangs of his hair.

"You alright Naruto?" Sakura questioned softly as she offered him a sweet smile.

The way Sakura was stroking his bangs made Naruto feel like he was on Cloud 9, but he couldn't help but feel sad as he knew it would all come to an end until he finally gets a chance with her later on in life. "Yes Sakura-Chan, just a little afraid of stuff like this." Naruto lied with a smile Sakura recognized as fake which she decided to question him about later after the surgery.

Sakura reached down and gently grabbed Naruto's hand. "It will be okay, you will be asleep through the whole procedure." Sakura assured him in a soothing tone.

Naruto smiled again but it was genuine this time. "Thanks Sakura-Chan."

Sakura simply nodded at Naruto with a sweet smile on her face as she gently squeezed his hand and made her way to Tsunade. Once again Naruto noticed that look in her eyes that he couldn't quite place his finger on and once again he passed it off as his own imagination playing tricks on him.

Naruto watched as she walked off, to him she was moving in slow-motion. Every second that went by was a second more his love for her grew and a small part of him, the selfish part, couldn't help but wonder why she was acting so differently towards him...but the bigger part of him knew it was because she knew she was going to end up with Sasuke and she was going to throw him to the side. As much as it hurt however, he refused to let her see him sad, he refused to ruin what he fought so hard to protect, and he was going to protect that smile of hers that he loved so much even if it cost him an eternity of heartbreak.

Sakura made her way to Tsunade who was washing her hands, getting ready for the surgery. "Do you need help Tsunade-Sama?" Sakura asked as Tsunade faced her and placed her hands on her hips.

"That was really noble of you letting me take the blame for your kiss.." Tsunade remarked sarcastically completely ignoring Sakura's question.

Sakura blushed and instinctively whipped her head to look at Naruto to make sure he didn't hear her. To her relief Naruto was sleeping again, Sakura turned her head back to Tsunade and looked at her with a pouty look similar to Naruto's. "Lady Tsunade, if he was up he could have heard you..." Sakura responded trying to avoid Tsunade's statement.

Tsunade simply shook her head disapprovingly and crossed her arms looking at Sakura with a disappointed look. "Sakura I left you with him for over four hours and you mean to tell me that you didn't tell him how you felt even when we discussed this?"

Sakura's eyes casted down to the ground as look of sadness engulfed her emerald eyes. " I know but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was scared to tell him." Sakura whispered sadly.

"Never mind the fact that we already established the fact that the boy is crazy about you, why were you scared to tell him?" Tsunade questioned in a mocking tone.

Sakura looked up and stole a glance at Naruto and then looked at Tsunade. "Because I don't believe he loves me like how I love him. Nobody, not even Naruto could love somebody after all of the shit I've put him through. He used to ask me on dates, he stopped doing that a long time ago, he would always at least give me an idea of how he felt regardless if it was a crush. But now he treats me as a friend and he doesn't even try to go over the line." Sakura explained with sadness laced in her tone.

"You have yourself to blame for that Sakura." Tsunade responded in a calm tone as she leaned against the counter with her arms still crossed.

The sadness on Sakura's face was replaced with a look of confusion. "How?"

"Sasuke-Kuuuunnnnn! I love you Sasuke-Kuuuunnnn! You're such a bad boy Sasuke-Kuuuunnnnn!" Tsunade responded giving her best 12-year-old Sakura impersonation, flashing Sakura an amused smirk.

The look on Sakura's face went from confused to a look of disgust. "Ugh, did I really sound like that?"

"Maybe a little louder and more high-pitched, but yeah pretty much." Tsunade said, her amused smirk never leaving her face. "Added to the fact that you made sure All of The Five Nations knew about it; which of course includes Naruto..."

Sakura covered her mouth to contain a small gasp as she looked over at the sleeping blonde. "I used to think he just wanted to get in my way, I always tried to drill it in his head that my heart belonged to Sasuke-Kun.." Sakura trailed off with a tone of disgust. "Then I forced him into that stupid promise which made him get over his crush for me." Sakura finished with sadness in her voice.

"No Sakura..." Tsunade added, making Sakura pay full attention to her. "I'll can tell you for a fact, he didn't get over his crush. His crush in fact developed which made him back off for your happiness, even at the cost of his own feelings"

A small part of Sakura wanted this to be true, not him sacrificing his happiness for her but his feelings for her developing. But the selfless part of her felt like he deserved someone better than her. She didn't feel like she could keep him happy, she felt like all she would do is hold him back, hurt him, and just cause more heartache for him. Sakura looked to floor as her heart began to constrict in pain. "He deserves better than me. He would never find happiness with me." Sakura said solemnly.

"Sakura, I didn't mentor you to be like this, stop selling yourself short! To him you're a goddess on earth, and he couldn't be more right." Tsunade commanded in a powerful voice as she reached over and brushed a stray bang on Sakura's face to the side. "If anything, he's the luckiest man in the universe to have someone like you loving him so deeply." Tsunade's voice softened as she met her protege's gaze and offered her a small smile.

Sakura was wide-eyed at Tsunade's outburst but returned her smile after a few seconds. "Thank you Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade nodded at Sakura and then stood up from her leaned position and placed her hands on her hips. "Sakura, it's not good enough to just say you love him. You must show him you love him, especially since he's so stubborn and it's drilled in his head that you actually love The Uchiha boy. It will help him to confess, and it will help you to feel worthy of his love once he confesses." Tsunade explained with wisdom.

Upon listening to Tsunade's words, Sakura shifted her gaze back to Naruto with a warm smile on her face. The thought of her actually telling Naruto how much she loved him made her feel nervous yet warm all over. If what Tsunade was saying was true, if what Sai said was true about Naruto loving her that much, then she hoped he would confess to her first. Then again, he held it in for five years or longer and she feared he would continue to hold it in until he died. She knew if it had to come to it and she had to break down his defenses, she would be the only one to do it.

"And to answer your earlier question, no I don't require help." Tsunade added in, breaking Sakura out of her thoughts.

"A-Are you sure Lady Tsunade?" Sakura questioned incredulously.

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, you have a declaration of love to prepare don't you?" Tsunade asked with a smile full of anticipation. She expected Sakura to blush and deny doing anything about it, but what Sakura did actually surprised her a little and in front of her no less.

Sakura simply walked up to Naruto and looked down at him lovingly. "I don't need to prepare anything beforehand." Sakura then leaned down and gently placed a kiss on Naruto's other cheek which caused Tsunade to chuckle.

"I'm not taking the blame for that one." Tsunade stated with a smile as she pointed to Naruto's cheek.

Sakura gazed lovingly at Naruto for a few more seconds before making her way to the exit of the surgery room. "You still owe me one for the bottle of Sake I bought you." Sakura joked as she walked out of the room.

As Sakura was walking down the hall to the stairs, she smiled to herself as she heard Tsunade's powerful laugh thundering through the halls.

---

A few hours passed, and Sakura was waiting for Naruto and Sasuke on a bench a little distance from the entrance and it was on the opposite side of the hospital. Sakura tried to look calm so the passing civilians wouldn't think anything was wrong with her, but her mind was filled with thoughts about if she should let him know how much she loves him or if she should just push Hinata and Naruto together. Sakura's eyes casted down to the ground, her eyes was filled with sadness; she wanted to be with Naruto so bad but to her Naruto's happiness always came first and she believed Naruto couldn't be happy with her, so with her heart being torn apart to many pieces, she decided it would be best for her to push Naruto and Hinata together, it had to be done even at the cost of her own feelings.

As she continued to think, her thoughts became interrupted by a dull thud and a pair of feet that landed in front of her. Sakura looked up with a surprise in her eyes when she say the man with gravity defying hair in front of her.

"Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura asked still surprised by Kakashi's sudden landing.

"Yo." Kakashi replied in his normal aloof voice as he waved at her.

"You scared the shit out of me landing in front of me like that. Where were you anyway? In the trees?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I was actually relaxing on the roof of the hospital, and I'm sorry about that you looked sad and I wanted to know if you were alright." Kakashi said as he closed his eye signifying he's smiling at her.

Sakura looked at Kakashi warily before returning the smile. "I'm fine, thank you Kakashi-Sensei."

"No problem Sakura." Kakashi replied still smiling. "What about Naruto and Sasuke, how are they doing?"

"They're doing a lot better. They're actually in the surgery room with Tsunade right now getting their new arms."

"Oh okay, that's good then." Kakashi responded softly as he rubbed the side of his cheeks in pain which didn't go unnoticed by Sakura.

"Kakashi-Sensei are you alright?" Sakura questioned with slight worry in her voice.

"I'm fine, Sakura nothing to worry about." Kakashi lied as he winced in pain by touching the same spot on his face again which now showed a noticeable bruise where Sakura punched him earlier.

Sakura smirked almost demonically quickly enough that Kakashi didn't catch it. 'HAH! SERVES HIM RIGHT!'

"Kakashi-Sensei, come sit down so I can heal it." Sakura said, patting the empty spot on the bench that was next to her.

Kakashi did as he was told and sat down next to Sakura, allowing her to surround the bruised area with green chakra. It stung at first, but after the first seconds of pain passed it began to feel soothing as he felt the bruise start to get smaller.

Kakashi whistled in amazement. "That's some ridiculous strength you got there, I still feel the effects."

Sakura scoffed as she continued to run the green chakra over Kakashi's bruise. "I should have hit you harder."

"It's not nice to hit your sensei Sakura." Kakashi explained in a soft tone betraying his eyes that had comical surprise in them at how Sakura dared to speak to him.

"I heard about what you did and I let that one slide." Sakura shot back with an intimidating smirk.

"Huh? What did I do?" Kakashi asked in a surprised tone, his voice in a uncharacteristically higher pitch.

"I heard you was giving Naruto tips on how to make the Sexy Jutsu sexier and more effective. Sakura answered Kakashi's question with venom on her tongue.

Kakashi was surprised, as his eyes widened slightly. "What? Who told you that?"

"Ebisu-Sensei did." Sakura replied simply as she removed her hand from Kakashi's now bruiseless face.

"That closet pervert told you that?" Kakashi questioned in disbelief as he continued looking at Sakura awaiting her answer.

