Archive of Our Own

Sakura had barely even opened the window before Naruto's large, warm figure collapsed onto hers, making her stumble back several steps. A partly metallic thud ﹘ which sounded like his backpack dropping to the floor ﹘ followed as he climbed into her room. Shoving her hands up his sides, she managed to steady them with a strong stance and her shoulder, which the boy only took as his cue to begin his ministrations.

Previously limp arms curled around her low waist, but one he trailed all the way up her back - tugging her thin, nightshirt along - to hold the back of her neck. He smelled faintly of dirt and sweat - being the dead of winter, even he couldn't have managed to sweat buckets like he usually does - but Sakura could sense the exhaustion. In a second, his grip tightened around her, as if to keep her in place, as he moved his mouth, out of breath and hot, to the crook of her neck.

"Naruto-" she managed to utter before he licked an utterly sinful strip along the artery in her neck and proceeded to bite down.

A loud gasp escaped her mouth. Naruto's build loomed over hers, and her ordinary strength was failing her as he pushed her body backward. The motion was far from graceful. One arm was now urgently thrown over his shoulder, but she was unable to cover the expanse of his broad back as she had meant to. Their knees knocked into one another and Sakura tripped several times, with Naruto's firm embrace being the only thing keeping her on her feet.

Her back clumsily the wall behind her, and the contrast between its icy surface and Naruto's scorching hands made her head spin.

Weakly, she attempted to push him back again, her forearm coming to shove at his chest, but to no avail. The hand on her waist snaked its way up her back, her shirt bunching around his palm and exposing her lower back to the deadly cold breeze that was making its way through the open window, as the other gripped the fist she had formed against her shoulder. He didn't move her hand from its place but still managed to neutralise the purpose of the action.

"Naruto, wait," she breathed, but she was hardly audible.

Naruto pressed into her and he continued to nibble and suck along the side of her neck, and the medley of the sting and pleasure was making her twist her body in all kinds of ways.

"Naruto," she managed to exclaim, louder this time, accompanying her call with a strong shrug in her right shoulder, effectively squeezing Naruto out of that space.

He looked up at her for the first time that night, his ocean blue eyes looked greyish green in the warm, halogen lighting of her bedroom, dark with lust and yearning. In the dim lighting, she could see the edges of his clenched jaw lit up. His mouth was glistening with a mix of both their saliva and was slightly parted, making him look like a ravenous animal.

Before she could take in anything more, his mouth was on hers, open and craving. The kiss was extremely sloppy, with more teeth than lips, and he was pressing against her so hard she struggled to breathe through her nose, forcing her to take frantic inhales through her mouth whenever she could manage. But his hands shifted again to slip under the shirt properly this time, calloused skin squeezing the flesh at her waist before rubbing circles into her sides, so it took her another minute to remember her protest.

She brought her hands up to his chest once more and pushed.

"Naruto-"

"I missed you so much," he rasped. "Fuck, I thought of you every day."

With that, he nuzzled against her cheek, inhaling and pressing small, close-mouthed kisses into the skin.

"Naruto, wait," Sakura whined. This time she brought one hand to clutch his jaw, strong fingers shoving his face to hover an inch in front of hers.

"Did you miss me?" Naruto just questioned instead.

By Kami, if Sakura missed him.

++

In the most straightforward version, it all started when Sakura was studying a medical scroll on her couch, legs thrown over Naruto's lap. It was late into the night, which was progressively becoming the only time either of them could relax. Especially Sakura.

Tsunade was trying less and less to be subtle about the fact that she intended Sakura to take charge of the hospital. She never actually said it, which could have given Sakura the chance to protest for she naturally thought Shizune was a much more appropriate candidate, having both experience and knowledge over Sakura, and she would also have preferred to stay in the field for longer, not be tied down at such a young age. But alas, her sensei was clever.

Naruto was pretending to read one of the history textbooks to study for the Chunin exam. It had been a few years since he began his preparations, but his progress was exceedingly slow, but it wasn't really because of his laziness. The first year after the war, Naruto was chest-deep in helping with the reconstruction of the shinobi world (and with Sasuke's trial), despite being extremely tired, all while trying to study. Over the years, he'd been taking it easy - taking up hobbies, helping the odd friend, learning to cook, trying to join the ANBU (which he was denied without a moment's hesitation by Kakashi), and so on. He of course had no shortage of S-classified missions. despite his status of genin, which kept him complacent.

Sakura could tell with a short glance he was at best only skimming the pages, judging from his distant, lazy expression. Returning her focus to her own scroll, she shifted her position, running one foot up and down her calf to make herself more comfortable when a large, heavy hand grasped her ankle and held it in place.

When she looked at Naruto, his expression was faintly strained. Her action must have disturbed his already struggling attention. He was no doubt only partially aware of his venture because when she tried to return her eyes once more to her studies, she found his warm hand slowly rubbing at her ankle, and moving to massage her foot between his thumb and palm.

In the pin-drop silence of the night, she suddenly became aware of her breathing. What the hell was he doing? At the same time, why was this bothering her? They were the best of friends, adequately physical and affectionate. They hugged, slapped at each other, held hands, and leaned on each other countless times over the years.

But she knew. She knew why this was different.

It had something to do with the thoughts she had been trying her best to bury, her best to dismiss. She knew it had to do with the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed, with how his smile seemed brighter - and a little something else - as of late, how his collar bones jutted out, how he smelled faintly of wet soil and hot springs, how his blue eyes glimmered in the afternoon sun, and absolutely everything with the fabric of his mesh undershirt hugged his torso and especially his biceps.

Somehow, she had been managing to suppress these utterly terrifying imaginations of hers, always catching her off guard, always entering her mind at the most unsuspecting of times.

