Chapter 2: Unbound

Author's Notes: Will not be giving a serious, facetious or otherwise attempt at a witty disclaimer about intellectual copyright. Will resist the urge to pontificate on the metaphysical impossibility of propriety in ideas, and the uselessness in legislating it. Will not be speaking of this subject again.

Revised as of 2/18/10. The M rating isn't to be cool or edgy. There will be sex. Later chapters will have their fair share of violence. You have been warned.

Sakura led Naruto out of the small restaurant, through the halls of the Inn towards, and up the stairs leading towards her room. Every few steps, she would turn around, smile at Naruto, and politely motion to him to be a little more quiet. Naruto clearly wasn't in shinobi mode right now; his walking sounded painfully loud to Sakura, who wanted to keep everything on the down low.

Inner Sakura was having a field day with this. The second voice inside Sakura's head rarely ever popped up anymore, now that she had become much more outgoing and confident, but every now and then, she'd pipe up, offering a not unwelcomed "Hell Yeah!" or something similar. The flavor of today was a bold "Damn right!", complete with Rocky Balboa style punching of imaginary targets. But hey, sanity is highly overrated, isn't it?

The new couple quietly tiptoed over the positively garish shag carpet that had probably been laid down in this hallway thirty years before. As tacky as it seemed to Sakura, it effectively dampened Naruto's movement, giving her a little bit of mental comfort. Naruto could have cared less about the carpet; a dream he had long since resigned to defeat was finally coming true. The love of his life had finally recognized him, and had given him a chance to prove himself to her. He was on Cloud Nine right about now.

As happy as she was, Sakura was still plagued with some guilt. As much as she wanted the comfort that intimacy with Naruto would bring, Sasuke still weighed heavily on her mind. "Don't let that prick get you down! Inner Sakura chided, "He left you! You were willing to give the world to him, and turned you down! Besides, Naruto is pretty hot!"

An image of Naruto stark naked shot through Sakura's mind, making her unconsciously blush. "Yeah, he is kinda cute," she whispered to herself.

"Did you say something, Sakura-chan?" Naruto replied, remembering to keep his voice down. Kami help the poor guy, he was learning.

"We're almost there, Naruto," she replied, covering up her little slip. There'd be a time for that sort of thing very soon. Right now, silence was golden. As she reached the door to her room, she fished the room key out of her backpack as quietly as possible, while Naruto waited anxiously. After fumbling with the lock, she finally got the damn door to open. It creaked ever so slightly, causing Sakura to cringe slightly. She hated that noise; it drove her insane.

She grabbed Naruto by the wrist, and pulled him into her room after he lingered in trepidation. That boisterous ninja was nervous. He truly was Konoha's most unpredictable ninja; part of that was what made him so endearing to her. She quietly shut the door and locked it as they kicked off their shoes, and then walked over to the rather luxurious queen sized bed situated in the middle of the room's long wall. She sat down on the bed, crossing her legs, and patted the bed beside her to beckon Naruto to come sit with her.

He silently obeyed, and sat down to Sakura's left, making sure to be facing her. He stared into her sea-foam green eyes as she grabbed his hand, and placed it on her knee. He gently ran his other hand across her blushing cheek. "You are so beautiful, Sakura-chan," he whispered softly.

"Thank you, Naruto. You've been such a good friend these past three years. It was difficult and frustrating, all the troubles we went through, but I wouldn't trade away a minute of it," she replied. She bit her lip cautiously, unsure of what to do next. "Damn it girl, you are a grown woman now!" she chided herself, "Just tell him what you want!" She paused a moment to gather a little bit of courage, and then pulled him close, so that their faces were mere centimeters apart. "I want to make love to you, Naruto, and I want you to make love to me," she whispered, her voice smooth and seductive. She brushed her lips against his, and kissed him, softly at first, but with mounting intensity. Their tongues comingled, almost dancing together in their locked embrace. Naruto slowly ran his hand up and down Sakura's back as she played with his hair.

