I live! For the first time in god knows how long I have a free weekend and I wrote this for Heaven & Earth's "Autumn" Contest. It is my shortest work yet, but I think it's sweet, short and to the point. Hopefully you agree =) Check my deviantart page (link is in the profile) if you want an update on my other stories.

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and would create a giant NaruSaku-themed corn maze filled with stands giving away free cider and apple fritters.

Now onwards to my shortest oneshot ever!

Please do enjoy- "Those Invincible Words"

A 23 year old Sakura Haruno was walking through her village with a mug of hot apple cider in her hand. Today was the autumn festival, which Konoha used as an excuse to basically host an all day party. There were tons of food stands, games and other entertainment set up all throughout the village.

Sakura had always loved the Autumn Festival when she was younger. The leaves of all the trees were a multitude of colors and the villagers went all out with decorations. There were stacks of hay out for people to sit on, stalks of dried up corn, pumpkins… all sorts of autumn-themed decorations. It was always so pretty.

Yet this Autumn Festival, for the first time in her life, Sakura Haruno was wearing a fake smile. She was not happy, and that annoyed her; because really, she should be. She should be ecstatic right now. She was a smart girl, she knew she was over thinking things and being entirely irrational, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't shut off the irrational part of her that was worried. The irrational part of her that wouldn't just let her enjoy the beautiful day with her companion.

"So when are you going to tell me what's wrong Sakura-chan?" Sakura's handsome spiky-blonde haired companion asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. Her startled emerald eyes snapped to the warm sapphire eyes of the just over average height man.

"I don't know what you're talking about Naruto." Sakura huffed, trying to cover her surprise by putting on an indignant act.

"I think I know you well enough by now to know when something is bothering you." Naruto replied, a touch of amusement present in his voice.

Sakura sighed. Over the years she and Naruto had grown very close. All of her friends, and all of the villagers would say that the two were dating, and maybe they were… Sakura wasn't entirely sure. What she did know is they spent as much time as possible together. Heck, they saw each other more than a lot of married couples saw each other.

They were probably boyfriend and girlfriend when Sakura thought about it. She never looked at a man other than Naruto, and his eyes were always glued solely to her. But Sakura was scared to find out what they really were, because she didn't know what she would do if she didn't get the answer she wanted.

Her confidence was still a little shaken from Naruto flat out rejecting her declaration of love all those years ago. Sure she might have lied a little, she might not have been entirely sure of her feelings for Naruto and Sasuke at the time, but she never saw a single flicker of happiness in his eyes when she was confessing! It was all surprise and then disappointment mixed with a little bit of anger. Sakura was 99% sure that Naruto still loved her, but that 1% of uncertainty scared her.

"Earth to Sakura!" Naruto's warm voice rang out again interrupting Sakura's thoughts.

"I said it's nothing baka." Sakura finally retorted.

"Not gonna cut it, I know you're lying." Naruto replied.

The past few years maybe dating Naruto had been wonderful. They held hands, they want out on dates, they kissed, they fu…well they were intimate… But one bad thing that came out of the past few years was that Naruto became even better at reading her. As if he wasn't already good at it before. Now it seemed to be literally impossible to hide anything from him.

His new handy skill usually only annoyed her around his birthday when he would catch on to her trying to throw him a surprise birthday party, or around a holiday when she would try to surprise him with a gift. But right now, that particular skill of his was annoying her because she did not want to talk about it.

What was bothering her today was stupid. She shouldn't be bothered, she shouldn't be annoyed. She should be ecstatic. She should be dancing in the streets. She knew that, yet still she was worried, still she was unhappy, and still she was wearing a fake smile.

"I don't want to talk about it Naruto." Sakura said, finally relenting that there was in fact something wrong. She hoped Naruto would just let it be for now when she said she didn't want to talk about it, and then forget about it later.

Unfortunately for Sakura, that wasn't really Naruto's style when it came to her. Naruto treated her like his queen. He was relentless in his pursuit to protect her and his attempts to shield her from every negative emotion possible. Anytime he saw that she was uncomfortable, angry, upset or hurt he would keep pestering until he got to the bottom of it and then he would find a way to fix it.

