Reviewers;

Logan Locke: Shame. You should watch good movies more often. Foxes definitely...it's mating season! and naruto is doing it with a goddess, no such things as blisters and such horrors. Sakura still has the regret of letting others claim naruto, even though her time with him is now strengthened because of it. And naruto being the caring boyfriend he is couldn't call Sakura a bad cook. The same is true with Sakura's healthy medicine balls. ;) I know the chapter wasn't solid, but it was meant to portray the calm just before the storm. You know?

XxAshishxX: Anything a celebrity does is plastered everywhere. They got new nail polish? New fashion trend! I mean, seriously. That's how furs got abused so much because models were wearing them.

Czar Joseph: her rep isn't ruined but instead...smeared with blood? Her image is more or less tainted by this picture.

Angellux: Thank you (blushing)

Lestibur: I like the quote very inspirational for the story.

Duh Bomb: Nice rhyming well into your comment to me. How long do you spend writing these things. Seems like more than a few minutes.

MundaneBeast: Defuse it by getting married? That would not solve anything on the social society. They would just eat it up all the more.

An: Alright, So...am I losing reviewers? Then again, its the most...wonderful time...of the- anyways, let us move on, shall we? :)

Tone And Stroke

Chapter 21: Echoes within the Goddess

(Last time on T&S)

Naruto wanted and was about to punch something when he felt Sakura's head move and looked down to see her trembling eyes and face. "I'm sorry, Naruto-Kun."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. It was-"

"No! It's my fault! I didn't close the door yesterday! I didn't lock it! I was craving for sex so badly, I risked everything! And now! Now my career is ruined!

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed and pulled Sakura closer, whispering sweet nothings into her ear and telling her that it would be alright. Behind them, the milk grew warm, the pancakes grew cold, and the atmosphere in the room became one of sadness and despair.

And Now, Our Story Continues-

That night, the limo driver knocked lightly on the door, in reverence, knowing that his clients for tonight were not happy at all. The door opened and Naruto stood to the side wearing a black tux with a red tie and a golden fox lapel on the upper pocket.

His hand was wrapped around Sakura's waist, making contact with the black material that stopped at her upper thighs, as his other hand held her hand and guided her forward and out of the apartment. There were no words to be said as the driver walked back down, his clients following until he opened the door to the back of the limo.

Turning around, he saw Sakura's bloodshot eyes from what he knew was crying as his own wife had had the same eyes when their son died suddenly. Sakura's eyes were grayed at the edges and glazed over as if she wasn't even able to see the world around her.

Naruto dropped Sakura down to the limo's seat and then brought her own feet up, since Sakura was not feeling any pain right now. She was still in shock, and though she had started to cry, she had only begun the process, and was frozen to the core. She didn't want to go tonight, but Naruto knew she still wanted to go, to see her own cast members and her adoring fans. So he had bathed her, clothed her, and done her hair the way she liked it.

The ride over was filled with static and silence. The driver had tried to turn on the radio, but it was filled with nonstop…Sakura gossip…and he had quickly shut it off, much to Naruto's gratitude, before he felt Sakura shivering from the recent gossip about her sleeping with many men and though it wasn't true, her mind was fractured and her ego bruised, and Naruto spent the better part of the trip doting on her and comforting her.

After a half hour, the limo arrived in line with all the others as they circled the roundabout in front of the red carpet which would usher all the celebrities and ticket holders into the planetarium for the grand season premiere of Shinobi Wars. Naruto felt Sakura twist her head to the side to see the crowd and immediately felt her grip his arm tighter.

"You'll be okay, Sakura-Chan." Naruto encouraged/

"T-they'll ask questions. They always do." Sakrua retorted, grimacing at past events where she had watched many actors and actresses lose face due to things such as what she was now facing.

"Just ignore them. Look for your fans. They'll cheer you up."

"I don't know if I can do this, Naruto!" Sakura rushed out, as the limo lurched into third place. Sakura gripped tighter and pleaded up into his eyes with hers. "Maybe we can move to the Land of Hot Springs! They don't have too much gossip there! Or we can move in together and stay inside for the rest of our lives! Wouldn't that be great?!"

Naruto knew this was a delicate situation. He'd love to do nothing but stay inside with Sakura giving her children to take care of, but she'd have to leave eventually. She loved going to parties, talking with friends, speaking truthful gossip to the tabloids that favored everyone. It made Naruto's blood boil with rage.

His girlfriend gave them billions of profit for their news and photos and then they do this?! Mark her as a slut who was only doing what couples do in the privacy of their own home?! If any of these paparazzi so much as touched Sakura, he would break their arms, or any guy hoping to get lucky with her in such a fragile state. Even Naruto knew that sex was off the table, and though Sakura craved that kind of attention from him, that was his last resort. He wanted to make her happy by letting her know that he would always stay by her side.

"Sakura-Chan…my Goddess, you know you'd hate that." At Sakura's reluctant nod, Naruto hugged her and noticed that they were next. He had to be fast about this. "You know that I love you, don't you?"

"O-Of course I do."

"Then no matter what people say about you, or me, we have each other. Do you understand?"

"N-no."

