Alright, this is a longer chapter then the others, i had a lot of fun typing it up, and i hope you all have a lot of fun reading it :) , i would like to thank my reviewers, who i will respond to in a minute here like i normally do, the more reviews i have, the more it makes me want to post this story faster as it makes me happy to see so many people enjoying my story, in all honesty when i started this story, i did not expect to be posting the chapters this fast, i though at most once a week if not once every 2 weeks, but i have had so much inspiration for the story, and to top it off, with all you guys enjoying it, it has just been such a pleasure to write, i want to say that if you guys wish for me to continue once this story is over with a sequel, i would be more then happy to do so, so please, review, as i love to see your opinions as i value them, also if you have questions or anything, i will answer them, i respond to every single one of my reviewers :), so i thank you all, now to respond to my reviewers
xzavx, you have pretty much reviewed every single one of my chapters, and i am so happy that you are enjoying the story as much as you are, about what you said for chapter 1, yes, i did want to make Naruto win the battle at the beginning, but i decided that i wanted to give Sakura a bigger role, one that i think she did superbly :)
Cloud Ex-SOLDIER, thank you very much, i am happy to see that my attention to detail is being appreciated, and i hope i continue to deliver the details as i continue on in the story
Well, that's all for the reviewers, so on with the story
This chapter was revised on May 18th 2017. Most grammar errors should have been addressed (Hopefully :P) I did a few enhancements and changed a few things around but the story remained unchanged
Saving old bonds
Chapter 7 (Revised)
Sakura was walking home; she was still thinking about her conversation with Ino "Should I really do it? I mean one date can't hurt, right? Knowing Naruto, he is probably just going to screw it up somehow, by taking me out for ramen and making me pay for half, yeah, that sounds like something Naruto would consider a date" she said with a faint smile "Yet, you would probably enjoy it, if it was him…" said Inner-Sakura "Alright I have decided, I will take Ino's advice, I will go out on one date, and see where it takes us" Sakura was smiling, just the thought of being with Naruto was making her happy "We just need to find him now, Let's hurry before it gets dark!" Inner-Sakura said with a huge grin
Naruto was laying on top of the fourths head, staring up at the sky watching as the sun set and the stars slowly began to appear, he had trained for most of the day and had decided he could use some time to relax. He was thinking about how Sakura was acting weird lately, he was worried that Sasuke had done something to her "Ever since we came back from our last mission, she hasn't been herself, she seems to act all weird when I am around, she actually missed a door entrance and slammed into a wall the other day while she was staring at me, perhaps Sasuke did something to her vision?" Naruto thought "Perhaps I should have a chat with Sasuke, ask him what happened during their battle, I am sure he won't give me the answers willingly, but I will force them out of him if I have too, because if he hurt her in anyway, he is going to pay!"
Meanwhile, Sakura was still looking around town but couldn't find Naruto anywhere "Where could he be?" she wondered
"Where could who be?" a voice asked from behind Sakura
She turned around only to be surprised by none other than Kakashi "Oh Kakashi Sensei, you scared me"
"Sakura, I already told you, we are both equals now, we are both Jonins, so you don't need to keep calling me Sensei"
"I know, but to me, you will always be my Sensei" she said with a smile
Kakashi let out a small sigh "So who are you looking for?"
"Just looking for Naruto"
"Well I know he was training earlier, so he is probably resting somewhere"
"Hurm, I think I have an idea of where he could be in that case" She said, as small grin crept up on her face and it made Kakashi smile a bit
"Sakura, I am sorry…" He just blurted out
Sakura was a bit confused at the sudden apology, what was he sorry about? "Huh? Why Sensei?"
