║ ¤ Gallimaufry ¤

Part I: Chapter I

Incineration

A loud explosion echoed through the forest as a shadow from the sky slid unceremoniously against the terrain of the forest, leaving an ample trail of destruction before coming to a complete halt. Smoke seeping from the crakes of the doors snaked its way upward, barely visible against the cloudy night. Animals fled from the area, hiding behind the spared trees and rocks, not bothering to see what had invaded their land. Save for the rain, everything was silent. Then, almost just to disturb the peace, a door was pushed open. Black smog from the inside of the vehicle rushed out audibly, not clearing a single bit for anything— if there was even anything around— to see the tiny, mangled form roll out and onto the mud below. Another explosion, a small one to say the least, ignited the caliginous sky. Warm droplets pelted the metal of the crashed figure— an airplane— sizzling as they came in contact with the stubborn flames absconding from the sides and scorching through the roof. The putrid smell of burning plastic rose into the air, spreading throughout the newly made clearing, and driving away any lingering critters.

Sakura laid there with the side of her face fixed in the mud, immobilized. Charred nerve endings in her left ankle and arm sent shockwaves of pain up and down her body, and the warm, wet rain wasn't helping ease the agony. The tissue in her throat and nasal cavity felt dry and cauterized with ever breath. Even her eyes— which were shut— had some foreign pain to them.

Sakura groaned as she began to process all of the information at hand. Where was she? That question remained unanswered, for opening her eyes was a futile attempt. How did she get here? Where was she prior? What seemed to start out as a small throb in her skull progressively turned into a raging migraine the more Sakura thought about it. Unfortunately, her memory was too muddled and all she could recall was hitting her head on the window of whatever it was she was in…

And for the life of her she couldn't remember what…

The heat from the adjacent fire was starting to burn Sakura even more, especially with the uncomfortable proximity between her and the crash. Numbly, she struggled to move her paralyzed limbs. Though, that seemed as meaningless as trying to open her eyes. What was she going to do? Simply wait until she could control her body? By that time she'd be dead.

Panic engulfed Sakura's insides, tears rendezvousing in the cracks of her shut eyelids on her motionless face. She was going to burn alive unless she did something! She internally screamed at her body to move. To show some kind of response to this danger. And as proven before, this energy was thoroughly wasted.

It seemed like forever before the heat from the inferno began to subside— or maybe she was just getting used to it— and she could remotely feel movement in her fingertips. Sakura's heart swelled with hope, and if she could smile, she would. Perhaps if she kept pushing, in time she would be able to move again. This afterthought sent another frenzy of bliss through Sakura's heart.

However that bliss was shattered when a sound in the distance froze Sakura from head to toe. It was a small noise— barely audible over the sizzling and cremating of the airplane—; a shuffling to Sakura's right that slowly and cautiously began to circle around the clearing, zigzagging back and forth across the land, but never seeming to come near Sakura's body. Suddenly the movement stopped, causing Sakura to hold her breath.

Less than a second passed before the shadow was sprinting toward Sakura's bodyy at an alarming rate. The grass under the figure snapped and became uprooted with the force of it abruptly halting at Sakura side. Something warm rolled her body over and scooped it up. Frightened at the abrupt weightlessness, she twitched her fingers again, urging her numb mouth and her worn down throat to cooperate and say something— anything. All that she could manage was a guttural whine.

"Shh," The figure assuaged. It was a quiet, yet deep voice, "I got you. You're going to be fine."

Sakura's body relaxed, sinking into the cincture of this stranger with a newfound relief. There was someone to help her, and to her that was all that matter. With this calming thought, the final, miniscule amount of adrenaline left in Sakura body began to vanish, allowing her mind to drift peacefully into the recesses of slumber.

It stopped raining.

˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.◦► ¤◄◦.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙

When Sakura opened her eyes she was faced with a crackling fire in a poorly made fire pit. White dunes of sand lined part of her vision and stuck to her hands, legs, and face, even settling in her unruly hair. On the other side of the small fire was a long stretch of jungle. At the very edge of that jungle, where the foliage connected with fine sands, were palm trees rooted at weird angles into the ground— some nearly horizontal and stretching out so far that they reach the ocean.

"Good morning."

Sakura gasped lightly as a pair of black tennis shoes popped into her vision. She gazed up, squinting through the dark cerulean of early morning. The person had broad shoulders, and from what Sakura could see, was of muscular build. Considering that given information, Sakura deemed that this person was definitely a boy.

"How are you feeling?" He said, bending over to throw some twigs into the fire, the flames illuminating his face. The first thing Sakura noticed was his golden blonde hair, then his long, dark eyelashes, and sharp jaw line. He turned to face Sakura, flashing a pearly white grin. Sakura pushed herself into a sitting position, the swift movement— which really wasn't that swift— seeming to jostle her intestines, sent a burning acid up her esophagus and out her mouth. The boy frowned at her, taking a seat by the fire, "Not well, I can see. The same thing happened to me when I woke up. I'm guessing it's just the change of environment."

Sakura wiped her lips with the back of her hand and covered the vomit with a sheet of sand— making a mental note to clean it up later. She cleared her sore throat and began to say something, stopping short after hearing the hoarseness that plagued her voice.

The boy reached for a collection of hairy cups that lay a small distance away from the fire and handed her one. It was more like a bowl, Sakura decided, lined with a thick white coating on the inside and filled with water. She raised her brow at it, curious, yet gulping it down anyways. When the last drop was gone— she hadn't realized how thirsty she was— she peeked over the rim of the bowl to see the boy watching her expectantly.

"Where are we?" She asked, giving the bowl back.

"I don't know. I sort of just… woke up here," He answered, knotting his eyebrows together as he stared at the sand, drawing circles in it with his index finger.

"What's your name?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself before," He confessed, snapping back to reality with another white and bright smile. He extended an olive toned hand to Sakura, looking straight into her emerald eyes, "I'm Naruto."

"Sakura," She said, shaking his outstretched appendage, "So… Do you know how we got here?"

"No idea. All I remember is heading to Institution. And then yesterday I woke up on this shore. Everything else is cloudy," Naruto sighed and ran his fingers through his blonde tresses, "But, there's one thing, and I can almost remember what it was. Even though I can't remember it fully, I know it's about something I saw right before I was knocked out."

Sakura was hit with a tidal wave of memories from the previous night. She remembered now: she had also been heading to Institution, via airplane. But… somehow the airplane crashed onto this island. There was a strange gap in between falling asleep on the plane and hitting her head on the window.

Naruto seemed to be concentrating extremely hard on something, and Sakura was hesitant to break his trance again. "An Emergency Exit sign?" She tried, knowing that that was the last thing she saw before blacking out.

"No…" He answered quietly, quickly losing his serious expression as he took on a more lighthearted one, "But its fine. I think it'll come to me with time. How are your burns?"

Sakura blinked at the sudden subject change. Thinking about it, she honestly hadn't yet noticed her burns. She glanced down at her sand covered limbs, seeing deep salmon-colored scorch marks run from her partially melted left shoe up to her knee and across her left forearm. They weren't as ghastly as she had feared, nor as excruciating as anticipated.

"They're fine," Sakura admitted, "Probably just second degree burns. Nothing some Freeze Gel won't fix as soon as we get out of this place."

There was a lengthy and distasteful silence that was instantly born in the air. Sakura bit her lip at this, rotating to face the horizon, watching in awe as the orange sun peeked up behind the calm ocean, lighting the heavens with a spectrum of colors from the pinks to the yellows, and drawing a long line of sparkling crystals over the waters where it was reflected. The steady crash and pull of the waves mixed in with the soft breeze quickly made the awkward stillness between the two survivors seem relaxing.

