Hello all! I'm here with another chapter! Sorry for being a piece of garbage and updating so late, but I am seriously a very busy person, so sometimes passions of mine (like writing) get really deterred. However, I had to put this chapter up because it's an important one for the course of the story. And it's told from Naruto's POV, so of course I loved writing it. It's lowkey probably my favorite chapter I've written. So I hope that it's half as fun to read as it was for me to write.

A quick thing. First, it has come to my attention that this story has been recommended on the Heaven and Earth website! That's absolutely amazing and flattering, holy shit. I used to frequent those forums before Naruto ended, so this is seriously a huge honor. Thank you to everyone who did that for me! Wow.

Another quick thing. There is a small bit of action in this chapter, and for that I apologize, because I'm honestly kind of trash at action. Not only do I not completely understand power levels and all of that (I'm more of a story person than a power level one), but I kind of just…do what I think would look cool. So I guess…just spare me with my actions scenes if they make no sense. I try to make them as in line with canon as possible, but sometimes my memory fails me (I started reading Naruto 8 years ago and never reread it, so my memory and understanding of things might be faulty in some parts). I focus primarily on characterization and plot rather than completely credible attacks, so if you don't like that, I guess that's just something you'll have to deal with.

Okiii enough talk! On with chapter (what is this, 16?) 16!

Chapter 16

The sunlight colored the inside of Naruto's lids an obnoxious shade of orange, which made it really hard for him to nap properly. Of course, leaning up against a tree didn't really help, either. The bark was rough on his back and neck, and he, a natural born slouch, didn't have the patience to sit straight for long periods. It also didn't help that there was a squirrel chattering nearby and swiping occasionally at his pack, that the bottom of his white cloak had dragged itself through a puddle and was now wetting everything it touched, or that his mind wouldn't stop racing, despite his fatigue.

Yes, these things tended to get in the way of getting decent shut-eye from time to time, which sucked, since today was the day of the mission.

It really sucked, if Naruto was honest. He hadn't slept well for the last week or so, but the previous night had been especially bad. A tiny Iruka from Naruto's academy days holding up a chastising finger appeared in his mind.

"Always make sure you get a full night's sleep before missions! You won't function at your full potential if you don't, and that's a darn shame!"

Sorry Sensei, Naruto thought dully.

He brought a hand to cover his face. No matter how hard he'd tried, sleep just hadn't come last night. He'd even taken a lap around his living room to clear his head, but it had only riled him up more. Eventually, he'd given up and pored over the mission plans again, taking in every detail and reciting them to himself, just like he did to rehearse his speeches. It had still been hard, though. It was nerves keeping him awake he was sure, but he also knew that the previous day's events were probably not helping at all.

He closed his eyes. Sakura's anguished expression appeared in his mind.

"Don't touch me!"

"Naruto?"

The Hokage opened one eye to the sun-backed silhouettes of an innocent looking Lee and a skeptical looking TenTen, the latter of whom was peering at him from behind a scroll. They were both dressed in combat gear and sporting large backpacks.

TenTen raised an eyebrow. "Are you sleeping?"

Naruto yawned. "Trying to, to be honest."

Lee extended his hand to pull him up. "Where is everyone?"

"It's still early," TenTen reminded him. "We were supposed to meet here at 11 to leave, right? That's what this message says, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage lightly tapped at the squirrel that was nibbling at his pack with his foot and pulled the straps up onto his shoulders. "Yeah, I was just early…and you don't need to call me that. We're friends."

"Whatever you say, Hokage-sama," she mumbled as she pulled out a map.

Tiredly smiling to himself, Naruto moved from the tree and lifted his hand to his forehead to look out at the town. It was like all was normal. Men and women moved about the streets, children played, and ninja stood on guard or took breaks at restaurants. The sun was shining brightly, laundry fluttered from clotheslines, animals chattered, and a slight breeze sifted through the trees, tossing leaves across pathways and around buildings. If one didn't know any better, they would think it was all peaceful and perfect. That nothing had happened, and that nothing ever would.

Naruto glanced up at the sun. It was eleven. He had instructed the mission squads to meet him right outside the village gate for a last word before departing. The teams would arrive any minute, and then they would all be off.

He exhaled a slow breath. The past three years until this point had been the closest to peace that Konoha had ever achieved, so most of the work to be done had taken place within the village confines, save for a few small missions that Naruto had no reason to personally involve himself in. This was his first true mission assignment since becoming Hokage, as he was the one who normally did the assigning, not the work. Sometimes, sitting back and letting others do everything was actually boring in his opinion. However, Naruto would have done anything, anything at all, to retrieve those lazy days of office boredom and village peace and substitute them for the present.

Two sets of feet swiftly landed behind him, with four more immediately after.

Right on time, Naruto thought.

Gaara had arrived with Temari, followed by Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata, all of whom also looked properly equipped for battle. Then, Sai flew in on a bird with Shikamaru, Chouji, and a young woman with a magenta colored bob, landing swiftly and stylishly in front of them.

Kiba cracked a cocky smile. "Nice entrance, show offs."

"Had to show you up," Sai said emotionlessly, shouldering his pack and hopping off his painting, which dissipated. "Not that it was hard."

"Eh?"

Naruto watched as the group settled in, Kiba up in Sai's face with Chouji tugging his arm, TenTen's vein on her forehead popping as she exasperatedly explained a location on the map to Lee, Temari fixing Gaara's pack straps, Hinata organizing her kunai in her pack, and Shikamaru and Shino looking over a scroll. He felt another small smile form on his face.

They were all so lively. He expected nothing less.

"Wow, all on time, huh?" he asked. "Wait, where's-?"

"Here, sorry!"

A disheveled looking Ino rushed through the gate, holding the hand of a shorter, raven haired girl. Naruto recognized her as Shina, the young medic that had been present in the meeting room briefly last week. Ino dropped her pack down on the ground next to the rest of them, and Shina moved to hide behind her leg.

"Geez, what took you so long?" Kiba asked, crossing his arms and smirking widely. "Couldn't find your hair curlers?"

"Couldn't find your jokebook, Kiba?" she replied airily. "That was pitiful."

Chouji whacked him on the shoulder with a laugh. "The shade thrown on you today already, dude. These trees got nothing on it."

They all broke into playful chatter again, all except for Shikamaru, who looked more anxious than anything, and Shino, who probably had yet to participate in playful chatter in his entire life. Sensing Naruto's gaze, Shikamaru brought his eyes up to face him for a brief moment. There was something there, the Hokage could tell. Regret…embarrassment? But, also a dark determination?

Very well, my advisor, Naruto thought, feeling his jaw clench. Let's see what you can do.

"Okay, guys!" he said loudly, calling the attention. Everyone shut up immediately, with Kiba giving Chouji a final whack to get the last word in. "Everyone's here, right? This might be easier if we just split into teams now."