"For not being with you and Naruto when you fought Sasuke, had I been there, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out the way they did, but I am happy you both came back alive, and that you brought Sasuke back as well"
"It's alright Sensei, we know you were on an important mission, and you and I both know, Naruto would have run off on his own even if you would have been with us"
"Yeah I know, but still, Team 7 was my… No, it was our team, so I would have wanted to be a part of the mission that brought him back" He said with a bit of disappointment in his voice "Well I will let you continue to look for Naruto, I am sure that he would be happy to see you" he said with a smile, he had noticed the two of them getting closer during the past few years, and always wondered if the two would finally get together
"Thank you Kakashi Sensei, I will talk to you later" She said with a smile as she continued on her way "So do you think he is hiding there?" Asked Inner "Of course, it's one of his favorite places to relax and to think" she said with a smile as she ran towards the Hokage Monument thinking about what she was going to say to him once she finally found him
Meanwhile back at the port city, Tsunade was eating dinner while talking to the Kurokage about possible trades "We have plenty of mineral ore that you could use, it is the best ore for weapons, it would be an edge to use against the other nations" Said the Kurokage
"Konoha is not a warring nation, we value peace over fighting"
"Indeed, but do your neighbors all think the same way? I am not saying use the weapons to invade, but as a means to protect your people" He said with a smile
"And what would you want in return for this ore?" She asked
"Well this may sound odd, but although our country is very rich in the ore, we have very few forests, and thus we are in much need of wood, and our neighbors are not very diplomatic, our last attempt resulted in the death of the entire diplomatic team, we have since then ceased all talks with them, so we had to search for other means of getting wood, but it is not even close to meeting our needs" He said simply
"Wood huh? Well, wood is something we have in abundance, I guess it's something we take for granted, but you can't possibly be wanting to trade such a valuable ore for mere wood" she said cautiously
"I don't think you understand our situation, to you it may be mere wood because you are surrounded by it, and as you said, take it for granted, we are surrounded by the ore, it is all over our country, from our point of view, it is we who would be taking advantage of you" He said with a grin
"Well in that case, I believe that we have our first trade agreement, we will allow you to cut some of our trees for wood, in exchange for the ore, however, for every tree you cut, you must plant 2, we may take them for granted, but they are very important to us, after all, we are the village hidden in the leaf"
"Of course, that sounds reasonable" he glanced outside and noticed that the sun was almost set, the moon was starting to shine in the sky "Lady Hokage, it has been a pleasure negotiating with you, but I must take my leave for now"
"So soon? But we just begun the negotiations " She said a bit surprised
"I am sorry, but my people gain power from fighting in the moon light, and thus we tend to train at night, and the moon has just come out, ah, I guess I could make a request"
"And what would that be?"
"We have been training on board our ships for the past few months; it would be great if we could train on solid ground again"
"I cannot permit for your entire fleet to land and deploy its forces, even if it would be for training, although I am not saying that you would attack us, but you have to understand that we wouldn't even allow our own allies to move such a large number of forces within our own boarders other than to aid us during a war"
"Of course, and that is very cautious of you, then how about I only take the men on my ship that is currently docked?"
"I guess I can allow that, but you must stay within the region we designate"
"Of course, I will inform my men of the good news, I hope to continue these talks with you tomorrow Lady Hokage" He said while grabbing her hand to kiss it just before he left
Tsunade motioned for one of her ANBU members to come closer "I want you to keep a very close eye on them"
"Do you think that they would try anything?" The ANBU member asked as he removed his mask
"I don't know; however, I can't shake this feeling I have, Yamato, be careful"
"Understood Hokage Sama" he said as he put the mask back on and disappeared in a poof of smoke
Naruto was scanning the sky with his eyes, noting the stars as they appeared, the sun had all but set, you could still see a faint tint of orange on the horizon, suddenly he heard footsteps, but he paid little attention to them, people often walked around the monument, but no one had actually ever seen him in his spot, he was laying back, his arms resting behind his head, acting like a pillow, he could have fallen asleep if he wanted too, it was a very warm night
Sakura was approaching the 4th Hokage's head, she knew that Naruto was around here somewhere, she finally spotted him, it looked like he hadn't noticed her yet, she grinned thinking that he looked peaceful, and kind of cute too as a small blush crept up on her, she slowly made her way to where he was laying down, his eyes were closed "Is he sleeping?" she thought "Should I disturb him?" "Of course you should! He is ours, now let's get him!" Inner said in a forward motion while grinning. She slowly made her way towards him "Naruto? Are you awake?"
