Wow, so it's been like seven years since I have posted anything on here. And you're probably wondering, why is she writing Naruto stuff? Well that's because between the last time I posted and today, I dove head first into manga and anime. Oh yea,h college is a wonderful time in life. But anyway, here's a one-shot of Narusaku that I wrote for the tumblr event.

Regular

Flashback

Protection

Sakura huffed as she sat by the fire, trying to warm her frozen fingers into feeling again. She had been on a mission for the last week with Shikamaru and Ino to escort an ambassador back to the Land of Cloud after an important set of meetings that were held in Konoha.

"You know, you'll have to see him when we get back." The drawling voice of Shikamaru cut through Sakura's thoughts. She looked up and saw the two Nara's back from collecting water and more firewood. Ino had a smug looking smile on her face and Sakura had to persuade herself from flicking her in the ear.

"Yea, we are getting back tomorrow, Forehead." Ino teased. "I don't even want to know what you two argued about, but it makes you kinda a whiny bitch."

"Ino-pig" Sakura growled. "It's not really any of your business." Ino's smirk only increased.

"Well, it probably doesn't matter now since the whole village probably heard you arguing." Ino sighed, taking a seat next to Sakura. "Was it really that bad?" Sakura looked over to her best friend.

"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously.

"What I mean is what did Naruto do this time that warranted such a scolding from you." Shikamaru cut in from across the fire. Sakura blushed deeply at their assumptions.

"He just...was being a baka." Sakura mumbled.

"Sakura, we discussed this already. You're not going on this mission." Naruto stated calmly from his desk. The lack of "chan" irked Sakura even more. Naruto only ever omitted the honorific when he was being serious.

"Naruto, be reasonable. Ino and Shikamaru need a third team member since Choji is gone on his honeymoon. I'm the best choice for them." Sakura bit back, feeling her anger rise. Why was he being so ridiculous? Naruto frowned at her words.

"Sakura, you know perfectly well why you cannot go on the mission. There are other chunin that can accompany them." He snapped back, his voice taking on that 'no-nonsence' tone he used on the council. Sakura bristled, angered that he would use that tone with her.

"I'm not a china doll, Naruto. I can still do all the things that a shinobi can do." Sakura yelled. Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down as well. He knew Sakura wasn't fragile, but why couldn't she understand? A knock resounded through the office, announcing the presence of Ino and Shikamaru coming to report for the mission. Sakura crossed her arms and stood up straight to give her height.

"I'm going on the mission, Naruto, and you can't stop me." Sakura huffed. Naruto gave a small, sarcastic smile.

"I actually can." He teased, but Sakura didn't find it funny.

"You have no official reason to ban me from the mission." Sakura replied. Naruto sighed, knowing that he wouldn't win this argument before the group left. He waved in Ino and Shikamaru.

"Sakura will join you as the third member of your team for the mission. It's simple: guard the ambassador back to the Land of Cloud and then return." Naruto exhaled. Ino and Shikamaru looked between the two. Ino opened her mouth to inquire, but Shikamaru merely nudged her and shook his head to dissuade her.

"Alright, Naruto. We should be back within ten days." Shikamaru drawled. "But this tension better not be too troublesome on the mission." Sakura refused to look at Naruto.

"Don't worry; it won't" Sakura replied snidely. "Come on, let's go." And with that, the three walked out with Shikamaru sneaking a look over at Naruto before shutting the door.

"Well, we better get some sleep. We will be leaving as soon as the sun is up." Shikamaru announced, walking over to his tent with Ino.

"Well, get some sleep, Sakura. I'm sure everything will be better when we get back." Ino waved, disappearing in the tent. Sakura sighed and looked into the fire. She felt terrible for yelling at Naruto, but he was acting ridiculous! She shook her head. She and Naruto always fixed things before the day was out and to leave a fight unreconciled was abnormal for them. Hopefully, he would have calmed down as well and they would talk this out in more detail when she got back. Sakura slowly stood and walked towards her tent, feeling a little better about facing Naruto tomorrow.

