Hi everyone. Its been a while for this story but I felt the urge, needed to get away from work and school, so I wrote it up and stuck it up for the world to see. Enjoy.
Naruto woke to find the room dark except for the glow of the TV. He yawned and tried to stretch but found his way impeded by something warm and soft. That something sighed and pulled in closer to him once he'd stopped trying to move.
The blond froze in fright for a moment before his mind caught up with his body. He relaxed slightly and took a peek down and to the right. Sakura was leaning on his right arm and had her own arms clasped around his creating a very secure trap for his appendage. She had thrown the blanket he'd given her earlier over both of their laps and was sleeping contently next to him.
Naruto quickly checked for signs of recent tears on her face but found none. This was something new then he thought. She only leaned on me when she was feeling down. But she doesn't look like she was crying. Hell, she has a dopey looking smile plastered all over her face. She only smiled like that when she was getting in good with Sasuke. His slight smile fell, as did his heart, as he came to the conclusion that she was dreaming about Sasuke once again.
Naruto slumped in defeat. 'Sakura will never get over Sasuke,' Naruto thought dejectedly. 'And why should she? He was a good-looking guy and I suppose that dark strong man thing really appeals to girls.'
He sighed and tried to engross himself in the TV once again. But when all that's left is advertisements for cooking and construction tools without the added benefit of sound his interest didn't last that long. He glanced at the time and saw that it was just past three in the morning.
'No more sleep for me tonight,' he thought. 'But I better put Sakura somewhere more comfortable or she'll be complaining about neck cramps tomorrow morning.'
So Naruto spent the next half hour extricating himself from the girl's iron grip, all the while being as quiet and as gentle as he could. When he finally managed to free himself he immediately tackled his next problem. Where would he take her and how would he get her there? He lifted her off the couch experimentally to test her weight and was surprised at how much she actually did weigh. While she wasn't light she was lighter than a girl of her size and age should have been in ninja training. But then she hadn't been in training for weeks now.
After assessing her weight Naruto concluded that he wouldn't be able to get her to her house and up into her room without waking her. It would probably be best to try though since her parents wouldn't like her staying out all night. She was a lady now, not a ninja, and ladies didn't disappear all night like ninja did.
Making his decision he threw on his jacket and then deftly wrapped her in the blanket and hefted her into his arms, her head resting against his chest. It was a little difficult getting out the door with her in his arms but he managed it and was soon making his way through the darkened streets of Konoha. The night was cool but not overly so. After adjusting her weight in his arms for the first five minutes he found a position that was comfortable and stuck with it. Soon he didn't even notice her weight and was simply walked on, lost in his morose thoughts about his love's continuing interest in a dead man.
>>>>
Sakura woke to find herself gently swaying back and forth. Her body was warm enough but her feet and face were colder then they should have been. These two factors convinced her to open her eyes and investigate.
Naruto's face swam into view above her and her first thought was that he was rocking her in his lap. She blushed at the thought but quickly noticed the field of stars that surrounded his head. Then she noticed the swaying of her body was different then someone rocking her would have been.
Her blush deepened as she realized he was carrying her home in his arms. Her breath caught in her throat at the thought of any boy being nice enough to carry her home in his arms. The fact that it was someone she liked was even more incredible. She shifted at the thought, as she once again felt that pure warmth that she now attested to love.
Unfortunately her movement caught Naruto's attention. He looked down and stopped in surprise when he found her blue green eyes staring back up at him.
"Oh, you're awake. Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Here, I'll put you down." He said, suddenly feeling really stupid for even attempting to get her back home.
But Sakura wasn't about to let the ride end. Red tinted her cheeks as she spoke. "No Naruto, that's ok. I wasn't uncomfortable. I don't mind you carrying me. It's nice."
Naruto blushed too and started walking again. His morose thoughts were shuffled off to the back of his mind as the realization that he had a beautiful girl in his arms began to hit home.
Naruto walked on in silence with his gaze locked strait ahead. Sakura continued to stare at what she could see of his face as she pulled in closer to him. She could see the blush reaching down his cheeks to his neck and smiled happily at the sight. The idea that she was pretty enough to make him blush that bad was wonderful and kept her smiling all the way home.
And home appeared all too soon for both of them. Granted Naruto's arms were worn out but he would have gladly continued carrying her for as long as he could have. He placed her upright and stepped back while she adjusted herself to standing again. He accepted the blanket back from her without a word. That left the two of them staring at each other.
Sakura smiled sweetly at him which prompted him to blush and smile in return.
"Thank you for bringing me home Naruto. My parents would worry if I wasn't home when they woke up," she said in a low voice.
