On Cloud Nine
Fact sheets were scattered all over his desk. Statistics on all of the new genin with photographs attached to each sheet. And one corner of his desk, a stack of photographs and statistics on the jounin teachers. His first order of business when he got back from his vacation was to assign all the genin to teams and then to their respective instructors.
Crystal blue eyes turned to look outside his office window. The streets of Konoha were bustling with activity. Being the village leader came with responsibilities. Ever since Tsunade stepped down over a year ago, passing the title over to him, he had no regrets. He had achieved his dream. The people of his village…their happiness and well-being…were his top priority.
But it didn't mean he was against some personal time off.
For nearly fifteen years, Tsunade overlooked Konoha and formed alliances with neighboring villages to counter outside threats. At the heart of the old lady's leadership were the teachings of her grandfather, the first Hokage, and her teacher, the third. It took nearly a decade after she began the position of Hokage for peace and prosperity to finally arrive in the village.
She had created a medical school for genin to attend after graduating from the academy. The early days during her leadership had been unpredictable – it was necessary in her opinion that all teams have at least one medic, particularly those teams going out on higher-ranking missions.
Once things had settled down, she felt that it was time for Konoha to grow under fresh new leadership. He had been around a few of the times when she'd let out an offhand comment about her age. She was close to seventy and while she certainly never looked like it, she did say that she wasn't getting any younger.
Listlessly flipping through the genin fact sheets, he forced himself to concentrate. When he was a youth, teams had been selected to balance out abilities with traits compatible to the instructor's. He leaned back in his plush chair, a gift from Godaime herself – Tsunade told him that a comfortable chair was essential – before studying each of the student's skills before separating them into piles based on their abilities. Some genin had superior taijutsu skills while lacking in genjutsu. Others had superior intelligence with minimal taijutsu abilities. Some of the academy instructors included their personal notes as well, which he also read before setting down each sheet.
After twenty minutes of reading, he set his papers down, raking a hand through his always mussed blond hair. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, only to find himself looking at a single photograph encased in a cherry wood frame. The woman in the photograph smiled in the camera's direction, her green eyes sparkling with laughter as she had smoothed back her windblown pink hair.
His wife.
A grin threatened to split his face. He hadn't even been married for a week and he hadn't gotten off the high cloud yet. As he continued to stare at the photograph of the most important person in his life, he remembered the conversation he had with the council four weeks ago…
"A vacation? But…that's impossible!" one of the elder men exclaimed.
"Why not?" the Hokage demanded. "It's just four days. What could happen-?"
"Hokage-sama," the man spoke up quickly, "It would be best that you stay in the village. You are needed-"
He groaned aloud, propping his sandaled feet on the empty chair adjacent to his while crossing his arms over his lean chest. "Tsunade no baa-chan already agreed to look over things while I'm gone." Twenty-eight years old, and he was still calling the old lady by his familiar title for her. Growing up hadn't changed what he'd been calling her for fifteen or so years. He then proceeded to list everything the council might be concerned over due to his brief time away. "All the meetings with allies have already happened and I've read the reports. I've already assigned teams to go on missions, and they'll be back before I leave. And it's not like she can't handle assigning missions, she's only done it for so long…The academy has its graduation in two weeks, and they all know that I won't be assigning teams until I get back. It's just four days!"
One of the elder female council members said gently, "Naruto…I understand that being Hokage is a big responsibility. Especially to one so young…Vacation can be a nice-"
Sighing, he interrupted smoothly, "I just want to spend some time away with my future wife. Half the village is married. I think they can understand that."
The older woman smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "They aren't Hokage."
At that, he grinned. "Just give me four days. If it's that big of an emergency, I'm only half a day away. Send a messenger and I'll be here."
Most of the council had forgotten what it was like to be young and in love.
Then again, he'd loved his wife since they were what? Twelve? Thirteen?
Their honeymoon had been spent mostly indoors. He figured they had to make the most of their time, especially with their schedules. Not that his wife complained about cabin fever. They were too busy making love, eating, cuddling, talking, or making love. After all, they had over ten years of sexual frustration to make up for. She had wanted to wait until they were married. It made everything seem more…special to her, and he respected that.
A part of him did feel guilty…his wife had been feeling a i little /i sore in certain places so it had taken them a little longer than usual to return home.
But the goofy grin just wouldn't leave his face. Naruto was looking forward to the time his wife would come back from work later that afternoon.
vvvv
"I'm going on lunch now," she announced to her colleagues who were all settled in the break room at Konoha Hospital.
After saying goodbye to everyone and promising to be back no later than an hour and fifteen minutes, she stopped by the locker room to remove her white lab coat and hang it in her designated storage space. A quick frown came to her features at the sight of her appearance in the mirror attached to the inside of her locker. She quickly removed her hair from its constricting short ponytail and ran a brush through her pink locks.
