"The Love of Another"

"Where is that baka? We were supposed to meet here today at ten." Sakura mumbled quietly leaning against a tree trunk. She had been waiting for thirty minutes for Naruto to show up but he was running late.

"Probably sleeping in as usual." Sakura mumbled as she looked up at the sky and watched the clouds pass by. The two were supposed to have a casual sparring session today, one that they really needed. Naruto had been bed ridden in the hospital for a week due to the injuries he had suffered in a recent mission. But they were injuries he said were glad that he had, because they were injuries that helped him prevent any more conflict of hatred.

"Baka, always the reckless one. Still, I can't help but admire his sacrifices." Sakura told herself as she smiled and walked away from her tree and out of the training grounds. She was growing tired of Naruto to show up to a session that she knew he needed to get his body back into tip top shape. After all, Tsunade had given him a week off of training and missions to heal. That week was up and he needed to get active again.

"It isn't like him to not be ready for a training session." Sakura commented to herself. And in truth Naruto had not been himself since the war had ended.

Then again, losing Sasuke was something that he had not taken well and still was attempting to get past. But it had to be done Sakura kept telling him and herself. What else could be done? Naruto had valiantly defended him to the end. But know it was different. He wasn't the same as he used to be. Four years on, he was still a lovable baka, but he's demeanor was different. In fact, Sakura had not seen him eat ramen for a week and only was able to get him to come out to the training grounds just on the off chance of seeing him yesterday around the village. That should have been a warning sign for her this time around.

"Well he's not skipping out on this." Sakura sighed as she hurried along back to the main village streets in search of the baka. Her hair blew in the wind quickly as she ran past the villagers, so quick actually that she didn't see Ino in her way. Colliding with her both fell to the ground in a heap, bodies bruised slightly.

"Come on Forehead, you need to watch where you're going." Ino remarked as she doesn't herself off.

"Shut up Pig, I'm in no mood to talk right now." Sakura growled dusting herself off as well and making sure everything was in place.

"Oh? And why are your panties in a bunch today?" Ino smirked at her.

"Don't say it like that Ino, and if you must know, that baka Naruto didn't show up for our sparring session today." Sakura explained simply.

"Well, if you're looking for him, I saw him walking down the road earlier today. But I got to say, he wasn't looking happy." Ino replied.

"Why are you saying that?" Sakura tilted her head in confusion.

"Well, he wasn't exactly responsive to anyone that he passed by. Any villager that came up to him looking to thank him, he simply blew them off. His head was hung low and he simply kept walking. He didn't even answer me when I saw him." Ino answered.

"He's still not over what happened in the war." Sakura sighed quietly brushing her hair slightly back.

"The war was four years ago, surely he's gotten over it by now." Ino inquired her friend. Sakura simply shook her.

"No, he hasn't. I know that you and the others of our class don't see it, but I do." Sakura tried to explain.

"What exactly do you see that we don't?" Ino asked Sakura with a little annoyance at the supposed insult to her surroundings.

"It's not an insult Ino, so you can stop making that face." Sakura retorted.

"I know that! Anyway, what are you talking about?" Ino asked again as the two women out to the side of the road.

"Listen, I know he may seem happy, but Naruto is very good at hiding his emotions from others. Have you noticed that he's more serious than he used to be?" Sakura asked.

"Well yeah, but who wouldn't be serious trying to fulfill his passed sensei's wishes? The guy isn't exactly someone to back down from a challenge." Ino reminded her.

"I know that Ino, but I see it in his actions. He's not the same person he used to be. He doesn't have the carefree emotion he used to have, but he's been able to hide it pretty well." Sakura explained. Ino however was annoyed at her friend's explanation though.

"Ok, let's say that you're right, then why haven't you or the Hokage tried to get him to open up?" Ino asked her, hands on her hips.

"Don't you think I've tried? But he's always saying nothing is wrong and every time I try, he just simply wants to change the subject. It's bad enough he's been holding this in four years after the war, but it's worse that he want open up to me of all people." Sakura replied crossing her arms.

"Well, if I didn't see it any clearer, I think that the problem is that he doesn't want to open up to you." Ino tried to guess.

"Are you serious or has your idiotic brain finally gotten to you? Why would he not want to open up to me?" Sakura asked in a pissed off tone.

"I'm the idiot?" Ino laughed quietly.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked Ino in the same angry tone.

