Chapter 42 When words aren't sufficient....
Ronan jumped from tree to tree through the forests outside Wave. True to Danzou's suspicion, when he had sent in Claara alone to find out information, the Konoha forces were long gone. Claara was able to find out information that the group had split apart into two different groups, with the Jinkuriki going what appeared to be north. That still was no firm direction, since he wasn't willing to underestimate their tactician like what happened before. Ronan knew what he needed to help him, which was why he was travelling alone to retrieve Senchi.
Landing on the floor of the old base, he looked around for Senchi, but while doing so, he couldn't help but get the feeling he was being watched by a stranger. His suspicions were confirmed when the familiar squawk from Senchi was heard, as the bird landed on his shoulder. On impulse Ronan went to stroke its wing, but perked an eyebrow in curiosity when instead the bird lowered its head. An odd sentiment of unfamiliarity hit Ronan, but he shook it off and stroked the hawks lowered head.
Getting to his task he journeyed into Senchi's mind with the sharingan only to receive further bafflement, when it felt like the sense of time with the images he was seeing was completely absent.
'What is going on?' Ronan mused, but shook his head clear when he saw nothing of interest in the meaningless time. After implanting his own memory on the appearance of each of the Konoha ninja, and giving his instructions, the bird soon took flight, disappearing into the blurring sun through a gap in the shaded trees.
'Soon, we will find you Jinkuriki.'
Two days later...
The three quartered team and the miniature Gai had not received word from anybody during the time they waited. While it worried them, at the same time, they were thankful they had not been discovered or attacked yet by anybody else. Naruto ran a hand through his hair, as he watched Sakura and Lee spar, still inwardly cursing the spandex wearing for beating her senseless time and time again. His wound had finally fully healed now, but Sakura still insisted to train with Lee, and Naruto could not understand why.
The blond would admit maybe he was being possessive, but it still made him grind his teeth at the gesture. Was it because he wasn't strong enough? Or he wasn't wearing a spandex, or hell, maybe because he didn't possess a unique set of eyebrows? The sannin's tease of him being jealous rang in his ears, in that sing song way Jiraiya enjoyed doing.
'I am not jealous! Sakura-chan doesn't even see him that way...right?!' Naruto's thoughts were met with empty silence.
'W-well at least Fuzzy Brows doesn't see her that way...' Naruto then remembered the time when Lee asked Sakura out to a date the moment they first met and then cringed at the recollection.
'Sakura-chan did say she wasn't sure about Sasuke anymore...' Naruto then eyed the two in front of him and had to resist snorting.
'No way in hell is Sakura-chan yours Fuzzy Brows! ' Trying as hard as he could to lose interest to his inner fuming, he stared at the leaf in his hand.
The blond cursed its forest green colour that still remained unchanged, while he eyed the leaf as searching for clues. Naruto looked over his head to watch his clones sitting in their meditative postures, with their hands closed while in deep concentration on the leaf in between their hands.
After the first accident with the clones, Sakura had restricted Naruto to no more than four dozen clones. He was instructed to disperse them once an hour by the dozen, since through trial and error, he would get a headache from any longer time with twelve, and would faint if all four dozen dispersed at once. Naruto insisted on jumping to the hundreds in clones like he always could do, but Kakashi warned him that if he used too much chakra, the Kyuubi's chakra would have a higher risk of being leaked. That factor alone made the blond comply.
He worked it out himself, these past two days in combination with his four dozen clones, he had been doing this training for over a month in contradiction to the real time spent. Even with so much time, he had little to show for their combined efforts.
"That's enough Lee-san."
"As you wish Sakura-san, you are certainly starting to show improvement!"
"Hehe, thanks Lee-san." Naruto then looked at Sakura up and down and inwardly growled hatred towards the sparkly toothed spandex wearer. How can he smile so wide at turning Sakura black and blue!?!
Sakura then dragged herself over to his spot at the old bench, "I'm just going to go freshen up, I'll be back soon Naruto." Naruto nodded, hiding his inner dark thoughts from the world.
"I will stay with Naruto-kun Sakura-san."
"Sure thing Lee-san." Sakura then made tracks, as Lee sat down next to the silent blond. Lee could have sworn something was off with the atmosphere, but he could not determine the source of the tension was from the person he was sitting next to, or even the glares from some kage bunshin on his back.
Brushing it off, he spoke his thoughts, "Sakura-san is taking her training very seriously isn't she Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah." Naruto replied with no such shared enthusiasm on the matter.
"I am amazed at her change though, wouldn't you agree?"
The blond nodded, while he was paying little attention to what Lee was saying, "You must mean a great deal to her Naruto-kun...I envy you for having such a magnificent gift."
"Yeah...wait,-w-what?!" Naruto turned agape to the blank expression on Lee's face.
"You mean you haven't noticed Naruto-kun?" Naruto's still puzzled expression was the only answer Lee needed.
"She is pushing herself so far, because you have encouraged her to Naruto-kun. Look at the daunting state Sakura-san puts herself in, and even orders me to take her seriously...she is doing all that, because of your words of encouragement and support. I wish I had such a gift to do that to people Naruto-kun, because to give someone so much self confidence and motivation, you must be a natural genius at the talent."
Naruto still held a hung open expression, "I...."
Naruto burst into his typical smile, "I guess I do have that sort of affect on people."
Not long, Sakura had returned, with only a few bruises remaining from her session, "Ok Lee-san, thanks again for the help as always."
Lee nodded with his sparkling smile, "It was an honour Sakura-san once again."
This was what always stumped Naruto. When this routine of training had started, Sakura wanted to 'concentrate' with no interruption from anybody unless it was needed. The blond at first wrote it off as just her being unusually very keen to train, but now he really was beginning to wonder what was really going on behind those emerald irises.
"Shall we start then Naruto?" Sakura prompted, now with it just being them in the yard. Tossing the crushed leaf away he nodded.
"Yeah."
"Any luck so far?" The blond looked to his clones, as each held the same frown as he did while presenting their still bright green coloured leaves.
"Bugger all." Sakura's brows furrowed as she sighed.
"Kakashi-sensei wasn't kidding when he said it takes years to learn this process."
"Yeah...I wonder if we are doing something wrong."
"Hmm?"
"I mean I don't exactly know what I am doing, do you?" Sakura blinked while picking up a stray leaf off the ground and sat next to Naruto.
She twirled it around in between her fingers while shaking her head, "No...I thought it was like that medical jutsu I had been learning, but when I tried to do the same thing, nothing happened. I guess it's because it's not pure water I am trying to manipulate here, at least that's what I think." The blond looked in frustration at the small obstacle in her hand and groaned.
"There has to be a trick to it." Deciding to give it a go, she folded the large leaf in half and enclosed it between he hands while concentrating. Naruto watched as he saw her hands humming and glowing with chakra, which was different from how his kage bunshin's were attempting the exercise.