The group reached the main gates by noon the next day. Many people greeted them as the came through.

"Welcome back, Sakura-sama!"

"We missed you, Sakura-hime!"

Sakura nodded at each person as she passed, her gut twisting even more as they walked closer to the Hokage tower. When they reached the door, Shikamaru knocked three times and was immediately answered with a "Come in!" from Naruto. Suddenly, Sakura found her feet stuck to the floor. Ino turned around and noticed a frozen Sakura.

"Sakura, are you ok?" She asked. Sakura nodded and inched into the office, huddling behind Ino and Shikamaru as he gave the report.

"So I assume everything went well?" Naruto asked. "No attacks?"

"Well, we did have one stray ambush, but nothing we couldn't handle. The ambassador is safely in his city as we speak and the payment should be here soon." Shikamaru said. Naruto gave a smile at the three as he stood.

"Good, thanks Shikamaru. You guys are dismissed." Shikamaru nodded and turned to leave. Ino patted Sakura's arm and whispered "Good luck" before leaving with him. And Sakura was left alone with Naruto. She stared at the floor for a bit.

"So, the mission went well?" Naruto finally spoke, making Sakura look up. Naruto wore a smile and his blue eyes sparkled with happiness. Sakura nodded. "And you're alright?"

"Naruto, I'm sorry." Sakura finally blurted out, feeling tears burn her eyes. Naruto's eyes widened as he stepped around his desk.

"No, no, Sakura, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ordered you around like that." Naruto replied, grasping Sakura's shoulders gently. Sakura shook her head.

"No, Naruto, you were right. I shouldn't be on missions now. Even Tsunade-sama said so." Sakura sobbed, tears now running down her face. Oh great, the emotions were already kicking in. "When those bandits attacked, all I could think about is how you tried to warn me about this. I was so stupid to think I could still do things the same way." Naruto brought her into chest, clinging to her for dear life.

"I have to admit, I was worried about you the whole time you were gone. I could barely sleep in that huge bed. " He mumbled and Sakura chuckled. "I even asked Teme to take up the space and he just punched me and told me to either control my wife better or to get a bigger pillow." Sakura snorted at this, picturing Sasuke's face when presented with this request. While the now redeemed teammate was their best friend, he would rather not delve into their marital affiars.

"I love you." Sakura finally said, lifting her head to look up at Naruto. He smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead, the one place he always kissed when she was upset.

"I love you. And I'm glad you're home again with me." Naruto replied, then leaned down on his haunches so that he was level with her stomach. "And I love you, little Uzumaki." He whispered as he placed a hand on Sakura's stomach. They had found out a month ago that Sakura was pregnant with their first child. Sakura smiled and placed a hand on top of his in return. Naruto stood back up and drew her to his chair. He sat and brought Sakura into his lap.

"Sakura, I know that you are a capable shinobi. Hell, you're probably one of our best. It's just, I am so excited about this baby and I just can't wrap my head around that you are carrying my baby. I just want to keep you and the baby safe as much as I can. I want to be there for the baby when it grows up so that it never experiences what I did as a child. I want to protect you two." Sakura looked down at her husband and saw only love in his eyes.

"I understand. I guess from now on I'll just keep to the hospital until after the baby is born. It's where I prefer to be anyway." Sakura finally relented. Naruto rested his forehead against hers.

"Yes, because I'm sure Baa-chan and Shizune-chan are about to go crazy without their head-nin there." Naruto chuckled. "Let's go home." Sakura looked up at him incredulously.

"What? It's barely two in the afternoon." She scolded.

"Eh, I only have a little bit of paperwork. Besides, I think you need rest." Naruto teased.

"Naruto..." Sakura growled dangerously, but it was too late. Naruto had already flashed the two to their home, where Sakura felt most at peace.