Chapter 5: Heartfelt Apology #2 & Another Promise of A Lifetime

Naruto eventually reached his apartment. He reached his door and was about to enter when he stopped. He sighed and looked down at his feet.

"Go home, Sakura."

After pausing for a beat, he sighed again.

"Look, I know you're there and that you've been following me. You don't learn a complex jutsu without learning how to figure out the simpler versions of it. So go ahead and show yourself."

He heard a sigh, and turned to see a puff of smoke, with Sakura emerging from it.

"Naruto, what's going on? I want to know."

"Look Sakura, it's not really any of your business."

"But I want it to be. Naruto, I really want to know what you're doing."

He looked at her skeptically. "Do you, Sakura? Do you really? Or are you just saying things you don't mean?"

Sakura's fears had been proven; not only did Naruto not believe her, he hadn't seemed to forgiven her, either. In fact, he seemed even more hurt by her perceived manipulation. She looked at Naruto with sincere concern.

"Naruto, I'm serious. I've been going half-crazy not knowing what the hell you're doing. You never say anything, and when you do, you don't say it to me. Please Naruto, I'm begging you. Please…tell me what's going on…" Tears fell from her eyes as she poured her heart out to Naruto. He looked at her, listened to her every word, and saw that she was serious about everything. Heaving another sigh, Naruto opened the door, stepping aside as he did. He looked at Sakura.

"…After you."

She looked at him, then into the doorway which led to his room. Slowly, she stepped inside. As she did, she noticed that there was something different about it. As she studied it further, she saw that there was A LOT different about it; the room had been refurbished, that much was true. However, there was something on all the walls. A kind of thick material.

"Soundproofing," Naruto said behind her as he entered, answering the question on her mind. "So the neighbors don't complain too much." As she walked quietly, she looked down at her feet and saw that even the floor had been carpeted with the soundproofing material. 'Someone's been busy,' she said to herself. She continued to observe the other changes made; in one corner, she could see what appeared to be a drum kit, and scattered around that immediate area were some microphones and other instruments, like guitars. There also appeared to be some paper and books strewn about. The most noticeable thing, however, was a small area that had been walled off with some kind of glass. Inside, she could see some complex machinery. As she took it all in, she saw what Naruto had been up to; He had essentially transformed his room into a small recording studio. She turned to look at him.

"How did you do all of this? I've only seen you leave-"

"When I had a mission to complete or errands to run," Naruto finished for her. "Well…not all of it was actual mission or errand work." Naruto then made the hand sign for his Shadow Clone jutsu, and a few clones appeared. He looked over at Sakura. "You caught me at the right time. I'm just about to record." Sakura sat down in a nearby chair, confused yet interested in what Naruto was doing. He and some of the clones went to instruments while one went to the small, closed-off room with glass walls. The others started to tune their instruments, looking up every so often to the one in the control room. Eventually, he gave them all a thumbs-up.

"Okay, let's get ready," Naruto said to them. They all nodded and prepared themselves. "Okay, then…one…two…three…"

On the uncounted four, they began to play. Sakura was fairly surprised; Naruto was playing pretty well, and with the Shadow Clones, he was essentially a one-man band. She listened intently to the music. Then, Naruto began to sing:

Oh I…had a lot to say/Was thinkin' on my time away

I missed you and things weren't the same…

Sakura sat there, spellbound. She never expected Naruto to have such a…voice. Normally, he was very bombastic and loud in his speech, but as he sang, he was very gentle and each syllable seemed to drip of the emotion he was conveying. It may not have been the best, but it was better than she ever would've expected out of someone like Naruto.

'Cause everything inside/It never works out right

And when I see you cry/ It makes me wanna die

As he upped the volume, he seemed to convey the emotions strongly, more urgently. Sakura couldn't peel her eyes away.

I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue/I'm sorry 'bout all the things I said to you

And I know I can't take 'em back…

I love how you kiss/I love all your sounds

And baby, the way you make my world go 'round

And I just wanted to say…I'm sorry.

