Finally, I get to update this story. First of all, I want to say thanks to all the people who reviewed. I'm also flattered that a number of people favorited this story and favorited me as well. Just try and leave a review, though I won't go on a rant about them.

Also, I'm not sure how long till this story finishes. This will probably be the second to last chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Didn't I tell you this the last 3 chapters?

If Only

Sakura stirred in her bed, a slight smile plastered on her face. She was stuck...stuck in a dream. A dream where it was Naruto and her sitting on the edge of a small lake, side by side. It felt real. She could feel her heart pounding, her emotions bubbling, her affection for him growing second by second. They were so close to each other, that she nearly jumped when he suddenly turned his head to look at her.

She had ceased her stirring, only to be replaced with incoherent sounds of...a moan. The smile on her face grew wider and wider, as she began to hug her pillow even harder.

"BeepBeepBeep...BeepBeepBeep...BeepBeepBeep..."

Frowning, she threw her pillow at the ruiner of her dreams, causing it to crash and break. Satisfied that the annoying beeping was off, she proceeded to go back to sleep and recapture that dream, only to find that she couldn't. Giving up, she sat up lazily, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Stupid clock." She muttered, rubbing her eyes to rid them of sleep.

"It felt so real." Getting up from her bed, she walked towards her window for some reason. It was still dark out, but the sun had started to rise slowly, shining little light across the village. She looked towards the Hokage building and lightly touched her lips as she remembered her dream.

"If only..."

Scratching the top of his head, he yawned slightly, dragging his tired legs across the plush carpet. He came home pretty late last night from his meeting with the council. It had lasted until midnight since it was another topic about finances and all that government type stuff. Not to mention that he was having one of the best dreams ever, only to be shattered by an annoying alarm clock.

"Stupid clock." He whispered to himself, cursing the person that invented those annoying things.

Looking out of his window on the middle floor, he saw that the sun had barely made it up yet, but enough for a little bit of light to spread across the village. He scanned over it, noticing how peaceful it looked in the early hours, before setting his gaze at an all too familiar house. He smiled lightly, remembering his wonderful dream about kissing the love of his life. He touched his lips lightly, trying to see if it really was real.

"If only..."

It was about noon time and the village was bustling with life as always. People worked frantically throughout the town, either running errands or running their small shops. Inside the Hokage tower, Naruto was doing the same thing as always, reading and signing documents. Sakura was really busy at the hospital, working in overdrive after a large group of Jonins returned from a big S-ranked mission. Most were in critical shape, Kakashi and Gai being part of most wounded.

Seeing that he would have his lunch alone, he finished up a document and sat back on his chair. He closed his eyes, trying to relax and collect his thoughts. His mind started recalling last night, before he had to get to the meeting. He knew that whatever she was going to say was something that she wanted to get out for a while, but what?

"What do you want to say to me?"

Then he thought towards his own feelings for the girl. He remembered the first time he saw her, and immediately knew he was in love. Although he was just a kid, he could clearly see that she was the only one for him. This feeling did not dwindle over the years, but grew. It grew until he couldn't take it anymore. The dream he had earlier in the morning was now becoming too common and he knew that if he didn't tell her soon, he was going to go crazy. Opening his eyes, he stared at the ceiling, contemplating on his thoughts when he finally reached a conclusion.

"That's it! I'll tell her the next chance I get."

"I'm coming, Sakura-chan," he muttered, "whether you like it or not."

With new determination, he hopped out of his chair and towards Ichiraku.

It had been nonstop work for the head medic-nin. Sweat poured from her face as she delicately wiped it off with her arm. Finally fixing the last wound, she sighed in relief, thankful to have today finished. She looked towards the clock to find that it was already 7:00. Her stomach grumbled from her lack of lunch, and she felt weak. Sitting down on a nearby chair, she rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes. As the patient was being wheeled out, she opened her eyes to find a few lingering doctors finishing up some other stuff.

"I'm checking out."

"Okay. See you tomorrow Sakura."

"See you Ino."

Reaching her house, she stripped off her clothes and immediately stepped into the shower. Her body relaxed as she felt the hot water massage her body. All the tension in her body disappeared as she closed her eyes in total peace. After a while, she stepped out of the bathroom, refreshed and clean and went to get dressed up. Putting on some black plants, a thin red sweater that had a picture of an apple in the middle, and her high heels, she headed out the door grabbing her purse in the process.

She was walking towards Ichiraku because she had this weird craving for ramen right now, but her mind told her otherwise. Ignoring that part right now, she continued to walked casually on the path to Ichiraku, ignoring the eyes of the leering men, and the occasional women that envied her for her body. Finally reaching the bar, her heart skipped a beat when she noticed Naruto on the stools. Smelling the delicious ramen, her stomach growled rather loudly, catching the attention of the blond Hokage.

Turning around, he saw someone behind him, staring towards his direction. His eyes widened when he spotted Sakura standing there. Why wasn't she coming in?

"Hi Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out.

Snapping from her thoughts, she went over to the sit next to him and ordered her meal.

"Hi Sakura-chan! You look beautiful tonight." He said before he could stop himself, but still meant it.

She just blushed and looked around. "Thanks."

There orders came a while later and they both began to eat. There was this awkward silence in the air as they both continued to eat. Finding this silence unbearable, Naruto tried to think of something to say.

"Pretty busy at the hospital?" Looking towards him, she smiled at how relaxed and gentle he looked.

"Yeah. Kakashi and Gai were both beaten up pretty bad and Kiba looked like his arm was gonna come off."

"Are they alright?" He wore a worried expression on his face. He did not like losing ninja on missions that he sent them on and so he felt really guilty if one of them died, although Sakura was usually the one to break him out of his guilt fest.

"Of course. I treated them myself."

"Whew! Thanks Sakura-chan. You truly are the greatest woman I know." He said with sincerity.

Again, she flushed at the comment and her heart started to beat faster at the gaze that he was giving her.

"What are you talking about? What about-"

"No I really mean it. You're strong, smart, compassionate, caring, beautiful, and the list goes on."

If it was impossible for her heart to beat as fast as it did and her face to get redder, then she just broke it.

"Oh please Naruto. I'm sur-"

"Sakura-chan." His voice was stern and he was looking straight at her with his blue orbs. As much as she wanted to look away, she found herself unable to as she was trapped within his gaze.

"Follow me." Getting up, he paid the ramen stand and took Sakura by the hand. He blushed at the feeling of her soft skin against his and he loved it.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked after being led by the hand by Naruto for a while. She felt this shiver go up her spine when she noticed that he was still holding her by the hand and she, too, was loving the feeling of Naruto's hand holding hers.

"You'll see."

Passing the shining lake, they entered a forest as the pink haired medic's curiosity continued to rise.

"I wonder where he's taking me."

The forest was lush, full of orange and brown as is commonly associated with November. Leaves had fallen on the ground, covering the soft dirt with an orange wave of brittle leaves. It had grown dark as the crunching of the leaves could be heard echoing throughout the forest. Looking ahead of her, she just noticed that Naruto was wearing the standard Jonin outfit, but without his headband.

They continued to travel through the forest and she desperately wanted to know where he was taking her. Naruto never once looked behind him, but just stared ahead of him. To her, it looked like his was in deep thought, and it puzzled her to know what he was thinking about.

"What's he thinking about?"

"Look, we're here."

Coming out from her thoughts, her eyes widened when she saw what was in front of her.

"What the-"

Oooh, sorry to leave you guys hanging like that. Anyways, please read and review.