After waiting a minute, Sakura opened her eyes and revealed her efforts...nothing, "I tried to focus my chakra completely around the leaf but-" The blond then noticed the black crisp edges around the small leaf as she groaned.
"-All I did was basically burn it with so much concentrated chakra."
Naruto decided to brighten the situation, "Well you did turn it to a crisp at least."
"Hmmph, that's true I guess." She said through a small warming chuckle, while crunching the leaf in her palm and tossing it like rubbish, and then stood.
"Shall we continue then with our other work?"
"Yosha!"
As planned, they started with an evaluation of what they had done already. Naruto readied his palm, and created a violent spinning ball of chakra in his hand. Thanks to the kage bunshin training, he had come even further now to the point where it was the standard basket balled size rasengan, but at around half speed.
"Good stuff Naruto!"
"Hehe, thanks. Toruko?" The pair then got to work with a single one for the time being.
Naruto's control with single hand rasengan's had done some improvement such as stability at faster speeds, but the jutsu still was taking longer to advance. The familiar turquoise sphere the size of a tennis ball span chaotically fast in the blonds' hand, while their eyes met.
"Ok Naruto...now remember what I have been telling you."
"Yep, focus on your chakra, I will try." This was a concept Naruto still struggled with. Sakura was trying to teach him how to actually read a chakra signature, namely her own. While he always could 'sense' chakra, he couldn't effectively read out its properties like she was implying most ninja's can do.
The method was so foreign to the blond it annoyed him that even with his new kage bunshin training, he still struggled to grasp it. Sensing the chakra was no longer a real issue, since now it wasn't regarded in his perspective as simply a weight against his own. Dare he say, he could describe Sakura's chakra signature for minutes at what he was able to determine. It felt very real, and had as many properties and qualities as an actual person itself. The problem was just how acute his senses were, and if he nails it down, this jutsu will be more than practical to use multiple times in battle.
Naruto jammed his eyes shut as he concentrated on the sphere, and pictured in his mind the little 'Green sparks' as he childishly dubbed it moving around within the rasengan.
"Ok Sakura-chan...I can see your chakra."
"Excellent...now increase the amount of chakra used, and I will do the same but slower." Naruto nodded, as the green sparks became smaller and smaller until they were like fireflies dancing in circles in darkness.
"I can just see it now." he replied, while opening his eyes to grin at their achievement.
There spinning violently in their hands, was almost a 'normal' sized rasengan, spinning at a blurring speed. Sakura smirked into the blinding turquoise glow, "You really have come a long way Naruto."
Naruto gave a pink hued smile at her praise, "How little chakra are you using Sakura-chan?"
"Naruto, I only increased my chakra a little bit...you really can sense my chakra!"
Naruto shrugged with a widening smile, "Does that mean-"
"We can finally use this more properly now I think Naruto. I can help you form at least a dozen or more of these EASILY!"
"Awesome!"
Sakura pulled her hand away as the blond looked at the still violently spinning sphere and gave a mischievous grin to his teammate.
"Can you um..."
"Hehe fine...it's been a while anyway." Naruto then held the spiralling sphere out to the side, as Sakura almost comically cracked her knuckles.
"Where am I aiming?" Naruto looked over his head to see a rusted garbage bin, and aligned it up. Sakura shook her head and did the honours.
"SHANNARO!" She shouted, while the stationary violent ball turned into a blurring missile, with chakra leaking out behind as the bin practically exploded on contact, sending old junk violently shooting everywhere. The turquoise sphere dispersed in a violent teal cloud of smoke soon after travelling a few meters through the air.
Sakura wiped her hands clean and grinned, "I swear that never gets old."
"Dattebayo!" Naruto then held both his palms out.
"Your turn now." Sakura got to work on her task. Writing off Toruko Rasengan now as 'completed' made her exercise much easier, but she still was experiencing her own problems when it came to treating them as individual jutsu's. Through trial and error, Naruto had suggested that Sakura pour as much chakra as she could handle into the jutsu, since she should be focusing on using her own chakra and not co-ordinating two with the exercise, which was why the two tennis ball sized spheres, glowed more of a green than turquoise.
"Ok, call them Naruto."
"Alright then....Both faster." Once she was done, and both were satisfied with the outcome, he continued.
"Both Slower....Left faster...Right faster...Right faster.....Both faster." Naruto nodded with a proud grin, seeing that even when he asked both to increase, the right one still was the faster of the two.
"You really are getting the hang of this Sakura-chan." The kunoichi smiled softly, but chose not to reply. Naruto then narrowed his eyes and decided it was time to test the one she really struggled with.
"Right slower and Left Faster."
Sakura tensed at the combination, but lowered her head and closed her eyes in concentration. She was able to do them individually or both the same like it was second nature, but making them do opposites always resulted in a both rasengan's bursting. Naruto watched in anticipation, while he could already see chakra sparking out of both.
"Easy Sakura-chan...You can do it." Sakura gritted her teeth, while feeling the burning sensation in her hands from the chakra. Naruto then noticed to his shock that the left one was rotating faster, while the right was the opposite. The problem that was now burning him was that the left one was rotating really fast...
Too fast.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's warning was too late, as both dispersed the right gracefully...and the left to Naruto's misfortune the very opposite.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, while looking at the damage and winced. His hand was very badly burnt, with markings of spiral rings practically digging deep within his bleeding hand.
"I am so sorry." Sakura started healing it while, inwardly cursing herself.
The blond however, was not in the slightest bit showing any pain, "You were doing it though Sakura-chan!" The kunoichi looked up from her task to see his genuine smile with disbelief.
"I-I was?!"
Naruto nodded while he beamed, "You were!" Sakura smiled, but got back to her duty to amend the damage she had caused.
"I really did..." was all she said, while continuing her healing.
Sakura then reached into her weapon pouch, and starting bandaging around his hand.
"I am really sorry Naruto."
"Don't be Sakura-chan! It's fine!"
Sakura shook her head, "No its not, I didn't even know I lost control until you called out...I could have drilled your bloody hand off!"
Naruto really didn't seem fazed by her words though, "These things happen, its training of course."
"Yeah...Losing a hand is training...think before speaking baka!" The blond still didn't relent.
"I still can feel my hand though."
"That's because-" Sakura stifled her retort, since it seemed he wasn't going to give in and scowled instead. Once she was done with the bandaging, she asked him to clench and unclench his hand.
Naruto happily demonstrated with no pain present in his expression. Sakura admitted defeat and decided a short break was in order, so they sat down by the bench. Sakura eyed his bandage hand and gave in to her desire, and affectionately enclosed her own in it, and stroked his hand with her thumb. This was the other anomaly that struck Naruto with bafflement, Sakura these past days had seemed...different. She was still herself, but was more open with him, smiled quite often, and did actions she would usually never do.
Before he could question it, she replied, "I really am sorry."
"Sakura-chan, you are not going moody on me again?"
Sakura laughed quietly, "I am not moody!"
