The Heat: Chapter - 1 (Naruto x Sakura)

Oh, it was hot. It was hot, sweaty, and humid for one Naruto Uzumaki and one Sakura Haruno. Then again, after a workout like the ones the now nineteen year old couple had almost every other day, who wouldn't be hot? It was a several hour long excruciating show of each other's stamina, strengths, and weaknesses. And seeing as Naruto had almost infinite stamina, the workout would start with a couple of hours of Naruto destroying his own clones, and Sakura training her chakra control or improving her chakra reserves. That is, until they sparred. They had agreed on a no holds barred sparring match every time they did this sort of thing. They believed that in order to get stronger, they had to work at their limit, and in order to build their team relationship, they had to know every single strength and weakness of each other's body. The fights were brutal, and they would almost always go home with injuries, but it had made them become so much closer. Fighting, for a ninja, was almost like a way to explore each other's body and mind. It allowed one another to see how they reacted to every single punch, touch, genjutsu, ninjutsu, and any other form of ninja arts. These were very special attributes that any man or woman would want to know for their partner.

As of right now, the workout had ended, leaving a panting, sweating, and shirtless Naruto laying on the back of a panting, clothed (to the dismay of Naruto), sweaty Sakura. If they really thought about outward appearances to the public at that point, they probably would have hastily unraveled themselves from each other's grips.

But, right now; the position was comfy. Naruto's weight and wonderful heat that was holding Sakura down; his hands strewn across her body and the constant gentle panting made Sakura almost blush. It reminded her of the other times she had seen her lover like this.

Yes. Lover. They had been together for about a year now. It was a really simple transition from friend to lover; Naruto had decided to ask Sakura on a little date, not unlike the times he did when they were younger, except this time he meant a little more and he was a little more serious. And, to Naruto's glee, she (for the first time in her life) agreed. From there on out the couple had moved rather quickly (it was something ninjas did, seeing as they didn't really ever have much time on this world) and were now a loving couple. It didn't take very long for them to realize just how much they had in common and how much they loved each other's company; although Naruto knew these things all along. They now did everything together, and for the benefit for both of them, that included sparring; which brings us back to the current position they were in.

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Naruto groaned softly as he moved his hands from Sakura's shoulders to her waist and flipped her over, so that her head now resided on his chest. His breathing was still a bit heavy, and to him that was a sign that Sakura was becoming a better fighter. When they first started these little fights, Sakura would

almost always lose in only a few moments, and that was with the added time of Naruto fighting his clones. But slowly and surely, she had improved, and even had him on the defensive quite a lot of the time. Naruto really enjoyed these spars, but he enjoyed the "cool down time" they had afterwards. It usually ended with a nice position like the one they were in, and Naruto had decided that he liked loving contact more than fighting contact, but then again, who wouldn't?

His arm around her waist, her head on his heart, and his other arm behind his head was a nice position to be in indeed.

Sakura wasn't much different in her thinking. Her arm on Naruto's chest, next to her head; which had the privilege of hearing his soothing heart beat was a very comfortable position to be in, in her opinion. Both of them simply laid there for a few moments, enjoying each other's silent company, before Naruto decided to make a move.

"Ugh. . ." Naruto said in a deep moan, "Sakura. . .Let's go home?" He asked as he moved his arm to her hair, gently stroking it. Sakura replied with a simple, "Hn." indicating the idea was most satisfactory, and was first to stand up.

She rose slowly, almost sensually, (although that was probably to avoid moving her sore muscles anymore than they were) and stood and stretched in front of Naruto. After a few moments of stretching, she looked back at Naruto, who had a very stupid grin on his face.

"What?" She questioned.

Naruto kept his smile for a moment longer before he decided to speak. "You're really beautiful" he said in a quiet tone. Sakura was almost about to blush before he finished his sentence. "And I really can't move my legs. . ." he finished with a small chuckle and another smile.

Sakura sighed deeply, she hadn't really meant to hurt the ligaments in his legs, but he was way too fast for her to stop when they were in their spars. She almost always tried to at least slow him down, but this time she accidentally tore a lot of the muscle up, making his legs almost useless now that he was cooling down. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping him moving during the fights, and with that gone, he now laid there with a large grin on his face and a hand outstretched towards her.