He jutted his head to the left.

"Team 1 is Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Temari."

The five of them moved towards one another and into the direction he had indicated. Ino tugged on Shina, who looked extremely hesitant.

"And Shina," she urged.

Naruto rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, no offense, but why is she-?"

"-Every team needs a medic, right?" Ino chided. "That's kind of a rule, or at least it should be, especially when I'm as ill as I am. She's tended to me at the hospital for the last week, and she's done it brilliantly. She's coming with, and Tyouka," she gestured toward the woman with the magenta hair that Naruto didn't recognize, "is going with Shikamaru's group. They're the ones hunting the villains so they're gonna need her."

The woman looked a bit awkward, but she raised her hand in a half wave.

Naruto nodded. "Okay, I understand," he said. "As long as they're well protected and can assist in battle as well if need be. Team 2 is Gaara, Shikamaru, Sai, Chouji, TenTen, and Lee plus Tyouka, then."

The seven of them grouped together, though a little more awkwardly.

"We went over the plans numerous times over the past few days," he continued. "Writing them, of course, is pretty risky, but I'm sure at least one person from each group remembers the details, right?"

A couple of them nodded.

Naruto put his hand to his chin. "You…all know where you're headed and everything?"

It was Temari who stepped forward. "Yes. Shikamaru and I have already investigated the area that will be our starting point. We'll branch off eventually, but both of our groups are heading in the same direction for now. We'll make sure to remain inconspicuous."

"Good idea."

"And you, Naruto," said Gaara, eyeing his friend a bit skeptically, "do you know where know where you're going?"

"I have a lead to go off of," the Hokage said promptly.

And before Gaara could rebut, Naruto turned to the whole group.

"Okay, everyone. Are we ready? Remember, remain as safe as you can. Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, and a bunch of others will be here to run the village while we're gone, so feel free to contact them if anything, but don't forget to use code….drink lots of water, avoid too much direct sunlight….and make sure you…."

He trailed off, and there was an empty silence that filled the air between them. Wind lifted clothes and hair and leaves, and even the kunai at someone's belt tinkled. Shina moved a bit further behind Ino, shivering even in the summer weather.

Naruto surveyed the whole of them, eyes lingering on each of their faces. No one was looking happy and excited anymore, but harrowed and determined. Driven and serious.

Sensing the change in atmosphere and feeling a sudden bumpiness of love for them-his comrades, every one of them having played a role in saving him from his hell of loneliness and abandonment all those years ago-, something, a force, came over his body that slowly dropped him to one knee, positioned his arm diagonally across his chest, and bowed his head low in front of them.

A few gasps sounded and feet treaded backwards in shock. But, even the more talkative of them remained silent. The Hokage opened his eyes halfway, keeping his head and voice low.

"I want…to thank you all. For all that you do and for all you are risking for this village…for me…for justice, and for humanity."

The breeze ruffled his cloak and hair. He closed his eyes.

"I am so grateful for all that you have done in taking care of our village, whether we are in crisis or not. And I may be the leader, but it is you and all the other shinobi who protect and foster this village that are truly to thank. Without you, we'd be nothing. This mission is of the utmost importance for our village as well as the future of the other villages. You all were hand selected not just because of your abilities, but because I felt that I could trust each and every one of you to assist me in finding the antidote for the poison that has plagued us, to assist me in vanquishing the unseen villains and terrors harming us, and to assist me in securing the long sought after peace and safety our predecessors desired for us."

He paused, feeling the next words rise up through his body.

"Please, stay safe."

And after a moment of silence, he looked up at them. They brought their hands to their headbands in a salute.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Naruto felt a surge of pride at the sound of their resounding response. He stood, pulling his pack back onto his shoulders. A smile played on his lips.

Oto-san….Father, he thought. These are the people you died protecting.

The breeze cruised through the trees and swept his hair as he turned to look, one last time, at the town. He found the hospital, towering in the distance with light glinting off the roof. Then, he turned from the fence and looked back at his subordinates and inhaled.

"All right," he called. "Move out!"

Konoha's youngest Hokage leapt through the trees like a jungle cat. The wind whipped at his cloak, leaves had embedded themselves into his hair, and sweat glistened underneath his headband and on the back of his neck. Just as one foot touched a branch, he was off to the next one, light and nimble.

He had always liked this part of missions. Sure, getting to the meat of the objective was fun, but gunning through treetops with the breeze lifting his hair like he was flying? The traveling part? It was calming and empowering at the same time. He felt like he could do anything, go anywhere, and achieve whatever he put his mind to as long as he had the wind at his back and an expanse of blue sky over his head.

He often got so caught up in this flying feeling that he, on occasion, didn't keep track of time too well. After what felt like twenty minutes, he looked at the sun.

11:45. Three fourths of an hour had already passed and wouldn't you know it, he was already thirsty.

Feeling the tickle at the back of his throat get more pronounced, he scanned the area for water. He was heading due east, and while his destination was relatively close, it would still take a day or two on foot, especially since he didn't want to travel during the night. He would need to find a place to camp near water, preferably with low hanging trees and far from a clearing. And since the teams had left mid-day, he only had about seven hours of sunlight left before he would need to find a place. Summer days were longer, but their nights allowed for a lot more to happen. More people that you either wanted to see or didn't were out and about, since it wasn't very cold. Even the Hokage didn't know who would be slinking through Fire Country woods at night, so it was better to camp early and rise early.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He would reach the edge of Fire territory before sundown at this speed, surely. However, finding out how to cross giant bodies of water tomorrow would be difficult, since he had no form of transportation to help him cross them. He could run it of course, but he needed to save every ounce of chakra at this point. If Sasuke decided to fight him rather than cooperate, he would need limitless energy. That man was, undeniably, the only known person in the five villages whose power rivaled his own.

He found a river weaving through a small clearing filled with wildflowers. They were white, purple and gold, and they danced in the afternoon breeze. Petals dashed and floated around him as he knelt at the water's edge, uncapped his canteen, and took in his reflection.

Even in his blurry, watery mirror, he could see the bags under his eyes. Nonetheless, it was like looking at old photos of his father that he'd found in the photo album in his office. He couldn't deny that everyone was right. He had grown to almost identically resemble a young Namikaze Minato from the tips of his unruly, blond locks to the undersides of his sandals.

"You have your mom's eyes, though," Tsunade would tell him.

"They both had blue eyes, Baa-chan," he would reply.

"Oi, I'm trying to be sentimental here! Just accept the compliment, you ungrateful little-"

"Where was there a compliment!?"

Naruto closed his own blue eyes as he drained his canteen.

Baa-chan….

