Happy NaruSaku Day everybody! thesaiyanjedi here, and in honor of this occasion, I hereby present to you the conclusion of "Heaven and Earth Together At Last"!
Seriously you guys, thank you all so much for your support! I was worried that maybe this might not come out so good because of how much I was rushing it to make this deadline. But you're reception helped give me the motivation to see it through to the end. And now, I've made it!
Word of warning up front: there will be some heavy drama within this chapter, as there were some dangling issues left behind from the series that I felt Naruto and Sakura needed to confront each other on directly for a relationship between them to work.
So, with that said. I hope you all enjoy, and once again, thanks for reading!
Chapter 5: Together At Last
On April 3rd, at the gates of Konoha, three shinobi waited patiently for signs of their old friend.
"Shouldn't he be here by now?" Naruto whined.
"Patience Naruto," Kakashi commanded, "he'll be here soon enough."
Normally Sakura would have been the one to reprimand the blonde for his behavior, but both of them had barely greeted one another when they got there. The rest of the time they pretty much spent by themselves as they waited for—
"Hey! I think I see him!" Naruto said excitedly as he pointed towards the woods that lay outside the gate.
Indeed, there he was. Approaching the village was a figure clothed in navy blue and black, with black hair and with a dark poncho over his clothes. He had a limp sleeve that flapped lightly in the breeze, a telltale sign of his missing limb.
The figure approached the front gate and Izumo and Kotatsu, the managers of the check in station, were prepared to begin searching him.
"Take it easy you guys," Kakashi waved at them, "he's okay."
The two Jōnin backed down and let their visitor pass. The visitor, who had his head down all this time, stopped in front of the Hokage and his former students and looked up.
"Hey you guys," Sasuke said smiling—yes, smiling! "Long time no see."
"SASUKE!" an overly-enthusiastic Naruto proclaimed as he hugged—yes, hugged!—his old friend.
To this, Sasuke scowled, "Dobe, unless you want to loose that arm all over again, you'll let go of me right now."
Naruto, embarrassed at his own moment of overreaction, let go and shrugged it off like it never happened.
"I...err, sorry about that man."
Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He then noticed his other teammate, who was looking at him with anticipation, but not the same kind of anticipation that he was used to. She seemed more...conflicted than usual, and something told him that he wasn't the cause of it this time.
"Hello Sakura."
"...Hi Sasuke...umm...welcome home."
Naruto noticed Sakura attitude also. 'That's weird. I figured that she'd be all over Sasuke the instant he stepped through the gate. But instead its like she barely cares. What's gotten into her?'
"Well then," Kakashi interrupted, "I hope you're all hungry, because I've booked all three of us reservations at one of the village's finest restaurants for lunch. My treat...so please eat in moderation Naruto."
The blonde couldn't help the vein that appeared on his forehead as he followed his old sensei alongside the rest of his old team.
The four of them got to the restaurant within twenty minutes and when Naruto realized where they were, he felt a little bit uneasy. 'Oh God! This is the exact same place where me and Hinata went last night!'
He shifted his gaze over to Sakura, who still seemed to be deep in thought. What he never realized was that every moment he wasn't looking at her, she would constantly find herself shifting her gaze over to him.
Neither of them may have noticed...but Sasuke and Kakashi certainly did.
The maitre'd showed them to their table and before long the waiter came by to take their orders. Kakashi ordered the barbecued steak and scalloped potatoes with a side of carrots and broccoli. Sasuke ordered a four seasons platter made up of pan fried chicken, beef, scallops and pork, on top of pan fried noodles. Sakura wasn't feeling hugely hungry, so she just ordered the chicken salad. Naruto...well, naturally, he ordered ramen.
"So Sasuke," Naruto said as they waited for their food, "what happened to you out there? Do you feel like you've made amends for your past yet?"
Sasuke put down the glass of water he was drinking from and spoke. "No dobe, not even close. My time away from the village has given me time to think about the way things are and I realized that I need to do a lot more to redeem the Uchiha clan name." He sighed and looked squarely at his two teammates. "I'm sure neither of you wants to hear this, but I'm only going to be staying for a couple of weeks to rest up and set some affairs in order. After that I'm going to be leaving again." He turned directly to Sakura, "I'm sorry."
"Its okay Sasuke, I understand, really," she said sincerely, with only the barest trace of disappointment in her voice.
"Oh...okay," Sasuke said in genuine surprise.
