Here's an fluffy and extra long chapter 5.
As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/alerts =)
Shout out and my thanks to everyone who reviewed since last time: saveme57, Echo Uchiha, Jozern, Cloud Ex-SOLDIER, Toasty Warrior, TheOmegaMan, Stryker114, butterflyV, melapoy, ZeroTail29, Blazing CobaltX, Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, Nutt Man 117, Goddess of night Eternal Faith, Darious Frost
saveme57: Ya, give Naruto and Sakura a year to do nothing but train and they'll come back as badasses =P
Echo Uchiha: Thanks =)
Jozern: I probably won't give Naruto too many more jutsus. I'm thinking about putting in my wind explosion from my story "Guardian," but I'm not entirely sold on it yet. As for hirashin- it's "limit" in this story is that it takes a decent amount of chakra. Thus why so far every time I've had Naruto use it he's been in sage mode. And I agree, Naruto does need someone to keep him grounded =)
Cloud Ex-SOLDIER: Sakura was able to silently creep up behind Neji because Naruto had punched him in the gut. Ino could see Sakura coming at her, even if she wasn't able to react, and since they were so outnumbered, Sakura needed to make sure she could take Ino out with one hit. I'm glad you enjoyed the battle scene and chapter =)
Toasty Warrior: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. We'll just have to wait and see how they fare against Kabuto and Madara =)
TheOmegaMan: :D And ya... Kabuto plays dirty! I hope you didn't get in any trouble for laughing out loud in class =P
Stryker114: Lee was able to land a hit when he caught Naruto off guard by quickly opening a gate in the beginning of the fight! Shikamaru and co. will definitely prove themselves in the war =)
butterflyV: True, but Sakura requesting a training mission and dragging Naruto along on it is still fresh in everyone's minds. So I would say that's how she got away with it =)
melapoy: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it =)
ZeroTail29: Haha. Sakura just has a habit of beating Naruto whenever she feels he acts out. I shall keep your words in mind though =) Also, I'm glad you're enjoying my story thus far!
Blazing CobaltX: I'm glad you liked it! Sakura taking her shirt off was a subtle way of showing how her confidence has groaned. In the manga, Sakura tends to think poorly of herself. So the fact that she has the confidence to take off her shirt shows how much her confidence has grown! Well... that's what I intended for it to do anyways =P
Kyuubi loves NaruSaku: /e whistles innocently. Glad you like Naruto's new outfit and Lee's children are a terrifying thought =P Also, I don't think it would help Naruto's hokage chances out too much if he transformed into the monster that terrified the village all those years ago ;)
Nutt Man 117: OMG THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!
Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: Haha, no worries =) I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far. The battle will not begin this chapter, this chapter is one last fluffy chapter. Next chapter the war begins.
Darious Frost: Glad you enjoyed it =) And ya, every man is whipped by the woman he loves, whether he'll admit it or not =P Don't wrack your mind too much for the new man who's better than Zetsu was. Madara is still the main bad guy, but he's currently distracted with recruiting new Akatsuki members. This man is the first OC for the story, and he won't play any more prominent role than keeping Madara informed of Kabuto's actions.
Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura would've succeeded in removing Kakashi's mask. I'm curious to what he's hiding under there damnit!
Anyways... Onto the show. Please do enjoy "A Jinchuriki's Strength"- Chapter 5: Calm Before the Storm
Shikamaru sat in the morning son just outside the Nara household with his legs crossed; his eyes were solely focused on a shogi board. He had been sitting like that for the past hour. It had been 3 days since Naruto and Sakura easily defeated both Team 10 and Team Gai at the same time.
"Shikamaru!" Ino greeted as his father led her to him.
"Ino." Shikamaru replied without taking his eyes off the board.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to think of any signs I could have missed that would have alerted me that Sakura used a genjutsu to start our fight."
"You still aren't over that? Shikamaru, that was 3 days ago. Both Naruto and Sakura spent an entire year doing nothing but training while our training was constantly interrupted by going on missions. Don't feel bad." Ino said, attempting to make her friend feel better.
"It's only a matter of time until Kabuto's army is on our doorstep, and I know that Tsunade will look to me for some kind of strategy to get us out of this alive. Yet, I just lost a battle in which my squad outnumbered my opponents' squad 6-2 all because I failed to recognize that my squad had been tricked by a genjutsu." Shikamaru growled.
Ino looked at her teammate in surprise. Usually Shikamaru wouldn't care about something like this. He would just say something about it being a troublesome situation in the first place…
"But you don't have to worry about fighting Naruto or Sakura, so why look for signs that could help you beat them when you could be focusing on strategies for the coming war?"