But there was no pretending right now. She could no longer lie to herself. She was sitting here, squirming and undulating, her bare legs stiff as a hand absently left her foot and trailed right along the entire length of her leg, coming up to her thigh. Then, impossibly, against all her wordless prayers, his palm slid forward so his fingers were wrapped around her inner thigh.

Sakura thought she could squeal. If she could thank every deity in existence, she would, for the scroll was hiding the red, hot stain that was painting her cheeks, and her heavy breathing.

But she failed to weigh every detail because her toes were tightly curled up, and before she could relax them, Naruto was already calling out.

"Yo, you alright?"

She couldn't see his face, nor could she see any of the letters on the scroll with how close she was holding it. She spat out a hurried 'yeah, why?’

The hand shifted from her inner thigh - quiet relief washed her - to the outside of her thigh, caging both legs under an arm. Then another hand descended suddenly from above to push the scroll away, revealing a puzzled Naruto, an eyebrow cocked comically at her.

Sakura attempted to pull herself together.

"What?" she snapped defensively, drawing her legs up. His hand fell aside, to her immense relief.

Naruto gave her a look but conceded, and she haughtily brought the scroll back up. Her relief however was tragically short-lived, because, in a second, the hand that had left her right thigh was curling from under her leg, now folded over his lap, and stroking her inner thigh.

At this point, she thought she could scream. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, her scroll now the last thing on her mind, till she was sure she was holding back some tears and the only thing she was quite aware of was the microscopic movements of an index finger along the inner side of her left thigh.

She was also certain that she was wet by now.

Naruto's hand moved once more, circling over her left leg and caressing the entire length to rest on top of her feet again. Instinctively, she closed her legs shut, hoping he wouldn't return home again, but his hand progressed to the top again, and when he reached the crest of her thigh, Sakura let out a soft, dreadful moan.

Everything stopped. Her entire body was stiff as a rod, and Naruto's movements paused suddenly. Her ears were ringing painfully.

After a minute's passing, a much slower hand came down to push away her scroll once more. There was nothing ambivalent about Sakura's expression this time, she was sure. Her lower lip was pulled between her teeth, and her eyes were glassy, pink coating her cheeks.

Naruto's face was more unreadable, but only deceptively. The neutrality that colored his features slowly gave way to a more knowing expression. His eyelids lowered ever so slightly, and his lips parted as he gritted his teeth, mking jaw clench asymmetrically. His eyes bore into her piercingly, and she had the sinking realization that she could now give up any illusion that he didn't know what had just happened.

Biting his lip a little, Naruto turned his face straight ahead, but his hand shot out to grasp Sakura's and she found her body wrenched away from the couch, now upright. In one swift motion, his arms gathered around her waist and he pulled her up so she was perched on his lap, hands resting on his chest.

For a moment, it was just their breathing, until Naruto hummed.

"So?" he said.

Sakura couldn't find the ability to string a single logical thought together. She simply couldn't believe what was happening.

"What?" she said stupidly.

Naruto chuckled, "I'll admit, I'm probably the stupidest guy in all of the Five Great Nations, and even more so when it comes to you, dattebayo."

He paused and licked his lips, staring purposefully at her. Sakura held her breath.

"But tell me I was hallucinating all these weeks when I caught you staring at me every chance you got."

Sakura wanted to die at that very moment. There was no way this was happening. Her reflexes still were no less defensive. She spluttered for a few good seconds, clearly about to deny it all before Naruto stopped her.

"No," he shook his head, his face sharp. The hand on her hip was starting to burn into her side. "Don't you fucking lie about it. Take a moment. Tell me. Don't fucking do this to me. If you want me,"

He shifted an inch closer.

"Then I have to know, Sakura-chan. I need to. Because Kami knows I want you with all I have."

Sakura's head was swimming. Exhaling brokenly, she shut her eyes.

Naruto wants her? Sure, everyone remembers his immature, pre-adolescent crush in their early years, and when Minato thought she was his girlfriend, she recalls how eagerly he agreed. But that was years ago, and after that,nothing have ever been hinted about that. Although there was the possibility that she was willfully and wholeheartedly oblivious to what was under her nose the whole time.

She couldn't believe it. How obviously was she oggling him? And Naruto? Was he just being subtle? Did Sakura fail to see the signs? Or was he simply hiding it from her this whole time?

Here he was, though ﹘ not in the least surrepticious. So unabashed, so unashamed, so unhindered about his desire. As he had always been. It struck Sakura that Naruto had grown into an astonishingly secure individual. Gone was the lonely, outcast boy. Here was a man. Confident, self-assured, but equally loving.

Fuck, this was threatening to be more than a crush. This wasn't good.

Gathering her resolve, finally, Sakura steadied bed hands on his shoulder and moved closer, resting her forehead against his. She couldn't bear to look.

"Fuck, Naruto," she whispered, shakily, and tightened her grip around his frame. "I'm fucking- I- shit. Shit, Naruto."

Naruto laughed softly. "Say no more"

Sakura shoved him, "Fuck you."

He only laughed louder, but a tender finger tilted her chin up as he moved away from her. His eyes were so delicate, "Can I kiss you?"

She closed her eyes and nodded. A soft palm came to rest behind her head and Naruto's breath was in her mouth, followed after a moment by a soft kiss.

Sakura inhaled sharply. His lips were chapped, but the kiss felt like paradise. Her fingers clutched at the back of his neck and his shoulder as she slowly deepened the kiss. No one had told her Naruto kissed so well. He started so gently, with no tongue or teeth. Small, fragmented kisses and a pair of knowing hands touching her in all the right places.

"I want you," Sakura said between kisses. "So fucking bad. I don't even know when it happened."

"It always happens that way, no?"

She moved her arm further up his shoulder so now she was snaking it around his neck and pulled herself closer him, and his hard-on was pressing into her thigh.

"But fuck, Naruto, I want you so much."

