He woke up and felt the steady puff of her breath on his hand; pink hair splayed beautifully on the surface of the mattress, her forearms a makeshift pillow. Outside the sun was making its way above the horizon, and a soft breeze blew across the room. He slipped quietly off the bed and made his way to her, careful as he took her in his arms and laid her on the bed. He did not know how long he had slept, but her lack of response was telling that she didn't have much; though he had to admit that he enjoyed how she leaned onto him, albeit unconsciously, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Not that it wasn't understood that she could lean on him anytime she wanted; and for whatever reason, and even if it would hurt, he was as ready and willing to receive her. What made it different this time was that he wanted more; and he had never been more certain.

The other day he had brought her atop the Hokage Monument and recounted - and almost reenacted - how he had scaled the face of the mountain to paint the faces of the previous Hokage. Surprisingly, it was the first time he had ever told her the story; and he took great delight seeing the laughter in her eyes as he expounded and theorized how quickly it can be done now that he was a top class ninja.

The day after that he spent the whole afternoon in her apartment, helping her rearrange the furniture in the living room. She would constantly ask for his opinion as to which looked best, to which he would fail to give a good enough assessment; replying only with an apologetic shrug. She would roll her eyes at his reply, and still she continued to ask - until he seemed to have taken quite a liking with one particular arrangement - and decided on that.

That same night he left for the Sand on a top secret mission, taking only a couple of hours and leaving shortly after, despite the insistence of the Kazekage that he wait till morning. He did not know why he was so eager to get back to Konoha, but when he crossed a couple of miles into the Fire Country and suddenly felt a searing pain across the back of his neck, the choice to leave so soon did not look so appealing.

Before he was able to recover, he was hit again, four times in different parts of his body till he almost tripped on his feet, then he was knocked square on the face with an unknown jutsu, making him fall backward and down to the forest floor. He quickly got on his feet to try and shake off his dizziness and catch a glimpse of his enemies. He was outnumbered seven-to-one; at least from what he could see, and his opponents sure knew enough about him to render his wind element techniques useless, not to mention being surrounded by thick, tall trees with very little moonlight did not work to his advantage. His clones could only serve to distract his enemies, not giving him time to formulate a plan or even retaliate as his enemies seemingly float in and out of his view. He fell once more, blood trickling down all sides of his face and nose, his whole body pushed forward as he turned to run, looking back only for a moment as they chased him through the forest, firing as they went. He needed a clear field of vision, and he knew exactly where to lead them.

He quickly made up ground when an explosion was heard somewhere inside the forest, giving him time to gather his wits at the last moment when he reached the small stream. He created a bloody clone and let it lay unconscious by the rocks and wiped his blood where it can be seen before quickly jumping to the other side and up a tree, positioning himself to ambush his enemies.

He heard another explosion from the forest, and one by one his enemies appeared clearly within his line of sight. He acted quickly till no more came, his bloody clone working as a perfect decoy.

Retuning to his spot up the tree, dizziness began to take over when the pain had finally caught up with him. His breathing ragged, coughing up a good amount of blood as he shifted his weight and fought to keep himself awake.

She spent the whole night fixing him, like several times before when he would be sent on top secret missions. He returned, either fit as a fiddle or on the brink of death, and it was just like a lottery that she will never get used to. Her role was to wait, and to be there even if he wasn't aware of it, she would not sleep a wink until he had his limbs back in place or the blood pumped out of his lungs; whatever it took to nurse him back to health was now a responsibility she had taken up on her own. She had not retired from being a shinobi, but she never accepted missions that will have her too far if and when she was needed. The future Hokage sure had a knack for getting in trouble, and she knew no limit to what she would do to ensure he survived to succeed her own master.

It goes without saying that she had adapted an excellent sense of control in these situations; considering the sight of him not beaming and noisy was enough to break her inside. At the top of her head she was composed, but inside her heart was aching, for seeing his pain was enough to feel it, but also because it had become so painful not to be the one to punch him to oblivion sometimes, for being too reckless. The young man had no trace of arrogance in him, but he sure did like to take matters into his own hands; and that's what she hated most.

She wished she could hate him more, then maybe it would be easier to sleep at night. It would be a welcome change to be able to look in his eyes and not feel a myriad of emotions, not to have her stomach flip expectantly, like she was waiting and hoping, and wanting to be with him.

Her chest rose and fell with every breath as he watched intently while she turned sideways, facing him on the bed. He decided she would be too tired to punch him when she wakes up and finds out he was lying with her; and even if she wasn't he had already missed her enough that he was wiling to go through a beating for a little bit of her attention. She was going to heal him anyway, it was a good perk.

He loved the curl of her eyelashes when her eyes were closed. It was hard to appreciate them when she had her eyes opened, because he was always guaranteed to get lost in her emerald orbs. Matched with her beautiful smile, he was as good as goo, and surprisingly he could still hold a proper conversation while looking in her eyes. Maybe he liked it that way. She was as big a weakness as she was his biggest strength.

She stirred for a moment and his curiosity peaked, inching his face closer till their noses almost touched. No sooner than he did when her eyes shot open, leaving him no room to react. Her breath hitched as her heart drummed inside her chest, her brain began to piece together where she was and what position she was in, and more importantly Naruto, whose breath tickled the skin on her lips. They had never been this close - not ever since…

His mind buzzed as his body instinctively moved on its own, swiftly but tenderly catching her moist, pink lips in his. He felt her stiffen and release a shaky breath, coming in a staggered puff from her nose, he inhaled hungrily and shifted above her, sucking at her bottom lip as he savored the taste and committed it to memory; his first kiss, he stole it, and the realization hit him like a rug pulled from beneath his feet. He wanted more. Much, much more. He opened his eyes and saw hers searching - in confusion or disbelief, he did not know; but he replied with a smile and kissed the seal on her forehead, allowing his actions to bare him open and vulnerable to her in the hope that she would feel him, and understand.

She could only stare back with emotions astir, closing her eyes as his lips touched his forehead. She released a deep breath and felt tears slide down the corners of her eyes as a large, euphoric bubble deep in her stomach threatened to overwhelm her. Only once had she ever felt so scared her entire life. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw him lean in again, turning her head to the side to kiss her tears. She brought her arms around him and embraced as she sat up to meet him. His arms welcomed her, tightly enclosing around her waist with no words to say, but his heart had no room to feel anything but joy as he buried his face in her hair; his heart knew what his mind couldn't seem to explain.

It was only a moment that passed and their eyes met once more; their gaze held an unspoken whisper as his lips descended on hers. This time she responded, her tears reached an abrupt end as her breath deepened and she took him in; her heart filled with what she could only describe as love, that grew steadily and surely, that had been held at bay and guarded and locked, that was her best kept secret that he had uncovered with a touch of his lips; nothing like the one she remembered not so long ago when he did not respond, and now she gave him a kiss that he returned, a kiss that would be followed by many kisses; it was his second, and her third.