After All This Time

Kakashi, Sai, Yamato, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura had just finished a training session in an open grassy area to the South of Konoha. It was nice for a change, rather than the worn down training fields, to spar in a big open space. Sakura, not wanting to ruin the area, tried to be as less destructive with her hand to hand combat as possible. It had been a lot harder without her insane chakra strength and a lot of the one-on-one battles finished in a grapple.

It had been Naruto against Sakura, so without earth shattering punches and with a lot of fighting Naruto's clones, it had been a real workout. She had won, in the very dignifying way of breaking their deadlock with a headbutt. After that she sat on her friend and pinned him pretty easily. He didn't move much.

Without standing up, she asked, "Are you all right, Naruto?"

The blond blinked a few times before smiling up at her. "I'm fine, Sakura-chan, although there are two of you, I'm not complaining."

Laughing and shaking her head, she placed her hand on his forehead and sent in soothing chakra to undo any damage she had done. Naruto closed his eyes and sighed, completely relaxed.

Afterwards, she got off him and headed towards the team not far away.

Naruto listened to her go but made no attempt to get up.

"Did you kill him?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"He's fine." Sakura smiled.

"I don't know, Ugly, you've got one hell of a forehead." Sai smiled.

Naruto frowned from where he lay, he heard that comment, if he was over there he would whack Sai one.

"Thanks, Sai," Sakura mumbled.

Naruto's frown increased. He wished Sakura would hit Sai for that. Sitting up, he looked at his pink haired teammate, trying to gauge if she took it seriously or not. She was smiling a little, hopefully that meant she didn't, he didn't want her hurt.

"I'd personally quite like that power for if anyone got too close." Kakashi smiled.

Sakura laughed and her smile grew wider.

For a minute or two Naruto watched her, he loved nothing more than seeing her smile and hearing her laugh, he was struck by how beautiful she was. Even her forehead, which others seemed to bully her for, was perfect.

"Are you sure you didn't hit Naruto too hard, Sakura?" Yamato smiled.

Sakura turned to look at him. "Still seeing two of everything, Naruto?"

Continuing to grin to himself, he replied, "Unfortunately not."

Smiling, she shook her head. Sasuke rolled his eyes at his friend.

Naruto had been openly flirting with the medic for a while now, but she always took it as a joke. In fairness he was quite jokey with her... and a bit cheesy. He didn't mind her not responding romantically though. If she laughed or smiled, even after hitting him, it was worth it. Sasuke was back, there were no wars going on, everything was perfect. There were only two things that would make him the happiest guy in the world and that was to become the Hokage of Konoha and secondly... Sakura Haruno.

He wanted her to be his girlfriend more than anything else. He had been trying to build up the courage to just ask her on a date, but he wanted it to be perfect. He hadn't been listening to their conversation but Sakura's laugh broke him out of his dreamlike state. She seemed really happy today, or she had done before Sai's forehead comment. This place was really pretty... It was perfect for asking her on a date. He was going to do it... No more waiting. Standing up, he walked towards his team and then passed them, heading to a small hill not far away. When he got to the top, he sat down and smiled at the view that was presented to him. The field in front of him was full of flowers - they swayed slightly in the gentle breeze.

Sakura watched as Naruto sat on top of the hill on his own and smiled to herself. Naruto sat there with his back towards them, looking down on the open fields with the setting sun in the background. There was just something about that picture, in her mind it ought to be painted. This place was beautiful, from the grass to the trees to the sun... to Naruto. There was something about seeing him like that that made her heart speed up a little.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head a little too hard as well?" Sai smiled.

Dragging her gaze away from Naruto, she laughed. "I was just admiring this place, it's pretty isn't it?"

"Mmhmm." Kakashi smiled.

They were all looking at her funny.

"What?" She mumbled.

"I don't think it's just the place you find so pretty." Yamato grinned.

"Huh?" Tilting her head, she pouted slightly.

"Naruto," Sasuke spoke.

Turning her head to look at him again, she asked, "What about him?"

"He looks a little lonely up there don't you think?" Kakashi smiled.