Naruto was the first to move. He pulled something off his back— a beige bag that Sakura hadn't noticed before— and began to dig through it. Sakura eyes widened.

"Where do you get that?"

Naruto looked up from his rummaging, confusion plastered on his face, "What?"

Sakura pointed, "That."

"The bag?" He inquired, and Sakura nodded, "It's my personal carry-on from the ship. I had it with me when I woke up."

"Mine disappeared at the crash. I wonder what happened to it," She uttered, not really wanting to think about the crash. It gave her a headache.

"It probably got incinerated."

That didn't sound nice.

"I hope not," Sakura replied, her brows knitting together to complete her frown, "It has some very useful things in there. Like my tablet…"

Naruto reached into his bag again, pulling out his own tablet— a thin computer screen that nearly everyone in the world possessed—, shaking it for emphasis, "It'd be no use. The reception is dead. And without reception, these things won't even turn on."

"That never happens," Sakura commented, shocked. She was beginning to feel a little panicky as their situation finally was registering in her mind. They were stranded. Alone. On an island.

"I guess it does here," Naruto stated, eyes gloomy, "Even our DC's are fried."

He held out his forearm. Sakura's green eyes trailed the smooth tissue until she saw a tiny grey square where Naruto's data chip was implanted, visibly, but slowly, rising to the top of his skin, forming a diminutive lump. She swallowed thickly. That wasn't a good sign.

Data chips, or DC's, were first introduced into society by a famous professor named Sakumo Hatake centuries ago. He thought that, rather than carrying around IDs that faced the danger of being lost, people could simple store all of their information on a single chip. This chip would be placed under the skin so to prevent theft and breakage. This idea of injecting chips into the body was not a new one, and, in fact, had been explored back in the Old Days. Notwithstanding it being such a revolutionary proposal, great dispute emerged and the idea was soon put to rest. Sakumo's proposal was not that much different from it, but, in the new world it erupted little ethical disagreement. At the launch of this new product— which later became law to wear — companies and higher ups began to summon more designs for future data chips, and ways to enhance them. Soon people were able to use data chips to go on the Net, to pay taxes, to listen to audio, and to shop without paper money. Life was so much easier. The Military even developed a tracking system. And just as a regular tracking system entails, the government knew where you were at all times of the day through your data chip.

Data chips that were weaved under tissue rarely got 'bad' without a reason. When they became old, or in rare cases, broken, they began to rise to the top of the skin. Whenever Sakura's data chips got old— which was about every four years— she would get a notification on her tablet. Immediately civilians were sent to get it removed and replaced, so never in her life had Sakura seen a chip actually rise under the skin. That only happened to some adults because they didn't necessarily have to get it removed and replaced right away.

But that wasn't even the most frightening part. What scared Sakura most was the fact that the society's system had evidently been meddled with. There were never supposed to be loopholes in the society's system. The servers were never down. The Net was never hacked. And there was always reception everywhere. If their DC's and tablets were unresponsive and otherwise useless, how were they supposed to get rescued? Who could track them?

Sakura wanted to tear her pink locks right from her skull.

"I've tried everything to get the tablet to work," Naruto informed, taking his arm back, "But it still won't turn on."

"Then how do we get help? I mean, if we have no means of communication, then how do we send a some kind of signal?"

Naruto stroked his chin in thought. "Remember those old kid stories about pirates and treasure hunting?" He said, "Well they used to make S.O.S's, right?"

S.O.S's? Sakura gave him a blank look.

"You know, traveling the seven seas… Marooning people on deserted islands…?" He continued, waiting for a spark. Sakura simply shook her head and stared at him like he was delusional.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about."

Naruto's sapphire eyes went wide and his mouth agape, "You're kidding! Those old stories were the best part of my childhood. My mom used to read them to me every night! How can you not know them?"

"If you're referring to Old Day literature, we don't read that," Sakura replied, a little wary that he knew of them in the first place, "It's illegal."

"We don't?"

