Heyo! The second to last chapter is finally here!
As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/follows and thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far! Motivation is good!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed since last time: Goddess of Night Eternal faith, Echo Uchiha, DanddoSeri, Toasty Warrior, Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, Blazing CobaltX,
Goddess of Night Eternal faith: I got your chapter 7 review just about ten minutes after I had posted chapter 8 =P I'm glad you like the story so much, and I dunno, Sakura MIGHT be saying some things this chapter. /e innocent whistles
Echo Uchiha: thanks!
Toasty Warrior: Hehe, /e crosses fingers. Hopefully you approve :D
Kyuubi loves NaruSaku: more NaruSaku fluff coming up!
Blazing CobaltX: glad you like the story! And yes, I gave Sakura a water infinity to boost her power so she would realistically stand a bit more of a chance vs. Sasuke. Kai is used to release a genjutsu, I'm not sure if it directly translates to release, but I wanted a different word to release Sakura's technique because she's not dispelling a genjutsu, and according to Google translator, Ririsu means release in Japanese =)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto would wear cloaks more often. Surely he noticed how badass his dad looked in his cloak while Minato was resealing the Kyubi for him right? Came on Naruto, jump on the badass cloak train already…
Alright, with all that done. Onto the show. Please do enjoy "A Jinchuriki's Husk"- Chapter 9: Duty
Kushina Namikaze watched through the pedestal as her husband spoke with their future daughter-in-law.
"That's some jutsu you created there Sakura." Minato said to the girl after watching her place her self-created jutsu on their son.
"Thank you Hokage-sama."
Kushina's eyes lit up as a cruel smile formed on her face.
"Hokage-sama? Oh not you too…" her husband groaned.
It's been a while since I've called him Hokage-sama. At least a year. Maybe I should… no. He's been good, no need to tease him anymore. She mused.
"Sensei was never a fan of being called "Hokage-sama" he insisted everyone continue calling him Minato. Kushina however, refused, much to sensei's displeasure, and would keep calling him Hokage-sama every now and again." Kakashi said, trying to clear up his student's confusion.
Kushina chuckled, it really was fun calling Minato "Hokage-sama" his reaction was just too priceless. She began re-contemplating her decision to stop calling him Hokage-sama. No, it was fun, but he really doesn't like it…
"I haven't been the Hokage for 16 years now and she STILL calls me Hokage-sama from time to time…" her husband complained. Kushina's face twisted in anger.
COMPLAINING ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK? Oh you'll regret that… Hokage-sama. The evil smirk was back on Kushina's face as she watched Minato speak with Sakura.
She beamed in pride as Sakura chose to yell in her son's ear to wake him up. I definitely approve of this one!
Her husband's hand began to become transparent.
"I love you dad…" Naruto whispered. A tear ran down Kushina's cheek.
"I love you too son. Take care Kakashi. Sakura, take care of my son, Goodbye and good luck Naruto." Minato disappeared from the house, and reappeared next to her.
"That was very sweet…" Kushina cooed as she gave her husband a soft kiss. She pulled back from him. "Hokage-sama." She said with an evil wink.
Minato groaned.
After Minato disappeared , Kakashi left leaving Sakura and Naruto in the house alone. Sakura walked up to Naruto and pulled him into a hug, letting him cry on her shoulder.
"I'm… sorry Sakura-chan. I shouldn't be crying. My dad was always dead, and I'm happy I got to see him… I don't know why…"
"Shhh Naruto, it's ok. You just had to say goodbye. Don't apologize, just let it out." She said gently to her knucklehead.
After five minutes Naruto's tears stopped and he pulled out of her embrace.
"Thanks Sakura-chan…" he muttered.
She fixed him with another soft smile. "Anytime Naruto."
The two just sat there in awkward silence before Sakura broke it.
"So… are you going to take your Father's last name now that you know the truth?"
"No… I keep my dad's memory alive every time I use the rasengan or the hirashin. The only way I keep my mom's memory alive is through her maiden name. I made it this far as an Uzumaki and I'm going to become the Hokage as an Uzumaki. Besides, if I accept the Namikaze name, then people will treat me differently because I'm the Yondaime's son. I don't want that. I will gain their recognition and acceptance by myself." The jinchuriki said, eyes full of determination.