His lids opened again as sun poured into them, illuminating the scene in front of him. Mountains towered in the distance, capped by snow and locked in by grassy hills and valleys. Up until that point, speckles of grass and flowers interspersed the vast landscape, stopping shortly before the gleaming river, which lapped against the shore where he sat. Dragonflies buzzed, their wings catching the light. Birds chirped.

"Oto-san…Father…"

His fingers clenched around his empty canteen.

What can I do to protect this? I want everyone to be able to feel this kind of peace….the peace of this scene, right here.

And for some reason, Naruto suddenly felt incredibly heavy, like he was a shore and that waves were crashing on top of him. His eyes fogged over. And then, he was sitting in a darkened cavern, knees up, head leaning against them, covering his face. A large, yellow eye opened to peer at him from between the red bars of a gigantic cage.

The cage doors were open and had been for a long time now, yet the legendary Nine-Tailed Demon Fox did not approach. Rather, his eye softened, and he stuck out his snout to sniff a scent he rarely got: the scent of his Jinchuuriki, his host, his friend….directly in front of him.

Do my eyes deceive me? The fox boomed, his voice echoing off the cavern walls. Well, this is a peculiar sight. You haven't come to talk to me in a long time, and now, when you're feeling stressed, you suddenly think I would want to listen?

The Hokage said nothing, and the fox's pointy grin dissipated. He cocked his scarlet head, frowning sympathetically (if a giant demon fox can look sympathetic).

Forgive me, I shouldn't have joked with you when you are clearly not in good spirits.

A shaky sigh left Naruto's lips. He stared into the floor of water, which was too dark this time to show what he was sure would be a pathetic looking reflection.

"I'm sorry, Kurama," he said softly and muffled. "I should make more time to see you."

The fox closed his giant eyes. You're busy, now more than ever. I understand. Things have been rough for you, yes? Normally, a pretty scene of some flowers wouldn't put you into a fetal position like this, but hey, I haven't seen you in so long. Maybe you've picked up some new habits.

The Hokage shook his head.

"Kurama…I'm not sure I know what I'm doing."

Involving…?

"Anything," he said honestly.

Kurama watched him. You seem to know how to give people the impression that you do though, right? I heard your speech to your friends. It was moving, truly. You are good with words. But are you perhaps too good, that you mastered the art of saying things you may not really mean?

"I don't do that. I always-"

You always say what people need to hear, yes. You often do mean it, too. But sometimes, do you not do and say things to convince others to take you seriously, to trust you? I say this because, as I can see right now, you are burdened, though you convey to others a version of you that is not.

"It's what you're supposed to do," Naruto said, slightly agitated. "Who puts trust in a leader who doesn't look like they've got everything under control? And besides, I already screwed that up anyway when I lost it in the woods the night of the massacre."

Only Kakashi saw that, and he would not judge you, the fox pointed out.

"It's not really about people judging me…I guess…I just don't want to let anyone down."

So it is about others' opinions of you.

"Well, yeah, but not really. I just…I want to keep everyone safe, and I hope sending people out to fight and track this enemy while I wander looking for Sasuke ends up paying off."

The fox eyed him. Are you starting to doubt Sasuke? Weren't you certain he would help you?

Naruto kept his eyes on the water. "….I've never truly known who Sasuke is, I don't think….and I've only recently started to realize that. I…only recently started to understand what it's like to lose a loved one…I mean really lose them. I lost my parents, but I never really knew them, so I didn't feel it as much as someone normally would. I lost Ero-Sennin, but I feel like…the amount of stress I was going through during that time kind of dampened it. I had a duty to perform. I had to stop Pain, and that motivation kind of…blocked out a lot of it. To this day, I don't really know exactly how much I mourned for him. I remember…crying on a park bench I think…and Iruka-sensei brought me a popsicle. But it's all pretty fuzzy."

I'm…not really seeing how this is any different now with Tsunade and those others than it was then with Jiraiya, the fox said honestly. Aren't the circumstances very similar?

Naruto shook his head. "….I mourned for Ero-sennin in a way that completely separated me from control over the situation involving his death. I wasn't the one who sent him to Rain Country and I wasn't the one who killed him, so I cared and cried without feeling too guilty. But, this time I had control. I was in charge of the village security, I was entrusted with the safety of everyone, and yet I was spending time chilling in a park while Baa-chan and others were being attacked and killed in their houses."

He lifted his head.

"I always thought I knew Sasuke because we were friends. But, I think I'm only now kind of starting to understand how he felt and when he killed his brother….and why it led him on an even darker path to destruction and revenge than the one he was on when he just wanted to kill his brother. It drove him insane…the loss of his brother itself combined with the fact that it was him who did it."

There was a long silence. Naruto stared at the black abyss in front of him, leading to absolutely nothing but the unreachable depths of this facet of his being. This chamber with Kurama, non-existent in a physical sense, yet stimulating his senses in a way that was all too real.

This wouldn't have anything to do with that girl you gush about, would it?

Slowly, the Hokage turned to look at the fox, face unmoved. His tired eyes stared emotionlessly into Kurama's giant pupils, which were traced with fiery red irises.

"She probably hates me."

I doubt it. Besides, that's not what you're worried about. This revenge tangent you went on applies to her directly, judging by your conversation you had yesterday.

Sometimes, Naruto forgot that everything he did, everyone he saw, and everything he experienced went through two sets of eyes. He was pretty open in general, but there were certain things he really wished were private.

"Yeah…I'd never seen her like that. She was talking about doing something about Baa-chan's death, even in that terrible physical state…motivated by the desire to beat the shit out of the person who did it to her mentor rather than the desire to protect others…" Naruto closed his eyes again, remembering Sakura's broken, savage expression. "It was unlike her, and it was scary."

The fox cocked his head. This from the boy that went up against Uchiha Madara and Pain without sweating it? You have a weird perception of fear.

"I hope I made the right decision by keeping her in Konoha," Naruto said, more to himself. "And I…hope I made the right decision in trusting Shikamaru and Kakashi-sensei again….she really flamed me for that."

That's what passionate women do. They yell at you for your decisions that contradict theirs, but when you agree with them, you're the best person in the world.

The Hokage finally cracked the corners of a smile and looked at the fox. "You would know, right? With all your experience with girls?"

The fox gave him a knowing look. I see everything you see, so I would say I have as much experience with human women as you do, kid. Although, perhaps, I am much less oblivious than you are.

"Gee, thanks."

The fox cackled with a wheezing, breathy sort of sound, and Naruto couldn't help but smile sincerely. Truly, one of the best decisions he'd ever made was taking the time to get to know his Bijuu not as a monster, but as a being with feelings and a heart of its own. Nowadays, he trusted Kurama like a family member even after all that had happened.

