*Update: Major rewrites to this story*

A faint breeze drifted throughout Konoha as the afternoon heat began to subside and the night's cool air settled in. As the last rays of light were shining, Sakura continued to stare at the Konoha Memorial, its dark oblique color and engraved names dredged up memories of the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Her eyes slightly watered as they roamed over the names that decorated the stone ….they were so young then.

Sakura was soon woken from her reverie by a whispered "Sakura-Chan…"

They had all agreed to meet here tonight. She was surprised she hadn't noticed his presence behind her up until that point, but then again, he was Hokage for a reason.

She turned and smiled affectionately at the blonde and the slender silent man who stood a few steps behind him on his right. She couldn't imagine her life without them, especially as she glanced back at the stone and thought of others who hadn't come out of the war so lucky.

"Uh Sakura-chan?" Sakura looked up to see Naruto was now standing directly in front of her peering into her face. Waving his hand in front of her eyes, she took note of the whisker marks that still adorned his cheeks.

"Sorry Naruto, just thinking." She said as he nodded his head with understanding. "So where are we headed?"

Earlier Today:

"Um, sorry to interrupt Sakura-san" stuttered the new receptionist "You have a meeting with the other heads of department today…and by today..I mean..well it's in five minutes" she said sounding miserable.

"Shit" said Sakura remembering the meeting, which was for all the department heads. She scrambled to find her notebook containing her talking points, as Aiko stuttered out apologies for not having reminded her earlier. She had gotten so absorbed in her research on some new physical therapy techniques for the pediatric ward that today's meeting had completely slipped her mind.

"Found it" she shouted as she ran for the door. Aiko was still stammering apologies. "Really Aiko, its alright" Sakura assured her "It's your first day and I should have remembered myself. Don't worry about it" she said quickly as she began racing towards the Hokage's tower that luckily wasn't too far from the hospital.

Opening the door as quietly as possible, she stepped into the office where all the others were already seated. Naruto was standing at the table's head, both hands placed on top the wood as he had begun introducing what was on the agenda. Without stopping his speech, he glanced her way and slipped her a small smile as she sat in the closest chair to the door she could find.

After the meeting was over Sakura began gathering her papers back into her notebook. She planned to make one last round at the hospital before heading home for the evening.

"Sakura-chan, could you wait a moment?" Naruto asked before she could turn and leave.

"Yes Hokage-sama?" she asked watching the blonde walk over, Hokage hat having been laid to the side.

"Sasuke and I were going to get some dinner tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to join us" to which he added hurriedly "I know I've been busy and it's been awhile, but I thought it might be nice to catch up"

Sakura smiled accepting the invitation "I think that sounds great Naruto".

Back to Present:

Naruto's face instantly lit up as Sakura looked up at him with a soft smile, but before he could begin to speak Sasuke said with disdain "Naruto wants to get ramen"

Naruto's happiness instantly deflated as he turned to Sasuke and said with a childish pout "What's wrong with ramen?"

"Naruto, how many times have we had this conversation?"

Sakura laughed as they started bickering. It was always an amusing sight; Naruto in his regal Hokage robes and Sasuke in his sleek dark uniform arguing…they reminded her of two kids playing dress up. It warmed Sakura's heart to know that some things never changed.

Her happiness only grew as they headed towards the ramen shop, where Sai stood waiting.

"Sai!" she raised her arm and called out as she ran and enveloped the artist in a giant hug, something which he had finally learned to reciprocate. She had gotten quite close to Danzo's apprentice over the years and always enjoyed the calm he seemed to bring to the group. It was probably because of this she found Sai so easy to talk to and confide in.

Naruto and Sasuke trailed behind still in a heated argument about the merits of ramen.

They had finally all sat down when Ayame came out of the kitchen. Immediately upon seeing Naruto, she shouted "Dad! It's your favorite customer!"

Naruto laughed and stood up to greet Teuchi who appeared from the back smiling widely.

