This is a side story to "Rain or Shine" during the time they are in ANBU.
Chapter 1 begins shortly after the end of chapter 19 of "Rain or Shine".

Shukuya

Chapter 1

This book is so incredible. I can't believe Jiraiya sama didn't write more books like these instead of those perverted books that Kakashi sensei obsesses over! Sakura mused. She was lying under the covers in the brand new full sized bed now ensconced in Naruto's bedroom.

It had been hard to tear herself away after finishing the first chapter. But she was determined that today was the day she was moving in with Naruto. She marked her place with the folded note that Kushina san must have used the same way. The note had been stuck in between the last page and the cover. It had fallen out when she opened the book. Sakura had just stuck it back in, but got curious once she was alone in Naruto's apartment.

The note had apparently been from Minato to Kushina. It read:

"Sorry I had to leave before saying goodbye this morning. The council called me to an emergency meeting about some serious threat to Konoha. Don't know what is it, probably nothing important- you know them. I should be back, if not tonight, definitely tomorrow, and we'll discuss it. I treasure your insight- you are my wisest advisor! In the meantime, you've got to read this book by my sensei! It's great! I promise it's nothing like that Icha icha book; this one is good and not perverted.

All my love to you, my dearest Kushina,

Minato"

Sakura folded the note back closed; she'd give it to Naruto after she finished the book. She knew Naruto needed to process the emotions of seeing his parents stuff. She was glad Sasuke had gone with him. They could talk if Naruto wanted. Although, talking about dead parents wouldn't be easy for Sasuke either. She sighed; she couldn't relate to that- having had both parents, if not great ones, her whole life.

She was glad neither of her parents were at home when she sneaked in to get her things. She packed up all her clothes she liked, and all the mementoes she'd gathered over her childhood. She left a terse note for her parents:

"Have become part of ANBU, must live on my own now.

Sakura"

It was technically true, she was in ANBU starting tomorrow. You were encouraged not to live with anyone not in ANBU because of the danger posed by being ANBU. She knew that already. It made an excellent way to get away without having to deal with her parents haranguing her. You were encouraged to live with other ANBU members again because of the dangers of that life. That made her living with Naruto perfectly normal. Well, technically, they should be living together with other members of their squad, but she didn't think they'd care for the entertainment. Sakura blushed at her own pervertedness; she knew what was going to happen as soon as Naruto knew she was ready for it. She wanted it as badly as he did.

Carrying the mattress and box springs had been a pain. It wasn't that it was all that heavy; it was just the size of the mattress. The bed frame had been a breeze. She dismantled Naruto's bed and leaned the old mattress and springs against the wall. She'd let him decide what they'd do with it. By the time she got the full sized bed assembled and the covers put on it, she was tired. She took a shower, put on a nightgown, picked up the novel and crawled into bed. She realized she had dozed off for bit when she awoke and it was dark out. She turned on the bedroom light and went back to reading.

She looked down at her nightgown and despaired that it wasn't terribly sexy- full length, caftan style flannel gown with a crew neck, and long sleeves. It was her favorite at home cold weather nightgown. She didn't have anything that looked sexy on her to sleep in other than her old uniform tunic that now fit snugly against her breasts and bottom. It was too tight for her to wear in public, and too cold to wear this time of year.

She sighed; this gown would have to do, because as much as she loved him she wasn't going to freeze her ass off to look sexy. She shrugged and chuckled over her silliness then, like he'd care about the unsexiness of her nightgown when he found out she was saying yes to being lovers.

"Hey Sasuke, thanks for spending all this time with me." Naruto smiled.

"It's okay. It was good catching up with all that's happened. You and Sakura have really changed in the last three years. "

"Hope that's a compliment!" Naruto shouted but his grin gave the lie to the tone.

Sasuke's mouth turned up in the hint of a smile. "It is. Sakura, especially has changed. She's strong and confident and seems like a grown woman. You're quiet a lot more, not putting on a show so much to hide your feelings."

"Yeah, things happened, got too hard to pretend to always be happy."

"Sorry."

"You being gone and with Orochimaru was part of it, but there were other things too."

"The Akatsuki, right?"

"Yeah, that's part of it too."

"What else?"

Naruto sighed and looked sad and serious. "You know I'm a Jinchuuriki?"

"Yeah."

"It's an awful thing to be."

"None of us will completely understand how bad it is, but I'll try, and I know Sakura does."

"Sakura chan really does try hard, she understands more than anyone other than another Jinchuuriki could. It hurts sometimes to see how much she does- she'll start to cry. Seeing that anguish in her eyes…." Naruto's eyes closed, vividly recalling that look. He felt so bad that she knew just how much a burden he carried. As happy as he was she fully returned his love, giving her part of that burden made him feel sad. Yet she had returned his love with full knowledge of what he was and the dangers of his life. She was so fiercely protective too, seeing her like that made him awestruck and kind of horny. "Sakura chan is someone very precious, and special." Naruto relaxed and opened his eyes with a smile.

"I may not understand it as much as she does, but I'll try to. The things I learned that brought me back here and made me renounce my clan, it's a dark burden I'll always carry." Sasuke's expression closed off.

"Yeah, I don't understand a clan like that, or the Hyuuga's with how they treated the secondary families... My father's intentions were for the greatest good, and he had so much confidence in my strength to handle the Kyubi… I don't know if I can be that person he dreamed I would be."