"Hi, Sakura," one of the nurses, Kumi, greeted as she opened her locker to change into her uniform scrubs. Her locker was just five doors down.
"Hi," the young medic-nin greeted her coworker. "Just got back from lunch?"
"Yup." A cheeky grin came to her face as Sakura began to apply some pink lip gloss. "Going on your lunch break?" At Sakura's nod, she pressed, "You wouldn't happen to be stopping by the Hokage's office for lunch, would you?"
Sakura laughed as she checked her appearance in the mirror. "Maybe…"
"Newlyweds…" Kumi sighed wistfully before heading to the restroom.
Sakura smoothed down the front of her mauve sleeveless dress before adjusting the partial Mandarin collar at the top. The dress was made of material that seemed to flow over her torso before flaring slightly at the hips and thighs. Her training as a kunoichi had given her a slender and well-toned figure.
One that her husband had enjoyed very thoroughly during their time away together. The memories caused shivers to dance up her spine, and she smiled.
It seemed like they had waited a lifetime to get to where they were…
He had returned from a long and dangerous mission that had put him in the hospital for at least a week.
Sakura had brought him flowers every day, as well as some snacks she made. She made it a point to visit him during her breaks at work.
"Let's get married."
The statement was so sudden she didn't take it seriously. "Well…I always did say that if I never find someone to share my life with, I'd marry you." She figured that she'd humor him since he had been gone a while. She honestly didn't want to remember what it had been like…waiting for weeks to see if he'd come back. She lost one teammate as a teenager…she didn't think she could lose another important person in her life.
And Naruto had been very important. Despite the years, his teasing nature never really left him and he'd always been a kid at heart. They'd been friends ever since they had been teammates. He had been a little more forward though as they got into their twenties, using some of his free time with her and persuading her to go out on a date with him. She'd always say no and he'd drop the subject until he saw her the next time.
Only this time, instead of mentioning date, he'd gone straight to marriage.
"I'm serious," he muttered.
Sakura merely squeezed his arm, grinning. "From dates to marriage? That's a little too fast for me." She jumped up in her chair. "I have to go back to work, so I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sakura-chan-"
"Bye!" she interrupted as she began to head out the door.
"Is there someone else?" he asked quickly. When she turned to look at him, a smile crossed his face, but even she could see it was forced. "'Cuz…I want you to be happy…and we've been friends for so long…I…want you to be happy with him…" The sentences came out awkwardly as he tried to find the right words to say.
Sakura slowly made her way back to her seat by the bed. Taking a deep breath, she admitted, "No, there's no one else. You would have met him by now."
It was true. She definitely would have introduced a potential boyfriend to the most important man in her life. At that, she blinked.
Now that she thought about it…she had only been on casual dates for the last ten years. Ever since Sasuke left, she hadn't really met anyone who had captured so much of her attention. But she wasn't a teen anymore, either, and the feelings of a ten-year-old girl were different than the feelings of a twenty-six-year-old woman.
But she always had Naruto as a companion. Granted, he didn't fill the void that a boyfriend normally would…but he definitely had the qualities that she wanted in a relationship. She always figured a boyfriend would be a good friend, too. That was how good relationships lasted, right? You had to really trust and understand each other along with having the fireworks, right?
"Why do you want to marry me?" she asked abruptly.
He stared at her straight in the eyes for several long seconds. Suddenly, tension thickened the air between them, and she had to force herself to keep her gaze steady.
Then he looked away, saying quietly, "If you don't know the answer, then-"
Something flared inside of her. "I can't believe you're dancing around this. Now…of all times! What I said was important-"
"So was what I said," he countered.
"All I asked was-"
"If after what? Fifteen, sixteen years? You still don't know why?" Naruto interrupted. Suddenly, he braced his forehead with his hand. "Ow…" he cringed. "Dammit…" he glanced at the clock on the stand by his bed. "We'll talk later. You should get to work…"
Sakura couldn't get out of there fast enough. She definitely did not like being cornered.
Imagine her surprise when after her shift, she spotted Naruto waiting in the lobby, still dressed in blue hospital clothes, crutches propped against the couch.
She was still confused over his strange behavior earlier that she kept right on walking.
"Sakura-chan, wait a minute!" he called out after her.
He had managed to hobble after her, reaching the entrance/exit to the hospital when she turned around.
"I thought you wanted to talk later…"
"It is later," he pointed out, leaning back against a pillar.
Sakura bit her lip to keep from smiling. He looked so cute, looking partially lost, angry and frustrated – no doubt at his inability to run after her, his hospital clothes wrinkled in a thousand different places and his blond hair ruffled – like he had been going around in circles.
Maybe they both had.
