Naruto half growled as Sakura ran off after making up another excuse she couldn't sit and just talk with him. Since he had healed, it seemed like Sakura kept coming up with more and more excuses why she couldn't hang out, or just talk, or even train. He had been understanding and figured that it was hard for her after the battle with Sasuke but it was really starting to bother him. He jammed his hands in his pockets and scuffed his feet on the street as started down the street towards his apartment trying to think of a way to get Sakura to talk to him. Even though he knew she didn't like him the way he liked her, he still felt his heart break at the thought of her never wanting to be around him. The fight with Sasuke had her sitting at his bedside until he was nearly completely healed, but he could see the pain on her face when Sasuke was brought up. His mind slowly drifted off, remembering the fight he had with Sasuke six months ago, only a month after the end of the war.

(flash back)

"You will never be able to win this." Sasuke said as he stepped behind Naruto with a Kunai to his throat. "You are too weak, too stupid to realize you can't win. I will do what I want." Naruto spun quickly but Sasuke was gone, several yards away to avoid a hit.

"I don't care what you say!" Naruto yelled. "I'll beat you and drag you back!" He called as his body was overtaken in yellow and orange flames. The two charged at each other, pulling up their Rasengan and Chidori.

Sakura stood, unable to move. The force of the two chakras and attacks, she couldn't believe the power they held. She stumbled back a step "Sasuke was right. Naruto's not going to be able to survive this." Sakura said, suddenly feeling a pain in her chest. She looked at the ground holding her hands to her chest as thoughts of a life without the obnoxious teammate she had become so close with. She looked back at the fight as Sasuke his Naruto extremely hard before throwing him into the ground with such force it created a crater. Shikamaru and Sakura ran closer to find Naruto trying to force his body to move.

It wasn't obeying, even the Kyuubi chakra had receded and he was left defenseless, trying to move his damaged body. Sasuke appeared beside him and knelt down with a smirk as Naruto barely made it to his elbows and knees. "You'll never win against me Dobe, you're the dead last. There's no way an idiot like you could beat me. If you could, would so many people have died when you had the chance to save nearly all of them?" He sent his chakra to his foot, kicking him in the gut before he sent his chakra to his elbow and slammed it into Naruto Back making him call out in pain before dropping to the ground. Sasuke Smirked. "You lose." He said as he pulled his sword, making it hiss with electricity. Raising it above his head, he paused before he jumped back.

In front of him stood Sakura with her fist in the earth. "That's enough Sasuke." She said as she stood up but kept her eyes on the ground.

"So now the weakling steps up. I'll just kill you first and let Naruto have a show."

"Sakura-chan. Get away." Naruto gasped as he tried to get up again as Sasuke charged. Sakura dodged what he threw at her and the two began a battle of who could connect first. Sakura swung her fist narrowly missing Sasuke's face before he disappeared. Her eyes went wide as she found him stop at Naruto who was on his hands and knees now.

"Stay down." He said as he kicked Naruto in the head making him drop back to the ground.

"Naruto!" He heard Sakura scream as everything went black.

(End Flash back)

Naruto never knew exactly what had happened after he passed out but he knew Sakura was battered and exhausted by the time he regained consciousness to find her healing him. He sighed as he reached his door. What was he going to do about Sakura avoiding him? His heart felt like it was breaking apart with every wave and shrug off he had been getting, and it was becoming worse and worse where now she would barely stop to even give an excuse. Naruto sat on his couch heavily as he tried to think of how to fix whatever had happened.

His thoughts were disrupted by a knock at the door. Getting up to answer it he found Ino, he watched in surprise and confusion as she pushed her way into the apartment. "I've had enough." She said frustrated. Naruto just looked at her confused. "You and Sakura need to fix this right now."

"Fix what?" He asked not understanding what was going on fully, but also not wanting to drag any friends into whatever was going on.

"Don't play stupid Naruto!" She yelled, pointing a finger in his face. "You know what. Every time I see her, she's so upset. She cries and yells and screams and hides. I've tried everything but all I know is this is your fault."

"My fault?" Naruto was confused and felt a little hurt at the thought of upsetting Sakura.

"Yes, your fault. You're the whole reason. Ever since that fight with Sasuke she's been getting worse and worse and she says she's fine but she's really not. I was only able to get out of her that it was about you before she closes me off. What did you do?!" She yelled as she began angry with Naruto who blinked blankly.

Naruto took a step back and put his hands up in front of him. "I don't know. I…" He trailed off before looking down at the ground trying to think. "She won't talk to me. She barely even gives me an excuse anymore." He could feel his chest tighten.

