Chapter 4: Passion
Author's Notes: Revised as of 2/20/10.
The cool air of the early spring made travel easy as Sakura, Naruto, Sai and Kakashi made their trek towards the sea side city in which they'd meet the Suna mole. A small chorus of birds chirped in the background as they walked, signaling winter's retreat and the inexorable march of summer. The road was fairly straight and level; a well worn line of exposed brown dirt that slowly undulated its way through the forested hinterland. Like before their lunch stop, Sai and Kakashi took point, carefully watching the road ahead while Naruto and Sakura covered the rear.
Their pace was as brisk as before; just fast enough to make good time, but not so fast as to arouse the suspicions of other travelers. By now, Sakura was really regretting bringing along the pair of tight low-rise white jeans. They had become quite uncomfortable after hours of walking. By now, Naruto began to take notice of her discomfort. He eyed her with concern for a moment.
"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" he asked.
Sakura almost brushed off his concerns, but she stopped herself. "Come one Sakura, he's your lover! " Inner Sakura chided, "tell him what's wrong. He's obviously concerned." The few times that Inner Sakura ever did show up anymore, she was usually right. This was all part and partial to Sakura learning to trust herself; she knew deep down that she needed to open up to the people who cared about her, but it was so hard to bring herself to do it, even about silly things like this.
"Well, it's just that, well, my pants are too tight, and it's getting really uncomfortable," she replied sheepishly. Number one fashion faux pas: admitting that you screwed up.
"Oh. Well, if that's all, I've got a spare pair of shorts you can wear—don't' worry, they're clean," Naruto beamed as he began digging through his backpack. "Just jump behind a bush, and change quickly."
She took the clothes from him, blushing slightly. Sakura ran behind a tree, and breathed a sigh of relief; Men's clothes were so much more comfortable than women's clothes. While Naruto stood guard, overflowing with unnecessary chivalry, Sakura hurriedly changed out of the uncomfortable jeans, and into the pair of shorts. It then occurred to her that his charity was really unnecessary. She could have just changed into another pair of her own clothes. Was she that embarrassed that she'd made such a stupid mistake? Sakura knew she clearly still had issues to work out, but that would be for another time.
The walk carried on more smoothly now that she'd been freed from the extremely uncomfortable jeans. She walked close to Naruto, holding his hand. They didn't say a thing, because some feelings just cannot be expressed with words. No words needed to be said. The quiet serenity and comfort of their bond was plenty.
Meanwhile, Sai began looking through the smut novel "Icha Icha Paradise" that he had swiped from Kakashi earlier. For the most part, it was actually a quite an intriguing book, at least to Sai, emotionally and culturally stunted as he was. Sai's initial impression of sex was wholly negative; it was some mysterious force that made otherwise rational adults transform into heedless, blathering morons. Many of the characters in "Icha Icha Paradise" were exactly that. There seemed to be no explanation, no rhyme or reason to their absurdity.
But then Sai stumbled upon a clue to this mystery. There seemed to be some primal force that caused this idiocy. A force called "love." Sai had known the word before and had even though he understood what it meant. But dictionary definitions seldom do emotions justice, and without experiencing it, Sai did not fully understand it. Like the first human staring out into the vast oceans, struck with terror and wonder of the ferocity of the sea's stormy tempests, Sai too had just really discovered the power that love commanded. And he too was awestruck.
A coursing river of new insight and understanding swept through Sai's mind. As his sudden epiphany washed over him, he couldn't help but wonder what it felt to really love someone, or to really be loved. As he pondered this, a sudden realization hit him with the force of a sixteen ton weight. He glanced back over his shoulder cautiously, catching in his gaze the picturesque sight of Sakura and Naruto, walking together and holding hands. The perfect picture of joy, bliss and young love, if there ever was such a thing. "I think I understand now, Kakashi-senpai," he thought, "That is what love looks like in real life. That is what holding hands and smiling means."
Sai returned to reading Kakashi's smut novel, this time with a measure of eagerness. He hoped to learn more about this curious force called "love," and to glean whatever understanding he could of love from the well worn book.