Sakura beamed in pride at him. That's my Naruto. She hadn't believed it was possible, but she respected her knucklehead even more.
"Are you going to move to this house? It's a lot nicer than your apartment."
"No… I don't think I'll ever be able to live here. This house is where I was supposed to grow up with my parents. This house is where we were supposed to be a happy family. It's just too much for me to be here…"
Sakura didn't really know how to respond, so instead she again wrapped her arms around her favorite blonde. He slowly returned the hug, and the two stood in silence again, wrapped in the others' arms.
"Naruto… we need to talk. About what I said that day you left Konoha… that wasn't me."
Naruto's face dropped into a frown.
"Oh don't give me that Uzumaki. You. Are. The. Kyubi. You are an evil and terrible demon who slaughtered thousands of innocent villagers."
"Sasuke drugged me with some kind of potion that allows a sharingan user to control the victim without the victim realizing it. Naruto, I would never say those things to you. I'm so sorry you had to hear those terrible words come out of my mouth, I know it must've hurt so much…"
"Naruto Uzumaki, a demon like you… doesn't deserve happiness. Demons like you only deserve misery."
"Naruto, I'm sorry that I allowed Sasuke to do that to you. But I took care of him, so you don't need to worry about that anymore." Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts.
"What do you mean… by you took care of him… Sakura-chan?" he sputtered.
She couldn't have…
"I killed him." Sakura stated plainly. "Using me to break you… that was the last straw. I haven't really wanted him back for a while, I only wanted him back so you would stop risking your life. But after he hurt you so badly, and handed you over to the Akatsuki… I couldn't forgive him."
There's no way she could have… Sakura Haruno loves Sasuke Uchiha. That's how it's always been, that's how it will always be…
"I was so mad at him, that I fought him one-on-one. I know revenge isn't the answer Naruto, but I couldn't help it. Naruto, I fought Sasuke. And with your mother's help, I killed him. Naruto's eyes widened.
FLASHBACK
"Kushina…" Minato said softly looking down at the pedestal. "She doesn't have much time. You need to go before it's too late."
Kushina glanced at her husband, and tightened the embrace her and Naruto shared. "Naruto, I have to go now."
FLASH IN
"Sakura-chan… that's… not possible. You…"
Sakura knew exactly what he was going to say.
"I love you." She interrupted, her emerald eyes held no doubt in them.
Sakura loves me?
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan, can you say that again?"
Instead of answering, Sakura grabbed the back of the jinchuriki's head and brought his lips down against hers. Naruto returned her kiss, before pulling back to stare into her eyes. Sakura stared back into his eyes, her eyes were shining with love.
FLASHBACK
"When I'm taken from you, and Madara uses me for his moon-eye plan, do you really think all of Konoha will be safe?" the Kyubi questioned a broken Naruto. "No, they will all be slaughtered. Your sensei, your Hokage, Iruka, your friends, your pink haired vixen…"
"I don't have a pink-haired vixen fox. I never had, and never will." Naruto spat, with a slight tone of anger and hurt to his otherwise dead voice.
"That doesn't mean you still don't care about her. I know you kit, you still want to protect those people, especially her. If you just give up now, you're as good as sending all of your precious people, along with the rest of the world, to certain death."
Naruto showed the first true hint of emotion since being broken by Sakura, as his face contorted into a frown.
"Someone else will rise up. Madara won't win. There's no need for me to fight…"
FLASH IN
"He's right…" Naruto muttered.
"Who's right?" a confused Sakura questioned.
"Huh?" Naruto hadn't realized he said that out loud.
"Who's right?" Sakura repeated, staring into her knucklehead's eyes. Naruto sighed.
"Kyubi. Kyubi's right. When Sasuke was taking me to the Akatsuki after… you know. Kyubi was trying to talk me into escaping from Sasuke. He told me that if I gave up, then there would be no one who could stop Madara, and I would be damning this entire world to death." The jinchuriki said softly, his sapphire eyes were strangely distant.
"I told him, that someone else will rise up. That Madara wouldn't win, that I wasn't needed…"
Sakura still did not know what to say, and tried to pull him into a tighter embrace. She held back a gasp when he resisted.