"Then stop with the apologising already."
"...ok."
Neither spoke after that, as the only sound that could be heard was the wind rustling the leaves of the tree over their heads. Naruto resisted the disappointing frown when she let go of his hand.
'Do I tell him?' Sakura mused, finding herself always in this situation these past days. True to what she learnt from her talk with Kakashi, she was struggling to find out a way how to tell Naruto about her sudden development for him. She had the opportunity to confess time and time again when they were together alone...but she failed each and every time in trying to find a way she felt was effective.
She wasn't exactly the best when it came to confessions, since her previous one didn't exactly give her much confidence in doing such actions again. Regardless of the fact this wasn't Sasuke, it still made her want to her find another way to tell him. Her conversation with Hinata only aided to her confusion.
And even so if she chose to confess, what would she say to him? She didn't like a simple 'I really like you more than a friend' or even saying 'love'...but she knew those were her true beliefs, but she felt she was voicing it wrong.
"Hey Naruto." Said blond looked to see her hesitant face, but waited for her to go on.
"Have you ever umm...been in a situation where you are uncertain how to express yourself to someone?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her shifty and sudden question but answered, oblivious to her true meaning, "Of course I have. I find myself having that problem heaps of times."
"What do you do?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, how do you decide what to do?"
"...I just put it how it is."
"R-really?"
The blond nodded, "Yeah, if it's what I truly believe, I don't care if whoever it is thinks I am stupid...well at least most of the time. Sometimes I really am stumped with what to say so..."
"Yes? Go on?"
"...I just express myself with actions of course."
"Y-You..." Sakura trailed her thoughts off and nodded to her understanding.
"I see...you do that most of the time."
The blond shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Hey, it seems to work, so why not?!"
The kunoichi had to acknowledge Naruto did strike a very good point. Words, as much as she hates to admit it, never had been a strong point with her. Actions however, just seemed to naturally stick to her, as the blond kindly pointed out to her a while back.
'Express my feelings...through actions?' Sakura bit down her lips in nerves. Expressing herself through actions seemed to make her more hesitant than even attempting to voice it.
"Do you ever umm...freak out?"
"Huh?"
Naruto blinked blankly, now finding these questions very odd, "I-I mean, do you ever have umm...hesitation?"
Naruto's sudden laughter earned a perked eyebrow, "Hell yeah! I just learnt to not care about it!"
Sakura smirked while giggling, "Yep...as always, a stupid reasoning."
"Hey it works for me!"
'Can it work for me though?' Sakura wondered, already seeing so many things that could go wrong. She didn't need to know of what sort of actions would show her feelings, the very thought was already forming a constricting tight knot in her stomach.
Kakashi told her that there always were risks, but if she never took them, she would be denying herself many things in life. Was she a risk taker? Or more so, was she willing to take the risk between the two of them. Looking into his oceanic blue eyes sent an electric surge throughout her body, solidifying her answer.
'I will do it...I can do this...'
Naruto didn't know what he was interpreting happening behind those emerald orbs, but whatever it was making his gut twist and turn, "W-what is it Sakura-chan?"
"Nothing...just fascinated with how sometimes your stupidity can sometimes make crystal clear sense." The awkwardness was killed with a large sweat drop from Naruto, who made a deflated 'is that so?' under her laughter.
"Did I miss something?" Both teens turned their heads to see their sensei, his lone eye full of narrowed suspicion like a detective on a trail to cracking a case.
"No, what do you need from us sensei?" Kakashi changed moods almost too fast for Sakura's liking.
"I need you both to head to the town for supplies."
"Aw what?! Get Fuzzy Brows to do it date-...ba-...-yo..." The glare from his teammate made him finish off with almost a whimper.
"Sure sensei, what do you need us to get?" Once Kakashi was done explaining to them what was needed, and the clones were dispersed, the pair were off, leaving behind Kakashi.
Lee appeared out of nowhere, "Kakashi-sensei, I am ready to go get our supplies."
"No need Lee-kun, Sakura and Naruto are going to get them."
"Oh...I see."
Kakashi smirked under his mask, not listening to Lee's claims of replacing his idle task with intensive training. He was being a little nosy around his two students these couple of days, and he saw Sakura had been hesitating to do something. Today though, he did not miss the flame of resolve practically glowing in Sakura's eyes when she agreed to the task. Perhaps he made the right decision to 'coincidentally' send them to town themselves.
'So she finally has decided what to do...this will be...very interesting.'
Shikamaru could have snorted at the feeling of nostalgia that washed over him as he sat there crossed armed waiting outside the waiting room on the familiar backless brown seats, with his back against the freezing concrete walls like he did long ago. Only this time the intimidating woman that stayed with him that time was not taking jabs at him on the opposite side, but instead was the one behind the double doors, with that cursed red light flicked on. On the bright side he wasn't going to get a speech from his father about taking this as experience, because that would seal the deal as it being the same almost scarring event to happen all over again.
Joining him this time instead though was Jiraiya, who was sitting in a similar fashion to him, coincidentally sitting where Temari had sat that time.
"You can relax you know, it's not as if her injuries were life threatening when we found her." Jiraiya treaded softly, only to be rewarded by the Nara's firm nod.
Remembering where they found Temari flashed over his mind as he sighed. They had been travelling the route by the marker, until they got the halfway point, where they came across the 'battlefield' as he called it. Despite the fact it was within a forest, a very intense fight must have happened there, since barely any tree was left standing in what he estimated was a hundred meter radius of the battlefield. The only evidence to left behind to show it happened in a big bang was a large crater in the fields centre, hinting it was an explosion from something crashing from above.
What sort of jutsu it was had the Nara completely stumped, but it concerned him to know somebody of this calibre was part of the ANBU group. After an extensive sweep with the byakugan, there were no signs of Temari at the sight. Akamaru was fortunate enough however to pick up the scent of blood, which lead them to a town not far, where Temari was found bedridden in the local hospital. She had broken her arm and leg in the fight, and the villagers in the nearby town heard the explosions and to Shikamaru's surprise, went to investigate. He didn't even want to pass the thought on what would have happened if they didn't recover Temari from the aftermath.
Fortunately, Temari was not in life threatening condition, in fact she was wide awake when they arrived. Shikamaru rolled his eyes though in recollection to when she saw him.
'You look pathetic.'
Why that blunt observation that sounded full of disgust made him laugh was beyond him. Before he could dwell in his musing any further, the light flicked off as the doors opened to reveal Temari wearing white hospital robes in a wheel chair, being towed out by a seemingly cheerful Tsunade. At the sight of him the Suna kunoichi smirked.
"She will make a full recovery in a couple of days time, she will remain here in Konoha for the time being. I will contact Suna and inform them on what has happened later." Tsunade voiced in her official tone to the Nara, who nodded but didn't speak.
Tsunade rolled the wheel chair up to the shadow user, "I can entrust you with taking care of her Shikamaru?"