He smiled into the kiss when their lips met again. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her slightly to slip out from beneath her. Now hovering above her, he nudged her till she fell back onto the couch and he was crawling on top, Sakura's legs curling up, loosely thrown over Naruto. He lowered one forearm down to support himself, and let the other roam her body. He massaged and pinched the flesh at her waist and stomach, drawing throaty moans from her. His lips were as attentive as ever the entire time.

Sakura's body was buzzing now. She shifted forwards, feeling his hardened penis twitch. She was so incredibly turned on, and all they had been doing was kissing for a few minutes. But there was no mistaking the extent of her desire. She wanted him. She wanted it all tonight. Contorting into him, she tilted her head to deepen the kiss even further, opening her mouth this time.

His hands were going berserk at this point. Since her position gave him access to her backside, his hand traveled up the back of her thigh - squeezing softly every few inches - and pressed into the supple flesh of her ass. She moaned. His hand was so large, and the tips of his thumb were pressing between her cheeks.

"Sakura," he said, breathless from the kissing. "Fuck, Sakura."

Sakura just shook her head and dived right back into the kiss. Could desire be this penetrating, this strong, this maddening? And for Naruto, nothing less.

And then abruptly, an inhuman cry made them tear apart. In a stupor, Sakura had no clue what produced that noise, but Naruto looked immediately at the window, like he knew, like he was always waiting, where a brown bird was perched, red eyes shining through the night, and a tiny cylindrical container tied to one of her feet.

Sasuke.

++

The note hadn't said much - just a time and place. The two shinobi left for the Hokage's residence immediately where of course Kakashi was still doing paperwork. It wasn't unlike Sasuke to be so cryptic, and he only ever trusted Naruto, so there wasn't much to be done. All they had to do was confirm it was actually from Sasuke and once that was done, Naruto went back to the apartment to pack a few exchanges of clothes and headed towards the main gate.

Sakura had made a quick detour to the hospital to pack him a special, customized medical kit and met him directly at the gate.

The shinobi was as ready as ever. Sakura always worried when Sasuke sent a message or asked for help because when he needed help, he needed a lot. Which meant only Team 7, at least according to the Uchiha's standards, and no one could bother to dispute him on that any time soon. Anyway, this time it was addressed to no one in particular - which meant it was addressed to Naruto.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," Naruto exclaimed with a characteristic grin when she handed him the kit.

"How can you be so cheerful?" Sakura sighed.

"No way am I gonna start a mission feeling like ass!" he declared. "Recipe for disaster."

She rolled her eyes and hummed in return. "What do you think it is, Naruto?"

He waved a hand, "Gah, I can never tell with that bastard, dattebayo. Remember when he summoned me just to settle a border dispute that he thought was getting in his way? Bloody rascal."

Sakura chuckled, "You are quite the expert at solving disputes."

"Yeah, tell me about it, but I really didn't care for travelling three hundred miles in the middle of summer just to make a bunch old geezers sit down and talk reason."

It wasn't any better now. It was nearly December, and the nights especially were freezing, but Naruto probably wasn't affected by cold weather very much. He was perpetually running hot anyway, thanks to the kyuubi.

"I'll be back soon," he said, with faux confidence. Everyone knew nothing could be said about how long these particular missions would take. Once he was gone for two whole months. "A week, max. It's just near Rain Village anyway. And if it takes longer I'll just abandon the bastard, dattebayo."

"Please don't do that,"

"I'm doin’ it!" he grinned. "And, hey, um,"

"Yeah?" she said lightly. Sakura was distracted by a massive piece of lint on his jumpsuit. Reaching out, she plucked it out and smoothened his jacket.

Naruto watched her actions before stepping into her space. A pair of arms took hold of her waist, soft lips finding hers.

"Will you wait for me? I don't wanna forget this."

Sakura was sure of few things in life as much as she was of this.

She smiled faintly and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Yes."

++

The following days she spent as she always did, but each interval or any break she got was filled with Naruto. His hands on her hips. His warmth. His scratchy voice. His broad shoulders. Somehow December was feeling very hot at times.

But right now, he was dirty and tired and sleepy and she had to find out what the hell happened on that mission.

"Naruto, stop!" she said, pushing hard this time.

He stopped. His eyes widened and he stumbled back, "Shit, Sakura-chan. I’m so sorry!"

She ignored his comment, waving a hand dismissively. As the boy stepped back she stared at his tan skin, his sky-blue eyes, his blonde hair that he'd been cutting shorter and shorter, and the ever-curious whisker scars.

He watched Sakura with faint bewilderment, but his lips melted into a soft smile, and she wrenched herself from her wandering, embarrassed. Creating her throat, she willed herself to start looking around for injuries, "You need to rest. Are you hurt?"

Naruto chuckled, "Aw, come on, now. The mission was nothing, I'm fine"

"Did you see Sasuke? What did he have to say to you?" she asked frantically. "Is he okay? Is he considering coming back? Sit here, I'll make you something to eat."

"Um, he's okay. Hey, wait, I ate before I left, I'm fine."

"You look tired. Take off your jacket, I need to see where you're injured."

Grinning like a clown, he said, "Slow down, tiger."

Sakura gave him a stern look. Her head was absolutely spinning. She hadn't seen Sasuke in months now, and he hadn't replied to her last message. She was too busy with the hospital to be involved in the field now, and sometimes it drives her to bits to be left out of what was happening.

"Fine, fine," he said, shrugging off his jacket and mesh shirt, and his muscles flexed in fifty different places as he pulled his shirt over his head as if he were a model for a human anatomy class.

This isn't good, Sakura was having trouble focusing. She inhaled and tried to concentrate.

He looked largely fine, but on his shoulder was what looked like a deep cut, held together by five stitches. It wasn't too bad, although he should've healed by now.

"When did you get that?" she shot at him, getting up to grab the first aid kit from the kitchen. "Why hasn't it healed?"

Naruto trailed her, "This morning. Listen, calm down. Sometimes it just takes a while. It's really not a big deal."