"Okay," Naruto took a deep breath and said in a rush, "I've loved you since we were kids, and we've been friends for about the same time, so it makes sense that I start thinking about getting married, especially now, I mean, with everything-"
Sakura blinked as her friend continued to ramble. He'd always looked out for her over the years – protected her from harm…served as a listening ear whenever something bothered her…made her laugh…
And then she imagined what her life would be like without him in it. No bright smiles and a 'Sakura-chan!' to greet her the instant those blue eyes set on her. No enthusiastic stories about what happened when he went on random mission three hundred and two. No tapping on her bedroom window at weird hours of the day because he wanted to show her something cool at four in the morning. And definitely no more rambling.
What a boring life…
"Naruto…" she spoke up softly. "Let's get married."
"I mean, Shikamaru and Ino are married…they were teammates, then friends, then…wha?"
The complete shock on his face was enough to make her giggle. There were only a few times she knew of when Naruto was speechless.
"Let's get married," she repeated firmly.
"Wha…? You…You're kidding, right?" Blue eyes had widened to the size of saucers. "You told me earlier that-"
"A woman's allowed to change her mind, right?" Sakura retorted, placing her hands on her hips. "And you better get used it, Naruto, especially if you plan on being my husband."
He literally slapped himself on the cheek. Which made her laugh even more. He probably was shocked to the bones.
Sakura reached for his hands. She had always been ruled by emotions…and right now, they were telling her something that she should have noticed a long time ago.
He looked at their joined hands before meeting her eyes. What he saw apparently told him everything he needed to know, erasing any doubts he had. "So…You really want to get married, huh?"
It wasn't the most romantic proposal, in her opinion. But who needed romance when she'd had the same man pursuing her for the last fifteen years?
Sakura sighed, smiling softly as she ascended the steps that would lead to her husband's office. A year and a half later since his proposal…and she couldn't be happier. She was more in love now with her husband than she was a year ago.
Once at his office, she peeked inside to see him arranging the paperwork on his desk. A glance at the frog-shaped clock on the wall told her it was almost noon. Her husband usually took his lunch at that time – which meant a quick stop to Ichiraku Ramen.
"Hi," she spoke up, interrupting his desk arranging.
His eyes lit up immediately. "Sakura-chan!" He grinned as she stepped inside of his office, closing the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm on lunch break," she declared as she made her way to his desk. "I thought you might want to go together." Gently pushing aside a stack of papers, she hoisted herself up on the corner of his desk, crossing her legs. The skirt of her dress had ridden up a few inches above her knees. "Ramen for lunch?"
Silence. "What?" He blinked. "What did you say?"
"I asked if you were going to have ramen for lunch."
"Huh?" He blinked again, looking confused.
Something was obviously wrong with him today if he didn't even hear her mention his favorite food in the whole world.
"Are you all right…?" she trailed off, noticing that he kept looking at her legs, and that his desk had somehow gone from neat piles of papers to…disorganized piles of papers.
That he was currently shoving to the sides of his desk. "How long are you on your lunch break?"
"What? A little over an hour – ah!"
Somehow she had ended up on her back on his desk. Her view of the ceiling was soon replaced by the handsome features of her grinning husband.
She frowned up at him. "That wasn't very nice."
"I thought you like surprises," he replied, bending his head to kiss her cheek, ears, and jawline.
It was getting very difficult to concentrate. With as much strength as she could, she shifted their positions so that she was on top, straddling his thighs. Then she began to loosen the front of his white robes to expose his bare chest. He grinned at her boldness, watching as she leaned down to press her lips over his collarbone.
"Four days really wasn't enough time," she murmured, moving to the column of his throat.
"No kidding…" He grasped her chin and tilted her face up to meet his lips with a kiss.
vvv
Naruto craned his neck to look at the clock on the wall before looking at his wife, who was pushing herself up to a sitting position. He grasped her upper thigh with his right hand.
"Going somewhere?" he queried.
She shot him a chiding look before a soft smile crossed her lips. "My lunch break is almost over." She kissed his lips briefly. "I may be the Hokage's wife, but it's not nice to be late for work…" She adjusted the front zipper of her dress. "You're terrible, you know that?"
So much for a lunch break.
"It's not my fault you're distracting." He really didn't think he'd get tired of his beautiful and spirited wife. He'd been chasing her for years. And now that he finally had her, he intended to do everything in his power that would make her happy for the rest of their lives. That satisfied grin crossed his face again, as he observed his wife – rather reluctantly – fix her hair and smooth down wrinkles on her dress. He gently set her aside as he stood up and arranged his clothes as well. "Do you want me to send someone with lunch to the hospital?"
"No…it's all right. I'll just get something on the way." Sakura leaned forward to kiss him one last time. "I should get going…" She headed toward the door, and with a wink, said, "I'll see you after work…Love you…"
"Love you, too..."
As she left, his eyes turned back to the stack of papers on his desk. Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he should send Kotetsu to retrieve two bowls of miso ramen to go. He had work to do, and it was going to be a long afternoon.