I'll focus on romance a lot in this story. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto is owned by the publishing company Shueisha and it's mangaka Masashi Kishimoto. also, Hinata owns Naruto. or will later anyway. I'm going to go cut myself in the corner in hopes that the pain will distract me from my deep sorrow about not owning Naruto.

Chapter start

The sun was high in the sky as a young pink haired medic made her way through the crowded streets of Konoha. She moved at a fast pace while expertly moving through the crowd, signs of her training and her experience as a ninja.

'Guard duty!" thought Sakura Haruno as she made her way around a corner. 'Why Tsunade-sama? Guarding the main gate is as boring as it gets. Where are Kotetsu and Izumo when you need them? They're usually just there. Doing the job no one else wants to do. I guess I shouldn't ever take them for granted.'

Eventually, Sakura found herself situated at the main gate. She sighed as she watched the people coming in and out, looking for anyone suspicious.

'I wonder what Naruto's doing right now? I wish I were out of the village more often. The hospital needs me all the time and then I get stuck with stupid jobs like this one. Why can't I be on a training mission like him?' thought the bored teenager as she looked into the distance.

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It was rather ironic that Sakura was thinking this because the said shinobi made his way towards Konoha with a spring in his step.

"Naruto" said a white haired man who was walking slightly behind Naruto.

The ramen lover turned around. "What is it Ero-sennin? I want to get to Konoha soon. It's almost two o'clock. We're wasting the day here. We need to get moving." Said Naruto as he prepared to go into a full sprint towards Konoha.

"Calm down Naruto. I have several things to tell you before you arrive in Konoha. Humor me and be quiet for once." Said Jiraiya with a serious tone in his voice.

Naruto stopped and turned around to look his sensei in the eye. "Don't you mean 'before we arrive in Konoha' Ero-sennin?" said Naruto, suspicion evident in his voice

Jiraiya laughed a very hearty laugh. "You've grown sharp kid. I'll give you that. To answer your question, I was saying that only you will be returning to Konoha for now. And before you make a fuss" Jiraiya raised a hand to silence Naruto, who had already opened his mouth. "I am going on a mission to gather information about the Akatsuki is the reason I am not going with you to Konoha. However, before I leave you, I have some advice I think will come in handy."

Jiraiya gave Naruto a serious look "Naruto, you are a man now. You're 16. In the life you've chosen, they are plenty of people who don't even make it to that age. So my first piece of advice is about what many young men think about; love. Number one: be careful about who you choose to show affection to. I've had plenty of experiences where I have had my heart broken because I chose not to follow this rule. Number two: make sure you do not fall in love with a woman who has no affections for you. Unrequited love is very painful and can bring tragedy. Third rule: if you fall in love with an unkind woman I will personally beat the ever loving crap out of you. I heard about when you used to chase after that Sakura girl. You probably have some brain damage from all the beatings you took from her. Now that rule isn't really a rule as much as it a threat but don't question me. Now the fourth rule: looks don't matter when it comes to true love. If you have affections for a person then you will find them beautiful." Jiraiya said all of this in a slow serious tone.

Naruto was more than a little surprised; Jiraiya rarely spoke so seriously to him and Naruto had never really talked to anyone about love before. "Uhhhh thanks Jiraiya-sensei." Was all Naruto could say. "If I could ask though, what made you want to all of a sudden tell me all of this?"

"Naruto, you are going to be surrounded by beautiful woman who are you're age, which makes them fair game to go after. I am making sure you don't enter the world of romance unprepared." Said Jiraiya with a smile. Then he continued "Besides, I bet there's at least one girl out there who likes you and it would be beneficial to you to know what to look for in a woman." Jiraiya winked after he said this.

"I doubt it Jiraiya-sensei. I wasn't exactly popular with the ladies when I left." said Naruto, emitting a slight sight after he finished speaking.

"Think about it Naruto" said Jiraiya, slightly exasperated that Naruto never realized that there was one girl in the village who had feelings for him. 'For Kami-Sama's sake even I know she likes you and I'm barely ever in the village'

"Has there ever been a girl who maybe blushes around you? Or maybe helps you for no reason besides she wanted too? Or maybe a girl who faints around you?" Said Jiraiya, who was wondering if he could give any bigger hints to his godson. "Or maybe a girl who has dark blue hair and no pupils?" whispered Jiraiya.

