Posted: 25/03/07

一

Game
Act 1:

一

She grunted. "Are boys all this - this heavy?"

One step forward.

Well, not really. Or at least, to her, he wasn't supposed to be heavy.

Grunt.

After all, she was the one with monstrous strength. A sixty - seventy kilograms boy was nothing. She did have carried bigger stuff before, like, say, rocks? The ones that was at least twice her size. And she was juggling it. With one hand.

Second step.

Huff.

But then again, she wasn't really sober at all.

Another step. One hand reached out to slap the switch on the wall, and the lamp flickered dimly. He hadn't changed the light bulb yet.

She made a mental note to remind him tomorrow. If she remembered.

She didn't notice the empty ramen cup lying innocently on the floor.

Ug - oh. Uh-oh. Shit.

Thunk!

A wince.

"Ouch," muttered the chuunin.

Sigh.

"Dammit, Naruto." She tried pushing him off her, but he was sleeping like a dead log. The stench of alcohol was thick. His blond hair was tickling her chin.

She tried not to think about it. It was just the sake. Just the sake. She wasn't really sober herself, remember?

She slapped his face lightly, considering. If he doesn't wake up anytime soon, she will have to add some force to her light tapping...

"Gerhh..."

Ah. So he was still awake.

"Naruto!" snapped the girl, shaking his shoulder.

An incoherent mumble.

A sigh. She wondered if she was doomed to stay like this until morning. Or at least until he comes back to his senses.

"Sh-shagura-khan?"

Oh, he's drunk, alright. But he's awake. That's good. She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have to stay under him till morning after all.

"Naruto. Get off me. You are heavy."

"Urh.."

She wondered if that command even made sense to his currently not-clear-mind.

He pressed his palm to the cold floor, attempting to lift himself up.

Looks like it did.

But then he slipped. Why in the world was there a puddle of water under his hand? "Whoa-"

Her eyes shut, and she braced herself for an incoming crash.

Thud.

"Oof."

The alcohol must be getting to her, because she certainly didn't feel any weight on her - more like a weight hovering above her. In fact, it seemed to be

一

Waitaminute. That 'oof' wasn't from her. She opened an eye slowly.

And let out a little gasp of surprise; the other eye shot open.

She blinked, seeing the outline of a neck and a strong jaw. She felt a soft, steady tapping of heartbeats on her fingers. Her gaze lowered, and saw one of her hands pressed to the black and orange jacket. Her eyes traveled back up slowly. His whole body - even if not resting on her - was directly above her, two palms locking her in the middle where they pressed on the floor.

Green locked onto blue.

She didn't know how long she was staring into an endless depth of sky-blue eyes, one that held despair and hopelessness. Then he smiled.

A smile so lonely, and so heartbreakingly empty.

At that instant, she could have sworn he looked like a fallen angel, gentle hues of blond highlighted by the soft light above his head.

When he craned his head to the side slightly, she could not discern. When his face lowered, she did not realize.

All she knew was his lips were crushing hers.

It was almost bruising.

Her hold on his jacket tightened a little, almost as if she was ready to push him away.

But her grip loosened...

一

He stirred, half-awake now, but not too willing to leave the warmth and comfort of the bed. Snuggling deeper to the source of warmth, his hands draped over a soft - slightly sticky - smooth pillow that, curiously enough, radiated heat.

The thought of it weird, however, had yet to register in his otherwise still dead brain.

It had been a long time since Naruto Uzumaki had a peaceful slumber. Often times it had been haunted by disgusted eyes, hateful glares and memories that drilled loneliness into his mind endlessly, day and night. Even sleep wouldn't let him escape that; or the part where he saw himself in the nine-tailed demon fox eyes, killing and demolishing...

The baleful moonlight accompanied screams and cries which had filled that dark night.

Anguish.
Despair.
Hopelessness.
Rage.
Destruction.

He had watched, through the kyuubi's eyes, as it snarled and roared; spitting out hot, burning flames that turned even the most solid buildings into ashes. Ninjas' after ninjas' the kyuubi stomped down on, and Naruto could just feel the delight and glee it took in when the fox felt the squishy, bone-cracking sounds under it's sole...

The phone rang loudly.

His eyes sprang open, jerking up as the sunlight peeking through from the closed curtain glared at him. A hand automatically lifted to his throbbing head, the other resting lightly on the pillow that radiated heat. There was a musky, slightly stuffy scent that wafted to his rather sharp nose, added with the smell of heat.

It wasn't really bad, actually, though it reminded the blond of air-tight rooms. Which was strange. Especially when his little apartment was usually airy and cool.

Riing! RIIIING!

The annoying, loud rings distracted his mind from the unfamiliar scent.

He groaned.

"Damn phone..."

"Blasted phone..."

There was a pregnant pause.

Naruto blinked sleepily. His imagination? He thought he had heard a feminine voice.

Oh well. No biggie.

The sixteen year old ninja felt a small movement beneath his hand that rested on the pillow.

Again, he blinked. He hadn't noticed before, but as his sharp senses returned, albeit slowly, he could feel it;

It was a continuous, steady throb that tapped on his palm gently...and though Naruto was sitting up, the warm, steady beats were slowly lulling him back to sleep.

Riiiiiiiiinnng!

Damnable phone.

He paused, eyes twitching in irritancy. But a little thought dawned on him, and he wondered. Loudly.

"Since when did I have a phone?"

A soft voice behind him mumbled. "Mom, get that - ," it stopped mid-sentence.

The blond blinked. That feminine voice, by all means, couldn't have belonged to him. He suddenly felt a lump in his throat, as he slowly turned...

And his gaze met equally surprised milk green eyes, shadowed slightly by bangles of lustrous pink hair.

He could recognize those green eyes anywhere, even from miles away. He knew the little spark of determination in that gaze, which often mingled with a little sorrow - ever since Sasuke left...

The lump in his throat grew bigger.

Sakura.

The steady beat under his hand had grown faster by tenfold, and Naruto, stupidly enough, looked down to investigate.

What he saw made his jaw go slack, eyes bulging open. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the mesmerizing beauty that captured all of his attention, making him fully alert; the weariness he felt before vanishing. Why hadn't he noticed before? He stared, enraptured, his hand hadn't been just resting on a pillow.

"N..Na..."

His hand was resting on a breast, on a fully grown, matured body of a girl - woman, who had turned sixteen not too long ago.

His hand was resting on Sakura's breast.

"NARUTO!"

A.N.:

Hmm. Can't really say I know where I am going with this. But eh.. anyway, this is one of my older stuffs I have written this a long while back, and ideas just sort of start popping up. I have some - though rather vague - scenes I'm thinking of for chapter 2, so that's how it is.

I doubt this is going to be very long, however. Possibly a span of 5 chapters or so, maybe. I won't dare to say how long it will take for me to produce readable stuff, though. And as far as this fic is concerned, I like angst and drama with just a little bit of comedy so things won't get so dark, so you can probably guess where this fic will head to. Predictable, maybe, but hey, life's like that.

Hope this has been enjoyable, and frustrating enough for you to feel like strangling me. -flashes a grin-

Till next time.
Eagle