Naruto tried his best to not let out an exasperated sigh as he scratched his eyebrows while he listened to the Representative from Kumogakure and his very elaborate proposals. He glanced at Shikamaru, meeting his eyes for a moment before the latter shifted his gaze, pretending to be interested in small pile of papers in his hand.
He leaned back on his chair with his arms crossed, his left foot being equally impatient as it began tapping softly on the carpeted floor. He had been listening to the man talk for the past forty-five minutes about the same thing and he wondered if Shikamaru understood that his gaze meant something along the lines of do something. His hands found his mouth to cover the smirk on his lips. But of course; Shika probably thought it was too troublesome to interrupt the man.
It was getting dark outside, and his eyes began to wander around the room. The Representative from Kumo had a couple of stains on his shirt; Naruto could only assume that his staff had prepared a very good meal earlier. Shikamaru had dipped his head, the tense muscles on his neck a sign of forcing in a yawn.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table while his eyes focused on the shelf behind the Representative. The small, framed photo of his wife was enough to put a smile on his face. She was coming home late today and he wondered if by some stroke of fate he was to go home late as well. He dropped his gaze to the small paper in front of him, admiring the hand writing of the Raikage; his clean strokes and perfect spacing - and that date which suddenly caught his attention.
He swiftly got up from his seat, interrupting the Representative as he gathered all the papers in his desk while uttering a quick apology. The Representative looked shaken and could only bow while Shikamaru rolled his eyes and received the papers as Naruto sprinted off through the double doors headed to lord-knows-where.
"I'm actually surprised you two haven't… made anything yet."
Tsunade's smile was obscured from view thanks to her surgical mask, but the glint in her eyes was unmistakable.
"Well we, uhm… We haven't really talked about it just yet," she admitted, forgetting that unlike her Master, she did not have a mask on. Unable to hide the flush in her cheeks, she averted Tsunade's gaze and found her fingers had a little problem getting out of the latex glove.
Tsunade washed her hands and removed her surgical mask, leaning on the metal sink as she glanced sideways at her former apprentice. She had opted out of being the Head Medic Nin for want of having free time to enjoy her usual gambling and drinking sessions, choosing to be a Medical Adviser instead. With Sakura and Shizune holding their own as specialists in their field, she really had nothing much to worry about except her own source of funding for her many vices.
It did not pass her notice that Sakura was taking longer than usual with the hand washing and she smiled to herself. "You do have sex, right?"
"Shishou!" Her cheeks took on a deeper shade of red, making the blonde lady burst into laughter.
"Relax, Sakura. I'm not trying to pry. I was rather hoping you'd just tell me," she smirked, knowing full well she wasn't going to get a lot of details.
"I do want…" she murmured, looking down at the fluffy white towel in her hand. "But I also want him more… I mean I want him selfishly right now because I- I think that up until now I'm making up a lot of lost time with him and I know that I sound like a child because not only have we been together for five years now but more importantly we're married and it's just so silly of me but I…"
Tsunade grabbed the towel from her hands as it was apparent that Sakura was beginning to take her feelings out on the poor, inanimate object. "Go on, silly girl."
Sakura stared apologetically and heaved a deep sigh. "I feel like I want to exceed him in love, you know? It's like I'm looking at all the years I've known him and I feel so… unworthy. Like I could never give him back the kind of love he's given me."
Tsunade cocked an eyebrow and tried her best not to laugh. "And you think that you'll be ready to have children when you've… exceeded him?"
"It's not that at all, Shishou. I just want to give him more and at times I feel like I always fall short."
"We're not talking about sex here, are we?"
"NO!" she blurted. "I mean, no. We don't have a problem there." She felt the blood start to rise to her cheeks once more. "I mean, even I'd brag and say we're amazing in that department but I just-"
"Listen, Sakura. I hate to break it to you but putting scales and measuring love is stupid because it's too subjective. You can't give each other points for each time you do something good to each other. Besides, you're not the one who can rightfully measure your own acts of love, he is - and even he can't be unbiased about it. For all we know you waking him up early so he can get his ass off bed and into the shower is already worth a thousand points. You're undermining your own love and yet simply talking about how you love him has made your face as red as Kushina's hair!"
Sakura's hands shot up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I don't even know what his mother looks like…"
"Well, she's beautiful and so are you. I understand what you're trying to say but I should repeat that you're being really stupid about it. You love him, remember? Don't make it rocket science and continue to love him the way you do. Now go home and, I don't know… have hot sex or something."
And just like that, she was kicked out of Tsunade's office without another word.
It was almost midnight and she dragged her feet to their front door, suddenly feeling exhausted after all the day's work. She assumed Naruto was probably sleeping and she actually liked the idea of just crawling in bed.
Except that a thick puff of grey smoke greeted her as she opened the door.
"Naruto!" she called, her hands making quick seals as she blew a burst of clean air from her mouth, dispelling the smoke and the unmistakable smell of burnt food.