Sakura shook her head. She switched on the kitchen light and pushed him into a dining chair to take a better look at the wound. On closer examination, she could tell the sutures were done messily. Perhaps he did it himself. Or maybe Sasuke did. Zipping her medical kit open, she fumbled around for the scissors, her fingers shaking a little.

Turning to him again, she surveyed his torso once more, but he seemed to be fine, and even at the moment, as she headed for the cut she knew she was overreacting. Seeing him now was making her stomach turn inside-out and she couldn't tell why. What the hell was going on?

"What are you doing?" he laughed, angling himself away from her prodding hands.

"The-they're done badly. I'll redo them for you," she sounded like a child. Unsure, small.

"Sakura, c'mon. Don't be ridiculous. What's happening, girl?"

"Nothing, just let me-" she tried to turn him around to face her again.

"Stop that-"

"Don't move."

"Sakura-"

"Be still!"

"Sakura!"

Naruto grabbed her wrist in his hand, and Sakura snapped her head up to look directly into his eyes, which flashed crimson for a fraction of a second, before returning to their warm, ocean blue. When she glanced at his shoulder, the cut was long gone. Sakura could feel his breath on her face now, and she was only just taking note of their proximity, and Naruto's jarring half-nakedness, which was a bit ironic given that she was the one who ordered him to strip.

"Happy?" he said, his concern dousing his attempt to be snarky. He was still gripping her wrist.

Sakura swallowed, but her mouth was too dry. Naruto shifted his chair to make space for her, and gently pulled her onto his lap, his eyes wide and searching for resistance. Sakura didn't resist, obviously. She'd give anything for some alien force to take over her body and control it as it pleases.

Naruto placed a warm but innocent hand on her back, but Sakura let hers fall onto her lap and stared at them like a little girl, plucking at the skin around her nails.

"Everything okay?" he asked. "Sakura-chan, I can't be more sorry... There was no excuse for me to come on to you."

Sakura looked up at him and shook her head. "It's not that, silly. You have no idea how much I've thought about this the past week. About you. I feel like I’m losing my mind"

Naruto grinned stupidly, "Actually, I think I may have an idea. Given that I literally pictured you every time I shut my eyes."

She returned his smile, albeit a bit more shyly, “Fuck off.”

He gently pushed her off and stood, his height imposing ﹘and incredibly attractive ﹘ and took her face into one hand, her waist into the other, grinning like a damn fool.

++

His fingers worked her till her legs were closing in unwittingly and she was squealing into the back of her hand, her body contorting in all kinds of ways. Naruto took a moment to push her limbs away from his face, locking them in place, and rammed his fingers in and out of her pussy again until she was coming.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she managed, eloquently, but she knew he understood what that meant.

He didn’t stop, of course. “What were you saying, Sakura-chan?” He teased, concentrating on keeping her body in position.

He handled her body so seamlessly, and after a few months of doing this, they were moving automatically. He knew exactly where to touch her, how to signal a change of position, how to arrange her body, when to push her to her limit. She knew exactly how to bite his lips, how to get him excited, how to communicate without words, how to make him see stars under her.

Not a single thing grew boring. She thought about him adequately, sometimes maddeningly. The way his hands would dig into the flesh of her thighs and ass, how his abs flexed when he fucked her on her back, how his arm could enclose her whole body from behind.

They never did anything planned, or worse, power-imbalance related. Things were spontaneous, and they listened to normal words. If he gripped her throat, it would be loose to begin with, and never long, and she would push it away when she didn’t want it. They did some of those things, she supposed, but nothing was contingent upon them.

“Fuck you,” she said, but she suspected it was rather indiscernible.

Naruto pushed her legs, which were shoving against his body, away from him and pressed them into her chest. He pulled himself up to put some weight on her, hovering over her now and quickened his pace.

“What was that?” he said.

“Nothing, Kami,” she panted. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Naruto, enough, enough, enough. I want to fuck.”

As soon as he stopped, she wondered if she would live to regret that shortly. Her head was absolutely spinning, and not a single muscle was responsive as if all her neurons had withered away for a moment. She let her head fall back and took deep breaths, trying her best to recover.

Naruto took her legs to wrap them around his waist loosely, as his hands came to palm her body. He squeezed her breasts, the flesh under them, and rubbed circles into her stomach. She loved how he touched her. She couldn’t get enough. He always touched her with his entire palm, like he was shaping a clay pot. Sakura relaxed immediately.

“I missed you, fuck,” he whispered, bending over to pepper kisses on her chest, neck, and face.

Sakura grunted.

Standing, he stripped out of his pants, and resettled between her legs, hesitating. Sakura watched him stare down at his erection ﹘ his blessed, enormous fucking erection, Kami, she was a lucky woman ﹘ where it was resting on her crotch, trying to figure out something.

“What?” she rasped. He looked up at her and wordlessly pulled her up. Sakura was only glad he was doing all the work for her because her body was still partly jelly.

Stepping away, he turned her away and around, her elbows collapsing onto the pillow, but he pulled her up again, propping her hands on the wall in front of her instead.

Naruto was surprisingly particular during sex. He didn’t do it unthinkingly. He was considerate, ever-sensitive to her signals, and soft, but also very detailed about how he wanted to do it. Sakura didn’t mind it, mostly, unless she didn’t enjoy a position, of course. He never made it her problem, deep in thought as he carefully arranged her himself, and it always felt good, no matter what he did. And she liked that level of self-control, even when must have been painfully hard, like right now.

At any rate, she was in no mood to tell him to hurry up. Her head was still feather-light, and her body felt like she was underwater.

When he was happy with his apparatus, he closed his hands around her hips, waking her up a bit, and pressed a kiss on her shoulder. “All good, sweetheart?”

“Please.”

