The Truth in Dreams

Chapter II: Too Early

Sakura couldn’t believe her eyes. She felt so wonderful and this man with this incredible body had done these things to her and he was...Naruto!?

“Naruto?” The brilliant blue eyes glistened with passion as he slowly lifted his head from her nether region and opened his mouth as if to speak.

“BEEP-BEEP.”

What in the hell? It was then that Sakura woke up to her alarm chiming next to her on the nightstand. O man, this just keeps getting better and better. Not only did I just have the greatest sex of my life, in a dream no less, but it was with none other than that moron, Naruto. Now that I’ve barely gotten any sleep, my alarm is chiming in my ear.

“CHANARO!!!” Sakura swung her fist hard into her faithfully beeping cat-shaped alarm clock.

“BeRP..bbooooo.”

“Great, I broke it. Awesome, it’s going to be one of those days.” Sakura rolled over to face the small balcony next to her bed that looked out onto the expense of Konoha. She could just make out movement on the street below between the fabric of her drawn shades.

“Why in the name of the Kages does this village and do all ninjas for that matter have to get up so early.” Her now cracked and very sad-looking cat-clock still told the time at 5:00am on the dot. The first gasp of daylight was visible on the horizon.

*Rumble-Grumble*

“Guess all that medical training yesterday is catching up with me. I am starving.” With that, Sakura wrinkled slowly off of her mattress and onto the floor like a half-alive fish.

“Bleh.” She sat crumpled on the floor for a second and glanced down at herself. It was then that she noticed that she was 100% in the buff. Gah! I guess I must have taken off my underwear at some point during that dream. Sakura rummaged around under her sheets and on the floor around her bed for her missing panties and finally found them halfway across the room on a small table by her closet where she kept a few photos. The panties were neatly draped over the old picture of her, Kakashi, Naruto, and him. However, they were positioned so that the leg hole lined up perfectly with Naruto’s goofy grimace in the photograph and so that the fabric completely obstructed Sasuke.

“Grrrr! Look here underwear! I’m ok with you covering his face, but this whole Naruto thing is not what I want to deal with this early in the morning.” Sakura shook her finger at her underwear like it was a puppy that had pooped on the floor. Cha! What is wrong with me?! I am talking to my underwear. I really must not have gotten enough sleep. Sakura placed her face to her palm.

*KNOCK KNOCK* Sakura jumped at the loud pounding on the door of her studio and bumbled in her underwear drawer as she brought out a fresh pair, this time with 4 different shades of green running in horizontal stripes across the fabric. She snatched up a beige bra that was comfortable when she needed to move quickly on missions and looked for her shorts.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

“I’m coming!” She assumed it was either Naruto or Jiraiya rousing her for the mission this morning. In the past, Naruto would always drag her to the Ichiraku Ramen stand in the morning before missions. She was all for eating breakfast early before a mission--but most days she just couldn’t stand the smell of Ramen that early in the morning. It was just too much. But, today, she was starving and thinking about a huge bowl of Miso ramen swirling in her head, it sounded delicious. Man, I have been spending too much time with that baka, Naruto.

 

*POUND POUND POUND!!*

 

“LOOK I’M NOT READY SO JUST HOLD ON!” Sakura kicked the bottom of the door for emphasis.

 

“TSK, Forehead,  I know you take your sweet time in the morning but this is ridiculous! I have my own crap to do today you know.” Sakura was surprised to hear Ino on the other side of the door. She had finally managed to find and put on her blue shorts and a sleeveless red top with the white Haruno family crest on the back.  She eyed her backpack on the floor where she had left it last night after packing early for the mission. She unlocked and swung open the door to be greeted by not one disgruntled and sleepy face, but two.

 

“Ino and Shikamaru?”

 

“Tsh. So Troublesome.” Shikamaru was leaning against the doorframe and looked as though he was barely awake. When he began to slouch and slide down the frame Ino gave him a hard smack on the back of the head.