"What are you talking about? She's always telling me that she had seen you earlier before she starts one of her tantrums." Ino was confused.

"I've tried to talk to her, I even tried a little bit ago, and all I got was a passing excuse that she was late for dinner with her mom." He dropped his eyes to the floor between them, trying to hide the pain in his eyes. Ino stood a minute taking in what he had said and how broken he looked. Slowly she took a step forward and touched his arm gently as her anger and frustration slipped away.

"Naruto." She said but he would not look at her. "You…. what happened?"

"I don't know." He said before he pulled away to walk around his apartment. "I don't know what happened. She was talking to me when I was in the hospital but after a while that slowed down and… Ino, what do I do?" He blurted out as he stopped walking around to look at her, both shocked he was asking her for help. She knew things were bad if he was asking Ino for advice.

She thought a minute as she looked at him before she gave a sigh. "You… you really do care about her. don't you?" It was a known fact that Naruto had tried to get Sakura to go out with him ever since they were children but standing there looking at him she could see and truly believe when he said he loved her over all the years.

Naruto paused, he had made it clear, but everyone thought it was him messing around and trying to get attention. "I do." He told her seriously. "I would do anything for her, I love her, Ino." The emotion he shone in his blue eyes had taken Ino back. Slowly a smile crossed her face.

"You need to tell her that." Naruto looked at her confused. "Tell her truly, how you feel about her. Make her realize this isn't you looking for attention or messing around. Make her see that you really do love her; it's not some childish crush because she's popular or pretty. Show her what you really think of her."

"And how exactly do I do that? She won't even slow down to tell me she's late for dinner." He looked lost but Ino gave a small laugh. She couldn't believe she was giving relationship advice to Naruto, to help him get her friend. "What?"

Ino walked a bit closer. "She's your teammate, the girl you've had feelings for since we were little kids. I'm sure you know more than a thing or two about Sakura that you can use to your advantage." Naruto groaned as thoughts bounced all around his head, he had grown up a lot but that didn't mean he thought. Naruto jumped from his thoughts at the sound of Ino laughing. Looking up he saw her walking to the door.

"What's so funny?" He asked. Once she was at the door, she smiled over her shoulder at him.

"You could always just literally show her." She laughed as she left Naruto alone to his thoughts.

Sakura pushed her food around on her plate making her father look at her worried. "What's the matter Sakura?" He asked making her jump and look at him. "You've barely eaten anything. Mom's cooking isn't that bad." Sakura saw her mother getting ready to hit her husband but she didn't even give a small smile at the crack. There was nothing, no response at all.

"Sakura? Honey, are you feeling alright?" Her mother asked, waving off her husband.

"I'm fine." She told them before she put her fork down. "I think I'm just going to do take a shower and go to bed early." She pushed away from the table and started up to her room leaving her confused parents in the kitchen.

"I wonder what's going on?" Kizashi wondered.

"It's probably boy trouble." Mebuki smiled softly at the protective look that came to her husband's face. "Kizashi, she's growing up. It's bound to happen." She explained with a small smile. "She'll be alright."

Sakura sat on her bed looking around her room. She had considerable fewer things in her room. After the village was rebuilt they could only find some things her and there in the rubble, she wasn't able to find much, but she was okay with that. She didn't need much anymore since she was mostly either working or on missions with Naruto….Naruto. She thought back to the missions that they had done before they were stuck in the village after the fight with Sasuke. She missed missions with him and missed just spending time with him but she couldn't stand the pain in her chest again. She was hoping that if she distanced herself things would move on, but she couldn't push away the pain. Slowly she sank back onto her mattress and fell asleep.

"Naruto!" She screamed seeing him drop to the ground and not move. She charged over as Sasuke disappeared again, this time for good. Dropping to her knees, she felt her heart shatter at the state he was in. Gently she rolled him over onto his back and quickly she began to heal him. She knew she cared for her partner but she couldn't stop the pain in her chest.

The surrounding wavered and she looked around seeing a hospital room where Naruto lay on a bed badly injured but sleeping. The pain was overwhelming as she held his hand and cried. She had almost lost him before they were able to get back to the safety of the village. She couldn't explain what was going on but she was in pain thinking about what would happen if she wasn't able to save him and get him help. What if he had died? This thought only made her cry more.

Again, the surroundings wavered and she was standing with Naruto smiling brightly at each other, holding hands. Suddenly everything changed. The sky went red; the ground was singed from the still burning fires all over the village. She looked around confused before she found Naruto on the ground reaching out to her.

"Sakura-chan…" He gasped. "I… love you…." He dropped making her grab him and hold his head in her lap as the color in his eyes faded.