At Kakashi's expression, Sakura now had an amused smirk on her face. "Yup, every detail. You're actually lucky I didn't pound you into the next millennium for trying to corrupt Naruto's mind."

If Sakura could see under Kakashi's mask, she would see that his jaw was slightly opened in surprise matching his eyes.

'Ebisu...' Kakashi thought menacingly. ' I'm gonna kick that son of a bitch's ass for lying on me. Flip it around on me will ya?'

"Excuse me Sakura, I have some business to take care of." Kakashi said in his normal aloof tone which made Sakura chuckle at the fact that she knew what "business" Kakashi had to take care of.

As Kakashi was preparing to leave, a familiar voice was heard cutting through all of Konoha. It was the voice of none other than Naruto Uzumaki, louder and more energetic than ever. A voice that made Sakura immediately stand up in happiness and made her heart race so fast she could feel mini Sonic booms in her chest. Kakashi decided not to leave as he stood next to Sakura and watched both Naruto and Sasuke walk out from the hospital.

"Stop being so loud, I'm right here you moron!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto but couldn't hide the small smile on his face.

"You're in no position to tell me what to do! Don't make me kick your ass again Teme!" Naruto barked back which made Sakura feel excited inside and made her heart do backflips. It was his voice and his intensity that further reinforced to her some of the reasons she loved him so much.

"I'd like to see you try DOBE. Besides, you're the one who has been making demands ever since we got out of surgery." Sasuke countered, his smirk never leaving his face.

"I kicked your ass all around that battlefield, I have every right to tell you what to do! Just ask Sakura-Chan on a date tonight and I promise I won't kick your ass again." Naruto shot back which made Sakura's heart drop, it hurt her to see Naruto actively pushing for Sasuke to ask her out.

"Again? You failed last time like the other 1,000 times you got your ass handed to you by me. And why would you want me to ask out the girl you love dobe?" Sasuke questioned softly as he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Naruto's eyes took on a pained look, never looking away from Sasuke. "Because she loves you. She would be happy if you asked her out, and I would be happy when I see that she's finally happy again." Naruto replied softly.

"Love me? I didn't get that impression when she was in my hospital room earlier." Sasuke responded in hopes of making Naruto smile, but he witnessed Naruto's face take on an even more sad look.

'She was in his room, she was in his room.' Was the thought that kept playing over and over again in his head completely ignoring the other part of Sasuke's sentence. It was killing him on the inside to have to push the girl of his dreams into Sasuke's arms but he knew it had to be done. "Sakura-Chan's just a little shy is all. If you go on that date with her, you will see how amazing she truly is and then you and her can be together like it was meant to be." Naruto felt like 10,000 kunai hit his heart at once at that last statement.

"Too bad I don't feel the same for her, besides isn't that your job dobe?" Sasuke questioned with an amused smirk at Naruto's sudden shift from sadness to anger.

"Ask Sakura-Chan out before I kick your ass right here in the middle of the street!" Naruto screamed in a challenging tone, daring Sasuke to say no.

Sasuke's smirk turned into a teasing smile as he seen how upset Naruto was now. "Guess we'll have to fight then because I'm not doing it." Sasuke simply replied causing Naruto's anger to rival an enraged Tsunade.

Kakashi watched the scene before him with a deadpanned expression before his gaze shifted to Sakura. As he examined her face, he noticed how hurt she looked. Tears was threatening to fall at the conversation between both boys which prompted Kakashi to do something about the situation. Kakashi called out to both boys.

"Naruto! Sasuke!"

Naruto and Sasuke's head turned at the same time looking at Sakura and Kakashi. Naruto flashed them a toothy grin while Sasuke simply offered them a small smile as they began walking up to Sakura and Kakashi.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto yelled back to him, his smile never leaving his face. Then he looked to Kakashi's right and blushed as his heart began to race even faster than Sakura's was. "Sakura-Chan!"

Upon hearing Naruto call her name, all of Sakura's sadness subsided and she felt a warmness over take her body as she smiled warmly at him. "Hey Naruto, how are you feeling?" Sakura asked as Naruto stood in front of her. She blushed at how close they were now. How she had to look up at him to look into his eyes. Her head stopped at his neck.

"I'm feeling great Sakura-Chan! This new arm Baa-Chan fixed on me makes it feel like my arm never got sliced off." Naruto responded with a chuckle.

Sakura giggled. "Think you can actually put up a fight with me now with that new arm of yours?" Sakura questioned teasingly which successfully earned a bright smile from Naruto.

"With this new arm, I might have to LET you beat me up so you can take care of me again." Naruto responded cockily, his smile never leaving his face.

"Let? Oh really?" Sakura asked innocently before jabbing Naruto quickly in the gut. "That could have been your face." Sakura threatened as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oww! Kakashi-Senseeeiiii, Sakura-Chan's bullying me!" Naruto exclaimed in a mock whiny voice which caused Sakura to laugh.

"Crying to Kakashi-Sensei? That's not very Hokage like." Sakura teased with an amused smile on her face.

"Have you ever felt a punch from you? It's enough to take out all 5 Hokages including myself!" Naruto exclaimed as he matched the smile on Sakura's face with an even brighter grin.

"Oh stop exaggerating Naruto." Sakura laughed as she playfully slapped his arm. "I'm not that strong."

"Come to think of it, I undersold it just now. You're even stronger than that Sakura-Chan." Naruto reassured her with a strange look in his eyes. To Naruto, Sakura's strength is one of the things he loved so much about her. "That simple jab really stung my insides."

"Oh stop complaining." Sakura playfully fanned her hand at him as she responded with a smile before turning to Sasuke who was talking to Kakashi.

"Hey Sasuke-Kun, how are you feeling?" Sakura asked the dark-haired boy who now focused his dark eyes on the pink-haired girl.

"Still a little sore, but overall I feel a lot better." Sasuke replied with a small smile as he stretched out his new arm.

Upon watching Sasuke and Sakura start to speak, Naruto walked over to Kakashi and grabbed his arm which made Kakashi look up at Naruto. "Come on Kakashi-Sensei, let's give them some alone time." Naruto said in a depressed tone that Kakashi didn't miss.

Kakashi however agreed and walked away with Naruto to a distance where they couldn't hear them but could still see them. Sakura witnessed Naruto pulling Kakashi away and she frowned, she didn't like the fact that Naruto was actively trying to push her and Sasuke together, but she decided to play along for Naruto's sake.

"That's good Sasuke-Kun. So what are your plans now?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I'm actually planning on leaving the village for a few years so I can atone for my sins." Sasuke simply replied as he looked back at the village gates.

"That'll take a lot more than just a few years Sasuke-Kun, no offense." Sakura replied with a small smile as she heard Sasuke laugh for the first time.

"No offense taken Sakura, I sure have done a lot but I'm willing to make up for it." Sasuke stated, his lips in a small smile.

"You should start by letting me kick your ass." Sakura replied teasing as she cracked her knuckles.

"Why should I?" Sasuke questioned with a chuckle.

"For wasting Naruto's time! He didn't bring you back just for you to leave again!" Sakura exclaimed with an intimidating smirk on her features.

Sasuke chuckled at Sakura's statement. "He didn't waste his time Sakura."

Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Oh? How so?"

"He actually changed me, made me see the error of my ways, beat the shit out of me, and then spoke to me and opened my eyes. Showed me what having a brother was really like. The dobe really is something else." Sasuke explained as he looked at his best friend from the corner of his eye, his smile never leaving his face.

"He really is." Sakura said dreamily before looking at Sasuke who was now laughing at how hard she tried not to get caught drooling over Naruto. "Shut up Sasuke-Kun! Before I give you a ass kicking you will NEVER forget!"

Sasuke threw his hands up defensively while still laughing. "I'm sorry Sakura, it's just funny to me."

"And what the hell is so funny about it?" Sakura questioned in a threatening manner as she placed her hands on her hips awaiting his answer.

"If the dobe knew how you felt about him, he would be jumping off the highest building in Konoha in happiness." Sasuke replied which made Sakura chuckle a bit.

"Just shut up Sasuke-Kun. Will you be traveling alone?" Sakura questioned curiously.

"No, I have three others with me. Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin." Sasuke blushed slightly at Karin's name rolling off his tongue.

"Karin? You mean that red-haired girl who's crazy about you?" Sakura questioned as one of her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Sasuke asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, it's just knowing you I'm surprised you didn't try to get her away from you or kick her off the team for her loving you like that." Sakura simply replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sasuke blushed at Sakura's comment, a blush Sakura didn't miss which caused Sakura smile knowingly at the raven-haired boy. "Well, she has come to grow on me." Sasuke replied with an uncharacteristically large blush on his face.

"In other words, you're in love with her?" Sakura questioned incredulously.

"Shhh! Not so loud Sakura!" Sasuke hissed as he looked around to make sure no one heard what Sakura said.

Sakura laughed to herself ignoring Sasuke's pleading attempts. "Wait until Ino hears this."

Sasuke's eyes where now replaced with two white circles. "Sakura, you are not to say a word about this."

Sakura laughed at Sasuke's uncharacteristically embarrassed face which caused Naruto's heart to sink further and further. Hearing Sakura laugh like that further reinforced it in Naruto's head that today was the day Sasuke and Sakura would get together. It was a day he expected, but never accepted. He couldn't accept it, he loved the pink-haired girl way too much but he refused to get in the way of her happiness.

"This isn't exactly something you see or hear about everyday Sasuke-Kun." Sakura teased as she giggled at how red Sasuke's face was getting.

"If I hear about me and Karin when I get back to this village Sakura, I'll..." Sasuke threatened as the heat in his cheeks grew.

"Are you threatening me Sasuke-Kun? You'll what?" Sakura questioned sweetly as she smiled cockily at the boy before her, cracking her knuckles for added effect.

Sasuke laughed at how intimidating Sakura could truly be. "I'll just have to come back and kick the dobe's ass." Sasuke replied hoping he could escape Sakura's wrath.

Sakura knew he was joking and offered him a small smile. "Try it and you'll just be giving me an excuse to show you what a real ass kicking looks like."

Sasuke laughed at Sakura's comment as he scratched the back of his head bashfully after hearing the red-head in question calling out to him.

"Hurry the hell up Sasuke!" Karin yelled out from the gates of Konoha. "And what did I tell you about talking to other girls?" Karin screamed out threateningly.