Sakura grabbed it and hoisted him up, and he moved his arm around her shoulder for support. . . and maybe a little bit of close comfort. Sakura groaned and began the long trek back to Naruto's house; yes house, Naruto had finally decided to move out of that box he called an apartment, and into a rather cozy two-story home.

Naruto kept his smile on his face as he sorely limped with Sakura's footsteps in the direction of his home. Although he was a quick healer, even the Kyuubi would be busy with damage like this in his legs. Yes, it hurt, but with the thought of Sakura possibly "making it up to him" later, he kept the grin on his face and continued his painful limping.

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It took about ten minutes before the couple finally reached their destination. On the journey, Naruto had slowly regained the use in his legs, and was almost fully supporting himself. To any other medic, or probably any other bystander, this would have been most shocking, and an incredible feat of willpower. But, Sakura knew what was in her companion, and wasn't very surprised herself. In fact, she was a little thankful, seeing as how she didn't have to use her chakra to heal the mess she had made; it took enough just to do that kind of damage.

Naruto reached into one of the several pockets on his orange and black jacket, looking for the appropriate key to open the door. It was hot outside, and Sakura was getting impatient, so she let out a long sigh and and began tapping her foot as she stared at the man who was frantically searching his pockets.

"Heh, just a minute Sakura-chan, I know I've got them somewhere!" He said in a nervous voice accompanied by a chuckle.

Sakura groaned at the man's antics as she reached into his back pocket, (causing said man to tense rather quickly) and pulled out a pair a silver keys.

"You put them there every day Naruto, and I'm beginning to think you purposefully forget so you make me get them." She said in a low tone.

Naruto simply laughed nervously and moved a hand behind his head, scratching it, as he used the other one to take the pair of keys from her. He quickly unlocked the door and opened it, which caused a very cold burst of air, thanks to air conditioning, to wash over their bodies as they stepped inside.

Both Sakura and Naruto sighed happily at the air that greeted them as they moved to the living room that was at the front of the house. Naruto had already to peel his clothes again, starting with his jacket which he had placed back on before the walk back to his home, and he was tugging at his pants before Sakura saw him disappear into the bathroom. She stood at the living room for a moment, looking around at the decorative colors of the walls and the modern furniture before she heard water beginning to run and Naruto's head pop out of the doorway to the bathroom.

"Coming?" He said with his trademark grin plastered on his face.

Sakura huffed, then made her way to the bathroom with Naruto.

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Sakura sat on the bathroom stool and watching a careful Naruto slowly remove her clothing. It wasn't exactly romantic or anything, he was just lending a helping hand. He was currently clad in nothing more than his boxers, and Sakura could almost hear her inner self screaming to jump him right then and there. But the after affects of their fight was already setting in, and she was extraordinarily tired and didn't really want to do anything. Naruto saw this of course, and decided that he would undress her himself.

"Geez Sakura, you really should tell me when to stop next time, these wounds are going to take awhile to heal." He said in a concerned voice. Sakura was almost going to bring up the fact that it was his idea to not hold back in their fights and that they wouldn't stop until they were completely spent, but she decided against it and just nodded quietly.

Naruto was having mixed emotions. Right now, he was undressing his lover in a slow and loving manner, although whether it was to not injure her or to savor her beauty, he wasn't sure. He really wanted to make love to her, but he knew she was tired, and the amount of respect he had for her stopped him from doing anything he wanted to do. He may have his stupid moments at times, but he knew when to be serious, and the amount of self control he actually had would have shocked anyone who saw nothing more than the outside of him.

So he was taking this slow. He had already eased off the red jacket she always wore, and he was slowly easing off the pink skirt that adhered to her perfect form. She'd already left her combat boots at the front door, so all that was left was the black spandex that she wore under the skirt. He slowly moved his hands to the waistline of the clothing and began to pull them down, which elicited a quiet moan from Sakura. Revealing the soft white skin beneath her clothes made Naruto a wee bit "excited" but he still kept his emotions and wants in control. Soon, Sakura was almost like Naruto, clad in nothing but her red bra that (to the joy of Naruto) hugged her closely, and her crimson panties that had frills on them.

Naruto remembered the first time he saw those and chuckled to himself. It was right in the middle of a very intimate moment, and Naruto almost ruined it by laughing and asking why she would ever wear something like that, to which Sakura replied with a punch to the head and a pout of the lip as she explained that even kunoichis liked to feel like a pretty woman sometimes. And Naruto couldn't deny that she indeed looked really beautiful like that.