"B-but what about-"
"Team 8 and Jiraiya will be moving back to Naruto's position...wherever that is." Tsunade muttered with a growl, while shooting a glare at Jiraiya, who simply groaned as if he knew this was coming. Putting her scheming punishment on hold, she looked back to Shikamaru.
"You have done all you can Shikamaru, we can handle the rest." The Nara ran a hand through his hair but gave in, although to say he was satisfied he now was off the case was by far not the truth.
Tsunade then returned her focus on Jiraiya, who stood up, "As for you, we will talk in my office....for your sake you better has a damn good explanation!" The elder ninja seemingly zoned out on the pair, as they left, although Jiraiya was already getting a mouth full of curses from a fuming Tsunade.
"You look pathetic."
Shikamaru sighed as he looked to the kunoichi sitting in front of him, "Are you stuck in a loop or something? That's the second time you have said that."
"Hmmph, it seems you are the one who is stuck in a loop."
"Troublesome." The Nara muttered.
Temari's smirk softened, "I am ok by the way, thanks for asking."
"I made that assumption up for myself the moment you opened your mouth."
"Sure you did." The shadow user frowned while standing.
"We can be at this game all day, but frankly this is getting annoyi-"
"Don't you blame yourself Shikamaru."
Temari interrupted, dropping her teasing tone with seriousness as she glared at the stunned Shikamaru, "Although I have no clue what is going on, I can say through my own experience firsthand you are dealing with some big shots here. Nobody is perfect Shikamaru...regardless how much you try to ensure your plan is flawless." Temari said as if it was law, never looking away from Shikamaru's neutral gaze.
'Great....so I did get the 'taking it as experience' talk after all.'
The silence was almost ghostly between the pair in the corridor, neither even blinking in their stare off. Shikamaru was the first to blink and sigh.
"How did you-"
Her chuckle interrupted him, "Like I said, you look pathetic."
The Nara just shook his head with a grin growing, "How-"
"Troublesome? Yeah, get over it."
"I was going to say 'how intriguing'...but since you apparently know me so well-"
"Oh shut up and get us out of this depressing place." Shikamaru couldn't agree more as he happily obliged, leading Temari out of the corridor. Shikamaru grabbed her gear on the way, which she carried in her lap, while he cursed the almost man sized fan that he now was carrying as well on his back.
'She hefts around THIS thing all the time?!'
"Did Hokage-sama give you any place of residence?"
"Do I have to repeat what she said to you?"
"...Oh joy."
Temari couldn't resist the sadistic smirk, "I guess I will take your family's offer up then...since I am 'welcome in your house any time'."
"...At least mum will be pleased."
'Both my mum and Temari together in my house...what did I do to deserve this?'
"Not like you will be there anyway." Shikamaru stopped when they exited the hospital and looked down at the blonde in question.
"What do you-"
"Shikamaru..."
The Suna-nin looked over her shoulder and shot a knowing grin, "Don't you pretend I did not see how much you wanted to argue with Hokage-sama...I actually thought you were going to for a second, but as always, you're a coward and didn't."
The shadow user rolled his eyes and continued their journey to the Nara residence, not making a comment for what seemed minutes.
Finally he poked, "What are you suggesting?" As if she was expecting him to bite, she answered almost instantly.
"Go with Jiraiya-sama back to the blond twerp of course."
"And what about-"
"Shikaku-san and Yoshino-san can take care of me perfectly fine." Shikamaru was going to protest, only he knew she was right...hell they treated her better than they even treat him.
"And what makes you think Jiraiya-sama would allow me to do that?"
Temari's smirk widened, "By the sounds of it, he has a known habit to do things against Hokage-sama's will. I don't think he will have a problem if you talk to him." That was something Shikamaru knew he couldn't argue, since he would be kidding himself.
"You sure its fine? I can just listen to Hokage-sama's orders?" Temari shot a surprised look to confirm she just heard what her ears were telling her.
"Eh? Shikamaru wanting to spend time with me willingly?! Who the hell are you?!" Shikamaru wondered sometimes why he even bothered showing he cared.
Temari's surprise was replaced with a smile though, that didn't suit her personality, "As much as it sounds like a chance of a life time full of amusement to be able to annoy you for a couple of days straight...you have something important to do to help your comrades. It would be wrong for me to force you otherwise."
Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "I might have words to Jiraiya-sama then after I explain what is happening to my parents...Do you know if it is possible to get to Suna without your escort?"
"Chances are when Suna receives Hokage-sama's letter, my brother will send somebody here to check on me. I would assume once the council knows I am fine, then it should be safe for you guys to get there without me."
Shikamaru nodded, deciding to keep Suna's possible shift of location open, "I will consider it...thanks Temari."
"Heh, no problem."
"And by the way...I'm glad you're ok."
"Who the hell are you?!"
'Women...I swear to god they are the most troublesome beings that ever came to existence.'
Jiraiya was long used to Tsunade's rants, since he was teammates with her for so long. As you do with the ranting type, you develop the invaluable skill...to tune them out so you hear nothing they are saying. Of course what also came with the skill was being able to interpret the important bits as to where you were required to say something. If you missed your mark here, this was the difference between making the matter better...or it going wrong and quickly resulting with getting a raging fist in the face. Words such as 'Sorry' and 'your right' were ones he knew were common phrases held in the 'good' books in Tsunade's case.
"I understand why you did it, but you could have at least said something to me!" And this was where
Jiraiya took his cue to start listening, "We didn't want to take the risk, if it makes a difference your apprentice spoke highly against it."
"I know she would have!" Tsunade snapped, but settled by crashing into her chair.
"Since it is just you and me here, do you care to tell me where Naruto and my apprentice are now?" She asked, systematically reaching into her drawer for her sake stash. Jiraiya sat down on the opposite side and accepted the cup she poured for him.
"...They are in Swamp country."
"...I see."
"Because of Suna's contact not arriving, we agreed it would be best for the group to split up. The concern was getting civilians involved in this mess, and from what I saw in the forest, it is safe to say we made a smart move...I don't even want to know what would have happened if whoever caused that did the same thing in a town like Wave." Tsunade nodded while swirling her cup of sake in her hand before sipping it.
"I can accept that. I think I have a rough idea which one of the several locations they would be at, considering the concern." Jiraiya nodded without response.
"How long do you believe it would take to get to them Jiraiya?"
"Roughly a day or two at the most I would say." Tsunade sighed while gulping down the rest her cup.
"You best get going soon then, leaving the gaki alone is a problem itself."
"Too true, but you would be surprised how much control your apprentice has over him, no?"
"Hmmph?" Tsunade perked an eyebrow in interest, knowing her old teammates 'scheming' tone anywhere.
"Ok...spill it Jiraiya, what is it you have discovered which involves my apprentice and the brat?"