Sasuke was surprised, he doesn't know how strong he already is. "Naruto, I've known you since we were two orphaned boys in the Academy. You'll be that person, and with Sakura by your side now, I'm certain you will."

Naruto was stunned. Sasuke had acknowledged him as a great shinobi. "Sasuke…"

"I refused to see that back when we were Genin, that you had a potential greater than mine. I couldn't deal with you being stronger than me. Now I can. You'll be a great Hokage. I'll be here to help you in any way of getting to your goal."

Naruto was overwhelmed, he was so amazed at Sasuke's words that he couldn't think of what to say.

Sasuke was amused by Naruto's stunned expression. "You better get back to Sakura, she's probably starting to wonder if you'll come back home tonight."

Naruto grinned. He hadn't let it slip that he and Sakura hadn't moved in together yet, let Sasuke think he and Sakura were lovers, it made him look cool and a man- he had a real girlfriend. He liked having something more grown up over on Sasuke. But he was curious if any Konoha girl had caught his eye in the week he'd been back.
"Oh yeah, Sakura chan is probably still reading that stupid book of Ero Senin's waiting for me to get back, unless it was so disgusting she tossed it back in the box. Say, Sasuke, any girl around here you'd like to date?"

"Hadn't really paid any attention."

"Seriously? Sakura's friend Ino is still available, I think. She's gotten pretty hot looking, then there's Hinata, she's kind of quiet and faints a lot but if you're into girls like that I don't think she has a boyfriend yet and she's got the kind of shape that Ero Senin calls the perfect type- big boobs and hips. You like girls shaped like that?"

"Not really." Sasuke was feeling uncomfortable. He didn't think Naruto was ready to find out he was gay yet. He'd already seen how uncomfortable Naruto got around guys he knew were gay. Sasuke valued their newly restored friendship too much to spring something like that on him just yet. He'll start putting it together eventually. Better he learns gradually.

Naruto shrugged. He could see Sasuke wasn't interested in the Konoha girls, maybe he had been involved with that kunoichi that dumped him when Sasuke decided to come back to Konoha. If so, I guess his taste is girls with long hair but no boobs or hips. I'll leave it for now, he'll find some girl he likes, eventually. I'm sure he's still got plenty of fangirls who'd jump at the chance to be with Sasuke. "See you later!"

"Later!"

Naruto saw a light was still on in his apartment as he approached. Hmm, maybe the book actually is good and Sakura chan is still there reading it. He walked in the door and saw the light was coming from the bedroom. Maybe she went in there for something and forgot to turn the light off when she left. He walked toward the bedroom and his jaw dropped open in surprise. There was a full sized bed in the room and Sakura chan was asleep in it!

"Sakura chan?"

"Naruto." Groggily she answered, then smiled at his astonished face. Even cuter than she imagined...

"What's going on?" He was utterly confused.

"I'm moving in." .

Naruto face broke into the biggest dorkest grin for a moment, then settled into normal smile. "I'm so happy, Sakura chan."

She smiled back, then tenderly said, "You look tired, come to bed."

He nodded and started taking off his clothes while he looked around for his pajamas.

"On the chair."

"Oh yeah, there they are."

Sakura enjoyed the view while he stripped down to just his boxers. He was neither skinny nor overly muscled, his body was a medium build and wonderfully toned.

He sat down on the bed and Sakura pulled the covers up over his legs. He laid down and she curled herself next to him. His arms wrapped around her and she relaxed into his embrace. She picked up the book from the nightstand.

"It's a beautiful book, Naruto. Nothing like his other books, he should write more like this one rather than those."

"Really?"

"Yes, the character has a personality a lot like yours, a real hero. I can see why your parents wanted to name you after him. You should read this book after I finish it. I'm almost done, now."

Sakura opened the book and finished the last five pages. Then she closed the book with a sigh and a smile and handed it to Naruto.

"What's this?" He pointed to the folded over note Sakura had used as a bookmark.

"It's a note from your dad to your mom."

Naruto opened the note and read. Then he looked at Sakura, "I want us to be like that Sakura chan, for you to be my most trusted advisor, as well as the person I love most in the world."

"Oh Naruto." Sakura kissed him gently. "You are the person I love most in the world too."

Sakura smiled indulgently after Naruto had been reading an hour with no sign of boredom or restlessness. In fact, he had shifted to a more comfortable reading position. Sakura sat behind him with the pillows propping her up; Naruto lay with his head against her chest. She ran her fingers through his hair from time to time, eliciting a pleased murmur from Naruto. She said nothing until his head drooped and he started to lightly snore.

"Naruto, you're falling asleep now, you can read more tomorrow."

"But it's so interesting!" He said with a slight whine. "I've never read anything before that didn't bore me!"

Sakura kissed his forehead. "I know how interesting it is. I was reading it till I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. But it's after midnight now, and we've got to meet up with Tsunade shishou at 6 AM. Let's go to sleep for now."

"Okay." Reluctantly he handed the book to Sakura, who could reach the nightstand easier than he could. She placed it on the table and turned out the lights. They shifted back to cuddling.

"Goodnight Naruto" she murmured.
"Nite Sakura chan". He kissed the top of her head, then let himself drift off to sleep, feeling more loved and secure than he had ever felt in his life.