Soon enough the culprit came peeking out the kitchen door, looking none the less in disarray as he nervously waved a wooden spatula at her. "Hey, sweetheart…"
She approached and performed the same jutsu on the smoke filled kitchen, her eyes scanning the table top and stove. Normally she would have lashed out on him and scolded him to the ends of the earth, but the sight of the nicely set up dining table to her left versus the apparent mess he made with the flour and the condiments and the remnants of burnt whatever on the stove was enough to make her feel sorry she even thought of scolding him in the first place.
"So, uh… what happened here?" she asked, leaning on the fridge and placing her hands on the pockets of her white jacket. Thankfully he had gotten rid of his Hokage robe and was clad in a plain white shirt and his dark blue pants. It was apparent the stains on his shirt would need a good soak and scrub.
His hands found the back of his neck and he tried to avert her gaze. "Well I tried to make… well at first I tried to make vegetable tempura. And then I saw we had some shrimp in the fridge so I thought shrimp tempura would be nice."
She bit her lip and nodded. "Honey why did you have a full cutlery set on the dining table when we can eat tempura with chopsticks?"
"Oh," he chuckled. "Good point!"
Sakura approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What's the occasion, Naruto?" she grinned, rubbing her nose on his.
"N-Nothing really… I just wanted to make you something for a change."
He looked crestfallen and she felt guilty again as she captured his lips in a soft kiss. Her fingers traced the whiskers on his cheek and she smiled against him as they faced the kitchen and surveyed the state of the counter top.
"There's still some instant ramen in the pantry," she smiled, leaning into him.
"Yeah," he smiled. "Why don't you go take a shower and I'll clean up a bit and boil us some water?"
"Okay," she buried her face in his neck and inhaled, planting a kiss on his collarbone before playfully smacking him on the chest.
She entered the bathroom and found it lit with her favorite scented candles, and in the shower a new bottle of her favorite shampoo. It had been out of stock for a week now and she was practically peeling the stores of Konoha for it. Seeing it made her heart swell in an instant, her smile from ear to ear as she stepped in the shower and pondered about what she ever did to deserve being spoiled this way.
They ate their ramen at the dinner table and talked about their day; Naruto easily leaving out his abrupt exit from the meeting. She peeled some apples and they ate some more, but after a few minutes he invited her to bed after seeing her tired eyes blink back at him.
"I'll take a shower first," he announced, walking ahead of her and disappearing into the bathroom. She flipped the switch to their bedroom and saw something that she hadn't noticed when she stepped out of the shower earlier.
Laid out on the bed was her favorite night gown, and she noticed a new pillow was added and the covers were replaced. Her moisturizer was neatly placed on the bed stand and within her reach, and a glass of water with a slice of lemon; one she usually had to get up early to prepare in the morning.
He came out of the shower and found her curled up, her gaze fixed in his direction.
"Still awake, huh?" he walked to his side of the bed and watch her turn her head as he went, eyes questioning.
"What's the matter today?" she propped up on her elbow, making him pause as he lay beneath the covers.
He simply shrugged and placed his hands on the back of his head, fixing his eyes on the ceiling. He figured it was already past midnight anyway. "Nothing, really."
She appeared on his line of sight, hovering above his face. "Are you sure?"
He felt his heart skip a beat when her hair splayed across his bare chest, her elbow now propped on his pillow as she inched herself against him. Her bright, green eyes searched his; blinking lazily, her brows furrowed to fight sleep and she remained determined to find an answer.
He took a hand from behind his head and cupped her cheek, gazing intently in her eyes. How was he supposed to put into words how special the day - yesterday - was to him? He fell short and it was nowhere near as beautiful as he wanted it to be, what with his debacle in the kitchen and having to resort to instant ramen… What a failure. If he hadn't even glanced at Raikage's letter then he probably would have completely forgotten about it too.
"It's nothing, Sakura-chan," he planted a kiss on her forehead and let his fingers caress her cheek. "Can't I do something special for my beautiful wife every now and then?"
"That's too much," she giggled, looking away. "You didn't have to, you know,"
"But I wanted to," he rolled on top of her as he captured her lips in a searing kiss. Her arms wrapped around him, sighing at the soothing warmth and strength of him; a firm contrast to his soft lips. He let her go but she caught his lips once more, this time trying her best pour out the things she wanted to say, ever since she stepped into the house and saw this man - her man, making a hell of an effort just for her. So much for her trying to beat him, but instead of feeling bad about it she felt warm and happy inside. At the very least, she was in his arms and was free to tell him, even without words, how much it meant to her.
She smiled into his lips as he broke the kiss, both of them almost breathless and equally flushed. "Thank you, Naruto," she whispered, kissing his cheeks, his nose, his forehead. He smiled and lay back down, drawing her against his chest, inhaling the scent of her hair.
"What's the date today?" she asked, yawning.
He stilled, glancing sideways at the clock before flipping the light switch. "Well, it's half past midnight so… April 4."
She curled against him and kissed his shoulder. "April 3, then. I'll remember," she mumbled. "I love you, Naruto."
Naruto smiled in the dark, his heart beating a notch faster as he smoothly ran his hands on her back. "I love you too, Sakura-chan." He felt her moan softly as he planted one last kiss on her forehead.
"Good night."