The sun was finally setting, leaving streaks of orange and purple in its wake. In the middle of a dense and silent forest, a silver haired shinobi raised a hand. The signal was universal. Stop.
"Here," Kakashi's voice was a rough whisper, worn out from the forced march. He pointed to a small hollow, a dip in the earth protected by the roots of trees that looked far too old. A nearby stream offered the only sound aside from their own tired breathing. "We'll rest. Fill the canteens, check the bandages. Two hours. Not a minute more."
The relief was palpable.
Kiba didn't bother with subtlety. He collapsed onto the ground, a guttural groan escaping him as every muscle in his body protested. "Finally," he muttered, his face pressed against the cool, damp earth. "I swear my legs were about to go on strike and leave me behind. I thought you were going to make us march until dawn, Kakashi sensei."
From his position, already leaning against a tree, Kakashi's single visible eye narrowed. "If you used the energy you waste on complaining to walk, we'd probably be back in Konoha already."
"Ha, ha, very funny," Kiba grumbled, not moving an inch. Akamaru let out a pitiful whine and curled up next to his master's head.
Shino sat with his back perfectly straight against a trunk, his posture so rigid he seemed to be meditating rather than resting. A low, ominous buzz began to emanate from his jacket as his kikaichū swarmed out to patrol the perimeter. Efficient. Creepy, but efficient.
Hinata, ever diligent, activated her Byakugan, her white eyes sweeping over every shadow and every branch in a three hundred sixty degree radius. Only after confirming there were no immediate threats did she kneel by the stream, beginning the methodical task of refilling the team's canteens.
Naruto moved with a care that wasn't natural for him. Every muscle in his body felt like lead. He knelt slowly, allowing Kurenai to slide off his back. The contact of her feet with the ground tore a hiss of pain from her, and her body swayed violently. She had to grab Naruto's shoulder to keep from collapsing.
"Thank you, Naruto," she said, her voice strained with effort.
"Easy, sensei," he replied, his own voice softer than usual. He guided her carefully until her back rested against the smooth trunk of a birch tree. "Don't try to move. Seriously."
She gave him a grimace that might have been a smile. "Don't worry. I have no intention of it."
"I'll get some water," he announced.
He walked over to the stream where Hinata was just finishing. She looked up, and a small line of worry appeared between her eyebrows.
"Naruto kun," her voice was barely a whisper. "You… you look exhausted. Let me do it. I'll take water to everyone."
He gave her a smile, though he felt the gesture didn't reach his eyes. He was beyond tired. He was empty. "I'm okay, Hinata, really. Thanks. I just need to fill Kurenai sensei's."
She handed him an empty canteen. He submerged it in the cold water, and the sound of the liquid filling the container was abnormally loud in the twilight silence.
He returned to Kurenai's side and sat without a word, simply offering her the water. She took it with hands that trembled slightly and drank greedily.
For a moment, Naruto allowed himself to close his eyes. Just the sound of the stream and the distant song of a bird. He could almost forget that Sasuke was unconscious, that everything had gone to hell. Almost.
'Ugh, this stupid knot.'
He opened his eyes and focused on the strap of his sandal, which had tangled itself in an impossible way. He frowned, his clumsy fingers struggling with the knot.
"You know, Naruto…" Kurenai began, her voice soft and thoughtful.
He looked up from his impossible task. "Yeah, sensei?"
"During the fight in the swamp," she continued, her gaze lost on the flowing water. "When you faced those guys… You reminded me of someone."
'Who? I hope it's not someone weird, like a crazy uncle or something. That would be my luck.'
His brain kicked into gear, searching for the most obvious and awesome answer.
"Who? The old Hokage?" he blurted out, his usual enthusiasm returning in a small burst. "It's gotta be him!"
A small, sad smile touched Kurenai's lips. "No." She paused for what felt like an eternity. "My father."
Naruto's brain shut down.
'Wait… WHAT? Her… father? Did she just call me old? No, that can't be it. Is that a compliment? An insult? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?'
He blinked, completely bewildered. "Your… father?" he stammered, feeling the situation slip out of his control.
She nodded, her eyes becoming glassy, as if she were looking through the forest and into the past. "I know it might sound ridiculous, and it would be foolish to make a direct comparison, but… he had that same stupid habit."
"Habit?" he repeated, feeling even more lost.
"Of protecting everyone, no matter the cost," she clarified. "If he saw someone in trouble, he didn't care if it was a fellow shinobi, a rookie genin, or a complete civilian from another village. He would just dive in headfirst. Without a second thought. No strategy, no weighing the consequences. Pure action."
'Oh. That habit. Yeah, that sounds familiar.'