This time, I think I'm to blame/It gets harder to get through the day

You get older and blame turns to shame…

'Cause everything inside/It never works out right

And when I see you cry/It makes me wanna di-i-i-i-ie

I'm sorry I'm bad, 'm sorry you're blue/I'm sorry 'bout all the things I've said to you

And I know I can't take 'em back…

I love how you kiss/I love all your sounds

And baby, the way you make my world go 'round

And I just wanted to sa-a-a-ay I'm sorry

Every single day/I think about how we came all this way

The sleepless nights and the tears you cried/It's never too late to make it right

Oh yeah…Sorry!

I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue/I'm sorry 'bout all the things I've said to you

And I know I can't take 'em back…

I love how you kiss/I love all your sounds

And baby, the way you make my world go 'round

And I just wanted to sa-a-a-ay…

I'm sorry, oh-oh-oh!

I'm sorry, baby/I'm sorry, baby

Yeah, I'm sorry…

As the song finished, Sakura felt her eyes water a little. Naruto sounded so…regretful. So sincere, as if he really was apologizing for something. She heard him sigh.

"Alright, looks like that one's a keeper." He sent the Shadow Clones away and went into the glass room. In there, he fiddled with the machine and got something out of it; a cassette tape. He stepped out and went over to Sakura. "So…what did ya think?"

"That was beautiful," Sakura answered. "You mean this is what you've been doing all this time?"

"Yeah."

"Naruto, why didn't you tell me? This isn't something you keep secret."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well…I kept it a secret from you because…it was FOR you."

"What," Sakura asked, astonished.

Naruto came closer to her and took her hand. He put the tape in it and closed it. "I made this for you," he told her. "I wanted t make sure I knew what I was doing this time."

Sakura looked up at him, surprised. "Naruto, you didn't have to do this…thank you." She then looked down at the tape. Suddenly, she looked up at him, confused.

"Naruto…what did you make this for?"

Naruto met her confused look with one of his own. "Huh? What do you mean, Sakura? I said I made it for you."

Sakura shook her head. "No, there had to be a reason for making this. What for?"

Naruto just looked down at his feet. Sakura pressed further.

"Naruto, you don't have to hide anything from me."

"With a sigh, Naruto looked up at her slightly. "Here's a hint; what's the one word you heard most often?"

"Naruto, this isn't time for riddles!"

"If you think about it, it's not even that hard to figure out."

Sighing, Sakura thought about it for a second. She soon figured out that the word "sorry" was repeatedly used. She knew what "sorry" was used for; as a way of apologizing. But why would Naruto…

Her thoughts suddenly went back to the fight. She had said some fairly nasty things, but Naruto's words were a fair bit harsher. She was able to look past that when she thought more about the situation and saw that a lot of his words were steeped in fact, while hers were steeped in frustration and irrationality. However, if she were in Naruto's position…

"There's a tape player over there," Naruto replied casually, pointing to a table on which aforementioned tape recorder stood. She quickly went over to it and put the tape in, playing it. She heard the song start. As she listened, she analyzed every specific line that stuck out, using her innate observation skills:

Oh, I…had a lot to say/Was thinkin' on my time away

From that, Sakura could glean some information; she assumed the line was a reference to the fight they'd had all those days ago. Naruto had been thinking about what he'd said while he was away, preparing this song.

'Cause everything inside/It never works out right

And when I see you cry/ It makes me wanna die

'That night I apologized first,' Sakura thought as she listened. She had been crying, and it seemed that Naruto was unhappy to see that.

I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue/I'm sorry 'bout all the things I said to you

And I know I can't take 'em back…

'Naruto regrets what he said,' she continued to herself. 'Oh, Naruto…you didn't need to apologize for that…'

This time, I think I'm to blame/It gets harder to get through the day

You get older and blame turns to shame…

Sakura never heard any more of it. After that line, she was too engrossed in her thoughts to continue listening. She realized what this was; Naruto was apologozing to her through this song. He still had that fight on his mind just like she did, and he was putting the blame on himself for it. To think he would do something like that, to try to ease the burden off her mind, at least to him, showed her how much he really cared. She was so caught up in her mental reverie that she didn't initially notice the tape had stopped. She eventually turned to look at Naruto. She hoped that he would display some sign that this was a joke; she honestly hoped he wasn't trying to blame himself for everything. However, his expression was the same as the sentiment of the song; utterly apologetic. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Naruto…"

Before he realized what was happening, Naruto suddenly saw Sakura rush over to him and put her arms around him again, openly weeping just as she had done on that night. However, unlike that time, Naruto was more reactant to Sakura. He quickly took hold of her arms and gently pulled her away, looking at her intently.