As the two carried on, Sai leaned over and quietly asked "How is it going with Gen?"

"Oh, we ended things weeks ago" she responded flippantly.

"What was wrong with this one?"

"What do you mean 'this one'? There haven't been that many Sai!" she said with indignation…"Okay, so maybe there have been quite a few lately. I don't know Sai, I just feel ready to be in love, you know?"

It was then that Naruto and Sasuke rejoined the conversation and Naruto curious as ever asked "What are you two over there whispering about?"

"Oh, you know, just my nonexistent love life" sighed Sakura as she leaned her head into her hand. "So lets talk about something more exciting" and with that she began telling them about some new medical jutsu she had learned.

Exhausted she waited until after their conversation had begun to fade to make her leave. She ordered a to-go box for her ramen and bid her boys goodbye as Sai also left to return home.

"Goodnight Naruto! Goodnight Sasuke-kun! Let's do this again soon!" As she walked away, she missed the smile that slightly wavered on Naruto's face.

Quietly both men finished their meals, but before Naruto could get up to leave Sasuke uttered "Just tell her Naruto."

The air seemed to feel heavier as the blonde looked up to look to where pink hair had faded into the distance. "And say what?" Naruto responded with bitter humor in his voice "Hey Sakura-chan, you want a love life? Guess what, I'm still available!"

"Or even better, Oh hey Sakura-chan, I know you and Sasuke didn't work out, but there's still time to settle!"

Sasuke simply sat in silence waiting for his friend to finish.

"Sorry Sasuke, that wasn't directed at you" Naruto sighed while rubbing his temples "I just, I want her to be happy. She's got enough on her plate, I don't want to burden her with the knowledge that her best friend is still in love with her"

"She loves you Naruto" Sasuke responded with sincerity

"Not like she loved you" the Hokage calmly stated. He had long ago accepted his role in Sakura's life and the thought of even potentially ruining the friendship they had developed made him feel as if he couldn't breathe. He was not the reckless youth he once was. His knew his decisions had consequences.

He thought of the hope that soared through his chest all those years ago as Sakura had begun to declare her love for him, the boy with the demon fox. Even more importantly, he remembered the hurt and anger as he quickly realized it was all a lie.

Not that he blamed her of course. Later as he was able to reflect on the situation it was easy to see that her intentions were noble, but it had hurt, nonetheless. Naruto's heartbreak hadn't really come until much later.

After the war had ended, Sakura and Sasuke had attempted a relationship, a fact that few people knew. Naruto watched and listened as they tirelessly tried to make it work, but every time they got close, they found something to be in the way. By the end the relationship felt forced and the two agreed that they would be better off as friends.

Naruto, as much as he hated it, even knew about the few hook-ups they had after ending things. First love was not easy to get over and he didn't blame either of them for their multiple attempts at finding happiness.

This wasn't the first time Sasuke had brought up this subject. Naruto had a suspicion that the normally emotionless ninja felt guilty for taking away his chance with their pink haired teammate…what he failed to realize was that the blond never had a chance to begin with.

"But she could…" Sasuke started, but before he could finish Naruto quickly interrupted and said-

"We've talked about this before Sasuke. I know you want us both to be happy, but you can't just force two people together."

"I've got to go drop by the office to pick up a few things" stated the Hokage and Sasuke could tell that this would be the end of this conversation…for now.

Not even the first rays of sunlight had begun to shine through her apartment window when Sakura was woken up to the sound of her alarm. Another day at the hospital. She loved her work, it was her passion, but lately she felt restless, unsettled, like something was missing.

She slowly dragged herself into the kitchen grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit on her kitchen counter. 'At least my shift doesn't start until noon' she thought taking a bite of the fruit. 'Maybe I could go run some errands in the village'

She thought about last night and how nice it felt to take time to be with friends. She had forgotten how much she missed them all, especially Naruto.