Her smile twisted with a touch of bitterness. "I was always getting angry with him. I would yell at him. I told him he was reckless, that one day that recklessness was going to get him killed. And you know what he would do?"
Naruto shook his head, now completely captivated by the story. The knot in his sandal was forgotten.
"He would laugh," she said, and her hand moved slightly, as if remembering the gesture. "He would always laugh and mess up my hair. He said the job of a Konoha shinobi wasn't just to complete the mission, but to make sure their comrades had a home to return to. He was infuriating. A complete, stubborn idiot."
She took a long pause, and the weight of that memory seemed to settle in the air around them. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. "And it was the best thing about him. It was his most admirable quality. When I saw you, refusing to abandon me, putting yourself between those brutes and me… I saw that same recklessness. That same… strength."
Naruto was speechless. He felt an uncomfortable heat rise up his neck to his cheeks. He felt… exposed. As if she had looked right through his loud facade and seen the engine that drove him, something not even he fully understood. He scratched the back of his neck, an old, nervous habit.
"I just… I couldn't leave you alone, sensei," he mumbled, his eyes fixed on his own hands. "That's all. It was no big deal."
"It was to me, Naruto," she replied, her voice firm, leaving no room for argument. "To me, it was everything."
The silence that fell afterward was different. It wasn't awkward. It was filled with something he couldn't name. The way she had opened up, so vulnerable, made him feel that maybe… maybe he could too.
'Just say it. For once, don't yell. Just say it.'
"You know…" he began, his voice so low it was almost a murmur. "This mission… it's the first time."
"The first time for what?" Kurenai asked gently, encouraging him to go on.
"The first time I feel like… I'm useful. For real," he admitted, the words coming out with difficulty. He kept his gaze fixed on the knuckles of his hands. "In the village, I've always just been… Naruto. The troublemaker. The knucklehead. The idiot who plays pranks so people will look at him, even if it's just to yell at him." He looked up, and his blue eyes met hers with a raw, unfiltered honesty. "I've always been alone, sensei."
Kurenai said nothing. She didn't offer empty words of pity. She just listened.
"But out here…" he continued, his voice gaining a bit of strength. "Sakura chan needed me. You needed me. When I spoke, Hinata and the others… they listened. For the first time in my life, I didn't feel like I was screaming at a wall. I felt like I was part of something." He stopped, searching for the right word, one he rarely used. "A real team. A… family."
The word felt strange in his mouth, like trying an exotic food for the first time.
Kurenai looked at him, and her expression had changed. She no longer saw the prankster kid, nor the container of the Kyuubi. She saw a boy who had spent a lifetime longing for a place to belong, and who, ironically, had found it in the worst possible place: in the middle of a life or death mission, surrounded by mud, blood, and fear.
She reached out a hand, and with a tenderness that completely surprised him, she ruffled his blond hair. Exactly as she had described her father doing.
"You're a good kid, Naruto Uzumaki," she said, and her voice held no pity, only a deep, sincere respect. "Your father would be proud of you."
The world stopped.
Naruto's brain stopped working. The air caught in his lungs.
'My… father? Proud?'
No one. Ever. Had said anything like that to him. People spoke of his parents as a mystery, a tragedy, or they simply didn't speak of them at all. Never as real people. People who could feel pride. For him.
A wave of overwhelming, intense heat spread through his chest. It hurt. It hurt in a strange, good way, like a muscle he never knew he had suddenly coming to life. He felt a terrible pressure behind his eyes and swallowed hard, fighting against a lump in his throat that threatened to choke him.
He couldn't speak. He could only nod.
"Get some rest, Naruto," Kurenai said, closing her eyes, exhaustion finally winning. "You've earned it."
He nodded again, mute. He sat beside her, watching her, as the sky darkened from purple to black, feeling, for the first time in his life, strangely at peace.
Night fell. The only sound was the crackling of the fire in the center of the camp, casting dancing shadows on the sleeping bodies. Kiba snored loudly, with Akamaru rising and falling on his chest. Shino was an unmoving statue. Hinata slept curled up near the warmth.
Up above, on a wide branch serving as a lookout post, Kakashi watched. His mind was a catalog of worries. Sasuke and his shallow breathing. Kurenai and the internal injuries he knew she was hiding.
Almost everyone was asleep.
But Sakura couldn't be.
'Useless. Useless. Useless.'
She was sitting by Sasuke's stretcher. She had been there for hours. She had checked his pulse for the umpteenth time. Weak, but stable. She had moistened his lips with a cloth. She had adjusted the blanket. Empty gestures. Actions to pretend she was doing something, when the truth was she was completely useless.
Her mind spun around a single question, over and over.