He was knocked out of his nostalgic thoughts when Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up so that they were standing. She opened the shower curtain and felt the water, and finding that it was satisfactory, turned back to Naruto with an eager expression.

"Well. . .Shall we?" She asked him with a demure hand outstretched in his direction. Naruto nodded dumbly before taking the hand and pulling her in an embrace, reaching his arms around her back to undo the clasp of her bra, as she pulled at the hem of his boxers.

He finally undid the device and slowly pulled it away from her as she began to lower his boxers, which he eventually kicked away. She took off her own panties, sliding them off her silky smooth thighs and throwing them in the large pile of clothes that laid in a corner of the bathroom. When she stood back up, Naruto had the shower curtain pulled back with a hand across his stomach in the direction of the shower itself.

"Ladies first!" he spoke eventually in a sultry voice.

Sakura giggled at the look on his face. His eyes were staring at her intently, and his mouth was slightly parted, and she knew she could see a few droplets of drool appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Naruto finally noticed this and chuckled himself, mumbling something about how she did those kind of things to him, before wiping his mouth before reaching out to her and pulling her over so that she stepped into the shower.

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Sakura moaned as the first droplets of warm, soothing water hit her face. She looked up one of the nozzles that sprayed the wonderful liquid and closed her eyes and relaxed for a moment. She was getting lost in the wonderful feeling that the water had on her. It had the ability to take away all the soreness and pain that she had experienced that day, and she rather enjoyed watching all the dirt and grime slide off her body and go down the drain.

She was broken out of her trance as she heard the shower curtain close all the way, the plastic rings sliding across a bar that crossed the top of the highest nozzle, making a scraping noise, and the strong arms that wrapped around her waist, and the soft groan as he too experienced the warm water.

Naruto placed his head sideways on Sakura's shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist and clutching her close to him. He was enjoying the two of them just sitting there, until he realized she would probably want to wash herself. With an evil grin and certain thoughts entering his mind, he reached over and grabbed a bar of soap that was on a stand on the wall. He turned his head so that he faced hers and started laying gentle and tender kisses on her face and neck. He brought the bar of soap to her stomach and began to softly scrub her wounds and all the dirt that she had accumulated over the day. Sakura groaned at this, and as Naruto was busy kissing her jawline, she moved her head so that her lips met his.

Naruto smiled into the kiss and began to explore her mouth with his. They had done this many times before, (the shower thing and the kissing thing) and he was beginning to think there was nothing better in the whole world. Her lips were so soft against his slightly rough ones. And the mewls and groans she emitted from such a simple act like kissing was enough to bring joy to his heart, because he was the cause of her pleasure.

He continued his gentle ministrations with the soap along her arms while they continued their lip lock. Sakura could hear him moan in between kisses, and murmur soft words of "I love you" and "You're perfect" and it was simply making her heart melt. She couldn't imagine herself with anyone else other than Naruto, which was something she had realized long ago, but his current actions were reinforcing her thoughts.

She turned in his embrace so that they were facing each other, effectively making Naruto drop the bar of soap he had on her arm, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the two of them; together. She was always amazed at Naruto's ability to make her feel better about everything. Her hurt

always seemed to just melt away from her mind whenever she was in his embrace. He was always thanking her for being with him and for noticing him, but she was the one who should have been thanking him. He was the one that completed her. Whenever he was near, she felt a burning feeling of love and compassion, and whenever he was away, she felt an empty void of loneliness. He was always so warm and cheery, and he knew exactly what to do in order to brighten her day.

It was an almost perfectly reciprocated feeling from Naruto. He knew that after the kind of bond they had, he would never be able to live without her. He always wanted to be by her side, and he always wanted to protect her from anything that happened.

Naruto pondered his thoughts as he ended their kissing marathon and pulled her very close to him, savoring the heat that they were both emitting coupled with the warm water. They had already been in the shower for about half an hour, but both of them had lost track of time during their displays of affection on one another. Naruto reached behind Sakura, still holding her in his embrace, and turned the nozzle for the water to the 'off' position. The immediate shock of the lack of liquid heat apparent, Naruto embraced Sakura closer as he reached to open the shower curtain.