 

“TCHI.” Shikamaru grumbled and appeared to stand up a bit more.

 

“Alright Ino-Pig. Why are you both here?”

 

Shikamaru opened his mouth, but Ino beat him to the punch and given that Shikamaru didn’t seem to want to put in the effort to explain himself, he let Ino speak.

“Well, I bumped into Shikamaru here in the hallway when he was on the way to your room,” which would explain why Ino appeared to be in the same clothing she had on yesterday and looked as though she hadn’t yet gone to sleep. Sakura raised her eyebrows as she looked at Ino.

 

“Look, Forehead, it’s a long story. Just know that I haven’t gone to sleep yet and I’m here doing a favor for Shika. In any case, he was on his way to deliver a message to you and then stopped me and grumbled something about how troublesome it is to knock hard enough on door loud enough to wake someone up. Frankly, Shika looks lazier than usual, so I decided to do him a favor by pounding on your door for him.” A long pause followed in which both girls waited for Shikamaru to complete the little story.

“Okkkkk.” Sakura said as she looked at Ino who shrugged. They both turned to Shikamaru who now had a bit of drool dribbling down his cheek as he seemed to doze off with his eyes open. Ino and Sakura let out a unified sigh and both cranked their hands back and gave him a unified slap--Ino’s landing on his back between his shoulder blades and Sakura’s hand making contact on his chest.

*WHACK*  Shikamaru jerked upright like he had been hit with a cattle prod and then settled back against the doorjamb to Sakura’s apartment; at least now, he seemed fully alert.

“Tsh. Troublesome women.” Sakura rolled her eyes at his comment.

“Jiraiya told me to tell you that he had to leave ahead of you and Naruto to meet up with ninjas from another village that will be helping you; so, he wants you and Naruto to progress to the hotsprings and bathhouses just a few miles outside of Konoha and meet up with him there tomorrow morning. Tsh, so troublesome. . .”

Meet up with other ninjas, my ass. Jiraiya probably just wanted to spend some ‘quality time’ spying on the local women at the hot spring bath house before they actually set out on their mission. Besides, Tsunade brushed this mission off as though it weren’t a big deal, why would they need allied ninjas to help them? Naruto was plenty strong and Sakura was now more than apt at healing and had some remarkable physical strength of her own. Not to mention, their leader was Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin. Whatever the reason, this news would mean that her and Naruto would have to spend the first day of travel alone.

*FLICK* Ino had taken her thumb and index finger and flicked Sakura square on her forehead like she always does.

“What is going on in that dome of yours? Don’t you think you should get a move on and make sure Naruto is awake?” Shikamaru had already started to walk away. Ino turned and started to follow him.

“Hey, doorjamb, you owe me breakfast for this at least!” Ino yelled after him. Sakura could just make out a another one of Shikamaru’s sounds of laziness and disdain as he walked down the hallway. Ino turned back to make eye contact with her.

“Good luck on the mission forehead.” She stuck her tongue out at Sakura with that comment. Then, more quietly, she said “and try to have some fun, you deserve it after all that’s happened.” Ino smiled a small smile and jogged after the slowly moving Shikamaru.

“Thanks, Ino.” Sakura said so quietly that she was sure Ino didn’t hear.

She turned back into her small apartment and snatched up her bag and started for the door. She thought better of it and walked back into the bathroom to give herself a once over to make sure she didn’t look too disheveled. O, who am I kidding, it’s just Naruto. .  .But, that’s just it. It is just Naruto and her and no one else for almost 24 hours. Alright, snap out of it.

 

Her hair was clean and she had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, but her skin looked great. She checked out her chest to make sure it looked perky and rearranged her boobs a bit as the bra was sitting awkwardly. She sprayed a little bit of body spray on her skin and took one more glance at her full body--including her prized backside--and picked her bag up again.

 

Ah, why not. She opened her bag and threw the whole bottle of body spray in with her clothes and weapons. What is wrong with me! Are my feelings this strong for Naruto? She thought of his smiling face and heard his voice in her head calling her “Sakura-Chan” and she blushed.