Sasuke laughed nervously at Karin's behavior before facing Sakura. "Well that's my cue, I better get going Sakura, I'll see you soon. Make sure to tell Naruto and Kakashi-Sensei that I'll be back."

"Huh. The great Sasuke Uchiha, the self-proclaimed avenger is whipped I see. I never thought I'd see the day." Sakura teased with an amused smile, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sasuke's face reddened as he looked over his shoulder with a small smile. "Still annoying as ever I see.."

Sakura chuckled at Sasuke's comment before putting her hand on his shoulder; stopping him from moving. "No hug before you go?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the pink-haired girl before him. "I think you're going a little too far Sakura." Sasuke said dryly.

"How can you speak to me as if you're my friend and then act like an asshole over a hug?" Sakura countered as she placed her hands on her hips.

Sasuke glared at Sakura warily for a few more seconds, noticing she had a look in her eyes that said 'Oh come on, you know you wanna.'

"Fine." Sasuke sighed as he extended his arms to give her a hug. Sakura parroted his movements and gave Sasuke a quick hug.

After a few seconds, they both released the hug. "See? That wasn't so bad was it?" Sakura questioned with a small smile.

Sasuke continued to look at Sakura with narrowed eyes before allowing a small smile to tug at his lips. "Whatever. Just take care of the dobe, I expect to have a few nephews and nieces when I get back ." Sasuke teased in his usual monotone voice causing Sakura to blush.

"If you plan on reviving your clan with Karin, I suggest you leave now Sasuke-Kun." Sakura said in a low yet threatening tone causing Sasuke to chuckle as he walked away quickly to escape Sakura's wrath.

"I'll see you soon Sakura." Sasuke called out to her as he made his way to his new team.

Naruto's eyes widened when he witnessed the hug between Sasuke and Sakura, he knew that was the moment she was out of his grasp. The way he witnessed them laughing with each other, how they looked at each other killed him on the inside every second that went by, but the hug looked extremely intimate to him and in his eyes, they finally got together. Naruto's shocked expression changed into a sad smile that rivaled his smile when he made the Promise of a Lifetime. Kakashi noticed the sad smile on Naruto's face and tried to comfort him.

"Hey Naruto, you alright?" Kakashi questioned in a soft tone as he put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto's shifted his gaze to Kakashi, his sad smile never leaving his face. "Of course I am Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura-Chan's finally happy and that's all that matters to me."

Naruto could feel Kakashi's knowing gaze on him but knew he had nothing else to say so Naruto turned around and walked away, he didn't want anybody following him, not even Sakura. If he seen her, he knew his heart would just rip into pieces over and over again. Kakashi tried to stop him as he followed Naruto to where he was, but in the blink of an eye Naruto disappeared.

"Naruto wait!" Kakashi called out which alerted Sakura. Sakura quickly made her way over to where Kakashi was standing and looked around to find Naruto but didn't see any trace of him.

"Did you see where he went Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura asked in a worried tone.

"No Sakura, unfortunately he moved too fast even for my eyes to track." Kakashi responded in an defeated tone as he looked at the worried look in Sakura's eyes.

"I'll go look for him Kakashi-Sensei, I'll see you later." A determined Sakura exclaimed as she began making her way to the heart of the village.

---

Naruto's feet moved on their own as he ran through the village at a speed that no normal human could pick up on. He didn't know where he was going, he just ran blindly, hoping to get as far away from his team as possible. He finally did it. He brought Sasuke back to her and even though he managed to bring a smile back to Sakura's face, he just couldn't bear to see them together.

He finally stopped and scanned his surroundings, recognizing the academy in front of him. He couldn't remember the last time he stood in front of the place. Nostalgia flooded his emotions as his cerulean eyes continued to survey the area around him until they finally landed on another familiar part of his past. The swing. He spent many painful and lonely days just lifelessly rocking back and forth on that very swing, until Iruka-Sensei finally relieved him of that loneliness. A small smile graced his lips at the memory.

He then allowed himself to continue scanning his surroundings, until his eyes landed on the one of the biggest piece of his past. The place where everything started. The bench. His eyes narrowed in sadness as he walked up to the bench. He looked at it for a few seconds as his hands passed over the cool concrete. This was where he finally realized why he loved Sakura so much, where he transformed into Sasuke and ultimately caused Sakura to like him even more, where he was able to confess his feelings to her… under the guise of Sasuke.

Naruto tightened his fist until his knuckles turned white at the last part. The selfless part of him passed it off as him wanting to see Sakura smile at any costs. The selfish part of him however, couldn't help but curse himself out for being so stupid and pushing the woman he loved into the arms of another man. Not a day has gone by where he didn't want to tell her that was in fact him who told her the words that she wanted to hear. He knew however, that her happiness was with Sasuke, and he wouldn't dare want to come in between that.

He finally sat down, and tears started to well up in his eyes. He spent years with a mask on for her sake. He had to be her rock, her foundation and he couldn't do that if he allowed his emotions to get the better of him. Sakura always cried for him, always worried about him and he was determined to be the reason why she kept going no matter what. But now, with no one around, he couldn't hold it in. He had to now wait for God knows how long until he was able to get his own chance with her, and he knew that with her being with Sasuke, that meant that he couldn't be around her. Not only for Sasuke's sake, but for his own sake. To be around her everyday, and know that she isn't his, always killed him on the inside.

Naruto's sadness was temporarily subsided as he heard a dull thud behind him.

"Hey dickless." The voice greeted, causing a vein to pop at the side of Naruto's head.

"You know Sakura-Chan isn't here to save you this time, right?" Naruto growled as he turned around and shot a death glare at Sai, who had an amused smile on his face, his eyes closed. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"I was watching you." Sai admitted as he walked over to where Naruto was sitting and he sat down.

Naruto however was a little creeped out by this, his eye twitching. "You were watching me?"

"Yup." Sai quickly replied with zero shame as he continued to look at Naruto with his signature closed eye smile.

"Didn't those stupid books tell you that you shouldn't be following people around?"

"I was only doing it out of curiosity." Sai explained as he focused his eyes in front of him to the trees across from the bench they were currently sitting on.

"Curiosity?" Naruto trailed off, his eyes widening. "Wait… you don't watch me when I take showers and stuff, do you?" Naruto asked, afraid of the answer.

"No.,," Sai trailed off. "At least not today." Sai admitted, causing Naruto to completely jump back in complete shock away from Sai.

"Not today?! You bastard, I'm going to kick your ass from here to Suna! Only Sakura-Chan is allowed to see me like that!" Naruto declared as he was preparing to summon a few Shadow Clones so he could beat Sai into the ground, but was stopped by Sai's next words.

"I was actually curious about you and Sakura-San." Sai's eyes casted to the ground as he remembered Naruto admitting to him that he loved Sakura.

Naruto walked back over to the bench and he sat down. "Why?"

"I read this book about love and all the signs of a person that is in love with someone. And you and Sakura-San always displays those signs towards each other. I wanted to see if you and her would finally confess to each other."

Naruto blushed heavily at the thought of Sakura loving him before casting his eyes to the ground in sadness as well, causing Sai to focus his eyes on him. "You should really stop reading those stupid books. All they do is give you wrong information."

"I was right about you loving her, was I not?"

"Yes, but that's besides the point!"

"How?"

"Because, Sakura-Chan is love with Sasuke! I want nothing more than for you to be right, but I know better than anyone that her happiness lies with Sasuke…" Sai looked at Naruto and could see the range of emotions that was running through his eyes. From hurt, to sorrow, to complete dread. Any word that meant pain, Naruto was feeling it.

"So, she chose to be with Sasuke?" Sai questioned in genuine confusion as he allowed his back to touch the bench. Based on the books that he had been reading and from he has been seeing from her, Sakura was definitely in love with Naruto. He was 100 percent sure of it.

Naruto simply nodded as he tried to hold tears back once again. Sai continued to look at him before placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder, his signature smile back on his face again.

"Well, I can assure you that it wasn't out of love…" Sai deduced.

"Then why?" Naruto croaked out, his voice almost failing him.

"It's because he actually has a penis and you don't." Sai said through his smile causing Naruto's eyes to turn into white circles.

"THAT'S IT!" Naruto hollered, causing all of the nearby birds to fly away. "I am going to end you right here, right now!" Naruto threatened as he began to form a Rasengan in his palm but was once again stopped midway when Sai continued to speak.

In response, Sai simply offered Naruto a smile. "According to a book I read, a person always gets upset when the truth is revealed."

Upon hearing Sai's words, Naruto immediately calmed down. He refused to prove Sai right. He reclaimed his spot next to Sai and looked at him with an angry scowl. Before Naruto could say anything, he saw Sai's whole demeanor change. It was as though he was deeply in thought. Naruto scrunched his eyebrows in confusion at Sai's sudden change of behavior.

"Naruto." Sai suddenly called out to him.

"What?" Naruto replied, but couldn't hide the slight shock in his tone. It was kind of rare for Sai to ever address him like this. This meant that he was serious.

"Sakura-San smiles at you the same way you smile at her." Sai simply stated, wanting to continue touching on the subject of how Sakura loves Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened at Sai's words. But it was quickly replaced with another look of confusion. "What are you talking about now?"

"I've seen how she smiles at you. It reminds of how you smile at her." Sai then leaned forward and he offered Naruto his signature smile again. "I've come to realize a lot when it comes to Sakura-San's feelings for you."

"Sakura-Chan doesn't have any feelings for me!" Naruto cried out, a small blush on his face at the thought.

Sai studied Naruto for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter, causing Naruto to get pissed beyond words.

"What the hell is so funny?" Naruto snapped, his fists balled up.

"I'm sorry." Sai apologized in between his laughter. "I just find it funny how you always seem to miss whenever Sakura-San shows you affection. I guess blindness is the side effects of not having a dick."

Naruto's eyes turned into white circles as a vein popped at the side of his head. "Hey! What did you just say?!"