"Wha-"

"I haven't told you how much I love you since last night." Sakura giggled a little, as she wiped her tears away with her shinobi arm warmers as shown on the television show, and the tears stopped flowing. "I'm not going to smile for a while, but you're right. A painter knows how people feel about his muse, don't you?"

To Naruto's smile, Sakura leaned on his shoulder. "I'll look for my fans, but please, walk fast."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Naruto smiled sadly and opened the door to the limousine.

Shutters snapped and clicked at a moderate pace on the red carpet. Famous people from not just the land of fire, but all over the world were coming to this premiere, and it was official that Shinobi Wars had gone global. Even though the world had a universal language, there were many dialects and some hard to understand and so there were as many translators here tonight with recording devices as there were cameramen and women.

Already, they had seen the Hokage himself walking in, but besides that, most of these people were mediocre and commonplace when coming to these kinds of events. Suddenly, a voice sounded out.

"Saku! Saku! Over Here!"

"We Still Love You Saku!"

Immediately, all men and women with cameras and mikes turned to see the limousine bearing Sakura's designated symbol of a Sakura petal pull up in front of the red carpet entrance. Then the door opened and people's eyes turned sad.

Cameramen continued to flash away with their cameras and Sakura's face lighted with white before sliding down into the dark abyss of which her face had become. Over the course of the morning of finding out, Sakura's face had become a sickly pale, as if she were about to hurl. Her eyes were red with dried tears, and her bottom lip quivered the slightest bit, showing everyone how much she was trying to hide her true self from everyone around her.

Then came the frenzy of piranha teethed paparazzi from inside the crowd who began to bombard the actress with questions as she and an almost protective looking Naruto tried to rush across the blood red carpet. The couple continued through the questions nonetheless.

"How are you sleeping?"

"What is your preferred method for after those nightly activities?"

"How many men have you had in that position?~!?"

To that last question, Sakura's eyes had unconsciously crossed in front of the female reporter and the reporter leaned in, knowing she had hit the mother load as Sakura's eyes widened further and her mouth dropped agape as if trying to breath.

Cameras flashed at this suddenly shocked face before suddenly Sakura lunged forward, surprising everyone as she threw her body forward and pushed the reporter down to the carpet as Naruto held Sakura back from molesting the young headstrong reporter. When Sakura realized she wasn't going to get the chance to beat the crap out of this bully, fresh tears filled and fell down her face.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sakura screamed at the load of everyone around her before tucking desperately into Naruto's chest and they were quick to rush inside, past the front door security who kept the cameras from pursuing further.

Naruto dragged a sloppy crying girl quickly around the corner and held her against him as she cried into his shoulder. As they stood there, Sakura mumbled about incessant things, not being able to stop herself.

"Stupid mother-fucking bitch! How dare she?! Thinking I'd be with anyone but my Naruto-Kun."

At that last note, Naruto gasped slightly, unable to hold his surprise in and Sakura looked up at her confession and smiled as her tears subsided. Even though they had admitted to everyone they'd been with, while, who Naruto had been with, there was always suspicion about if Sakura had ever hidden a guy from Naruto. But now he knew for sure.

"OH Naruto!" Sakura hugged him tight and used his shirt as a tissue and dried her face, and giggled as he fixed her hair. "I love you so much."

"So do I, but Sakura, you shoved that reporter."

"Oh well…not like it can really get worse. A year after I started acting, I punched a guy for calling me a good lay. I'm already known for my temper that flares up. It wouldn't get any better really."

"I hope not."

Sakura was about to confirm when the sound around her exploded.

"Saku! Saku! Saku!" Where have I heard that voice? A child? Ah!

Sakura twisted around and was suddenly having her leg hugged by Akane, the girl from when they had gone on a trail hike for the day. Akane's parents walked up and smiled warily at Sakura and Sakura gave them a small smile and nodded her thanks for their silent pity.

"Hello again, Akane." Sakura spoke as if to a child, and bent down and ruffled her hair. Akane smiled even brighter and her eyes bulged in pure joy, and as Sakura pet her brunette hair, she twisted around and beamed at her parents.

"She remembered my name, mommy!"

"Of course she did." Akane's mother smiled lovingly.

"How could I not?" Sakura asked rhetorically. You look so beautiful in that dress of yours, Akane."

"Thank you! My daddy bought it for me for my birthday last week. I love it!" Akane wiggled around and held in squeals that came with children meeting their idols.

"I'm glad your family could make it tonight."

"My parents thought you wouldn't be coming."

"Nonsense. I'm here aren't I?"

"Yeah! Mommy, you were wrong!"

"I rarely am, sweetheart. Now come on, the premiere is about to start."

Akane nodded and hugged Sakura once more, Sakura hugging back, before running back down the hall with her parents to find their seats, which possessing VIP tickets meant they had the best spots in the house.

Sakura stood back up, and her tears welled up as the moment was over. She felt Naruto's arm hug her around her shoulders and ruffle her hair fondly. "You were amazing with her. It seemed to make you feel better."

"It did, but now I feel terrible again. But when I saw her, she's the little girl that I was when I grew up. I just don't want to let her down."