Unfortunately, while her and Sasuke had been trying to figure things out, her friendship with the blonde had fallen to the wayside. As a result, she often found herself missing the warmth and passion for life that her most loyal friend provided, during those years that she was preoccupied with her relationship above anything else.

Though they had reconnected over the past few years, their new and more demanding jobs often got in the way and it made her sad as she thought of the friendship that she had never quite fully regained.

Shaking off her melancholy Sakura got dressed and made her way out into the village markets, basket in hand.

The pinkette loved the different smells and sights on weekend mornings in the village. A variety of vendors lined the streets selling delicious foods and other trinkets that Sakura adored to browse.

'I need to get out more' she thought as she took in the scene before her. As a medic ninja she missed the opportunity to spend time outside and away from florescent halls and smell of antiseptics.

"Forehead! What are you doing here? Hanging with your boys?" Sakura glanced up to see Ino walking towards her. Confused by the question, she looked around to realize that she had reached the end of a long line of vendors and was now standing across the training ground where she could she the Hokage and his right-hand man training in the distance.

Smirking Sakura answered "Hey Ino-pig", greeting her best girl friend a hug.

"I was just running a few errands actually. What are you up to?" questioned Sakura.

"I was sent to track down that knuckleheaded Hokage of ours. The council has some building contract they needed to be signed today, so they sent the first person they saw to find him, which of course happened to be me."

Laughing Sakura made her way over to the training field where she and Ino watched as Naruto and Sasuke continued battling it out-

Lost in her thoughts Sakura wasn't quite listening to everything her purple clad friend was chatting about

"Not that I mind." Ino said both loudly and mischievously.

"Wait sorry….not that you mind what?"

"Not that I mind tracking him down. I mean look at him Sakura, your teammate is hot. And to think I got stuck with the laziest shinobi in Konoha." Sakura only grinned knowing she thought the world of her teammates…especially Shikamaru.

Following Ino's line of sight Sakura realized that it was Naruto the platinum blonde was speaking of. I mean they both knew Sasuke was attractive, but Sakura couldn't remember if she had ever heard Ino talk about the Hokage in that way before.

"Yeah, I guess he is" Sakura mused. 'Of course, her oldest friend was attractive, she had always known that though, right?'

"Sakura-chan! Ino!" called Naruto as he made his way over with Sasuke. The two finally having finished up their training.

Just as he was about to reach them the blonde turned to Sasuke, to no doubt tease him about his skill, when he tripped over a rock and fell, knocking over the Uchiha in the process

Sakura began laughing hysterically as the two large men, now tangled up on the ground both hurriedly and clumsily untangled themselves

"Shit! Sorry Sasuke!" exclaimed Naruto with a bashful look on his face.

Sasuke, brushing himself off simply looked up and said "No." as he turned to walk away

"Oh come on Sasuke, it was an accident!" Naruto shouted as the brooding ninja continued stalking away

Sakura laughed even harder as Sasuke, without looking back, lifted one hand up in a "just stop" motion and kept right on walking. No matter how old the blonde got, he was still as accident prone as ever.

"Go ahead and sign this so I can get back to work Naruto, it's the building contract for the new greenhouse they want to build near the hospital." demanded Ino as she laughed and flipped her long platinum blonde hair over her shoulder. She gave the contract to Naruto who with an impish smile scribbled his name on the document.

With a final wink, Ino bounced off as Sakura continued to chuckle.

"Sorry Naruto, I really am done laughing. Promise" Sakura managed to get out.

Sakura looked up as the Hokage then began to grin mischievously and said "It's alright Sakura-chan, I will allow you to go on a date with me to make up for it."

"…Allow me?" 'A date? When was the last time Naruto asked me on a date?' thought Sakura.

"Yep, I mean who wouldn't want to go on a date with the hot Hokage." He said as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Surprise flitted across Sakura's face and then realization as she yelled "Naruto! You were eavesdropping on me and Ino's conversation!"

"Maybe," smiled the Hokage and Sakura watched as he sauntered away; his booming laughter echoing through the village.