It at first shocked Sakura how very opposite in contrast the town was in comparison to where they were staying. The streets were practically exploding with life in association to the ghost town. True to Naruto's explanation though, most of the streets were littered with all sorts of specialised stores from building to building. Naruto's dissatisfied moan pulled her back into reality, while she noticed he had 'that' expression on his face. It was a frown that all people wore when they were in need of something, which the blond arguably competed with Choji for always wearing more often on his face...the frown of deep hunger.
"Let me guess, you want to grab something to eat?" She stated rhetorically, watching him look at a kiosk serving barbequed meat like a hungry dog.
"I wonder if they have ramen in this place." Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she decided to oblige.
"Fine, we will get the supplies after we have gotten a bite to eat. Let's look around for somewhere nice then."
Naruto finally dragged his gaze away and beamed, "Yosha! Sounds like a date." Sakura felt a smirk rising, she knew he was going to say that, he always did when it came to them doing something together.
She knew Naruto well enough now to theorise that he thought he understood her. Sakura was also willing to bet he was expecting her typical sarcastic response...So she did not disappoint him.
"A date I am paying for too...you owe me money for this, and don't think I will forget the cost of BOTH our meals." She knew her words had practically paralysed him, which on impulse made her smirk explode to a teeth baring smile, as she continued to walk casually, feigning obliviousness to his sudden ailment.
'Didn't expect that did you baka?'
'D-did she just-'
"Hurry up Naruto!" Naruto quickly shook his head and caught up to his teammate.
'Did Sakura-chan just make it a date?!'
Naruto caught up to her, but when he tried to speak, say something to confirm that he was not misinterpreting it as a tease, all that came out was incoherent words. Sakura tried as best as she could to ignore his bewilderment, but the smug smile refused to leave her face. Looking at the signs of the stores overhead, she finally found one that looked pleasing and in a way nostalgic. She changed her course, but felt her follower was still drifting and groaned. She looked over her shoulder and true to her suspicions Naruto was still wandering like a lost soul in the crowd, with a humorous dazed expression on his face.
"Come on baka!" She scolded, while taking the startled blond by the wrist, as she literally dragged him into the restaurant. From the outside it looked amazingly similar to Ichiraku, with the kanji characters written in flaming red letters across its thick white blinds. When she pushed aside the blinds, and her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting, she noticed that only the front was similar. Inside the restaurant were actual tables instead of stools, since the place was much larger than Ichiraku's. The tables were arranged for different amounts of people, with small two benched tables all around the place, with much longer ones more in the centre for parties and bigger groups. At the very back was the counter, shielded behind glass displays of different assortments of very elegantly designed desserts.
The place was lit by almost lantern like lights, fixed to the golden painted sides of the place, with several smaller bulbs overhanging on the maroon toned ceiling for the centre. There was quite a mixture of customers in the restaurant, ranging from young couples, along with families, and even some elderly people, setting a very relaxing atmosphere to the place. Sakura found the echoing like noise a bit of an annoyance, since you could hear incoherent words buzzing from its customers back and forth as if they were competing over each other. She almost was going to leave, but when the aroma of strong spices and freshly cooked rice tickled under her nose, she instantly put aside her one complaint.
Finding a table for two in the corner, she dragged her still lagging behind teammate to it and sat down after disposing her back pack next to her.
"Doesn't look bad hey Naruto?"
"U-Uh yeah." Naruto slid down into his chair while continuing their small talk. His mind didn't understand her words at all though, since he still was struggling to comprehend what was happening. He was certain he didn't misinterpret what he heard, but the blond refused to believe it. Sakura every other time he had asked or implied a date, had either made a sarcastic comment to his request, or just gave a clear flat out 'no'. The problem was while the remark was in a joking way, Sakura had said it in such an unquestionably genuine manner, that he was completely mystified.
A young woman wearing a maroon kimono came up to their table and greeted them, "Welcome to Hiroshi's dinner, what will the lovely young couple be having today?" Naruto froze in his seat, this was the real test. When they had been to places before, if anybody made such a claim, Sakura would deny it in an instant.
'Any second now...'
However, as if fate was enjoying his pounding with anticipation heart beat, the denial never came, only making its speed pick up pace.
Maybe he was in charge of clarifying this one?
"W-We're just frien-"
"We are still deciding, what is the menu please?" Sakura over talked the blond, as the lady began talking to her about some popular choices, neither acknowledging the stunned and fully gaping Naruto.
'W-what is going on!?'
Sasuke payed no heed to the startled prisoners as he walked past them, the strange sensation that bothered him before had long disappeared. Almost systematically, he opened the familiar door again to the room that he found himself regularly visiting the past couple of days. When he reached his destination though, his senses picked up somebody already in the room. He didn't even need to know who it was the audible fidgeting of nerves and mumbles barely surprised him anymore.
"What do you want Karin?" Sasuke said plainly, earning a surprised gasp, as the flaming red head and eyed woman revealed herself. She quickly whipped her shock off though by adjusting her glasses.
"Only Kabuto, Orochimaru-sama and myself are allowed to be in this room Sasuke! You can't just walk around like you own the place you know!"
Sasuke payed no attention to the clearly exaggerating kunoichi, and looked behind her to see the empty cylinder.
"Where is Suigetsu?" Karin stopped her berating and went agape, but soon frowned at the mention of 'him'.
"Orochimaru-sama wishes to run further tests on him at the western hideout. So he is being shifted."
"...I see."
"But who gives a crap about that loudmouth idiot anyway Sasuke? Good riddens if you ask me."
'Hn' was Sasuke's only sharp response to that, as he decided he would just continue his training.
"O-Oh by the way Sasuke." Karin staggered out while shifting her glasses, growing a blush and tried to suppress a smile.
"Orochimaru-sama is the one moving Suigetsu, so it's just you and m-" Karin was met by the echo of a door closing, as she could smell the Uchiha's ever so cologne like chakra scent continue to walk further and further away.
'Sasuke?'
Sasuke didn't know why he was even angered at the news of Suigetsu moving, but his frustration did not go unnoticed, as the prisoners trembled under his aura he was venting in his firm glare at in front of him. Feeling the breeze blowing against his face, he realised he had been walking towards the exit, which he soon was greeted by the afternoon light. Deciding he would take out his sentiment on training, he continued to walk to where he had set up close by from the entrance. His chosen area wasn't a clearing in the slightest, as it actually was mostly shielded by the large covering trees, only granting a large enough space to permit him to practice on some targets he had set up.
While tossing kunai, Sasuke pondered on Karin's second statement. If there was one thing about Orochimaru the Uchiha had learnt while under his tutorage, it was that he was unsurprisingly very possessive when it involved his 'subjects'...him being by far at the top of the list. Orochimaru would not effectively leave him without a watchful eye somewhere, and Sasuke dismissed Karin as an effective surveillance. The kunoichi as much as she ranted and raved, was still more than happy to bend the rules for him.
Sasuke also doubted that Orochimaru would come north to simply take Suigetsu, and leave him behind. Somebody like Kabuto could have done that job easily, and where was he?