She broke the kiss, panting for air and searching for the words to describe what she wanted to say. When she couldn't find any, she kissed him on his neck, earning a quiet moan from him. As she sucked on his skin, he started to shiver, stifling a cry. She broke the kiss, leaving a small hicky mark on his neck, and whispered in his ear, "You're ticklish, aren't you?"

He nodded and started running his lips over her exposed collarbone, finding a particularly sensitive spot right around the middle of the collar bone. Sakura instinctively arched into his kiss, emitting little cries of pleasure as he caressed her sensitive skin with his mouth and tongue. Naruto's touch felt so warm and comforting, she couldn't remember why she had any doubts about this in the first place. It felt so right, so natural, she wondered why she hadn't decided to do this earlier. She brought his head up, and crushed her lips into his. The kiss pushed him over onto his back. Sakura straddled his body at his waist, and pinned his shoulders to the bed as she feverishly kissed him. He embraced her, and pulled her close to his body. When she finally came up for air, Naruto asked, "Sakura-chan, are you sure you want to do this? I don't want to do anything you don't want."

She playfully bonked him on the head, and cried, "Baka! Of course this is what I want. I'm the one having my way with you aren't I?" She started fiddling with his hitai-ate before pulling it off and casually dropping it on the floor beside the bed. He smiled in anticipation, and undid her hitai-ate, which was tied around her hair like a ribbon. He carefully pulled it off her head, allowing her shoulder length pink hair to fall loosely around her head. He gingerly ran his fingers through her hair, and kissed her gently on the lips. She started unzipping his jacket as she sat up on his lap, feeling the hard bulge in his pants.

"I can see you're ready," she chuckled as she pulled his jacket off. She ran her hands over his smooth cotton t-shirt, feeling the well toned muscle of his chest. "Ooh, you're so yummy," she laughed as he uncontrollably shivered and laughed from her touch. She soon pulled of his t-shirt, exposing his well toned physique, and chiseled abs. She then unzipped her shirt, and tossed it by the wayside. Only a layer of snow-white linen bandages hid her modest bosom from view. Naruto sat up, and helped her unwrap the bindings from her chest as she shivered from his touch. It took a while, but the end result was well worth it. Naruto softly caressed the milky-white skin of her breasts. Cautiously, he started sucking on one of her nipples, and was rewarded with gentle coos of pleasure.

Naruto ran his hands slowly down the silky soft skin of Sakura's sides, pausing as he reached the waist band of her skirt. He fumbled around for a bit before finding the clasps that held her skirt tight to her waist. He unbuttoned them, and then tossed her skirt on the floor. She unbuttoned his pants, and helped him slide out of them, revealing a pair of white boxers that were speckled with red hearts. Delightfully tacky. The blond haired shinobi pulled down her spandex shorts, and gazed in wonderment at her pink silk panties. Almost there.

"I like pink," he laughed as he slid her panties down, and playfully ran his hand through her pink carpet."

"I bet you do," she chuckled. She pushed him over onto his back, and pulled his boxers off. Third base, almost home. She leaned down over his body, and swung one leg over his body so that she was now on all fours, looming over him. He wrapped his arms around her, and brought her close to him as they locked in a passionate kiss. The soft skin of her bosom was pressed onto the firm muscle of his chest, send sparks running through Sakura's skin. Oh, to be able to just linger like this forever, safe in his embrace for the rest of eternity. That would have been heaven. She guided his hand, running it down her side, over her thigh, and then back up the inside of her thigh. He got the idea quickly.

He ran his hand up and down the inside of her thigh as she kissed his cheek and neck. Each stroke, he got a little bit closer to that most intimate part of her anatomy. He soon reached it, earning of short gasp and hitched breathing from Sakura. He'd never thought that reading the Ero-sennin's smut novels might have ever paid off. Now they had. Unlike most men on their first trip that most intimate place, he actually had some idea what to do.

He was a little clumsy at first, but he could easily distinguish between the nonverbal signs Sakura gave when what he did was pleasurable, and when what he did was uncomfortable or painful. He stroked gently across the lips of her vulva, teasing but never entering. An ethereal warmth started spreading through Sakura, emanating from where he touched her and spreading all throughout her body.