"Sakura, you hold feelings for him keep them concealed and keep on waiting for no apparent reason. You feel guilty about what you said to him in the Land of Iron, you feel guilty for betraying his trust, you think you're a bitch and that he deserves better. You think he deserves Hinata and yet he hasn't done anything with her. In fact, he had talked to her and said that he simply didn't feel the same about her, long story short." Ino explained.

"I know that he told Hinata that. I know that Ino, and all the things you said are true, but what am I supposed to do? He won't open up to me and when I get around him, I can't tell him how I feel about him." Sakura waved her arms in frustration.

"Tell him, stop beating around the bush and tell like we've talked about. He hasn't made a move on anyone. What is that telling you right there?" Ino asked Sakura.

"It tells me he's got other things on his mind." Sakura replied.

"You keep telling yourself that Sakura. But let me ask you this, what exactly were you planning to do with this sparring session of yours? Because I know that you simply weren't trying to have a spar session with him." Ino replied.

"What do you think? Of course I was going to try and tell him, but he needed to get out to begin with. You saw him Ino, he's not himself and I thought that he could use our sparring session to begin with. For Kami's sake, I've been trying to get him out of this state for four years now. I've been trying to get my own feelings out as well but just can never get myself up to do it. I've used the old excuses of he's been busy and he has and the same with me. The last time I saw him before yesterday was three weeks ago and two weeks before that. I'm not letting him out of my sight like this again. He needs someone with him now." Sakura spoke with confidence in her voice.

"Good, I hear the confidence, now I just need to see the results. Go find him and make him yours before I do. I'd rather not talk about more how you want to tell him and actually what you do to him." Ino teased her with innuendo, causing Sakura to blush.

"Shut up! I will never say anything on such a personal level!" Sakura huffed out.

"You will once you actually do something with him." Ino replied with a smirk. Sakura simply sighed again at her friend's ever so subtle wording.

"I'm surprised you or the others haven't told Naruto how I feel. Thanks for keeping it quiet, I'd rather tell him on my own." Sakura smiled.

"It's no problem. Now go find him and tell him yourself. When I saw him last, he was walking in the direction of his house. I got to say, it's a big improvement over his old apartment." Ino remarked.

"Yeah, but I bet it's lonely in there too. Listen, I need to go find him before he does something to himself." Sakura spoke with urgency in her voice.

"Go, go, go then!" Ino shoved Sakura back onto the road who then turned and nodded before running off. Ino sighed quietly, hoping that she would finally tell the baka what she had wanted to say for years.

Sakura forced her legs to push themselves a little quicker with the knowledge that Naruto was possibly in a position to harm himself. Ok, that maybe a little excessive her mind told her.

'He wouldn't do anything to himself…would he? Shit! I better move it now!' Sakura raced onto the rooftops and kicked it into high gear. Her feelings began to take control over her body. She needed him in her life, she needed his warmth, and she needed him completely. Whatever had happened in the war, whenever she began to see him as something more she couldn't remember, but she knew she couldn't see herself without him in her life and that was all she needed to know.

It didn't take her long to get to Naruto's front door, but the house eerily dark and quiet. She turned the door handle just on the off chance that it was open since she didn't have a key to his home. The door clicked as the handle turned and she opened it, stepping inside.

"Naruto, are you here?" Sakura called out shutting the door behind her. The house was just as eerie and quiet on the inside as it was on the outside. Sakura began to walk slowly and examine each room out.

"Naruto?" she called out again poking her head in the living room.

"No sign of him here, Naruto?" Sakura called out again checking in his bedroom and his bathroom.

"Come on Naruto, I know you're here." Sakura called out to him again. She heard a clatter from the kitchen in the back of the house. She moved a little quicker to make sure that he was the source of the noise. She entered the doorway to find a horrifying sight. There sat Naruto near his kitchen table with around twenty empty sake bottles cluttered around it, his body slumped on the table, motionless.

"Naruto!" Sakura rushed over and checked for a pulse. She found that there was one there, and luckily not life threatening. She sighed in relief as it was simply a matter of making sure he didn't vomit in a way that would joke. But she was still thinking about what she actually saw before her eyes.

"Naruto…" Sakura whispered sadly as she saw the state of the twenty year old man. She never would have thought he would turn to sake like this. And it made her wonder just how long he had actually been doing this without her knowledge.