"Well I can't say I'm not bummed out about this," Naruto huffed, "but I guess I'm not surprised either. Whatever!"
"We're all just glad to have you home for a little while Sasuke," Kakashi said as he read his favorite book.
The one-armed Uchiha smiled in appreciation, "Thanks Kakashi, it's good to be home."
"You know Sasuke," Sakura said, "before you leave again, Lady Tsunade can see to it that the new artificial arm she grew for you out of Hashirama's cells gets attached."
Sasuke looked at his limp sleeve for a moment, "Thank you Sakura, but I think I'm okay with it being like this for a while."
"What? But why?"
"Call it a reminder, a reminder of everything I've done and everything I have to work to repair. When I finally feel like I've fully redeemed myself...maybe then I'll grow it back."
Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke in wonder as they took in what he said.
"But Sasuke," Naruto said, "won't having only one arm make it harder for you to perform any jutsus?"
"Yeah, but I've heard of one-armed shinobi who have managed it before, so how hard can it be for someone like me?"
'There he goes, acting all cool again!' Naruto whined inside his head. 'Show off!' But then he noticed something, "Hey wait! Sasuke, what happened to your Rinnegan?"
"Huh?...Oh yeah. I've figured out how to turn it on and off since I left. I feel like I'm starting to get pretty good control of it now."
"Wow that's awesome!" Naruto said, but then he leaned in to whisper something in his ear. "By the way, if you ever do decide to get that new arm attached, brace yourself for the worst, okay? It hurts...BAD!"
Sasuke shrugged off the warning, but logged it in the back of his mind anyway. "I'll keep that in mind."
By this time their food had finally arrived. It was pretty good, hence why there was little talking going on, until...
"Mmm!" Sakura ate happily. "This food is delicious!"
"Yeah, it's just as good now as it was when Hinata and I ate here yesterday—"
You could hear the crickets in the room as soon as Naruto said that. 'Oh SHIT! Why the fuck did I just say that out loud!'
Sakura looked like a dagger just pierced her heart, "Y-You did what?!"
"Oh really?" Kakashi asked in surprise, "I didn't know that you and Hinata were going out."
"W-We're not! It was just one date! We had fun, but then we—well, lets just say that we both agreed that it wasn't going to work between us."
Sakura's unexpected moment of jealously turned into a moment of surprise, and even concern. "What happened?"
Naruto really did not want to have to talk about this with Sakura right now. "Its no big deal really—"
"What happened dobe?!" Sasuke asked firmly, as if he were somehow disappointed in his best friend.
Naruto, recognizing that he had no way out of this now, sighed and started explaining.
"We had dinner here, then went to go see the stars on top of the Hokage Monument. But Hinata felt that I had something on my mind all night...and I did. There was...there's been somebody on my mind for a while now and even while I was out with Hinata I couldn't stop thinking about her. I tried explaining it to her that I was over her now, but then she slapped me for lying to myself."
"She slapped you?!" Sakura asked incredulous.
Yeah," he said as he rubbed his cheek at the memory.
Never in a million years had Sakura ever imagined sweet, innocent, shy, lovesick Hinata of ever laying a finger against Naruto...Well, there was that one time during the war when he gave in to despair after Neji died, but that was it! Then again...
"Well it serves you right you idiot! You don't think about another woman while you're on a date with someone!"
Naruto was going to say something to protest, but he ended up just keeping his mouth shut. Sakura, meanwhile, turned away from him in a huff and said nothing else to him for the rest of the meal. She was turned away so he could not see the obvious pain on her face.
Across the table, Sasuke just looked at the two of them in disappointment. 'All this time and they still haven't figured it out! Naruto...you really are an idiot!'
"So Sasuke," Kakashi said in an attempt to lighten the mood, "are you really going to be going on your next journey on your own again?"
"Oh, I won't be on my own. I got back in touch with my old team and they agreed to journey with me. Suigetsu, Jūgo, Karin—"
"Oh yeah!" Naruto remembered, "you mean that red-haired girl with the glasses right?"
"Yeah, exactly." That's when Sasuke remembered something he wanted to say to his friend. "You know dobe, you and Karin should get to know each other some time."
"Huh? Why's that?"
"Because she just so happens to be from the Uzumaki clan."
"WHAT?!"
After lunch, Sasuke parted ways with his two friends to go back to the old Uchiha compound. Kakashi needed to get back to work, much to his annoyance, while Naruto and Sakura both went their separate ways, Naruto to the training grounds to get in some training, Sakura to the hospital to finish her shift...