"I thought so. At least in my Province we don't…"

"Huh…" Naruto trailed off again, his mind filling with more than just puzzlement and doubt. Sakura couldn't read it on his face, but she could see it in his eyes— a weird emotion that made Sakura feel like he was hiding something very important.

Sakura couldn't stop staring at him after that. He was an odd boy. A very odd one. He had read and learned about Old Day literature? When and how? Sakura was nearly one hundred percent positive that it was illegal across the globe. Either his parents were higher ups capable of harvesting such secretive material, or he was bluffing, easily fooling Sakura since she couldn't verify his information. She wondered what Province he was from…

"Here," Naruto said, handing Sakura some kind of cooked meat on a stick, "You should eat."

Sakura took it gratefully; scanning over the charred and scale-like covering with prudence. It smelled of fish. Sluggishly she brought to piece to her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut as the faintly warm meat touched her lips and was ripped by her teeth. Sakura grimaced.

"Bleh! How do you eat something like this?" She croaked— having swallowed probably the smallest bite she had ever taken in her life. Naruto looked amused at her reaction.

"That bad?" he laughed, taking a bite of his own cooked fish.

"No, no! What I mean is, it's so different from the food we eat in the Provinces," She amended, scanning over her food once again with widened eyes, "Verydifferent."

"Not much different than they food I have back home," He said nonchalantly, taking another large bite and swallowing with glee. Sakura watched him as if he were insane.

Naruto almost spit out his food at her expression, bursting out in hilarity, "You're like from a totally different planet! First the stories and now this!"

"I could say the same about you," Sakura countered.

"What Province are you from?"

Sakura perked up, liking where the conversation was going.

"Province 3 of Medicine, Southeastern Hemisphere," She answered proudly.

Naruto whistled, "Someone's from a big part of the world."

"And what Province are you from?" This was what Sakura had been waiting for…

"Province 416 of Agriculture, Southeastern Hemisphere."

"Agriculture?" Sakura voiced, astonished, "I didn't know that was a Province."

"Yeah, it's pretty small. Not many people know about the Agriculture provinces in general," Naruto said averting his cobalt eyes.

"You don't strike me as an Agriculture guy. You seem to know a lot more about survival," Sakura pointed out, gesturing around her to the furry bowls of water, the fire, and the cooked fish. No farmer would know how to do all that.

"My dad was in Law Enforcement and the Military," He explained, "So he kind of passed down all he knew about survival to me."

Sakura was astonished again— wasn't Naruto full of surprises?— Not because his father had somehow worked in two different branches, but because his parents taught him? The only thing Sakura's parents ever taught her was how to walk and talk. Only her professors and school teachers were allowed to teach her, including the books and resources they provided her with. And on top of that, she never learned about anything other than her own Division. It's always been medical for Sakura. Straying from her studies was unacceptable, and illegal. Yet here was a boy, a strange farmer, who seemed to be breaking the law continuously, yet already gaining more useful information than Sakura couldn't dream of. He was a farmer, for crying out loud!

Did he live in a parallel universe?

Sakura raised the fish to her mouth, forcing down another bite, "What's it like in your Province?"

"There aren't many people. All we do other than school is farm work. But, you know, once the labor is done there's nothing else to do. We usually just play around to pass the time."

This fascinated Sakura, because the concept of 'playing' was quite foreign. Sure, she knew what it was, but she didn't have much time to play often or have fun. "What do you do for fun? Go to a movie screening?" Sakura asked, staring into the deep sea of Naruto's irises. That's what she and her friends usually did. Movie's were a quick way to bond and be entertained at the same time.

"No; we don't have theatres in my Province. We just go outside."

No theatres? Sakura couldn't belief her ears!

"Outside," Sakura repeated slowly, shifting so that she was cross legged, "You're not talking about the Forbidden lands, are you?"

Now Naruto was the baffled one. "Forbidden?" He said, returning the look Sakura had so often given him today, "I've heard of it before… But where I'm from we don't call it the 'Forbidden' lands. It's just outside."