'Is he really that depressed that he's resulted to Jiraiya and Tsunade's old habits?' She thought as she kneeled down and attempted to wake up the blond.

"Hey Naruto, it's Sakura, time to wake up." She told him, but to no avail. Right now, Naruto was deep in his own thoughts, having a conversation with his partner.

"You know that your favorite female is trying to wake you up right now." Kurama growled out.

"I know she is, but I don't want to right now." Naruto replied.

"Any reason why you don't want to? She seems pretty concerned."

"It doesn't matter does it? Right now I could care less. I just want to be alone."

"And that's why you're down here talking to me?"

"I feel like you're the only one that can understand me. I mean, you do live in my body after all."

"Well if I were to make a suggestion, I wouldn't rely on me being good company."

"Tell me about it."

"What has brought on this sudden bought of depression in you Naruto?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I haven't done enough to help the world. Sometimes I just feel really lonely, other times I just don't want to talk to anyone. I can't really explain it."

"Have you tried explaining it to the girl smacking you awake?"

"She wouldn't understand, she never has."

"You may be surprised by just how much one person knows about you. Talking to me isn't going to help you get through this."

"And you think she will? She doesn't care about me in that way anyways, only as a friend."

"Ah, now it becomes clear. You've never told me this is what you think of her."

"What do you mean?"

"It's obvious. You feel she still harbors feelings for the Uchiha that you killed. And you feel like she can never forgive you."

"More or less. Why would she want me after I did that to her? It's hard enough that I killed my best friend, but it's harder to know that I killed the one she loved."

"Like I said, you may be very well surprised by what a person's heart holds. You were surprised when that Huuyga said she loved you. Yet you turned her down just as quick. You still harbor your own feelings the Haruno. Maybe you should express them."

"I told you, she doesn't like me that way."

"Well, we'll just have to see for ourselves. I suspect seeing you in this state may bring out her own feelings. And don't think that having me in your chakra system is going to help you recover from being intoxicated, I intend to let ring through slowly just to show you how bad you messed up."

"Nice, you're saying I won't be able to be sober in an hour? Thanks for that Kurama."

"Hey, it's to teach you a lesson. Don't follow in your sensei's or Tsunade's footsteps. Being drunk is overrated.

"Not when it takes the pain away."

"Whatever you say Naruto. Have fun."

"Come on Naruto, I need you to wake up! Please, please move!" Sakura tried shaking him, hoping that he had not drunk himself into a coma. Her fears were relieved when Naruto groaned quietly, slightly moving to signal he was awake. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.

"You baka, do you know how worried I was about you?" Sakura asked him cupping his cheek.

"Sorry…." Naruto grumbled, barely opening his eyes. "Bathroom…"

"What was that?" Sakura asked him to repeat a little clearer.

"Kurama…not let me sober…need to…puke…" Naruto mumbled a little clearer. Sakura nodded and instead of helping him up, grabbed the nearest trash can in his kitchen and placed it in front of him.

"If you need vomit, do it in here first before we move." Sakura instructed him. Naruto groaned loudly before violently chucking up his food and sake from his stomach. Sakura could only rub his back gently and watch in sorrow in the state that he was in. A few minutes passed by before Naruto felt himself momentarily relieved of his need to vomit.

"Ok, let's get you into bed." Sakura said, gently helping him to his feet. Naruto clearly was beyond intoxicated as he stumbled even with her assistance. While she led the way to his bedroom, Sakura couldn't believe someone could drink so much sake, but this was Naruto after all. Still, the amount he had consumed was beyond normal limits so she would have to say with him.

"Here you go, lay down." Sakura ordered as she pulled back the covers and helped him into bed. Naruto groaned quietly as he continued to feel the effects of the sake.

"Kurama…you better hope…better hope I don't get better…" Naruto mumbled out loudly enough for Sakura to hear.

"You better hope he heals you after I get through with you." Sakura scolded him as she went his bathroom to get a bucket and fill it with water.

"Wouldn't…be the first time." Naruto mumbled clear enough for Sakura to hear over the running faucet. Those words, those five simple words did remind her of what she could be like. It hurt her to hear him say that, but under the effects of twenty bottles of sake, she was sure he wouldn't remember later on. She returned to his bedside and placed the bucket next to him.

"When you need to vomit, use this." Sakura instructed him.