About your confidence in your own decisions, though, there is one thing I have to say, Kurama said. No matter what trials come your way and what you choose to do about them, you are never, and I mean never, going to be certain of whether or not you made the right decision until things play out, and by that time, it would be too late to change it anyway. All you can really do is what you think is best. Going with your gut is really important, and you have a good sense of that. After all, your gut told you to befriend me before, didn't it? And look where that got you. My power made you Hokage!

"Hey, I was strong before you gave me your power!"

The fox laughed, and Naruto bit down his next retort into a smile, too.

There. I cheered you up. Do I get a treat?

"What do you like?"

Chicken. Or Bison or Elephant. Or a remnant of another tailed beast. I've always wanted to try some of the Five Tails…he is horse-like after all….

"All right, got it," Naruto said with a cheeky smirk. "I'll make sure to poison it before I toss it into your mouth."

The fox pouted at that, and the Hokage laughed for the first time all day.

Idiot, the fox said, begrudgingly smiling, though pretending not to.

Naruto sighed and stood. He looked at his companion gratefully.

"Thanks for this, you stupid, arrogant fox."

Don't mention it, twerp, Kurama growled with a grin. You'd better get going, though. You've been sitting by that river for a while. And don't you have plans to be somewhere by sundown?

Naruto opened his eyes and was looking at the field of flowers again, only this time, the sun had moved further along in the sky. He squinted. Around 1'o clock. He'd already traveled for 45 minutes, but he had rested for over a whole hour.

Chastising himself for his terrible time management skills, he dunked his canteen into the river to refill it, lifted his pack over his shoulders, took one last look at the wildflower scene sprawled in front of him, and set off again to reach the edge of the Land of Fire.

Three hours. Four hours. Five hours passed. The sun was heading west as Naruto was heading east, ducking through trees and over creeks quicker than usual, so as to make up for lost time. He had to make sure he reached the edge of Fire Territory by sundown. And in the morning, he would cross the sea, where he would find his lead. Her letter had been a godsend.

I think I have a lead for you, Hokage-sama, it had said.

It had been the best news he'd received all week. Her letter had been late of course, but as she always had told him: "If you want something from me, just know I do it on my own time, Naruto-san. I'm a busy woman, and I'm sure you can relate."

He was well aware that Takumi Mei, the Mizukage, was a busy woman. But, they were the same rank, and he really didn't like that he often had to meet her demands. However, she was helping him out big time with this. So the least he could do was be on time.

"Be in Kirigakure by 3 P.M. tomorrow, Hokage-sama. I will have an escort there to meet you. He is one of my trusted confidants, an old family friend. He's very cute, one of the only cute people in this village. You'll find him."

Naruto wasn't sure if he and the Mizukage had the same idea of "cute", but he would try his best. This guy would be looking for him, too, so it couldn't be too hard.

He looked out over the treetops as he hopped through them. The sun was setting at his back, so the shadows stretched far out in front of him, making the forest look darker than it was. Fireflies were starting to cluster in front of him, and he whacked the occasional mosquito that landed on his neck. He would need to find camp soon.

Another mosquito landed on his neck, this time a little bigger. He slapped it and wiped the guts off his hand.

But then, his eyes widened. And just like that, Naruto noticed he was being followed.

It had happened in an instant. One moment he'd been traveling alone. And then in the next moment, someone had materialized a mile or so behind him, seemingly out of nowhere.

He sharpened his vision immediately. The fuzzy forest scenery he'd been whirring past became crisp and noticeable. He eyed his surroundings, making no move to change course or alter his current leaping stride.

There was a possibility that it was merely coincidence. He crossed his fingers, and a copy of himself appeared in front of him with a pop. Soundlessly, he sent his clone in the opposite direction he was heading. The nice thing about shadow clones was that, because they were completely made of air and ninjutsu, there was no presence to be felt from them. They were completely undetectable from a distance, and because of this, they were great for spying and for infiltration purposes. And if they were destroyed, it was no skin off Naruto's back. He had a pretty hefty chakra supply, after all.

The clone leapt and hopped through the trees in an arc, circling the human presence from a distance. The real Naruto leapt off another tree branch and thought quickly. Any moment now, his clone would happen upon the presence. It felt like a person…someone slightly familiar, actually.

But was this even important? What if it was a random person who just happened to be heading in the same direction. Lots of people traveled between villages nowadays. It was probably a traveler.

Well, better safe than sorry, he thought wisely. See, Iruka-sensei? I know the mission rules.

100 feet. 50 feet. 10 feet. The clone swiftly rounded the final tree between him and the human presence and Naruto, though his clone's eyes, eagerly watched to see….

No one.

The real Naruto's brows furrowed as he surveyed the fast moving, woodsy scenery around him once more. No one? But I was sure….

He looked around. Right. Left. Down. Then, he popped his clone and stopped for breath on a thick tree limb, staring out over the area.

He was sure he had sensed another presence behind him, and it had disappeared just as unsettlingly quickly as it had first shown up. A traveler would feel no need to disappear when sensing another person coming up on the trail. An innocent traveler would have heard another person and respectfully passed them, maybe even greeted them. They would feel no need to conceal themselves unless they didn't want anyone to know they were there.

He put his hand to his mouth. Naruto hadn't sensed human presences for almost the entire trip, so far. He'd passed an old man a few hours before, some dogs and hawks delivering messages, a family of six, and a group of young women who had smiled and waved. He'd sensed them gradually and long before they'd crossed paths. This person, whoever, had popped up out of nowhere. And clearly this person had heard the clone and had both immediately fled and concealed their presence. They could be anywhere now. This meant that this person had probably been following him from a distance for a while now, and had never intended to reveal their presence. They'd slipped up, but had they not, who knows how long they would have been able to follow him?

Naruto flicked his eyes to the side, noting every twitch, sigh, and shiver of the nature around him. Would keeping his own presence detectable lead this person right to him? He was fairly certain he could take just about anyone who would cross him in a fight. Making himself easy to follow would make it easier for the pursuer to come directly to him, but it would be at the cost of the pursuer being able to follow him and track his movements for a longer time, which he didn't want. However, if he concealed his presence, both he and his follower would be going in blind. His confidence in his fighting would still be the same, but it would probably take longer, and he was pressed for time. The sun was setting quickly, and soon it would be night.

And something else was nagging at him. The presence seemed familiar. Who would be tailing him that he recognized other than Sasuke or Team Taka, in which case all the better that they find him? All members of Akatsuki were dead, and all of his companions were either sent on missions in other directions or residing safely within Konohagakure?

He pushed off the tree again and bit his lip, thinking.

Who are you?

Moments that felt like hours passed in silence as Naruto leapt, waiting for one slip up. A quick glimpse of a presence. But, this person was smart. They probably knew he would be able to teleport to them almost instantaneously if they revealed themselves.

