#( i miss being on narutooo )

[psychewithwings]

Protection

Naruto is def the kinda guy who would support and protect you, but what about doing it for him in an unexpected way? (Almost titled this ‘Punching Sakura’ but anyways) (PS gets a lil saucy towards the end... *teehee*)

It was a gorgeous day, and you haven’t seen the sun in hours. You were walking back from a medical ninjutsu studying session, brain fried and taking a short break before getting back to it. The scrolls in your hands felt heavier than they should have. You were a perfectly capable combat ninja but after losing a friend on a mission and due to your own incompetence with healing, you decided to go back to school for medical ninjutsu. You were about a month into the work  and learning quickly, so quickly that you were ahead of where most were during their first month. Tsunade had said that you were almost as fast a learner as she was. 

You’d stopped hanging out with friends and cut yourself off socially, blaming the work load, and there was truth to that. But you were overworking yourself, determined to return to the field with healing powers. You were consumed with guilt. You should have tried harder to save your comrade. Now every time you heard of another loss, you were blaming yourself. If you knew medical ninjutsu, you could be assigned to teams, no one would lose their father or mother or sibling or friend.  Most days you were motivated by this but today you felt like you were dragging. That’s why when Naruto ran smack into you from behind, it was all the more shocking.

You and the scrolls spilled to the ground face first. “Oh man! I’m so so sorry, are you okay?” Naruto extended his hand to help you up off the ground. He had been gone on a mission for the last 3 weeks, you’d hardly noticed being so wrapped up in your work. As he stared down at you, that goofy grin on his face, you’d realized how much you missed him. “I-I’m okay,” you assured him as you took his hand. He pulled you up rather quickly and you tripped slightly against his pull. “I was in such a rush I didn’t even see ya until you were an inch away from  my face,” he laughed loudly, “shoulda looked where I was going I guess.” He laughed and scratched the back of his neck as his face turned red in embarrassment. “Oh no, don’t worry about it; accidents happen,” you smiled before bending down to collect your scrolls. “Oh, here-” Naruto interjected and helped you pick them up. “Aren’t you in a rush?” you asked. He stood holding the majority of your scrolls for you. This shining man who’d saved the village so many times, was such a dork, and you had such a thing for him. “Yeah, but it’s alright, we’re going the same way so lemme carry these for ya! Ya know, as an I’m sorry for knocking ya over... heh” 

You accepted his offer and started to walk towards your apartment building. “So hows the medical training going? It’s so cool you decided to do that ya know,” he beamed at you. “It’s hard work but going okay I guess,” you responded. “Ya know, you haven’t seemed yourself... and I just want you to know... about what happened... your comrade... that it wasn’t your fault okay?” Your eyes started to tear up, you’d been blaming yourself for so long. He reached for your shoulder and dropped two of the scrolls, he looked down at them for a split second but looked back to you. There was an urgency to his gaze. “Listen, I’ve blamed myself for the death of my comrades too, but I had to learn that blaming myself wasn’t going to help me save anyone else... and you’re working to be able to save so many people.” He brushed his free hand through his hair awkwardly, “I’m not sure if that helps, it’s just hard to watch you beat yourself up and I-” You wrapped your arms around him and laid your head against his chest. You were choking back tears, “thank you Naruto... I-I really needed to hear that.” His free arm encircled you and he affirmed, “it’s hard right now but it will get better...” While you couldn’t see him, your face buried in his shirt, you could hear the smile in his voice, “and you’re a good person.” 

His words made your heart race and your skin tingle... this dopey hero thought you were a good person. You pulled away and wiped the tears that had started to spill. “Means a lot,” you managed and looked into his shining blue eyes.  He blushed and stretched his arm behind his head, “I mean- I’m just sayin the truth heh heh.” A silence fell between the two of you, but it was welcome. You were taking in the kindness he was giving and he was watching the light return to your eyes. He seemed relieved, and it was comforting to know that someone cared for you. “So hey, after you study, would you maybe... I dunno, uh wanna go for some ramen?” He grinned up at you and you smiled back, you opened your mouth to say something but you were interrupted.

