Give me One Week to come up with Episode 4

I can say that I had fun writing this one, yeah, the writer's block came in every now and then, but still, a perfect 2,400 words(including the title.)

See the Post-Script for some things that I've realized about my writing since I've been doing these.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

CHAPTER RATING: T

Episode 3: Secrets

Naruto sat up in his bed and took a minute to stretch. He looked to his side, but saw no one there. The bedside next to him didn't even seem to have been ruffled. Were last night's events all a dream? He then looked at himself, his shirt was still on, but his pants just seemed a little too loose for those events to have been a mere dream. He sat on his bed and wondered for a while. His wondering mind was stopped in its tracks when he heard Sakura's voice come from the kitchen.

"Naruto? Are you awake?" she asked.

He paused for a moment and thought 'it really did happen.' Then, gathering himself, he replied.

"Yeah, I'm awake."

She walked into his room with a bowl of ramen, toast, and a glass of milk.

"Breakfast." She said with a smile as she handed him a tray.

"T-Thank you" he replied, both appreciative, and reluctant. He started to gratefully eat the food, and in the middle of the meal, Sakura spoke up.

"Naruto…we need to talk." The noodles hanging on the back of his throat nearly choked him.

"Oh no! THIS…this is the dreaded 'it's not you, it's me' talk that people have when they are about to break up! Why did this have to happen? Was I too aggressive last night? Did she not like how I moved on 'Hinata'? How do I handle this situation?! What am I going to do? HELP ME Ero-Sennin!"

"W-what is it?" Naruto managed to stutter; his face the overflowing with worry.

"We need to talk about…us." Sakura continued. He started to sweat pearls. "Do you remember what we said about our relationship when we first came back?"

"Y-yeah." He replied in a shaking voice.

"Apparently, Kakashi told Tsunade-sama." Sakura said in a low, depressed tone. "…and last night was a test that she wanted you to take." Naruto eased his posture momentarily.

"...Did I pass?" he asked, that thought being the only thing on his mind. Sakura smiled at him.

"You did pass; you proved to me that you know more about me than anyone else. But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about." She continued. "What I wanted to talk to you about was, since Tsunade-sama knows, do you really mind if anyone else knows…about us?"

Naruto sat in silence for a moment; he searched his thoughts for the answer to this question, and immediately answered:

"Nope! I don't really care, Sakura-chan!"

His face formed that priceless grin, as he brought his hands to the back of his neck and rested his head on them. Sakura looked down, her expression seemingly that of surprise. His face shifted again into a serious tone. He brought his hand to her chin, looked her in the eyes and stated, with all his heart:

"If they do know, let them know…let them know that I love the most beautiful flower that will ever bloom in the forests of Konoha." A heat wave flooded over Sakura's cheeks as he uttered those words. She embraced him, and brought him close. They both turned their heads as their lips met.

"…and I will let everyone know that I love the Hero of Konoha."

…

Moments after their embrace, a knock came at the door. They looked at each other and smiled. Sakura approached the door and opened it.

"Kakashi-sensei?" She stated with a hint of confusion.

"Oh, Sakura, you were here. I was sent to get you, but you weren't home. Now I see why." Kakashi said with a smile. "Hokage-sama wants to see you."

"Oh, okay." Sakura replied as she turned to look at Naruto. He smiled back, and gave a friendly wave goodbye. Sakura stepped out of the door and turned right towards the stairs.

Kakashi watched Sakura leave, then closed the door and walked towards Naruto. Naruto, realizing the situation he was in, made sure to keep his waist hidden by his blanket.

"Naruto…we need to talk about something." Kakashi said as he sat down.

"Y-yeah, what is it?" Naruto replied. I can already guess what it's about. He thought

"It's about you and Sakura." Kakashi started.

I knew it. Naruto thought.

"Naruto…do you remember the memorial stone?" Kakashi asked in a serious tone. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement. "As you can recall, the stone is engraved with the names of those who gave their lives in service to Konoha." Naruto nodded again. "I'll tell you now, without any hesitation that you must be ready to face the fact that one day, your name, and even Sakura's name may be on that memorial." Naruto's facial expression sank. Kakashi gave him a few minutes to soak in the possible reality before speaking again.

"Yeah, I know." Naruto said as he brought his head down. Kakashi raised his hand and placed it on Naruto's shoulder.

"I'm glad you understand, but I hope you never have to face that day." Kakashi said.

"But…" Naruto began to speak again. Kakashi looked at him with confusion on his own face. Naruto brought his face up to look Kakashi in the eyes with determination.