...Hours later, both teens were in their respective homes, each deep in thought as the sun set and the village was consumed by the night.
Naruto was thinking about Sakura's behavior during lunch today, how strangely unenthusiastic she seemed now that Sasuke was back home. And then there was how shocked and angry she was over what happened during his date with Hinata.
'Since when does she care about my love life?'
But then his mind turned back to Sasuke, specifically the last thing he told him before he left the village the last time, "Take good care of her."
He thought back, long and hard, about their youth, about their careers, about their relationship, about everything. He thought about how awkward they were around each other today and about everything he'd committed himself to the night before.
He made up his mind in that instant. "This has to stop. Tonight!"
Sakura was sitting in her room, very deep in thought. She was thinking long and hard about a boy, but not the boy her friends would have expected.
Naruto went out with Hinata? How could he do that?! How could he just turn around on her and go out with someone else behind her back?—And why the hell was it any of her business anyway?
She always knew Hinata's feelings for Naruto, you'd think she'd be happy that she finally went out with him. But instead she just felt jealous...yes jealous. She'd experienced that emotion enough times now to recognize it easily. Besides, who Naruto chose to spend his time with was his own business, she was in no position to complain.
And yet, she remembered the surprise and odd sense of relief she felt when he explained how their night ended. 'I have to admit, I have whole new respect for Hinata now!'
Still, this whole day got her thinking hard about the boy that had been occupying her mind all week. She'd thought about their youth, about their careers, about their relationship, about everything. She'd thought about how distant they'd become since the war ended. She thought long and hard about everything Ino, Tsunade and ever her own mother had told her, and most of all, she'd thought about her commitment to repairing their damaged relationship before it was too late.
And then she remembered Sasuke's advice to her before he left the last time "You need to the find your own path. You need to look deep inside yourself and figure out what it is you really want."
Suddenly, she was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a clanking on her window.
"Huh?" she asked herself in alarm.
She got up off her bed and went to the window to see the very person she had been thinking about right outside. On instinct, she got up and unlocked the window.
"Naruto? What are you doing here?"
"Sakura, we need to talk."
Sakura was taken aback by the seriousness in his voice, but she steeled herself as that very tone of his gave her confidence as well.
"You're right, we really do. But Naruto, maybe this should wait until morning—"
"No! We've put this off for far too long already. I'm tired of waiting."
Sakura stared in surprise for a moment before giving in, "Me too. Com on in and we'll talk."
"No, not here, I know a better place," he said as he held out his hand for her to take.
"Naruto? Are you sure...?"
"Do you trust me?"
"W-What?"
"Do you trust me?" He put on one of his signature innocent smiles that never ceased to put her at ease.
Sakura didn't dwell on it for very long as she smiled, "Yes Naruto, more than anyone."
With that, the boy took the girl's hand and led her away into the night...
...Outside of Sakura's closed door, Mebuki Haruno merely leaned against it and smiled.
He took her to the Hokage Monument, where the village always looked beautiful lit up with the lights and sounds and endless bustle life within it. There were standing overlooking it and directly beneath them was the gigantic bust of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and Naruto's father.
The blonde-haired young man turned to the pink-haired young woman. "Sakura, I've been thinking about you...us, a lot lately, and I think there are some things that we need to set straight."
Sakura sighed lightly, "I've been thinking about us too...Frankly, I don't even know where to begin."
"I do," Naruto said. "Let's start by talking about what happened in the Land of Iron."
"Naruto, I'm not sure now is—"
"You're right! We should have talked about this a long time ago! When you came to see me that day, you came to tell me that everyone had decided to take care of Sasuke. But instead of trusting me with the truth, you told me you loved me."
Sakura hung her head at the memory.
Naruto saw this but kept going, "I told you that day that I hate people who lie to themselves, and after that we fought and you turned away from me to kill Sasuke without telling me. And if I hadn't gotten there in time, you would have been killed yourself! What I want to know now is: What were you thinking?"
"What?"
"What was your plan? Because every time I think about it I can never make sense of it. Why didn't you trust me with the truth? Didn't you think I could handle it? Or did you really think I was that stupid that I wouldn't have seen past your lies?"
"Of course not! I did it to protect you! You were obsessed with going after Sasuke, and it was all because of that stupid promise you made to me!"
"And it never once occurred to you that maybe I wanted my best friend back just a badly as you did?"
"You were going to kill yourself Naruto! And I wasn't going to be responsible for it!"