The trip continued on uneventfully, following the winding path of the backcountry road as it undulated its path through the tall stands of sweet smelling pine trees. The warm embrace of a gentle south wind caused the trees to sway in a slow dance, as if they were waving a friendly greeting to the passing travelers. As the day went on, and the shadows lengthened, the road passed out of forested back country and into a more settled rolling green grassland. The road slowly turned from worn dirt to rough stone cobbling, and the frequency of meeting other travelers increased.
As the sun began creeping back below the horizon, Team Kakashi finally reached the waypoint after their long trek. It was a cozy little country Inn, complete with pub and bath, nestled in a small thicket next to a crystal clear stream. They procured their rooms with little trouble, dropped their packs off, and then settle down in the pub area of the Inn for a quick meal. Dinner was quiet due to everyone's exhaustion, but there really wasn't anything to discuss anyway. Most feelings were understood without the need to vocalize them, especially between Naruto and Sakura. The food was okay for the price, but definitely not anything to write home about.
As everyone started breaking up, ready to head to their rooms, Kakashi quietly pulled Sakura aside, asking "Can I have a word in private with you?"
She quietly acquiesced as Sai and Naruto wandered off to the baths. She sat back down at the table with Kakashi. "What's on your mind, Kakashi-senpai?" she asked.
"You and Naruto actually."
"What about us?" she inquired, feigning detachment. She didn't want him to be worried, so she decided she'd just smooth things over and pretend nothing was different.
"You and Naruto have become closer all of a sudden. A lot closer, in fact. I'm asking about this not because I disapprove, but because I'm worried that you might allow this to affect your judgment on this mission."
"So, you know about…well, us." Her cheery expression evaporated instantly, changing into a more somber mood.
"I only suspected," he clarified, "but thank you for being candid with me. Sakura, trust me on this one: don't let your feelings for Naruto adversely influence your judgment. I know it's painful to think about, but there may come a time when you have to make an unenviable choice on a mission. And your feelings for Naruto could cause you to make a decision that jeopardizes not only your own life, but also the lives of your teammates." Kakashi sighed in frustration. He hated having to be the bugbear, but he couldn't abandon his duty to his teammates.
"I understand Kakashi-senpai. I'll be careful," she reassured him.
"I trust you, Sakura. That decision will probably never come, but always be mindful that someday it might come."
That night, Naruto wasn't sleeping in his own bed. He had snuck out of his room, and quietly met Sakura at hers in the middle of the night, like they had planned earlier in the day. She met him at the door naked, and quickly raptured him into her room, pulling him close with a powerful hug. He quickly undressed, and followed Sakura over to the edge of her bed. He kissed her passionately, and held her body close to his as she ran her fingers through his shoulder length blond locks.
Sakura kissed his neck, leaving little love bites wherever her soft lips met his tanned skin. She wrapped one leg around his, and with a quick flex she shifted his center of gravity, and pushed him over onto the bed. After running her fingers down his chest, watching him giggle from her gentle caress on his skin, she pulled down underwear.
Naruto propped himself up on his elbows. "I like where this is going," he grinned.
"I'll bet you do. I've only done this a couple times before, so bear with me. Tell me what feels good, and what doesn't work for you."
For some reason, the flashes of imagination, of Sakura in bed with another man, turned him on. Whatever it was that Naruto was feeling, it was weird. It couldn't be jealosy either; he'd long abandoned those feelings with Sakura. At least he thought, anyway. He'd felt something like this whenever she would talk to him about her flings with other men, but never this strong. He also didn't care much of romantic tripe about virginal love, or that Sakura was apparently much more experienced at this sort of thing than he was. Beyond what he'd read in Icha Icha, he didn't have much of a clue about these sorts of things. Thankfully she could lead the way. He nodded to her.
She put on a wolfish grin, and then went to town. Delicately stroking his cock, Sakura placed a few gentle kisses on the head, earning an ear-to-ear grin from Naruto. She ran her tongue up the shaft a couple of times for good measure, then gently wrapped her mouth around the glans. Continuing to stroke the shaft, she ran her tongue around him, earning a gentle moan from him. She accidentally scraped him with her teeth a couple of times, earning a quiet "ow" each time, before finding her rhythm.