'What is he planning?' He mused, while systematically practicing charging and discharging a kunai with electricity. He paused after charging when it made almost like a light bulb switching on made sense to him.
'Of course...Now I know why he brought me here...He must have some belief or information that Naruto and Sakura are close by....I see now why he is leaving me to my own devices with Karin of all people...he wants me to use her ability to track them down!' Sasuke gripped tight on his kunai, as he then threw it in detest.
'He still is trying to make me go after them!'
Sasuke inwardly growled, while wondering why his hand still felt like it had a charge going through it. It was then that his mind cleared enough to notice that the kunai he had threw had formed a link to his now empty hand...through what looked like a solid line of lightning like electricity. The link between the two soon died down, leaving only Sasuke staring blankly at his numb hand.
'How did I just do that?'
Apparently unknown to the Uchiha, he had a pair of ruby like orbs watching him in awe.
'Sasuke is so amazing!' Karin mused in an out of character like enthusiasm. Sasuke whipped out another kunai and decided to try and do what he did again. He shot a puzzled gaze though when this time when the kunai left his hand, he was only rewarded with a lone sparking kunai colliding with a tree. The Uchiha repeated it again and again, but had no such luck to repeat what he did by accident. Forming a frown at his numerous failed attempts, he bit down and turned to his only possible hope.
"Karin." Said red head gasped in surprise, but quickly recovered by walking out of her hiding spot and feigning obliviousness.
"What is it Sasuke?" She barked.
"I require your assistance."
Sasuke didn't show any reaction when Karin's 'official' demeanour shattered apart to reveal a wide agape expression.
'He needs my assistance?!' She almost squealed to herself inwardly, her fantasy making its own joyful interpretation.
"Y-Yes Sasuke? What do you need my help with?"
"How was my chakra reacting when I threw the first kunai?"
Her 'fantasy' was effectively killed by that blunt question as she quickly shook off her disappointment and adjusted her glasses with a frown. She never even passed the thought to realise Sasuke basically admitted he knew she was spying on him.
"W-what are you asking? Surely you aren't telling me that you had no idea how you did that?"
"I didn't."
She almost tripped over her feet at how easily he said that, while he asked again, "I need you to tell me what was happening when I threw the kunai, I will work out the rest from there." Karin sighed.
'This was not what I was hoping for...but I guess it means I get to spend time with him after all.'
"Very well then, listen to me carefully. I am only explaining what I saw to you once."
Jiraiya left Tsunade's office with a smirk across his features. To conclude Tsunade's opinion on his little story, she said she had a lot to 'discuss' with her apprentice when this was over. The older man was pulled out his recollection when he noticed he was not alone in the corridor, as waiting leaned against the wall was Shikamaru. Jiraiya was inwardly relieved to at least see the shadow user while still focused, at least no longer held a down demeanour on his person as he did earlier.
"So I take it Hokage-sama accepted our explanation."
"More or less, I didn't speak of their exact location, though she has a vague idea...as you suggested."
"Good, we cannot take the risk. It was big enough when we decided to return here."
"Temari's injuries were too severe to move her so freely to where Naruto and the others were hiding. You knew that...which was why we came back here despite the risk."
"Yeah..." The pair then left, while Jiraiya focused on the neutral Nara who was walking with his hands lazily in his pockets.
"Hmmph." Was all the older man said as they exited the tower. "
...So I guess you have made up your own decision then?"
The silent shadow user almost jumped in surprise to his question, but recovered, "I have...Temari will be remaining in my parents care." The sannin smirked as he continued walking through the streets with Shikamaru by his side.
"You know you brats keep putting me on the thin line to getting killed by going against Tsunade's instructions?"
"Why, what on earth are you talking about Jiraiya-sama?" Shikamaru innocently asked, earning a chuckle from the Sannin.
"You got everything you need?" Jiraiya looked to confirm and while he scrutinised the scroll clipped to the Nara's belt, he nodded.
"Good..."
Soon after, the pair came in view of the gate to see waiting for them at the entrance was team 8. Kiba clearly was showing signs of growing impatient.
"So boring! Can we hurry on back already?! I want to find out how strong that knucklehead has gotten." The bug users gaze affixed on him derailed Kiba's rant in an instant, causing Kiba's eyes to twitch feeling the all too familiar chill that had never changed from day one of team 8's formation.
"Don't be so rash, we have to be cautious in case we are followed to where Naruto is."
Kiba twitched into a shaky scowl and nodded, "F-Fine." Akamaru's whimper sounded a very similar way.
Hinata wasn't showing as much enthusiasm as the rest of her team, since she was in deep thought. Although she tried as best to ignore her thoughts and focus on her task, she always found herself in times of idle looping over the memory of the small talk she had with Sakura before they departed. The heiress didn't have exact solid evidence, but a part of her just knew that somehow, Sakura's questions was regarding a certain person...and it wasn't about Sasuke.
'Sakura-chan...Likes Naruto-kun.'
The only reaction that could be seen from an observer was her gaze falling to looking at the brick tiled floor. The first time she reached the conclusion, she felt a jolt of pain, but at the same time felt a wash over of happiness for what that would mean. Hinata always knew Naruto liked Sakura, it was something she had came to accept long ago. The heiress however also was able to determine that Sakura never held the same feelings in return for the blond.
'If Sakura-chan truly does...Naruto-kun will be so unbelievably happy when he finds out.' It made the Heiress smile unconsciously at the warming conclusion, but just as quick as it came, was then replaced with a freezing sensation despite her thick coat.
'But then...'
Hinata shook her head and held a flat expression. She knew better to compare herself to Sakura, and despite her own feelings, she did not have the selfishness within her to say she had any more of a right to be accepted by Naruto's feelings than Sakura. Naruto already having feelings for Sakura put her at a disadvantage. But she still wasn't willing to relent just because of that strong factor. She could only rule it down between the Sakura and herself as to who would have the courage to admit their feelings to the blonds face...The heiress didn't even need to consider which of the two had that one powerful quality.
'Shy?'
Hinata's eye twitched in recollection to Sakura's innocent question, but regardless could not fault it as the truth. Why was she so afraid to confess the feelings she had for so long to the boy she admired so much? She may be shy, but was it really that? Could it be fear of rejection? Or feeling she wasn't worthy of his heart?
"Eh Hinata?" The Heiress jumped in surprise at Kiba's call and looked to see Kiba looking blankly at her.
"S-Sorry Kiba-kun what did you say?" Kiba blinked for a moment in wonder, but brushed it off as he pointed at Shino.
"I said he creeps people out!"
Hinata's surprise was replaced with a genuine giggle, "Not this again, you know that's not a nice thing to say to a comrade Kiba-kun."
"But it's true! Hell Naruto and Sakura mistook him for an enemy at first glance for god sakes!" Akamaru barked in agreement, while the silent Shino's shoulders slumped.