"And then I came back to life. Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade and Gaara, three of the most powerful ninja alive couldn't touch Madara, and he was just playing with them… Then I had to fight him, and I was only able to land a couple of blows…"
The confused expression on Sakura's face, was replaced with a proud smile.
"You were amazing Naruto." Again, she had to hold back a gasp when Naruto did not return her smile, instead his face tugged further downwards into a frown.
"No… I wasn't. I was going all out against him without the Kyubi. He wasn't even taking me seriously. I only landed TWO blows Sakura."
"But he didn't land any blows on you!" the kunoichi fired back. Damnit Naruto, you were amazing, I'm not going to let you downplay that! She thought angrily.
"That's the difference between my fighting style, and Madara's. He only needs to land one hit to end a fight. And if it weren't for my father, he would've gotten me. If my father hadn't arrived when he had, I would be in another dimension right now. Madara toying with me, was able to beat me in my sage mode. He completely exhausted my chakra to the point where I couldn't use hirashin to escape. And you want to tell me that I was amazing?"
"Naruto…" You were amazing…
"NO SAKURA!" Sakura jumped back, she hadn't expected him to yell, much less at her.
"I was far too weak…"
"That's ok Naruto, we'll get stronger together. I'll help you any way I…"
"NO SAKURA." The whiskered boy yelled, before his face and tone softened. "I'm sorry, but there's not going to be any "we" about this."
"NANI?" Sakura yelled, tears forming in her eyes. "What do you mean there isn't any we? I love you, I know you still love me. I know you love me from the kiss we just shared!"
"I can't afford to be with you right now Sakura. I need to focus all of my energy into training to become stronger so I can beat Madara, I'm the only one who can stop him."
"I DON'T CARE!" Sakura screamed, tears now flowing down her face. "You can focus all of your energy into training, I understand. I just want to be with you. And besides," Sakura forced a grin onto her face and tried to lighten her tone. "Having me nearby will allow you to go all out on your training, I'll be able to heal you up right away!"
"I'm not going to be doing that kind of training Sakura-chan…"
"I still don't care. You can do whatever training you want or need. I just want to be able to curl up with you when you fall asleep…" Sakura said. I'm not going to back down. Naruto baka you love me and I love you, I'm not going to let both you and me be miserable for no damn reason…
"That's another problem Sakura-chan…"
"Me wanting to sleep with you is a problem?" Sakura all but shrieked.
"Sakura-chan… I… I don't know how to say this…"
"I don't care what you have to say, it doesn't change the fact that I love you, and I will always love you. I'm not going to take no for an answer!"
"Hehe, you're so stubborn Sakura-chan…" Naruto said softly, scratching the back of his head.
Sakura, thinking she had finally broke through to her knucklehead, smiled and tried to kiss him. She was again surprised when Naruto turned his face so she kissed his cheek.
"Sakura-chan… I can't do this with you. You single-handedly destroyed me. You broke me to the point where I didn't care anymore, where I just wanted to die…"
"THAT. WASN'T. ME! SASUKE WAS CONTROLLING ME AND MADE ME DO THAT YOU BAKA! I LOVE YOU, I WOULD NEVER HURT YOU!" Sakura bellowed, tears freely falling from her eyes.
"But it was you Sakura…" Naruto's sad soft voice replied. "I know you weren't in control, but Sasuke wasn't able to break me, you were. If Sasuke had walked up and said those things to me, I would've been fine. If anyone else would've said those things to me, I would've been fine. But the fact is, that whether you were in control or not, you said those things. You broke me."
Sakura began sobbing. "Na..ruto. Please… I… I… It wasn't my fault! Please you have to believe that I would never hurt you…"
"That doesn't matter Sakura…" Naruto again replied in a sad soft voice. "What matters is that you can hurt me. You can break me. I'm the only one who can stand against Madara right now. It's my duty to ensure that I prepare myself and defeat Madara. If for some reason, you manage to break me again, there will be no one to stand against him…"
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ME BREAKING YOU. I WILL NEVER HURT YOU!" Sakura screamed into his face.