To her surprise, his eyes shot open, obviously he wasn't expecting anyone to be up here, his reflex made him jump up to his feet, however, his mind had somehow forgotten where he was, and the forward motion of getting up sent him forward, to his horror, he was about to freefall, with lighting speed Sakura grabbed his hand, she concentrated her chakra to her other hand and feet to make sure she wouldn't slip and fall with him, she was holding onto him as he dangled in the open, the only thing under him were very sharp rocks, they didn't look inviting in the least bit, she summoned her strength and pulled him up to safety, Naruto was breathing heavily, realizing how close he came to dying, had he fallen, there was nothing he could have done to stop himself from falling onto those rocks, Sakura was also breathing heavily, realizing that she had almost caused him to jump to his death "Thank you Sakura Chan…" he finally said as he was calming down
"No, I am sorry, it was my fault, I shouldn't have startled you like that, I thought you had fallen asleep"
"No, I was just deep in thought, I wasn't expecting anyone to find me up here" he responded trying to make Sakura feel better, he didn't want her to feel guilty
There was an awkward silence, neither one knew what to say "Come on, ask him damn it! That's what you came here for right? It's the least you can do after almost killing him!" Inner demanded "Naruto…" Sakura was staring at the ground, not too sure about how to ask him, or what to say for that matter
"Yes Sakura Chan?" he asked
"Actually, there was a reason that I came here looking for you…"
"There was?"
"Well you see, its, well I have been wondering, if perhaps, maybe, if you wouldn't mind sometime" "JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY! STOP STALLING!" shouted out a screaming Inner, who was getting annoyed at how Sakura was dancing around the issue "Would you like to go out to dinner sometime? You don' have too, it's just, I guess it would be nice if the both of us could do something together you know"
Naruto blinked, did Sakura just ask him out? No, there had to be something else going on, Sakura had never shown any interest in him before, why would she suddenly start now? But what possible motive could she have? Whatever it was, a date with Sakura was still a date with Sakura "Are you kidding? Of course, I would love too"
"CHAA! YEAH THAT'S RIGHT! HE IS OURS NOW!" Inner shouted in triumph "Calm down, just because he has agreed to go out doesn't mean that he is ours" "Oh come on, stop being a wet blanket, admit it, your excited about this!" Sakura blushed a bit, Inner was right, she was
Naruto was staring at Sakura, he was wondering what was going on, she hadn't move for the past 60 seconds, he moved closer and waved his hand in front of her "Sakura Chan? Are you alright?" he asked
Suddenly Sakura snapped out of it realizing how close Naruto was to her, she was surprised and took a step back, and like Naruto before her, she had forgotten where she was, she backed up into the stone and it caused her to lose balance, Naruto quickly grabbed her waste and helped her regain her balance before she could fall, Sakura realize how close Naruto was to her now, and he was still holding her waste, she instantly blushed and turned away, Naruto also realizing the same thing, let go of her once he was sure she had regained her balance and looked away as he was blushing as well "Oh no Naruto Kun, don't let go now!" Inner cried out "Thank you" Sakura finally said breaking the silence
"That's alright, I guess we're even now" He said with a huge grin "So, about that dinner, want to go tonight? I haven't eaten yet…Unless you have, then perhaps we can go some other day"
Tonight?! Is he nuts? "I haven't showered, I haven't changed, my hair must be a mess" she thought as her heart was pounding in her chest "YES, YES, SAY YES DAMN IT!" "Well no, I haven't eaten but, but are you sure? I mean you must be tired from your training and…"
"No, I am fine, however, I could use a shower, and there is no way that I am going out with you in these dirty clothes, so how about I come pick you up at around 8?"
"That's perfect! It gives you plenty of time to get ready; you don't have any excuses, now accept!" "Jesus, your worst then a school girl…" She thought to herself "That sounds Great, Naruto Kun…"
Naruto blinked, she did it again, she called him Naruto Kun, was this all a dream? If it was, he didn't want to wake up from it "Perfect, see you then" he said before he ran off in the direction of his apartment, he had to leave before she changed her mind, or before he could wake up from the dream
End Chapter 7
And that's the end folks, it was indeed my longest chapter for this story so far, i hope you all enjoyed, and once more, please review :)