The Queen of Masks [Sakura Haruno Story]

44

Sakura stared up the dark blue expanse above her, counting all the stars she could see. It was her watch, and Naruto would be taking the next shift. They were almost at the Leaf Village, and they would get there the next day around noon.

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes, dozing. After a few minutes, she felt Naruto's chakra stir, and heard a shuffle.

She cracked open one eye and peaked to the side only to see Naruto looking at her. He jumped and his ears turned red when he realized he was caught staring.

"Hey, Sakura?" He whispered tentatively, slowly detangling himself from the sleeping bag.

"Yes?" Sakura opened both eyes and sat up.

He finally got himself out of the sleeping bag and got up to sit beside Sakura.

"Your shift doesn't start for the next hour. Go back to sleep." Sakura turned her attention back to the night sky.

"I'm sorry." Naruto whispered. "For not taking you seriously." He added before pausing. "It's just that I care about you, Sakura, and I was worried that you'd get hurt."

Sakura simply sighed in reply.

Naruto continued. "Sakura, I'm sorry for not taking you seriously, please forgive me."

Sakura turned her head and faced Naruto with a smile. "Of course I'll forgive you, Naruto." And with that, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

She frowned at his blushing appearance and cleared her throat. "That was a sisterly kiss. It did not mean anything."

Naruto faked a salute, "Yes ma'am!" He chuckled lightly.

"Naruto." Sakura started, laying back down in the ground, "Do you have any idea how hard I trained?"

She felt Naruto's eyes on her and she continued. "Training was the only thing I did all day for almost four years. Did you ever wonder why I never came to the team training sessions? And when you left the village, I almost completely lost contact with everyone I had ever known, well, except for my master, the Queen of Masks. Hell, I never even saw my parents, and we were living in the same house! I would train and train. Sometime I trained so hard that I felt like my arms would fall off. And I'm proud of my work. So, I'm sorry if I over reacted, I guess my pride just got the best of me."

Sakura smiled up at the sky.

"If you'd like, I can start this shift early. Go to sleep." Naruto whispered, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

Sakura nodded, before rolling over so that she was facing away from Naruto, and fell asleep under the star-filled sky.