Sakura's eyes pressed together before sliding open. Her emerald eyes slowly roamed the room. Something was out of the ordinary. She could feel it; she felt too relaxed, too calm, too…rested. It was too serene within her. She felt better than she did in a long time. She slowly closed her eyes again, before she shot up full force, her memories returning in one shot, waking her up without fail. She looked around, scanning around for any signs that the previous night's activities were real. She was alone in her bed, and there were only her clothes on the floor. But she was naked, and there were stains on her bed.
The sex she had last night felt too real to be an illusion, there was no way that she could have dreamed that. And after such a long period of time when she had nightmares of his death, why would she have a dream of his love? Her eyes widened at the possibility. Was it genjutsu? That's not reasonable. Why would somebody put genjutsu on her; to rob her?
Feeling a pinch of depression slipping back into her heart, she got up from bed and wrapped herself in her bath robe, tying the knot before heading out of the room. Looking around carelessly, she searched for anything that the thief might have stolen. Strangely enough, everything was in its rightful place. Suddenly, she sensed it – someone was in her house, and she could feel his chakra signature. It was very well hidden, being very faint, and very small. It would take a ninja of her calibre or more to hide that well, and medic of her standard to sense it. After all, Tsunade had insisted that her beloved apprentices learn to detect even the faintest signatures of chakra so as to avoid sneak attacks. Her skill in this area merely came with massive multitudes of training and experience in battle. This chakra was familiarly warm, and friendly, but that was all she could get, and Sakura was taking no chances. Reaching behind a painting that was behind her, she pulled out a kunai and got ready to apprehend the intruder. He was in her kitchen, he was stationary, and as she took a peak in, he was…eating ramen?
"Good morning, Sakura-chan!"A cheerful Naruto greeted whilst slurping down his favourite food. "I see you haven't gotten rid of my stash of ramen, eh?"
Sakura froze, unsure of what to believe. She stared at him for a minute, not sure what to think, before squeezing her eyes shut. "KAI!" Sakura tried to dispel any illusion present, but Naruto remained at her kitchen table, grinning at her. "I'm real, Sakura chan!"
Was he really? She tried to think of some explanation for this, some possible meaning behind the fact that she could see him. Surely she was not going insane? She continued to stare at his face, almost trying to see if there was something about him that might prove that he was false, and that this was either a bad joke or a bad dream. If he really was here, she needed to feel him, touch him as she had done the previous night. Step by step, she inched towards him, her hand slowly, shakily, reaching for his face. Carefully, almost afraid that he would disappear upon contact, she stroked his whiskers. His eyes darkened and grew heavy. She could feel a lump growing in her throat as her fingers traced behind his ears and his face rested in her palm. She buried her other hand in his golden locks, slowly scratching his scalp while feeling his hair. Ever so quietly, he started to purr. Immediately, a tear fell from her eye as she nodded furiously.
"Yes," she said through suppressed sobs. "You're real." And with that, she jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his neck as he snapped out of his comfortable gaze, happily wrapping his arms around her lower back. Tears continued to pour out of her eyes and soak his jacket as he rubbed his palm up and down her back.
"I'm home, Sakura-chan," he whispered soothingly while planting slow kisses on her bare neck. She continued to sob and mumble into his shirt. His lips felt just as soft as they always did, always making her feel whatever she needed to feel. She would feel better when sad, dirty in the shower, happy at a celebration, and lustful in the bedroom. Now, she felt peaceful in his arms.
After a considerable amount of time spent comforting each other, Naruto released Sakura before motioning towards the couch in the living room. She sniffled and happily followed him, sitting down comfortably before smiling at him, and boy, did it feel good. The fact that she had not smiled in ages meant that the muscles in her face had started to grow stiff. He smiled at her, and she grinned, and a feeling of the clouds parting to reveal the glory of the sun washed over the both of them – she was happy again.
"I still can't believe that you're here with me once more," Sakura whispered, ruffling his hair once more while he grinned ecstatically.
"It was pretty cool, actually," Naruto described animatedly, waving his hands around excitedly. "I met the Shinigami."
"I would expect so," laughed Sakura. "You kinda died there."
"Yeah!" He grinned, moving his hands around animatedly. "At first he looked kinda scary with that weird mask on, but once he took it off he was actually kinda cool!"
"That's so weird!" Sakura laughed, leaning into his welcoming warmth. "I always thought that weird mask was his real face."
"He even brought me to see my parents," he smiled as a look of nostalgia flashed across his eyes.
"Oh?" Sakura looked up curiously. During their time together, he never spoke much about them, possibly because he didn't know much about them, but he hardly told her anything about the times he met them during his path to tame Kurama. "What were they like?"
At this his eyes glistened with happiness. "They were everything I expected them to be," he said softly, as though he could barely contain his excitement. "Dad was all proud of me, and gave me a hug, and Mum whacked me on the head, telling me that it was too early to join them, and that I should have achieved my dream first, but in the end she gave me a huge hug and lunch too. Let me tell you, she makes the Best. Ramen. Ever."