This strategy was cute, sweet and a little annoying all in one. She was a strong girl, and sometimes it felt like Naruto thought she was too weak to protect herself. But the logical part of her knew that Naruto had never once doubted her strength, he just wanted to protect her. Not because she couldn't protect herself, but because he didn't want her to have to protect herself.

Of course this strategy had also led to some awkward times when they first started maybe dating. Naruto had been pretty relentless when she was having her…female time, and the poor boy got a lot more than he bargained for. Both information wise…and from Sakura's fist. Speaking of, that would be a perfect excuse! After the first couple of times of him prying too much (which he later referred to as poking an angry bear with a stick), Naruto had learned not to push so much when she was having her girl time.

"Well I'm not going to stop asking until you talk about it, so you might as well just get it over with." Naruto stubbornly replied with a warm smile that she had only ever seen directed at her.

"It's my time of the month." Sakura growled grumpily, hoping that her irritability would sell her story better.

"Good try Sakura, but it's too early for that." Naruto quickly replied.

"How do you know?"

"I mark those days on my calendar. And you just had some of those days two weeks ago."

"YOU MARK THEM ON YOUR CALENDAR?" Sakura yelled in surprise…and anger. What if someone was in his house and saw that?

"Hey with that strength of yours it's the only way I can survive." Naruto shot back. "If I didn't know the days to not do a single thing to piss you off, you would punch my head straight off my body!"

Sakura sighed. Naruto was probably right. Even though she loved him, she tended to strike first, then strike again, and then strike one more time before finally asking a question on those days. She would admit that she might be too easy to irritate on those days.

"So tell me what's wrong." Naruto commanded in an authoritative tone.

"Oh don't think just because you're going to become the Hokage means you can boss me around." Sakura replied as she rolled her eyes.

Naruto grinned at the mention of becoming Hokage. Tsunade had just sprang the news on them about an hour ago…The wonderful news that Naruto was finally going to achieve his dream and become the next Hokage.

The news that Sakura should be excited for, yet the news that had filled her with worry ever since she had received it.

"Hmm, this has something to do with me becoming Hokage doesn't it?" Naruto asked as he carefully examined Sakura's eyes.

"What? What makes you say that?" Sakura gasped. Sometimes she really hated how well he knew her. Now he was going to figure out that she wasn't happy that he was going to become Hokage, and that the very idea terrified her. Just great.

Naruto smiled softly at Sakura and took a sip of his own mug of warm cider.

"Your eyes, they flinched ever so slightly when you said "Hokage." I wouldn't have caught the flinch if I wasn't an expert in Sakuratology." Naruto explained.

"…You did not just say Sakuratology."

"Sakuratology- the study of all things Sakura Haruno. It's a relatively new field, only about 23 years old, and I'm easily the most well-respected expert in the field."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "God you're so cheesy sometimes." She didn't want to admit that she actually found "Sakuratology" kind of cute. Ok… very cute.

"So why are you upset that I'm going to be the next Hokage Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as the two stopped in front of a park that was away from the celebrations. Most of the trees in the park had all their leaves, which were a dazzling array of reds, oranges, yellows, golds and just a small amount of browns and greens sprinkled here and there.

"I'm not." Sakura lied. She really didn't want Naruto to know about her stupid irrational fear that had been ruining her day ever since they received the news.

"You are, and you know by now that I'm not going to drop this."

"Please drop it…" Sakura begged as she turned her puppy dog eyes on him. Her puppy dog eyes were her ultimate weapon against Naruto. She was pretty sure she could destroy all of the ramen in the world and get away with it if she used her puppy dog eyes.

"Ooh, bringing out the big guns I see." Naruto teased. "Sorry, for once those aren't going to work."

"Damnit… It's really stupid. Just drop it."

"Nope." Naruto quipped with a bright grin. "I'm not going to drop it. I'm going to find out whatever is wrong and fix it. I will not stand for my favorite girl in the whole world being sad or upset about anything."