"You know what? It doesn't even matter anymore! It's not like you and I ever had a chance either way."
Sakura's face sagged after she heard that. "What are you saying?"
Naruto sighed, "Suppose I did choose to believe you that day, what then? Were you just going to force yourself into a fake relationship with me? Was I just the rebound guy until Sasuke came home, then you'd drop me like a used hat?!"
"No! Never! Naruto I'd never use you like that!" She stopped before going on, "You're right, I was lying to myself that day...I was lying about not yet being over Sasuke, but I never lied about loving you."
Naruto's anger instantly softened when he heard this. He was looking, looking hard for any signs of deception, and he wasn't finding any.
"W-What did you say?"
"Naruto," she began, "you mean a lot to me, a lot! Everything I told you that day, about how amazing you were, how you've always been there for me, how safe I felt with you near me, I meant every word of it! I've never known another man like you. And when Sai told me how you felt about me, I knew I needed to do something. That's why I told you what I did that day! No, maybe all of my feelings weren't totally figured out yet, and yes, maybe I was—no, I was definitely lying to myself—but all of it was for you! I wasn't going to forgive myself if you died because of me. So since you wouldn't listen to reason, I took the choice out of your hands and went after Sasuke myself—"
"And what then?" Naruto interrupted. "Say you did find the strength to kill Sasuke that day, put all of his grief and his decent into darkness to and end...What then? You knew I'd find out. Did you think that I'd take the news that you'd killed Sasuke like it was no big deal and we'd just go on being friends?—"
"No! No, I knew full well what it would mean."
"Then tell me, what would it mean?"
Sakura, who was breaking into tears by this point, finally admitted everything to the boy before her.
"It would have meant living with and deserving your hatred! It would have meant having to sever my ties with the one man whose been there at my side and has done more for me than anyone else! It would have meant loosing my best friend forever...! But it would also mean saving your life! ...And that was more important."
Naruto took it all in. He was totally shocked. 'She...my God! She was willing to go through all of that...just for me?'
A long, awkward silence followed. Neither one of them could say anything to the other. Sakura was trying to dry her tears, tears for which Naruto now felt like scum for causing in the first place.
"...I'm sorry Sakura. I guess we shouldn't have talked about that day after all."
Sakura somehow managed to get herself under control again, "No Naruto, you were right. We should have discussed this a long time ago."
"I...I never knew you cared about me so much..."
Now it was Sakura's turn to be taken aback. "Are you kidding me? Of course I do you idiot! I can't even imagine my life anymore without you in it! When you turned into that...that thing that day at the Tenchi Bridge, I was horrified! The boy I knew was gone and in his place was some...some...monster! I never wanted to see you like that again! When Madara ripped Kurama out of you, I was scarred! You were dying! One of my biggest fears was coming true and even after cutting you open and holding your heart in my hand while giving you CPR, I was powerless to save you!"
Naruto couldn't resist blushing, "Wait, you gave me CPR?"
"You were DYING!" The girl started sobbing again. "You were going to die, and I was going to have to watch you die! All your hopes, your stupid dream, all of it was right in front of you and you were going to die! Its only because of your father and Obito that you're even here with me now."
"Sakura..."
"Why do you love me Naruto?"
"W-What?"
"Why do you care so much about me? Hinata's a wonderful woman! She loves you! She deserves you far more than I ever will!
"Yeah, Hinata is a wonderful woman...but she's not you Sakura."
"Look at me Naruto! I'm worthless! Weak! A burden! That's all I've ever been to you a burden! You deserve far better than that!"
"STOP IT!"
Sakura ended her rant by looking up into the boy's eyes.
"You are not worthless! You are not weak! And you are anything but a burden! I don't ever want to hear you talk about yourself that way again! Do you understand?! The Sakura I know is strong, smart, beautiful, speaks her mind and goes after what she wants! She's everything I've ever wanted in a woman!"
Naruto stopped himself as literally a dozen memories and feelings all came to him at once, before he laughed to himself and looked directly into the girl's eyes. "And you know what...she still is."
Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing, "W-What?"
"I love you Sakura. I always have. And I always will."
Sakura eyes glossed over as tears fells from them once again...only this time they were different. They weren't tears of pain, or regret, or anguish...they were tears of joy. It was like some invisible weight had just been lifted off her shoulders and she could see everything clearly now for the first time...