"As we found out 3 days ago, pre-planned strategies have the potential to work well, but often are disrupted. More often than not, its strategies formed in the middle of a battle that saves the day. Naruto and Sakura showed me that I need to work on those strategies." The lazy jonin explained.
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself!" Ino said, again hoping to make her friend feel better.
"I'm not being hard on myself. I'm not saying that I'm the reason we lost our fight with Naruto and Sakura, I'm simply saying that it showed me I have room for improvement. If Konoha is depending on my mind to navigate us through war, then I need to ensure that it is as sharp as possible so we take as little casualties as possible."
Ino nodded her head as she took in her teammate's words, but still thought he seemed a little down. The platinum blonde again opened her mouth to offer more words of encouragement but Shikamaru interrupted her.
"Besides, I could care less if we lost to Naruto and Sakura. It was a troublesome situation to begin with. And it's probably better that we got so soundly defeated. Now the villagers will feel much safer with Naruto and Sakura's presence and our armies can rally around them. Us losing was the best thing that could have happened to Konoha."
"I understand now." Ino said as she proudly smiled at her teammate. "You've come a long way from your younger days Shikamaru. I never would've thought the laziest academy student in all of history would've ended up spending all his time improving his mind so that he could lead Konoha's army to victory."
"Tch... whatever. I'm only doing this because it would be too troublesome to have the village lose the war because of me." Shikamaru grumbled, obviously not thrilled about indirectly being called a hard worker.
"Whatever you say Shikamaru." Ino responded as she turned to leave.
"Oh wait!" The platinum blonde yelled out after she had taken a few steps. "I forgot the main reason I had come over here. Chouji invited all of the Rookie 9, Team Gai and Sai out to a sort of impromptu party at his family's barbecue restaurant on the north side. This is the first time in a while that we've all been in Konoha at the same time."
"What time?" Shikamaru asked. Truth be told, a reunion with everyone did seem nice. They were currently experiencing the calm before the storm of war, it was only a matter of time until the storm arrived, and who knew when they would all be able to get together again? Who knew if they would all be able to get together again…
"7:00; don't be late!" Ino answered, and then turned back around and walked out of the Nara compound.
"Red Shadow, report in." A spiky-haired blonde man said quietly into the headset he was wearing as his red sage cloak flapped in the breeze. Naruto stared down at the village from his hiding spot.
"Red Shadow here, nothing's changed. Pink Bear is still asleep." Whispered an identical voice to the blonde's.
Naruto sighed and jumped from his perch and began speeding towards the jewelry shop.
"Gold Shadow, report." Naruto ordered.
"Gold Shadow here, you still don't seem to be under any sort of genjutsu." Gold Shadow replied.
Good, everything is going according to plan so far. Leaving my kage bunshin in bed with Sakura-chan has kept her from waking up and noticing I'm gone. But just in case, I have another kage bunshin tailing me on the off chance Sakura-chan saw through my plan and casts a genjutsu on me.
Naruto and Sakura had been back in Konoha for 4 days and he had yet to get Sakura the anniversary gift he promised her would be waiting in Konoha. But today that was going to change. He and Sakura had spent literally all of their time together during the past 4 days. Which didn't bother Naruto, in fact, he loved it. But it did make buying a gift hard with his girlfriend constantly being around.
But today everything was going to change. Naruto had devised his brilliant scheme with his kage bunshins and borrowed a set of radios from Kakashi-sensei. Today, Sakura Haruno was going to get the best anniversary gift ever.
"Sapphire Fox approaching target." Naruto announced to his two clone teammates.
"I detect no genjutsus Sapphire fox." Gold Shadow announced.
Naruto walked up to the door just as the shopkeeper flipped the sign to open. The shopkeeper smiled upon seeing the powerful young sage and opened the door for him.
"Ah Naruto-sama, it's a pleasure to see you. What brings you by so early this morning hmm?" The long grey-haired shopkeeper asked with a smile on her wrinkled face.
"I need to get my girlfriend a gift for our 1 year anniversary gift…" The jinchuriki started.
"Ah so it's true that you and Sakura-sama are dating?" The old woman interrupted with a pleasant smile.
Naruto blushed a little and sheepishly grinned while scratching the back of his head. Even though he had been with Sakura for more than a year now, it still sometimes felt weird to say that she was his girlfriend. It still was sometimes hard to believe that he had finally won the heart of the woman of his dreams.
"Hehe… yea. But I promised her that I had an awesome anniversary gift waiting for her when we got back to Konoha, but it was all a bluff. And now we've been back for 4 days, I don't want her to think that I forgot about getting her a gift!"
"Relax Naruto-sama. The entire village is abuzz with talk about you and Sakura-sama, everyone is saying how in love you two are. I'm sure Sakura-sama won't get angry at you." The shopkeeper attempted to soothe.