"You already broke me once Sakura… I'm so sorry, but I just cannot risk it. My dad already told me that him, mom, and Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't be able to help me again. So I don't have the safety net that I had the first time. I'm sorry, but I can't be with you…"
Sakura dropped onto her knees, sobbing, hugging her arms.
Naruto stared at the girl that he loved with pained eyes. Seeing her in so much pain… It was tearing him apart. She said she would never hurt me, that she loves me… Maybe I should trust her…
FLASHBACK
Naruto stared at Madara Uchiha, with a blank face.
"Ah Naruto-Kun, so nice of you to join us. Come, let's get rid of that Kyubi for you."
Naruto offered no resistance to the ancient Uchiha. Even though he still could've escaped with a hirashin, even though he could've put up a fight.
"Well then, shall we Naruto?" Madara said in a too friendly tone.
Naruto walked into the room where he was to die, on his own. The husk had no sense of self preservation.
FLASH IN
No… With my power, it is my duty to protect the people of this world. I can't risk it. Sakura is the only thing that can break me right now…Naruto was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Sakura stand up. He was brought out of his musings by a pair of warm, soft lips desperately crashing into his.
He felt Sakura's tears falling from her eyes, and falling down his own face, as she desperately jammed her tongue into his mouth. Naruto tried resisting, tried not returning the kiss. But he couldn't, he couldn't resist his emerald-eyed angel. He grabbed the back of Sakura's head and returned the kiss.
The two desperately made out, Sakura's tears had stopped, as her hope again rose. After five straight minutes the two pulled out gasping. Sakura had a happy smile in her puffy eyes, while Naruto was trying to maintain a look of impassiveness.
He was too startled to resist Sakura's embrace, as she tightly clung to him. "I won't hurt you Naruto, I won't ever hurt you. I love…"
"You're right…" the jinchuriki interrupted. "You won't hurt me." Naruto tried to remove himself from Sakura's tight embrace, but the kunoichi used chakra enchance strength to keep him firmly in her embrace. "Sakura… you won't hurt me, because you won't be with me. I'm sorry, but this is too big of a risk to take when the lives of everyone in the world are at risk. Maybe after I've defeated Madara we can…"
"I DON'T WANT TO WAIT THAT LONG." Sakura yelled, tightening her grip even further on her knucklehead. "You keep saying there's some sort of risk…" the Gondaime's apprentice growled. "And I'm telling you there's not. I will not hurt you!"
Every fiber of Naruto's being wanted to give in, wanted to return her hug, kiss her, tell her he loves her. This is bigger than me… He used the substitution jutsu and Sakura was left hugging a book.
"Sakura…san… please leave now."
Sakura stared at the book in her arms… How… why is he saying no to me after seeing how desperately I want this? Why won't he trust me…
"Sakura-san… please…"
She again made eye contact with Naruto, except now her eyes were filled with anger… and hurt. "FINE! I'm sorry I inconvenienced you, oh great Naruto-sama…"
Naruto fought every single instinct in his body as he watched the love of his life storm out of his parent's house, knowing that he wouldn't be able to talk to her until after he had taken care of Madara.
Sighing, the future Hokage tried to clear his thoughts and began searching around the house for his father's scrolls on hirashin.
Ino was working in her parent's flower shop, bored out of her mind, when she saw her best friend walk by, with tears streaming down from her eyes.
"Mom I'm going out!" the platinum blonde quickly called as she ran out the door to catch up with her best friend.
"Sakura! Sakura wait up!"
The pink-haired kunoichi stopped, but kept her head down in hopes that her bangs would hide the tears falling from her eyes.
"Sakura, what's wrong? Shouldn't you be with Naruto right now?"
"Naruto… Naruto rejected me Ino…" Sakura said softly. "Please, I'm barely holding together right now. I don't want to break down in the street, don't make me do this here."
Ino wrapped her arm around her best friend and guided her back to the flower shop and into the backroom, where she shut and locked the door.
"Alright Forehead," Ino said with a sneer, hoping to get a rise out of her grieving friend. "Spill it."
"There's not much to spill Ino…" Sakura choked out, as tears spilled from her eyes. "I told him that I love him, but he told me he couldn't be with me because I'm the only person who can break him. And since he is the only who can fight Madara, he can't afford to take the risk.