The blond boy scratched at his head and shrugged. "Sure, no problem Sakura-chan." He smiled half heartedly as he tried to squash the warmth in his cheeks. 'She was thinking about Sasuke. Just drop it,' he thought to himself. His blush disappeared and his smile slid off his face to be replaced by a look bordering on heartfelt loss. That phrase worked well now a days if he needed to stop thinking about his love for his pink haired former teammate. Even now Sasuke thwarted him, even if it was by Naruto's choosing.
Sakura noticed his change in demeanor and took a step closer, bringing him within easy reach of her arms. Her hand came up and rested easily on his right cheek. "What's wrong Naruto? Why the sudden change in moods?" She asked in concern.
Naruto, failing to recognize her tone and also failing to notice the placement of her hand, simply shrugged and looked away.
Sakura scowled. Naruto still wasn't up on sharing all his feelings with her but that was understandable. Male egos were temperamental things after all. But she still had a hard time dealing with it sometimes. His ego tended to impede some of their deeper talks. She'd gotten most of it out of him eventually but she knew there were still things she couldn't quite reach yet.
"You should get to bed. You have work tomorrow morning," Naruto said in a quiet monotone as he turned towards home. "Thanks again for the ramen."
Sakura's mouth hung open for a moment as he moved away, suddenly lost for words. The butterflies in her stomach were making more noise then her vocal cords were. She desperately wanted to wrap her arms around him and say she loved him. She wanted him to return the kiss she'd given him earlier. She wanted to know that he knew she loved him.
Naruto muttering her name in his sleep jolted through her mind. Her fist clenched. Her resolve hardened. She ruthlessly suppressed the buzzing in her innards and took a breath. 'Its now or never. He has to know the truth. But what to say?' She paused. 'Put it plain and simple. He needs it straight,' said inner Sakura. She nodded and formed the words.
"Naruto. I love you."
The reaction was instantaneous. Naruto's foot froze mid step and she could visibly she his shoulders tense up.
'Damn. Better reinforce that with something girly,' her inner voice said quickly.
Sakura was already moving. She crossed the distance between her and Naruto hesitantly but with speed. Her arms came up, preparing to wrap themselves around his middle for a hug. Naruto, however, changed her plans.
The blond ninja turned around with an expression on his face that screamed confused and scared with a hint of hopefulness.
'Change of plans. Lips in sight. Target locked. Go get him girl.'
Sakura's hands jerked upwards and grasped his face gently and helped pull her right to him. She caught him just as he began opening his mouth to speak and planted her lips right where they needed to be.
Naruto froze again as he felt Sakura's lips on his own. His arms sprang out from his body in surprise and he felt the urge to faint, jump for joy, and kiss back jump to the forefront of his mind all at once. Unfortunately the first option won out and his eyes rolled back into his head as the full list of sensations and thoughts Sakura's actions produced hit his brain like a tidal bore. Sakura's eyes sprang open and she 'eeped' in surprise as the object of her affections toppled backwards, taking her with him.
They ended up lying in the dust together. The impact woke Naruto and he blinked back the pain and looked up into the eyes of the love of his life who was currently lying on top of him trying without success to not blush to the roots of her hair.
"Sakura-chan? Off?" he grunted as he tried to regain his breath. Sakura 'eeped' again and scrambled off him and stood looking down at him. And Naruto looked back, completely forgetting for a few moments that he was lying in the middle of a dirty street, as he locked gazes with Sakura.
They were silent for a few moments, each of them trying to figure out what the other was thinking to no avail. Finally Sakura broke the silence with a sudden fit of giggling. Naruto cocked his head to the side as the giggles turned into muffled laughter as she covered her mouth with her dirty hands, trying to keep the noise level down. As her laughter continued a crooked smile crept onto the blond's face until it was a full blown grin.
Sakura managed to get her laughter back down to giggles and then finally subdue them enough to offer Naruto a hand up. The blond took it without hesitation.
"If I'd known what a kiss would do to you I wouldn't have been so forward," she said as Naruto dusted himself off.
"If I'd known what a kiss would do to me I would have put a mattress down to make the landing more comfortable," he quipped back.
That sent Sakura into another burst of giggles. She managed to subdue them again and stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You dream about me. You talk in your sleep," she said, pressing herself up against his chest. "Thank you . . . for everything."
"Er, your welcome," Naruto said as he cautiously returned her hug. "But about what you said." He wriggled a finger in his ear to make sure it wasn't full of dirt. "Did you say what I thought you said?"
Sakura giggled and responded with a quick kiss on the lips as she broke away, back towards her door. She turned around just before entering the garden and struck a cute pose, hands behind her back and a cheeky tongue sticking out at him tauntingly.
"You better believe it."