"She probably wouldn't, but I still want to get her something special. You know… to show her that I really care about her…" Naruto said softly.
The old woman's gray eyes twinkled. "I think I have just the thing!" The shopkeeper walked into the back room and returned with a bunch of engagement rings, causing Naruto's eyes to bulge out of his skull.
"NANI?" The startled blonde yelled.
"Not so loud Sapphire Fox! If you keep yelling like that, Pink Bear might hear it and wake up." Red Shadow whispered worriedly. Naruto could practically hear the sweat fall from Red Shadow's body as he stared nervously at Sakura to see if she was awoken by Naruto's yell.
"What? You said you wanted to show Sakura how much you care about her right? Well an engagement ring will do that better than any other piece of jewelry you could buy. An engagement ring would show her that you care so much that you want to spend the rest of your life with her." The gray-haired woman explained.
"I… I don't know if we're there yet." Naruto replied honestly. "I mean, we both love each other very much, and I know that we'll end up together in the end, but I don't know if we're ready for marriage right now.
Sapphire eyes scanned the engagement rings until they fell upon one particular ring. Its silver band was littered with tiny little emeralds that ended up circling around a large, sparkling 2 carat diamond.
That ring is perfect for Sakura-chan… Naruto thought as he stared at it in awe.
"Ah you have a good eye Naruto-sama. I'm sure Sakura-sama would love this one. Here, take it." The old woman said, shoving the expensive ring into Naruto's hand.
"What? No… I can't afford this. And like I said, we're not ready for marriage yet." Naruto replied as he tried to hand the ring back.
The shopkeeper refused to take the ring and smiled at the blonde hero. "Then we'll make a deal then. You hang onto that ring for now, and when you finally decide that you're ready and give it to Sakura, you can come and pay me. Also we can make the payments something as little as 800 yen a month."
"That's too much. This ring is easily worth 750,000 yen. There is no way I would pay you back in your lifetime or mine!"
"That's ok Naruto-sama. Look at this as an apology for the way our village treated you when you were little, and a thank you for always protecting us anyways. I don't really care about the money all that much, an old bag like myself doesn't have all that much use for the stuff anyways."
Naruto stood rooted in the spot as he stared at the old shopkeeper in shock. He opened his mouth to offer some sort of response.
"I…I don't know what to say…I don't even know your name." The future hokage stammered.
The shopkeeper chuckled at the shocked hero. "Oh is that all you need to take this? My name is Kaori then."
Naruto bowed his head to the old shopkeeper as a sign of respect. "Thank you Kaori-san, thank you so much." When his head shot back up the wrinkled woman was surprised to see tears pooling in the powerful jinchuriki's eyes.
"You're welcome Naruto-sama. But don't think you're going to get Sakura's 1 year anniversary gift for free!" The old woman teased, putting the Yondaime's legacy back on track by reminding him of his original purpose for visiting.
"Oh crap! That's right! I still need to get Sakura-chan a gift for our anniversary!" The blonde nearly yelled.
"Sapphire Fox…" Red Shadow growled quietly. "I already warned you once." Naruto ignored his kage bunshin and began glancing around the shop. His eyes landed on a flawless sapphire that was hanging from a beautiful gold chain.
"I figured you would find that one." The shopkeeper grinned as she grabbed the necklace and walked behind the register.
"Ok… That will be 800 yen please."
"NANI?" Naruto again yelled. "THAT NECKLACE IS THAT CHEAP? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?"
"Mmmm… Naruto good morning." The jinchuriki heard a familiar voice whisper.
"Umm… good morning Sakura-chan." Naruto heard Red Shadow stammer nervously.
"Wait a minute… you're not Naruto." Sakura growled. "Where the hell is he?"
"SAPPHIRE FOX, PINK BEAR HAS WOKEN UP. I REPEAT PINK BEAR HAS WOKEN UP!" Red Shadow yelled in a panicked voice.
"PINK BEAR?" Sakura roared. "BEAR?" Naruto heard a familiar poof and his brain was flooded with the memory of the fist of a white-eyed Sakura meeting his face. The jinchuriki sighed. This isn't good.
"Ok Naruto, what the hell is going on?" Sakura asked, she had obviously found the radio after she dispelled the clone.
"Oh hey good morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted innocently. "Sleep good?"
"That didn't answer my question baka!"
Naruto gulped nervously. Sakura wasn't going to like his answer one bit. "Umm… well… I sort of can't tell you Sakura-chan. It's a secret."
"Hey whose on this channel?" A voice that sounded very similar to Naruto's except a little lower. Good thinking Gold Shadow! Naruto thought excitedly.
"Oh no, Sakura-chan our channel has been compromised. Maintain radio silence immediately!"
