The morning sun beat down on the rooftops of Konoha with an intensity that promised a hot day, but Sakura felt a chill on the back of her neck that had nothing to do with the temperature or the north wind, so she walked fast and hugged a pile of scrolls against her chest to try and ignore the sensation of being watched. Tsunade had made it clear before kicking her out of the office, warning her that she was a target and that she shouldn't take a single step without looking back.
Sakura turned a corner to head to the central library and look for the volumes on poisons that Shizune had assigned her, but her steps stopped dead when a shadow fell over her from above.
"CLEAR!"
The scream pierced her right eardrum and almost made her drop the scrolls, revealing a Naruto dressed in his usual orange but wearing dark sunglasses he had clearly stolen from somewhere and an earpiece made with a piece of string and a rock glued to his ear. He was standing on a trash can while making incomprehensible tactical signals with his hands.
"Sector A-1 free of hostile threats, Sakura-chan, so you can proceed!" shouted the Naruto on the trash can while maintaining a rigid posture. "The perimeter is secure and there is no sign of suspicious civilians!"
Sakura blinked several times dropping her guard from 'mortal combat' to 'secondhand embarrassment' in a matter of seconds.
"Naruto..." she hissed approaching while looking at the civilians passing by and laughing at the scene. "What are you doing up there screaming like a crazy person? Get down right now before someone calls the police!"
"Negative!" replied another Naruto who appeared hanging from a lamppost right above her head and scared her again. "Security protocol 'Orange Shadow' demands constant high-ground surveillance, which means we can't take risks with the Mummy's agents."
"Stop calling a village councilor 'Mummy' in public or you'll get us in trouble!" Sakura covered her face with one hand to hide her blush. "And please, stop shouting because you are supposed to be my secret escort, not a carnival advertisement."
The original Naruto came out of a side alley walking with his chest puffed out and a comical seriousness.
"The best defense is a loud offense, Sakura-chan, since it confuses the enemy," said Naruto nodding wisely while adjusting his glasses. "If they know I'm here, and that my clones are there, and there, and..." he pointed to a third clone that was aggressively interrogating a stray cat near a fruit stand, "...then they will think twice before getting closer than ten meters to you."
Sakura looked at the clone and the cat, noticing that the animal seemed more bored than scared.
"Is your clone... interrogating a cat?"
"Cats see everything and are nature's spies, Sakura-chan!" assured Naruto with total conviction. "That one over there looks like it saw suspicious movements on the rooftops last night, so I'm extracting information from it."
Sakura sighed.
"Let's go to the library, Naruto, but just walk next to me and try not to arrest any more pets on the way."
"Copy that! Close Escort Formation!"
Naruto stuck to her shoulder immediately, so close that their arms brushed as they walked, and they moved like that for two full blocks while people moved out of their way because there were a dozen copies of Naruto running across the rooftops, peeking from behind mailboxes, and glaring at grandmas carrying their market groceries.
"Naruto," whispered Sakura feeling everyone's eyes fixed on the back of her neck. "That mailman has been delivering mail for thirty years, so you don't need two clones checking his bag as if he were carrying explosives."
"You never know, Sakura-chan, because the enemy is cunning!" replied Naruto with a deep voice without lowering his guard or taking off his glasses. "It could be a very elaborate henge! It could be an assassin disguised as a stamp-loving public servant to get close to you! I won't risk anything happening to you!"
"You are shouting 'national security' at a man who is only carrying bills and love letters!"
"Let them look!" Naruto turned sharply and started walking backward to watch the front and the rear at the same time, a clumsy maneuver that almost made him trip over a raised tile. "Let everyone look and find out! Let them know that the future best medic in the world has the future Hokage watching her back twenty-four hours a day! No one will touch a hair on your head while I breathe, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura opened her mouth to scold him and tell him he was being loud and attracting unnecessary attention, but the words got stuck in her throat upon hearing his title of "the future best medic in the world". No one had ever called her that, not even her parents, since Tsunade called her "brat" or "apprentice" when she was in a good mood and Kakashi called her by her name with that tone of chronic boredom that characterized him.
Naruto said it as if it were a done deal, an absolute truth written in stone, so Sakura adjusted the scrolls feeling a sudden heat in her cheeks.