The Forbidden, as Sakura was taught at a young age, was probably the last place someone would want to go. It consisted mostly of the lands in between and surrounding the Provinces— which is why one must take the flight train when traveling to the surrounding Provinces—, as well as all other grounds that have been blocked off from humans. Normally the only people allowed to roam the Forbidden were scientists. Naruto was no scientist.

"Isn't it dangerous?" Sakura gaped, lowering her voice and leaning forward, as if it were a secret, "I've heard that the animals aren't like the ones in the pet stores or the zoos. I've heard they're vicious."

"Not really. You're overreacting," Naruto said, a bit annoyed, "It's a lot like this place, essentially. But less tropical."

"This place is dangerous," Sakura hissed incredulously, "I almost died yesterday!"

"Yeah, because of an airplane crash. If anything, the 'Forbidden'," Naruto said, 'air quoting', "Is the safest place."

"Weren't you ever taught about it as a child? It's full of creatures and atmospheres unfit for human living. We're not to go there, ever," Sakura explained, her façade hardening, "And how did you even get there? Weren't there barriers or fences?"

"Weren't you ever taught that it's called nature," Naruto opposed, feeling a little more heated about this dispute than he wanted to be, "And despite what you've been taught, it's not that dangerous. My friend and I once walked to a Province that was three kilometers away. Does that tell you enough about our barriers?"

The two glared intensely at each other.

This was ridiculous! What kind of childhood did Naruto have? A horrifying one, clearly! Sakura shook her head, jostling her long pink locks in an attempt to rid herself of this doubt, and above all, interest. It was bizarre now that she began to ponder it; but despite feeling a rather potent abhor toward Naruto— due to their diversity in backgrounds— she was intrigued by his character. Everything about him drove her curiosity. She wanted to know more. Never had she imagined herself associating with a farmer. It was a rather exciting change.

However, Sakura felt a twinge of remorse at her thoughts— in her mind she was constantly placing herself above Naruto in status, calling him farmer. The society always imposed the idea that everyone was equal, even if everyone was different. But Sakura knew better, and she wasn't the only one that recognized the divide in classes that the society chose to ignore.

Sakura stood, virtually toppling over at the dizziness that rocked her vision. Steadying herself, she inhaled a fresh, confident breath, before looking over at the blonde boy next to the fire. She had decided; she was going to befriend Naruto. Getting to know him would not only satisfy her curiosity about him, but improve her chances of getting off this blasted island. It was killing two birds with one stone! And who knew, she thought, maybe they'd have more in common than she thought…

Naruto gazed up at her, his blue eyes looking surprisingly innocent on his sharp, masculine face.

"I'm going to go look for my bags," Sakura said, stretching her arms. She made sure not to pull at her burned skin, "Could you show me where the crash site is?"

"Sure," Naruto agreed enthusiastically, throwing the bones of his fish into the fire before extinguishing it. He stood, patted the sand from his thighs, and led Sakura into the thick jungle.

˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.◦► ¤◄◦.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙

Birds of all kinds— all colors of the rainbow— flew overhead, chirping their unique and uplifting songs while resting on the boughs in the frighteningly high canopy. Insects, beautiful yet spine-chilling, buzzed by, landing on plants they seemed to vanish on. Lacing through the dull ground of the forest were enormous tree roots battling for territory, creating a bumpy and perilous path. Creepers hung menacingly from the canopy, drooping down and twisting themselves into nearby tree branches.

It all made Sakura's stomach ache.

"How did you find me?" She asked from behind Naruto, rubbing her tummy as it churned uneasily.

"Let me tell you: it wasn't easy. I was out collecting firewood when I heard an explosion," Naruto told, pushing some creepers out of his way, "There wasn't any light because the sun had set, so instead of seeing where I was going I kind of just ran in the direction I heard it. It seemed like the logical thing to do. But it wasn't. I was running for hours without getting anywhere, and right went I was about to turn back, I saw something… really weird…"

"What was it?"