If Naruto could have thought anything beyond "Wow" right now, it would have been "I don't think you need any directions." He ran his hand through her hair while she continued her ministrations, until the contractions came. His hand balled up into a fist in her hair as his body tightened. As the white hot knife edge receded, he realized his faux pas, and let go of her hair. She scowled at him a bit, before heading to the wastebasket to spit out the mess.
"Ow, that hurt!" she cried as she sat down next to him.
"I'm sorry, I kinda lost myself there."
"Eh, it's okay. Just be more careful next time." She kissed him deeply. She laid back on the bed, pulling him down on top of her. He fondled her breasts and kissed her neck. Her words came out as soft moans: "Now... you do me..."
Naruto looked up at her for a moment, flashing a foxy grin, before he slowly pulled back, leaving a trail of kisses down her chest and her stomach, before following her bikini line down to her pussy. He paused only momentarily, before giving her labia a cautious lick.
"Oh, keep going," she urged.
Naruto grabbed her by the hips, and began licking at the soft folds of her vulva. Taking her labored breathing as a good sign, he continued this general plan of attack until Sakura cried, "Uh, that's good, but go further up...go after the clitoris, that's where it really feels good."
He complied quickly, moving up to the hood of the clitoris, licking on and under it. He alternated between focusing on this special spot, and loving the rest of her delicate parts. Her breathing quickened, and she let out soft cries at first. But as they increased in intensity, her modesty took over, and she grabbed a pillow to scream into. The first orgasm hit soon enough, and she bit the pillow as her hips tried to buck, straining against Naruto's strong grip. The intensity of her rapture slowly lessened, but the torrent came again but a moment later. It came one final time after that, and the burning fire in her heart cooled to embers.
Sakura pulled his head up, and she stooped to kiss him. He quickly pushed her over onto the bed and pinned her arms above her head before showering her with kisses. She laughed warmly as he paused to drink in the sight of her. "Oh, if only I could have half of your boundless energy..." she cried, before slipping out of his hold and pulled his body close to hers. "Are you ready? Or do you need a bit more time to recover?"
"I'm ready as ever, Sakura-chan," he grinned. She nodded once, and cautiously pushed into her, taking delight in her shivers of pleasure. He began rocking his hips slowly at first while she guided his thrusts with her hands gripped firmly on his tight butt.
Even with her guidance, verbal and otherwise, it took some time to find her G-spot. But Naruto was always eager to learn from Sakura, and was willing to endure the embarrassment of amateur mistakes to learn how to please her. Unfortunately, he didn't quite have the experience and stamina yet to keep up with her, and in spite of his best efforts, he came too quickly, and collapsed onto her with exhaustion.
Between ragged breaths, he managed to cough out "Ugh, I'm sorry Sakura-chan, I just can't go on."
Sakura was a little miffed, but for his second time, his performance was certainly admirable. "It's okay, Naruto, this sort of thing happens." As he rolled over beside her to catch his breath, Sakura put aside her usual embarrassment about masturbation, closed her eyes and decided to finish manually. Naruto watched her with amazement: the thought of girls masturbating, let alone Sakura-chan, had never occurred to him. He watched her stroke her clitoris, and plunge her fingers in and out. With her other hand, she caressed her body. Finally, she cried out, and wilted onto the bed.
Naruto pulled her close. She kissed him once, before pulling back the covers, and slipping beneath the sheets. He slid in after her, and they lay in each other's arms, exhausted and swept up in the ecstasy of the moment. Sakura kissed Naruto softly on the neck while he whispered sweet nothings in her ear. They kissed each other good night, and quietly drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the long day.
Naruto suddenly found himself outside at night, faced with the fuzzy image of two crouching figures and a nondescript landscape stretching out before him. The image slowly came to focus, at first revealing the identity of the two kneeling figures. The first was Sasuke, but not quite the same Sasuke he had seen the last time they had met. He knelt in exhaustion, covered with at least a dozen different slash and blunt force trauma wounds. His eyes, though, were the most strikingly different feature; they were filled with sorrow, regret and remorse.