"It explains why you never had the balls to confess to her… Literally." Sai continued to smile his closed eye smile at Naruto, as Naruto's anger was rising by the second.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about! You weren't there when she was pursuing Sasuke. You weren't there when she asked me to make that promise to her. You weren't there to see how she was giving him all of the love that I only wished that she would give to me!" Naruto's eyes snapped closed at that last sentence, his voice starting to crumble in complete pain. "You weren't…"

"Ahh.." Sai mouthed out as he cut Naruto off. "I read about exactly what you're doing in a book once…"

Naruto sighed as he remembered that Sai was still learning how to engage in a conversation with people. "Which is?"

"You have sidelined your feelings for her due to believing that she loves Sasuke so much, that when she does actually show you affection, you pass it off as purely platonic. All you see is the bad, and you've conditioned yourself to ignore the good because of your selflessness."

Naruto's cerulean eyes widened slightly. Was he doing that without even noticing? For as long as he remembered, it became a rule that Sakura loves Sasuke, Naruto loves Sakura. He used to look for signs of her returning his feelings, but after she asked him to make that promise, he stopped constantly looking for those signs due to wanting her happiness to be the main priority. Maybe he was subconsciously ignoring them. Maybe he couldn't believe that a goddess on earth that he has loved so long would finally look his way. He was optimistic in everything else, but why not Sakura? This thought has passed his mind at least daily.

"Her happiness means everything to me, she means everything to me." Naruto finally started to open up more to Sai. "That promise that I told you about, it was a promise to bring Sasuke back for her."

Sai fully faced Naruto, his dark eyes fully focused on the blonde knucklehead. "Couldn't you have just confessed to her when she asked to make that promise?"

Naruto merely chuckled at Sai's statement. "No. I couldn't. Sasuke was her happiness, me confessing to her wouldn't have made a difference. I knew to myself that even though it would destroy me on the inside, it had to be done. Protecting her smile was the most important. Because, when she's happy, I'm happy."

Sai's eyes scrunched in sympathy for Naruto. The thoughts of Naruto allowing himself to get beaten up by Karui entered his mind just so he could keep the promise to Sakura. He was then broken out of his thoughts when Naruto continued to speak.

"You know it's funny." Naruto said through a small smile, but the pain in his voice couldn't be hidden. "I could be one of the reasons why Sakura-Chan loves the Teme so much."

Sai's eyes slightly widened, he was interested in how that could be. "How?"

"I wanted to know how Sakura-Chan felt about me, so I transformed into Sasuke hoping she would tell me. But, when I seen how sad she was, I decided to not only figure out how she felt about me, but to also make her feel better. She was on this bench when I allowed myself to look at her in a way that I could never look at her if I was myself. And I kind of confessed to her as Sasuke." Naruto then sighed as he leaned back against the bench and started to look at the moving clouds above him.

"Her smile when I said those words to her was the most beautiful thing." Naruto smiled warmly at the memory. "Then before I knew it, I realized why I loved her so much."

Sai continued to look at Naruto for a few more seconds before leaning forward and resting his arms on his thighs. "That promise… Sakura-San was ready to relieve you of it…"

Naruto glanced at Sai from the corner of his eyes before continuing to look at the clouds above. "I know, you told me already. You said she couldn't bear to see him sink any lower in the darkness."

"I was wrong." Sai simply admitted, causing Naruto to fully focus on him. "Sakura-San wasn't doing it for Sasuke, she was doing it for you. She was doing it because she didn't want you to be in pain anymore. She didn't want you to bring Sasuke back if it meant that she would lose you in the process."

Naruto's mouth slightly parted, he tried to respond, but found that his voice was betraying him. Sai continued to speak.

"When she confessed to you in the Land of Iron, I believe that she was telling you the truth…" Sai trailed off. "She told me that she didn't want to hurt you anymore. I don't believe that Sakura-San would lie about her feelings knowing that it would do just that.. I do believe however that she didn't come to terms with her feelings at that time. She confessed at a time when she was conflicted. As she confessed to you, I looked into her eyes and I could see nothing but truth."

"Wha- what?" Was all Naruto managed to squeak out as a blush colored his cheeks at the thought of Sakura truly doing all of this for his sake. He genuinely wanted to believe Sai, but after witnessing the scene between her and Sasuke, it was kind of hard to see it that way. He honestly didn't know what to say, so he opted to let Sai continue speaking.

"You've missed a lot when it comes to Sakura-San. She has a smile that is only reserved for you. She's extremely protective of you as well. She becomes really gentle when it comes to you. She looks at you as though you're the only man in the world." Sai smiled at Naruto once more, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I don't know much about love, I've never experienced it. But even I can tell that Sakura-San really loves you."

Naruto's eyes widened to an impossible size, and his cheeks even redder, if that were possible. Sai sounded so genuine, that Naruto's heart was actually starting to believe him. But, Naruto's mind however, knew better. Naruto's eyes lowered slightly as he focused his eyes on the trees that were across from the bench.

"You don't know how badly I want you to be right. But, she looked so happy when she was around him." Naruto allowed a small bittersweet smile to form on his lips. "That's what matters."

"You fulfilled your promise to her already. What's stopping you from confessing now? I'm sure if you told her that you were the one truly you who complimented her and not Sasuke, she wouldn't deny you."

Risking her happiness, was the first thing that crossed his mind. Losing her forever, was the second thing that crossed his mind and Naruto couldn't live with himself if that ever happened. He could lose everything, but he never wanted to lose Sakura. Rejection, was the third thing that crossed his mind. If she rejected him, not only would it hurt him deeply, but she would now know that he loves her, and she might end up distancing herself from him. But mainly, all Naruto was waiting for was a sign. A sign that she's reciprocating his feelings.

"All I need is a sign. A sign that my efforts is finally working and she finally looks my way. I can't confess to her before that. I did keep my promise, but I won't confess and risk destroying her happiness."

"But what if you're her happiness?" Sai questioned. "Then wouldn't you in theory be destroying her happiness by doing what you're doing right now?"

Naruto's lips gaped slightly. He couldn't believe that Sai of all people was talking about love and making sense on top of it. Naruto's eyes then casted to the ground as he leaned forward. "No, because I'm not her happiness. Sasuke is." Naruto lamely replied.

"If you know that Sasuke wasn't the one who truly made her happy that day, and you were, then wouldn't you just be setting her up for hurt in the long run when she realizes that he never truly felt that way about her?"

A part of Naruto knew that Sai could have been right. His heart was just begging Naruto to believe him. But Naruto's mind just couldn't buy it. Unless it came from Sakura's mouth, it wasn't true in his eyes. Naruto truly didn't know how to answer that question. He just pouted and crossed his arms in defiance. Sai then reached over and grabbed Naruto's shirt, causing Naruto's eyes to turn into white circles.

"Hey! What are you—" Naruto was then cut off as Sai continued to speak.

"I just want to show you something." Sai explained as he successfully grabbed a handul of Naruto's shirt and lifted it slightly; revealing the scar on his side.

Naruto's eyes followed Sai's eyes and his sapphire eyes widened when he noticed the scar. "What the? Where did this come from?"

"Sakura-San." Sai stated simply as he flashed his closed eye smile.

"Sa-Sakura-Chan did this?"

Sai nodded his head. "Yes. She did everything in her power to keep you alive. I've never seen her so determined before. Sasuke almost died as well, but the only thing she was thinking about was saving you. She poured every ounce of chakra that she had into saving you, meaning..."

'She risked death just to save me…' Naruto finished Sai's sentence in his thoughts, his eyes widened to an unbelievable size.

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sakura, his Sakura-Chan actually prioritized him over Sasuke and risked her life for him. All of this information that Sai was revealing to him was so much to take in. He allowed himself to only see the negative when it came to Sakura, that he never allowed himself to see the positive.

Sai continued to smile at Naruto as he stood up, seeing that his job was now done. "Even if she rejects you, you're Naruto. I'm sure you will eventually find a way to get her to look your way. You'll get her eventually." Sai then began to walk off.

"Sai!" Naruto called out after him, causing Sai to turn around and look at him and noticed the smile on his face. "Thanks."

"No problem. Oh and one more thing."

Naruto focused on the artist, wondering what he had to say.

"If I get you a penis, do you think that Sakura-San would be able to surgically attach it for you? I read in a book that sex is a healthy part of a relationship." Sai questioned, his smile never leaving his face.

Naruto's eyes turned into white circles for what seemed like the millionth time that day, he began to form a Rasengan in his palm. "You son of a bitch! That was the last straw!" Naruto hollered as he charged him but hit nothing as Sai quickly poofed away.

A scowl decorated Naruto's face as he allowed the Rasengan to dissipate. He had to admit that Sai really helped him, confessing to Sakura was now a thing that crossed his mind. That's if she didn't leave with Sasuke yet. Naruto sighed as he looked at the Hokage monument, deciding that it would be a much better spot for him to clear his mind and decide on how he would confess to her. With that, he poofed away.

---

Sakura was running through the village searching all of Naruto's favorite spots for him. The first place she checked was Naruto's apartment. She walked up the stairs swiftly as she made her way to his door. She knocked the door multiple times but as she expected no answer. The door opened on it's own as she knocked it a little harder.

Sakura walked into Naruto's apartment and called out to him. "Naruto? Are you in here?"

Sakura never received an answer which prompted her to check through his house to see if he might have been in his room. When she entered his room, it was extremely dark. Sakura turned on the lights and searched around his room while calling out to him. "Naruto? If you're in here please answer me." Sakura pleaded.

To Sakura's disappointment, Naruto didn't answer. Sakura turned off the lights to Naruto's room and gently closed the door before making her way to the kitchen. "Naruto are you in here?" Sakura asked awaiting an answer but still, Naruto didn't respond to her. Sakura decided to check a different location as she made her way to the front door and gave Naruto's apartment a sad look before closing the door.

As Sakura was walking through the village, she was in thought. 'When I find him, I'm going to punch him so hard he will wish he got by 1,000 rasengans instead.' Sakura thought angrily. As much as she loved the blonde boy, she absolutely hated when he made her worry like this, and she couldn't let him get by without some sort of consequence.

As Sakura was walking through the village making sure not to miss a corner, she spotted familiar brown, spiky hair. Sakura smiled excitedly as she knew the owner of the hair could definitely help her find Naruto.

"Konohamaru! Is that you?" Sakura called out to the boy, barely able to contain her happiness.