"Naruto! No! You can't die! Don't leave me! Naruto!" Sakura sat up breathing heavy, covered in sweat and tears streaming down her face. She remembered to pain of seeing him die in her arms after telling her he loved her. Suddenly her door flew open and her parents ran into her room.

"Sakura?" Mebuki asked as she moved to her daughter's side. "What's wrong?" Sakura just shook her head and wiped the tears from her face.

"It was just a dream. I'm sorry for waking you guys up." She said not making eye contact as she rolled on her side and waited for them to leave. Fresh tears came to her eyes, she never wanted to her eyes as she thought about the dream. Even if she did tell Naruto her feelings, what if something happened to her? She never wanted to feel that pain again and she definitely never wanted to make Naruto feel it. Sakura laid awake the rest of the night trying to forget about the dream and what she felt.

The next day Sakura cried herself to sleep and was able to sleep for a few hours before having to go to the hospital to work. It was the afternoon when she walked up to the hospital and found Naruto leaning against a large column. He had his head bowed, eyes closed, and hands in his pockets. Sakura paused before he looked up and saw her. Pushing off the column, he walked over to her.

"Sakura we need to talk." He said softly.

"Can it wait; I need to get to work." She tried to wave him off as she took a step towards the doors but he stepped in front of her. "Naruto, move I have to go to work."

"No. We need to talk." He said again. She was tired from her night of crying and nightmares, she was trying her best to try to save him from feeling as if she had, she was in no mood to hold her temper in place.

"Naruto, you either move or I'll make you." She threatened. "We can talk later."

"No. Now." He said defiantly. Sakura looked up at him with a glare. She tried to walk around him but he stepped in front of her once again. After a third time she raised her first and started swinging but he caught her wrist and held it as he stepped up to her, ducked down and connected his lips with hers. Naruto was worried that she would get out of his grasp and beat him but soon he felt her relax against him.

She couldn't fight it. When his lips hit hers, she had lost her resolve to push him away. Her fist unclenched and she leaned into the kiss, actually kissing back. Her heart felt like it was going to thump out of her chest as he let her hand go. She ran her hands up his chest as he placed one on her hip and the other cradled her head. After a moment, the two pulled apart and Naruto looked at her worried as he just realized what he had done. Sakura looked up at him with her emerald green eyes and a small smile spread across her face, they were still close enough that she could still feel his breath on her face as he waited for her reaction. Sakura fisted his shirt and tugged him to her, kissing him again.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto trailed off as they pulled apart again. "I.. you.." Sakura laughed softly making him stop trying to speak as he took a breath and collected his thoughts. "Why have you been pushing me away and now…?" Sakura looked down sadly and she remembered the pain she felt.

"I…" She took a step out of his arms. "I didn't want to feel what I felt before." Naruto furrowed his brows. "When you fought Sasuke and almost…." She shook her head.

"Sakura-."

"No." She cut him off as she looked up with intense green eyes. "Naruto, I can't… I can't lose you. if we were together and something happened to you….. I would die, and I know…I know how you feel about me…." Sakura paused and looked down as tears gathered in her eyes. "I can't do that to you." Naruto acted on instinct as he walked closer and gently lifted her head to make her look at him. Slowly he wiped the tears that fell with his calloused thumbs.

"You think that if we weren't together I would hurt any less than if we were together?" She looked into his bright blue eyes as he gave her a soft smile. "I love you, Sakura, and just because you push me away doesn't mean I wouldn't be torn apart if something happened to you. I think if it was a choice between not having you with me and having you with me…..In the end if one of us is gone, isn't it better to know what it was like, rather than to wonder?" He asked and watched as she thought about it a minute before she nodded slowly.

"You're right. I think….I think I was afraid."

Naruto dropped his hands down to her hips as he smiled. "It's okay to be afraid, but don't push me away. I didn't know what was going on; I thought I did something stupid again." He saw her give a smirk as she looked at her hands that rested on his chest.

"I won't. I'm sorry." She said softly. She could not believe all the emotions running through her as she thought of what this was leading towards.

"So." She looked back up at him. "You want to find out what it would be like?" Sakura paused a minute before smiling at him.

"I think this is one thing I would rather find out." She saw him give a goofy smile before she glanced at the building to their left. "I have to go to work right now. You want to talk more about it when I get done tonight?"

"Yeah, sure." She smiled and pulled out of his arms again before she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.

"And Naruto…." She paused. "I love you too." She said softly before heading into the hospital, leaving Naruto with a lopsided grin she always loved seeing. That sudden kiss was all it took for her wall to crumble and her knight in shining armor to rush in. Sakura laughed to herself as she walked in and began her work.