The Kekkei Genkai Curse

By Shiroihato

A/N: Okay, you guys there are a couple of things I wanted to clear up.

Vld asked if the flowers were Sakura’s way of breaking up with Naruto. No, they were not. End of story.

This is not the chapter “The Last Birthday Party”. I looked over my outline (which, yes, it is finished) and decided that for everything to work out the way it should, I needed to add a little extra. “The Last Birthday Party” will be the chapter after next.

As I just mentioned, I do have an outline. Please, stop asking “Are you going to kill her”. I know the answer, but I’m not going to tell you. Don’t get me wrong, I love the reviews! And “I hopes” are fine. Please, just, don’t get too pushy. For those of you on (I LOVE THAT SITE!!!) a.k.a. DasDeke, Gnosis Master, and Deidara Lover and Ciardha if you’re reading this, I really appreciate your posts. However, that forum is kind of outdated, from chapter 4 in fact. I know what I’m going to do. If anyone from that site spills any of the details of the contents of that forum to the other readers and spoils it… well, remember the “smashy” icon? The one where one “smiley face” hits the other over the head with the hammer? Anyway, please don’t tell me to kill her or not. I have a plan. You’ll just have to wait to see the result.

If I, in this author note, some how offended ANYONE, I am sorry. P.M. me and I’ll apologize again. I’m just kinda in a bad mood. Fanfiction, however, is my antidote:)

On that forum, DasDeke said, “It's your story however, and your vision. Don't let anyone compromise that.” I’d just like to say thanks. And to everyone else who gave that particular bit of advice as well.

Recently, I’ve been writing one chapter per one month of time in the fic. However, the next two chapters will still take place in February, after Valentines.

And on with the chapter!!!!

Ch.12-------------

Waves

Naruto buried his head farther into his pillow, not wanting to wake up from this pleasant dream. “Sakura” he murmured, grinning. Thoughts of his pink-haired Kunoichi, ramen, and the hokage’s robes circled through his mind, interrupted only by the persistent knocking on the front door. He groaned again, pulling the blanket over his head, trying to drown the noise out, and return to the perfect dream-world he had been wandering through. Opening his eyes ever so slightly, he shot a look at the clock with a feeble moan.

Yawning, the blonde sat up, sleepily grabbed his robe, and headed towards the front hall.

Opening the door, he blinked once or twice. Sakura smiled warmly at him.

“Sheesh, Naruto, you’ve been hanging around Shikamaru too much,” she laughed, rubbing her hands together, “I must have been out here for fifteen minutes, at least!”

Instantly he was awake.

“I’m so sorry, Sakura-chan!” he exclaimed pulling her inside before she had a chance to respond. He turned a little red as he realized he was wearing only a pair of shorts and his half-on/ half-off robe. She giggled slightly. Pushing him gently on the chest, she said, “Go get changed. You’re taking me to the beach.”

He kept watching her as she turned, placing two small brown bags on his coffee table. At first all he really thought about is what that shove would have been like before. (It probably would have sent him through the wall.) Now it’s just soft, not much force behind it. Sure, if she was a normal person, it wouldn’t have been that unusual, but she was Tsunade’s apprentice, and he could see the strained look in her eyes as she gave that tiny motion. Then, her words made their way up to his brain.

“The b-beach?!” he stammered, “B-but, Sakura-chan, it’s February. It’s way to cold to go swimming!”

“Well, who said anything about swimming?” she asked calmly, “I just want to go walk by the shore, maybe sit down in the sand for a while.”

He was about to ask why it couldn’t wait until later. Maybe sometime in July, when the weather was warm, and every one could come, and it wasn’t eight o’clock in the morning. After all, the ocean was an hour and a half to two hour bus ride. Then he remembered: there probably would be no July, not for Sakura. Fine, he decided. If she wanted the beach, she was going to get the beach.

“Okay,” he said, a bit too quietly, “let me go change.”

-----------

Sakura finished spreading the two solitary beach towels over the white-grey sand. Watching, amused, as Naruto chased away a few angry birds from their cooler, she laughed. Looking over his shoulder to see the pleasure in her face, Naruto kept at it, glad to do anything that might make her happy.