"Why don't you just use your medical jutsu to help the process?" Naruto reminded her.

"I can try, but if what you're saying about Kurama is true, then he may not let me." Sakura replied back.

"Well, I'm not speaking terms with him right now. He's blocked my path until I'm sober." Naruto groaned out in mumbles. Sakura sighed as she began to focus chakra into her hands. Placing them on his stomach, she attempted to release some of the alcohol and discomfort.

"You don't seem that drunk right now. You're able to speak in complete sentences so maybe he's lifted some of it off." Sakura offered a tad of comfort to him.

"Still feel dizzy though."

"Ok, maybe not. Listen, I'm going to stay with you until all of this out of your system." Sakura explained to him.

"You don't have to do that you know. You've got more important things to do that to look after me." Naruto replied feeling some the pain leaving his body.

"Nothing is more important than you right now Naruto. I can see what's going on with you and you need my help." Sakura explained as she reached over to the table for a water bottle she had brought with her. She opened it and helped guide it to his lips. "Drink of this to help flush out your system."

Naruto obeyed her command and took five large gulps of water before stopping for air. If he was sober, he would have been able to resist it and send Sakura home, but right now, he was too weak. Sakura heard the unmistakable sound of a stomach gurgling. Naruto began to choke slightly, holding back the contents of his stomach momentarily.

Sakura reached over for the bucket and placed it on his lap. Naruto didn't waste any time as he headed into it and vomited again. Most woman in this situation would be sick themselves, but Sakura was a trained medic and deeply worried friend for him. She sat by rubbing his back as he continued to vomit and clear out his system.

'He's going to be in a world of pain later when he's sober.'

"I'm sorry." Naruto handed the bucket back to her after five minutes of unsettling movements. Sakura took the pale from him.

"You don't have to be sorry, it's fine. Just wait here a minute while I clean this out." Sakura stood from the chair she had brought in and went to the bathroom. The sound of running water filled Naruto's ears as he laid in bed.

'Why would she help me?' Naruto thought as he found himself falling into a deep sleep.

Sakura returned back with the pale freshened out to find that he had fallen asleep in his bed.

"That baka, he can't fall asleep, at least until his system is cleared. Well, let me see if he's under any threat to vomit again." Sakura told herself as she channeled chakra into her hands and examined his stomach again. It was a good thing that she had learned from her days with Tsunade, especially since she wasn't any better with drinking habits, but at least she was experienced. She found his stomach was under no threat and was happy.

"Good, at least he won't choke. But he still looks uncomfortable." Sakura commented as she watched him sleep. He had the movements of someone with a nightmare. The kunoichi sighed returning to the kitchen to clean up the sake bottles and such. As she threw the bottles in the trash she found one that had a fair amount of sake still left over.

"Oh what the hell." Sakura shrugged and took a quick sip of it, something that she regretted.

"Holy shit! What the hell? This stuff is more potent than what Tsunade drinks. What proof is this?" Sakura said as she turned the bottle. She almost gasped at the number she saw, a number that she rather not see again.

"I can't believe he would drink that potent sake. He's out of his mind drinking just one bottle, but twenty?" Sakura asked herself as she poured the contents down the drain and threw the last bottle in the trash.

She grabbed a bottle from his kitchen cupboard and filled it with water for Naruto have later on. She felt so sad that he had turned to alcohol, and such a potent one at that. He really needed her now. Sakura wiped away a tear from her eye as she took the bottle and returned to the bedroom to find Naruto still moving in his sleep.

Sakura decided to be a bit bold and knew that she had to force herself to confess her feelings towards him. Pulling the covers back, she crawled into bed with him and placed herself behind him. The way her heart raced at such intimate contact made her feel weird, but warm. Spooning next to Naruto was something that she had envisioned herself for the last few years, but to actually have it happen was a different experience.

Sakura pulled Naruto close to her, placing his head just underneath her chin. She kissed the top of his head and wrapped her arms around his waist. She wasn't tired by any means, but she was relaxed and she was content. Maybe she should stay like this when he wakes up.

Two hours passed by as the two shinobi lay together with the sun still up in the bright sky.

The moment though that Naruto began to sir, Sakura quietly removed herself from his warmth and took a seat in her chair. Naruto opened his eyes and groaned has he lifted himself up slightly, only to find Sakura was still with him.

"Why are you helping me, Sakura?" he mumbled out falling back on the bed.