Naruto silently grumbled. The big downside to the fame he had achieved over the past few years was that now nothing in his life was secret, and this was especially true with his combat abilities. Ever since the war, everyone had known what he had in his arsenal. He had been stripped of the element of surprise, which sometimes really was annoying. If the enemy was smart like this one, Naruto would be forced to think up a solution rather than just attack with brute force.

And brute force is way more fun, he thought glumly.

He thought about Shikamaru, a tactics specialist. He'd watched him fight only a few times surprisingly, though he was by far one of the people Naruto wanted to fight the least. He was all brains, and though he lacked punch, he was able to almost flawlessly manipulate situations in ways to give him the upper hand. He was the only person aside from Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto himself that had been able to defeat a member of Akatsuki, which was impressive no matter how you looked at it. Naruto was incredibly strong, but in his opinion, he didn't have brains like that. He was sure that, had it been his advisor that was being pursued, a solution would have already been thought up and executed successfully.

Think, Naruto. What would Shikamaru do?

His first thought was that Shikamaru would surely manipulate the situation in a way that would make the pursuer come to him rather than the other way around. He lured his opponents out right to where he needed them, like a chess game. And then, when he had them in the right spot, he delivered the final blow.

Hmm…

He thought of other techniques he knew. Rock Lee, after removing his weights in his fight against Gaara during the Chunin Exams all those years ago, was able to move very fast and was nearly invincible against quick paced sand attacks. It was so many years ago, but it was, in his humble opinion, one of the greatest pieces of combat he'd ever witnessed with his own eyes.

Think, think.

In his fight against Sasuke at the Valley of the End, it was not him, but Sasuke who had dominated the beginning of the fight. It had consisted of very fast taijutsu strikes, lots of substitution and deception, and it had caught him off guard time and time again. Putting a presence in one place to lure him out, and striking from a different place in a different way. This is what made Sasuke a brilliant fighter, in Naruto's opinion, combined of course with the guy's insanely large power reserves his genetics allowed him to have.

Luring the pursuer…fast, incomprehensible movements…deception and substitution….

And just like that, he had an idea. It was kind of a shitty one, if he was honest, but he didn't have anything else come to him, so he decided to go for it.

Fuck it, he mused. Like Kurama said, you don't really know the right choice until it's too late. Trust my gut, I guess.

He stopped moving and pictured the pursuer doing the exact same thing as they sensed him from a distance. Slowly, he set down his pack on the tree he stood on and turned to face the stretch of clearing that lay in front of him.

This surely would use up some chakra and go against his rule he'd previously held himself to about trying to preserve it to potentially take on Sasuke. However, he could not afford to have a pursuer. If word got out about his plans or his movements to this unknown enemy of Konoha, whoever this enemy might have been…Naruto and his colleagues would have to start over with a new plan, and there wasn't really time for that.

He leapt down from the tree and into the clearing.

No. He had to end this now.

Looking around the woods, he slowly moved into a sprinter's starter positon, hands out in front of him, body horizontal, and legs arched, bent, and ready to launch. Surely, the person was being cautious. There was no way the person was close enough as to actually see him, as he would have been able to see them if they were. However, they were somewhere nearby, sensing him from probably a mile or so away.

He closed his eyes and exhaled.

Maybe this would bring them out.

In a flash like a firework explosion, he was off, blasting through the clearing at an unfathomable speed. He was a blur, no more tangible then a gust of wind. A jet of color, barely there one second and totally gone the next. Unseeable to the human eye, as Kakashi had described it to him once when talking about his father's teleportation. "Minato-sensei's teleportation was like nothing like I've ever seen," he'd said. "You'd be hard pressed to find anything faster."

How about this then, Sensei? Naruto thought wildly.

He reached the farthest corner of the woods area, about half a mile from where he'd been standing before. It had taken him two seconds to get there.

A combination of Sasuke's, Lee's, and Shikamaru's fighting styles, he thought. Lee uses teleportation like speed to move fast and avoid enemy attacks and land surprise hits. Sasuke is deceiving and cunning in battle because he is able to confuse me over and over with tricks using his eye powers.

Having stopped for a split second in midair, Naruto carefully unveiled his presence.

I don't have eye powers, Naruto mused. I can't make myself switch places using the Mangekyo or the Rinnegan. But, I have something else I can try. My body as a lure. They want to follow me, right? Well, here I am for you.

Then, he covered his presence again, shot to his right at the same speed, covering another half mile in a little over second.

This kind of speed can bring me to multiple spots in a matter of milliseconds, so I can show myself again in a completely different location.

Stopping jerkily in mid-air, he released his presence again before concealing it and propelling himself back into the clearing.

It was an ambitious tactic, Naruto knew. Since the enemy couldn't see him, they would only be able to sense him when he allowed them to. And since he was only unveiling his presence momentarily after a dash in a particular direction, it would appear to the enemy as him popping up, over and over, in different locations, making him nearly impossible to track. And that would, he hoped, cause confusion.

Tree. Ground. Clearing. Midair. Tree again. Rock. Tree, rock. Ground. Air, clearing, tree. Rock, tree, ground, rock, clearing, air. Ground-rock-clearing-air-rock-ground-clearing. It was a level of speed he had developed while training during the last three years since the war. He'd even had someone time it for him.

" A….a-almost a third of a mile per second, Hokage-sama," they had said to him, shaking in awe. "It's outrageously, unfathomably fast."

Second after second, he was launching himself in direction after direction, one after another, covering miles. Ricocheting off everything like a ping pong ball in a small basement. He was tearing up branches, grass, and whole trunks. He supposed that later, he would have to apologize to Kakashi-sensei again for the deforestation, although this current time was much less intentional than the first.

Breathing heavily, he scanned his blurred surroundings. This was now when he would have to imitate Shikamaru.

To set up a proper lure, I have to be more direct with it, he thought. So, he switched it up. Gunning about 1/8 of a mile east, he unveiled his presence once more. Then, he headed south the same distance and did the same. Then, west.

Smaller sprints will help me preserve energy, as well as give the pursuer a target area to come to. If my presences start collecting in one area, they'll surely come near it so as not to lose me.

And then, still maintaining his speed, Naruto slowed his senses. It was like he'd been dunked underwater. The world moved slower, his breathing hitched, but he was able to see around him and make out details. The enemy still hadn't revealed himself, and Naruto was looking for anything. A sign of movement. A momentary slip up that would give away their location. The closer the quarters he moved in, the easier target for the enemy to find and come to.

He blasted off a tree, then a boulder, and then another tree.

And there it was. He had skimmed something, and the tiniest bit of presence had leaked from the enemy.

Found you, Naruto thought. I can't believe this shit worked.

Gunning towards it, he unsheathed a kunai. The blur of a presence was right in front of him. He slammed with devastating force into the ground, unearthing it, and swiped at the blur, but somehow, they'd dodged and exited his line of vision. He turned quickly, senses working now at what felt like the speed of light.

There!