In silence the duo exited the shower, and Naruto grabbed two towels from a rack next to him, and handed one to Sakura. She accepted it, wrapping it around herself, and muttering a quiet "Thank you". Naruto wrapped the towel around himself and let out a sigh of content. Turning his head towards Sakura, he asked in a cheery voice, "Well. . .Bedtime?" To which Sakura giggled quietly and nodded. Naruto opened the bathroom door and headed off in the direction of the bedroom, leaving Sakura to revel in the afterglow of what just happened.

After recovering from her thoughts, she made her way to the bedroom, tiptoeing and trying to be quiet for reasons she didn't know, until she reached the partway closed door of the bedroom and opened it. It was a very big room, but it wasn't very small either. There was a rather large bed facing the door, with its front facing the wall, and a medium sized wood dresser drawer next to it. Over on the left side of the room was a small closet, which Sakura assumed was probably filled to the brim with his orange and black outfit and other assorted ninja gear. On the dresser drawer beside the bed there was the photo that Team 7 had taken when they were officially formed, and several kunai and shuriken. Naruto was on the other side of the room, rummaging through a smaller drawer than the one adjacent to the bed, and judging by all the clothes that were strewn on the floor, he was looking for something she could wear. He was already dressed in some orange boxer shirts (which Sakura inwardly groaned at "What's up with him an orange?") and a white undershirt that he always slept in. her attention was brought to him when he finally spoke up.

"Ah, I know I've got something that could fit you Sakura-chan, just gimme a minute." Naruto said with his back turned to her, while throwing another rather large shirt to the side.

Sakura thought for a moment, then silently giggled to herself as she approached the busily searching Naruto from behind. Wrapping her arms around his hunched over waist and leaning on him, pushing her breasts provocatively against him, she whispered in his ear, "I don't have to wear anything to bed if you don't want me to Naruto-kun" Naruto visibly tensed at the thought, and as he turned his face towards

her, Sakura could see the blush already forming at the though. He was way to caring, however, and offered a response of grumblings such as "I'm sure I'll find something. . ." and "Damn temptations. . .". Sakura stood up and giggled again until she abruptly stopped when Naruto jumped in the air with his fist pointing upwards and yelling "AHA! I knew I had something!" He threw the small bundle of clothes towards Sakura and spoke again. "It's still probably big on you, but it's the smallest things I have, I hope you don't mind" he explained while scratching his head. Sakura promptly grabbed the clothes and disappeared to another room to change. Naruto chuckled about the fact that they had just taken a shower together, yet she wouldn't change in front of him. He moved to the bed and plopped down in the middle, savoring the feeling of comfort it provided. He laid face down, and sighed a breathy sigh into his pillow, and closed his eyes for a moment.

The door opened not to long later, and Naruto heard the click of the light switch and witnessed his room grow dramatically darker, with only a small lamp next to his bedside illuminating the area. He turned to face the approaching footsteps to his bedside, and smiled when he saw Sakura standing over him. Everytime he saw her in his clothes, which in this case was a small pair of boxers and a shirt that was overly large for her (she had to keep adjusting so it wouldn't fall) he felt very proud of himself. It was like she belonged to him. It was one of the only semi-selfish thoughts he ever had when it came to her. Everything else was for her comfort, her pleasure, her safety, and her enjoyment.

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into the bed, causing both of them to chuckle as they snuggled together. Naruto continued where he left off in the shower, kissing her neck and nipping around her collar bone. Sakura moaned and rubbed his golden locks, encouraging him to do more. When he work his way back up to her face he cupped her cheek and looked her in the eyes. The bright cerulean orbs that exuded happiness and love met her shining emerald ones and they stared for a moment before Naruto spoke.

"Sakura-chan. . ." he said in a whisper, "You mean the world to me, and I love you with all my heart."

He leaned in for another kiss before she could respond, and pulled her down so that his head rested on hers, and her face was level with his neck. He pulled the covers over the both of them and whispered into her forehead, "Time to sleep, we're going to have more training tomorrow." Sakura sighed, whether it was from being so comfortable or knowing she was going to get beat up again tomorrow, she didn't know. She was content for now though, and buried her head further into Naruto's chest and began to drift off to sleep. Naruto's hand slowly stroked her back, lulling her into a peaceful slumber, but before she fully drifted off, Naruto heard he speak up.

"I love you too, Naruto" She said while kissing his chest and then falling asleep shortly after.

Sakura didn't see Naruto smile before he too, drifted off into the land of dreams.