"Idiot," she muttered looking down. "We are only going for books and supplies, so it's not an S-rank mission."
"For me it is," said Naruto turning around to walk properly, but without moving an inch from her side. "Protecting you is the most important mission of the day, more important than eating ramen or training."
They arrived at the commercial area where the bustle was much greater and Sakura felt her shoulders tense involuntarily because crowds meant danger, the perfect place for a surprise attack, a knife in the ribs among the people, or a senbon needle from a distant rooftop. Unconsciously, she moved a little closer to Naruto, who noticed it immediately although he didn't say anything so as not to scare her.
Simply, with a subtle movement of fingers that Sakura barely caught, two of the clones messing around on the rooftops came down silently and positioned themselves flanking them a few meters away, creating a real and effective perimeter within the crowd.
"Where to first?" asked Naruto, his tone dropping an octave and losing the theatrics to sound professional.
"Medical supply store," said Sakura pointing to an old sign at the end of the street. "Tsunade-sama gave me a list of herbs I need to prepare basic antidotes, and she says that if I'm going to learn to cure poisons, I first have to learn not to die smelling them while I prepare them."
"Sounds fun and dangerous, so let's go," he said.
They entered the store and the owner, an older man with thick glasses and a hunched back, looked at them over the counter with disinterest. Sakura began to scour the wooden shelves looking for specific jars while Naruto stood at the door for a second looking toward the street, verifying that no one suspicious had followed them, before entering and closing behind him.
"Do you need help with that?" he asked approaching while she tried to reach a heavy glass jar on the top shelf that was resisting her.
"I can do it myself," said Sakura standing on her tiptoes and stretching her fingers until she brushed the cold glass, but the jar was too far back.
Naruto simply stretched his arm over her head, grabbed the jar with ease, and brought it down to place it gently in her hands.
"Thanks," she murmured hugging the jar.
"What else do you need?" he asked looking at the list she was holding.
"Those bags over there, the big ones," pointed Sakura with her head. "Valerian root and snake bone powder for the antidote base."
They were sacks of five kilos each and Sakura usually carried them alone, but before she could leave the jar on the counter, Naruto already had two sacks on one shoulder and the third under his right arm.
"Is this everything or is something missing?" he asked naturally, as if the sacks were full of cotton.
Sakura looked at him and an image came to her mind, remembering the scene at Ino's flower shop days ago and how he had helped the blonde with the heavy boxes without thinking twice. At that moment she had felt stinging jealousy, but now, watching him carry her things with that ease, she felt a kind of warm comfort in her chest.
"Yes, that's all for now," she said walking toward the counter.
They went to pay and the owner started adding up the prices in an old notebook, so Sakura put down the jars and started looking for her purse in her skirt bag making a mental grimace as she calculated the final price, since quality herbs were expensive in Konoha and her genin pay didn't allow for many luxuries.
"That will be four thousand five hundred ryō," said the shopkeeper with a raspy voice.
Sakura sighed audibly, mentally saying goodbye to the savings she had to buy new gloves, and started counting the coins on the wood one by one until a tanned hand suddenly interposed, leaving a crisp, high-denomination bill on the worn wood.
"Keep the change, old man, and make sure to give us the best bags to carry this," said Naruto with a smug smile.
Sakura turned sharply, almost dropping the coins on the floor. "Naruto! What are you doing? It's my training material and I have to pay for it!"
"And I am your bodyguard and interim team leader in financial matters," he replied grabbing the sacks again before the shopkeeper could process the excessive tip. "Besides, don't you remember that I'm rich now? I have too much money."
He patted the bulging pocket of his pants, which sounded with the jingling of many coins.
"It's the money Grandma Tsunade gave me, so I have to spend it before I think of buying a mountain of ramen and get sick to my stomach from eating too much," he explained pushing her gently toward the exit.
"But it's not fair, Naruto, because you are saving for your own things," she protested trying to give him her coins. "Take this at least."
"It's a strategic investment, Sakura-chan," he cut her off walking toward the door and opening it with his foot to stop under the frame and look at her over his shoulder, softening his usual smile until it became something more genuine. "If you get stronger with this and learn those poisons, the team gets stronger, and if the team is strong, I have less work protecting them and I can slack off more, so, technically, I'm being selfish and lazy by paying for this. Let's go."
