*Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or any related characters*

He waited by the gates. Tsunade said his partner would have the package that needed to be delivered. Naruto shuffled his feet impatiently. The sound of footsteps reached his ears. He looked up to see who was coming. No, no way in hell is this happening! Naruto thought to himself.

"Ready to go?"

"You're my partner for this?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Who else should go but your teammate?" Sakura tilted her head and smiled sweetly at him. Naruto grumbled under his breath. Someone had it out for him; this mission was meant to put distance between them, not force them together.

"Let's go, and get this over with as soon as possible," Naruto knew it was no use complaining now. The Hokage needed this delivered, and he could not refuse a mission.

The pair headed out of Konoha. They sped off in silence. Suna was two days trip away.

"Hey Naruto, let's take a short break," Sakura asked. They had been keeping a rather strenuous pace. "We really don't need to over exert ourselves, this is not a time sensitive matter." Naruto grudgingly nodded his head.

The two came to rest under a tall evergreen. The tree line would end soon and they would find themselves in a vast wasteland of sand. Sakura began rummaging through her pack. She tossed Naruto an onigiri.

"Thanks," he managed to say. For a moment neither spoke. Sakura dared to break their silence first.

"So, that was some party eh?"

Naruto gave a noncommittal grunt. "You had quite a bit to drink that night," Naruto took the opportunity to see if she remembered anything from that night.

Sakura blushed, "Well, Temari can be rather persistent. She really wanted to play that drinking game; she just knew she could beat us all." Naruto munched on his onigiri. He did not dare ask her outright if she remembered that evening.

"So, are we going to talk about it?" Sakura asked meekly. A light blush covered her cheeks.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto offered her a way out of the conversation; he just hoped she would take it.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. When you took me home…" her voice hung dead in the still air.

"You were drunk, not much to talk about," Naruto refused to look at the kunoichi next to him. He finished his snack and rose to his feet. "Let's go."

Sakura nodded, stood up, and brushed some snow off of her before starting off again.

The air around the two was tense and heavy. They did not speak the rest of the day. They bounded through the forest side by side but utterly alone.

The sun slipped from the sky causing the pair to settle down for the night. They prepared their campsite without words. He gathered wood, she set traps, she started dinner, he set up the tent. They usually would just sleep in the open, but it was too cold in December to manage that. A tent was necessary, but he noticed they only brought one. He had not taken into account that she might be his partner for this mission. There would be no choice but to share the small canvassed space for the evening.

"Dinner's ready," Sakura spoke the first words of the evening. They ate their meal in silence. Again Sakura was the first to speak. "Did you mean it?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked emotionlessly.

"What you said that night you took me home. Did you mean it?" She did not look at him as she asked this. She simply pushed the food around on her plate.

"We went over this already, you were drunk. Whatever you think I may have said may be just a wrinkle in your memory."

"No. I know I get tipsy quickly, but it takes a lot for me to forget. Trust me." There was an edge in her voice. Naruto swallowed hard; he was going to have to face this directly.

"I had too much to drink too. I said things… I wasn't thinking."

"You usually don't," Sakura chuckled to herself. "So you did not mean to say you loved me." The blonde did not answer. "I guess that also means you did not mean to kiss me either."

"For the record, you started that."

"I guess you're right." Sakura stood from where she sat. "You've changed Naruto. I don't even know you anymore. What happened?" Again the shinobi fell silent. "Fine, don't answer me. I'm going to bed." She left him to himself.

What do you mean 'what happened'?!? Naruto thought to himself. Yes he changed. Everything had changed.

He took care of their dinner mess, but paused before entering the tent. It would be hard being so close to her physically. He steeled his resolve and entered the small canvas shelter. He tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake his teammate. He settled down in his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. In the quiet he could hear muffled sobs. She was crying. His heart longed to comfort her, to take her in his arms and wipe away her tears. But he could not. He did not deserve to comfort her, to be near her, to love her.