Konohamaru turned around with a suspicious look in his eyes as he looked side to side. Konohamaru placed his eyes on a box next to him and ran over to it, opening it as if he was looking for someone under it. Sakura watched as Konohamaru then ran over to a couple of garbage cans in a neighboring building which made Sakura's eyes close down halfway in disbelief of the boy's stupidity as he looked behind them and then opened them to look inside before closing them after finding nothing.

Konohamaru sighed quickly before snapping his fingers and looking up at the roof the building and then quickly looking back in the opposite direction. "Yeah, who wants to know?" Konohamaru replied in a tough tone as he grabbed one of his kunai.

Sakura deadpanned at Konohamaru's actions. 'He's almost as clueless as Naruto?' Sakura thought to herself before now forcing a smile and calling out to the Third Hokage's Grandson.

"Konohamaru, it's me Sakura!" Sakura replied back as she made her way over to him causing him to look in her direction and flashing her a smile.

"Oh, hey Sakura!" Konohamaru exclaimed as he re-sheathed his kunai. "Are you alright?" Konohamaru questioned, seeing the worried look in Sakura's eyes.

Sakura's eyes closed in a smile as she finally stood in front of him. "Yes I'm fine, I was just looking for Naruto. Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't seen him. Why what's up Sakura?" Konohamaru asked with his own worry for the guy he considered to be his brother.

"I'm looking for him, but he seemed to have run away to somewhere in the village. Can you help me find him?" Sakura asked in a sweet tone matched by a sweet smile.

Konohamaru flashed Sakura another toothy grin before saluting to her. "You want to find Nii-Chan? Well then consider Konohamaru at your service!"

Sakura smiled at Konohamaru before pulling him in for a tight hug barely able to contain her happiness. "Thank you so much Konohamaru!" Sakura squealed.

Konohamaru on the other hand was in his own world. Konohamaru blushed fiercely as his face was now right in between Sakura's breasts. Konohamaru smiled lecherously as Sakura tightened the hug. "So soft.." Konohamaru mumbled pervertedly.

Sakura's emerald eyes shot open at his comment and looked down at Konohamaru who was smiling lecherously not paying any attention to Sakura's building anger. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Sakura exclaimed dangerously.

At Sakura's voice, Konohamaru's eyes widened as he realized that he was ogling a pair of breasts, and not just any breasts they were Sakura's breasts. Konohamaru looked up at Sakura with a nervous smile on his face as he noticed she was looking at him with blind rage.

Konohamaru now released from the hug, scratched the back of his head nervously and let out a awkward laugh as the pink-haired girl was practically glaring through his soul with her hands on her hips. "Well Sakura…see the thing is.."

Konohamaru then attempted to run away from Sakura before finishing his sentence but it proved to be a mistake when he noticed he wasn't going anywhere. Konohamaru's eyes widened as he looked back and seen Sakura grabbing his scarf preventing him from running. Sakura's eyes were replaced with white circles as she pulled him back to her at a high-speed, successfully punching him on the top of his head, sending him to the ground with a lump on his head.

Sakura looked down at Konohamaru with a disgusted look before proceeding to walk away and continuing to look for Naruto. Seething at what just happened, all of the nearby villagers could feel her killer intent. She then began to curse loudly to herself, not realizing that she was scaring all of the nearby villagers.

---

Sakura searched half of the village and didn't find Naruto yet. A pained sigh escaped her lips as she continued her search. All she could think about was Naruto's smile. The smile that she wanted to wake up and see every morning when she woke up and every night before she went to bed.

She planned on going to Ichiraku's next, until a familiar voice caused her to stop in her tracks.

"Hey ugly, what a surprise to see you here."

Sakura's eyes snapped shut at Sai's greeting, a visible vein popping from the side of her head. "Not now Sai!" Sakura growled out. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I was almost certain that you left with Sasuke already, or least dickless thinks so.."

A huge smile plastered Sakura's face as her heart skip a beat. "You were with Naruto? Where is he?" Sakura inquired desperately.

Sai couldn't help but offer her an amused smile at the fact that she recognizes Naruto as dickless. "I see that you have come to realize that Naruto in fact doesn't have a penis."

Sakura blushed slightly at Sai's words. "Can you stop saying that?" Sakura hissed. "He does have a penis!" Sakura declared loudly, which caused all of the nearby villagers to stop and look at her as though she were an alien.

She looked around and laughed awkwardly, before putting her arm around Sai's shoulders and taking him somewhere away from the villagers who was staring at her. When they were out of that particular area, Sakura immediately shot Sai a death glare. While he simply smiled at her with closed eyes.

"How would you know that Sakura-San? Did you see it?" Sai seemed really eager to know… a little too eager if Sakura would say so herself.

Sakura blushed heavily and shifted her eyes to the side. "That's-that's none of your business!"

"So you did see it then?" Sai continued to press.

Sakura cracked her knuckles, her blush deepening at Sai's interrogation. "One more question like that and you will be drawing your next picture with your teeth!" Sakura threatened.

Sai simply chuckled before changing the subject. "Okay then. To answer your earlier question, I did see him."

Sakura's eyes widened in happiness, her smile following suit. "Where?"

"The place where it all started, or least that's what Naruto calls it." Sai held his finger to his chin.

"The place where it all started?" Sakura repeated in genuine confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, the place where he fell in love with you."

Sakura blushed upon hearing this, she shifted her eyes to the side as her heart swelled in bliss. "Did-did he tell you that?"

"In so many words, yes." Sai responded.

Sakura couldn't hide the dazzling smile that formed on her face at this. A smile that Sai has come to realize the meaning of. She then walked up closer to him, a hopeful glint in her eyes. "Where is he Sai? Please tell me." Sai could tell that Sakura was desperate to find Naruto.

"I have no idea where he may have went after I left, considering the fact that he doesn't want to be found..." Sai said before asking a question of his own as he thought about his earlier encounter with Naruto. "Sakura-San, I have a question…"

"What is it?"

"You're in love with Naruto, aren't you?" Sai questioned with complete seriousness in his eyes.

Sakura's whole face turned red and her eyes turned into white circles. "Whaaa?"

"Well, you're always smiling at him, and according to a book that I read, a person always smiles around the person that they love. Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

Sakura's eyes casted downwards to the ground and then she looked back up. "How can I?" She questioned in sadness, causing Sai's eyes to widen slightly due to it mirroring Naruto's answer when Naruto admitted that he loved Sakura to him. "When all I've ever done is hurt him?"

"I'm sure Naruto doesn't look at it that way. He would do it all over again if it meant making you smile." Sai explained, causing Sakura's eyes to widen and her lips to part slightly.

"He loves you more than you can ever imagine." Sai smiled his signature smile at her. "The way he talked about you just now… made me actually see what true love looks like."

Sakura smiled warmly. 'Naruto…'

"Sai…" Sakura said softly with a small smile. "Thank you…"

Smiling at his handiwork, Sai nodded and prepared to take off. Sai wanted to see his two teammates get together. Even he would find it to be a shame if it didn't happen. To him it was like they were destined to be together.

"Oh and Sakura-San, I asked Naruto this question earlier…"

"What's that?"

"If I managed to get Naruto a penis, would you be able to surgically attach it to him? I read that sex is a major part of every relationship, and that wouldn't be able to happen if Naruto was dickless all the time. Then he can satisfy you in the ways that you need. Consider it a wedding gift." Sai finished with a smile that he would like to think would be passed off as a salacious smile.

Sakura's whole face turned beet red and she balled up her fists. "You fucking pervert! Shannarooo!" Before Sai knew it, Sakura quickly flickered in front of him and set him flying into orbit with a hard uppercut. She watched his flying body soar in the air until it disappeared into a twinkle, her hands on hips.

"Is this village THE LAND OF THE PERVERTS NOW?" Sakura exclaimed as she made her way to Ichiraku's, not realizing that she scared the villagers for the second time today.

---

Naruto made his way to the top of the Hokage monument and sighed as if he was trying to release the pain that was constricting his heart. Thoughts of her and Sasuke being together, Sai's words, everything was flooding his mind at once, until he heard it.

"SHANNAROOO!" Sakura's voice literally shook the entire village, effectively breaking Naruto from his thoughts.

Naruto's eyes widened in complete shock at her voice. "Sakura-Chan is still here?" Naruto said to himself in complete disbelief. He began to rack his brains for answers as to why she didn't leave with Sasuke. Maybe Sasuke decided to stay, yeah, that had to be it, Naruto decided sadly.

Suddenly, Naruto's new wave of thoughts were short lived, as he saw a very fast moving projectile heading his way, and if he didn't know any better, he could have sworn it was a person. Naruto quickly slipped to side, barely evading the "projectile" as it went further into orbit and then disappeared in a twinkle.

"What the hell was that?" But upon taking a closer look, he made out some of the features of the projectile. "Sai?"

---

Sakura made her way to a place that she felt like she could always find Naruto at. The thought of just finding the blonde-haired boy and seeing his bright smile made her heart beat faster, made her lose her breath, and made her feel excited inside at the same time. Ichiraku's was within view as the grin on Sakura's face grew wider and more toothy at the thought of seeing Naruto slurping down a bowl of ramen.

Sakura stood in front of Ichiraku's and took a deep breath before opening the flap to allow herself in. Sakura eyed down the stools of shop and only saw a couple on a date eating ramen which made her frown. Sakura sighed to herself in disappointment as she sat down in one of the stools to regroup and think of other places Naruto might be at. Only 20 minutes had passed and she missed the blonde-haired Hyperactive ninja more than she ever had.

'Where are you Naruto? I miss you.' Sakura thought sadly as she rested her chin on her palm.

Sakura sighed sadly to herself, she was deep in thought before a powerful voice called out to her within earshot.

"Hey Sakura-San, how are you today?" The ramen shop owner greeted with a smile.

Sakura broke out of her thoughts as she looked up at the man who greeted her. Regardless of how she was feeling, much like Naruto, Sakura was able to flash a smile through any situation. "I'm great, thanks." Sakura lied.

"Can I help you with anything?" Teuchi questioned as he set down a bowl of ramen for a customer next to Sakura.

"No, I'm not hungry right now." Sakura replied in a soft tone that didn't make it's way past Teuchi.

