It was a humbling march to say the least.
Naruto and his team had done it, they had saved Gaara from the clutches of the Akatsuki and were on their way back to the Hidden Sand Village. Surrounded by an entourage of Sand Shinobi who had all come running to save their beloved Kazekage. That itself was no surprise. What was surprising was the fact that they had running to save a jinchuriki. Now they were alternating between carrying the red headed Kazekage and walking beside him, always surrounding him in a protective manner.
To Naruto, who grew up knowing first-hand how a village normally treated its jinchuriki, he knew how unbelieveable it must have seen for Gaara when he woke up, but there they were. Genin, chunin, jounin, and even a few ANBU of varying age groups had come to rescue the man they had once collectively feared. Although as Naruto looked around he noticed a lot more Shinobi around his age had come along more so than the older generation. Naruto figured it would still be some time for the adults to let go of their prejudices, something his master Jiraiya had firmly tried to impart to him over the last 3 years.
Whatever. Naruto thought. This is still major progress in the right direction.
The thought made the blond knucklehead look to the group in the front of their parade and the hero that they were carrying.
Lady Chiyo, the kind of old bat that Naruto would have normally associated with any other out touch elder dead-set in their old ways, had forever earned Naruto's respect. Using some special jutsu, she had sacrificed her own life to bring Gaara back from the dead. The very woman that had been partially responsible for forcing the One Tailed Tanuki inside of Gaara had paid the ultimate price to give the young Kazekage a second chance. It almost made Naruto regret the harsh things he had said to her.
Flashback…
"SHUT UP! It was YOU! You people did this to him!" Naruto pointed at the corpse of his jinchuriki brother.
"You put a monster in him and turned him into a weapon for the village! And then you let them hate him for it! Did you ever ask him how that makes him feel? Do you even care?!" Naruto stuttered off after that, it wasn't Gaara he was talking about now. But Gaara had just made Kazekage, he had achieved Naruto's dream. Things were supposed to be different.
"I couldn't save Sasuke. I couldn't save Gaara. No matter how hard I train it is just never enough…" He spoke to himself. Years of abuse and neglect finally broke through. He hadn't cried like this since Iruka-sensei had said he was an excellent student. Lady Chiyo didn't respond, she just walked past Naruto, crouched next to Gaara's body, and activated some unknown jutsu.
"That jutsu…Lady Chiyo, wait!" Sakura shouted.
"What? What is it?!" Naruto asked.
Sakura looked at the smile in Chiyo's eyes and grew still. "…She's going to bring Gaara back."
Flash forward…
Later, Naruto had learned that Old Lady Chiyo had sacrificed her life energy for Gaara and had played a pivotal role in helping Sakura defeat one of the Akatsuki members, Sasori the Puppet Master.
Sakura-chan…
Naruto looked to his pink haired teammate, who was closely trailing behind the group carrying Chiyo's body back on a stretcher. Sakura had grown close to the old medic/puppet master in the short time that Chiyo had been a part of Team 7. A life and death battle against an S-ranked criminal will do that to you. As amazed as Naruto was for Chiyo's act of selflessness, the feat she had pulled off with Sakura had him even more in awe for the both of them.
For years, ever since they had first come knocking on Naruto's hotel door, the Akatsuki had seemed like unstoppable boogiemen to Naruto. Rouge ninjas who could give even the Pervy Sage a run for his money had Naruto quaking in his sandals in ways he would never admit to anyone.
Never before had they felt so real as when they attacked Gaara in the middle of his village and taken him hostage. Even fighting them after all these years had served to remind everyone of how powerful an enemy they were facing. But at the same time, the Akatsuki had finally been brought down to Earth.
Of all people, it had been Sakura who first defeated a member of the Akatsuki. To Naruto, who would agree but never admit that Sakura was once the weakest link on their team, hearing that Sakura had killed one of the agents of Naruto's nightmare had been unbelievable. His heart swelled with pride at how powerful his pink firecracker had become. Her monster strength was enough to make him fear her, her medical prowess was enough to be in awe of her, but her victory against Sasori- Well Naruto was already in love with her so there wasn't much higher his opinion could go for her.
She's amazing… Thought Naruto.
You're damn right she is. The Kyuubi answered back.
Ah geez, what do you want you damn Fox? I'm not fighting anyone so you can't tempt me with your chakra.
Shut it brat, I'm not here for that.
Then what do you want? You never talk to me unless you want to tempt me. And no, I won't release the seal for an ocean of ramen. There is no ramen down in the abyss of my psychosis. Pervy Sage told me so.
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the Pink haired Vixen.
Pink haired-You mean Sakura-chan? What do you want with her? Don't think for a second I'll let you hurt her, you shitty Fox!
Calm down Brat, I don't want to hurt her. I just want you to mate with her…
Mate…
"YOU MEAN HAVE SEX WITH HER?!" Naruto shouted out loud, drawing in all the eyes of every Shinobi to stare at his outburst. Sakura in particular was looking at him with a look of rage and disbelief.
A gust of sand blew by.
"Heh heh, sorry." The awkward blond apologized to the crowd, doing his trademark neck rub. Unknown to Naruto, at the time Kankuro had been trying to strike up a conversation with the orange dork. Something about showing him and his team a night on the town in gratitude for saving his younger brother. He had mentioned hooking Naruto up with some dates (Kankuro knew some bachelorette kunoichi that just loved foreign ninjas) when Naruto had made his outburst. Sensing the end of their conversation, Kankuro quickly shifted over to see Lee and Neji wanted to take him up on his offer.