"WHAT? That's idiotic!" Ino yelled out, her mind devising ways to hurt Naruto for being so stupid.
"I know…" Sakura whispered. "I told him that he doesn't have to worry about me hurting him, because I never will. But…" a fresh wave of tears streamed down Sakura's face. "But he didn't believe me. He told me to leave, and called me Sakura-san. SAN! Like we're just acquaintances or something!"
"Damn that Naruto! When I see him… I'm going to make him regret being such…"
"Don't Ino." Sakura said in a small voice. "He's made it clear he doesn't want me right now. There's nothing I can do."
"What are you talking about Forehead? There's plenty you can…"
"No Ino, I tried and tried to convince Naruto to be with me. I wrapped him in a hug, and was using my chakra enhanced strength to keep him trapped in it while we talked. He was so desperate to escape that he used a substitution jutsu…"
"Ok Sakura. If Naruto was in your place, would he give up?"
Sakura timidly looked into her best friend's eyes. "No, he would never give up." She softly muttered.
"Damn straight he wouldn't. And if a baka like him wouldn't give up, then someone like you shouldn't give up either."
"But Ino…"
"Sakura you are the apprentice of the Gondaime Hokage." Sakura's tears stopped, as she again looked into the eyes of her best friend. "You are one of the greatest medinins in this world." Sakura's fist clenched. " You are possibly the most powerful kunoichi in Konoha." A look of determination made its way into Sakura's emerald eyes. " You are the beautiful women that Naruto baka loves." A confident smile spread across her face. "There is no reason for you to give up."
"You're right! Thanks Pig!"
"No problem Forehead, so what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know… it's going to be hard to confront him here in the village, there's plenty of places he could flash off to in an instant…"
"Then get him out of the village." Ino said as if it was the most obvious thing ever.
"Naruto won't agree to leave the village with me Pig…"
"He'll agree if the Hokage orders it." Ino interrupted.
"You mean… a mission?"
"Yep, a mission, just the two of you."
Sakura pumped her fist into the air, "Alright! I'm going to go get Tsunade-sama to force that baka to go on a mission with me." The pink-haired girl said with a look of fury in her eyes.
"Thanks Ino." Sakura said marching out of the flowershop.
Try to reject me will you Naruto… I DON'T THINK SO! SHANAROO!
Tsunade was staring at a mountain of paperwork, the largest mountain of paperwork that had ever been seen on this Earth. This is what I get for going out on a mission… The Hokage sighed, and reached into her drawer for a bottle of sake. I'm going to need this if…
"NANI? SHIZUNE! WHERE IS MY SAKE!"
"Sorry Hokage-sama, but as the acting Hokage at the time, I made an executive decision to remove all traces of alcohol from the Hokage's office." Her student and assistant answered innocently.
"Damnit Shizune… I swear…"
The Hokage was interrupted as the door to her office was smashed off its hinges.
"Sakura?"
"Shishou, I need you to give me and Naruto a mission. JUST me and Naruto. No Kakashi, no Sai." Sakura said in a no-nonsense tone with a furious look in her eyes.
"Sakura… that's rather sudden. Why? What happened?"
"I told him shishou. I told him the truth. We kissed, everything seemed to be perfect, but then he told me he couldn't be with me. Because he was the only person who could stand up to Madara and I was the only person who could break him. He wouldn't believe me when I tried telling the baka that I would never hurt him…"
"Sakura… try to see things from his point of view. He makes a good…" Tsunade tried reasoning with her apprentice.
"HE DOES NOT MAKE A GOOD POINT. I CAN BREAK HIM, BUT I WILL NEVER BREAK HIM!"
"Sakura… I know this, but Naruto…"
"NARUTO SHOULD TRUST ME!"
"I'm sure he does Sak…"
"IF HE TRUSTED ME, WE WOULDN'T BE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION SHISHOU!"
"Sakura… as one of the last remaining jinchuriki, it's not easy for me to send Naruto out on a mission. If he gets captured…"
"I will not let him get captured." The pink-haired kunoichi interrupted, her eyes shining with confidence. "I will not let him get hurt, and I will show him that I will never hurt him."