"It was a light. Don't laugh, okay? It kind of looked like a bug that was guiding me in the right direction… I'm being honest, I swear!" Naruto defended, having felt the skepticism radiate from Sakura behind him, "I will never forget how weird it was. After I got to the clearing and I found you, I headed back and everything was normal again. The crappy thing was: that damn light made me lost! It took practically an hour more than it should have to get back. Some freaking help…"

Naruto continued to grumble inaudibly.

"At least you got me," Sakura replied, grinning faintly, "Thanks."

Naruto turned around and flashed his now infamous grin, yelling, "Finally! I was waiting for some appreciation. For a minute I thought you were the cold, ungrateful type. If that were true, I'm warning you now, it wouldn't work out between us."

Sakura laughed for the first time on this island, a little surprised herself at how truly delightful it sounded. To ruin the moment, a wretched acid crawled up her throat, her sour stomach unable to contain the fish anymore. Turned to the side and leaning against a tree whose bark was pokey under her touch, Sakura upchucked her breakfast. Naruto rushed to massage her back.

"I'm so sorry," She breathed, insides completely empty. Naruto simply beamed.

"It's completely fine," He dismissed, grabbing Sakura by the hand and leading her off somewhere that wasn't in the direction they needed to travel in. After slithering through a few veils of vines and circling a large rotting plant, Naruto stopped. In front of them was a short tree— short compared to the other trees, that is. In truth, it was actually relatively large— whose branches curved over the Naruto and Sakura like curled fingers, creating a beautiful arch. The bark was smooth and grey, the limbs branching early from the trunk— no less than two feet up. The leaves, jagged and pointy green ovals, smelled sweet like sugar. Dangling in between the leaves were pale unripe fruits.

"What kind of fruits are those?" Sakura mumbled, more to herself, while closing in to get a better look.

"Not fruits; flowers," Naruto corrected, pulling one off to show Sakura, "See?"

Sakura leaned in, noticing that the whole 'fruit' was covered in soft fuzz. The bulbous end had seams where the sepals of the flower joined, sealing the inside. It looked like a premature flower. Sakura glanced at Naruto expectantly, "What kind of flowers are they, then?"

"I learned them as Dulce Blossumus Cherrius Equistitas, but I like to call it honey pop because that name is too long. Early stages of the flower, like this one, are filled with a rich, creamy gel that can be squeezed out. The gel would usually turn into pollen and then burst when they flower blooms, but if you catch honey pop at the right stage you can eat it," Naruto said, staring possessively, hungrily even, at the pop in his hand.

"Eat the gel? Are you crazy? It could be poisonous!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Relax, we have it in my Province. I guarantee it's edible."

Naruto stuck out his tongue, placed the honey pop on it, holding it by its thin end, and paused to give Sakura a "See? Not poisonous look" before pulling it into his mouth. Sakura bit her lip nervously as he did so, watching his mouth clamp shut and squeezed the honey pop. He pulled it out, smirking, "It relieves upset stomach. You should try it."

Sakura crossed her arms, raising one eye brow. "I think I'd like to wait a few hours and see what happens to you first."

"Come on! It tastes great!" Naruto beamed, taking another off a branch and shoving it in Sakura's hand, "If you die, I promise I'll revive you!"

"No," Sakura said stubbornly, holding out the honey pop as if it were some kind of disease. His humor and his smile had no affect on her decision whatsoever. Did he think she wanted to commit suicide? Being a Medical student, she knew about allergies and immunity, and she knew that because of Naruto's continuous exposure to such a plant, he most likely had gained some sort of resistance. And so, if the plant was somehow poisonous, then Sakura would possible swell up like a balloon and die—worst case scenario. Sakura wasn't so naive to take that risk. She inwardly shook her head at Naruto's persistence.