"Naruto I know that's one of your…"
"Radio silence Sakura-chan, Naruto out!" The blonde quickly shut off his headset before Sakura could get in another word. He instantly felt a familiar pull which meant that Sakura was calling him to her. He could practically feel her anger radiate through the seal.
The old shopkeeper chuckled at the normally confident jinchuriki. "Sakura-sama found out huh?"
Naruto sighed. "Ya… she better like this necklace as it's my only chance at survival now. But seriously, how is it only 700 yen?"
"Well, it's normally 21,000 yen, but with your hero's discount it's only 700." The old woman explained innocently. The young sage shot her a grateful smile as he paid her the small amount of money.
"Would you like the engagement ring engraved Naruto-sama?"
Naruto thought for a second and grinned. "That would be great" He looked around suspiciously, now that Sakura was awake she could burst into the shop any second. Then again, she was still using her seal to call him to her, so maybe she hadn't moved yet.
Better to be safe than sorry… Naruto thought as he leaned in and whispered something into the old woman's ear. The old woman chuckled.
"She'll love it Naruto-sama." To the blonde's surprise, the old woman formed some hand signs and pressed her finger to the band. The words instantly engraved themselves into the inside of the band in beautiful writing.
"How did you…"
"What? Just because I'm old you don't think I know any ninjutsu? I was a pretty strong kunoichi back in my hay day!" The woman said proudly as she put the ring in a small black box, and the necklace in a long and narrow black box.
She handed the small black box to Naruto and wrapped the narrow box in orange wrapping paper, and then handed him that as well.
"There you are Naruto-sama. Thank you for stopping by today and good luck surviving your girlfriend."
Naruto chuckled nervously. "Thanks, I'm going to need it." The blonde focused on the seal that his girlfriend was still angrily pushing chakra into and disappeared in a yellow flash.
Sakura was sitting in the apartment she now shared with Naruto, pumping chakra into her seal calling her knucklehead to her.
Jeeze! First I wake up to find he snuck out of the apartment and left a kage bunshin in his place… Then he gives me the code name "Pink Bear" and now he won't even tell me what he's doing? And when the hell is this baka going to answer my call, I've been pushing chakra into my seal for a good 6 minutes now…
Before the pinkette could think any more angry thoughts, she felt a familiar warmth on her body as her boyfriend flashed in front of her.
"Baka!" Sakura yelled as she reared her fist back to teach the knucklehead a lesson. She was surprised when Naruto actually caught her fist, although he winced in pain from the contact. She had put a lot of chakra behind that punch.
"Wait Sakura-chan… Before you send me to the hospital, I had a good reason. Here, happy anniversary!"
Sakura's face instantly transformed into a soft smile as she looked at the narrow orange package her boyfriend was holding in front of her with a nervous looked on his face. Green chakra enveloped the hand that Naruto still had a hold of, and instantly removed the pain from the jinchuriki's hand. She took the package from Naruto and gently opened it to reveal a long block box.
Flipping the box opened Sakura's eyes widened and she couldn't resist letting out an excited squeal. "Oh Naruto! It's so beautiful!" The pinkette cooed as she picked up the necklace. It wasn't the most elegant necklace, but the sapphire perfectly matched his eyes. Now she could always hold him over her heart.
The future hokage took the necklace out of her hand and placed it around her porcelain neck. Sakura quickly smashed her lips against her boyfriend's.
"I'm so sorry I was mad at you!" She apologized to the now grinning blonde.
"It's alright Sakura-chan. You didn't know." Sakura gave Naruto another quick peck on the lips before running and examining herself in the mirror. This necklace is perfect… The pinkette thought as she turned her head to give Naruto another smile.
"Ah Zabuza, good to see you again. I trust you had a nice trip."
"I thought you were dirty before, but this is really dirty Kabuto." Zabuza grumbled as he handed the snake-like man two vials, one with a piece of red hair, and another with a piece of blonde.
"Our enemy is very powerful Zabuza, we'll need every advantage we can get to defeat him."
Zabuza grimaced at Kabuto's words.
I don't really like to think of Naruto as an enemy. I owe him a lot for opening my eyes… And now I have to help destroy him. This sucks…
An exhausted Lee stood panting before the remains of a giant rock. Blood dripped from his fists, but he smiled proudly. Gai-sensei is going to be pleased with my youthful strength!
FLASH BACK
The sun was setting and Lee was standing on the training grounds where Naruto and Sakura had so effortlessly dispatched of his team and Team 10 with very little effort.
"I've trained so hard, yet there are still others who are so much stronger than me…" The bushy-browed boy muttered.
"Of course there are Lee." Gai said in a surprisingly calm tone as he walked up behind his student. "There's always going to be someone stronger. They're who push us to train harder so that we can catch up and pass them."