The second figure was Sakura-chan. She was wounded too, but not as badly as Sasuke. She quickly patched up as much of Sasuke's wounds as she could, her eyes fixed on his, filled with focused intent. The two were crouched next to a large boulder, which was situated in a small clearing in the middle of a nondescript thicket. The full moon shown down on the scene, providing a eerily apocalyptic glow to the scene.
Naruto found himself crouched right next to them. He tried to reach out to touch them, but he couldn't. He could feel the gentle breeze on his body, but he couldn't control it. It was like he was sitting in the passenger seat in his head while his body was on autopilot. He could hear rustling in the thicket; it was faint, but unmistakable. They were surrounded by dozens of shinobi, most likely enemies.
Naruto suddenly found himself saying, "We're surrounded."
Sakura nodded in agreement, and then brushed Sasuke's dirty, matted hair out of his face. "We've come this far, Sasuke-kun," she declared, "We're not giving up yet." She turned to Naruto and cried, "Status check!"
Naruto was both in control and helpless. It was like his personality was split. "I'm all out of kunai and shuriken, but my chakra reserves are fine and I'm not wounded," he replied.
"My chakra is almost completely depleted," Sasuke replied forlornly, "My wounds aren't too bad, but I lost my katana in the last skirmish."
"And my chakra is almost depleted too," Sakura admitted, "but, I still have a couple kunai and I'm not too badly hurt…" she trailed off, staring at the blood on her hand. Sasuke would barely be able to fight, and she'd very soon find herself in the same situation. Only the indefatigable Naruto would be able to put up much of a fight. But the odds were overwhelming. "This is the end, isn't it?" she continued, "The end of Team Seven, the end of our quest…the end of everything. Still, I'm glad to be with you two in our last moments." She smiled weakly, trying to find any joy she could in the grim and hopeless situation.
Naruto nodded in grim agreement. He hated to admit it, but he couldn't find any way out of this mess. "I couldn't think of any better way to go then all of us fighting our last fight together," he replied. He reached his hand out for one last show of solidarity, when Sasuke interjected.
"Wait!" he exclaimed, "There is another way out of this." Sakura and Naruto stared intently at him as he continued. "Bargain me back to Orochimaru in exchange for your lives."
"Wait, no!" shouted Sakura.
"You can't expect us to do that!" cried Naruto.
"Just listen!" he groaned, "Please, I can't let my mistakes get you two killed. You've already done more for me than anyone could ever ask for, and I won't let you die for my sins. You've done enough, please let me go…" As much as it pained Sasuke to say goodbye after so long, he knew that this pain would pale in comparison to the pain of knowing that he was responsible for the deaths of the only people left in this world who gave a damn about him. This was the price of his salvation, so he reckoned, and he would gladly bear it.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks, "You can't! You just can't do this!"
Sasuke gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "A monster like me doesn't deserve the love of an angel, Sakura." He kissed her softly, and continued, "This the only way."
She nodded in acquiescence. They'd come so far, and now it had come to this. "I'll never forget you, Sasuke-kun!"
"Wait, we can't let the Sharingan fall into Orochimaru's hands!" cried Naruto. He turned to Sasuke, expecting him to back down, but instead he was met with a look of stern confidence.
"Already ahead of you, deadlast. I have no intention of letting my body fall into his hands. After I'm sure you're safe, I'll commit suicide."
Naruto just couldn't argue with him. He was so determined. He nodded in agreement. "Sakura-chan," he cried, "Hand him one of your kunai." As she handed him the coal black dagger, Naruto held out his hand to Sasuke.
Sasuke grasped his wrist. "I love you, man," he choked out, "...and I'm sorry...for everything. Tell Kakashi-sensei that I'm sorry. He was right, you were all right."
Naruto could swear he saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes. "See you on the other side, Sasuke," he replied, choking back the tears before letting go. Part of him was going to die with Sasuke, and he was sure that the same was true for Sakura.
"Hey, Orochimaru!" yelled Sasuke, "I know you're out there! I have a deal for you!"
