Hello everyone! First of all, I want to thank you all so much for being so patient and understanding with me as I have been working on this sequel to The Bench Where it all Began. Over the past year and a half since I originally published that story, I have been focused on creating my own unique spin on what I thought the ending of the series could have been like if Naruto had confessed his feelings to Sakura and told her the truth of what happened the day of team placements.
So to give you guys a general overview of what I hope to accomplish with this sequel, the goal is to tell the story of how Naruto & Sakura fell in love. This will include things such as addressing Sakura's confession in the Land of Iron, dealing with Hinata's feelings for Naruto and so on. This first chapter, however, takes place directly after the events of the previous story.
This is going to be a long project, but I very much look forward to seeing where this journey goes and I hope you're just as excited as I am. So without further, it is with great pleasure I present to you the first chapter of Heaven & Earth: Their Future Together.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishi does. All characters, places, original plot, etc, belong to him.
Prologue:
Konoha Hospital: One hour later
The locker room was silent.
'Phew. For a second, I almost thought I wasn't going to make it in time before my shift started.' Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.
The pink-haired medic knew that she was cutting it close. Normally, she was never this late to work. However, after her talk with Naruto just a little while ago, in which the two confessed their feelings for one another, her mind was all over the place at present.
As she sat down on the bench in front of her locker and started to get ready for her shift, Sakura started to ponder what the potential impacts of a romantic relationship with Naruto might have on not just her own life, but of those around her too.
On one hand, Sakura was very eager and excited by the prospect of going on her first date with Naruto. Even though she had told the blonde knucklehead that he could choose whichever eatery he wanted, she secretly hoped that it wouldn't be Ichirakus, the site of their countless other dates as friends.
'As friends…' Sakura's thoughts trailed off.
Those two words reverberated in the back of her head, serving as a reminder that while both she and Naruto were taking a huge leap of faith, it could also come at great risk. Sakura was a bit scared by the possibility that if things didn't go well on their date tonight, that it could affect her close bond with Naruto.
There were other external factors in play too. One was the fact that she and Naruto had not yet once discussed her confession in the Land of Iron. To be fair though, the war had broken out not long after and before she could talk to Naruto, he was already on his way to Kumo with Captain Yamato to train under Killer Bee.
Another issue that could complicate things was Hinata's feelings for Naruto. Sakura was all too aware of the fact that the shy Hyuga had long held feelings for the blonde knucklehead. Plus Sakura had learned during Pain's attack on the village that Hinata had confessed her feelings to Naruto, with the blonde never giving her a proper answer. The pinkette had to wonder if Neji's death could be playing a role in why Naruto had not talked to Hinata or if there was something else going on.
Sakura was pulled out of thought when she heard a pair of footsteps coming her way. The medic looked up to see her best friend Ino approaching. She could tell just by her body language that something was bothering her blonde haired friend.
"There you are Forehead! I've been looking all over for you." Ino said with an annoyed look on her face.
"Oh, hi Ino." Sakura replied with a slight smile, paying no attention to Ino's nickname for her.
"Where the heck have you been? It's not like you to show up late to work." Ino said, as she walked over to the bench across from Sakura and took a seat.
"I'm not that late Ino. I arrived with five minutes to spare. And besides, I had a few things to take care of, including saying goodbye to Sasuke before he left on his journey." Sakura said, rolling her eyes.
"So the village higher ups finally let him out of prison, eh?" Ino asked, a bit surprised by the news.
"Yeah, although it wasn't as simple as you might think. Due to the multiple crimes he had committed while as a rogue ninja, the village elders felt that Sasuke was too dangerous to be left roaming freely." Sakura explained, leaning her head against the wall.
"Well that's perfectly understandable. I mean even if he did help to end the Fourth Great War, that doesn't change the fact that he did numerous things such as helping the Akatsuki capture the eight tails and then going so far as to attack the Kage summit just so he could kill Danzo, just to name a few. We can't forget about all the crap he put both you and Naruto through trying to bring him home either. So when you take all of those factors into consideration; yeah, I can totally see why it's not exactly like the elders were just going to welcome him back to the village with open arms." Ino retorted, watching for a reaction from her pink haired friend.
"I know… it's just, I wish people could see that Sasuke has changed." Sakura said, looking down sadly.