"What was that last one Ero-Sennin?" asked Naruto, genuinely curious.

"Nothing Naruto just think about the first three" said Jiraiya, nonchalantly

Naruto's face changed to a look that reflected his deep contemplation. 'Well, only one girl fits all those descriptions. But Hinata doesn't like me that way. Were just friends. She's the heiress to a powerful clan; she wouldn't like a poor orphan guy like me'

"Only one girl fits those descriptions but she doesn't have those types of feelings for me. She just always acts that way." Said Naruto, nodding his head while he talked.

"If you say so Naruto. Well, I'll leave you now. Give my regards to Tsunade." Said Jiraiya as he turned to leave

"Wait" said Naruto

Jiraiya turned to look at his student.

"I didn't know you could be so serious. I just wanted to say, thanks. I've never really had someone to talk to me like that." Said Naruto while rubbing the back of his head with one of his hands.

Jiraiya smiled "Naruto, I can be two different, no wait, three different types of people. One, I can be a very serious type. Two, I can be a very suave, sexy type. And three I ca-"

"You can be a pervert" Naruto finished for him.

"Wrong, Naruto. You shouldn't try to finish my sentences if you're going to finish them incorrectly. The third type I can be is a super pervert!" said Jiraiya with a big smile. Then, he turned and dashed off.

Naruto stood there as a large sweat drop appeared on his head. "Really?" he asked to no one in particular.

Sighing as he did so, he started to continue his journey to Konoha, which was a short one.

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Sakura perked up as she sensed someone with a very large amount of chakra approach the village. Immediately, she looked into the distance where a she could see someone approaching.

'Hmmmm. From this distance I can tell it's a guy. About five foot nine maybe five foot ten. Yellow hair. Wait, spiky yellow hair. No way. It's Naruto!' thought Sakura with excitement.

Sure enough, Naruto got to the gate and gave Sakura one of his brightest smiles.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Long time no see." Said Naruto, still maintaining his large grin.

Sakura stopped dead to take in Naruto's new appearance. As Sakura said earlier, Naruto was about five foot ten and still had his familiar yellow spiky hair. However, his wardrobe had changed drastically. He no longer wore his orange jumpsuit. Instead, he wore an orange t-shirt with a black ninja vest over it. For pants, he wore plain black pants, similar to what ANBU wear, with a kunai holster attached to his right pant leg. He no longer wore his headband around his head. Instead, it was around his left arm just below where his arm and shoulder met.

'Naruto looks so different with his headband around his arm. It makes him look better. This outfit is way better than that jumpsuit he used to wear. Though I see he still has some orange. But that's good. It wouldn't be Naru-' Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by Naruto

"Yo, Sakura-chan, are you alright? You're just staring at me. It's me Naruto. Remember?" said Naruto while fixing Sakura with a confused look.

Sakura shook her head to get the gears moving again.

"Sorry Naruto. I was just taking in your new outfit" said Sakura while smiling.

Naruto frowned. "You don't like it? Crap. I knew it didn't have enough orange in it. I told Ero-Sennin but he insisted that I couldn't have much orange in my outfit. He only let me have this shirt because I cover it up with the vest. The vest is cool though, right? Look, it even has the cool swirl on the back of it." Naruto turned around to shoe Sakura that it did indeed have the usual swirl that all Konoha ninja vests had.

Sakura giggled. "Yes Naruto. It's very cool. I was just surprised. You look so different. You're even taller than me. It's been so long since you've come home I should've expected that you would get rid of that ridiculous orange jumpsuit you used to wear"

"Nani! That jumpsuit was cool! You mean you didn't like it?" said Naruto with a look of surprise on his face.

"Baka! Nobody but you thought it was cool. It made you a moving target and you looked ridiculous in it most of the time" said Sakura, with an exasperated look on her face.

Naruto sighed. "Really? Ero-Sennin told me that too but I thought he was lying"

Sakura laughed "For once, that perverted sensei of yours was good for something; he got you into an outfit that looks good."

"Whatever. I better get to the Hokage Tower. I sure Baa-chan probably wants to see me" said Naruto while looking down the street

"I'll come with you." said Sakura, excited that he was back

"Don't you have guard duty?" Said Naruto

Sakura slumped her shoulders when, suddenly, two familiar ninja appeared.