Teuchi walked over to Sakura and positioned himself in front of her before placing one of his hands on the counter. "It's not good to worry on an empty stomach Sakura-San." Teuchi said in a fatherly tone.

Sakura smiled at Teuchi's words, he sounded just like her mother. "No really I'm not hungry, but thank you Teuchi-San." Sakura said in an appreciative tone.

"Is this about Naruto?" Teuchi asked with a smile as he noticed the small blush on the pink-haired girl's face.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly as she wondered how Teuchi knew. "Konohamaru told me to keep a lookout for you." The man responded to the question he knew she had in her mind.

Sakura's wide eyes softened a little as a small, genuine smile tugged at her lips. 'Thank you Konohamaru.' Sakura thought as she felt more hope than before.

"Have you seen him?" Sakura questioned with enthusiasm in her voice and hope in her eyes.

Teuchi's brow furrowed as his smile turned into a frown. "Unfortunately, I haven't seem him since before the 4th War." Teuchi stated in an almost sad tone, causing Sakura to look down in disappointment.

"Have you checked his apartment?" Teuchi's daughter, Ayame added in.

"Yes, it was the first place I checked." Sakura replied as she sighed sadly to herself.

"What about the training grounds?" Ayame suggested, making Sakura's eyes widen.

Sakura smiled at Ayame's suggestion before standing up with a fresh look of determination on her face. "Thank you Ayame-San, see you later on Teuchi-San!"

"You're welcome!" Teuchi and Ayame both yelled in unison after the determined Kunoichi.

---

Sakura arrived at the training grounds, and to Sakura's surprise it looked the same as it did since the last time they was on it. Upon looking at the training grounds, memories flooded into Sakura's mind. The bell test and the second bell test both came to mind. She could remember Naruto trying to take on Kakashi by himself, which she thought was cool and brave of him but also stupid. Then again, only Naruto could pull off a combination like that. Sakura smiled at the thought.

The second time around, he impressed her with how clever he could actually be. She allowed Naruto to take the lead because she could always trust him to get through any situation no matter how tough. Sakura walked around the training grounds slowly, making sure to check every inch of it. She already knew he wasn't there due to the fact of it being so quiet.

'Naruto and quiet doesn't go in the same sentence.' Sakura thought with a bittersweet smile. Sweet at the fact of how loud and brash Naruto was and she loved every bit of it. Bitter at the fact that he wasn't on the training grounds. Sakura ran her hands through her hair while sighing and trying to think of another place he might be.

Like him, she acquired a nature to never give up, and she knew if it was the other way around he wouldn't give up on her. If she had to check the entire five nations just to find the man she loved, then so be it. Sakura decided that taking a trip to Suna would be her next best bet if she wanted to find him since he didn't seem to be anywhere in the village. 'Knowing Naruto, if he is in Suna he's most likely with Gaara.' Sakura mused.

Then as if on cue, a familiar voice called out to her, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Sakura! Sakura!" The voiced yelled out causing Sakura to turn around with slightly widened eyes.

"Konohamaru?" Sakura questioned in slight shock as she watched him run up to her with a huge grin on his face.

"I may have done something for you that will get you to forgive me for earlier!" The spiky-haired boy called out with confidence.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at the thought of what happened earlier. "Oh? And what could that be?" Sakura questioned in slight annoyance. Even though Konohamaru made up for his actions by alerting Teuchi to keep on a look out for Naruto, the mere thought of his actions just pissed her off.

Konohamaru finally stood in front of Sakura, doubled over with his hands on his knees attempting to catch his breath. "I. Found. Nii-Chan!" Konohamaru said in between breaths with his smile still plastered on his face.

Sakura's eyes gleamed in happiness completely replacing the angry look on her face as a huge grin broke out on her face. "Where is he?!" Sakura asked anxiously.

Konohamaru pointed to the Hokage monument with a smile, more specifically the Fourth's head. "He's up there."

Sakura followed Konohamaru's hand and looked at the monument. A speck of blonde hair was all it took for a warm smile to adorn Sakura's features.

"Thank you so much Konohamaru!" Sakura exclaimed in happiness as she gave Konohamaru a quick kiss on the cheek causing The Third's Grandson to blush and giggle lecherously.

"Wait until Nii-Chan hears about me getting a kiss from the girl of his dreams before him." Konohamaru boasted to himself with a smile as he watched Sakura run to the Hokage Mountain.

---

Naruto was sitting on the edge of the mountain with his legs dangling off of his father's stone head. He overlooked Konoha with a saddened look, he hated to have to run away from Sakura the way he did but he couldn't bare actually seeing Sasuke and Sakura get together right in front of his eyes. Even if he ran away from physically seeing it, his mind still created the image in his mind of them getting together and it felt like his heart could stop at moment with the amount of blows it was being dealt.

Naruto allowed himself to think about just why Sakura had asked him to dinner if she knew that she was going to be with Sasuke at the end of the day. As much as his mind thought negatively about it, he couldn't fight his heart that was telling him she asked him for reason. Naruto did notice that she treated him differently, but he didn't look at it as something romantic like he wanted. He looked at it as a friend simply comforting a friend, simply talking to that friend, simply hanging out with that friend all day long. The pain in Naruto's chest increased with each passing thought, until a familiar voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"No wonder you ran away, it sure is a beautiful view up here." The voice said in amazement which caused Naruto's eyes to widen to the size of large ramen bowls.

"S-Sakura-Chan?" The boy questioned in a stutter, as his eyes hypnotically followed her movements until she took her place next to him with her legs dangling over the edge of the monument.

Sakura's serene smile was replaced with a look of confusion as she looked at the blonde boy next to her. "Yes, why do you seem so surprised?" Sakura raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"N-Nothing.." Naruto barely stuttered out. "I just thought you were leaving with Sasuke." Naruto finished in an dejected tone that he tried to hide but failed miserably at.

"Now, why would I do that baka?" Sakura questioned with an amused smirk, her eyebrow still raised.

Naruto blushed a little at how cute Sakura looked when she did particular face, but looked away and refocused on the village under him. "No-no reason Sakura-Chan." Naruto murmured softly.

Sakura watched Naruto intently and placed her soft hands on his shoulder drawing his attention back to her. Sakura felt his tense body instantly relax under her touch which made her smile inwardly. "Are you alright Naruto?"

"Never better Sakura-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed with an nervous laugh which Sakura noted.

"Please don't lie to me Naruto, why did you leave like that?" Sakura asked in an almost hurt tone that Naruto didn't feel like he could tell her about his problems, even though they had been friends, no… best friends for so long.

Naruto looked at Sakura with slightly widened eyes at how good she could read him, he didn't want to tell her the truth because if he did he might ruin her day of happiness he fought so hard to help her achieve. He immediately thought of an excuse that he hoped she would buy.

"O-Oh Uhm, I was hungry so I went to Ichiraku's." Naruto said, hoping he was doing a good job of hiding his nervousness.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at Naruto's response. "Oh really?"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, feeling happy inside at the fact that it seemed like she bought his lie.

"Well that's strange.." Sakura trailed off causing Naruto to sweat uncontrollably.

"H-How so?" Naruto questioned, his nervousness seeping through.

"I spoke to Teuchi earlier, and he said he hasn't seen you since the before the war." Sakura exposed Naruto's lie and smiled cheekily at him. "Want to try again?"

'CRAP!'

"I-I meant I wanted to go to the training grounds and test out my new arm." Naruto replied as he smiled nervously, looking at the girl of his dreams in hopes that his new lie would work. But unfortunately his lie wasn't well thought out, especially when dealing with a girl as smart as Sakura.

"The Hokage mountain is the new training grounds now?" Sakura questioned suspiciously, her eyebrow still raised causing her blonde teammate to sweat visibly.

"No Sakura-Chan-" Naruto trailed off as Sakura interrupted him.

"Naruto please tell me the truth." Sakura pleaded in a soft tone as she looked at him with pleading eyes to match.

Naruto could never resist Sakura, especially when she spoke and looked at him like this. He almost figured that she KNEW she could get him to do anything she wanted with that soft tone of hers. Naruto sighed and closed his eyes before reopening them and placing them on Sakura again.

"I left because I didn't want to see you leave with Sasuke." Naruto answered softly but honestly, looking away from her and back to the village below.

Sakura's eyes widened as she saw the pained look in Naruto's eyes when he mentioned her leaving with Sasuke. It pained her to no end to think that Naruto actually believes she would leave him for Sasuke. Sakura's eyes softened as she gently cupped his cheek and turned his face to meet her gaze.

"But why would I leave the village for Sasuke-Kun? Why would I leave you?" Sakura questioned the boy in a soft tone with slight hurt mixed in that Naruto thought she was still the girl she was when she was younger.

Naruto's eyes widened at Sakura's words. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that Sakura placed him in a catergory by himself. "Because I fought so hard to bring him back for you so you and him can be together again." Naruto said, his voice breaking under the pain of the thought of Sakura and Sasuke being together.

Sakura quirked an eyebrow, she guessed it was her fault for Naruto thinking the way he thinking; but with the way she always noticed Naruto studying her she assumed he would see the difference by now. "I mean it was good to see Team 7 reuinited again, but other than that..." Sakura trailed off casually.

To Naruto's surprise she didn't have a hint of hurt in her voice, she wasn't about to cry over Sasuke leaving again... instead she was smiling and Naruto could see it was genuine which caused Naruto to raise his eyebrow in confusion. "But Sakura-Chan..." Naruto paused for a few seconds as he looked back down at the village with eyes full of sorrow. "D-Don't you love him?"

Sakura chuckled at Naruto's statement, causing Naruto to cast his eyes back on her and tilt his head in confusion like a innocent puppy. "Of course I love Sasuke-Kun."

Naruto upon hearing her words felt his heart fall to the pit of his stomach, he had to fight back tears. Here she was, the girl of his dreams basically admitting she loved another man. Her admitting it to him, killed him inside regardless if he already knew it.

"Well you-"

Sakura placed her finger to his lips, cutting him off once again.

"Wait Naruto, you didn't let me finish." Sakura said with a smile. Naruto's eyes widened for the severalth time that day and his heart raced faster in anticipation as he awaited what else she had to say.