"I just want you to know how I feel Sakura. And even if you never feel the same way, no matter what paths we take, I'll—"
Naruto never got to finish his speech because he suddenly felt a pair of lips crash onto his own! Arms grabbed the back of his head as they held him desperately.
Sakura wrapped her arms around him. She hugged this boy tight, never ever wanting to let him go! She relaxed into the kiss, her first kiss...she'd always imagined Sasuke would be the one, and yet here she was with Naruto instead. And you know something...it felt amazing!
She felt like she was walking on air! Tears of joy continued to flow down her face as she was overcome with emotions for the blonde that she should have recognized a long time ago.
Naruto was shocked, far more shocked than when Hinata kissed him, but he wasn't about to complain! Sakura tasted amazing! She was finally giving him what he had always wanted!
And there was no denying anything this time. What was being channeled through her lips could not be faked. She was finally returning his feelings for real!
Naruto relaxed into the kiss and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. Neither of them knew how long they stayed like that and neither of them cared. All of the arguing, all of the grief, all of the hardships...none of it mattered anymore! It was all just one giant obstacle to get them to this moment. This bliss. This connection that was many years in the making. And it was all worth it!
Finally they both needed to break for air. And as they did so Naruto looked into the pinkette's gorgeous emerald eyes, now so full of life and happiness, all of it for him. She was giving him maybe the brightest smile he had ever seen from her.
And then came the words he had waited to hear from her his whole life, and this time there was no denying what they truly meant.
"Naruto...I love you."
The boy was grinning like mad! He could not remember the last time he'd felt this happy about anything!
He quickly grabbed the girl and pulled her in for another lip lock. This one she quickly returned and they let all of their passion out into this one kiss. Hands wandered everywhere, tongues entered each other's mouths and when they pulled apart, a string of saliva connected them.
"Whoa..." was the only thing either of them could say...at the exact same time no less, which prompted a lighthearted giggle from both of them.
Sakura wrapped her arms around him as she stared into his dazzling eyes. "Naruto?"
"What is it Sakura?"
"I'm sorry things have been so hard between us. I'm sorry for making you wait so long. I'm sorry for letting myself be blind to what was right in front of me this whole time...But I'm not anymore! I love you Naruto Uzumaki, with all of my heart and soul! And nothing would make me happier than to be with you!"
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that Sakura." He brought her into another hug before he said something else. "You have such a charming forehead, it makes me want to kiss it."
Sakura's eyes snapped open in shock 'What did he say! Wait—Does that mean—'
Her memories were interrupted as she felt her new lover press his lips to her forehead, right where her diamond seal was. It felt so surreal. It felt just like she used to fantasize Sasuke's lips feeling. Only this was better. Much better.
When he broke the kiss she just had to ask, "That first day we were all together...that was you?"
Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head goofily. "Yeah."
Sakura merely punched him in the arm, lightly, "You are such a dork." He merely laughed at this. "That was some first kiss huh?"
Naruto's face suddenly went white as he remembered something, namely what had happened between him and Hinata the other night.
'Oh...crap...'
Team 7 was gathered together again at the front gate of the village to say goodbye to their teammate one more time. He'd promised that he'd return soon enough, once he felt he was ready.
"So...I guess this is goodbye again huh?" Naruto asked his best friend.
"For now," Sasuke answered. "Don't get all mopey on me dobe. I'll be back again."
"Hey! Who're you calling mopey! I'm not the least bit mopey! As soon as you're gone that means I get some more alone time with Sakura—OWW!"
Naruto had to stop himself as he got knocked on the head by his girlfriend.
"Control yourself doofus!" Sakura warned him. "Just because we're dating now doesn't mean that I'm going to stand back and leave you to your usual shenanigans. Got it!"
"Yes ma'am," Naruto said as he rubbed the bump on his head.
Sakura then turned to her former crush, now close friend. "Sasuke?"
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to thank you. For what you said to me that day. You were right, I did need to look inside myself to find what I really wanted. If I hadn't..." she took her boyfriend's hand inside her own, "...I would never have found the love of my life."
Naruto smiled at Sakura's show of affection towards him, before turning to Saskue himself. "I guess I owe you one too buddy! And don't you worry, I'll take good care of her..." he squeezed her hand tighter, "...and I'll never let her go."
Sakura smiled in glee at what she just heard. She leaned in and gave her boyfriend a deep kiss, which he returned.
Kakashi, watching from the back, smiled beneath his mask. 'Finally! I couldn't be prouder of you kids!'