Tsunade leaned back and pinched the bridge of her nose. Naruto was like a son to her, and she wanted to see him be happy. Sakura was also like a daughter to her, and she wanted Sakura to be happy…
"Fine Sakura. I'll set up a training mission for you and Naruto. But it's going to take time to set everything up given Naruto's status and all."
"How long?"
"At least two days."
"That's fine shishou." The Cherry Blossom snapped out. Turning to leave, she stopped at the door, and softly called over her shoulder, "Thank you… Tsunade-sama."
Naruto had been holed up in his apartment for the past two days studying his father's fuijutsu scrolls. While he studied the scrolls, his clones had spent the time outside practicing throwing and catching three-pronged kunais.
Naruto now understood how his father's seal worked, and was able to create his own unique seals for the hirashin. He knew everything he needed to begin working on hirashin level two. The blonde jumped out his window where his clones were still practicing. He pressed his hand onto a clones shoulder and began focusing on the seal…
"Naruto-sama!" an Anbu called, interrupting Naruto's focus. "You need to report to the Hokage right away!" Naruto sighed and threw one his father's trademark kunai at the Hokage Tower. The Anbu watched as the sage dissapeared in a yellow flash.
Moments later, an annoyed Naruto was standing in front of Tsunade.
"What is it Baa-chan, I'm working on mastering hirashin level two…" the Yondaime's legacy grumbled.
"Well brat, you're going on a training mission. You're to report to a temple in lightning country in one week. So you need to leave instantly."
"Nani? Why do I need to go to lightning country? I know what I need to train, I don't need anyone's help…"
"The master of the temple is a very old and wise shinobi. He's not going to train you, merely assist you in your training. He will watch you train and use his experience to offer pointers and advice."
Baa-chan wouldn't send me there unless she thought this old man could help… And besides, this will get me away from Sakura-chan. Naruto sighed.
"Alright Baa-chan, I'll leave immediately."
"Hold up brat! I can't just let you go by yourself, I'm sending an escort with you."
"An escort? Baa-chan…"
"Naruto, you are one of two remaining jinchurikis, and the only person in this world who can stand against Madara. I just can't let you leave the village by yourself."
"But Baa-chaaaan, I can handle myself…" the sapphire-eyed blonde whined.
"Maybe so, but I'm sending someone just in case. You can enter now!"
Naruto's mouth was agape as Sakura walked into the room.
"Baa-chan, you can't send Sakura with me. Send someone else…"
"Next to you, Sakura is one of the most powerful shinobi in our village. She single-handedly beat Sasuke, and she's a medinin, so she can heal you should anything happen. As your escort, Sakura is in charge of this mission. Now you two should leave immediately." The Goindaime commanded.
"Baa-chan you don't understand…" Before Naruto could say anything else, he was forcibly dragged out of the office by his "escort."
"Sakura-san… this…"
"DON'T… call me Sakura-san." Sakura spat. "You will refer to me as Sakura-CHAN, or Sakura."
"Sakura…" Naruto said softly, she had not let go of his hand and continued dragging him toward the city gate. "This doesn't change anything between us, I still can't…"
"Just shut up baka. I don't want to hear it."
"Sakura… do you think you could let go of my hand? I can…"
"No." she roughly interrupted. Realizing his hand wasn't going to be free anytime soon, Naruto sighed before thoughtlessly tightening his grip on his emerald-eyed angel's hand, something that didn't go unnoticed by Sakura, as a very slight smile made its way across her angry features.
Naruto had given up hours ago at ever getting his hand free, and now walked at Sakura's side. The two had been walking hand in hand for hours, and the sun was starting to set.
"We're setting up camp here." Sakura ordered, leaving no room for argument.
"Ok, I'll go collect firewo…"
"No, you won't. We won't need a fire, it will only draw attention." Sakura interrupted. The kunoichi wasn't going to give her knucklehead a single chance to get away from her.
"Ne, Sakura-chan… we're going to need our hands to set up our tents." Sakura reluctantly let go of his hand, and began setting up her tent. Glancing up, she noticed Naruto was setting up his own tent. I don't think so baka…
Sakura walked up to the tent that Naruto had nearly set up and completely destroyed it using her chakra-enhanced fists.
