His Healing Words

by thatreevesgirl/Lemon Drops (both me)

One Shot

Naruto's fingers ran over the handle of a well-worn kunai. He examined it closely, cleaning bits of dirt and blood off. The blade was still good. There weren't any chips or serious dings in it which would warrant replacing it, so he just angled it against his best sharpening stone and began rejuvenating the blade.

"You always take care of your weapons so meticulously," Sakura mused as she examined one of Naruto's shuriken, rolling it in her fingers slowly.

He nodded and ground the small weapon in his hands carefully at a steady angle. All the things Naruto owned, as meager as that list might be, were attended to with great care. The sharpening stone was a little dry, so he dabbed a bit more honing oil on it and then returned to the task.

"Want to do mine?" Sakura asked him. He laughed and then nodded. Sakura always suckered him into sharpening her weaponry.

Naruto was seated on the ground beneath a large oak tree, so Sakura had naturally perched herself on a big root beside him. They were teammates. They were partners. Through all the trials and tribulations Sasuke and the Akatsuki had put them through, Sakura and Naruto held fast to one another. The two of them were close, but there was still a slightly awkward tension between them. Sakura pretended not to understand it, and Naruto hadn't had courage to do something about it yet.

"What do you need sharpened?" Naruto asked, holding out his hand to her. His palm was calloused and covered in tiny scabbed over cuts from the Rasengan. Sakura watched it curiously as she dug in her weapons pouch for a particularly dull kunai.

"I can heal your hand for you," she told him while tossing the kunai to the ground instead of giving it to him like he'd wanted. Naruto didn't have time to agree to or allow her suggestion. Sakura already had her fingers wrapped around his, pulling his hand close as she drew chakra into her own fingers to heal him.

There was a muted, pale green glow as she infused her chakra into his body. It was always strange healing Naruto. His body seemed to accept foreign chakra much easier than other shinobi. Instead of having to push her chakra into him forcefully, like she did with many of her patients, Sakura was able to let his chakra rush back and pull hers into him. It was confusing and contradictory to everything Tsunade had taught her about the very nature of chakra.

She wondered if it was the fox. Naruto already has a secondary chakra system wandering throughout his body. Maybe having two different sets was what allowed him to so easily be invaded by hers.

"Doesn't the fox heal this kind of stuff?" Sakura asked quietly as she watched the tiny red and brown cuts fade into pale white scars on Naruto's tanned skin.

He shook his head no and a frown took hold of him. Naruto didn't allow the fox to do much of anything these days, not since he discovered how much the seal had weakened. "Granny Tsunade said that I should avoid letting the fox to heal me at all. They were just some scratches Sakura. Not a big deal."

"Oh, I see," she murmured. Sakura wanted to know more about his current condition with the Kyuubi, but didn't know how to breech the topic. Naruto gasped lightly as she pulled her chakra out of him. She examined the scarred remnants of his injuries, holding onto his hand a little longer than necessary. She finally released him, but Naruto's appendage hovered near her for a few more seconds.

Naruto quietly looked at his teammate, studying her face as he stretched the hand carefully, flexing his fingers in and out to test how well she had done. He balled his hand into a tight fist, and then released it slowly, working out the tension little by little.

"Thanks," he told her. Naruto picked up the kunai Sakura had dropped and wiped it off with a damp cloth.

"Call it payment for services rendered," she said with a happy timbre in her voice.

The two of them were finished for the day. There hadn't been any available missions that didn't include cat chasing, vegetable picking, or weed pulling. They'd trained and sparred earlier that morning, Naruto had treated Sakura to ramen for lunch, and Naruto had just finished sharpening and cleaning all of their weaponry. There wasn't anything else the two of them were required to do. It was a welcomed change to have time to sit and relax.

"Too bad it's pretty cool outside today," Naruto began, "Otherwise we could have gone to the river for a swim."

"We could still go and fish," she replied, but Sakura knew neither of them particularly cared for that activity. It was Kakashi who had always enjoyed the peaceful serenity of waiting for fish to take the bait while reading his favorite novel. Naruto shook his head and tried to think of a better alternative.

"We could…" he thought aloud with little success, unable to come up with much, "Just take a walk and chat," he said hopefully.