Sakura blushed when he called her his favorite girl in the whole world, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. That was another annoying thing about Naruto that she didn't actually find annoying; sometimes just his words could get her worked up.

"Not angry, just worried." Sakura finally relented. She knew it was pointless to keep trying to keep it from Naruto if even her puppy dog eyes didn't work.

"Worried?" Naruto asked generally surprised. He had actually guessed she might be upset because their team will be split apart. He would be safer than ever as the Hokage. He would rarely leave the village, and only a complete fool would attack the Hokage in Konoha. Konoha was stronger than ever.

"It's…" Sakura still couldn't bring herself to tell Naruto what was truly upsetting her. What was upsetting her… It was so stupid and irrational. So she decided to deflect with something else that slightly bothered her.

"It's just this is such an inappropriate time for you to take over!" Sakura huffed.

"Oh?"

"Taking over in the autumn? That is the worst possible time symbolically to take over!" Sakura said. "It's one of the last seasons. Sure it's beautiful, but by the end of autumn, everything is dead. Why couldn't you just wait until winter or spring like any other leader. By starting in autumn it's like your reign is going to end early! It's basically saying, hey world, Naruto is going to take over for a little while and then everything is going to die."

"Interesting." Naruto said as he looked at Sakura thoughtfully. "I think you're looking at it all wrong though Sakura."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why can't you start at autumn?" Naruto asked with a thoughtful smile.

"Because…because no one does…?" Sakura replied. She had never really thought of autumn as being a starting point.

"Autumn is actually the perfect time for me to start." Naruto said with a proud smile on his face as a light breeze blew some of the multicolored leaves from the trees. "I'm going to fulfill Jiraiya's dream, I'm going to bring about an age of peace. And both my father, Nagato and Jiraiya himself all wondered if it was really possible to achieve peace with the current ninja system."

Naruto closed his eyes, and his proud smile widened as he thought of those who had some of the bigger impacts on his view of the world.

"You see… Autumn is perfect for me, because I'm going to find a way to reach peace outside the ninja system. It's the only way. The ninja world has a dark history of blood and violence, but no one can deny its simple beauty; I'm going to put that simple beauty to rest. For a while, things might be difficult and we might miss the ninja system. But when I find that new way, it's going to be an entirely new and beautiful world. Just like the spring."

Sakura stared at Naruto with wide eyes. "Since when have you been so philosophic?" She joked.

"Hey that's what happens when you have a master and a father who put their faith in you to change the world." Naruto defended with a lighthearted grin on his face.

Sakura smiled at Naruto and leaned into him a little. "Well now that you put it that way, autumn is the perfect time for you to become the new Hokage then."

Naruto again flashed Sakura that smile that belonged solely to her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"That's right!"

Sakura laid her head on Naruto's shoulder as the two watched the light breeze caress the autumn leaves. They stayed like that for a minute before Naruto's quiet voice interrupted the silence.

"But that's not what's really bothering you is it?"

"You're ruining a good moment Naruto." Sakura growled irritably. Mainly she wasn't happy about being forced closer to revealing her stupid reason for why she was upset, but partially because it had been a wonderful little moment.

Naruto chuckled. "I already told you, I'm not going to let my favorite girl in the world be upset. Now spill it. What's really bothering you?"

Sakura sighed as memories flashed before her very eyes. Memories of Naruto preparing to charge into a situation that promised death, but putting everyone's worry, her worry, at bay with a few simple words.

"I don't plan on dying until I become Hokage." Those simple words always eased her worry. Sure she would still worry about the damage he would sustain charging into a situation that would kill anyone else, but she always knew that he would come out of it alive.

To Sakura, those simple words made Naruto invincible. He had said those words, or a slight variation on them, so many times and every time he made it out alive.

"It's so stupid, and I know I shouldn't be worrying or upset… I'm just being irrational. Please just drop it Naruto." Sakura pleaded. She knew her pleas would fall on deaf ears though.

"Tell me." Naruto said softly as he gently kissed the top of her head.