Lining himself up, he pushed slowly into her, and she felt like she could die happily. Sakura quickly turned around to watch him. She loved this part. His eyes rolled back, followed by his head, a loud exhale escaping his mouth. He just stayed like that for a moment, and when he saw her watching him, broke into an embarrassed laugh.

“I’m not lasting today, sorry,” he said abashedly.

Sakura shook her head. He was just back from training and exhausted. She had just finished a 12-hour shift at the hospital, and she wasn’t exaggerating when she said she was ready to see heaven after this. Maybe go into hibernation.

Moving closer, he kissed her cheek, and looked down again, slowly pulling out. Sakura knew where this was heading in just a few minutes, so she tried to savor this slow, deliberate beginning.

This position was …well, a bit ‘dangerous’ for them. He touched her g-spot with every thrust in this position, and of course, the sight of her backside turned Naruto’s brain to goo. They were gonna be quick and intense today, apparently. As she mentioned, she didn’t mind at all.

He fucked her in slow and deep strokes, hitting her spot every time. Sakura’s breath was turning high-strung, and she fisted her hands where they were planted on the wall. They too would be useless in a few minutes.

Naruto began to alternate between a medium and slow pace, slowing down every time she let out a moan. Sakura knew her voice during sex was incredibly arousing for him. He was doing everything to make this last.

He kept the rhythm for a long time, and Sakura was slowly ascending. She smiled to herself when she heard his breathing get louder and louder, finally turning to murmurs of “Sakura, fuck,” and “you’re incredible” and “you feel so good”.

Suddenly, he paused, his member almost completely out, and if Sakura was in any thinking state she would've guessed what he was going to do, but she wasn’t. After a moment, his fingers tightened and in an instant, he thrust back in with immense force.

Kami, was she gone. Her moan ﹘ was it a scream? ﹘ came only a heartbeat later. “Naruto!”

Naruto didn’t say anything. He returned to a medium pace quickly, hands massaging her stomach and breasts, but as soon as she was unsuspecting enough, repeated his atrocious move.

A few rounds of this had Sakura mewling. A hand snaked its way around her torso, tearing her away from the wall, and the other may its way down her stomach, pubic, and to her clit, drawing a loud whine from her.

Steadying his pace, Naruto played with her folds and clit, all while clutching her in place with an unmoving arm. Sakura thought her legs would definitely give under her now. Her eyes were turning watery.

To her immense relief, he stopped his ministrations and gripped both her breasts instead, and now he was truly starting to pick up his pace. His palms were large and calloused and warm and lovely. This was the point where without him Sakura would not be able to hold herself up.

‘Kami, you feel so fucking good,” he moaned. She only managed an inhuman gurgle in reply.

The thrusts were sending her rocking forward now, offset only by Naruto’s hold. He moved one hand up for a better grip, and the new position was restricting her breath in the best way. Her own hands came to rest on his, weakly fingering against his large, rock-hard hands.

His own moans were starting to turn audible. Sakura, of course, was letting out a high-pitched mewl every half a second. She had no control over anything anymore.

Unwinding himself from her, he let fall forward onto the mattress to grasp her hips again. He brought one leg up, resting his foot on the bed, and one hand to her shoulder, and what came next would be more of a dream than a memory for Sakura.

Moans turned to screams and cries rather swiftly, tears welling up in abundance. She felt her breasts swinging around with each thrust, and hear the flesh of her thighs and ass slap. She was coming for at least the third time today.

Naruto was doing his best to not send her flying with the hand on her shoulder, but she could, through a swimming pool of thought, tell he was close now as well. His thrusts were getting impossibly fast and hard, so much that she could hardly feel him anymore, only his movement thundering through her body.

In a couple minutes, he was pulling out and shooting white, hot liquid onto her back. Sakura collapsed fully onto her stomach, her legs hanging off her twin-sized bed. She heard Naruto move away. Moments later, he returned, and she felt a soft towel wiping his orgasm off her back.

He swung her legs onto the bed, and she took the chance to painfully crawl into place. He collapsed beside her and groaned loudly. Naruto was usually full of adrenaline after sex, which meant he was prone to say stupid things.

“Wow,” he said, a bit loudly for her liking. “That was mind-blowing. I think someone should make a movie about it.”

Sakura smiled to herself. She was a sucker for his kindergarten humor, but she’d let him know over her dead body. Gathering the last of her strength, she moved his arm to rest under her head, and kissed his chest, placing a finger on his lips, “Shhh.”

Naruto giggled away like a schoolboy, kissing her finger.

++

Sakura traced a careful, delicate fingertip across the splatter of freckles that clad Naruto’s broad shoulders. He was lying on his stomach, but not quite sleeping ﹘ opening a lazy eye every time her movements broke their rhythm and grunting when she dropped an occasional kiss on the expanse of his back.

He had just come back from a solo mission from the border where alleged terrorist activity had taken place, but Naruto claimed that it was simply some riff-raffs with grand-looking jutsu styles who calmed down after taking some good punches and a good, old lecture.

Uzumaki-style, Sakura joked, but Naruto only tilted his head sideways, oblivious. It seemed that he really was clueless about his own knack for persuading the enemy with mundanely-worded but passionate sob stories of his, but Sakura didn’t want to press it.

Truly, for someone who had trained so hard and is quite easily the most powerful shinobi in the whole world, Naruto’s most preferred manner of solving problems was communication, although maybe sometimes she wished he would just beat the hell out of the other person. Like Sasuke. But she supposed he did do that…

Propping her head up with her forearm, she ran her hand through his rough, blonde locks and pulled a little.

Naruto let out a boyish whine, “What are you doing?”

Sakura leaned into his head and sniffed, “I think you need to wash your hair.”

Instead of responding, the man pulled her hand away from her head and manhandled her into a little spoon as she feigned protests.

“You tired?”

Naruto grunted, “Nah. Why? Wanna go for another round?”

