Meadow #JUN2K16 [Naruto]

Meadow- [Naruto]

Konohamaru laid in the soft grass beside his two best friends. The sky was a mesmerizing bright blue, freckled with puffs of white. The weather could have been considered perfect, yielding a warm sun with gusts of wind to tousle their hair.

Udon sighed contently, closing his eyes.

The three of them had begun coming to this place after their classes had continually been shortened. There seemed to be nothing to do each day except train. As much as they admired Naruto, they all agreed they didn't want to follow his repetitive schedule of constant training. They would become strong together, at the pace they preferred.

The wispy clouds would sometimes form odd shapes only childish imaginations could identify.

"Look, it's a fox!" Moegi pointed into the depths of the sky.

"It almost looks like the nine-tails..." Udon responded quietly.

When their naturally deemed leader didn't comment, Moegi turned with a look of curiosity.

"Konohamaru-kun?"

She noticed that he hadn't been contributing to their conversations lately. She was worried he was overthinking something, yet there was nothing she could do for him except show her support.

Oddly enough, he sat up and leaned on his elbow. His expression was confused and surprised, but his teammates could sense no fear or urgency within his face.

Konohamaru had spotted the flitting color of highlighted pink out of the corner of his eye. It had made his heart skip a beat, because within the great expanse of green, they had never encountered another villager at the meadow.

Searching purposefully with his eyes, the young ninja spotted a familiar young woman. She lay on her back, similarly to how Konohamaru had been.

Sakura gazed at the sky. She loved the feeling of the grass on her skin after months of missions. Taking the time to simply soak in the peace of the village, Sakura closed her eyes. She hadn't noticed this widely stretching meadow until she'd been slowly walking along the outskirts of Konoha. Her hair was splayed around her, blown by the breezy wind.

She hadn't felt this calm in what seemed like a long time. Sakura was enjoying herself, until a shadow was cast over her. Opening her eyes, she was met with Konohamaru's small face. The young boy stared her down, then smiled a big toothy grin. Sakura allowed her lips to quirk in amusement.

"How are you Konohamaru?"

Still with a smile, he answered with a question. "What are you doing here?"

Although he was on good terms with her, something within him was envious that the area hadn't turned out to be solely his team's. He knew he didn't own the land, but it had been nice to have a whole patch of green to themselves.

Sakura wasn't quite sure why she was there. She'd only stumbled upon the large section of grass after finding an excuse to get rid of Naruto. Giving the boy in front of her a look of reassurance so he didn't think that she was ignoring him, she sat up.

I probably wasn't supposed to be taking breaks anyway. I should report to Tsunade...

Before any words could be said, the group of four heard distant and desperate shouts. They looked around, curious as to who was calling. As the voice became clearer, it was obvious that Naruto was running towards them.

"Sakura!!" He screamed, voice cracking. He ran full speed, nearly tripping over his own feet on the way down the hill.

Sakura looked down, ashamed at herself. She shouldn't have tried to shoo Naruto away. He was so kind to her, despite her almost cruel behavior towards him.

Konohamaru's team was silent, hoping that they would overhear important details to a highly ranked mission. Unfortunately, Konohamaru noticed a flower clutched in the blond's hand. It was still closed, yet to bloom into maturity. He frowned while they all waited for Naruto to make his approach.

"Sakura, I want to show you something-" pausing to look around, Naruto realized where they were. Something lit up in his face and he threw the flower aside.

"This is even better!" He muttered excitedly to himself.

Leaning down, he knelt on the grass with both his palms flat against the ground. It was quiet except the softly blowing wind. Soon, they began to see his blue Chakra swirl around him, emanating power. The blue transferred into the ground. Konohamaru had no idea what he could possibly be attempting, but Sakura understood the uses of Chakra well. She had a faint conception of what could be happening and witnessed with her own eyes.

The entire meadow was full of flower buds, yet to reveal their beauty. As Naruto's Chakra touched each flower's roots, they slowly opened. The once green meadow flourished with color as they blossomed. Naruto remained kneeling, but the children, as well as Sakura, gazed with fascination. The buds had blended in with the grass, making it seem like the ninja had formed the blooming petals from nowhere.

Moegi and Udon gasped and Konohamaru grinned. Sakura was appalled at his accomplishment. There was no way that he could have performed something like that without practice. He would have needed to coax the flowers with the right amount of Chakra in order to be successful.

Naruto had been training for her, to give her this perfect moment.

Although there was only beauty and magnificence before her, Sakura's cheeks were covered with tears. She could never make it up to him. No matter how she acted from here on forward, Sakura had shunned Naruto until this moment.

Naruto noticed the pink-haired girl's wet eyes. Although he wasn't sure if she was crying because of joy or sadness, he stepped forward. Keeping enough distance, he stooped down and plucked a newly discovered flower. Slowly, he continued to move forward, then gently placed it in Sakura's hair.

Staring up at him, she gave no attempt to dry her tears. Naruto beamed brightly at her. Choking back a sob, she fell into him.

Of course, Konohamaru watched them hold each other closely. He had known about Naruto's endless attempts to catch Sakura's attention. Even now, he still wasn't quite sure if his friend had succeeded.

Sakura eventually stopped crying, but she remained pressed to Naruto's chest as his strong arms wrapped around her frail body.

Konohamaru had to admit, the flower display was a unique way to reach for a girl's heart, but he decided that his team would need to find a different meadow to lie in. Soon enough, there would be other students piling into this colorful expanse to see the myriad flowers that weren't there before.