Two Promises of a Lifetime

"Naruto, this is a once in a lifetime request, just bring him home, just bring Sasuke back to me." Sakura was crying harder than Naruto had ever seen her before and it was breaking his heart.

'Should I be honest with her?' the young shinobi thought 'Sasuke's become so powerful and Pervy Sage told me about the Mangekyou and how to unlock it, if I face Sasuke in combat he won't be playing around, if he was willing to leave Sakura and the village, he'll have no regrets about fighting to the death.'

Naruto sighed and saw his pink-haired teammate on her knees waiting for his answer, her eyes pleading with him as tears continued to fall.

'You did this to her you damn teme,' he thought in anger 'Damn it, no matter how I picture it, our battle will only go one of three ways, I have no choice, I have to be honest with her, she deserves that, she needs to know what she's really asking and how I really feel.'

Naruto finalized as he took off his signature orange jacket and proceeded to slowly walk up to his Sakura-chan.

Sakura was still in a daze, she was partially blind from all the tears she had shed and now she was waiting for Naruto's reply, but it never came.

'I should of guessed, I treated him like dirt, in fact I've treated so many people who were close to me like trash ever since my so called love with Sasuke began and what did I get in return? He abandoned me on a bench with a simple fucking thank you.'

The young girl began to sob even louder than before, 'I'm so sorry Mom you warned me that the Uchiha caused nothing but pain and misery and you were right, I've lost everyone who actually gave a damn about me, I'm sorry Ino, I'm sorry Naruto.'

As the young girl began to sink into despair she was surprised when she felt something warm slide over her shoulders and two strong arms embrace her. She didn't realize who the arms belonged to until she heard the young man's voice,

"I promise, I'll do everything within my power to bring Sasuke back to you, It's a promise of a lifetime, believe it."

Sakura was shocked but what worried her more was the grim look on Naruto's face, "but I have to be honest with you, Pervy Sage told me about the final steps on how to unlock the ultimate sharingan known as the Magenkeyou,"

Naruto stopped to take a breath and looked at Sakura who had a look of utter confusion on her face. He sighed and then continued,

"In order to unlock the Magenkyou, you have to... you have to kill your best friend!"

Naruto said shocking the members of the Sasuke retrieval Squad as well as Sakura who was at a loss for words, she began to quietly sob again and sank her head deeper into Naruto's chest, finally returning his hug and holding him tightly with her superhuman strength. Before anyone could respond Naruto started again

"That being said, there are three ways I see this going,

One I fulfil my promise to you no problem and drag the teme home,
Two I use too much power and accidentally kill... kill Sasuke!"

Nobody reacted to his statements not even Sakura who by now had made Naruto's shirt look like it was fresh out of the wash by it's dampness.

"Or three, Sasuke kills me for the Mangekyou, I highly doubt he'll leave me alive."

Sakura could do nothing, she didn't know how to react, her superior brain was in overdrive, Sasuke was this messed up, is this why he had left her on the bench, just so she could report to the Hokage and they would send a team after him, a team he knew Naruto was going to be a part of, did he know?

'Did he know that I would cry like a pathetic little girl and beg Naruto to bring him back because of my feelings for him? Did he know Naruto would do it without question? Has he been taking advantage of us and our feelings this whole time?'

Sakura's brain cycled through all of this information and she came to a realization,
'That evil fuck, I'll kill him!, Shannaro!' were both of Sakura's personalities reactions.

They were done with this shit, she could handle all the abuse, neglect, heartache, but this, Sasuke's plan was nothing but undoubtedly and undeniably evil and there was no way she was going to be a part of it any longer.

'In the end it was either the village or Sasuke, last night I begged that bastard to take me away from here and I'm so fucking glad he didn't, Cha!' Sakura's realizations had changed her, she still cared for Sasuke as a teammate and as a friend but now hated Sasuke for what he had done to her and her team as while as betraying the village. Any possibility of a romantic love between her and Sasuke was utterly crushed but before she could voice her new opinions to her comrades she felt a pair of lips crash into hers.

Sakura was in a daze once again but this time it was a state of utter bliss, she opened her eyes and looked at her kisser and saw the blue orbs and whisker marks she knew all too well.

"I'll bring him back to you even if it kills me, because even if you don't feel the same way I will always love you, that's my second promise of a lifetime, believe it."

The combination of Naruto's kiss and confession had Sakura at a loss for words as she looked back at him she couldn't help but feel a sense of deja-vu. He slowly approached the other members of the Sasuke retrieval squad and they all departed from the village gates, Naruto being the last he looked back at her one last time and she struggled to form words, she managed to lip,

"I love you too, please just come back to me alive" but if Naruto saw it he didn't show, instead he chuckled and said,

"Goodbye, Sakura and thank you for everything, I have and always will love you, believe it." He disappeared into the forest outside of Konoha following the other members of his team and that's when she realized she still had his orange jacket still wrapped around her shoulders. She pulled it as tightly as she could against her skin trying to take in whatever warmth Naruto's jacket still contained from him, she looked at the village gates and said aloud to herself,

"Kami, what have I done, Naruto please just come home" Sakura broke down again standing at the village gates wondering if she was going to see her new love alive again, or if he would be dead because of an ignorant promise made by a selfish little girl.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke!"

Naruto screamed suddenly awakening from his nightmare, looking around frantically, he tried to figure out where he was. He had no memory of the events after leaving Sakura at the gates and had no idea how his battle with Sasuke went. He soon realized he was in a hospital bed and that's when two arms wrapped around him tightly and the smell of cherry blossoms clouded his senses.

He looked down to see Sakura staring up at him a blush adoring her face and the happiest smile he had ever seen from her,

"Guess what? She asked him,

"What?" Naruto asked her in a state of utter confusion. His head felt like Tsunade after a long night at the office and Sakura's actions had put him into an even further state of delirium.

"Number One" Sakura said with a smile "Number One?" he repeated in confusion

"Yes, Number One, look," Naruto turned his head and saw Sasuke passed out and strapped down with chakra seals all over him for good measure. Kakashi was silently reading next to him, making sure he wasn't going to run or Kami forbid attack Naruto or Sakura.

Sakura turned to Naruto again "Guess what else?"

Sakura looked at him with cheeks as red as his Nine-Tails chakra.

"What Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her with a small grin starting to form on his face.

Sakura kissed him, "I will always love you too."

He gave her that foxy grin of his and asked "Promise of a Lifetime?" She answered him with an even longer kiss,

"Promise of a Lifetime, Believe It."