"It's just…well… Ugh it's so stupid!" Sakura huffed. She couldn't bring herself to say her stupid fear out loud.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto gently turned her face so they could look into each others' eyes. "Tell me what's upsetting you."

"You're going to be Hokage!" Sakura blurted out as tears started forming at the corners of her eyes.

Oh just great… Sakura thought to herself. Now I'm going to cry and he's going to worry even more. Why am I even crying anyways?

"I am." Naruto replied evenly as he searched the beautiful emerald eyes with tears brimming at their corners.

"You always say… you always say that you won't die until you become Hokage." Sakura whispered quietly. She lost her battle with her tears, and they started slowly leaking from her eyes.

"I know it's stupid… but every time you said that, you came out alive. Every time you said that… I knew you were going to be ok. That saying made you invincible to me Naruto. As long as you said you weren't going to die until you were Hokage, I knew you wouldn't die, I knew you would come back to me."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You think I'm invincible?"

Sakura looked away sheepishly. "I know it's kind of dumb… But yea… I do. You're Naruto, when you put your mind to something there is nothing that can stop you."

Hearing the woman that he loved all of his life admit that she thought he was invincible…That she truly acknowledged him... It filled Naruto with pride and warmth.

"But now, now you're going to be Hokage. So what will you say now when you charge into some crazy situation and attempt to defy death? You might die now…" Sakura whispered dejectedly.

Naruto smiled softly at Sakura as he again turned her face so their eyes could meet.

"So what I'm hearing is that I need a new phrase to assure you that I'm going to stay alive."

"I didn't say that." A now completely embarrassed Sakura replied. She must have sounded like an absolute crazy person right now…

"Hmmm… and this one has to last. I'll have to make it something I will never achieve just to be on the safe side." Naruto mused.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Sakura protested.

"Got it! Ok Sakura-chan. I promise I won't die until I stop loving you."

Sakura looked at Naruto with wide eyes. "You want to stop loving me?"

"WHAT? No! I'm choosing something that I will never achieve! It's impossible for me to stop loving you so now you never have to worry again!" Naruto quickly explained.

Realization suddenly dawned on Sakura. "Wait…you love me?"

The sun was beginning to set, casting a golden glow on the park. The breeze gently rifled through the trees, forcing some of the colorful leaves to fall to the ground surrounding Naruto and Sakura. Naruto looked deeply into Sakura's eyes and smiled.

Sakura returned his smile.

"Umm… duh Sakura-chan. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one out of the two of us?"

WHAM!

"Sakura-chaan!" Naruto whined. "What was that for…"

"You just had to go ruin a good moment!"

"Good moment? I didn't know, you gotta tell me these things Sakura!" Naruto protested. Sakura sighed as she picked him up from the ground and gently kissed his cheek. Naruto could be so romantic at times, the only problem was he usually didn't realize he was being romantic. It was part of his charm.

"So are you ok now?" Naruto asked.

"You promise that you will never be able to stop loving me?" Sakura asked.

"I promise."

Sakura beamed happily as she looped an arm with the man she was definitely dating.

"Let's go celebrate then! We gotta tell everyone the news!" Sakura said excitedly. While she may sometimes act like she doesn't enjoy Naruto prying so much, she could never complain with the end result. In his own unique way, Naruto managed to defeat her irrationality and make her feel better. She didn't have to worry about him leaving her, Sakura knew he would always be by her side.

"Wait… so do we consider this the start of our relationship?" Sakura asked as the two started walking back towards the festivities.

"I don't know… why?"

"Well your autumn analogy worked pretty well for your plans for the ninja world, but I'm not so sure it would work as well for our relationship."

Naruto pondered Sakura's words. "Hmm, you're right. Want to just say we started officially dating in spring? No one would ever know."

Sakura grinned. "That's better."

Arm in arm the couple walked back to the festivities. The apple cider in the mugs they carried had gone cold, but it didn't matter. The warmth spreading between them as they pressed into each other more than made up for the lack of a warm drink.

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