Lee looked up at his idol with curious eyes. "But what if I can never catch up Gai-sensei. I'm starting to doubt if I can ever beat Naruto-kun with only taijutsu…"
"IMPOSTER!" Gai suddenly yelled. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY PRECIOUS STUDENT LEE?"
Lee's eyes widened as his master yelled at him.
"You know what the power of hard work can do! If you want to beat Naruto, then you're going to have to become stronger and faster so you can battle him when he's in sage mode. I want you to double your weights and then shatter that rock over there with your fists." Guy said as he pointed to a giant boulder. The rock was about the same size as a small house. "After that, you are to run 500 laps around Konoha. If you haven't finished breaking the rock and running your laps by sunrise then you will do it again tomorrow."
"YOSH! THANK YOU GAI-SENSEI! I WILL USE MY POWER OF HARDWORK TO BECOME STRONGER AND SURPASS NARUTO-KUN AND SAKURA-CHAN!" The previously somber bushy-browed boy yelled.
Gai placed his hands on Lee's weights and the young jonin nearly fell over when his weights were doubled. But Lee gritted his teeth and walked towards the giant boulder.
FLASH IN
"I better run my laps quick!" Lee yelled to no one in particular. "Chouji's party is going to start in 1 hour!" Ignoring the strain on his body from his weights, Lee took off to start his laps.
"Sakura-chan aren't you ready yet? It's already 6:50... we're going to be late!" Naruto complained from his spot on the couch. Sakura insisted that the two dress nice for the party tonight, although he didn't understand the point.
He was currently wearing a red button up shirt with the last two buttons unbuttoned, a pair of black dress pants, a black blazer and his red forehead protector with a pair of black open-toed ninja boots.
This is such a pain… Naruto thought. Sakura had been getting ready for the past hour and a half now…
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out again. Hoping that if he pestered her enough she would miraculously be ready.
"Quiet down, I'm almost done Naruto!" Sakura yelled back.
Great… by the time we get there Chouji will have eaten all the barbecue.
Naruto laid his head down on the couch he was sitting on, and as he had over a year ago allowed himself to get overwhelmed by Sakura's wonderful scent and drifted off to sleep.
Sakura gave herself an approving look in the mirror. SHANAROO! I look great! Naruto's not going to be able to take his eyes off me at all today! When Ino came by to tell her about Chouji's party earlier today, Sakura had gotten excited. She hadn't really had a chance to get all dressed up since her date with Naruto before they went to the Lightning Temple for training.
Much to her boyfriend's displeasure, Sakura instantly used Chouji's party as an excuse for them both to get dressed up. He had grumbled quite a bit, but after a quick kiss he relented. She smiled as she looked at herself.
She was wearing a tight black shirt with sleeves that just barely made it past her shoulders, and a short red mini-skirt that made it halfway in between her thighs and knees. Her legs were covered in fishnet stockings and Sakura had put on glossy red lipstick. She wore Naruto's necklace proudly over the shirt, and had put on a very generous amount of makeup to make her look flawless in her opinion. She topped her outfit off with a pair of red Konoha symbol earrings. Lastly her pink hair was pulled back in a ponytail, with her bangs framing her face.
I look good. Sakura repeated to herself with a smile. Naruto had been strangely quiet for the past 10 minutes. He had been badgering her for the past hour to finish up. She walked out into the living room to see her boyfriend laying on the couch.
"I'm ready Naruto." She called. When she got no response she walked over to the couch to see her knucklehead asleep; just like he had been before their first date over a year ago. She looked at the clock to see it was 7:00.
"Oh well." She muttered softly. "It's better to be fashionably late to a party right?"
Sakura sat down on the couch and laid Naruto's head onto her lap and began stroking his hair as she stared down at him lovingly.
Sakura and a dazed Naruto finally arrived at Chouji's party at 7:45. Sakura giggled as she remembered her boyfriend's response when he woke up.
"Naruto, we're here. Stop staring off into the distance." Sakura playfully scolded bringing the blonde out of his daze.
"Huh? Oh Sakura-chan… Right. Sorry about that."
The whiskered blonde shook his thoughts trying to clear his head. He just couldn't shake the memory of waking up from his "nap" from his mind.
FLASHBACK
Naruto slowly stirred awake, he was slightly aware that his head was resting on a comfortable pillow and something was running through his hair. The most amazing scent filled his nostrils and briefly debated going back to sleep. But no, he had to go to Chouji's party.
The blonde tiredly opened his eyes and was greeted by two beautiful, warm and loving emerald eyes. Naruto couldn't help but gasp when he saw the look on Sakura's face… It was so full of love… The blonde's mind flashed to the little black box he had in his pocket as suddenly his doubt was washed away.