"We could do that, but I'm tired and stiff. Training and missions are fine and dandy for the rest of you, since you have me as your personal healer. I never have that luxury."

Naruto understood, he'd seen Sakura with more cuts and bruises on her than himself, Sai, and Kakashi combined. It made sense that she'd be sore too. "Well," he started, "We could just sit and enjoy this nice breeze in the shade if you like."

It sounded good enough, so Sakura reached down and undid her long sandals and placed them off to one side. Stretching her legs, she decided her root wasn't as comfortable as the mossy ground beside Naruto, so she shuffled herself down next to him.

He smirked and enjoyed her closeness. He remembered how Sakura said she was sore, so Naruto reached down and drew one of her legs into his hands, massaging the tightness as tenderly as he could. It took Sakura by surprise, but felt nice as his strong hands rubbed soothing circles into her calves. She smiled at him noticed how touching her made Naruto blush a lot.

"How's this?" he asked, his voice shaking. "Does it help at all?"

"Yes, Naruto, it does," she answered with a grin. Sakura reached up and ran her fingers through his soft, corn-colored hair. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he murmured quietly. Her fingernails gently raked his scalp. It felt so nice that Naruto didn't pay very much attention to the massage he was giving. His fingers traveled waywardly from her calves up to her thighs. Naruto was too busy enjoying and leaning into Sakura's touch.

Unfortunately, Sakura noticed. Her eyes grew wide as he grazed her inner thighs just below the black shorts and skirt she was wearing. "Na-ru-to," she growled warningly. His trance was broken as Naruto realized exactly where his hands were.

Naruto snickered in that endearing way only he could. "Sorry, Sakura," he apologized. He found the embarrassed shade of red Sakura wore on her cheeks absolutely adorable. It made him want to touch her more, or maybe kiss her.

"Give me your hand," he insisted. Sakura begrudgingly gave it, still gloved, to the grinning idiot she was sitting beside. Naruto unhooked the clasp which kept it tight and pulled the black leather off of her slowly and carefully. His thumb massaged her palm and the pads of her hand. Naruto meticulously rubbed each finger until the muscles were satisfactorily relaxed. Then he repeated the process on her other hand, curling his fingers into her own when he finished.

Naruto focused his eyes on the ground beside them. He was contemplating something, but Sakura wasn't sure what. Without warning, Naruto glanced up at her and then used his free arm to hook around Sakura's waist, pulling her onto his lap. It felt very intimate in more than one way to be this close with him.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, subconsciously allowing herself to lean into his chest. She arched herself gently toward Naruto until their faces were only inches from one another.

"I…don't know," he said honestly. Naruto had always imagined that the first time they would hold hands, or touch, or kiss would be after a bumbling confession from him to her. There had been no such admission of feelings, nor had there been even the slightest discussion on there being more than friendship between them. "Is this alright?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

She giggled and grinned at him. It was a warm and comforting smile. "I suppose this is fine," she said. He could feel her breath tickling his cheek.

"Should we talk about this?" he asked. Naruto didn't really want to talk. His words never helped in delicate, personal situations like these, and he knew they would be jumbled anyway. Having Sakura in such close proximity made Naruto's brain go a little haywire.

She thought about his question, but answered a thoughtful, "No, I don't think we need to discuss this. I think we both know what this is."

"Can I kiss you?" Naruto asked in a very hushed voice. He leaned in close, but waited for her answer. He waited and waited, but no words came. Naruto thought that perhaps he'd made the wrong choice by asking her, but then Sakura pressed her lips carefully to his. It was a light kiss and Naruto could feel the assemblage of butterflies in his stomach getting ready to take flight. When she sighed into his mouth and let Naruto take the kiss a bit deeper, it was like all those butterflies roared to life. This is what he'd always wanted—to be with the only girl he had ever loved, kissing her deeply and passionately.

The two of them finally broke apart, lips kiss-bruised and both panting lightly, Sakura's hands searched carefully for Naruto's face. She cupped his cheeks and nuzzled her nose against his. "I've wanted to try that," she said.

The question now on Naruto's mind was whether she just wanted to try kissing, or if her feelings were as intense as his were. Could Sakura possibly know the depth of what he felt for her? Naruto lipped her jawline slowly, leaving trails of small bites and kisses. He pulled her body flush to his and breathed deeply as they embraced. His heart felt like it would explode at any moment. He wasn't sure if it was from happiness or from the sheer terror that Sakura might not share his feelings, but it was ready to burst either way.