"And that would be?" answered a serpentine cackle.
"You let my friends go, and I'll give myself up freely! You refuse, and I'll kill myself right here, right now!" Sasuke shouted back.
A tall, pale white-faced shinobi walked out of the undergrowth, "Then I guess we have a deal, Sasuke. Come on over here, Sasuke. I promise that no harm to your friends will come from me."
Sasuke painfully stood up, and limped towards Orochimaru, carefully concealing his kunai. When he was about half way to Orochimaru, a sudden feeling hit him that something was horribly wrong. Orochimaru flashed a devious smile, and Sasuke knew instantly that Orochimaru had an ace up his sleeve.
As Naruto and Sakura were about to make their escape, a dozen sound shinobi blinked into view and prepared to attack. Sasuke notice this out of the corner of his eye, and immediately shouted, "It's a trap!" As fast as lightning, he drew the kunai, and made to stab himself in the heart, hoping to shock Orochimaru enough into giving up on Naruto and Sakura. The tip of the kunai stopped a millimeter away from his chest, his arm restrained by Orochimaru. Sasuke was shocked by how fast he had moved, but retained the presence of mind to continue resisting.
Meanwhile, Naruto slammed his Rasengan deep into the chest of the nearest Sound shinobi, sending him spiraling away into his comrades. He quickly made some seals, and four kage bunshin appeared in a ring around the exhausted Sakura. Sound nin continued to stream in from all around him, and he and Sakura did their best to beat them back, but it became quickly apparent that their resistance was futile.
In the melee, Naruto desperately tried to keep tabs on what was happening with Sasuke. It didn't look good from where he was at. Orochimaru has succeeded in restraining his prize, and now pried the kunai from his grip.
Sakura fought with all she had left, unleashing the ferocity of a pack of wild dogs. One by one, she beat back the advancing enemy. Naruto could hear the sickening crunch of shattering bones with each one of Sakura's blows. Even at the brink of death she could summon strength rivaled only by her former sensei, Tsunade.
But, no matter how hard they fought, it wouldn't be enough. One lucky enemy slipped through Naruto's phalanx of shadow clones, and landed a solid katana thrust in Sakura's back. The blade tore through her pink shirt, and pierced her heart and lungs. She let out a gasp of agony, and whipped around, roundhouse kicking the faceless enemy into the next world. She collapsed to the ground from the pain and loss of blood.
Naruto quickly caught her body, and cradled her, hoping to whatever higher power there was that this wasn't true. As the tears streamed from his eyes, he whispered, "Sakura-chan! Hold on, please dear gods hold on!" His shadow clones continued to fight with reckless abandon around him, keeping the enemy off of his back. Orochimaru had spared nothing in his gamble. His most elite warriors went into the fray, and they couldn't be so easily dispatched.
Sakura gasped with pain and cried, "Oh, Naruto, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this couldn't work out."
"Shhh," he whispered, "save your strength. We'll make it through this!"
His beloved Sakura-chan fell limp in his arms. Her last breath came out as, "I love you." Naruto kissed her one last time, gingerly shut her eyes, and lay her down on the ground. One by one, he heard the sound of his shadow clones dissipating. This was the end. He wasn't going to give up yet though. He'd try to take that Orochimaru bastard with him. He formed the Futon Rasen Shuriken in his right hand, and charged straight towards Orochimaru.
Alas, it was all in vain. Four of Orochimaru's elite shinobi intercepted him, and stabbed him from four different directions. The technique exploded, sending both Naruto and his hapless agressors flying out in different directions. His broken body landed with a thud right next Sakura's. As his vision faded to black, all he could hear was the maniacal cackle of Orochimaru.
Naruto awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat. He found himself sitting up in bed, shivering from fear and rage. He glanced quickly to his left, and was relieved to find Sakura sleeping peacefully beside him. It had all been a nightmare. A horrible nightmare, the worst he'd ever experienced.
He lay back down on the pillow, gasping, trying to catch his breath and calm down. He finally drifted back to sleep after what seemed like an eternity, still plagued by the nightmare. What did it mean?