"Don't worry Sakura-san. We can take over." said Kotetsu while standing next to his partner, Izumo.

Sakura smiled at them gratefully. "Thanks guys!" she shouted as she took off down the street after Naruto, who had already begun to walk towards the Hokage Tower when Izumo and Kotetsu appeared.

"Hey, Naruto. Wait up!" shouted Sakura as she chased after him.

Sakura managed to catch up to him. "Geez. Be a little patient for once"

"Sorry Sakura-chan. It's just been so long since I've seen Baa-chan." Said Naruto with an apologetic smile on his face. "Wow, the village hasn't changed at all. Wait, scratch that. They added Baa-chan's face to the mountain. So Sakura-chan, what have you been doing while I was away?" asked Naruto with genuine curiosity.

"I've been training like crazy and working at the hospital. I'm probably the best Medic-nin in the village, excluding Tsunade-sama of course. That's all really. I've been honing my skills, waiting for the chance to go and find Sasuke with you." Said Sakura with a serious expression.

Naruto was surprised to see Sakura so serious all of the sudden so he decided to change the subject. "So how has everyone else been doing?"

"Ino's been training with me mostly. Other than that she trains with her family and team. We don't hang out very often outside of training. The rest of her team I really haven't been keeping in touch with either. I guess they're alright. I know that Shikamaru has been getting a lot of missions because he leads them so well. And I know that Chouji has grown a lot. His hair is red now too and he wears armor now like the rest of the ninja of his clan." said Sakura

"How's Hinata?" asked Naruto. Hinata just kind of popped into his head because he had been thinking of her ever since Jiraiya brought her up.

'I bet she's gotten a lot stronger. She was strong before and I know she works hard' thought Naruto

Sakura gave Naruto a look that suggested she was curious.

"Why her specifically?" asked Sakura

"Something reminded me of her earlier today and she's kind of been in my head ever since. To be honest this is probably the most I've ever thought about her at one time." Said Naruto.

"She's gotten stronger I guess. Her team does a lot of tracking missions so I don't really ever see her. I know she's been on bad terms with her family. It seems Hiashi has been thinking of revoking her birthright of becoming the head of the clan someday. He might give it to her sister instead and put her in the branch family." said Sakura, who was watching Naruto carefully to see his reaction. It was a loud reaction.

"Why? Hinata is strong and works hard! She deserves to be the head! She'd be a better head than Hiashi! He's a fucking ice cube! I swear I bet that guy is so uptight that if you put a piece of coal up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond!" shouted Naruto, a look of anger came across his face.

Sakura was surprised by the heated outburst. "Calm down Naruto. The reason is probably because Hinata is too kind. She'd probably get rid of the curse seal. Hell, she'd probably get rid of the whole division between the main and branch family. Hiashi wants the current system the Hyuuga has to stay in place."

"What an asshole. The curse seal is just messed up. I be-" but Naruto stopped midsentence and stopped walking as he looked past Sakura.

Sakura stopped walking and whipped her head around to see what he was looking at. By one of the stalls was Hinata. She was wearing a lavender sundress and was looking at different vegetables in the stall she was next too.

Sakura turned her head to look at Naruto and was surprised at what she saw. Naruto's mouth was open the tiniest bit as he started at the pretty girl by the stall. Sakura noticed that the slightest twinge of pink had formed in his cheeks.

"Who is that? Wait. Is that Hinata?" asked Naruto, who was still staring at Hinata.

"No kidding. Who did you think it was Romeo?" said Sakura with a grin on her face, she was happy Naruto was starting to take notice of Hinata.

"I don't know. Just some random gir- wait. Did you say Romeo? What are you saying? I don't like Hinata-chan like that. She's just gotten really beautiful. And has a pretty smile." said Naruto while still staring at Hinata, who did indeed have a small smile on her face as she perused the different things to buy.

"Far be it from me to think you liked the kind pretty girl who you enjoy staring at." Said Sakura

Naruto quickly turned his head forward and began walking again with a small blush on his face that disappeared after a few seconds. Sakura walked quickly to catch up to him.

"Yea, Hinata's probably the person who worked the hardest out of everyone in the village while you were gone. And I guess she has gotten really pretty. She must be strong too. And she's always been extremely kind." said Sakura, who was trying to help out Hinata.