"You won't. Now, as Akane and her family were saying, we need to find our seats."

"A-alright. I guess I shouldn't have hoped you could hold me in this empty corridor all night."

"No, but I can hold you while they show the premiere." Naruto offered and Sakura sniffled and they quickly made their way inside the planetarium.

There was fire spouting out of the ground, and followed forward as geyser after geyser of lava induced rocks blew up and towards the enemy. Continually, these geysers came up, but every time they came close to the single enemy target, a gust of wind would plunge through the fiery columns and more shinobi on the defending side would have their throats sliced by a thrown kunai or shuriken embedded with a highly concentrated chakra embedded into them.

Five minutes of fighting later, the last ninja fell to their knees, their throat only cut shallow. The ninja felt a hand encompass his neck and pull his limp body to the man's face, where the ninja struggled to breathe before looking into the red and blue glazed eyes of the blonde in front of him.

"You will all pay." The man spoke, before the sound of bones in the neck were heard crunching and the man's body went limp. The man let the body drop, and crumple to the ground. The man's dual colored eyes looked straight ahead, as the sight of the ninja fortress grew larger before him with every step he took.

Behind him, three thousand ninja stood, line by line, ready to charge at a moment's notice, but were content to stay back and watch as the reason why they were here slowly walked forward, and they matched his pace, their new polished flags flying high above them.

The symbol of a red fox and pink blossoms swayed in the roaring wind around the army of Konoha, and all around it, there was blood. Their fellow ninja, Nami's friend, his and now their pillar of strength, would be avenged. That was the only way to peace anymore, and those that stood in the way would fall before their leader's blade.

The premiere of the season Shinobi Wars started without a hitch and as there were explosions and cries of war, most people's head were turned to the screen. Not all however, were turned facing forward; a great many had their heads turned to the person next to them or facing directly to where Sakura sat, talking about her in hushed silence.

Sakura tried to remain innocent to their actions and just watch the show, and season where they were dedicating Konoha to avenging her last season's death, but they were talking about so Loudly! She could hear their hushed tones over the Loud speakers! Eventually, her eyes began running and she let out sniffles as she buried her face into Naruto's shoulder.

The premiere was a two hour showing, but after an hour, Sakura felt her body becoming agitated and knew she wouldn't last much longer in front of everyone. Slowly, Sakura moved her hand slightly and pulled at Naruto's sleeve.

Naruto turned his attention from the screen and looked at Sakura with a knowing look. Sakura grimaced. She had shown Naruto the books and the series and he was an avid watcher as much as she, and she hated that they were about to leave because of her and solely her.

"P-please?" Sakura begged in a whispered fashion. Naruto to his credit didn't speak at all, but nodded and moved to ask the people next to them to get up so that they could leave. Luckily, the people on her aisle were her fellow casted peers and so they did not make much sound to indicate that the couple were leaving. Before a few minutes were up, Sakura was back in the limo with Naruto on the way home and they suffered in a saddened silence.

The limo pulled up silently to Sakura's apartment, and Naruto nodded to the driver as he took Sakura in his arms and carried her out of the car and moved towards the elevator. Naruto pressed for Sakura's floor and after another quiet minute inside the gravity defying metal box, the doors opened and Naruto walked around the corner to Sakura's door.

Naruto bent down and leaned Sakura's body against the wall, as her eyes glazed over in her fears and embarrassment. Naruto took out his own key and twisted the doorknob and turned back around to scoop Sakura up as she clung to him around his neck. Naruto continued into the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

The painter looked at the living room that was blacked out and guessed that Ino was already asleep or out, and so moved towards Sakura's room and soon Naruto bent down and moved the covers over before laying Sakura against the soft mattress.

Naruto moved down to Sakura's feet, taking care as he took off her heels and massaged her feet slightly before placing the heels on the wooden chest at the end of the bed. Next, he reached behind Sakura and pulled her zipper down before he pushed the fabric of Sakura's dress up past her hips and off her head.

Sakura just stared at Naruto, watching him do these things and getting a hanger for her dress as her topless form did nothing but lie there. When Naruto was done with getting Sakura ready for bed, he brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face and caressed her cheek fondly. You'll be okay, Sakura-Chan.

Naruto saw Sakura's passive face and moved to leave when suddenly, Sakura's form moved for the first time since the limo and grabbed his right hand that had been caressing her cheek. "Sakura?"

"S-Stay with me…p-please?" Sakura begged as she bit her lower lip. "I don't feel safe with myself." Sakura's voice echoed.

"Sakura-Chan. You could never hurt yourself." Naruto assured her.

"Maybe…maybe not. But I know that I won't if you're here?" Sakura asked more than stated as she pulled harder on his hand, desperate for the comfort that always came with Naruto. Naruto breathed out and nodded to her and so moved to take off his shoes before getting in the bed beside her.

Sakura felt Naruto slide in beside her and went to hug his chest but felt the shirt in the way. So thinking, Sakura leaned forward and undid each and every button before pushing it off Naruto's upper figure and Naruto smiled a little as Sakura sighed contently but with a frown instead of her award winning smile and rested his head on top of hers, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

Well, one day is done, what will the next present?