"Of course I love Sasuke-Kun, but only as a friend." Sakura finished with a smile that would have matched Naruto's if he actually allowed his to be shown at Sakura's words. He didn't want Sakura to see how happy he was at the fact that she didn't love Sasuke romantically, he figured it would be selfish of him.

"W-What?!" He shouted, unable to contain the excitement in his voice contrary to him wanting to hide the happiness he felt at the fact he just learned.

Sakura giggled at Naruto's reaction. "Yup, besides he has a thing for red-heads, not monstrously strong, pink-haired girls with big foreheads." Sakura joked, hoping to see Naruto smile.

Instead to her surprise, Naruto's eyes widened wider than they ever had before. His mouth was open and he was stuck in his position.

"Naruto?" Sakura questioned worriedly as she waved her hand in front of his sapphire eyes, but to no avail. Sakura grabbed Naruto's shoulders and leaned in, her face only inches away from his.

"Naruto?!" Sakura questioned a bit louder. She shakily moved her hand to his heart sighing inwardly in relief that his heart was beating, it was beating a lot faster than normal, but still beating nonetheless. While it did bring a little relief to her, it didn't fully shake her worry. She wanted to hear him speak to her and smile that dazzling smile that she loved so much.

Naruto was in fact okay, but he had multiple thoughts running in his mind. They were the complete opposite to what he was thinking earlier. He knew he couldn't confess thanks to him not keeping his promise before and not getting in the way of Sakura's happiness... but now she didn't want Sasuke and now he did successfully keep his promise. He figured he could capitalize on this moment and finally let her know how much he loves her, even if she rejected him he would never give up on her and continue to show his love and keep her happy until she did look his way.

Naruto broke from his thoughts and smiled warmly at the girl who was looking at him worriedly. "Girls like compliments ne Sakura-Chan?" Naruto said with a light chuckle causing Sakura to lean back in surprise, her emerald eyes wide.

"Huh?" Sakura dumbly responded. Did he actually take what she told him about compliments to heart? His words confused her but the thought of him complimenting her again brought heat to her cheeks.

Naruto continued smiling lovingly at her, his sapphire eyes locked with her emerald eyes. Naruto stood to his feet and extended his hand for Sakura to grab, which she instinctively took and allowed him to guide her to her feet.

The look in Naruto's eyes showed nothing but love and care for the girl before him and it was reinforced by his smile which made Sakura's heart beat faster than it ever had before. She recognized the look in his eyes.

'That look in Naruto's eyes.. it looks so familiar.' Sakura thought before Naruto's next list of actions surprised her ,causing her to lose all rational thinking. Her mind was completely in shock while her heart raced even faster.

Naruto gently cupped her cheek and on instinct Sakura leaned into his touch as she closed her eyes in contentment.

"You have such a large and charming forehead..." Naruto softly spoke causing the pinkette to release a soft gasp as her eyes snapped open. Memories invaded her thoughts at his words.

*Memories flowing*

"You have such a large and charming forehead, makes me want to kiss it..."

"Hehe, I guess that's something only Naruto would say..."

Naruto then leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her seal, effectively breaking her from the memory before looking back into her eyes with a look of love and a warm smile. "It was always one of my dreams to kiss it."

"I-It is something only a baka would say." Sakura stuttered softly as she fought back tears at the realization. The realization that it was ALWAYS Naruto, no matter what.

The blonde chuckled at her words, his smile only growing warmer at looking at the pink-haired love of his life.

"W-Why would you henge into Sasuke-Kun to do it baka?" Sakura questioned as a few tears finally fell from her eyes.

Naruto wiped her tears immediately and gently grabbed her hand. "I knew if I would have did it as myself, you wouldn't have given me the time of day." Naruto answered with a small smile, but at Naruto's words Sakura had a look of guilt in her eyes.

"That day you looked sad, and I couldn't bare to see you like that.. so I decided to do something to put a smile on your face." Naruto stated happily.

Sakura however felt even worse as she remembered everything she said on the bench. "I said so many mean things about you that day Naruto." Sakura replied softly in a wavering voice, barely able to contain her tears from falling.

"I don't and never will care about that." Naruto assured Sakura which caused her blush slightly at his foxy grin. "As long as you're happy; so am I, even if it means me sacrificing my feelings for yours."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Sakura murmured softly as she felt the heat in her cheeks rise when Naruto moved in a little closer to her.

"I didn't feel worthy of telling you until after I fulfilled my promise and bring Sasuke back for you. To let you know how much..." Sakura could hear Naruto gulp and could see the massive blush adorning his face before he continued speaking. "To let you know how much I love you Sakura-Chan."

"D-do you really?" Was all Sakura managed to say as her eyes shifted to side in shyness. But to say she was happy was an understatement. Her heart was doing cartwheels and back flips, she felt indescribable warmth flowing through her body, happiness beyond comprehension. Any word that meant happy, she was all of them combined, plus more.

"Of course I do, always have, always will." Naruto said confidently yet so warmly, his blue eyes that Sakura loved so much reflecting nothing but the truth of his words.

Sakura's blushed at Naruto's words. She wasn't one to blush a lot, but Naruto had that special effect on her, and that was another reason she loved him so much. "But why? Why do you love me so much when all I've ever done is cause you pain?" Sakura questioned in a sad tone.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion at Sakura's question before chuckling causing the pink-haired haired girl to huff in embarrassment.

"Pain? The thought of you makes me smile Sakura-Chan. You take care of me, you're always by my side. Just being with you makes me happy, just me knowing that you're in my life makes me happy Sakura-Chan.. if that's what you call pain then you need to do it more often." Naruto joked.

"Shut up baka! It isn't funny!" Sakura huffed embarrassingly. "I've done nothing to deserve your love..." Sakura whispered sadly as she looked down avoiding Naruto's gaze. Upon hearing her sad tone, Naruto gently placed his hand under her chin and raised her head so she could look into his eyes.

"Sakura-Chan, ever since day one when I first met you, you instantly had the key to my heart. In my eyes you're perfect. A goddess on earth with no flaws. You're beautiful, sexy as hell, smart, strong, dedicated, motivated, determined, feisty, caring, loving, funny, you always keep a smile on my face, you always take care of me, you're always by my side through everything, you have an amazing smile. A smile that I would do anything to protect, even risk my life. And that's only the icing on the cake." Sakura's eyes widened slightly but then she smiled warmly at Naruto as she continued to listen.

"I would give up being The Hokage, hell I would give up all the years of my life if it meant me being able to spend my last day with you. Sakura-Chan, no matter what happens, nothing can ever stop me from loving you not even death can do the job. Not a day goes by where I don't think about me marrying you and spending the rest of my life with you, spending the rest of my life hoping I can give you just a taste of the happiness you have given to me." Naruto said with closed eyes, not noticing the loving smile Sakura was giving him.

"I have many dreams Sakura-Chan, but my biggest and most important dream is you Sakura-Chan. Being with you, marrying you, having kids with you, having the key to your heart like you have the key to mine... protecting your heart with my life and making sure it never gets hurt again. If it's shattered right now, I promise to pick up the pieces and put it back together, and I will protect it with my life. I promise to always love you and prove that I always love you no matter what, through thick and thin, through anything Sakura-Chan just know you will always have me and my heart. I wouldn't trade you in for the key to the universe, and even if you don't want to be with me right now I will spend the rest of my life showing you my love and keeping you happy until you finally look my way..."

Naruto cupped Sakura's cheek while looking into her eyes with the most intense emotions she had ever seen. The love in his eyes was beyond human comprehension. "And I wouldn't have it any other way Sakura-Chan." Naruto finished with a soft smile.

Sakura was crying, she couldn't hold back the tears anymore as a she had a massive blush on her face. Sakura pulled Naruto in for a tight hug causing Naruto to blush as well. Sakura cried into Naruto's jacket, but they were tears of happiness, tears of relief. Naruto gave her heart what it's been looking for, for so long.

"Naruto.." Sakura whispered in between sobs as she released the hug just slightly and allowed herself to look into his eyes with love, passion, longing, and desire. She felt feelings she never felt before, feelings that only Naruto could cause her to have. Sakura ran one of her hands slowly down his chest and placed it on his heart while still hugging him with the other.

To say Naruto was shocked by the whole scenario would be an understatement. If it were anything else, Naruto would be extremely optimistic about the situation and would have all of the confidence in the world that he would achieve what he worked for. But this was Sakura he was talking about, the girl he had been in love with since he was five years old, the girl whose heart he believe he would never have even though he confessed to her.

"Sakura-Chan, your eyes are watering and your face is red, are you feeling okay?" Naruto questioned with worry. Sakura couldn't help but smile inwardly to herself at the fact that Naruto just poured his heart out to her with so much love and emotion yet he couldn't even tell that she returned his feelings. It was extremely cute to her how serious he can be one minute and then how dense he can be the next minute.

"I feel fine baka. I'm just really happy." Sakura replied with a teary smile.

"H-Huh?" Naruto dumbly replied as he looked down at the pink-haired girl with widened eyes.

Sakura tightened the hug slightly and could practically hear his heartbeat. She could feel his heart speeding up by the second which meant that he had some sort of idea as to why she was hugging and looking at him this way. Sakura flashed him a dazzling smile complimented with eyes that radiated warmth.

"Naruto, you make me the happiest woman in the universe." Sakura whispered through tears, causing Naruto's eyes to widen even more.

Even though Naruto was practically speechless for the first time in his life, the look he had in his eyes showed off all of the thoughts that was running through his mind.

'But how Sakura-Chan?'

'Only Sasuke can do that.'

'Is this really Sakura-Chan?'

'How is this possible?'

'This must be a Genjutsu.'

'I must be dreaming again, yeah that's it.'

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at what she KNEW Naruto was thinking. Sakura's blush deepened as she decided to answer his thoughts and show him that this is indeed reality. Sakura gently placed her hands on his cheeks, breaking him from his thoughts so he would listen to her before wrapping her arms back around him to engage in another hug.

"Ever since the academy, I always looked at you as unique. When I had a bad day, I counted on you and your pranks to cheer me up." Sakura looked down to the ground with a small smile before looking back up into Naruto's sapphire eyes and saw that they had a look of shock and disbelief in them.