"Do I really need to say why Naruto? I care about you, I want to make you aren't hurt." Sakura spoke gently while brushing his hair back.

"Why would you do that when I've done nothing but hurt you?" Naruto mumbled back not facing her. Sakura watched his eyes as they dulled slightly in sadness. Apparently her techniques and the water were working their magic as he seemed to already be sober…ish.

"Don't take this for granted Sakura. I should be teaching him a lesson, but I think you're a better help than I am."

Sakura whipped her head around at the low voice, wondering where in the hell it came from.

"You shouldn't be afraid. It's just Kurama, otherwise known as the Kyuubi."

"How in the hell are you talking to me?"

"Don't worry about that. Sometimes I can finagle my way into another's mind when they truly need it. All I have to say is that you're a bigger help to him than I am. So help him."

Kurama disappeared from her mind just as quickly as he had appeared. Sakura wasn't sure what to think in that instant whether or not she liked that ability of his. She would worry about that later though as she turned back to Naruto. She saw tears roll down his eyes betraying him.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Sakura asked him with a gentle voice.

"I couldn't…I couldn't save them." Naruto replied quietly.

"Who?" Sakura asked, but already knew part of the answer.

"I couldn't save Sasuke, or Jiraiya, or mom, or dad. I had the chance and I couldn't, I couldn't…" Naruto sobbed staring out of his window. He must have been dreaming about the people he couldn't save she concluded.

"Naruto…" Sakura ran her fingers through his hair.

"And you, I hurt you. I couldn't save Sasuke for you, even if you said the promise was lifted from me. I know you wish I had." Naruto sobbed quietly.

"Have you had episodes like this before? Have you been drunk like this before?" Sakura asked him. Naruto didn't answer right away, but eventually nodded.

"A few times." He replied. Sakura sighed quietly, grasping his hand in hers.

"Naruto, I wish Sasuke could have been saved but not for the reasons you think. I wanted him to be saved to be returned to us, but I know he didn't want saving. He left on his own and walked his own path. And as much as I wish that your parents and Jiraiya were still alive, but they aren't and there was no way you could've saved them and you know it." Sakura forced him to look at her. Naruto's eyes were red from the tears.

"And you have to stop with this attitude of yours. I know it's hard and you've been able to handle it for four years, but it's been eating at you lately. I've seen it without you knowing it. I know you Naruto, better than anyone else."

"It doesn't mean anything though." Naruto replied back. Sakura didn't want to hear any more of it. She felt her heart read to burst. It wasn't right to keep holding herself back, but it wasn't right to him either. He had suffered for four years; he had suffered alone and cold. What that war did to him, the joy it took away from him eyes, from his voice. She wanted it back.

"Naruto, it means everything to me when you're hurting. It means the man that I care for is hurting and I need to help him. But it means that I need to tell you something too." Sakura told him as she lifted him up from the bed.

"What are you doing Sakura?" Naruto asked her as she took his hand.

"Come sit with me ok? I need to really tell you something." Sakura led him into the living room and onto the couch. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of this but something told him that it was big.

"Sakura was is this all about?" Naruto asked her.

"Listen Naruto, I don't want you interrupting me while I say what I need to say." Sakura explained. Naruto nodded in response.

"Alright, the transformation I've seen from you has both inspired me, but has also shown me just how much the war has affected you. It's been four years but I see the look in your eyes, the way you walk and talk to others. I know that from others you seem fine, but I know you better than that. I know you're suffering right now and I know that you need someone to help because you want to keep everything inside."

"But…"

"Shh…" Sakura placed a finger to his lips. "I know you don't want to worry others, but not when you're like this. No one can keep their emotions inside them like this without consequence and that's what I've seen. I never thought I would see you drink like this, and I feel like that part of it's my fault too. I kept myself from saying the things I needed to say, to be someone for you to come to, to open up. I had my self-doubts about myself and what it meant to care for someone like I do for you. It isn't right that we deny ourselves each other and I know it's time to finally come clean. It's taken too long for me to tell you something that I've kept from you."

Sakura grasped his face in both her hands and smiled at him and leaned in placing a gentle kiss to his lips. Naruto's eyes widen as she quickly pulled away from him and continued to smile at him as she watched his eyes lighten up.

"I love you."

"Wha…what?" Naruto stuttered out.