“No!” Sakura huffed. “Just…asking. Kami. Because of the mission, idiot”

Giggles vibrated through the back of her neck. “Sorry.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, and snuggled up against Naruto’s warm body, smugly waiting for his member to soon start making its appearance, but the boy seemed quite relaxed.

“I know what you’re doing,” he warned, tightening his grip on her waist, but then pulling her closer anyway.

“Well, I don’t,” Sakura giggled like a little girl, but something was building in her stomach. “You know, I miss you so much nowadays. It feels a bit stupid.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly, playing with his fingers. “It is, no? After all this time, look at me falling for you.”

Suddenly, Naruto froze up, and then in a heartbeat, he loosened up. “Okay, ha ha.”

Huh. ‘Ha ha’?

“What?” she shot at him.

“What? Nothing.”

She wrestled herself out of his embrace and faced him, giving him an appraisingl look. “What was that for?”

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Sakura-chan.”

“Oh, come on. What was that reaction?”

Naruto looked away, "It's nothing…But you should drop it."

"What? You think I'm," she sputtered. "You think this is a joke?'

His hands fell away from her body, warmth leaving her like that on an autumn night. The blanket lifted, and Naruto was suddenly on the edge of the bed, reaching for his discarded clothes.

Sakura was starting to feel a vacuum for words, but it was all too quick just yet. She shot up and twisted to face him. "Where are you going?"

Naruto just shook his head. "Nowhere. I'll see you later."

Having put on his boxers and pants, he got up, looking about for the rest of his attire, she presumed. She let the blanket slide off of her as she crawled to the foot of the bed. "Naruto, what's happening?"

"Nothing," he sounded so stiff, so cold. She'd never heard him speak to her so curtly.

His gaze surveyed the floor and the room as he picked up his jacket, but his shirt was still nowhere to be seen. In her peripheral vision, Sakura spotted black fabric between her bed and desk but she had other things to deal with. And she wasn't in the mood to let him get away.

"Naruto, what's going on?" she prodded, getting off the bed and following him.

He'd already shrugged on his jacket over his bare chest, but he only shook his head in reply. A glimpse of his expression sent a cold breeze into the pit of her stomach. "Nothing, I've, uh. I've got something."

It was three in the morning. He wasn't making, or was he incapable, any grand attempt at coming up with excuses, it seemed.

"I'll tell you where your shirt is if you just calm down and talk to me."

Naruto stopped and turned, his expression forged in steel. "Don't play with me," he said in a low warning.

Sakura stepped back, "Hey, it's just about a shirt. Why the hell are you so upset?"

He flinched and shook his head again, whizzing past her to frantically look around her room, this time picking up and dropping things without much care. Sakura was on his heel this time, trying to still him, "Naruto, calm down!"

He shrugged off her touch, although not harshly, but didn't pause his ministrations, and when he turned around and stood, towering over the pinkette, he seemed to have located what he was looking.

However, as he made a move for it, Sakura gripped his wrist. It didn't occur to her that she was using her ninjutsu, but Naruto all but stumbled back like he'd hit a glass wall, and she loosened her hold guiltily, although she didn't drop his hand.

He whipped around at the pace of an arrow, crowding her space, "Sakura, I told you to drop it. Don't play with me."

Sakura felt her patience wearing down now. She noted mildly that he'd dropped the honorific, but didn't know what to make of it. In fact, she didn't know what to make of anything, given she had no clue what he was on about.

She gathered chakra in her wrist once more, and shot back, "Well maybe I will, if you fucking tell me what you're talking about!"

To her absolute horror, Naruto's eyes flashed orange, and she would have gathered the brainspace to worry about a thousand-year-old night-tailed monster witness butt-naked if Naruto's anger wasn’t visibly turning to rage as he walked them back and slammed his wrist ﹘still in her grip ﹘ on the icy wall behind her, her back following next, albeit less harshly. She was even more keenly aware of her own bare body now, contrasted with Naruto's.

"Is this a sport to you? Let my hand go," he said, voice raised.

Sakura swallowed, but an unknown spirit was starting to possess her. "No! What's going on? Why are you so upset?"

"Why am I upset?" his face contorted into a medley of expressions, each more venomous than the previous. "You pull this fucking confession nonsense again and ask me why I'm upset? Are you for real? Do you ever get tired of kicking me around like I'm a ball or something?"

She was appalled. "What? What's wrong with my confession? What have I said?"

Naruto broke into an exasperated smile, soaked in vitriolic sarcasm. "What's wrong with it is that it's fake! And the thing is, I can't even tell what your grand plan is this time around. A joke is only so funny the first time, Sakura-chan."

"Grand- what! what the hell? What do you mean it's "fake"? What gives you the authority to dismiss me like this?"

Naruto looked into her eyes, but this time, sadness was painted over his anger, "Sakura-chan, don't do this to me again. You know you got me wrapped around your finger right?"

Sakura's eyes widened. The grief in his voice was so painful. What the hell was he saying? What did he mean by that? He still liked her?

"You're," he stuttered. "You're the only girl I've seriously laid my eyes on. You know, right?"

She felt like she was thrown into a lake in the dead of winter. What the fuck? She didn't know that. And if this was the case, what was the problem?

"So don't play this game with me. You've won."

A single tear escaped her eye, running down her cheek torturously. She shook her head, but Naruto's gaze was on the floor. "Naruto, you-"

He looked up, somewhat surprised at the tears, but she wiped them away quickly.

"You have no right to-to," she struggled. "You can't just deny my feelings like that. And no, I didn't know all of that. I didn't know you still liked me."

"Oh, come on. As if I'm subtle about anything. Don't act so ignorant, Sakura. Why do you think I've been at your apartment every three days these past months?"

"Oh? Well, haven't I been doing the same? what do you think I've been doing?"

Naruto swallowed. She could tell his resolve was cracking now. He didn't have a good answer, "I don't know. Sleeping around."