Not replying, she headed towards the blond. When she reached him, she sat down by his side and admired the view. His eyes were closed so she sat there for a minute in silence.

"It's a really beautiful place." She sighed happily.

"It is." Naruto smiled back, his eyes still closed.

Glancing at his head, she asked, "I didn't hit you too hard right?"

Opening his eyes, Naruto looked back at her. "Not at all."

"Good," she laughed. "I can't always control my overly large forehead."

His smiled faded slightly. "It's perfect... In fact..."

She looked at him expectantly.

Swallowing he looked back in front of him. "When we were kids... I transformed into Sasuke to get close to you and the first thing I felt like complimenting was your forehead."

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Looking her in the eyes, he smiled. "After all, you have such a wide and charming forehead... It makes me feel like kissing it."

A look of surprise crossed her features, her eyes grew larger and her mouth opened wide.

"You didn't..." She murmured.

"I'm sorry," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I did..."

"I can't believe you... You're such an idiot," she spoke slowly.

Grinning, he spoke, "I know... I'm sorry."

"Naruto..." She smiled.

Sakura leant closer and his eyes widened, his heart rapidly beating in his chest as her face approached his. Placing a hand around the back of his neck, she pulled him towards her and placed her lips to his.

Closing his eyes, he melted into the gentle kiss, he kissed her back with equal softness. When she pulled away, she smiled to herself and looked in front of her. Naruto remained there for a minute before he opened his eyes.

"What was that for?" He breathed.

"Being sweet," she smiled, "And I was going to hit you for leading me on whilst pretending to be Sasuke but... I decided against it."

Naruto giggled. "I guess it was a stupid move."

Sakura hummed in reply.

"But worth it, I got so close..." He grinned.

"Maybe if you had told me that as you back then you would have got just as close..." She mumbled.

"Really?" His eyes widened.

"Let's face it, in my mind you just made Sasuke seem prefect."

He pouted.

"But it was always you. You've always accepted me, even my large forehead."

"Charming forehead," he corrected.

"And for that..." Turning towards him she looked him in the eyes. "I love you."

All time stopped as the words left her mouth, his face turned blank and he sat there in silence watching her. She looked at him a little nervously when he didn't reply but then the largest smile she had even seen crossed his face.

"I have never been so happy," he smiled. "I've always loved you."

Leaning towards her, he kissed her on the forehead.

"Isn't that cute." Sasuke smirked.

Sai tilted his head as he watched his friends, feeling the sudden urge to draw the scene.

"It's about time." Kakashi smiled.

Yamato nodded in agreement. "It certainly is."

When Naruto pulled away he laughed and scratched the back of his head. "So... We're dating now?"

"Maybe," Sakura smiled. "I guess there's nothing holding us back... Unless you're actually Sasuke transformed into you."

Grinning, he replied, "You're not going to let me live that down are you?"

"Never." She laughed before leaning forward.

"It won't happen again." He grinned.

This time as they kissed they met in the middle, they both felt that in that moment, nothing could get any better.

Author Notes:

So I haven't uploaded anything in a while. I've just got over exams but things still don't seem to be calming down. I wasn't sure if I should upload this or not. It was written all in one go, late at night and at several points I wasn't sure where to end it. It's actually my first romantic short. This is sort of just Naruto's and Sakura's happy ending. I always thought the whole Naruto accepting Sakura's forehead, like his father liking his mother's hair, was a pretty big thing.

Really I just wanted to upload it because it was finished, if I didn't I'd be tempted to change things, now it's up I can forget about it and hopefully start uploading longer stories.

*Later Edit*

This story has inspired 'The World's Last Gentlemen' to add a challenge to their challenge list, number 110. 'I Was Gonna Tell Ya'. If you want to, you can have a go at that challenge or check out the rest on the list :).

Also, my NaruSaku romantic short stories now go under the story name "Awkward Friendship and The NaruSaku Collection" on my page. They should be much better than this too - this is so old! But thanks again for all your reviews, follows and favourites.

Thanks for reading :).