Breaking her train of thought, Naruto's stepped closer to her— invading Sakura's extremely expansive personal bubble— and took her hand in his own, being delicate to not squish the honey pop. Azure eyes gazed powerfully into emerald— with, what was that look…?— as he led her hand to his mouth. Sakura's heart nearly stopped when she felt her fingers brush his lips. She didn't know why. Perhaps it was simply the proximity she wasn't used to, or maybe it was fear for the safety of her hand. Ignorant of Sakura's panick, Naruto plopped the honey pop into his mouth, squeezed out the delicious juice with his jaw, and guided Sakura's hand— which was holding onto the thin end with its index finger and thumb— to pull it out.

Naruto smirked, stepping back. Stunned, Sakura let the empty honey pop fall from her hand.

"That's how it's done. Not that hard, right?"

It must have all happened faster in real time, however, to Sakura the event felt as if it ensued in slow motion. What just happened, anyway? And why was it necessary? She wasn't exactly sure.

Naruto extended a hand with another honey pop in it, and Sakura took it without complaints. She cleared her throat, regaining the composure she had lost a few moments prior. Eying Naruto warily, she asked, "If I eat one, can we move on to look for my bags?"

Naruto nodded.

Sakura readied herself by widening her stance — a position awfully superfluous for eating a simple flower—, and did exactly as Naruto did. Initially, the feeling of having something fuzzy in her mouth was so gross it was beyond words, however, as soon as Sakura pressed the underdeveloped flower between the roof of her mouth and her tongue, and an explosion of sweet liquid drizzled over her tongue, she was instantly craving more.

"Wow," she exhaled, captivated, "It's like a…" She didn't know what to call it.

"An airplane crash in your mouth?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Sakura replied, leaking with sarcasm, "How about we explore that idea and look for an actual airplane?"

"Whatever you say," Naruto uttered, clear triumph coated in his voice. Sakura wanted so badly to roll her eyes at his behavior. She chose to let him wallow in his success while it lasted, knowing that soon enough she'd get her turn.

After about a close fifteen minutes of walking in one direction, and then dallying in another, Naruto and Sakura walked into the clearing that had been created by the crash. Glad that the daylight now allowed them to see what they couldn't the night before, their gazes darted around rapidly, scanning for the one thing that seems to be missing from the picture.

There was no airplane.

To be continued…

˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.˙·.◦► ¤◄◦.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙.·˙

A/N:

R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W R E V I E W

Wow. This pooped out longer than I anticipated. And it was one of the shorter chapters that I planned too… Huh. I guess that's good news for you all!

So… This is the first chapter! I know, still confusing. But I'm dropping little puzzle pieces here and there, so in the end you'll get the ultimate picture. Plus, I think it's good to keep a few things vague in a story. It keeps the reader guessing.

Note to readers: Naruto and Sakura were supposed to be awkward in this chapter :p. I wanted to keep it realistic, since they were strangers to each other. I didn't expect them to gain this instant bond, because I don't believe that's what makes NaruSaku special. It's not like "love/friendship at first sight". It's a different, long term relationship, like in the anime/manga, that binds the two. With that said, you should know that their current rocky grounds are not permanent.

;)

Oh, and I apologize for Naruto's OOC-ness. In this fic he is definitely going to be a lot smarter— which to me isn't a bad thing— but I will not get rid of his silly humor. In this first chapter I couldn't really leave room that, but don't be disappointed! It will still be the same, fun ol' Naruto!

Also, as I have said before: I have a lot planned for this story. I think I have almost the entire thing planned. And I do believe a sequel has been determined (hooray!), though that may change depending on how many chapters Part I ends up being. (boo!) :/

I hope you liked it! Really, it'll get even better!

PLEASE review! I love hearing what you all have to say!

General Info:

Check out my other (and first account) at

.net/u/1833199/Point_of_Departure

PS: My apologies for spelling and grammatical errors!

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! :D

Love,

Miasmic

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR ALL AMERICANS