Reviewers:

Guest: Stories come and go, and writers become readers to encourage others to write. I'm glad you are enjoying my story so far.

Miller: Doubt you'll read this far into my story, but why comment? That's kind of rude.

BigManJohn: Yes. Yes, he said that curse of a word. Words have power, and they cause all kinds of things to happen.

Annoyed AN: I'm flaming this Miller Reviewer. He gives me a comment, so of course I'm excited for it, but he's mad that my story is in the modern era? Is that something to hate? Even I myself don't always like reading them, but it's how the authors write them and such. I feel my story so far could fit between 1980-today, really. Maybe earlier. What do you all think? Cause my last story was modern too.

AN: Hey All! Thanks for reading my story. ENTER ARC...0?! But we were on Arc 2?! What's going on?!

Read and find out ;)

Arc 0: Shattered

Glazed Emeralds: A Hallmark Story

Chapter 16: Stepping Into The Mist

'God! Can she get more beautiful?!'

Naruto's mind struggled to take in the absolute beauty that was before him, but he was going too far ahead. Turn back three minutes and look at the atmosphere, okay?!

So he was here in the geothermal pool after a relaxing day with the guys his age in the township of Konoha. Only about twenty guys within two years of him, and five of them he felt like he could trust implicitly. 'God, this is so much better than the city.' Naruto thought morbidly as he laid his head back into the water.

In the city he grew up in, he made friends with this loner named Gaara. He seemed like a nice kid, quiet but reserved. Naruto was comfortable around him and told him all his secrets as good friends do. It wasn't until police brought Naruto in for questioning about him that he realized that Gaara had murdered over ten people. They were bad people, hardened criminals, but that didn't take away the fact that he never knew the dark inner side of people, even when his best friend had been a sociopath.

He hadn't made many friends in school. Sure, he called them up and they asked what's up in life, but nothing more than that. At work, he'd been abused, looked over for promotion, his work stolen and plagiarized. The girl who lived in the apartment next to his had a rough boyfriend, but when Naruto asked if she needed help, she cursed him and told him to mind his own business. He still tried to intervene, and the guy broke his rib, the neighbor just standing by, letting it happen.

"Moving here wouldn't be so bad, would it?" Naruto muttered to himself. All of these people around him were so open to him. Sure, they treated him like an outsider, but also like he was that person you introduce to your family in hope that they approve of them.

"Family...Ero-Sannin…" Naruto's eyes teared up. God, he hadn't thought about his Godfather since he got here. What kind of Godson was he to just forget? He was having such a good time here and-

He had no one now. No one to come over to his place just to love him. No one to hold him and congratulate him on a good job. No love to assure him that everything would be alright. 'Money's worthless without someone else to share it with.' Ero-Sannin had once told him a long time ago.

'Can't let Sakura see me like this.' Naruto thought as he dunked himself back under the warm water, wiping away the tears. Jaraiya had told him to come here. He was here because his Godfather put him here, at this time. He'd enjoy every second of it.

"Naru?" An angelic voice called out to him as he breached the water, and Naruto turned to the rocks on the edge of the pool. A heated mist billowed all around the area, careening upwards to the dark sky, as white beams from the full moon illuminated the area with the help of small lanterns set into the walls and statuaries.

Naruto's lips went dry at the sight of the woman standing there watching him. Sakura had one hand resting on her bare hip, the smallest of bikini bottoms that just covered her, with three threads of elastic string wrapping around her thighs, leaving skin to peek out at his feasting eyes. Naruto looked from her feet, freshly polished with a blooded color, to the swell of her thighs, made for jumping and running around the whole area.

He struggled to move his head up further, already sporting a growing nosebleed from this sight, and rested against the set of soft abs on her stomach; an athletic build suited her perfectly. Her chest wasn't the biggest, but with her red top caressing the lower half as it was, they were the perfect size for his hands. All tied off behind her back and neck, left him to see her hair splayed out behind her as her emerald eyes playfully shined at him.

"Geez, Naru~. Do you look at all girls in swimsuits like this, or is it just me you want to fuck?"

Naruto struggled to speak, but his voice left him. He'd come back to have dinner, and afterwards Sakura had suggested he go clean up in the geothermal pool. She hadn't said she'd be coming in too! Naruto's eyes gleefully looked her over again and again. 'I'm fucking this girl.' He thought in amazement. How did he get so lucky? He was fucking this woman's body.