"I said I love you, something that I've held in for the last few years. I had my own doubts about how I felt and how you felt. I didn't deserve your love and I still don't feel like I do, but I want to show you I love you. And I know you still feel the same for me…right?" Sakura asked him as she rubbed her palms against his cheeks. Naruto looked away from her.

"I don't, I don't know what to say. For so long, I always thought that you loved Sasuke, that I was nothing more than a friend. Even when I had a woman who loved me, I couldn't return her feelings for her, because there was someone else. But I could never have her, and in some way, after what you did to me in the Land of Iron, I doubted if I felt the same. But I still found myself dreaming of you, wallowing in my own misery with it. That war, that fucking war, did things to me that I've fought with ever since. I held in my emotions, I fought them back as long as I could and then I almost lost." Naruto replied back before turning to face her.

"But you came back, to me to help me. You came back to me when I doubted myself. And now you've told me the thing I was always wanted to hear…and I still wonder what's real. I wonder if what you say is real, if your hands shaking are real, and then I look into your eyes and I see it, that it's true. And I love you too." Naruto smiled leaning back in to taste her cherry lips again. Sakura smiled as she kissed back and pushed him onto the couch returning the gesture, losing track of time as fifteen minutes passed by. She pulled away and looked into his eyes, smiling the entire time.

"You know I felt you spooning up against me." Naruto commented to her. Sakura tilted her head in amusement.

"Really? And you didn't take that as a sign of my feelings?" Sakura asked him in return.

"Honestly, I thought part of it was an illusion. But something else told me different." Naruto replied.

"It was me clearing out your system, you can thank me later."

"I'll deal with you later."

"You're welcome." Kurama grinned in response.

"Apparently Kurama did clear my system after all. I don't get drunk easily." Naruto rest his hands just above her waist.

"Yeah, well drinking the type of sake you had would put down Tsunade in one bottle. I'll have to tell her about this later, you could drink her under the table." Sakura smiled as she loved the feeling of his strong hands on her waist, slightly squeezing her hips resting just above her supple backside. She took it as an invitation, but knowing Naruto he was still a bit naïve, even at twenty.

"Let's say we skip the sparring session and go get some ramen? You're looking a lot better already." Sakura suggested to him.

"I'm surprised that you would suggest such a thing when I'm still getting over drinking that much." Naruto smirked back at her.

"Well, I think Kurama may have had something to do with that. But if you aren't feeling up to ramen, maybe we could do something else?" Sakura suggestively poked her finger into his chest.

"What do you have in mind?" Naruto asked her kissing her lips again.

"Well, we could go back to our little make out session, get some ramen, and come back and see where the day takes us." Sakura suggested with a smirk of her.

"Are you sure that you want to go down that road? I'm not sure that being with me is such a good idea." Naruto replied, expressing some of his self-doubt.

"I made up my mind a long time ago Naruto, and I want to go down that road with you. No matter what." Sakura kissed him again. Naruto didn't know what to say, he was happy though, happier than he had been in a long time. It seemed that his pain washed away. Sakura had pulled away and smirked at him again.

"So Mr. Suddenly Happy, I'm giving you two choices. Choice one involves an afternoon lunch between us to help get your stomach back to normal, but I think you'll be good anyway. Choice two involves your bedroom, minus clothing and a lot of "physical" training." Sakura trailed her hands down his stomach and rested just above his waist. Naruto felt his heart race.

"Well, since you're the medic and you seem to know me so well, I'll let you make the choice." Naruto offered, knowing which option she would probably choose.

"If you were looking forward to ramen, I'm sorry to say that's not the choice I'm making." Sakura smirked guiding his hands to cup her backside. Naruto blushed slightly, but gave her a little squeeze.

"Choice number two it is." He replied quietly.

"Get those clothes off and get in that bedroom Naruto Uzumaki." Sakura smirked as she pulled his hand racing to the bedroom.

A/N: This something that I came up with while working on my final and decided to go ahead and put up. I usually do more age canon pieces but I wanted to try something different this time and felt the twenty year old area would turn out good. It's hard to write out a story like this because you sometimes want to include more a buildup, but with the way it's plotted in the beginning, the buildup wasn't as necessary. It's more about what war can do to someone, and what the love of another can do. And honestly, I wanted this one to be solely about Naruto and Sakura, Ino just happened to work her way into it. I hope you enjoyed it.