Sakura let out a long sigh and leaned her elbows on to the desk, hands covering her eyes. She loved working at the hospital, but sometimes she swore this paperwork would be the death of her. Peeking one eye from under her palm, she looked at the clock on the wall.

8:23 PM. It was a Friday night and she was in the office completing chart notes and requisition orders for medical supplies. She hadn't even gotten to her research yet today.

Once the Fourth Great Ninja War was over there had been a lot to do. She was still Tsunade's apprentice, after all. In the years since the war numerous caches of scrolls had been found throughout every country, and some were still being found today. After the war the Ninja Alliance held in friendliness, but each country had separated to it's own devices again for the most part.

That said, Tsunade and Sakura were widely regarded as the best medic nins of the time and were trusted to be some of the only ninja capable and trustworthy enough to go through the libraries of medical scrolls. It was a long and arduous process, but Sakura had been tasked by Tsunade with reviewing each scroll that was sent to Konoha as the libraries and hideouts of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru were discovered.

While Tsunade had officially "retired" from her role as Hokage, she had taken over the running of the ever-expanding Leaf Hospital, which she complained came with even more paperwork than the office of Hokage. Shizune was still apprentice and aide to Tsunade as well, and she and Sakura did their best to keep their shishou on track with paperwork, helping when they could between their already packed schedules as the top medics in the hospital. Which was why Sakura had found herself working on the supply requisitions.

Truth be told, Sakura had surpassed her shishou in medical ninjutsu, which still made her blush whenever Tsunade got to boasting about her surrogate daughter, but she was more than happy to continue working under Tsunade. With Tsunade running things and Shizune always nearby, it meant Sakura was able to still go on missions from time to time, work on her research (both her own and the scrolls sent in), and to have a bit of a personal life.

Not much of a personal life, lately... she thought with a groan.

Thinking back, the pinkette realized she hadn't been on a date in weeks. After the war she and Sasuke had tried dating but while Sakura still loved him dearly, too many things had happened and she found herself unable to entrust her heart to him. She trusted him - and Naruto of course - with her life, and was always happy to go out as a member of Team Seven on missions, but after about six months she had sat Sasuke down and after a couple hours' conversation, they had mutually agreed that their relationship was no longer meant to be in that way.

Following Sasuke, she had gone out with several other ninjas over the years, but only one had been what she would call 'serious'. While on a two-month mission to Suna to lend her medical expertise to the Kazekage, she and Gaara had grown fond of one another during all their long nights working.

It had been about three weeks after she arrived when she and Gaara had been pouring over the plans for the new hospital. Sakura was adamantly urging Gaara to expand the medicinal greenhouse and debating that excess plants could be a source of supplemental funding for the hospital, when she had looked up to see him staring at her, brows furrowed.

Thinking she had upset the stoic kazekage with her rather forceful insistence, she had started to backpedal, when he had quietly interrupted her and asked if she would like to get dinner with him the next day. She was so relieved he wasn't upset with her that she had blurted out a "that would be nice" in response and didn't realize he had been asking her on a date until his cheeks glowed red and he stammered slightly, saying he would pick her up from her hotel at 7 the next night then.

The date had gone quite well despite her lack of initial awareness that it was a date. The night had passed quicker than she would have wished and Sakura had found herself looking for more time with him outside of her duties as a medical ambassador. The following weeks had gone so well between the two of them that at the end of her time there he had asked her to stay on as a long-term ambassador to train new medical ninja for the village. Sakura had considered, but in the end couldn't bring herself to stay away from Konoha any longer.

She and Gaara continued to see one another for several weeks after she returned to Konoha, each of them visiting from time to time as their duties allowed, but mostly writing letters to one another. Naruto had been shocked initially when he had found out the two of them were seeing one another, but were happy that they were happy.

In the end, however, Naruto had told her he knew it wouldn't work out between them when she mentioned she and Gaara had decided to return to being friends. After narrowly escaping a chakra-infused smack to the back of his head, he hurriedly explained that he had only known because obviously Gaara was the Kazekage and couldn't leave his village, and he knew Sakura would never leave Konoha, her friends, and her family. Sometimes she still regretted not taking the chance on her relationship with Gaara for the longer term, but she was still truly happy with her life now.

Since then she had a date here and there with mostly ninja from Konoha, but none had worked out for more than a date or two with the same person. She was a strong kunoichi with demanding jobs at the hospital as well as as her missions. She had gone on one date with a civilian, but it became quickly apparent that he didn't understand the life and duties of a kunoichi.

Glancing at the clock, Sakura jumped to see it was now 8:47. She had been daydreaming for almost a half hour! Deciding that this obviously meant she wasn't going to get any more work done tonight, she decided to pack up her things and head home.

No sooner had she stored her research scrolls in her bag then the door had burst open to reveal a long-haired blonde in her medic uniform and a large bag over her shoulder.

"Forehead!" Ino yelled triumphantly, "I knew you would still be here!"

"Hey, Pig. I'm just getting ready to go home for - "

"No you're not!" Ino interrupted "You're getting ready to go out! You're 20, not 50!" Ino swung the large bag onto Sakura's desk and opened it to show a menagerie of dresses and shoes, makeup, and hair tools. "It's been too long and we're going out. Tomorrow is your day off, right?"

"Yeah...," Sakura said hesitantly, knowing what was likely coming next. Ino grinned at her, knowing her friend would fuss for a few minutes, but would give in easily enough.

Thirty minutes later found the two women walking out through the doors of the hospital. Ino had brought what most people would assume was half her closet, but Sakura knew it was barely a fraction of it. Being slightly smaller chested than Ino, Sakura didn't quite fill out the dress she had chosen as well as her blonde friend, but seeing as Ino usually wore things that were on the tighter side, she still thought she filled it out well.

Sakura had chosen a deep burgundy dress with wide straps over the shoulders but (being Ino's dress, after all) a rather plunging neckline that prevented her from wearing the standard kunoichi breast bindings that she normally wore with her medic's uniform. She was glad she had filled out just a bit more in that department, and didn't mind showing just a little skin. Ino was right...she was 20 years old; she didn't need to dress like an old maid when they were having a night on the town.

Thank goodness most of Ino's shoes were practical as well as cute. Being a ninja, you had to be able to respond and move quickly if the need arose, and Ino had learned after one particularly eventful night when she had to prove to some drunks that she meant it when she said no. Her heel had snapped off in the tussle and she had twisted her ankle. While Ino was fine and had effectively explained to the drunk men what her 'no' had meant - by way of leaving them in a heap in the alley to wake up in the morning - ever since then she had decided to invest in custom shoes she designed and commissioned from one of the ninja tool suppliers. Some of them even had small compartments in the heels for storage.

Strolling down the streets of Konoha, Ino and Sakura made their way to one of the more swanky ninja bars (well, as swanky as a ninja bar could get). Ultimately what it came down to was drinks that weren't watered down, relatively clean floors, and reasonably good lighting. It was easier to be relaxed in a ninja bar when everyone could see well enough to know that the only danger was when Genma stopped paying attention to the fact that he was leaning too close to people with his senbon still in his mouth.

Sakura took a deep breath and followed her friend inside, trying not to blush too much as heads turned toward her and Ino.