"Oh!" Sakura called out as she took slow, small steps into the water, swaying her hips sensuously as she did so. "Looks like you want to fuck...again." Sakura giggled to herself as she pressed her chest against him, grazing her hand along his swimsuit to feel the swell of his member. "I swear, Naru, you just can't keep it down around me, can you?"

Despite saying such salacious words, why did she have a halo around her head? Naruto wanted to mewl at her. The moonlight was bouncing off her porcelain skin, casting the most beautiful of images for his eyes to capture. She wasn't even naked. Why did she look better like this than naked?

Small arms wrapped around his neck, and Sakura pressed her chest further against his own. "Ino got in a new line of swimsuits today so the girls and I all got new ones for the summer, you know?" Pearly whites shined up at him as her limbs squeezed in around him. "Did I surprise you? Y-you like the surprise, right?"

There it was. Naruto sighed into the embrace, holding her closer as his arms grabbed at her body. That slight sliver of insecurity from her that he cherished. She wanted him to like seeing her like this. On the inside, she was nervous about being so bold and wanted him to compliment her. Naruto smiled; she shouldn't have worried.

"You look beautiful." Naruto whispered into her ear, his hot breath sending shivers across her skin. He felt her gulp back her nerves as she settled into his embrace, her chin resting into the crook of his neck.

"I hope you liked the surprise. I-I wanted to tell you and all but-"

"...I LOVE it." He huskily whispered back and the two shivered from the thick layer of lust sounding all around them, the refracting water echoing the words around them. Sakura groaned as she felt his lower half stir even more in the water and slid off, though not without one final grazing against him to leave him panting in her wake.

"Naru, we promised to hold off until later." Sakura teased, walking off through the water.

"I know that!" Naruto rushed out, breathing heavily as they sloshed over to a lone corner of the springs, where underwater seats and tables rose mere inches above the water, creating a meeting area that was secluded from the rest of the spring.

Naruto blushed as he glanced down to see the way Sakura's chest swayed back and forth in the tight top, her hand leisurely staying intertwined with his own as they forged ahead. It looked like they were lovers, and they were...in a way. God, Naruto blushed. He had to stop thinking about his earlier thoughts. This wasn't serious for Sakura and he. This was...just what good friends did.

Naruto slid against the rock, leaning back into it as he sat down at the table, and was soon joined by Sakura who leaned against him, the two molding together like a single puzzle piece. Sakura's body twisted from within Naruto's arm that rested along her hip bone, and she laid back in the crook of his neck, gazing up at the clear night and stars all above them.

They were quiet for a while; peaceful crickets chirped all around them, soft wind sounded as it ruffled through the trees, and steam billowed up in columns. Naruto felt his mind slow, and he relaxed further. This was just sex, they were two consenting adults; the temptation of holding the other in their arms was simply too good to pass up.

"...This is my favorite place to be at night." Sakura softly spoke up, her voice smooth. "In summer, I get maybe four, five visitors a month? They all go hiking, and get exhausted early on. They eat and go to bed, leaving me this tranquil place. I feel like an open book right now. Ask for anything and I'd say it."

Naruto looked over to see her gaze twinkle at the beautiful scenery above them. No pollution. No light. Just the two of them.

"There is one question I wanted to ask."

"Shoot."

"You seem...more knowledgeable than the others, about the city, about everywhere. Have you ever left Konoha?"

A cold breeze surrounded them, and Naruto felt Sakura's arms tighten around his waist. Was she uncomfortable with the question? Naruto began to backpedal. He didn't want to bring up bad thoughts.

"You don't have to tell-"

"I did...once…" Sakura whispered across the water, staring straight ahead, as if in a trance.

"...What happened?...If I can ask…"

"...I left...for love…"

Naruto saw Sakura lift herself up out of the water and suddenly a yearning intensity enveloped him as he watched Sakura stare straight at him. Her eyes filled with longing, yearning emotions, swirling towards him. Was he sailing into a maelstrom?

"Would you hear it?"

Going backwards now! Just to give you all a Sakura that we all know with heartfelt strings to pull us closer to loving this couple.