He slowly spread the lips of her pussy, and continued to rub those intimate parts ever so gently, until he founded a small pearl of flesh towards the front. "This must be the spot Ero-sennin always talked about…" he thought to himself. He placed his thumb on it, and slowly rubbed it, earning soft cries of pleasure from Sakura. She played with his hair and gazed straight into his cobalt blue eyes as he massaged her clitoris.

"D-don't…d-don't stop!" she cried, as the warmth continued to spread through her body. Soon, she felt like she was on fire. She hugged him close, and stifled her cries of pleasure with love bites to his neck.

"I love you, Sakura-chan," he whispered softly into her ear. He waited for her permission to continue.

"I know, gods do I know," she replied. She grabbed his manhood, and slowly maneuvered herself to permit him entrance. This was far from her first rodeo, but this was certainly the first time it was with anyone who really mattered. Just who was he to her? A best friend who she happened to be sleeping with tonight? A lover? It was all happening so fast. As he entered her, she thought of all the times she had talked about her own sexual conquests with him. She felt guilty, for not thinking of what he might have been feeling then. Her breathing hitched as he pushed further into her. She kissed him softly on the lips, and began rocking her hips. He instinctively quirked his hips in time with hers. Her touch was simply delightful; he shivered with pleasure as she ran her hands across the skin of his chest.

Their breathing quickened, and it became harder to continue the feverish pace of kissing that they had sustained earlier. Gasping for air, Sakura contented herself with nibbling on Naruto's ear while he whispered sweet nothings into her ear. The warmth that had spread over Sakura's body now turned into a burning electricity. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, and her cries of pleasure went from soft coos to loud cries of ecstasy. Naruto grunted along with her, hoping to the gods that he could hold out long enough. He tightened his body, and held on to Sakura for dear life, hoping to weather the storm.

She came first. Her whole body shivered as she felt the muscles of her pelvic floor contract. The rush of pleasure that washed over her was overwhelming. She moaned and bit his neck to stifle her cries of rapture as her body went rigid, and she dug her fingernails into his shoulder.

"Ugh, Sakura-chan!," he moaned, as Sakura's internal muscular contractions overwhelmed him. He gasped with pleasure, and then fell limp on the bed as she came again, this time bringing softer cries.

They lay motionless in each other's arms for a minute, just savoring every second of the experience. Sakura whispered, "I love you," into Naruto's ear, and slowly perched herself up on her elbows, looking down directly into Naruto's eyes. Her pink hair hung loosely down over her forehead, partially concealing her face.

Naruto reached his hand up, and brushed her hair away from her face, tucking the locks of pink behind her ear. "You are so beautiful, Sakura-chan," he whispered, causing her to blush again. Instantly, insecurity started to wash over Naruto. How could he ever live up to such a wonderful woman and talented kunoichi? Doubt gnawed at him as he remembered her devotion to Sasuke. She loved the bastard so much…what was going to happen when they finally rescued him? He finally resolved his doubts: "I don't care! All that matters right now is that we're here together, in each other's arms." Still, he had to be reassured of one thing.

"Sakura-chan, promise me one thing."

"Huh?"

"When we find Sasuke, please promise me that no matter what happens, we will always be friends."

"Naruto you fool, can you see I've already made my choice? I want to be with you…" she paused, plagued by uncertainty. Could she really make that assurance to Naruto?

"You love him so much, Sakura-chan. I won't be angry or hurt if decide that you want to be with him. All I want…All I need to know is that we'll always be friends, no matter what happens."

"No matter what, we will always be best friends. There was never any doubt to that." She embraced him with a passionate kiss, and then asked, "Would you mind sleeping in my room with me?"

He smiled, "Of course not, Sakura-chan. I'd love to sleep in here with you."

"Good. Just make sure that Kakashi-sensei doesn't find out. I don't want him worrying anymore than he has to." With that, she tore back the luxurious comforter and sheets, and slipped between them. Naruto slipped in beside her, and pulled her body close to his. They cuddled together for about a half an hour, quietly chatting about everything under the sun before finally succumbing to exhaustion, and falling asleep in each other's arms.