Can't Let Go of Him

Whoo! Another chapter up! Thanks for all the reviews!! Thank you for all the critiques and praises!! I really appreciate them all. Taking from you comments, I continued on!! This next chapter is almost pure WAFF. >.> Sooooo...yeah. Next chappie I intend on taking your reviews to heart and making Sasuke pay! Mwahahaha! *coughs* Annnnywho...go ahead and read now!! Pay no heed to the crazy authoress!!
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Recap:

Sakura heard what sounded like a door closing and knew that somewhere deep inside, that door was symbolizing a piece of her shutting forever. Her virginity was gone…stolen. And with that, she rolled to the side without the vomit, curled up and cried. Her heart ached like nothing else and as if life had a sick sense of humor…she called out Naruto again as she laid on the floor weeping. Wilting like a Sakura blossom in too much heat during a drought…
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It felt like years to Sakura as she lied crumpled on the floor of the strange place. She found the strength to push herself up and immediately wished she hadn’t moved as every single inch of her body protested the movement. Sakura knew she couldn’t lie here forever pretending Sasuke hadn’t just done what he had to her. Slowly, she gathered herself up and redressed herself and quickly as her body allowed. She knew, better now especially, just how much of a disadvantage she had. She didn’t know how far from Konoha she was, she was damn near wobbling to the door, and she was a wreck both physically and mentally. She warred with the idea of staying put, but decided against that in fear he would return. Sakura pulled the door and felt her heart sink as it didn’t budge. She tried again and sobbed in fear. Had he locked her in? Where was he? Why wasn’t her chakra back?!

Sakura took a calming breath and wipes her tears away and tried to think rationally. She couldn’t pity herself when she knew this could easily turn into a life or death situation. Sasuke wasn’t one to ‘kid around’. Sakura ran both hands through her hair as if to stimulate some form of brain function called thought. She began to pace and found after about the third pass her legs started to feel a bit better and more useful to her now. Sakura found herself doing something she hadn’t since before she entered the academy to become a shinobi. Pray.

Naruto smelled it still. Something that seemed off and close. He couldn’t help but to be drawn to this scent. He moved through the trees towards the smell that wouldn’t seem to leave him alone. He’d smelled it when he had sat down at his campfire with a bowl of instant ramen. It had distracted him enough to flop his stomach.
Naruto NEVER, EVER left ramen behind untouched. But this, this something seemed to call to his very core. Naruto felt a bit more on the edge of anger and couldn’t understand why. He knew there was something familiar to the scent, but to anything else about it he was damn clueless. He launched himself onto another branch. As his feet made contact with the branch, he stiffened. Chakra…very, very familiar chakra. But why the hell would he be all the way out here?

Naruto turned his head to the left and stood up straight. He sighed and looked at the sharingan holder who was leaning casually against another tree with his arms crossed looking back at Naruto.

“Yo. Dobe.”

“…Sasuke.” Naruto paused and frowned, “What are you doing out here? I thought you were restricted to the village?”

“Some may have said the same about you…” Sasuke looked up as if uninterested in their conversation, but Naruto knew better. Something was up.

“That wasn’t what I originally asked, Sasuke. Why are you so far out here?” Naruto finally picked up on the strong scent.

“Yes, well…you had a follower.” Sasuke’s eyes lowered and caught Naruto’s. It hit Naruto full force. The scent…the familiarity…

Naruto growled and balled his fists. Sakura. “Where is she, Sasuke?”

“…” Sasuke sighed dramatically. “Where is who, dobe?”

“Don’t fuck with me!! Where is Sakura?!”

Sasuke smirked, “YOU abandoned HER, remember?”

“What have you done to her?! I can smell her blood!”

“That’s all you smell of her’s?”

Naruto seemed confused and a bit taken aback to the comment. That’s all? Was there more? Naruto sniffed the air more. His eyes widened in realization of what the scent had been. “You…You and Sa—Sakura…”

“We what?”

Naruto fought the tears that threatened to fall. “Did you…did you both…?”