Sakura scoffed, "How convenient. I don't understand you. What's so unbelievable about this?"

"Well," he frowned. "I don't understand why."

"Why? Why! We've been comrades for over a decade and been through literal hell together and have saved lives together, and you've saved my life countless times and been here for me through years of trauma, and you can't understand why I could develop feelings for you?"

"Well, it's been so long…"

"What? So you're valid because you had a crush on me when we were five because I had pink hair?"

He pursed his lips, and his hand grew taut in Sakura's grip again as he grinded her hand into the wall with his, "It's not just a crush."

"So it's changed?"

"Obviously," he spat.

"Well, so have my feelings!" she yelled, but he shook his head again. "What, now?"

"You," he began.

Sakura was breathless now. Her senses were sharper than ever, her heart beat loud and racing. "What!"

"You’re in love with Sasuke!"

It was a low blow. It was clear Naruto had just brainwashed himself into never thinking beyond that which he took as a divine fact. They don't talk about Sakura and her attachment to Sasuke anymore. It was something she'd been trying to move from for years. He couldn't just say that to her anymore.. but something equally petty was brewing in her mind.

"What? And you’re not?"

She knew she'd hit the nail on the head as his eyes widened. "What? No, it's not - you don't understand."

"Look me in the eye and tell him there's someone in this universe you care about more, Naruto."

Naruto frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? I care about you."

"But it's Sasuke in the end, isn't it?"

"No, absolutely not. It's different with him, but you've never for a single moment been less of a priority for me. He's just different."

Sakura eyed him suspiciously. "Right."

"Sakura-chan, don’t start this now, “ he protested. “Listen, he was gone, okay!"

"I know."

"If you up and left like that, I would've come after you too."

"I know that! Don't you think I know that? Then why can't you accept that it's different for me too? You and him. It has nothing to do with him. My feelings for you. You're my best friend, Naruto. You're my comrade, my go-to. My constant. It's nothing like Sasuke."

Sakura had no clue she would be revealing so much today, but it was all true. Not a word was disingenuous, and it was all a whirl. They'd never said these things out loud before. Even with them having sex on more days than not…they'd never said these things.

She was slightly scared of the implications. She hated the idea of them bonding over their shared longing for Sasuke, but it was undeniable, even if it didn't account for everything.

Naruto shut his eyes,

“You can’t decide for me like that,” Sakura ended, dropping his hand.

Naruto looked at her, then his eyes gaze lowered as if drinking in her body once more. He brought one hand to ghost over her cheek, over her shoulder, over her breast, and finally perched on her waist. His gentleness was relaxing as he led them to the edge of the bed again and collapsed onto the mattress. Sakura climbed in next to him, not touching.

“I understand teme, ya know,” he said. “He’s gotta figure himself out, and all that. And he feels his place in Konoha is different given his abilities and past. But sometimes him not being here is.. Well, I feel it, I guess, and you make it better.”

She didn’t say anything. Naruto turned toward her. “You’re sure this isn’t..to do with him? Not just for you.”

A slow smile crept into her lips and she reached for his cheek, “No, I’m pretty fucking sure we’re not settling for each other.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

She paused and thought, “I know. The thing is, we can’t just erase him. He’s very dear to us, and that’s probably not going away. But that can’t mean this is nothing.”

His eyes softened impossibly, “Thank you. And I'm sorry. I've been lying to myself so I don't get my hopes up and get hurt, but I didn't realise I was actually deciding for you. I really care about you. I love you. I swear, there’s no one else like you in my life. Never was.”

She drew closer, bringing her forehead to rest on his, and he in turned his body towards hers, a hand coming to press into her side, "It's okay "

“Ya know, when this first happened,” he chuckled softly. “It felt so unreal. I can’t believe you wanted me. If the 12-year-old Naruto Uzumaki knew this, that I could have you like this,”

He eyed her body once more, and she flushed under his gaze, curling her body inwards.

Looking up, he smiled in disbelief, “I think he would bust a nerve in his skull or somethin’.”

“Shut up,” Sakura blushed. Kami, was Naruto making her blush…if she knew at the age of twelve, freshly made a genin, that this would be the case she would’ve laughed. Or cried.

Well, 12-year-old Sakura didn’t know how dashingly hot Naruto would grow up to be, she supposed. And she was a shallow, little punk. Like children are.

Naruto wasn’t finished with his flattery. He pulled her into a kiss, muttering, “You pretty, pretty girl. The prettiest girl in the world.”

Sakura whined and buried her head into his chest, away from his gaze, “Please stop.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “Thank you, and really, I’m sorry for..all that.”

Sakura laughed to herself. There was no way people like them were going to figure out their feelings and sexuality without so much as a hiccup, which was what this was. She couldn’t bear to remember all the things Sasuke did to her, although she knew he loved her in his own way. She was sure she could bear a little emotional immaturity, especially from someone like Naruto.

“Don’t be silly.”

++

Subconsciously, Sakura drew her kunai from the sleeve of her jacket. It was a chilly evening as she walked back from the hospital, but there was something else that was making her hair stand erect, and she was struggling to put her finger on it.

Cautiously, she opened her front door, trying not to appear too suspicious. She paused for half a second, gripping her kunai ﹘coated in poison, as all her blades were ﹘ and entered.

The apartment was as she left it, dark and quiet, but she knew as soon as she stepped inside.

“Sorry for not knocking,” came a deep voice, familiar but affronting as ever.

Sakura stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Clearing her throat, she said formally, “Hello.”

She wanted to be excited to see Sasuke, but she was always scared of annoying him. So she ended up swallowing any excessive feelings, as though he were a father to whom she was trying to not to reveal her premature inebriety. Kami, what a handful he was.

But she seemed to have overdone it. Sasuke looked at her with a pained expression, like she was wearing her underwear over her pants, “What’s wrong with you?”