Idiot. The Nine Tails thought.
I am not going to…do…that…with Sakura-chan. We're just good friends and teammates and I don't want to-
Oh Sage's sake, spare me! Brat, I've known you for all but 30 minutes of your life and you have been in love with that vixen for longer than even I can remember! The Demon Fox bellowed.
Wait that doesn't make sense, 30 minutes-what? Naruto thought, trying to put two and two together.
The point is that you love her and anyone half paying attention will tell you that she loves you back. So just mate with her already and stop fucking sighing about her all the God damn time!
I'm not just going to walk up to her and say, "Hey Sakura-chan, lets fuck!" Naruto screamed, his embarrassment showing both in his psyche and on his physical cheeks.
God, fine! You wanna play the long game? Delay what we all know is coming over and over again until it stops being fun? Fine, then go hold her hand. The Bijuu instructed.
What? Naruto asked, scandalized like the Fox had just asked him grope the 5th Hokage.
You heard me. Make like that Tanuki bastard and grow some balls, then go hold the vixen's hand.
Why?
What do ya mean why? She looks like she's taking the death of the old crow hard, so go and comfort her. That's what any potential mate worth his chops would do. The Kyuubi explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Well she does look sad but-
But nothing! She's overly emotional right now and needs a rock. So go be that rock.
How can you be so sure?
I've lived a thousand years, but more importantly I've had two hosts before you, both female. So I've got a better estimate of what females are thinking rather than most.
You're right. Thanks Fox. Naruto's mental projection smiled.
Less talking, more rocking.
Naruto pretended not to have heard that and found himself back in the real world, now in sight of the Hidden Sand Village's massive walls. He quickly jogged over to where Sakura was walking and positioned himself right next to her. Sakura was focused on the stretcher ahead of her and didn't notice Naruto. Even with the caked on grime and sweat she still looked beautiful in Naruto's eyes. The way her hair shined in the afternoon sun left a golden streak across the top of her hair leading to her cute forehead. The way her legs swayed back and forth even while trudging through the sand was a sight to behold. How her pink mini-skirt bounced off the front of her thighs and her butt made other parts of Naruto want to say hello. Forcing himself to focus on his target, Naruto noticed that her gloves had since been removed, meaning Naruto would have no choice but to initiate skin to skin contact.
Fucking do it already!
Summoning up his courage, Naruto reached out and intertwined his fingers with Sakura's, pulling her hand out to meet his own halfway. Now all he could do was wait for the hammer to drop.
Inside Sakura's mind…
He touched me!
I know!
He's holding my hand!
I KNOW! Inner Sakura squealed in delight.
What do I do?! He touched me without permission, should I hit him? But it feels so nice, and Lady Chiyo is dead, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE FEELING!
Calm down Sugar Tits. Let me just pop on down to Master Control and ask the girls what you're supposed to be feeling. In the meantime, don't let go of that hand. And don't even think of trying to punch him in here. Our body might take that as a command.
Master Control? Wait, what?! Sakura cried out, but her inner thoughts were silent.
Deeper in Sakura's subconscious…
Hey girls. Thought Inner Sakura. What's the status?
One of the multicolored personas untangled himself from the slap fight going on over the control panel. Inner Sakura recognized her by her purple skin, Fear.
Well we just word from the Nerve center that Naruto was holding Sakura's hand. Sadness had been manning the controls for a while, but then Joy and Anger knocked her aside. Joy wants Sakura to focus on enjoying the hand holding, while Anger is upset that Naruto didn't ask Sakura's permission first before touching her. Then Disgust got in on it when she remembered that Sakura is still all dirty and smelly from the battle she just had. And so is Naruto. Sadness thinks it's too soon to stop grieving for Lady Chiyo. And I am too scared to do anything.
Ok, why don't you three take five and leave Joy and Sadness to man the controls. Then Disgust can take over once we get back to our hotel room or whatever with a shower.
What about Anger and Me?
You two will be on standby. Let's see where this hand-holding takes us.
Gotcha. Thanks Inner. You always know just what to say.
That's what I'm here for.
Did you guys get all that?! Fear yelled over all the commotion. Not that it was needed, since Joy had apparently already won the slap fight and was manning the controls with Sadness off to the side.
You freaking bitch, you slapped me right in the ear. Anger said.
Ugh, whatever. Disgust said. Have Sakura hold sweaty palms. See if I care.
Satisfied, Inner Sakura returned to Sakura's conscious mind.
Hey there Me. How ya feeling?
…Oh what was that? Sorry, I'm just enjoying holding Naruto's hand. It's almost like we're a couple…
Great great, just don't over think it. Enjoy it. We've still got to confess to the Baka when we get back to the Leaf.
What? Sakura thought dreamily, not really paying her Inner thoughts any attention. Yeah sure whatever… mmmmm… Sakura's thoughts went into a pleasant haze when Naruto traced circles on the top of her hand with his thumb.
My work here is done. Inner Sakura thought as she faded into the background of Sakura's subconscious.
Author's Note: Anyone here seen the new Pixar movie Inside Out? Me neither.