Sakura stood for a second in the gloom of the store, looking at his orange back illuminated by the afternoon sun.
"Selfish," she repeated in a low voice shaking her head and putting away her coins. "You are the worst liar in the world, Naruto."
They went back out to the street and noticed that the sun was starting to go down, staining the sky with orange and violet tones that were reflected in the windows while the activity in the village calmed down little by little.
"Can we...?" Sakura hesitated a moment looking toward the crossing. "Can we go the long way? The one that goes by the river and borders the park."
Naruto looked at her with the sacks on his shoulder showing no signs of fatigue. "Aren't you in a hurry to get home and start mixing deadly poisons?"
"Tsunade-sama gave me the afternoon off after buying this because she said rest is a vital part of training," explained Sakura walking slowly. "And the truth is I don't want to get home yet, because my parents will get nervous and start asking questions if they see me arrive escorted by you and your clones."
"Understood, then we take the scenic route. Let's move!"
They walked toward the Naka River where the sound of running water always calmed her, found an empty wooden bench, and sat down placing the supply bags between them like a small barrier. Sakura let her hair down with a sigh of relief and put the old, frayed ribbon in her pocket, running her hand through her pink hair which now reached below her shoulders and shone thanks to the strange magic of the Falna.
She looked at herself in the dark reflection of a nearby shop window that had already closed, feeling strange with herself, stronger but also different, as if her body were changing faster than her mind could process.
"Do you think..." she started without knowing quite how to phrase the question without sounding vain. "Do you think this change looks good on me?"
Naruto, who was busy trying to balance a kunai on the tip of his index finger to kill time, looked at her immediately.
"What looks good on you?"
"The hair, Naruto. This long," she said touching the ends. "And... I don't know, everything else. Tsunade-sama says I look tougher and my posture has changed, but I don't know if that's good or if I look strange."
Naruto dropped the kunai, caught it in the air with a quick movement, and put it away to turn completely toward her on the bench, ignoring the river and the mission for a moment to stare her in the eyes, without a trace of a joke or mockery on his face.
"You know... the other day, in the forest, when I told you I liked your hair, I wasn't lying to make you feel better," he said with a calm voice and a serious tone he used very little and that always surprised her.
Sakura felt the blush return to her cheeks, hotter this time than in the store.
"It's just hair, Naruto, and it's a little messy from today's training..."
"I like it a lot," he insisted interrupting her. "It shines differently, like... I don't know how to explain it well, like a strong cherry blossom, one of those that doesn't fall with the first wind that passes."
Sakura lowered her gaze to her hands resting in her lap. "A strong cherry blossom..."
"Yes, it looks good on you and you look powerful," said Naruto nodding with total conviction. "And it's not just the hair, Sakura-chan, it's... how you walk through the village now, because you don't look at the ground so much when you pass close to other ninjas, you look ahead, and that's great."
Sakura looked up, genuinely surprised by such a detailed observation.
"You notice those things?"
"Of course I notice those things," he said shrugging as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I look at you all the time, Sakura-chan, so I notice when you change."
Silence fell between the two and Naruto seemed to realize what he had just confessed, so his blue eyes widened a little more while a red tint appeared quickly on his ears.
"I mean... because we are teammates! And a good leader has to watch his team to see their status! For... tactical evaluation and protection! Yes, that!"
Sakura laughed with a soft and genuine laugh that came from her chest effortlessly.
"Thank you, Naruto."
"Why are you thanking me?"
"For... for seeing me. Really," she said looking him in the eyes. "Sometimes I feel like I'm invisible or that I'm just 'the girl on the team', but you always see me."
They stayed there a few more minutes watching the sun finish setting behind the mountains and the village lights start to flicker, and Sakura noticed that Naruto scanned the nearby rooftops with his gaze every few seconds, but his behavior no longer gave her secondhand embarrassment because she felt safe by his side. She realized that no one, not even Sasuke in his best moments, had made her feel as protected and valued as this blond boy in a ridiculous tracksuit.
"Are you hungry?" asked Naruto suddenly, breaking the reflective moment with the sound of his own stomach roaring like a trapped wild beast.