“Naruto-baka,” she called jokingly, “I’d abandon the cooler if I were you! Those birds seem mighty fierce!”

Throwing his hands up in mock defeat, he ran to her side, the said container only a few feet away. Sitting down next to her, he grinned. So, what’d you wanna talk about?”

“You get to start the conversation for a change, Naruto. It will be good practice for all those speeches you’ll have to make as Rokudaime!” The Haruno stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

He returned the gesture, good naturedly, and proceeded to talk.

“So, tell me about Kumo-san,” he started, and she looked up a little shocked.

“What do you mean?”

“Just tell me something about her. I’ve never seen her around before, and I don’t know anything about her. Does she even live in Konoha?”

“She used too…”

“That’s a start. If she’s your friend Sakura-chan, I wanna be hers too, but I don’t get her.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well it’s just that she seems a lot like s-“he paused. Even now, the name was hard to say. “Like Sasuke.”

Instantly, Sakura’s eyes grew livid. He features darkened, and Naruto cowered, knowing he had said something wrong.

“Kumo-neechan is nothing like Sasuke. We were best friends when we were little, before I met Ino-chan. She took care of me and looked after me, even though I was three years younger. She used to fight off the bullies who picked on me- literally. She left because her parents-” Sakura stopped. She had gone too far.

“Her parents what?”

“They died. And… well I’ve only got suspicions, but… but I think her father might have hurt her mother beforehand….or maybe even killed her…they …they never got along well. Maybe that’s why Kumo and I got along so well. Neither one of us liked our fathers very much. My father, at least, was decent to my mother after they ‘fell out of love’. Hers wasn’t. She saw a lot of things she shouldn’t have- things she helped shield me from.”

Naruto surveyed Sakura intensely, as his brain tried to piece the two images together.

“I see…” he said finally.

“Let’s talk about something else.”

--------

After returning from his 25 laps up and down the shore-

(“Why am I doing this?”

“It’ll be good for you! Sand’s hard to walk on, much less run on. You’ll get a good work out.”

“But-“

Come, on, chicken, I dare you!”)

Naruto made his way back to Sakura.

“Sakura-chan,” he called, “can we eat those sandwiches now? Sakura-chan?” He spotted her form lying motionless on the red beach towel, and started to panic.

“Sakura-chan, are you okay?!” He started running faster, even though his legs were screaming at him. Rushing to her he bent over, expecting to see blood trickling down from her mouth. But there was none. Her pulse was steady and her breathing easy and equal. The truth donned on him- she was simply asleep. He cast his discarded jacket over her shivering form, smiling inwardly at the sight. She always looked cute to him, but asleep she was something else. Sitting down on her towel, he placed her head in his lap, carefully, so as not to disturb her. Stroking the soft, cherry-blossom colored locks, he pulled he as close as he dared. He didn’t want to wake her, not when he knew how hard it was for her to find rest these days.

“Admit it, kit, she’s dying.”

“Shut up, fox, I didn’t ask you. Sakura-chan will be…”

“I know, I know, you insist she’ll be ‘fine’. You certainly don’t sound that way when she’s not near.”

Sakura stirred slightly, as if she could sense the argument over her, and then settled back down, her head now on Naruto’s chest.

“Listen to me kit. Put your hand on her.”

“What?!”

“Just do as I say!”

Nervously, Naruto did as he was instructed. He hissed as a slight burning sensation rippled through his fingers. Red-orange chakra began crawling from his fingertips, hovering over the kunoichi’s lean frame for just a moment before disappearing.

“Fox, no, you’ll hurt both of us. This burns!”

“Do you want to save her, or not?”

Softly her jade eyes opened, blinking.

“Naruto…” she struggled to sit up, “what’s this feeling?”

A/N: I love writing cliff hangers! (Well when I’m the one writing them anyway.) Go ahead, sue me. I think I had 75 cents hanging around somewhere. Okay a few requests:

Please if you’re a Narusaku fan, check out I love that site to death. And please, could you read and review on Subliminal by WeLcOmE2pArAdIsE? I’ve been waiting for her to update for forever and an age. Maybe if other people review, she’ll update. Sorry for the short chapter. Gotta run. Next chapter: A Single Moment of Perfection.

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