"Listen Sakura, I get that you want what's best for Sasuke as his friend and teammate. However, if it weren't for Naruto literally beating some sense into that thick-headed skull of his, the end of the war may have had a vastly different outcome." Ino said, pausing for a moment as she tried to wrap her head around the news of Sasuke's release. She then went on to say, "I still don't get how Sasuke managed to get off so easily with nothing more than a slap on the wrist."
"It was Naruto's doing." Sakura whispered softly.
"Huh?" Ino said, staring at her friend with a puzzled look on her face.
"Naruto and Kakashi-sensei went to speak with the elders a few days before Sasuke's trial was set to begin. I don't know the exact specifics, but from what I was told by sensei, Naruto was able to convince the elders to release Sasuke on two conditions. He wouldn't say what either of those were, but Kakashi-sensei did mention that Sasuke would have to work to regain the village's trust if he plans to assist Naruto in his goals once he becomes Hokage." Sakura explained, wondering how things got so bad.
"That's a pretty vague explanation, but who am I to question the political decisions being made by the elders and Kakashi-sensei? No wonder Shikamaru says it's so troublesome." Ino snorted with laughter.
In an effort to lighten the mood a bit, Ino decided to ask her pink haired friend about her love life. "Anyway, so tell me Forehead. Now that Sasuke is a free man once again, did you try talking about your feelings for him before he left?" Ino inquired curiously.
Sakura knew that Ino might bring it up sooner or later. The pinkette figured she might as well just get this discussion out of the way and move on to other things.
"Yeah, about that… When I tried to ask Sasuke if I could go with him on his journey, he told me that it would be best to stay here and continue working on advancing my career under Lady Tsunade's guidance. This journey is a way for him to reflect on his past wrongdoings and learn from them."
"To be perfectly honest, Ino, I think it was just Sasuke's own way of letting me down easy. I know he cares about me, but nothing more than as friends. I can accept it now that he doesn't feel the same way about me." Sakura sighed, wondering what took her so long to realize Sasuke wasn't the one.
Ino was surprised by Sakura's response. She knew all too well that Sakura had been crazy about Sasuke for years and for her to suddenly give up on those feelings for someone else didn't make sense.
"You'll have to forgive me if I'm not convinced." Ino said, squinting her eyes at her best friend, trying to see if she was lying
"I know and you have every right to be skeptical. The truth is Ino, I've had these feelings that started to develop for another guy too. For the longest time, I wasn't sure what those feelings were or how to act upon them. All of that changed, however, when I learned the truth about what happened after teams were announced." Sakura sighed in bliss thinking of her knuckleheaded best friend.
"Wait, is this the very same day you were telling me about when Sasuke was acting really weird?" Ino inquired, wondering what could have been bothering the emo.
"Yeah. It turns out though that the person who complimented my forehead was not Sasuke at all, but rather someone else disguised as him using a henge." Sakura giggled thinking back on the memory.
"Oh for god's sake, will you just spit it out already! Who was the imposter that pretended to be Sasuke!?" Ino shouted out of frustration.
As much as Sakura enjoyed messing with Ino a bit, she decided to spare her friend any further torture of keeping her in suspense and went on to say, "It was Naruto."
"Naruto?" Ino asked in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
"Yep! We confessed our feelings to each other just a little while ago." Sakura smirked at her best friend.
"I'm so happy for you, Sakura! Tell me what happened!" Ino squealed in excitement.
"Well, after Naruto said goodbye to Sasuke, he came and whisked me away to the same bench where 'Sasuke' supposedly said I had such a large and charming forehead that it made him want to kiss it. That's when he repeated the same words he had said all those years ago and dropped the bombshell on me that it was really him." Sakura explained, with her hand on her chin.
"Pfft." Ino scoffed, "Leave it to Naruto to come up with something corny like that."
"Yeah, you're telling me. At first, I was both sad and furious with him, but it was a bit more of the latter. I honestly felt like he had some nerve to impersonate Sasuke and compliment the one thing I was most insecure about. He certainly didn't do either one of us any favors in making me believe that Sasuke actually felt the same way." Sakura huffed in annoyance.
"Not to mention giving you false hope for something that never would have happened anyways." Ino added, only for Sakura to shoot her a dirty look.