'Okay, brain, analytical mode engaged. Ability: [Falna]. Power Source: Naruto Uzumaki. Initial Activation Condition: Unknown, likely physical contact under emotional distress. Recharge Mechanism: THE GODDAMN MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. How the hell do I turn this thing on again?'
The idea that had been growing in her mind refused to leave. It was absurd. Stupid. Unscientific.
'Okay, let's recap. This is ridiculous. Chakra doesn't work like this. Emotional bonds are not a light switch. You can't just kiss someone for a power up. This isn't a fairy tale.'
But another part of her brain, the part that was terrified of being the weak little girl who needed rescuing again, kept whispering.
'What if it's not ridiculous? Think about it. [Falna] isn't a jutsu. Naruto said it reads the "soul." What is a kiss if not… a data transfer protocol for the soul? A physical confirmation of an emotional bond? A spiritual handshake! GOD, I SOUND INSANE!'
She felt like a deranged scientist about to test a hypothesis based on pure desperation. But the memory of her own weakness, the image of Sasuke nearly dying to protect her, was a more powerful motivator than logic.
Her gaze swept the camp. Kakashi sensei was on his branch, watching the forest, not them. Kiba was snoring. Everyone was asleep.
Her eyes landed on Naruto.
He was lying on his back near the fire. The day had knocked him out completely. His breathing was deep and regular. The flickering flames softened his features, making him seem more peaceful.
'There it is. The power source. Sleeping like a baby. It's the perfect opportunity.'
Her heart began to pound. A dull drum in her ears.
'Just to know. It's an experiment. For science. For the team. To understand how this power works. So I can protect my team.'
It was a lie. She knew it. But it was the lie she needed to get to her feet.
She moved with a stealth she didn't know she possessed. Every step was calculated. The snap of a twig under her sandal sounded like a gunshot in the night.
'SHIT!'
She froze, her body tense, looking up at Kakashi's branch. Her sensei's silhouette didn't move.
'Okay. He saw a bird. Or a raccoon. Not me. Definitely not me. Breathe, Sakura. Breathe.'
She exhaled slowly and continued, her heart hammering against her ribs.
She reached his side. She knelt, her shadow falling over Naruto's sleeping face.
'This is insane. Legendary level insane. I'm going to be banished. Or worse, Kiba will find out and never let me live it down. Naruto's going to wake up, he's going to scream, and I'm going to wish the earth would swallow me whole.'
The shame was overcome by need.
She leaned in. Her pink hair brushed against his cheek. Her face was inches away. She could feel his warm breath. She squeezed her eyes shut.
'Just to know. For science.'
And she kissed him.
It was… clinical. A quick, clumsy touch. Her lips barely grazed his for less than a second.
She pulled back instantly, holding her breath. She opened her eyes and concentrated.
'Results… Null. Zero. Nothing. Wait...'
She felt something. A tiny spark. An almost imperceptible vibration. Like a discharge of static electricity.
'That's it? A miserable little spark? What am I supposed to do with a spark? Startle a cat? USELESS!'
A wave of frustration washed over her. She felt incredibly stupid.
'Of course it didn't work. It was the most ridiculous idea in the world.'
And then a new thought, born of pure denial, surfaced.
'Hypothesis revision: Perhaps the duration of contact was insufficient for the system to register it. Yes. That makes perfect logical sense. No, it doesn't, but it's all I've got.'
It was twisted logic, but it was either that or admit defeat. And defeat was not an option.
With a new determination, born from the purest, most stubborn frustration, she leaned in again.
This time, the kiss was longer. Firmer. It was no longer a brush. She pressed her lips against his with an almost scientific deliberation.
'Okay, stupid [Falna] system, REGISTER THIS! Do your damn job now!'
She wasn't thinking about Naruto. It was just a means to an end.
And it was in the middle of that clinical concentration, of that desperate kiss, that everything went to hell.
Just as she began to pull away, furiously registering that, again, nothing was happening, Naruto's eyes opened.
Two deep blue eyes stared up at her. His brain, still foggy with sleep, struggled to process what he was seeing. Total confusion. His eyebrows furrowed. He blinked, slowly.
Sakura's brain, which had been working at top speed, simply shut off. Short circuit. Blank screen. Just a high pitched ringing in her ears.
'...'
'OH. MY. GOD. HE'S AWAKE. HE'S AWAKE AND MY LIPS ARE ON HIS LIPS. ABORT MISSION! ABORT! WHY CAN'T I MOVE?!'
She remained completely frozen, her lips a millimeter from his, her green eyes wide with pure terror.
The information finally trickled into Naruto's drowsy consciousness. The pressure. The closeness. Her face. The question formed in his mind and left his mouth before he could stop it, his voice a hoarse and bewildered mumble, a vibration she felt through her own lips before she heard it.
"Sakura chan…? What… what are you doing?"