"I won't allow that to ever happen!" Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise, and then relaxed again.

"Is that so? That's good."

…

On her way to Tsunade, Sakura heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Sakura! Where are you going?" Ino asked.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see me, so I'm headed that way."

"Let me come with you! I've got nothing to do." Ino insisted.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." Sakura replied. Once they reached Tsunade's office, Ino was instructed to step outside.

"How did it go?" Tsunade asked.

"I-It…went well, he did what you said he would do…and…" Sakura stuttered

"AND?..." Tsunade exclaimed "AND…What else?"

"N-nothing." Sakura replied.

"Sakura, remember now, knowing him the way I know him, he'll never let you down if he has a choice in the matter. Take care of him."

"Yes Ma'am!" Sakura shouted with a salute.

"Good! You're dismissed!" Tsunade shouted as Sakura turned to leave the room.

As the door slowly opened, Sakura found Ino with her ear nearly on the door. When Sakura shot her a look of disbelief, Ino jumped back.

"What are you doing? Spying on me?" Sakura asked. Ino smiled a sinister smirk and replied:

"Maybe…who's 'he'?...come on, you can tell me!" They started to walk down to the main street that was the center of Konoha; they were passing the Ichiraku BARBE-Q stand when Sakura dropped in to buy some ramen.

"RAMEN?! Don't tell me, it's Naruto?!" Ino screamed. Sakura lowered her head a little, with no discernible expression on her face, but she didn't have any reaction to Ino's accusation. "You're not reacting with your usual anger or denial…IT MUST BE TRUE!" She screamed. Sakura raised her head and looked at Ino.

"Do you really want to know?" Sakura asked Ino, who nodded enthusiastically.

"It is Naruto." Sakura acknowledged.

"Naruto?! What about…what was his name again?" Ino asked, confused.

"I don't remember; he doesn't matter anymore." Sakura replied. After countless minutes of pondering this character's name, they were never able to remember what it was.

Ino spoke up once again.

"So, it is Naruto…how far did you go? Did you…you know." Sakura gently nodded her head. "You gave him your virginity?!" Ino blurted out. Sakura noticed the many sets of eyes that were now looking their way. She forcefully nudged Ino with her elbow.

"Stop speaking so damn loud!" Sakura whispered.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry." Ino replied. "…But…You let him take your virginity?"

"Well…not exactly." Sakura replied with her head held quite low. "I took his."

Ino's face immediately shifted from sinister smile to shocked surprise.

"YOU WHAT?!" Ino whispered in a scream. "WHEN?!" Sakura's face was flushed with embarrassment.

"When we were coming back…I kind of forced myself onto him."

"YOU WHAT?! You forced yourself onto him!? Didn't he object?!" After that statement, Ino second guessed herself 'would he object?' she thought.

"He…tried to, but I was caught up in the moment…and before you knew it, he was caught up in the moment too."

Ino's eyes were the definition of "shocked" and her mouth was as wide as a canyon.

"…and that's not even counting what happened last night."

"LAST NIGHT?!"

Ino, as shocked as ever, seemed as if she was going to faint at the news; Sakura's face was now in a smile, her mind remembering that Naruto didn't have a problem with anyone knowing about them; her embarrassment had completely vanished.

"Not only that, but I found another use for the blood transference technique that we learned yesterday…Maybe you'll be able to use it on Shikamaru?..." Her smile was now the same grin that Ino had just earlier. "…I could teach you."

"SHIKAMARU?! AS IF!" Ino screamed as her cheeks became flushed with red.

…

Somewhere, a few miles away, Shino was with Kiba. An insect flew onto his finger, paused and then moved away.

"I see." He stated.

"See? See what?" Kiba inquired.

"Naruto is in a relationship with Sakura, and they've gone far." Shino explained

"Far?! How far?"

"Far enough to not tell Hinata."

"Well, w-"

"Why not tell Hinata, you ask? Well, that's because, Hinata loves Naruto."

"Oh, yeah, alright, we'll keep it to ourselves then."

…

"Understood?" Neji asked Naruto and Rock Lee.

"Understood, Sir!" Rock Lee enthusiastically shouted.

"Lee, stop with the formalities, we've been on the same team since we were Genin." Neji pleaded

"Understood, Sir!" Rock Lee repeated enthusiastically

Neji sighed with a hint of annoyance

"Um, could you go over it again, Neji?" Naruto asked, confused. Neji let out another tired sigh.

"Our next mission is to track down the duo known as "The Twin Sirens" they were a couple of siblings subjected to Orochimaru's experiments.