 

Ino was right, she could use some happiness in her life. With Sasuke leaving and joining forces with Orochimaru, Sakura had been put under a lot of strain. But, more recently, Naruto had pursued Sasuke and they had fought and Naruto had nearly died--that had shaken Sakura more than anything. Like it or not, Sakura had realized just how much Naruto means to her; she can’t bear the thought of losing him and seeing the dogged determination with which he refuses to let Sasuke go--largely because of a promise to her--makes it all the more unbearable.

 

Yes, she was still upset that Sasuke was gone--but even the thought of Naruto dying or disappearing and Sakura can barely breath. The dream last night only added more fuel to the fire.

 

Even now, she is struggling to wrap her mind around her feelings for him. Yes, after the ordeal of how injured he was when Kakashi carried him back from his fight with Sasuke, Sakura could no longer deny her feelings for him. She cares for him and more than just in a friendly way.

 

But, that was largely how those thoughts had stayed until last night; and, stubborn as she was, Sakura was in no way prepared to delve deeper into them--especially because of how idiotic that baka can be.

 

Now, after that undeniable lust she felt in the dream for him, everywhere she turned she found herself seeing his bright blue eyes in her mind looking up from her pelvis with her ecstasy on his lips.

 

CHA! Sakura gave her cheek a little pinch to stop thinking about Naruto’s face in such a way. The fact remained, it was just a dream and maybe she was just sexually frustrated and her mind had chosen Naruto because he was ‘safe’ and wouldn’t hurt her. Something in the back of her mind told her that was definitely not the case and sooner or later these feelings of hers would come rushing to the surface like a volcano.

 

Regardless of the mess swirling around in her head, she was hungry, grumpy, and had to find his idiotic ass so they could get this mission underway.

She gave her small but cozy apartment a final glance as she swung her pack over her shoulder and turned to walk out.

….....

A quick walk down one set of stairs to the bottom of her side of the building and up another set to the top of Naruto’s side of the building and she found herself three doors away from Naruto’s own studio apartment. She slowed her pace a little as she tightened the Konoha ninja headband in her hair and glanced down at herself once more. O what is with me. Well, it should be nice to see him.

 

Just as she was lifting her hand to knock on Naruto’s door, it swung open with such a force that Sakura flinched and blinked her eyes just long enough to miss her chance to dodge a full-steam-ahead Naruto as he was sprinting out of his own apartment without looking where he was going with arms full of what looked like trash.

 

“HLALU--” SMACK! Sakura felt a clumpy wet substance land on her skin and in her hair. Gross! Gross! Gross! But the smell was so much worse than the sensation; it was atrocious. It smelled rotten.

 

“Sa-Sakura Chan?? Uh Good morning, Sakura Chan.” Naruto had landed flat on his ass in the hall of the apartment building after running full force into Sakura’s face. He also seemed to be covered in the clumpy white substance.

 

“Ouchacha! Baka, Naruto! What in the hell is this!?” Sakura snatched a cloth that Naruto was gingerly handing her that he managed to pull out of his own bag with lightening quick reflexes.

 

“Uhh. . .ehheheh. Let’s just get  you cleaned up.” Sakura caught a sideways glimpse of a milk carton on the ground among some empty cereal boxes as Naruto pulled out several more rags from his bag to clean it up.

 

“Ew! Baka! Did you just get spoiled milk all over us!?” Naruto’s face turned seven shades of red as he bashfully reached up with his free hand to rub the back of his head.

 

“Sorry, Sakura-Chan. I was trying to clean up my apartment before you stopped by this morning for our mission because I remembered you saying something last time about the smell from all the trash laying around my place. eheheheheh.” He looked up at her with the most pathetic ‘don’t hit me’ face she had ever seen--she almost fell for it because of those crystalline blue eyes of his.

 

Well, they both smelled lovely. No doubt about it, there wasn’t a chance in hell this was the same Naruto from her dream last night. Right?