"Sakura, what is it? What's wrong?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she shook his grip and caught him in another embrace, burying her head into his shoulder as she did so. This time, he simply put his arms around her and held her for a bit. When she calmed down, she started to speak.

"Naruto…this is all my fault."

Once again, Naruto pulled away from Sakura slightly, studying her.

"Sakura, what are you talking about? What's your fault?"

"Everything, Naruto; the fight, that song, your promise," she said hastily, her words almost running into each other.

"Hey Sakura, calm down. Take this one at a time, okay?"

She looked at Naruto, a sad smile slowly forming on her face. "Naruto…you're the last person I expected the words 'calm down' to come from."

She looked down at her feet, taking some deep breaths before she continued.

"I'm talking about our fight. I said some things I should've thought about before just blurting them out. I hurt you…and you lashed out at me because you were angry…"

"Sakura, I was angry, yeah. But still, I shouldn't have gone off like that. I upset you…I made you cry…I couldn't handle that."

Sakura looked him right in the eyes. "So, you thought you had to apologize for that?"

"I wanted to," Naruto replied softly. "I couldn't stand the thought of you believing you were some horrible person because of something I said. So I took the blame for it all; I wanted to take it from you and put it on my shoulders. That's what a Hokage would do, right?"

Sakura looked at Naruto with a sympathetic, yet warm smile. "Naruto…you poor, stupid little boy."

Suddenly, Sakura came closer to Naruto and, taking his face in her hands, pressed her lips against his. Naruto stood there in shock, unable to prepare or even respond to the kiss. When she separated, she couldn't help but giggle at his expression.

"Naruto, you shouldn't have to do this. You made this promise to me because you really care about me. I can see that now. I held you to it because I knew that you were the one I can depend on the most. Now, I can see that I can depend on you for another thing; to be there for me when I need someone."

She hugged closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You've always been there for me. I guess I'm only just realizing this, but it's the honest truth. I just wish I could've been there for you more, especially early on. You've been through so much, and had no one to go to…"

Sakura looked at him again and saw realization in his eyes; everything she had said was the absolute truth, and he could see that.

"Naruto, you've made a promise to me, now it's my turn," she began with a definite tone. "This is my Promise of A Lifetime to you, Naruto Uzumaki; I promise, from here on out, to be there for you no matter what. You shouldn't take my burden and add it to yours; we should share the burden together and help each other no matter what happens. From here on out, no more apologies, no more regrets. What happened happened and we don't need to dwell on it anymore. We'll get Sasuke back together. But not for me, for him."

Naruto looked into her eyes and saw meaning to her words. Sakura was telling him that she still wanted Sasuke back, but it wasn't for her anymore. She wanted him back for his own sake, so he wouldn't be corrupted any more than he was. She had also mentioned a promise for him; a promise to think of him more, to be his support if he needed it, and to be there for him no matter what. There was only one thing Naruto could get from those words.

"Sakura," he said softly as he looked at her, "are you saying you…"

She put a finger over his lips to silence him and looked at him, her eyes shining with the words he wanted to hear from her.

"Don't speak," she whispered softly.

She then moved forward into another kiss. This time, Naruto reacted; he put his arms around her waist, holding their bodies close to each other as they shared silent words. With this kiss, they conveyed everything that was on their minds to each other, including three simple words each wanted to say to the other:

I Forgive You

So, there's the story. Pretty much all of it was done off the top of my head, much like everything else I do. XD This is my first ever fanfic, so R&R please. Thanks, and there's more on the way!