Just seeing the look on Sakura's face as she softly stroked his hair made him realize that he was ready to take the next step, and he was pretty sure Sakura was too. Naruto Uzumaki wanted to propose to Sakura Haruno.
"You're finally awake." Sakura greeted with that beautiful smile.
"Mmm… yea." Naruto replied in a dazed tone. He still couldn't believe what he just figured out.
"As much as I would love to just stay here, we have a party to go. So come on, let's go."
"Alright Sakura-chan." Naruto responded as he reluctantly left the comfort of his girlfriend's lap to sit up.
FLASH IN
I'm going to do it. I'm going to propose to Sakura-chan. The blonde thought determinately. His eyes widened when he realized he had forgotten something very important in his dazed state.
"Oh Sakura-chan?"
"Yes Naruto?"
"Before we get in there, I just want to let you know that you look absolutely beautiful tonight." The blonde softly said with a smile on his face.
Sakura's only response was a grateful smile and a quick peck on the lips. She grabbed the jinchuriki's hand and led him into the restaurant to join their friends.
"Well look who finally showed up 45 minutes late!" Ino announced as the two walked in. "Sakura you did a great job of fixing your sex hair. I would never know you just got laid a little while ago."
"SHUT UP PIG!" Sakura yelled as she blushed. She noticed that Naruto didn't blush with her from the corner of her eye, which was strange because he usually blushed whenever anyone talked about their sex life in front of them. He still had that dazed look on his face. No… there's something else there. He's not just dazed… He looks kind of… nervous?
Ino motioned for Naruto and Sakura to take the seats right next to her and Sakura led the pair to the seats. I don't think he would've known to move if I didn't have a hold of his hand… He's been acting funny ever since he woke up… I wonder what's wrong with him.
Naruto sat down and greeted his friends with a head nod. Should I do it tonight? It's a beautiful night… Sakura-chan looks great… I'm going to. Tonight is the night I've been waiting for ever since I was in the academy… A look of confidence overtook the blonde's face.
"Ne Sakura-chan, excuse me for a moment, I need to step outside for a second." Naruto said as he stood up.
"Are you feeling ok?" Sakura asked as she looked up at him with worried eyes.
He shot her a smile back. "I'm alright Sakura. Don't worry, I'll be right back."
Naruto walked out of the restaurant and breathed in the fresh night air. He looked up into the sky and grinned. Good, it's a full moon tonight. He closed his sapphire eyes and entered sage mode so he could keep an eye on Sakura's chakra.
Forming his familiar cross seal, Naruto softly muttered 5 words that had helped make him famous. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." 30 Naruto clones poofed into existence.
"Ok guys, we have a very important mission in front of us tonight. We can afford no mistakes." Naruto told his clones. "Now gather in."
Naruto's clones huddled around him as Naruto whispered a series of commands.
Sakura watched as Naruto walked out of the restaurant. Something seemed off about him. He had been dazed and staring into the distance nervously ever since he had woken up. Then suddenly a look of confidence overtook his face and he left her.
"Ino I think something is wrong with Naruto." Sakura whispered so only the Yamanaka could here.
"Oh don't worry about it Sakura. You must be a good lay if you put him in a dazed state like that after sex." Ino said dismissively.
"We were not having sex pig." Sakura hissed angrily. "Naruto fell asleep waiting for me to get ready, and when I saw him I sat on the couch with his head in my lap and stroked his hair for a while. When he woke up he looked at me and he got that dazed look on his face. Then he started looking nervous, and just now he had a confident look on his face…" Sakura quietly explained.
"Ok… so what does that mean…" Ino drawled.
"I don't know… I know he loves me, but a small part of me can't help but worry that maybe he's tired of being with me. I mean… we've been together for a year now. And when we haven't been training we've always been with each other. Naruto had to set up an elaborate plan this morning just to get away from me long enough to buy me an anniversary gift… What if he was nervous about telling me he wanted to take a break because he was scared of what I would do to him? What if he decided he was going to do it and went outside to…"
"Ok Sakura you can shut up now." Ino interrupted. "You know as well as I do that Naruto getting tired of you is literally impossible… so stop worrying about it. Naruto has been in love with you for as long as you've known him, so calm down."
Ino's words calmed Sakura down. She knew her fears were stupid and irrational, she knew that the baka loved her.
"And besides, why would he have gotten you a beautiful and expensive necklace like that for an anniversary gift if he was thinking of breaking up with you?" Ino pointed out as she examined Sakura's new necklace.
Sakura smiled. "Isn't it beautiful?" She bragged, her brief moment of divulging in her irrational fear now behind her.
"Ok, does everyone got their assignments?" Naruto asked the clones huddled around him.
"HAI!" They yelled in unison causing Naruto to grin.