“Have sex?” Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Naruto wasn’t understanding. Why was Sakura so far from home? Why would she give herself out here? Naruto thought back over what Sasuke’s had said. ‘You had a follower.’

“You really are clueless, aren’t you, dobe?”

Naruto glared and balled his fists again. “What did you do?”

“Why don’t you find out for yourself…?” Sasuke sighed in disgust. “She’s just up ahead. Naruto, she’s not worth it. Give it up…she’d never love a dobe like you.”

With that, Sasuke poofed into thin air leaving a log behind. Naruto felt so stupid, “A shadow clone.”
Naruto finally pressed forward after trying to find Sasuke to see if he was ever really in the area. He moved a little faster as he found the scent picking up in intensity. In little time, he chanced upon a rather well hidden fort of sorts and dropped down to approach it. Funny, of all his years traveling in this very forest, he’d never found this place or even seen it before. But Sakura’s scent was here, and heavily invading his nose. After a few agonizingly slow minutes, Naruto finally found an entrance and ran inside. He sniffed the air again and coughed at the pungent odor of decaying vegetation and mold. He ran down a corridor to the end where the floor stepped up and became like a wooden deck. He stepped up and felt slightly dizzy from the sudden draining of chakra. A chakra draining seal. That’s why Sakura hadn’t been able to free herself… Naruto ran as fast as he could with lessened chakra reserves and stumbled to a door. He opened it to nothing. He tried the next, and the next, and the next. One right after another, all empty. Was it a genjutsu? Naruto reached the fifth to the last possible door and tried to open it believing he’d find the same as the last four. Naruto blinked as the door didn’t budge. He looked down and found a lock on it. A lock and no key, damn that Sasuke-teme.

Naruto looked for something he could hit it with, coming up empty. He growled in frustration and kicked the door with all the anger he felt. Naruto watched in shock as the door splintered and broke inwards, swinging open. He looked at the pink haired kunoichi who just stared back. She looked just as shocked as he did.

Sakura barely leaned her forehead against the door before feeling like she should move…and fast. She jumped back as the door gave a loud protest to being forced open and swung to hit the wall. She just stared at the cause of the door’s caving and felt as though she must have been dreaming. Surely there was no way this was real. Girls weren’t rescued like this in real life. In real life, they either found a way out themselves or died trying. Sakura was so dumbstruck that she completely missed the concerned tone of her teammate.

“Sakura-chan, what happened to you?” Naruto looked as if he was ready to break into tears by just looking at her. He didn’t have to ask, and he felt like he probably shouldn’t have. But somewhere deep inside, he prayed she’d say something ridiculous like she fell or something like that.

Sakura finally zoned back into reality, yes reality, and felt the tears fall again. She swung her palm at him, in the efforts to smack him. It was his fault, after all, that she was like this. If he hadn’t left her, she wouldn’t have come out here. She wouldn’t have had to chase after him and Sasuke…

Sakura palm came to land gently on Naruto’s arm. Naruto, who had prepared to be smacked, stood with his eyes shut. When he felt her hand come to rest gently on his arm, it was easy to see he was stunned. Sakura’s hand trembled as she sniffled and tried to hide her face behind her hair. Naruto felt two things happen at once. A sadness that moved from his feet through to his head spread so quickly that tears began to fall from his eyes. Sasuke, his best friend…brother even, had done this to Sakura? The only girl Naruto had ever and could ever love? At the same time, an anger that terrified him began to simmer, boil, and damn near incarcerate him as he thought of someone hurting her like this. Naruto boldly reached up and pulled Sakura to him and buried his right hand in her pink locks and his left held her side firmly but at the same time softly. Sakura didn’t fight him and instead clung to him, allowing her fear and sadness to flow from her eyes and onto his shirt front.

“N-Naruto…” Was all Sakura could manage at the moment.

“Sasuke…did this to you, didn’t he?”

Sakura nodded numbly.

Naruto’s hand tightened slightly. “Shh. I’ll never let anything or anyone hurt you ever again…”

Sakura knew it was a promise that couldn’t be kept. But for this moment, she didn’t want to tell him no. To shut up and not make stupid promises. Instead she nodded and clenched her fists tighter into his jacket front.