In a manner befitting of his father's epithet, he spun in the air and flung the blade with lightning speed towards a tree behind him. There was a yelp, an emerging shadow leaping into view…

Bingo.

And then he was there in front of them, palm alight with a crystal orb and poised to send the pursuer into the dirt.

"Raseng-a-ah!"

Pow!

And then….Naruto was there, flying through the air, having been punched upside the head.

Almost comically, he rolled a dozen meters and splatted into the brush. A flock of birds scattered like their lives depended on it, and there was, as he could see as he unpeeled himself from the soil, an imprint of his face in the ground in front of him. Its mouth was huge, but it did not compare to how wide his own mouth became as he turned to face the one who punched him.

Sakura stood right next to the tree, with one gloved hand having formed a fist that was raised and sizzling, and the other slowly moving to cover her mouth in disbelief. The late afternoon light illuminated her scared, wide eyes and rigid battle stance, which she straightened immediately. Her fist fizzled out and returned to normal.

His eyebrow twitched. He felt like his brain was short-circuiting.

No fucking way, he managed.

"Sakura-chan?!"

He looked at her in shock. She mirrored his expression, momentarily looking dazed like she was as shocked by his appearance as he was by hers. And it took approximately three seconds for her features to fluidly morph into familiar anger and annoyance.

"What the hell, Naruto!" she yelled. "You scared the crap out of me!"

Naruto spit dirt and leaves out of his mouth.

"Wha-I scared the crap out of you!?" he exclaimed. "You're the one who punched me from behind a tree!"

"I wouldn't have if you hadn't just appeared in front of me like that! And what was with all that whizzing around and that crazy speed!? What on earth were you doing!?"

It was like he could see the steam coming out of her ears. Her arms were crossed, and she looked just like she had all those years ago, when she would hound him about everything, looking cute yet intimidating all the while. But, she also looked scared shitless, so that kind of ruined it. And the fact that she was here in the first place.

You have got to be kidding me, he thought, dumbstruck.

And then, Naruto felt himself frown heavily. He got up from the brush, shoes crunching dead leaves and pieces of brush falling off his clothes and out of his now completely crazy looking hair. He met her eyes.

"I told you to stay home, Sakura-chan."

The look on his face must have been absolutely ghastly, because her defiant demeanor changed for a second and she visibly backed up a few feet, just before stopping and balling her hands into fists. Her eyes flickered in fear for a moment before she regained herself and stared him down, the green in her irises piercing and distinct even against the woodsy backdrop. She opened her mouth to speak, but he got there first.

"Don't tell me," he started. However, he need not have even started his question, because he already knew based on her expression. "You followed me all the way here? That that was you who was behind me hiding their presence?"

She crossed her arms and looked at the ground. Her mouth was trembling slightly. "Seems that way, doesn't it?" she answered.

Naruto's frown formed further. Somehow, her doing this shouldn't have come as a surprise, and now that he thought about it, maybe it really didn't. Disobeying authority for the sake of doing what she wanted, especially his authority, seemed like the type of thing she would do when she thought necessary. She wasn't afraid to confront him, to argue with him, or to stand her ground against him when she was passionate about something. Most people would hate that, but there was something in that he normally found admirable. It was probably the passion, the same kind of fire and drive he had when he really wanted something. In most cases, he liked it, but in this case…

Well, he was all kinds of infuriated with this turn of events.

"You know there's a reason I told you to stay back, right?" he seethed, feeling anger rise up inside him. "Do my commands mean anything to you?"

Sakura frowned. "Whether or not they mean something to me is beside the point. I had to come this time."

The Hokage shook his head and gritted his teeth. "Unbelievable. Sakura-chan, I get your reasons, but you've already heard mine. I thought you'd understood everything I said!"

She nodded mutely, looking at something in the brush nearby. "I did understand."

"Okay, if you understand, then go back!"

"I'm not going to. You can't make me."

Okay, he really was getting mad. You can't make me. Was she five?

"Am I going to have to physically take you back to the village?" he asked irritably.

Sakura waved that suggestion away with her hand. "You would lose valuable time in the process, and it's almost sundown. It would be unsafe to head back there in the dark, even if it's us. It'd be a whole night's trip. And in case you're wondering, I did plan it that way."

There was a pause during which he just stared at her, frown having fully deepened by this point. She seemed to be slightly amused, although trying to keep straight faced. And that pissed him off quite a lot.

It felt weird to glare at her. She very rarely actually made him angry. But going against him like this…was something else entirely.

"I can't believe this," he scolded, his voice low. He let the memories from the day before flow through again. "Weren't you the one just yesterday yelling at me to fire Sensei and Shikamaru because they disobeyed my orders? What is this, then!?"

He watched in anger as her face shifted into something mirroring his.

"This is not the same," she said, brows furrowed now. "This is different. Let me explain-"

But he really didn't want to hear it. Just seeing her now was stalling time, and not only that, the emotions he hadn't really expressed well yesterday were bubbling to the surface again.

"I won't let you slip away from me, too."

He'd said that to her, hadn't he? He'd even grabbed her hand with his bandaged one, something he normally never had the confidence to do. He was trying to keep her safe, and he thought he'd conveyed that well. But apparently, he hadn't.

"I'm not going to let you explain. I'm asking you to go back," he ordered. "Now."

He watched as her eyes widened and as she started to look a little dejected. He rarely ever used that tone with her. Maybe it was scaring her. He stared directly into her eyes and watched them well up a little, and just when he thought she might listen to him, that she might leave and go back to the village, she pulled her backpack by the straps so it fit tighter against her back, lifted her head, and looked back at him.

"No," she responded.

Hair floated and whizzed around her face as the wind picked up, yet she remained solid and unmoved against him. Her green eyes bore into his like a spear to his ankle, like a weakness. He couldn't find words, yet his anger did not subside. It seemed, as of now, that she had gotten her way. He couldn't personally bring her back, not now. Her dedication and deliberateness had brought her all the way across Fire Country to his side, which was not where he wanted her. She had ignored his warnings, his pleads, and his care towards her wellbeing. She had tossed it to the side like a sack of garbage.

He turned away from her and knelt to pick up his pack. Knowledge of what to say escaped him, but he knew he had no choice but to keep walking. Sundown was imminent.

As he walked away, he heard her sigh. Her footsteps quickened and moved closer behind him. "Naruto, I need to explain."

Naruto tried to hide the hurt in his voice. "You really disrespected me by doing this."

She sighed. "Naruto—"

"-Complete disregard for-"

"-That wasn't my-"

"-really thought you'd taken me seriously-"

"-you know I-"

"-You aren't in the state to-"

"-That's not it!"

"-It is it!"

"No! That's not it!"