"Alright then! "Operation: Naruto Uzumaki's Super Awesome Perfect Marriage Proposal" begins now! Everyone move out!"
"YOSH!" The clones yelled before flickering away to complete their assigned jobs.
The Yondaime's legacy walked back into the restaurant and noticed Sakura's eyes instantly light up when she saw him. Hehe, just you wait Sakura-chan, I'm going to give you a night you will never forget.
He retook his seat by his girlfriend's side.
"Are you feeling better?" She asked as soon as he was seated.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled down at her. "I sure am Sakura-chan!"
"So Naruto…" Kiba said drawing the jinchuriki's attention. "You and Sakura easily beat 2 jonin teams. How much of your strength were you guys holding back?"
Naruto looked at Sakura as he tried to figure out the answer to that question.
"Hmm… well… let's see… I didn't use my kage bunshin hirashin ring, and I really didn't use that many kage bunshins in general during the fight. I also didn't use any of my wind jutsus or sage arts…"
"I didn't use any of my medical jutsus or any of my water jutsus…" Sakura added. "I also didn't need to use my Sasai Chakra no Jutsu to restore my chakra…"
"Does that answer your question?" Sakura asked looking at a wide-eyed Kiba. "It's kind of hard to put a numerical value to how much we were holding back, because we both used some of our most powerful techniques while still held back some of our most powerful techniques as well."
"Ya… that'll work." Kiba said as sweat dropped down his head.
"Well I just gotta say that I'm glad you two are on our side!" Chouji said with a grin. "You guys were unreal."
A very tired and exhausted Lee took that moment to enter the restaurant.
"Hello everyone." The bushy-browed man greeted with an exhausted voice. "I'm…"
"Lee!" Sakura quickly interrupted as her eyes landed on his bloody fists. "What happened to your fists?"
"Oh it's nothing Sakura-chan. I was just training so I could increase the power of my youth."
Sakura got up and grabbed Lee's hands causing the jumpsuit wearer to look away and blush.
"Just training? Lee your knuckles are completely shattered! I know you like to push yourself, but this is going way too far." Sakura admonished as her green chakra repaired Lee's shattered fists. Deciding that Lee showing signs of exhaustion was far too uncommon, Sakura decided to check the rest of his body for any injuries and gasped.
"Lee what training are you doing? Your entire body is strained. Both of your femurs are currently on the verge of fracturing and whatever is causing your body this strain is weakening the rest of it as well." Sakura poured more healing chakra into Lee, and 5 minutes later the bushy-browed boy was good as new.
"Thank you very much Sakura-san for healing me!"
"No problem Lee. Just promise me you won't ever push yourself that hard again."
Lee chose to simply grin at Sakura, deciding he didn't want to break a promise to her.
Sakura took the grin as his promise and returned to her seat by Naruto.
Chouji's party was going great. After Lee arrived late and Sakura healed his battered body, everyone pleasantly conversed while they enjoyed the barbeque. Shikamaru though, couldn't take his eyes off Naruto. The jinchuriki seemed to be acting a little strange. He doubted anyone else realized it. Sakura might have, but the blonde hid his strange attitude well. He had a slightly nervous look which he expertly hid behind a grin, and seemed to have an air of excitement about him; moreso than normal…
What are you hiding Naruto… Shikamaru looked for any small sign that could clue him in on what Naruto was thinking, but couldn't find anything. He let out a sigh.
"Naruto, care to join me outside for a smoke?" Shikamaru asked causing Sakura to glare bloody daggers at him.
"I don't smoke Shikamaru." Naruto replied as he shot the Nara genius a questioning look.
"I know, but why don't you join me anyways? You don't have to actually smoke with me."
Naruto nodded and walked out into the night air with the lazy genius.
"Alright Naruto…" Shikamaru said as he grabbed a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. "What's going on…" The Nara pulled out Asuma's lighter but his hand was stopped by Naruto's before he could light the cigarette.
"Sorry Shikamaru, but I can't let you smoke around me, not tonight. Tonight is going to be perfect for Sakura-chan, so I can't afford to smell like smoke."
"Tonight is going to be…" Shikamaru started before his mind finally put all the pieces together. "So you're already proposing to her."
Naruto grinned at his friend. "That's right! But Shikamaru… why do you care? You normally wouldn't go to all the trouble to find out something like this…"
"I came up with a pretty basic, but effective strategy to beat you and Sakura. We knew what you had been training in, so we could assume you mastered sage mode and the hirashin. But we didn't know what Sakura had trained in, making her an unkown. Add in the fact that she's a medinin and can heal any damage we do to you, I decided that we would take her out of the fight first."
"Ok…" Naruto said, not knowing why his friend was bringing this up.