If Naruto could offer her protection for right now, she’d take it. She felt like the weakest link to team seven all over again…but this time she didn’t plan to get stronger to impress the Uchiha that once held her heart captive. Oh no, she had other ideas…once she could muster the strength to face him…she’d be sure to plant her fist in his face hard enough to make that pretty face pop out the back side of his head. As Sakura took pleasure in Naruto’s comforting embrace and thought of how to make Sasuke pay, she had no idea that Naruto was thinking the same thing. The difference was Naruto wasn’t planning on taking too much time waiting. Nobody hurt Sakura without paying for it dearly…not even Sasuke.

Naruto picked Sakura up and cradled her to him. He made his way towards the exit as quickly as he could holding Sakura and making sure not to hurt her. He knew Konoha was too far off to make it before nightfall. So, as his alternative, he took Sakura back to the place he had originally set up his pathetic version of a camp. He gently set her down inside the den he had dug into the ground. With that he turned and relit the dead fire and sighed turning back to her.

“Sakura-chan…umm…a-are you hungry?”

Sakura looked to the side and saw the container he’d previously just left to find out what her scent was. Even she had to admit it looked divine at the moment and nodded. Naruto smiled and pulled out another couple of cartons and began to prepare the water to boil. He sat down across from her while waiting for the fire to warm the water to a boil. He shifted uncomfortably and looked at her.

“How are you feeling?”

“Sore…” Sakura stated without looking at him.

“…I see.”

Sakura remained really silent. It sent Naruto’s nerves on even more of an edge.

“U-Um…I-Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” Naruto felt like smacking himself. That sounded more like a proposition for sex! He didn’t want…well, okay, maybe he did…but not now!! She was still recovering from…from…

“Why did you leave?”

Naruto blue eyes raised in surprise to meet her questioning green eyes that looked so…sad? He looked around and then back to her intense gaze. “I…I thought…”

“What?” Her voice was so soft. Naruto wasn’t sure if he should be ducking for cover or hugging her to keep her from crying.

“I thought that…you were happy.” Naruto finally responded.

“Happy? About what?”

“…Not about. But with. I thought you were…finally happy. With Sasuke.” Naruto smiled sadly and scratched the back of his head. “I figured I’d just be in the way…”

“Baka!” Sakura threw a dirt clot at him. Naruto just turned his head to the side and let it hit the back of his head. “What made you think that?!”

Naruto sighed, “I know how you felt about him. You loved him so much, Sakura. He didn’t deserve you…but…you…you loved him. If you were happy, then I knew I could be happy eventually just by knowing you had someone that loved you.”

Sakura stared at Naruto at a loss for words.

Naruto bit at his bottom lip and leaned back against the wall of the den a bit more. “Sakura-chan...Sasuke asked me to help him propose to you. I knew how he felt about you.”

“What made you think I would be happy with him?”

Naruto frowned at her. “Sakura, I may not be a genius by any means, but I’m no idiot either. You have always loved him and been devoted to him.”

“Did you even think that maybe someone else had healed me from his betrayal? That maybe he had been replaced by someone else…?” Sakura’s eyes were so intense that Naruto had a hard time looking into them but at the same time, he couldn’t turn away.

Naruto blinked at her words. He wasn’t sure who else she was talking about. Who else could Sakura love? He frowned in thought. “Kiba?”

Sakura hung her head in exasperation. “No! Baka!”

Naruto’s frown only deepened. “Shino, then? No…wait, you hate bugs. Neji? No…he’s too much of an ass to you. Lee? Uhhh...no. Shikamaru? No, he’s too lazy. Then Chou---“

“You really are an idiot!”

“Huh?! What is that supposed to mean?!”

“You apparently can’t figure out hints well, baka!”

“…” Naruto’s eyes widened and jaw dropped. He pointed an accusing finger at her crying, “You’re into older men! Aren’t you?! You like Kakashi-sensei!! You like old perverts!”