"SAKURA WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto yelled. But Sakura didn't give him a response, she grabbed his hand again.
"We're going to bed." Without giving the stunned jinchuriki a chance to respond, she dragged him to her tent.
"Sakura-chan… I can't…"
"You will." Sakura's tone left no room for argument, and the Yondaime's legacy reluctantly stepped into her tent, and she quickly followed.
"Sakura-chan, there's only one…"
"Yep, we're sharing." She again interrupted with a command. She stripped down into her bra and panties, and smirked when she saw her knucklehead's shocked blushing face.
"Sakura… Sakura-chan... what are you…"
"Since we don't have a fire, we're going to use each other's body heat to stay warm."
"But shouldn't we wear…"
"No, now get a move on."
Damnit Baa-chan, you had to put her in charge…
A blushing Naruto slowly stripped down to his boxers, and climbed into the sleeping bag that Sakura already occupied. As soon as he was in, Sakura wrapped her arms around him tightly.
Damnit… I can't allow myself to do this. If I give my heart to her now, she can break me. Naruto thought as he tried to squirm his way out of Sakura's embrace. But the kunoichi was using her chakra enhanced strength to keep him firmly in her embrace.
"I'm not letting you go Naruto…" Sakura said, meaning it both literally and figuratively. "So just give up."
"Sakura-chan… please you don't seem to understand…MMPH!"
Sakura interrupted him by capturing his lips with hers, as soon as he began kissing back, she sent her tongue to lick the bottom of his lip, demanding entrance into his mouth. Naruto complied, and the two's tongues danced back and forth for another five minutes before they pulled back, gasping for air.
"I told you before, and I will keep on telling you until it finally gets through your thick skull. I love you baka, and I will never again hurt you." Sakura said softly with a gentle, but determined smile.
"Sakura-chan… you never mean to hurt me. But you still do. When you broke me, that wasn't the first time you unintentionally hurt me. Back in Iron Country, when you lied about loving me to stop me…"
"I didn't lie about loving you baka! I will not deny that I decided to tell you then in an attempt to manipulate you so you would stop chasing Sasuke, but I wasn't lying. I loved you back then, just as I love you now, just as I will love you forever Naruto Uzumaki." Sakura finished by softly kissing Naruto on the lips.
"Sakura-chan… I want this, I want this so badly, but I still shouldn't…"
"Both your mom and dad called me their daughter-in-law Naruto. They want us to be together, I love you, you love me, so stop fighting this already!" Sakura nearly yelled, as tears fell down her face.
The emerald-eyed angel's tears nearly broke the last of the future Hokage's defenses. Naruto wiped the tears from her face with his thumb.
"Sakura-chan… I have a duty to the people of this world…"
"AND I HAVE A DUTY TO YOU DAMNIT. You are the man I love, therefore it is MY duty to make YOU happy. It is MY duty to protect YOU. It is MY duty to love YOU." Konoha's cherry blossom cried out.
This broke the last of Naruto's defenses.
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan. Please stop crying, I hate seeing you cry. I love you, I want to be with you. And… I'm sorry I rejected you."
Sakura's tears stopped as she looked up at her knucklehead with hope-filled eyes. Naruto wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her forehead.
"I trust you Sakura-chan. My heart is now in your hands."
Sakura flashed him a bright smile, and held him even tighter. "Thank you Naruto…kun. I will protect your heart with my life. My heart is now in your hands as well." She kissed him gently on the cheek.
"I will cherish your heart and defend it with my everything Sakura-chan. I love you."
Sakura laid her head on her boyfriend's chest. "I love you too Naruto."
Minato and Kushina Namikaze's son and future daughter-in-law drifted off into a pleasant sleep.
Yayyyy! FINALLY! I don't know about you, but it's about damned time if you ask me. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It was just so much fun mixing Sakura's stubbornness with Naruto's never give up attitude.
Anyways, we got one more chapter of this story left. Obviously Naruto and Sakura are off to some temple in Lightning Country to train, I'm entirely off canon at this point. I'm currently thinking of plans for a sequel to this story where Naruto kicks Madara's ass and the world is all happy and stuff like that. But first things first, finish this story out next chapter!
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the finale!