"A little, actually."
"Great! There's a meat bun stand near here that makes amazing buns, they are the second best in the village after Ichiraku ramen, and I'm treating because I'm the treasurer today!"
He jumped up with renewed energy, carried the heavy sacks as if they were feather pillows, and offered his free hand to help her up from the bench.
Sakura looked at that extended hand in front of her, which was bandaged from training and had a bit of dirt under the nails, knowing it would be warm and full of calluses.
This... feels like a date, thought Sakura with a flutter in her stomach. He bought me expensive things, he told me I'm pretty and powerful, he is protecting me from everything... And the weirdest thing is that it doesn't bother me, I'm not thinking about Sasuke-kun right now and I'm not thinking about what Ino would say if she saw us, I'm just thinking about how warm his hand seems.
She took his hand and let herself be pulled up, feeling the firm grip that didn't let go immediately, even when she was already standing.
"Let's go get those buns before they close," she said smiling.
They ate while walking toward her house under the light of the streetlamps, Naruto talking with his mouth half full about a new technique he wanted to invent, something about a "giant fireball that explodes twice", and Sakura corrected his elemental chakra theory patiently while wiping a bread crumb from his cheek with her thumb without thinking.
They arrived at the door of the Haruno house when night had already fallen completely and the street was empty and silent, where the electric hum of the streetlamps was the only sound. Naruto put the sacks on the porch very carefully so as not to make noise.
"Well... delivery completed successfully," he said taking a step back and putting his hands behind his head with his typical relaxed pose. "Safe and sound, no enemy attacks, and with enough supplies to turn you into the poison witch."
Sakura let out a nervous giggle hugging herself against the cool of the night, knowing that the moment of goodbye had arrived and it was always the awkward moment where they didn't know what to do.
"Thank you, Naruto. For everything today. Really," she said looking at her feet.
Naruto shrugged playing it down. "It's my job, Sakura-chan."
"No," she said looking up and taking a determined step toward him. "It's not your job to pay for my expensive things, or carry my bags all the way, or tell me nice things about my hair. That... you do that because you are you."
She looked sideways nervously seeing that the street was completely deserted and remembered the forest from a few days ago, the clinical kiss he had given her and the failed experiment that had left her confused, wanting to erase that cold memory to replace it with something that was real and warm.
"Naruto, can you... can you bend down a little? You are taller than me now and I can't reach."
"Huh? Sure," said Naruto leaning down confused and bringing his face close to hers. "Do I have something on my face? Bun sauce?"
Sakura felt her heart hammering against her ribs with such force that she thought he might hear it, but she didn't think about it anymore because if she thought about it she wouldn't do it, so she stood on her tiptoes, held on tight to the lapel of his orange jacket so as not to lose her balance, and leaned in.
She pressed her lips against Naruto's cheek, right next to the whisker marks, and it was a soft, warm, and deliberate kiss where she lingered a second longer than necessary.
She pulled away slowly, but without letting go of his jacket yet.
Naruto was completely frozen in place, with his eyes so wide they looked like white plates in the dark and not breathing, looking like a very surprised wax statue. Sakura brought her lips close to his ear taking advantage of his paralysis.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me..." she whispered, her voice trembling slightly from nerves, "...my idiot knight."
She let go of him abruptly and backed away quickly toward the door, feeling her face burning with the intensity of a thousand suns and her legs shaking.
Naruto was still there, leaning in that awkward posture, with one hand touching the cheek where she had kissed him as if checking if it was real.
"Uhh... blergh... Huh? S-Sakura-chan?" he stammered, his brain trying to process the physical contact, the soft tone of voice, and the word "knight" all at the same time and failing miserably.
"Good night!" she squeaked with a high-pitched voice, opened the door to her house, ran inside, and slammed it shut leaning her back against the cold wood while breathing heavily.
She brought her fingers to her lips where she still felt the warmth of his skin and smiled in the darkness of the hallway, knowing that tomorrow would be an interesting day.
Outside, Naruto was still touching his cheek, looking at the closed door with a goofy smile that threatened to split his face.
"Good night... Sakura-chan," he whispered to the air, before turning around and running toward his house, jumping and clicking his heels in the air, forgetting completely about his role as a serious bodyguard.
***
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