"That sounds awesome," his wife mumbled dreamily, attention still completely on him.
"Yeah," he pulled her closer. "I told them about all the awesome things I did, and I told them all about the awesome things you did! I told them how you're short tempered, and brutally honest." At this, Sakura pouted and playfully smacked Naruto on his arm. "But I also said that you always keep me in line, and you make sure I eat my vegetables! I told them how beautiful you were, how you never left my side, never gave up on me, and how much I loved you, and that I was gonna have a daughter, then Dad started crying too."
"Baka," Sakura sniffed. "I'm gonna cry too."
"Aww don't be like that, Sakura-chan," Naruto looked at her with worry. "It's a good thing!"
"I know," Sakura leaned up and pecked him on the cheek. She had really missed him. She hardly ever put her feelings into words, but deep down she knew that as much as he had praised her, he deserved more. He kept her in line, and made sure she had a good night's rest and provided for her like no one ever could. "I'm just really happy."
"Oh good," Naruto breathed with relief. "I didn't want you to cry so soon after I got back."
Sakura shifted herself to look directly at him. "Yeah, why is that, by the way?" She asked, hugging his arm as though he'd disappear if she didn't hold on tight. "Not that I'm not happy you're back, but why are you allowed back into this world?"
He was quiet for awhile, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. When he answered her, he looked at her with such deep seriousness that she was taken aback for a moment. "Sakura-chan," he whispered solemnly. "The cycle of hatred has not ended yet."
She looked at him for a better explanation.
"During our fight with Kagura, I met the Old Man of Six Paths," he said.
"I know," she interrupted. "You told me that you met the Sage of Six Paths and he gave half of his power to you and the other half to Sasuke, and that's how you managed to seal her up."
"What I didn't tell you, though," he cut in. "Was that he had two sons, Asura and Indra. Asura was younger and weaker than his genius older brother Indra. So he worked hard and learned the importance of comrades, who he came to depend on. Soon he awakened his own power, and grew strong enough to rival Indra. But before the old man died, he named Asura the heir to the title of Sage of Six Paths."
"Oh dear," Sakura muttered.
"Yep," Naruto nodded. "Of course Indra wasn't happy, so he challenged Asura to a fight. A really long fight. The longest fight in the history." He faked his fingers through his hair with a tired sigh. "When they died, their descendants continued fighting, the spirit of the brothers living inside the clans. Tobirama and Madara were the descendants of Asura and Indra…" he looked at Sakura sadly and immediately she understood.
"And so were you and Sasuke…" She mumbled.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "And the cycle hasn't ended yet. I'm here to end the cycle of hatred, and finally bring the world to peace."
"How're you gonna do that?" Sakura asked.
Naruto smiled and pulled her closer. "That," He whispered. "Is a conversation for another time."
"Oh," she looked down, a little disappointed, until she looked up again. "Naruto?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you see Sasuke?"
Naruto looked forward for a long while and took a deep breath. "They wouldn't let me see him." He said finally. "They said he was in a different place."
Sakura looked down again. She knew what that meant. A spirit that did not have a proper burial ritual and had unbelievably strong emotional ties to the physical world would become a Yūrei, a ghost that would haunt the earth until it was properly exorcised. This was done either by helping the spirit fulfil its purpose, or performing the complete burial ritual for it. They were exceedingly rare and, when they were found, extremely dangerous. If Sasuke was not in the spiritual realm, that meant that he had become a Yūrei.
"It's ok, Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered, pulling her close. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
Her lips unconsciously curled into a small smile, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her.
Slowly, she kissed him, and he kissed her. They moved their mouths in such a way that they forgot everything around them; the instant ramen, and the fact that it was still morning. All that mattered to them, at that moment, was them, and their current preoccupation. Sakura lifted her leg over his lap, straddling him. Naruto's hands formed a tight grip on her buttocks and pulled her in. Twisting around a little, they fell into such a position that Sakura was on top. Gradually, their lovemaking pace came to a halt. Gently placing her hands on his face, she stared deep into his eyes, as if she still couldn't believe that he was really back.
"Naruto?" She quietly asked.
"Hmm?"
"I'm glad you're back," she shyly stated, bringing a soft smile to his face.
"Me too," he replied, kissing her forehead. She hummed contentedly.
"Oh and Naruto?" She whispered, her voice laced with sleepiness.
"Hmm?"
"I think that cup-ramen you ate is expired."
A/N: Hey guys, I know, this is a little short, but hey! The good part is coming! Thanks for all your wonderful reviews and PMs, I love you guys a lot, and is it just me, or is the entire country falling ill? Everybody's coughing and wheezing and I'm actually going for an X-ray tomorrow because I've been coughing since December. But enough about me, next chapter will be posted Friday! And you'll finally meet their daughter! Peace!