Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Welcome To My Life ❯ Far Away ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Nickleback's “Far Away.”

 

 

 

Chapter 2 - Far Away

 

Sammery

 

 

 

“Welcome to my life…”

 

The end of the song played into the ears of a sixteen-year-old, pink-haired ninja. She smiled, content in her knowledge that Naruto hadn't felt that pain that caused him to write that song for a long time.

 

Not long after they had begun their relationship Sasuke had run off to join with Orochimaru. Naruto had gone off to try and bring him back, promising her that he would return with their friend in tow…but that hadn't happened. The group that went out after him barely returned with their lives and most of that was by the sheer luck of the sand-ninjas arriving when they did. The entire time that Naruto was off, the first time one of them had been on a mission without the other, the only thing Sakura could do was worry about Naruto and when he was going to return.

 

This must be what mom feels every time dad goes off on a mission… Sakura had thought at the time, anxiously craning her neck out of the kitchen window where she had stood washing the same plate so many times that it was starting to loose its color. She strained her ears to hear a bit of his raucous laughter or his voice yelling “Sakura-chan” for all the village to hear. She searched in vain for a flash of his orange jumpsuit or his bright blonde hair.

 

When news came to the village that the mission had been a failure and that Neji and Chouji were in grave condition Sakura had begun to cry, fearing for the life of her Naruto. She had waited by the gate anxiously for any news to come in about Naruto from the ninja who had gone out to search for the group. When Kakashi-sensei appeared with Naruto on his back she had cried from both relief that he was alive and sorrow at his condition. But he was alive…

 

For two days Sakura sat at his bed-side, waiting for him to wake up and when he finally did he apologized up and down for failing to bring back Sasuke.

 

“It's alright Naruto!” she ended up yelling as she threw herself on him, giving him as strong a hug as she could given his injuries, “You're okay…you can always go after him again, the point is that you are okay now…” She cried into his chest, telling him how scared she had been for him and he had tried to calm her, rubbing circles on her back just as she had done weeks before in his destroyed apartment.

 

Sakura sighed, that had been three years ago now. Naruto had gone off to train with Jiraiya as she studied under Tsunade. She had become far stronger as a girl and a ninja. She had been promoted to the rank of Chuunin a few months ago. She had been so excited when it had happened. She had written to Naruto, telling him of her great news, but as with all her letters there was no way to tell when or if those letter were going to make it to him. He was constantly moving around wherever Jiraiya's fancy took them. He did write when he could. For these last three years those letters were what kept her going. They let her know that Naruto was okay, and that he was still thinking about her. His last letter, however, had made her uneasy.

 

 

Dear Sakura,

 

I cannot begin to describe how much I miss seeing your beautiful face. It has been too long. I can't believe that it has been almost three years since the last time I have heard your voice and held you. Saying good-bye at the gate that day had to be the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I think about you every day and cannot wait until I can see your smiling face again.

 

However that day might be farther away than I thought. In the past few days Ero-sennin has uncovered some evidence about the location of Orochimaru and Sasuke…and we've decided to follow the lead. It will be harder to contact me after this, we are going to a place that even mail carrier-ninja do not go. If all goes well I should be returning soon with Sasuke at my side. I will bring him back even if I have to break his arms and legs to do it. Besides with all you've learned from Tsunade-baachan while I've been away you should be able to heal a few broken bones in a jiffy.

 

I love you with all of my heart; we will be back together soon. Believe it!

 

Naruto

 

 

That letter had come months ago and she had heard nothing from him since. She sighed, and rewound the tape so that she could listen to it again. This tape had made the separation more bearable, she could hear his voice anytime she wanted.

 

The cassette player clicked, indicating that it had reached the beginning and was once again ready to be played. She was just about to start the tape up again when she sensed a familiar presence behind her. She turned around to face her sensei, the most respected ninja in all Konoha, Tsunade-sama, the Fifth Hokage.

 

She quickly stood up and removed the head-phones from her ears. She pulled her face into a smile, “Good afternoon Tsunade-sensei.” She said, pulling a slight bow.

 

Tsunade smiled at her student. Over three years Sakura had blossomed into a ninja worthy of her name. There were not many that could hold a candle to Sakura. She had strength to rival Tsunade's own.

 

Shaking herself out of her little daydream she produced a small, beaten up envelope from the folds of her robe. “This was delivered today to my office…it has your name on it.”

 

Sakura walked up with a confused expression on her face. Why would something for her be sent to the Hokage's office? But there it was, on a plain, tan envelope; her name was written simply across the front but the thing that excited her was that the handwriting was a familiar one. It was her Naruto's!

 

She quickly snatched it out of Tsunade's hand a raced off home, to open the letter in private, not even saying a word of thanks to her teacher who watched dust drift into the air in Sakura's wake with a smile on her face.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Once Sakura reached the sanctity of her bedroom she tore open the envelope in desperate need to read the words of the blonde ninja.

 

However, when she opened the envelope there was no letter that awaited her. In her rush to find out Naruto's latest news she had failed to realize that the envelope was far too heavy to contain merely a letter. Instead of a letter there was a cassette tape. Just like the last one it was completely blank. No writing on the outside to identify whose it was or what was on it.

 

Positively beaming, the pink-haired girl reached down to the cassette player at her hip and switched out the tape in it for the new one. Placing the earphones securely in her ears so that they would not slip out, Sakura hit play.

 

For a moment there was silence, and then she heard it, the voice that she only heard on tapes and in her dreams; Naruto.

 

“Heya there Sakura.” It began. Sakura relished in the slightly scratchy voice, and noticed that it had lowered in pitch quite a bit, but that was to be expected.