She had interjected so loudly that he'd turned his head. He glared at her, and she was glaring back at him beneath furrowed brows with her lip slightly trembling, out of anger or sadness, he couldn't tell. It was the first glimpse of the broken girl he'd seen just yesterday, crying as she leaned against his wall and struggled against his steady grip. He thought for a moment she might cry.

Maybe then she'd leave, he thought a little savagely.

"I'm trying to talk to you!" she said, grabbing his shoulder and turning him to fully face her. "I'm trying to tell you that I took what you said at your house yesterday to heart! Very much so! "

Considering the state he'd seen her in yesterday, he was shocked she was not crying. Her eyes shone nothing but indignation and persistence. And in this lighting, her hair looked fiery and wild. A bit like his mother's, if he was honest.

"Oh clearly you did, given how you-"

"No! Don't you ever doubt how much I respect you!"

He'd opened his mouth to retort, but it had died in his throat. Slowly, she moved back from him to look him square in the face. She was breathing heavily.

"I didn't come here to disobey you or defy your authority," she huffed. "And I didn't…I didn't come here to go after this villain for revenge. If that was my goal, I would have gone after Shikamaru and the Kazekage's group. But I came after you."

Naruto stared at her, eyebrow cocked. He felt it necessary to keep the annoyance plain on his face, though it was becoming obvious to him that it was fading with each passing second. He was pissed, sure. But it was simmering down, becoming an ache rather than a spike of an emotion.

"Why?" he asked seriously.

It didn't deter her slightest bit. "Do you remember what Iruka-sensei told us at the academy?" she asked. "What the number one rule was when on missions?"

"…Always get a full night's sleep before-?"

"No, that's the second most important," she said, shaking her head. "It's to go with your gut when making decisions. Go with what you feel is best when you don't know the answer. Use your instincts."

"Going with your gut is really important, and you have a good sense of that," Kurama had said. Naruto felt his frown lessen a bit, although he still felt annoyed. In what world was it now normal for Sakura and his demon fox to have the same opinion?

"Well, sorry I don't remember every detail from the academy," he muttered. "But what does that have to do with you following me?"

She shook her head again. "My head told me you were right, that listening to you and staying home was the wise, smart decision. But my gut…my instincts told me to go with you, so I did."

He let that settle in his mind for a second. How the tables had turned. Naruto, the logical thinker, and Sakura, the instinctual one.

"I...I get that your intention was to protect me," she continued. "And I fully appreciate that. But, even…even though you're the strongest in the village, you need protection, too. You can't go alone to search for Sasuke. I'm not going to let you face that alone again and be trailing behind you two for the rest of my life. I don't care that I'm sick or injured or in a fragile mental state or whatever. Being like that is a good excuse not to go on a quest for revenge, but it's not a good enough excuse to let a friend go fight alone. You need a partner in all of this too, and who's a better fit for you than me?"

She'd put her hands on her hips defiantly, but Naruto watched as, without warning, her face pinked in the light of the sunset and her eyes widened in what he perceived was embarrassment. His heart raced for a second, which was slightly annoying.

"I-I mean, as a teammate," she said quickly. "A teammate fit for you…like a companion. For this mission…."

"I, er…got it. Yeah."

She continued to look at him, her pinkness fading. He really hated how she did this. She made him forget things and sway him the way she wanted, like a tide under the moon's control. However, she didn't do it intentionally, which made it worse.

"You need someone beside you," Sakura said seriously. "You can't always be alone, Naruto. I…know you were for years, but I'm not going to let you do that anymore. You're…you're stuck with me."

She looked at him again, and in her eyes he saw them. Quick flashes of his past. Sitting on a swing, alone. Seeing Sasuke on a dock, alone. Seeing a little girl with hair almost as bright as her hairbow, huddled behind her father as he ushered her past him.

"I'm not going to let you do that anymore'.

Feeling his heart settle, but not feeling it necessary to reply to her, he hiked up his pack more securely over his shoulders and turned around. He began to walk east again, away from the setting sun. Her footsteps sounded behind him and she pulled up in his peripheral. He felt her eyes on him.

"So, I'm coming then."

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"…I guess I can't stop you, can I?"

She didn't try to hide her happiness with his resignation. He didn't even need to look over to see how satisfied she was that she had won. Naruto had lost against her, and sometimes, he felt like he always did.

Keeping a few feet in front of her, he headed east and she followed. He never looked behind him, and she never looked at him from behind, at least for all he knew. However, there was no way he could see her small, guilty grimace of a smile, the one that had formed when he'd begrudgingly accepted her partnership. There was no way he could've seen it linger and then gradually fade as the warm, kaleidoscope sunset behind them burnt into black.

Arms set behind his head, Naruto watched the stars that night. They had shifted into view, one by one, turning the black sky a shade of deep indigo. Leaves tickled his ears and warm wind swept the brush nearby, filling the atmosphere with nature's song. He ended the night as he'd started the day: tired, anticipant, and mulling over Sakura's words.

"Don't you ever doubt how much I respect you!"

Involuntarily, his eyes found her under the tree next to him, about three feet away. She faced away from him, curled in a blanket. Her pack was set at her side and her body was still, yet Naruto could tell, just by how familiar with her he was, that she was nowhere near sleeping.

She'd insisted they camp by the river that night. She hadn't given explanation, but he hadn't really felt like replying, so they'd both taken trees by the bank. The scene actually looked similar to the bank he'd sat at earlier that day. Except for the rows of wildflowers, there were only hills and willow trees for miles.

A gust of wind blew, and Sakura's blanket flapped around her ankles. He watched as she let the blanket, which had now flown off much of her body, lay there. He knew she was probably refusing to fix it (she was kind of perfectionist like that) because she wanted to pretend to be sleeping.

He hesitated, but he decided to say it after being silent for the last couple of hours.

"You don't have to have your legs freeze just to avoid awkward tension, y'know."

He waited.

She did not reply.

A sigh escaped him as he watched her shoulders rise and fall. She was breathing calmly and the strands of her strawberry hair, now a soft shade of silver in the lighting, lifted and swayed over her shoulders with the late July breeze. He could see the tips of her lashes from where he sat. They were spread apart, tracing open eyes that stared directly ahead at the brush in front of her, unmoved.

The Hokage closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree. He supposed he could wait until she fell asleep to begin guard duty. In the meantime, closing his eyes a little wouldn't hurt, since he would likely be up most of the night anyway.

"I'm sorry," he heard.

His eyes opened slowly. She had spoken so quietly, and she hadn't shifted. He looked at her.

"Huh?"

Sakura arched her head a little lower then, her bangs falling into her face and completely concealing her expression.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you."

It was a completely different sounding tone than she'd had earlier. Naruto's eyes traced the stars. "Which time?" he asked.