"Sakura," he murmured in her ear, then sucked on her earlobe and kissed her cheek. "Sakura I need you to know…"

To know what? That he loved her? That he needed and wanted her so terribly it made him ache? That no matter what or who she chose in life, all he wanted was for her to be happy? Naruto pondered it for a moment, and then settled on his first choice. He could feel every feeling inside of him well up, choking off his voice as he tried to confess.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"I…" Naruto tried, taking a deep, calming breath, "I'm fine, Sakura."

She nodded and stroked his cheek again. "I've never kissed anyone before. It was nice."

"Y…yeah," Naruto replied, his voice shaking slightly. "Me neither, not really anyway."

"You were good at it," Sakura said with a smirk and kissed the tip of Naruto's nose.

"You too," he told her back. The opportune time he'd had just a second ago to make his confession was slipping further and further away. He was terrified they would fall into something friendly or casual. Naruto definitely didn't want it to be casual between them.

Sakura nestled her head in his chest. "Naruto," she asked quietly, "Do you believe that a person can fall in love more than once in their life?"

"Huh?" He was stunned, but once his thoughts settled down, he realized what she was hinting at. "I don't know, I guess I hope a person can."

"Me too," she agreed sadly, balling a handful of his jacket in each of her fists. Sakura pulled herself as close to his body as she could. "Be patient with me, okay, Naruto? I'm doing the best I can."

"I'm not sure I can," Naruto said candidly, "I'm not the most patient person, Sakura. I always screw those kinds of things up."

She kissed the place over his heart, a sweet and kind gesture. "I don't know about that. You actually went out and tried to drag Sasuke home for me." She paused. "Naruto, even back then, you were in love with me, weren't you? But I was too blind to see it, and too wrapped up in my own destructive feelings for Sasuke to reciprocate it."

Naruto's face crinkled into something very, very confused. Sakura knew? How did she know? His heart raced as he tried to sort through everything Sakura just said.

"I'm not anymore," she told him. "I'm not the blind little genin I was back then. I didn't realize how love was supposed to be…" She twined a wisp of his hair between her fingers. "I didn't realize how it could be."

She kissed him again, firmly pressing her lips to his. Sakura urged Naruto's lips to part and baited his tongue to chase hers. This time it was a wet, heavy feeling. Naruto's breathing became heated, Sakura's erratic, and both of them could feel the need for the other. It was the most palpable desire either one of them had ever experienced.

Naruto was the first to break away. He didn't want to go too far. He didn't want Sakura to regret anything between them, and if they didn't stop now, Naruto was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop at all. She was straddling him and pressing her body into all the right places. He moaned softly. "Sakura, do you love me? Do you love me like I love you?"

She quirked her brows at first, and then Sakura kissed Naruto hard. "Of course I do…idiot." She seemed to giggle with the last word, added for old time's sake. It was said playfully, like she wanted to goad Naruto into getting mad. It probably made it easier when he scowled and harrumphed for her to slip in the words, "I do love you, Naruto. It scares me, but I do, very much."

He cooled down quickly, and the frown dissipated from Naruto's face when he realized what Sakura had admitted to him. "Love is scary, isn't it?" he asked with a chuckle, "And not just because I'm in love with you."

Sakura cracked her knuckles and her eyebrow compulsorily twitched. "What did you say?"

Naruto knew he'd triggered Sakura's temper. Damn if she didn't have the worst temper of any girl he knew. "I told you that I love you," he reaffirmed, "And you should know that you are a very difficult woman," he caught her hand as it went automatically for the top of his head. He laughed loudly at his own folly and added, "But that's one of the things I like about you. I wouldn't change it for the world."

Sakura glared daggers at the blond oaf, and then kissed him again, chastely, if only to shut him up. Jutsu's and elixirs could heal, but so could words. Sakura was lucky to have a person like Naruto in her life. She was a med-nin, a healer, and though Naruto didn't have one ounce of jutsu-related healing ability, he did have the biggest, kindest heart in all of Konoha. It could mend scars no one could see, and Sakura hid many of those invisible wounds. Naruto found them all, and he healed them one by one.