 

“I got your last letter. Congratulations! Man do I wish I coulda been there to see you. I'm sure you wiped the floor with everyone else.” Sakura smiled, I wish you coulda been there too Naruto, because then you would be home with me.

 

“Now given the circumstances I felt you deserved a bit more than just a letter,” Sakura could almost feel him smirking through the recording, “and I also realized that I never did get around to singing to you again…” Sakura's heart beat sped up, was he gonna…

 

“Now it's been awhile since the last time I sang and played so I might be a bit rusty. Just bear with me okay?” The sound of a guitar being strummed sounded in her ear, “This one I wrote especially for you…I call it `Far Away.'”

 

This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore

 

Sakura felt the tears pooling in her eyes. Damn right you've been away too long…just come home Naruto, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to see you.

 

On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand
I'd give it all
I'd give for us
Give anything but I won't give up
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

The tears were flowing freely now. She could hear now, just as she did years ago, the emotion in his voice. But this time it was pain and anguish, he was singing to the woman he loved and his voice betrayed him to that fact. She closed her eyes and imagined that Naruto were right in front of her, singing it to her in person and not on some tape.

 

That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore

So far away
Been far away for far too long
So far away
Been far away for far too long
But you know, you know, you know

 

I wanted
I wanted you to stay
'Cause I needed
I need to hear you say…

That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I forgive you
For being away for far too long
So keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
Hold on to me and, never let me go

 

She smiled when she heard that he had inserted his trademark phrase “Believe it,” into the song. `O God Naruto, please just come home…'

 

Sakura was beside herself. She could not bring herself to open her eyes and face the fact that Naruto was not there with her. It was almost painful. She could feel him there in the room. She listened as the last chord of the song sounded and then just sat there. She removed the earplugs and whispered, “Oh, Naruto…”

 

Quietly she sang the last refrain as the song had requested, still refusing to open her eyes. She was content with the image her mind had created of a smiling Naruto standing in front of her, looking at her with eyes that were meant only for her. “Hold on to me and, never let me go…” she finished, her voice trembling with tears.

 

She opened her eyes and, as had happened several times before, Naruto was still standing before her. She saw him so often in her dreams that sometimes she opened her eyes and he was still there, gazing at her with love.

 

But this one wasn't fading…

 

And his clothing was different from what she remembered…his orange pants remained, however he no longer donned the bright orange jacket, instead we wore a form-fitting black t-shirt that reached his elbows with a fishnet-mesh covering the rest of his arms to the wrist. His hair looked to be longer now too, unable to remain upright as it always had, being gathered at the nape of his neck in a ponytail. And instead of the blue material that his forehead protector used to be on, it was now on a piece of black material that was longer than the blue had been.

 

And his eyes…they were radiating more love than Sakura could ever have imagined…

 

Sakura stood slowly and yet the apparition still did not fade. She took notice of another change, this Naruto was taller than her by at least three or four inches.

 

She took two steps and brought herself up close to the figure, slowly she reached out and placed her fingertips against its cheek. Solid and warm.

 

“You're…here…” she said stupidly, not fully comprehending the situation.

 

He nodded once and drew a soft smile on his face, brining his hand up to clasp her small one in his, “I'm home.”

 

At those two words Sakura launched herself the minimal distance between them and crushed Naruto to herself, afraid if she let go that he would disappear and be nothing more than a daydream. She thrust her face into his neck, inhaling his scent. “Naruto, you're back, you're okay!”

 

She pulled back slightly, still tightly clasping his body to hers but enough so that she could see his face which had elongated and had a far more chiseled appearance.

 

He smirked down at her, “Like I could stay away, I had you here waiting.” With that he ducked his head down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, a gentle kiss that quickly spiraled into a hot, demanding one; both of them expressing feelings so strong that there were no words to describe them properly. When they finally broke away neither of the could peel the smiles off of their faces.

 

“So,” Naruto started, “I guess you missed me?”

 

She swatted his arm, careful not to actually inflict damage. “Of coarse I did you dolt!” With that she grabbed his face with her hands and pulled him down for another kiss, not even minding the stubble that was scratching at her hands. There was another change that she would have to get used to.

 

Eventually their make-out session ended up with them tumbling onto the bed, however nothing happened. They laid there, in each others arms, just content with being in each other presence after so much time apart.

 

A thought suddenly struck Sakura as she was starting to drift away to sleep in her lover's embrace. “Hey Naruto…”

 

“Hmm…” he responded, also in a half-sleep induced daze.

 

“Your last letter…” she pause not quite sure how to proceed, “well, it said that you had gotten a lead on Sasuke…” she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

 

“They were long gone.” Naruto informed her with a sigh of annoyance. “When we reached the compound it had been abandoned, they were probably about a month gone.”

 

“Oh…and there were no indications of where they had gone.”

 

“None…and honestly,” he said, blue eyes boring into her green ones, “I really wanted to get home.” He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then on her nose, and then on her lips, a soft, gentle kiss that lingered for a moment.

 

They parted and soon after that fell asleep in each others arms where an unsuspecting Mrs. Haruno found them the next morning when she came upstairs to find out why her daughter had failed to come down for breakfast. She smiled down at her daughter and the boy she loved and had been waiting on for the last three years.

 

She quietly walked in the room to shut the shades on her daughter window, not wanting the sun to ruin their peaceful moment. When she turned around she met the sleepy blue eyes of the trickster of Konoha. She mutely put her fingers to her lips to tell him to be quiet and pointed to the still sleeping Sakura. He looked down at the dozing ninja, pure adoration in his eyes. He looked up and nodded at said ninja's mother before lying back down and wrapping his arms firmer around her figure and himself drifted back off to sleep.

 

Several hours later the both awoke from the best night sleep of their lives looked at each other and smiled, knowing that it would be followed by many others to come.