"Why are they called 'The Twin Sirens' again?" Naruto asked

"Because, they are well versed in a Genjutsu that makes the victim fall under a trance, you will become their puppet if they get a hold of you. Be careful."

"Right. Now, when you say 'get a hold of you', what do you mean? Do you mean literally 'get a hold' or some other way?"

"That's the problem, we don't know. With the information that we have, a simple glance could mean the end of us. All we know is that they can only control one person at a time." Neji stated as he looked at Naruto. "We REALLY need to be careful."

"Lee, do you have the emergency soldier pill that Gai-sensei gave you?" Neji glanced over at Lee.

"Yes!" Lee replied, as he opened his hand and held out a piece of chocolate candy wrapped in red aluminum foil. "Gai-sensei called it the CHOCOLATE BOMB! He informed me to only use it in dire situations!"

Neji nodded "Good, keep that in mind." Naruto gave a confused look at Neji.

"…Isn't that just candy?" He asked. Neji pulled Naruto closer to him.

"Listen…You do remember Raiga, right? Remember the black curry that Lee loved so much?"

Naruto nodded.

"That chocolate is laced with alcohol, if we run into trouble; Lee will be an asset to the mission, but he doesn't know that, so keep it to yourself, understood?" Naruto nodded.

Neji looked at them both and nodded. "Good! Our mission briefing is over! We'll head out first thing in the morning! Naruto, since Sakura had to meet with Hokage-sama, I'll leave it to you to inform her on the situation, since you two have been on the same team since you were Genin, just like Lee and myself." Naruto nodded again.

"We'll meet tomorrow by the main gate! Dismissed!"

…

Naruto exited the tent that the mission briefing was being given in; he started to walk down the main road when he saw Sakura with Ino.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out. Sakura turned around with Ino.

"Oh, Naruto." Sakura replied. Ino smirked and started to pester Sakura with gentle nudges with her shoulder. Sakura gave her an ugly look and pushed her aside.

"Sakura-chan, I need to talk to you for a little while." Ino's smile widened. Sakura shot another ugly look at her way and then turned while dragging Naruto with her by his sleeve.

"Good Luck…Sakura-chan." Ino remarked sarcastically.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked.

"It doesn't matter…Naruto, I got this for you." She revealed the Ramen that she had just purchased. "Where would you like to eat?" Naruto's eyes shone with gratefulness when he saw what she had in her hands. He thought for a moment, and then spoke up with a light in his eye.

"I have the perfect place, follow me."

Together, they walked to a small hot spring; its pool was constantly being rejuvenated with a stream of water that fell from the top of a mountain. They took off their shoes, placed their feet in the water and enjoyed each other's company until the sun began to set.

"Naruto, we should get back, or we'll get lost." Sakura said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Just a little longer, Sakura-chan, you really need to see this." The sun was no longer visible, and the only sound they could hear was the stream that flowed from the mountain.

"Naruto, I don't see any-" Sakura was cut off mid sentence. When, before her very eyes, the forest was lit up with the green glow of fireflies, dozens of them lined the entire forest. Sakura looked up and saw the stars shining brilliantly in the sky.

"This place is special to me." Naruto said. "I've kept it a secret from everyone else for a long time. When I was still shunned by the village, I used to come here to find a little peace." Sakura's eyes widened in realization; tears began to well up in them. Naruto moved closer to her and wiped her tears away with the back of his hand. He moved closer to her and kissed her; holding her close, he looked into her teal eyes, illuminated by the fireflies.

"This place reminds me that even in the world's darkness, there will always be a light. You are the light in my darkness, Sakura-chan."

She brought him close and embraced him again.

"As long as there are stars in the sky, Naruto…You will be the only one in my heart."

P.S

Here's what I noticed when I'm writing these stories, I don't come up with the whole thing all at once.

I come up with certain events that I want to write, and then fill in the details from there. If you've read Medical Clearance, then, you know that I only knew I wanted to write the ending.

And so, seeing as how it's most likely that you've finished reading chapter 3, here are the events I knew I wanted to put into this story:

1) Kakashi telling Naruto to be careful

2) Sakura telling Ino about the relationship

3) Shino's dialogue "Why? That's because"...Why is the Shino/Kiba cameo so short? Well, That's because, I just wanted to put Shino's explanation method in there.

4) I wanted to set up the Mission briefing for Chapter 4, I was debating between character replacements such as Rock Lee replaced with Hinata and Neji replaced with Shikamaru.

5) The last scene with the fireflies...I really liked that one.

Thanks again for reading.