Whirlwind Fighters (NaruTema)

#9 Trauma

Naruto and Temari walked through the busy streets of Sunagakure, their arms linked, a small smile on their faces. Temari would steal a glance towards her boyfriend from time to time, as she found him incredibly hot with his blonde hair. The boy had decided to permanently cancel the genjutsu Kurenai had put on him after they had made their way out of the hospital, since he wanted to be proud of who he was and not hide the fact any longer. It helped that his confidence had been boosted by their recent victory over the Akatsuki.

"What do you want to eat?" Naruto asked, as he saw the sun slowly set beyond the large walls of the village.

"I don't know. But I think we should maybe ask Kakashi and Kurenai to dinner. They wanted to talk with you and it would be better to get it over with than to avoid it." Temari suggested, knowing that the now blonde boy was not sure about the whole situation. With a heavy sigh Naruto agreed and they made their way to the hotel where everyone from Konoha was staying.

"Naruto, Temari." Kakashi sounded surprised as he opened the door.

"Hi, Kakashi. So, you wanted to talk with me. I would suggest dinner, pick a restaurant and come to our room when you guys are ready." Naruto said, trying not to stumble across the words.

"Yes sure, that would be great. I'll tell Kurenai and we will probably be ready in half an hour or so." Kakashi said with a smile. Nodding, Naruto and Temari walked away towards their own room. Once they were inside Naruto released a heavy sigh and sat down on their bed.

"Hey, don't be scared. I'm here for you, no matter what, remember?" Temari whispered as she sat down next to him and put her arms around his body. Leaning his head on her shoulder, Naruto smiled.

"I just don't want them to hate me for what happened. It is bad enough that I hate myself for it." Naruto whispered back a lone tear running down his face.

"You know as well as I do, that this was not your fault. This is the life that we have chosen, there will always be a risk involved with it." Temari responded, lifting the boy's head up and wiping the tear away.

"You did everything to save her, hell you even gave yourself up for her. I don't know how much more clear it could be that you couldn't have done anything to save her." Temari continued, her voice cracking at the sad memories, as Naruto looked at her with sad eyes.

"If I hadn't been there, if I didn't have the Kyuubi inside me, if I didn't exist, she would still be alive." Naruto whispered as more tears spilled out of his eyes. Pulling him in for a tight hug Temari cried with him, as she tried to find her voice.

"Don't you dare think those thoughts. How many lives would have been lost in the invasion of the sound if you would not have been there? How many times did you save my life, or the lives of Konohamaru and Hanabi? Without you, there would have been a ton more dead. And I won't even begin to talk how Sasuke would have turned out if you weren't there to set him right or what would have happened to me." Temari argued again, as she tightened her arms around Naruto's body.

The boy didn't reply as his tears slowed.

"I love you, you know." Naruto stated, as he wiped away the last residue of tears from his face. Temari smiled at him, as he cupped her cheeks and wiped her own tears away.

"Come on, Kakashi and Kurenai will be here any moment." Temari whispered laughing as Naruto pushed her back on the bed and pressed his lips against hers. Smiling Naruto rolled off of her and they stood up, fixing their clothing. Going into the bathroom they washed away the tear tracks when they heard a knock on their door.

"Thank you for meeting with us." Kurenai smiled at Naruto, as the waiter left with their plates. The dinner up until now had consisted mostly of small talk while they had eaten.