“NARUTOOO!!!!!!” you looked to your left just in time to see the hook. Sakura clocked Naruto, knocking him to the ground. The rest of the scrolls that were still in his grip, spilled and rolled around where he lay in the dirt. “We were supposed to report to Lord Kakashi twenty minutes ago!” He collected himself, brushing the dust from his clothes, a small cut now visible on his cheek. “I know, I was just-” “I don’t care! Your duty is to your team and your Hokage! ...” Sakura continued spewing her insults and criticisms as Naruto began to pick up your scrolls once more. Something came over you then, you’d never liked how Sakura treated Naruto... she was so mean to him. Always yelling and hitting him, and he was nothing but sweet and caring to everyone that crossed his path. You weren’t proud of it... well maybe a little, but in that moment watching him just take the hit, you’d had enough. “HEY!” you yelled, right before you punched Sakura. Your fist made contact with the soft of her cheek and she yelped in surprise before she stumbled backwards. You hadn’t hit her nearly as hard as you wanted to, it was a warning punch more than anything. “Ohmygod,” Naruto breathed before turning to you with worry on his face, “what’d you hit Sakura for?” You turned to him, anger burning in your eyes. “Because she hit you!” 

Naruto still seemed puzzled but now you had an angry Sakura to deal with. “Why you-” you caught her first fist, then blocked the second, holding onto her arm. “Listen, I probably shouldn’t have decked you one, two wrongs don’t make a right, but I think you owe Naruto an apology for doing it to him LITERALLY ALL THE TIME!” you let go of her arms as they softened with the realization. “He was just helping me carry these back to my apartment, jeez,” you gestured to the scrolls that Naruto was holding once again, upright but looking a little disheveled. Sakura muttered some sort of apology then explained she would go to Kakashi herself. She ran off in an embarrassed huff. You looked to Naruto, “you didn’t have to do that,” he said. He seemed upset... or even disappointed in you. “All I know is that if you saw one of my “friends” treating me that way, you probably would have done the same.”  He didn’t say anything, for the second time that day, he had no arguments. 

Naruto followed you to your apartment and dropped the scrolls on your kitchen table. “So... uh-” he started but the clotting blood on his cheek was distracting. “Hang on, sit down,” you gestured to the chair he was standing in front of. “Oh, uh alright, heh” he laughed awkwardly and took a seat. “Let me fix that for you hmm?” You placed your hand over the cut and practiced what you’d been studying so hard for. “Hey, uh, thanks for standing up for me... not many people have done that.” You smiled as he tilted his head into your hand, “of course I’ll stand up for you,” you assured. The cut slowly began to heal and the bruise began to fade. A moment passed and he seemed to be healed. You brushed your finger tips along the new, smooth skin. “Does that hurt?” “No,” he murmured and brought his hand up over your own, pressing it against his face. You cupped his chin and brushed your thumb over his lip. He kissed your thumb softly, testing the waters. You leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. He pulled you into his lap, carefully situating you where he had a good grip on your waist and the back of your neck. He deepened the kiss, teasing the entrance of your mouth with his tongue. You parted your lips, giving him access to explore. He pulled you closer, enveloping you in his warmth. He kissed you as if it were going to be the last kiss he’d ever experience. There was urgency and passion but such a gentleness. For a dope, he was a very good kisser. He pulled away, and tenderly placed one more kiss to your lips. You sat back, still snug on his lap. You brushed your hand over his cheek where the cut had been. Then looked in his eyes and sighed with contentment.  

He blushed and laughed nervously, “heh heh, ummm, whattya starin’ at?” You brushed your hand down his face, down his neck, and rested it sweetly on his shoulder. “Do you want to get ramen now?” you asked gently. His face lit up, “yeah sure! I- umm can we call this a date then?” he asked. You looked at his sparkling blue eyes and smiled, “of course we can.”