Sakura’s eye twitched and she threw another dirt clot at him with more force and speed nailing him in the chest. “Of course it’s not Kakashi-sensei!!”

“Demo! Who else is there?!” Naruto was about to try and guess again when he stopped himself and thought about the last one left from the rookie nin. He swallowed and met her gaze. He winced in fear of being wrong as he said, “Me?”

“You really are slow. Took you that long to figure it out?” Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and fought the urge to wince.

Naruto held his hands up as if to keep the blow from landing before he realized what she’d said. His eyes shot open. “Wait…it is me?!”

Sakura turned a lovely shade a rosy pink on her cheeks as it was finally her turn to look away. “Hai…”

“But…why?”

“I have to have a reason for liking you?” She kept her gaze away but heard the sadness she felt reach her voice.

“Sakura-chan…I…I just never thought you’d ever return my…” Naruto took a deep breath and finished. “My feelings.”

Sakura turned back to look at him. “So you have liked me…ever since we were kids?”

“No. I’ve never liked you Sakura.”

“…” Sakura blinked feeling tears come on, “B-But you just…you just said…”

“Sakura-chan…I’ve never liked you. I’ve always loved you.”

Sakura heard the voice she knew a little too well say in the back of her mind, ‘Boy was that blunt…why haven’t we been with him yet?’

Naruto looked at his hands in his lap as he squirmed a bit. “Y-You know…i-it’s kinda awkward to say that if you don’t say anything back…”

Sakura blinked and broke free from her reverie. “I…I guess I never thought your feelings were that strong. Why didn’t you say something instead of helping Sasuke propose?”

“I said I’ve always loved you. Even if that meant…you would be in another man’s arms for the rest of your life. I only want you to be happy. Even if I can’t be the one you’re happy with. You deserve someone who’ll love and cherish you for who you are, Sakura.”

Sakura felt the dam break and the tears start flooding her eyes.

Naruto panicked. “Sa-Sakura-chan?! D-Daijoubu?! Di-Did I say something wrong?! Oh damnit!! You can hit me! Please…please don’t cry because of me! I’m…I’m a dobe! I know!!”

“Ureshii.”

“I’m so sor---eh?”

“Ureshii, ne.” Sakura smiled and for the first time in a long time, it met her eyes.

“Sakura-chan.” Naruto didn’t really know what else to say. She said she was happy…
Sakura leaned forward and crawled to him. She leaned in and laid a soft kiss to his lips. Naruto was so surprised he didn’t know how to react at first. Naruto finally found the courage to hug her to him and deepen the kiss by running his tongue along her lips. She opened them willingly and allowed his tongue inside to dance with her own in a wet spiraling sensation. She felt safe, secure, wanted…loved in his arms. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up only to break the kiss with a cry of pain that her legs gave her. Naruto blinked and looked down at the bruises and nail cuts in her beautiful milky thighs. It only served to enrage him more with Sasuke. He pushed her away a bit. Enough to calm them both down to catch their breath.

Sakura looked at Naruto with watery eyes. “I-I’m sorry, Naruto…”

“No. You have no reason to be. I don’t want you to rush into anything…especially after what’s happened to you. Besides,” Naruto smiled trying to ease her nerves. “The water’s boiling for ramen. You said you were hungry!”

Sakura stared at him and smiled, nodding. “I did say I was hungry.” She crawled off his lap for him to have long enough to prepare their food before curling up on his lap again with her back to his chest while they ate. Sakura was so happy to have him back…especially if she could remain like this with him.
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*chortle* I just had to give a tease of affection. Then again, I can't really see Naruto going full out so soon after what happened to her. He's too much of a good boy. I shall try to get my next chapter up soon!! Thank you for reviewing again and remember to keep reviewing!! Byes for now!! Oh! And thank you so much xXNarutoxSakuraXx for the correction on shishou! I couldn't remember if it was Shishou or Shissou. So thank you very much! If anyone has any questions on some of the Japanese words that will be littered through the fic, go ahead and ask! I'll answer!! Haha.