"Regardless of that fact, I thought you wanted to get in the way of Sasuke-Kun and I getting together and for that I looked at you as being an annoying brat. But you proved me wrong when we went on Kakashi-Sensei's squad. During the bell test alone, you showed me you were brave, confident, and persistent and I began looking at you differently." Sakura stated proudly never looking away from Naruto's eyes.

"During the mission to The Land of Waves, when we went up against Zabuza; you made me feel safe, like no danger could get to me as long as you were around. You always made me feel beautiful when no one else did and it's because of you that I'm the woman I am today. You made me feel stronger, you always pushed me to be better, always cheering me on, always treating me like a queen... yet I always felt as though I could do so little for you and to be honest it hurt me inside more than you know." Sakura said as she looked down with pain in her eyes to make sure Naruto couldn't see it.

The fact that she felt like she could never help and even fail at doing little things for Naruto pained her to no end, but she refused to let him see her hurt... not in a situation like this. But even if she did put her head down, Naruto always seemed to know when something is wrong with his Sakura-Chan. Even though he was in super, ultra, mega shock he subconsciously lifted her head, his eyes filled with great concern. Sakura melted into his touch once more before continuing to speak.

"When Sasuke-Kun told me that you fought for me against Gaara I realized that you would do anything to protect me, even risk your life for me and it made me feel so safe knowing someone as amazing as you looks at me as someone worth losing their life for. Naruto when you made that promise to me, I saw just how far you would go just to keep me happy.. but I refused to see how much you truly love and cared for me, because even then I didn't feel like I was worth it, worth you." Sakura stated causing Naruto's eyes to widen even more to an unbelievable size.

"Sasuke-Kun leaving the village was one of the best things that could have happened. Because of him leaving, I got to spend time with you, I got to know you better, and I ultimately I got to see what an amazing guy you truly are." Sakura continued with a content smile and a dreamy look in her eyes.

"When you left with Jiraiya-Sama for three years, I missed you sooo much. When you finally came back, you wouldn't believe how happy I was. I also noticed what I felt for you was so much stronger than what I felt for Sasuke-Kun. Naruto, your dreams became my dreams, your feelings became my feelings, but your happiness and safety became my top priority." Sakura said softly as her content smile changed back into a loving smile.

"Naruto, when I said what I said in The Land of Iron I meant it from the bottom of my heart. Yes, I had motives behind me telling you at that time... but it doesn't make what I told you any less true. I would never lie to you and risk hurting you, because I made a silent promise to you and that's to always make sure you're happy and safe." Sakura laid her head on his chest and continued speaking with a content smile.

"You fight so hard to keep me happy, you beat yourself up when you think you failed at keeping me happy, but Naruto you never fail to make me happy because as long as I can see you smile and I can hold you like this, I'm the happiest woman in the universe." Sakura removed her head from his chest and looked back into Naruto's eyes, her smile never leaving her face.

"You're dense, impatient, reckless, brave, cocky, optimistic, determined, when you say you're going to do something you follow through until you achieve it, you're funny, loving, caring, selfless, you make me feel safe, you're always there for me, you do whatever it takes to help someone in need, you're the biggest baka of all time, and you never give up no matter what and that's only the icing on the cake to why you're so amazing. It was always you Naruto. You were never my second choice, you were always my first because truth is..." Sakura cupped a shocked Naruto's cheek and gazed into his eyes lovingly.

"You were everything I wanted Sasuke-Kun to be and I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else but you." Sakura finished causing Naruto's heart to skip 1,000 beats per minute.

"W-what are you saying Sakura-Chan?" Naruto questioned dumbly still trying to wrap his head around what the hell was going on. Here he was just confessing to the girl he had been in love with since he was in diapers and in return here she was wrapping herself around him, smiling at him in a way she had never smiled at him before, and saying things to him that he only dreamed of hearing from her.

Sakura rolled her eyes as a dazzling smile formed on her lips. She was expecting this very reaction from Naruto. Tsunade's words of she must show him instead of telling gave all of the confidence that she needed to perform her next action. She refused to leave any doubt in Naruto's mind. She grabbed his collar, earning a small yelp from Naruto at the sudden movement, and she crashed her lips into his. She closed her eyes almost instantly in pure bliss, the kiss was MUCH more than what she expected. It was literally the highlight of her life, as she would describe it. Her heart raced faster than it ever had before, her heart was literally dancing in happiness as it received what it wanted for so long, love, true love. And with the way that her lips felt on his, she could tell that she found it in him.

She released the kiss, a huge blush on her face and she looked into his eyes that were filled with pure shock with a loving gaze. It was her turn to gently place her hand on his cheek, a warm smile on her face.

"I'm saying that I love you, baka." Sakura finally admitted to him as her blush got even deeper. She continued to gaze at him lovingly, allowing herself to show just her deep her love is for him.

Naruto on the other hand, while having a huge blush on his face still seemed like he didn't register what happened yet. His was mind was in complete overdrive as he watched the pink-haired girl that he loved so much just gaze into his eyes with a look that he always dreamed of. The way her soft hands felt on his cheeks satisfied a sense in him that no amount of ramen could. A million thoughts roamed through his mind at once, namely, 'what in the hell just happened? Did Sakura-Chan just…' He mentally begged Kami for a sign, any sign that what just happened was real, and as if on time, he heard Sakura giggle before placing her hand on his heart and giving another kiss on lips that was small, but full of love.

This woke Naruto up from his stupor, as Sakura watched Naruto's face slowly go from look of shock to a huge smile, with tears coming from his eyes. She could literally see all of the pain, over 5 years of pain just slowly drain itself from his eyes and she could see his sapphire eyes that she loved so much be refilled with pure happiness, pure elation. She smiled warmly at the fact that only she could make him feel this way. She then let out a blissful squeal as Naruto brought her in close and started to plant kisses all over her body, from her forehead, to her lips, to her nose, everywhere where skin was showing, Naruto made a priority to kiss it. And with each kiss that he gave to her, she could feel the love increasing. Love that has been building inside of him for years upon years, and she felt like she was the luckiest woman to be on the receiving end of it. She knew for a fact that Naruto was the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

Naruto suddenly hoisted her into his arms, bridal style. She felt safe in his arms, she felt like nothing could get to her. She simply nuzzled her face into his chest with a content smile and looked up at him with her emerald orbs, blushing at the warm, loving smile he was now flashing at her. She could never contain the butterflies when he smiled at her like that. He could get her to do anything when he smiled at her like that. Then he asked the next question.

Naruto refused to blink, afraid that if he did, Sakura would disappear, but when she reached up and kiss him once again, it was confirmation that his biggest dream finally came true. His Sakura-Chan, the one he had been love with since diaper days was finally returning his love, and he always made a silent vow that when he did get her, he would never let her go. He figured now was a good as time as any to vocalize that vow.

"You know Sakura-Chan there was a vow that I never told anyone about." Naruto suddenly spoke.

"And what's that?"

"That I'll never let you go no matter what." He tried to say it so smoothly, and she could tell he was trying. But that didn't stop his words from melting her heart non the less.

She smiled warmly at him as she reached up and cupped his cheeks. Her eyes showing the pure love for him. "You're such a dork, you know that?" She then placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

Naruto flashed her the foxiest grin she had ever seen. "Yeah, but I'm your dork, Sakura-Chan!"

"Well, my dork still owes me dinner tonight." Sakura said as she laughed at Naruto's words.

"Screw tonight! Let's do it right now! I've been waiting for too long!"

Sakura giggled. "Under one condition."

"Anything." Naruto said in a hopeful voice.

"No Ichiraku's!" Sakura demanded.

She mentally giggled to herself as she could see the slight pout forming on his face. But it was quickly replaced with a determined smile. "I wouldn't dream of it! The most special woman in the universe deserves a special date."

She then watched as a huge blush colored his cheeks. Before she could say anything else, Naruto continued to speak. "And is it alright if we could have dessert as well?"

Sakura quirked an eyebrow at him. "Sure Naruto, dessert is okay, you don't have to ask…" Sakura trailed off as she watched Naruto begin to sweat nervously. She was almost certain that dessert was code name for something perverted at this point. But she didn't mind too much. She has been craving Naruto for years as well.

"I mean, dessert, dessert." Naruto all but whispered as he prepared for the punch that might have came flying at him. But blushed heavily when he noticed that she was thinking about it, albeit a blush of her own, one an even deeper shade of red than his.

"Is your room clean?" Sakura suddenly asked him, her eyes shifted to eyes in shyness as her blush continued to deepen.

The look in Naruto's eyes told her that was a no.

"No dessert until your room, no, your house is cleaned up!" Sakura scolded. She told him about keeping his house cleaned on multiple occasions and if this was going to be her first time, she wasn't going to do it in a dirty place now or ever. She then smiled warmly as she watched the childish pout that she loved so much form on his lips.

"Sakuraaa-Chaannnn." He said in a whiny voice. She decided she could let him off the hook this one time, and maybe every time after that.

"But.." Sakura said causing him to look at her wide-eyed as he noticed the blush on her face. "Luckily for you, I keep my room clean all the time."

She giggled as Naruto's grin grew to an unbelievable size as he began to make his way on the rooftops with his Sakura-Chan in his arms.. "YATTA! I love you so much Sakura-Chan!"

Sakura's heart raced at an unbelievable speed, her blush deepening a shade. She doesn't think that she would ever get used to him telling her that. She knew with Naruto, every time would feel like the first time.

"I love you more baka. Oh and Naruto, for confirmation. I truly am yours and I wouldn't have it any other way." Sakura softly assured him before resting her head in the crook of his neck with smile of pure bliss and contentment.

Naruto looked down at her, nothing but love in his eyes. He tried to look cool in front of her the entire time, but he figured tears of happiness didn't count as being uncool. After years of trying to keep her happy, via another man, Naruto finally was the one who was going to do it, no Sasuke, no nothing. He then reached down and kissed her seal once more earning a small moan of happiness from the pink-haired love of his life, and he looked forward to doing that everyday for the rest of their lives. He couldn't contain his happiness anymore, it was brimming. Tears of joy escaped his eyes, his heart finally getting what it always wanted, what it always needed.

The whole village heard him, even Sai who was in Konoha's forest dusting himself off merely smiled as he knew he had a part in Naruto and Sakura getting together.

"FINALLY!"