"What? You can't tell me I'm wrong, Forehead. Sasuke has never shown any interest in girls except for maybe that red haired girl, Karin." Ino sighed, knowing that her crush on Sasuke was also a thing of the past.
"I suppose." Sakura sighed. "At any rate, once Naruto explained his reasoning for concealing his identity, I couldn't stay mad at him. Plus it was really sweet when he told me that he thought I had an amazing mind hidden behind this big old forehead of mine."
"Aww that's cute. So are you excited for tonight?" Ino inquired, seeing her best friend squirm.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty nervous as well." Sakura replied wringing her hands
"What's there to be nervous about, Sakura? It's just Naruto." Ino said curiously, wondering how Sakura could be nervous.
"That's just it Ino. As much as I am excited and looking forward to my date tonight, I'm also concerned that it might screw up my friendship with him if things don't work out and I'll hurt him again." Sakura said, looking at the floor.
"I can only assume that you're referring to that time you confessed to him in the Land of Iron right?" Ino asked, wondering how she could've done that to Naruto.
Sakura nodded gently. She then went on to say, "It's something that neither of us have talked about. Granted, the war started not long after that and Naruto was already well on his way to Lightning Country on a special mission from Lady Tsunade before I really had a chance to clear the air. Even so, it's something that I feel Naruto and I should discuss before we move forward in a relationship. I want to make sure he knows that I truly meant every word when I told him that I loved him earlier."
Ino took a moment to let everything soak in before replying. The Yamanaka heiress knew all too well just how bad Sakura felt after lying to Naruto about her feelings for him at the time. When Sakura originally told her about what had transpired that fateful day, Ino had been quick to point out to her pink haired friend that she wasn't necessarily lying. It was more of an instance that Sakura was torn between her feelings for Naruto and Sasuke.
But deep down, Ino hoped that one day, Sakura would eventually realize that her feelings for Sasuke were nothing more than a childish infatuation. In addition, she was willing to bet that once Sakura could move on from her crush on the last Uchiha, she would finally be able to see what had been right beside her this entire time, the one person who was always there for her no matter what.
Taking all of that into account, Ino started to speak, "You know what, Sakura? I don't think Naruto doubts your feelings for him as much as you may think."
"What makes you say that, Ino?" Sakura asked, wondering what Ino was thinking.
"Whenever I see you hanging around with Naruto, you are able to act like yourself. You don't have to put on a brave face, you don't have to act tough, you can just be… well you. I guess what I'm trying to say is that despite all the pain, grief and hardship that Sasuke had put you guys through over the last three years, you kept each other grounded." Ino said, looking up at the ceiling as she explained.
Sakura had to admit that Ino brought up some good points. Spending time with Naruto was something the pinkette genuinely enjoyed. There was never any pressure for her to act like someone else when she hung out with the blonde knucklehead. Just knowing that there was someone who could relate and understand what she was going through meant a lot to the pink haired kunoichi.
Naruto was always there to lend an ear whenever something went awry and Sakura felt the need to vent her frustrations. Even the day after Sasuke left the village, Naruto did his best to brighten her spirits and take her mind off what had happened. Being the selfless person that he was, Naruto would always put his friends' needs above his own. It was the little things like these which Sakura had really come to love about Naruto.
The pinkette had to stifle a chuckle thinking back to the days when her younger self couldn't stand his presence. If only she knew back then how wrong her impression of Naruto would be.
"You worry too much, forehead. I would honestly be more concerned with Naruto doing something stupid, but that's why he has you to keep him grounded. Just focus on having a good time with him tonight and see how it goes. The only way you're gonna know if this is something you want to pursue is by taking that risk." Ino said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder to reassure her as Sakura smiled slightly at the gesture.
"Now let's go. Our shift is about to start and the last thing I'm sure you want to deal with is Lady Tsunade yelling at us." Ino said, standing up from the bench waiting for her best friend to join her.
End of Chapter
A/N: Okay guys. I know this chapter was pretty short, but I wanted to just set up some of the basic ideas for what I have planned, as well as have Sakura quell some of her doubts before her date with Naruto.
I want to give a huge shoutout and thank you to my friend Bruins35 for helping me put the final touches on this first chapter.
The next chapter is in the works. Once again, thanks for reading and I look forward to talking with you all again soon! Until then, this is Nate signing off.