"Well...you could possibly try to not have such a sinister aura about you Shino-kun." Despite Hinata's apologetic smile, Shino's shoulders slumped impossibly lower.
"A comrade has to accept another comrades criticisms to learn to improve one se-"
Kiba, Akamaru, and even Hinata's sweat dropped at his continued 'comrade speech'.
'He is sulking again.' All mused, when Jiraiya's call interrupted them from behind.
"So are we all ready to move out then?" Shino recovered in an instant while pushing off the gate wall.
"Hai."
Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair, "The arrangement will be different now, our objective while it may sound 'boring' to some people, still has to be treated seriously."
Kiba snorted in response, but Shikamaru ignored it, "Hinata, this time you will be at the end with Shino up front. I want your byakugan focused entirely on ensuring we are not being followed."
"Hai Shikamaru-kun."
They say that there are days where nothing could wipe that smile off your face. Sakura was in such a situation as they walked back to the deserted town. Naruto had to admit he was satisfied too, since to his surprise while the food was no Ichiraku, he could give it a passing grade, especially given the occasion. Naruto still didn't know what to label the 'occasion' as, but it still was not something he would forget any time soon. He still never was able to get a definite answer to pinpoint wether their lunch outing was a date or not, but regardless of how much he could speculate, he was not bewildered enough to know he really enjoyed himself.
Sakura was basically in charge of the entire discussion as they ate, which otherwise would have lead to a silent eating because he still was in too much deep thought to voice the question he wanted to ask her. Naruto was pulled out of his musing though, to when in his surprise, she decided to not talk about training, Sasuke, or even the Akatsuki and ANBU. Instead she turned a blind eye to everything that was lurking in his mind for the past few days, and decided to resume their little agreement they made back in Wave...with it being his turn to tell her something.
This time she wanted to hear about his journeys with Jiraiya, or more specifically, what places had he visited. He had gotten so into his retelling of all the places around the countries he had been to, that he completely forgot about his question. Both seemed to ignore their purpose of going to the town in the first place, as it was Sakura's turn. Naruto had one topic on his mind that he had wondered since two days ago.
-
Flashback Hiroshi's dinner, One hour ago
-
"Ha-Ha! You serious Naruto?!" Sakura cackled through her laughter at Naruto's tale.
The blond scratched his head with a sheepish grin, "It's not that funny..."
Sakura shook her still chuckling head, "Pulling out a piranha that's bitten onto your thumb from your weapon pouch instead of a kunai...did you even CHECK your inventory after you fell in the swamp?"
Naruto pouted and looked arrogantly elsewhere, "That's what Ero-sennin said to me...after he stopped laughing."
'Somehow, I'm glad I left out the bit with the gators after I fell into the swamp...' Naruto unconsciously shivered at the memory, but returned his gaze to the calming Sakura.
"That was good...well it's my turn now." Seemingly recovered from her state, she sipped her green tea as Naruto wondered what to ask.
"Neh Sakura-chan..."
"Hmm?"
"What's it like umm..." Sakura perked her ears at Naruto's sudden hesitance, but she waited from his to finish.
"...What's it like, being part of a family?" Sakura went agape in shock at his question, but could see how serious it was through his neutral expression.
She quickly recovered with a soft smile, "Naruto...I didn't know you cared about..."
'I didn't know you cared about not being part of a family...' She finished her musing, but decided to just answer the question.
"Well there's so much to say...I guess if I really was to say anything it can be the most annoying thing possible."
"R-Really?"
"You have no idea. Always having somebody nagging you to do chores, being nosy, having to listen to house rules...always being reminded to be on your best behaviour when you already know to do that." Sakura rolled her eyes at the last one.
'Wow...Sakura-chan makes it sound like a drag-'
"But..."
Sakura grew a wide smile in remembrance, "...I wouldn't want it any other way Naruto." Seeing him blankly blink made her continue.
"It's...hard to say, I mean, there is just something about always having somebody there waiting for you that I just can't explain...somebody there to talk to, ask for guidance...I really can't explain it Naruto...but the thought of..." Sakura stopped herself realising she was just about to indirectly insult her teammate.
"Go on Sakura-chan." Naruto ushered in interest. Sakura sighed and tried to sound as neutral as she could.
"The thought...of coming home to see my mother is gone, and me being by myself...I just can't even imagine what I would do if that happened."
She treaded softly, shooting an apologetic look to her seemingly deep thought teammate. She almost was shocked when he gave a genuine smile.
"That's sounds nice Sakura-chan. You make it sound like it's a number one pain in the butt, but at the same time something so special."
"Naruto..." Sakura nibbled on her lip in hesitation but continued.
"Have you always been interested about what it's like to know your parents?"
The blond shrugged while keeping a neutral gaze on the table's patterns, "I used to...but I stopped caring afterwards. But I will admit I always passed the thought whenever I saw the parents come to pick up their kids at the academy when we were little." Sakura grew a sad smile, but he didn't allow her time to reply.
"But you know, I feel I have the family I always wanted already." Naruto smiled, while continuing oblivious to her surprised expression.
"I know they aren't the same, but Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin...Sasuke, you...everybody that I know that has been there for me...I guess they are like family to me."
Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at her teammates un-Naruto like softness, but never took her smile off her features as she even mouthed an 'aw', "Is this really the loud juvenile I know?"
"Neh? I am not loud dattebayo?!" Sakura had to cover her mouth to control her laughter at his normal level of volume, which even got a few heads to turn to their table at his antics. Feeling an idea though, she decided to voice it aloud once she had calmed.
"Tell you what Naruto."
The blond raised a questioning eyebrow as she continued, "When we ever return to Konoha...I will introduce you to my family."
Naruto gaped in disbelief, but she could easily see through his expression, he was already growing excited, "Really Sakura-chan?!"
"Of course baka, why would I think otherwise? It's not as if I have a large family or anything. I am the only child, and it's just me and my mother."
"Where is your dad?" Naruto asked innocently, although he felt he did something wrong when he saw her eyes flicker with hurt.
She recovered with a sad smile soon though, "He passed away a long time ago. I was maybe not even five at the time."
"O-Oh...I'm sorry."
"Its fine Naruto, you didn't know."
Deciding it was for the best, he shifted from the topic, "But what if you're mum umm..." The kunoichi narrowed her eyes in question, but soon got the gist of what he was struggling to say.
'If she has the same opinion as the villagers.'
"My mother...she is not like that Naruto." Seeing though he was unconvinced she swallowed her pride and explained.
"She used to ask a lot of questions about you back when team 7 was together."
"R-Really?"
Sakura nodded and sighed, "I used to go on and on about Sasuke-kun so much, I think she got sick and tired of hearing about him when I came home after missions. She usually told me to shut up and asked for me to talk about you instead."
"She did?!" Naruto grew a large smirk at her sheepish nod.
"Wow, your mum sounds cool already Sakura-chan."