The two lovers were only broken up when they heard a coughing sound meant to get their attention. They turned and saw Sasuke looking at them with a shit-eating grin on his face, and he even cocked an eyebrow once they noticed him, just for emphasis.
"Oh knock it off jerk!" Naruto shouted.
"Sorry, couldn't help it. But seriously, I'm proud of you guys...Y'know, I always did have a hunch that you two would be a terrific couple, ever since we first became Team 7."
"HUH?!" Both of them said in shock.
Sasuke merely nodded his head in confirmation.
"But Sasuke," Sakura asked, "how come you never said anything back then?"
"I was in a different mindset back then: young, angry, pompous, obsessed with achieving my goal—"
"Don't forget 'emo!'" Naruto interrupted.
A vein briefly appeared on the Uchiha's forehead. "Yeah, that too. Anyway, I was so caught up in myself back then that I didn't really care one way or another. Besides..." he turned to Sakura, "if I had told you outright that you and Naruto were a good match back then, would you have believed me?"
Sakura didn't wait long to give a response, "...No, no I wouldn't. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore anyway." She gave her boyfriend one last peck on the cheek, making him blush and smile.
Sasuke took that as his cue to exit. "Alright, I guess I'd better get going before you two lovebirds make me sick."
Sakura walked up to him and gave him a friendly hug. Naruto, watching, didn't feel any sense of jealously over this like he would have in the past. He didn't need to anymore. Sakura was his now, and he was never letting her go.
"Goodbye Sasuke, and thank you," she said.
"Goodbye Sakura, and you're welcome."
After they broke up the hug, Naruto walked up to his best friend and the two of them shook hands.
"See ya pal...and thanks."
"You're welcome...brother."
With that, the Uchiha lazily waved them goodbye as he departed from the village gate. Naruto and Sakura held hands until their friend was out of their sight.
"Well, I guess I'll be going back to the office again," Kakashi moaned. "All that paperwork isn't going to sign itself after all." He started walking before he stopped long enough to smile and wave to his two students. "Congratulations you two!"
"ARIGATO SENSEI!" the both said in unison.
As Kakashi was leaving, Naruto turned to his girlfriend. "So Sakura, what did you want to do now?"
"Hmm..." she pretended to think about it. "Well, I was feeling a bit hungry...How about the to two of us go to Ichiraku's for lunch?"
"Y-You mean like a date?!"
She smiled cutely and held up a victory sign, "Yep!"
'God I love this woman!' That's what Naruto thought as he leaped into the air and yelled "Yeah!" loud enough for the whole village to hear.
Sakura merely put her head in her hand in embarrassment. 'God! He's such an idiot!'
But then she smiled warmly, took her boyfriend's hand, and walked with him to his favorite restaurant on what was about to become their first official date.
'But still...he's my idiot...and I wouldn't have it any other way.'
There you have it NaruSaku fans! I hope I lived up to all of your expectations and left you all satisfied with the ending.
Once again, I want to thank all of you for helping to give me the motivation to get this thing done in time for NaruSaku Day. I knew that there was no better time to put it out there and that it would be a challenge, but you guys made it all worth it!
I felt very strongly that the conversation, nee argument, over what happened in Chapters 469 and 470 were something that needed to happen at some point. I always found it weird that they would have such a falling out, then Naruto saves her from Sasuke by literally sweeping her off her feet, and yet their relationship after that didn't seem to change at all. This was my way of dealing with that. Also, some of the dialogue in this argument was inspired by the break up between Bruce Wayne and Alfred in "The Dark Knight Rises."
I liked the idea of Sasuke revealing himself to have been a closet NaruSaku shipper himself, and thought that it would have been a hilarious twist if that had turned out to be the case, so I hope that it succeeded in coming across that way.
The gag of Naruto warning Sasuke of how painful the procedure to reattach his arm will be was intended as a double reference. First and foremost, it was a callback to Naruto's own operation scene in Chapter 18 of "Shinachiku's First Adventure." But it was also intended as a mirroring of Kushina and Mikoto's interaction in Chapter 500 of the series, where Kushina leans in and asks Mikoto it terror about how painful giving birth is. Here, it is kind to the reverse of that as Naruto is leaning in to warn Sasuke about a painful experience he's already had. Just try to imagine both scenes with both mother and son having the same reactions in each.
I think that's all I've got! I met my goal of publishing five chapters in three days. It was exhausting, but it was worth it!
I hope all of you enjoyed it, and long live NaruSaku!