She didn't answer right away, and he felt a twinge of guilt. He knew doing this to her wasn't nice, but some part of him, he guessed, wanted her to feel a little bad. She had really gone against him on this. And even though he knew why she did it…

"Today…yesterday….all of the times, I guess," she answered softly. "And I'm sorry for trying to punch you yesterday and punching you for real today. And for going against your orders."

His eyes flicked back to her blanket covered figure. She had huddled a little deeper under the covers, which she had now adjusted to properly cover her feet.

"Are you really sorry for that, though?" he asked slowly. "You made your case pretty well today for why you had to come. If you were really sorry, wouldn't you have gone back?"

She shook her head. He frowned.

"I'm not sorry about choosing to come, and I already told you why," she said. Her voice sounded kind of strained, like she was holding something in. "But I am sorry for fighting with you all the time…I don't want that to be what we're like."

Naruto watched her, feeling a slight stirring in his chest. The way she had said that…

"I don't want that to be what we're like."

A gust of warm wind lifted her bangs, and Naruto's eyes, under the light of the stars, followed the profile of what was visible of her face. She probably felt his eyes on her, but it honestly should've been nothing new. He was always looking at her, even—no-especially when they were fighting.

"Hey," he said softly. He couldn't stop himself, he guessed. "Can you look at me?"

His tone had softened considerably. He watched her tense, but she refused to turn.

"…I really…don't want to," she said, almost to a whisper.

She turned further away from him, huddling even more under the blanket, and Naruto felt another tumble in his chest. She was crying.

"We're okay," he said, and he felt something weird come up in his voice. "Seriously… I really can't stay mad at you very easily….so please don't cry."

He heard her sniffle loudly, and she turned her head even further from him.

"I just can't believe…a-all of this happened," she mumbled. "All of these h-horrible things out of nowhere…"

His eyes softened and misted.

"Me neither," he whispered.

She said nothing after that, and after a while, he turned back to look up at the stars, although he wasn't really seeing them now. His last few statements…without realizing it, something from inside had channeled itself into his voice, then. It was something earnest, and as he sat there, he figured it out. He was mad that she had disobeyed him, agitated that she had fought him, and unhappy that they were even in this situation to begin with. But nonetheless…

Naruto's eyes found her again.

He was also…happy, somehow, that she had come with him. Maybe it was completely selfish on his part, but just having her with him made everything okay. He hadn't realized all of what he'd tried to take on alone, and how that potentially would have been unbearable. Facing Sasuke again, after all that had happened. Going against this enemy out to hurt everyone he loved, all the while under the burden of leadership and responsibility for preparing a proper plan of response. The guilt surrounding the attack on Konoha during the Fireworks, the rules involved in the following the mission plan, doing it all under a deadline to as to make sure the antidote was found on time to heal those who needed it…He hadn't even realized just how in over his head he was. And yet, all this shit felt somehow manageable now that she was here.

"You need a partner in all this, and who's a better fit for you than me?"

He wasn't doing this alone now, and he could personally protect her in her sick, injured state if she needed it. They could protect each other.

Another gust of breeze ruffled the woods around them, and Sakura shifted under her blanket. And it was then that he noticed it. It was just barely visible on her neckline, and he could only see the upper left corner of shimmering silver peeking out of from her shirt.

He felt his eyes widen.

It was the crystal pendant. The one he had given her.

He stared at it, and involuntarily, his heart sped up. He didn't know why, but for some reason he hadn't actually expected to ever see that around her neck. His lips parted and words sprang to his tongue. Did he dare say something? What would he say? Was there even a need to say something? He'd given it to her himself, hadn't he? Why was it such a big deal that she actually was wearing it? It was Tsunade's, after all, so of course she would wear it. What had he expected?

The warm breeze ruffled his hair and cooled him. He frowned halfheartedly.

When had he become like this? He was so easily moved by her. When she was around he was either saying something stupid or being overly emotional about something. He'd been like this when she'd stormed into his apartment, losing control of his emotions and grabbing her hand like that. He'd been like this today, when she'd said she'd be his partner. Hell, all she'd done now was put on a necklace, and he was over here losing his mind. He never really had his shit together when it came to her, but he couldn't find it in himself to be mad about that because he…liked her so much. It was kind of frustrating.

Why am I so weak when it comes to you, he thought miserably.

And at that moment, she stirred under her blanket and slowly turned towards him. He could see the darks and lights of her tear stained, doe-eyed expression from the starlight. She looked inquisitive and a little….shocked?

"What did you say?" she asked.

Naruto froze. He met her eyes and closed his mouth, which had been open. He looked at the tree next to her for a brief second, then back to her shocked face. And then it dawned on him.

He had said that out loud.

It was like a comically huge anvil fell from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.

"H-huh?" he asked.

"What?" she inquired.

Her eyes looked large and shiny in the starlight, despite the darkness. He felt heat rise to his cheeks. What exactly of his thoughts had he said? What had she heard?

"You said-"

"I didn't."

"But, I heard y-"

"Nature's loud, especially at night."

"But, didn't you say-?"

"I say crazy things a lot, okay?"

He said the last line a little too loud, which made her turn quiet. She looked at him for a moment and she sniffled again, displaying an expression on her face that he could only describe as peculiar, given the lighting. He was dead sure she could feel the immense heat wave emanating from his face, though. How could he have been so stupid? What the hell, man?

For a second longer, she looked at him. Then, she turned back around.

"Ah…okay. Well, goodnight."

"Good…night."

He felt like punching himself. There was absolutely no way, no way he could say things like that. Not yet, anyways. Not only was she incredibly emotionally and physically burdened at the moment, but Naruto had always promised himself that he would do one thing before he ever told her how he felt, and that thing was saving Sasuke. Maybe it was out of selfish pride, but he didn't want to be her choice of convenience. If she, by some stretch of the imagination, were to ever love him, he wanted it to be when she had the option of choosing Sasuke. That way, he knew it would be real.

That and he'd promised her all those years ago that he would bring him back, and given that Sasuke's edgy ass wasn't back there yet, he still had some work to do.

You've never made this easy, Sasuke, Naruto thought wearily.

He exhaled a big sigh and turned onto his side to face away from her, feeling the heat in his face subside. He knew Sakura probably still loved Sasuke just like she always had. And he knew too that she had never really viewed him, Naruto, the same way he viewed her. That's just how things were. Roses were red, violets were blue, and Sakura loved Sasuke. It was practically the law of the universe, and the funny thing about universal laws was that they never really changed.

Idiot. Don't be an idiot, Naruto, he thought.

And a few hours later, when it was Sakura's turn for night watch, Naruto finally found sleep after almost two days of fatigue. It would only be a couple of hours he knew, but as his head hit the forest floor and as the trickling sound of the river nestled in his ears, he thought one last time about the words he may never get the chance to say. Then, sleep fell over him and pulled them from his mind until the morning, when he would pretend he'd never thought about them in the first place.