"I know. She's always been a really good person and ninja. Oh, looks like we're here." Said Naruto while looking at the large Hokage tower. He pushed through the large doors and Sakura quickly followed behind him.

Naruto and Sakura proceeded to walk up the many stairs before stopping at the Hokage's office. Naruto took a deep breath before opening the door and walking into the office, closely followed by Sakura.

Inside were Tsunade and Kakashi. Tsunade looked up from her paper work and smile at Naruto.

"Naruto! You're finally back! It's great to see you. Good thing too because I was about to send your team on a mission." Said Tsunade

"A mission?" said Sakura, confused. "But we're only half a team without Naruto. Wait, did you know Naruto was coming back today and not tell me?" asked Sakura, who already knew the answer and was pissed.

"Heh heh." Laughed Tsunade. "Well, yes. Jiraiya sent a messenger toad a couple of weeks ago. I must've forgotten to tell you.

"Anyway, to get back on track, I think you'll be most interested in this mission Naruto. It involves your friend Gaara." Said Tsunade in a serious tone.

Naruto stiffened a bit. "What happened to him?" asked Naruto.

Tsunade sighed. "As you don't know, Gaara is the Kazekage. Unfortunately, he was kidnapped yesterday by the Akatsuki. "

"Nani!" shouted Naruto. "We have to go save him."

"Exactly, that's why I'm sending your team. You are to assist Sunokagure with the retrieval of their Kazekage, Gaara." Said Tsunade

"Great! Thank you Baa-chan!" Shouted Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei I hope you've gotten stronger since we last met because if you haven't I bet I'm stronger."

Kakashi smiled under his mask "I have Naruto. I hope you've gotten stronger too because this mission will require all of our strength and is of the upmost importance."

"However, I do have one problem." said Kakashi, who turned his head to look at Tsunade. "Who will you be adding to our team? I assume we won't be going as a three man squad."

Tsunade smiled. "As this is a tracking mission, I've decided to assign a member of one of my best tracking teams"

"You may come in now" said Tsunade in a loud voice.

The door opened and in walked Hinata. She wore a lavender and cream colored coat with lavender cuffs over a fishnet collar shirt with navy pants and a kunai holster on the right pant leg.

Naruto blushed slightly as he took in Hinata's appearance. 'Damn! She's gotten really pretty. I almost wished she did like me now.'

"Hey Hinata." Said Naruto.

Hinata look over at Naruto and immediately had a huge blush on her face.

'Naruto! He's back! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh my Kami-Sama. He looks good in his new outfit. And he's so tall now. And his eyes are just the same. Wait. Is he staring me?' thought Hinata before blushing even harderand looking down.

'I wish she wouldn't look down. Her face is so pretty. Wait, did I really just think that? Maybe I find Hinata a little too pretty' thought Naruto as he stared at the blushing girl

"N-Naruto-kun. I'm g-glad to see your back. Your new outfit looks r-really g-good." Said Hinata, saying this while her looking at her feet.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Hinata-chan. I don't think it has enough orange though. But never mind me; you're the one who looks good. You've become really beautiful Hinata-chan." Said Naruto, with a straight face.

Hinata looked up at Naruto and looked him in the eyes. She then proceeded to faint on the spot. However, before she fell to the ground, Naruto caught her and held her in his arms bridal style.

Everyone in the room, minus Hinata, stared at Naruto.

"What? She was falling." Said Naruto.

Tsunade smiled. "Alright, your team is to report tomorrow at the main gate at eight o'clock sharp. Kakashi, you explain the finer details of the mission to your team then. Naruto, you tell Hinata the plan when she wakes up. You're all dismissed."

Kakashi immediately flickered away, as he wanted to go read.

"I'm going to the hospital to help out. See ya Naruto. Have a good time." Said Sakura, who rushed out of the room.

"Naruto, I have work to do. Get out." Said Tsunade who picked up her pen.

Naruto walked out of the office with Hinata in his arms.

He looked down at the sleeping beauty in his arms. She snuggled up into his chest and Naruto blushed the hardest he had all day.

Naruto's stomach then rumbled. 'I guess I'll head over to Ichiraku's. I'm sure Hinata won't mind if I bring her' thought Naruto.

Naruto smiled at the thought of spending time alone with a pretty girl. He then proceeded to begin his journey to Ichiraku while thinking about the girl in his arms.

END OF CHAPTER

A/n: well, did you like it? i hope so.