Sakura rolled her eyes, hoping he would not see it in the dark ﹘ knowing he would, of course. The damned Renegan, as if his Sharingan wasn’t enough.

“Nothing!” she tried again, smiling this time and switching on a lamp. She was scared any fluorescent light would be offensive to the man.

He looked exactly like he did the last time she had seen him. She hoped that meant nothing was troubling him too much. He was sitting on her couch, one leg thrown over the other, and his one hand planted on the armrest. He gazed up at her with practiced disinterest, and he was ethereal as ever.

“It’s nice to see you, Sasuke-kun,” she smiled again, walking toward him and decided to sit down on the arm of the other one-seater sofa.

He grunted in response, his mannerism bordering childish. Sakura laughed to herself. In so many ways he hadn’t changed at all, but he had grown out of his allergy to emotion, which meant his current state was an attempt at overcompensating for something.

“Everything good with you?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been eating well?”

Sasuke seemed as though he was about to say something like ‘you’re not my mom,” but he settled for, “Just about. Thank you.”

“Right.”

He was quite cute like this. Sakura wanted to see how far she could torture him with awkward questions and small talk, just to see him sit there looking constipated, but she was slightly tired for that.

“So,” she said, “What brings you here?”

He looked at her sideways. “I thought that idiot would be here.”

“He’s on a mission, I think. He’s due back today,” Sakura said, confused, and a bit anxious. “But why would he be here?”

Sasuke paused, then shrugged, as if he couldn’t be bothered to explain himself. Was something supposed to be obvious here?

“What do you need him for?”

He got up and walked towards the dining table, “There’s been a development.”

She followed him, watching as he picked up a glass to set it aside, followed by the water jug, and looked at her blankly. It took her a moment to realize he was asking for permission. She nodded, “Of course. What kind of development?”

“I don’t,” he paused, pouring himself a glass of water. “It’s classified.”

Sakura looked at him ridiculously while he took a sip. “You know Nauto’s gonna tell me everything.”

Sasuke took another sip before answering. Sakura had always found his delicate, cultivated mannerisms so curious. As a child, she thought he was poised in a way that was expected of her as a girl, but he was so much better at it than her. Even with one hand, now, he was awfully elegant.

The words that left his mouth a moment later were not, however, in the least bit elegant.

“What? Now that you two are fucking?”

Sakura stood flabbergasted, her mouth dry. “W-what? Did he tell you?”

To her credit, Sasuke looked slightly guilty. He shook his head and turned away, looking out the window instead. “I can tell. I’m not an idiot,” he said dimly.

For a moment she stood still, silently. She had only told Ino and Sai about this, and Naruto probably had told no one. Kakashi definitely knew from the beginning. But this wasn't about people knowing, this was about ...She shook her head. It didn’t matter if Sasuke knew. Nothing would change his ways, and neither she nor Naruto ever stood a chance with him.

But there was something else. Because if Sakura’s gut feeling contained even a modicum of truth, Sasuke ﹘ the reincarnation of Asura, the wielder of not one but two of the most powerful visual prowesses in the world, the man who undid the Infinite Tsukiyomi at the age of seventeen ﹘was lying.

Sakura closed and opened her eyes, a coy smile was playing on her lips. She was on to something, and she wouldn’t let his words get in the way.

“Sasuke,-kun” she spoke. “Why are you here, really?”

He looked at her irritatedly but paused as he opened his mouth. She realised he was probably about to repeat the bland lie he’d spat earlier but ﹘ and she literally saw all this in real-time ﹘ could see she saw through his farce. He shut his mouth, and ﹘ unless she was going bonkers at age twenty-four ﹘ his eyes soften.

“I,” he began, then looked away again. A moment passed as she waited. His profile looked excruciatingly handsome in the moonlight.

“I just wanted to see you two, idiot”

++

It was still dark when she left a presence leave. It was as unobtrusive as anything could be, but she was wide awake now. She stared at the ceiling emptily. He always left so soon, never failing to leave her longing. After turning about in the bed for some time, she decided to get out of bed, carefully climbing over Naruto’s sleeping figure.

She was sharpening her kunai’s, something she struggled to find time for lately, when he heard shuffling footsteps. Naruto could be pretty loud in his half-awake state. She was glad she was the early riser amongst the two. A few minutes later, he emerged from her room, clad in nothing but sweats.

His bare body was fabulous in the muted light of the morning. His tan muscles were perfectly defined this early in the day. She could make up every single set of muscles over his abdomen, chest and biceps. Kami, Sakura could stare at him forever.

When he headed over to place a kiss on her forehead, she could smell the toothpaste on his mouth. She leaned into his touch like a tame cat.

“There’s milk in the fridge,” she said. Oh, yes. Naruto didn’t drink coffee or tea. He drank plain milk, sometimes with some honey in it, if he was feeling ‘spazzy’.

But the man just pulled up a chair and sat down, lazily trying to pull her onto her lap and failing. Sakura watched him with mild amusement for a few seconds. Finally, she put down the kunai and settled onto his lap herself.

“I’ll kill you if you get hard,” she warned without much bite. “I have work in some time.”

He smiled, embracing her warmly, “No promises.”

He looked incredibly cute in his half-awake state. Sakura couldn’t herself from grabbing his puffy cheeks in one hand and smothering him with some forceful kisses, ignoring his protests. His stupid grin a second later, however, made it evident that he loved being babied like this. At that moment, Sakura thought he deserved all the love in the world.

“Morning, baby,” she called cutely. Naruto giggled stupidly.

“When did he leave?” he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder..

“It’s been a few hours,” she said softly.

Naruto grunted, “How do y’all wake up so early, dattebayo?”

“Because, you know, we’re shinobi?”

He hummed dismissively, arms coming to wrap around her tighter. “Now, where were on the question of morning sex?”

“Naruto, no -”