"We were going to have Lee distract you, his taijutsu was better than yours before you left and your fighting style is heavily dependent on taijutsu and kage bunshins. So he could've distracted you long enough for Tenten, Chouji and Neji to quickly take Sakura out of the fight." Shikamaru continued.
"Ummm… Right…" Naruto drawled.
"It was a good plan, but it failed as soon as the fight began and I failed to realize that Sakura had cast a genjutsu on us." To Naruto's surprise, Shikamaru balled his hands into a fist. "You guys easily defeated us even though I had developed a good strategy to win before the fight. Had I been more aware when the fight began, I could've altered the strategy and we might have been able to win."
"Shikamaru… don't blame…"
"I don't." The Nara interrupted. "But now I know I need to improve, so until the war begins I'm going to search for any signs that I could've missed when I'm facing an unknown. I couldn't figure out why you were acting so weird, but now I can figure it all out. The nervous look on your face, yet the excited air you exude, the way you keep glancing at Sakura from the corner of your eye, I should've known that you were going to propose to her, and next time someone exhibits similar behavior I'll know to think of that."
"Ohhhhh." Naruto said as he finally understood what the Nara was saying. "Well… glad I could help Shikamaru!" The blonde said as he clapped his friend on the back. "Now let's get back to the party." Naruto and Shikamaru began walking back into the restaurant.
"Naruto." Shikamaru said just before the two walked through the door.
"What is it Shikamaru?"
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
The rest of the dinner went well and the night came to an end all too early for the young Konoha jonin. Sakura had greatly enjoyed the dinner and was happy to catch up with all of her friends, but she was starting to get tired. Her boyfriend and she were slowly walking the path from the restaurant back to their apartment.
"Naruto I'm tired… why don't we just hirashin back to the apartment." Sakura said as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"And miss out on a walk on such a beautiful night? No thanks Sakura-chan."
"Oh come on Naruto… It's late." The pinkette whined.
Naruto looked down at her with a twinkle in his eye. "I think you'll be much happier that we walked home than hirashined home Sakura-chan."
"What are you talking about? Why would I be happy that we walk an extra 15 minutes when I would rather be in bed during those 15 minutes?"
"You'll just have to trust me Sakura-chan." The future hokage replied cryptically. Sakura rested her head on her boyfriend's shoulder as she allowed him to lead her towards their home. At least… that's where she thought he had been leading her."
"Naruto you baka! You led us the wrong way!" Naruto chuckled as he looked around. Looks like my clones are all in place. "Did I Sakura-chan?" He asked innocently, deciding to play with his girlfriend a little more.
"Yes baka! Do you remember walking over this wooden bridge that crosses over the stream like this?" Sakura couldn't help but notice how the water seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. It was really quite beautiful.
Naruto chuckled. "No I guess not."
"I think now's a good time guys." Sakura gasped as lanterns covering the bridge's railings that had somehow been hidden suddenly burst to life with a soft glow, and Sakura petals began slowly falling around them. Then there were poofs of smoke and 30 large softly glowing lanterns surrounded Naruto and Sakura on the bridge. What's going on… Sakura suddenly felt very awake as she looked at Naruto with a look of confusion only to find him on one knee facing her. He was situated just perfectly so that while she stared at him, she could see the full moon in all of its beauty behind him.
"Sakura," Naruto started softly gaining her undivided attention. "This past year with you… it's been… it's been the best year of my life. I have loved you since we were both academy students and I am so glad that I somehow got you to fall in love me…" Naruto said with one of his famous foxy grins.
"I'm not exactly the best with words, so I won't try to say anything fancy, as I would just make a fool out of myself. Instead I'll say it simply. Sakura Haruno, I know you are the only girl that I will ever love. I also know that we're still young, but I don't care. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Naruto reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black box.
"Sakura Haruno… will you marry me?" Naruto asked with a nervous look on his face.
Sakura couldn't have stopped the happy tears falling from her eyes if her life depended on it as she tackled her boyfriend and kissed him. "Yes of course I will Naruto!" She said happily before kissing him again.
Naruto felt extremely relieved and even was happier as he felt his fiancé continuously press her lips against his.
"Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he panted for air in between her kisses. "You might want to stop long enough for me to put your ring on your finger."
Sakura quickly got off of her future husband with an embarrassed smile. "Right…"
When Sakura got a good glance at the ring, a look of awe became plastered on her face as she snatched it from her fiance's hand.
"Naruto… this is beautiful!" Sakura exclaimed as she examined the emeralds that surrounded a very large diamond and surrounded the silver ban. As she examined the band she noticed an engraving on the inside. She softly smiled as she read the engraving.
I'll always be your baka
Man that was a fluffy chapter! The fighting begins next chapter! Please do review =)
For anyone that was wondering- the poof of smoke and the large lanterns were Naruto's clones in henge.
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