Sakura shrugged sheepishly while rubbing her neck in embarrassment, "Hehe...I guess so."
-
Present time
-
"Well we got all the stuff sensei wanted." Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts, as she shuffled her back pack for emphasis.
"Yeah..." Sakura looked to her side and giggled at his similar happy expression to her own.
"By the way, I had a great time Naruto."
"H-Huh?!"
"I said I enjoyed our lunch...but you are still paying me back for it." The blond didn't even seem to care about her statement involving him paying, he would pay for such an occasion whatever it was a thousand times over.
"H-Hell yeah! It was so much fun, we should do that again sometime."
"...I would really like that." Naruto felt all his questions from before skyrocket at her words, but she payed no attention as she continued to walk while he stopped.
'W-What the hell?!'
"Sakura-chan!-" Sakura stopped and looked at him in question.
"Yes?"
It was amazing how all his courage vaporised into thin air under her emerald eyes falling on him, "U-umm, never mind." The look she shot him basically showed her reply back... 'I WILL mind.'
"What is it baka?"
"Was umm..." Naruto scratched his head as if he had lice, but finally found the courage he was missing. The worst she could do was scoff at him or pay him out anyway.
"Did you mean what you said before?"
"Eh? What are you talking about?"
"Before umm...when you suggested we had lunch err umm..." The kunoichi raised an eyebrow at him, while inwardly she was trying with all her willpower to not smirk.
"What on earth are you talking about? We got a bite to eat in the end didn't we?!"
The blond ran a shaky hand through his hair while chuckling nervously, "Y-Y-Yeah, we did."
'I was stupid thinking otherwise.' Naruto scolded himself, while he missed Sakura's huff and 'baka' mutter.
When she noticed him now catch up to her she couldn't hold back the smirk anymore, "Surely you can tell the difference between having lunch and a date Naruto." She was starting to get used to his freezes today, since he did such action yet again.
'I should stop teasing him...but this so much fun!'
"I-I-I- O-Of course I would, hahaha!" Naruto recovered badly, while throwing exaggerated laughter as he shakily started to catch up once again.
'What the hell?! Was it a date or not?!'
The kunoichi just couldn't help herself. She knew she should just bluntly admit the truth, but constantly throwing him into shock by being unclear was so sadistically amusing to her it should be considered illegal. With the familiar ruined structures of their town now in their sights, she sighed, knowing it now was time to no longer continue her little game of mystifying Naruto. She gripped her hand in her other as if in hesitation, but bit her lower lip and nodded.
'Just tell him the truth. It was a date, and then...' She in an instant span around to meet her catching up target, but the moment she did, she felt her resolve shake as if it was going to collapse under his blue eyed gaze.
'What if he doesn't view me the way I so strongly believe he does? What If I am wrong?' Her racing questions were only aiding her pounding heartbeat that was making her tremble in hesitation through her heavy breaths.
When the blond finally caught up to her and showed his confusion at her stopping, she freaked, 'I can't do this!' She inwardly cried, while her teammate blinked in puzzlement at her sudden wash over of fear.
"What is it Sakura-chan?"
"N-Nothing." She mumbled while turning back with her shoulders slumped in defeat.
'Damn it I am a coward!'
Naruto made it sound so simple to just not give a damn and carry out his actions, but now she truly understood just how hard of a skill this truly was...and this by far was a lot easier to plan out in her head than actually carry out.
Naruto shrugged dismissively and made to continue walking, but before he could overtake her, she held his arm back causing him to look back in question.
'I am not giving up...'
Feeling her nerves pick up in a tight stomach knot, she dragged her heavy head up to meet his gaze again. Naruto was completely puzzled by her bizarre actions.
"Are you sure you're ok Sakura-chan?" The soft smile forming on her turning flushed face made him twitch.
'W-Why is she looking at me like that?'
"W-What is it?" He stuttered out with puzzlement along with the slightest traces of uneasiness in his voice. He saw that strange emotion flicker across her soft gaze, which made his heart pick up frantic speed.
"I-Is there something on my face o-or something? Did I say something stupid? Di-"The blond continued mumbling off as many excuses he could think of to explain why she was looking at him that way.
'I know my feelings are real...I know this is different than what I felt with Sasuke-kun...I am afraid, but I can do this...I will do this.' Naruto in the meantime was still struggling to mouth off another excuse, but in a blink of an eye, all his strength was lost when Sakura gripped tightly onto his jackets collar, while cupping his cheek with her other hand.
"Shut up you baka."The blond tried to talk, but her whispered instruction and actions had completely paralysed his bludging eyed form. Naruto felt the affectionate hand resting on his face and the tight grip on his collar tremble, as if in hesitation, but all his thoughts went away when he realised just how close their faces were.
Her warm breaths against his face were making him go numb, while he saw Sakura's emerald orbs flicker again with that alluring emotion, as they disappeared slowly behind her closing lids.
'S-She is going to-'
Naruto's thoughts joined his paralysis the moment his lips felt the emotion he was so mystified about practically radiate affectionately from something soft and warm that felt so familiar to him.
Naruto didn't need to speculate anymore what this foreign emotion was, as it was communicating to him in a way so extraordinarily foremost, he could practically hear the words being affectionately said echo in his mind being spoken by Sakura.
'I love you, Naruto.'
Naruto didn't know what this feeling was, but the numbing sensation began to feel like electricity, finally kicking himself back into life from his stunned form.
'Sakura-chan...'
Sakura in the meantime could hear nothing but her heart pounding through her ear drums from her anxiety. Feeling those motionless, almost statue like lips, was beginning to get to her.
'T-This wasn't the way to tell him! I should have gone with what I thought before and just tell hi-'
Her thoughts were sharply cut off when her entire body almost jumped when she finally felt signs of life finally from the blond.
The first motion she felt was his soft warm lips against her own twitch into an almost contagious like smile, then felt his arms slither around her in a fond embrace. Finally after what felt like forever, the kiss no longer was one sided, and she became conscious of the emotion reflected back at her own in a way her mind didn't need to speculate was the very blond she had fallen for.
'I love you too.'
Sakura had read about scenes like this in her novels time and time again, where the author would describe so much passion and emotion behind a kiss that it would make her head rush by the combination.
However no book she had ever read could describe what it was to feel those warm, soft, affectionate and smiling lips dancing over her own. She knew now why there were so many different combinations of described sentiments strung together, but no chain of expressive words would ever give this knee buckling, heart skipping, and overwhelming sensation the justification it truthfully deserved.
Her lungs screaming for oxygen was the only reason she had to break out of the gentle, yet so powerful contact, as she snuggled her head into his neck while returning his hug. Neither of them spoke for ages as they stood there listening to the wind and animals chirp in the woods around them.
Finally, the fox smiling blond spoke, "It was a date wasn't it?"
Sakura had lost all will power to not laugh at his obvious question, "If you do not get it by now...my first kiss has been wasted on a completely clueless baka."