Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
A faint breeze drifted throughout Konoha as the afternoon heat began to fade and the night's cool air settled in. As the last rays of light were shining I continued to stare at the Konoha Memorial, its dark oblique color and engraved names dredged up memories of the Fourth Great Shinobi War that had ended just five years previous. My eyes slightly watered as they roamed over the names that decorated the stone, many of whom I had attended the Ninja Academy with before I ever knew the horrors of war….we were so young then. I was woken from my reverie by a whispered "Sakura-Chan…"
I hadn't even noticed his presence behind me up until that point, but then again he was Hokage for a reason.
I turned and smiled affectionately at the blonde and took a moment to contemplate his achievements, the largest being the tall slender silent man who stood a few steps behind him on his right; Sasuke Uchiha.
Flasback: End of Fourth Shinobi War
"Narutooo!" , I yelled as he and a dark haired boy fell from the sky only to land on the cold hard ground below. I ran screaming and my heart felt as though it would burst through my chest. I dropped to my knees and frantically searched for signs of life from the two figures that lay prone on the ground before me. Crystal blue eyes suddenly opened and held mine as chapped lips managed to hoarsely croak "I told you I would bring him home, neh Sakura-chan?" Not soon after followed his trademark grin I had grown to love as I wiped tears from my eyes and again double checked Sauske's pulse. Now reassured by Naruto's words and Sasuke's steady heartbeat, a quiet relief settled throughout my body and I allowed chakra exhaustion to overtake me.
I woke up not too long after in the Konoha Hospital where Naruto, Sasuke, and I shared a companionable silence as we took in the moment of being reunited…
Well this silence occurred after Naruto, of course, was brought the ramen that he had begged for as soon as we were all awake.
I would never know what exactly went on between him and Sasuke during their fight before they joined forces to take down Madara, but I had faith in Naruto; only he could have brought the rebellious Uchiha home.
Tsunade entered our hosipital room and informed us that Sasuke was to be reinstated as a genin and would be able to take the chunin exams in a year and would also be under surveillance for the next two years. With a simple "Hnn," he acknowledged that he had heard and understood the conditions given to him, but we all knew that underneath his cold exterior he was grateful and you could even literally see his shoulders lose their tension as he allowed relief to take over.
Naruto on the other hand exuberantly exclaimed while laughing "Haha! The almighty Uchiha gets stuck with D-rank missions….for a year! Have fun chasing cats and pulling weeds!"
"Naruto last time I checked you had yet to pass the chunin exams thus making you a genin as well, In fact you can help out Sasuke with his missions."
"Nani? But Baa-chan, I just defeated Sasuke and Madaara! I can't still possibly be a….Owww, Sakura-channn that hurt!"
"Good" I replied as Naruto nursed his sore head. "I'm sorry about that Tsunade –sama" and with a nod of her head and a slight smile gracing her lips she left our room as Sasuke smirked and Naruto continued to grumble under his breath. Kakashi had shown up at the window and I simply took in the scene and smiled, we were Team 7 again.
Back to present:
"Uh Sakura-chan?" I looked up to see Naruto was now standing directly in front of me peering into my face while waving his hand in front of my eyes, his whisker marks adorning his cheeks. I thought it was funny that through the years he still added the chan to my name, it was just one of the things I loved about him.
"Sorry Naruto, just thinking. So to what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
Naruto surprisingly took his job very seriously and was constantly found in his office with piles of paperwork surrounding him. Being the Chief Medic since Tsunade had retired; I was just as busy attending to patients and overseeing and training new medics. Sasuke had ended up joining the ANBU and when he wasn't on a mission he could be found trailing Naruto like a shadow. While we were all still close our busy schedules didn't leave us a lot of time to hang out like we had been able to before.
Naruto's face instantly lit up and I could see that he was excited for whatever he was about to tell me-
"Dobe here wants to get ramen tonight and he booked one of the training grounds for us tomorrow morning."
Naruto's happiness instantly deflated as he turned to Sasuke and said with a childish pout "Teme, I wanted to tell her!" I laughed as they started thier bickering, which seemed to consist of Naruto complaining that he had wanted to tell me since it was his idea and Sasuke saying that it didn't matter either way. It was always a funny site; Naruto in his regal Hokage robes and Sasuke in his sleek ANBU uniform arguing, they reminded me of two kids who were playing dress up. My laughter only doubled when we had reached Ichiraku's and Sai, who Naruto had also invited, commented that Naruto when pouting reminded him of the frogs that were his summons. After Danzo's death Sai had improved drastically on being able to understand emotions and even finally stopped reading books as a source of information and turned to us to learn about social interactions. He really was a good guy-
"Well it's not as bad as Sakura, when she laughs she only looks even Uglier."
My head slowly turned to the artistic ninja and as he smiled; Sasuke and Naruto took the opportunity to sit as far away from me as possible.
"Now now Sakura-chan, you know Sai, he was only kidding, right Sai?" Naruto began to plead, but before the pale boy could even open his mouth to answer I had already landed one of my chakra enhanced punches on him. Even Sasuke shuddered as he watched him sail upwards and then finally land on the ground.
While my temperament I would like to think had evened out over the years, Sai still managed to get under my skin like only Sai could. Reluctantly I got up to heal him and then bid "my boys," as I affectionately like to call them, good night and that I would see them in the morning for our sparring session. What I failed to see was the sad smile that graced Naruto's face as I left.
Naruto P.O.V
"Goodnight Naruto! Goodnight Sasuke-kun! See you in the morning!" My smile instantly fell as I heard the kun placed after his name. I knew that it shouldn't still hurt, but it did, it always did…
"Just tell her Naruto." I looked up at the person who held her heart and while I could never hate him for it, I still envied him.
"Sasuke…you know I'm not what she wants."
I then turned to watch as she faded into the distance, taking a piece of me with her….
"Well I remember there are a couple of things I need to pick up from the office, so see ya bright and early and be ready for me to kick your butt!"
"Whatever dobe." I knew that he knew I was lying, but that was one good thing about Sasuke he always seemed to get when I just needed space.
Sakura P.O.V
Not even the first rays of sunlight were shining as I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock and remembered I would be sparring with Naruto and Sasuke today. Rolling out of bed it was a nice change to be able to dress in my former ninja attire instead of my hospital uniform, sometimes I really missed being able to go on various missions, ever since I had decided to focus my concentration on being a medical shinobi rather than a field shinobi. I walked into my kitchen and grabbed an apple and began to cut when I heard a knock on my door, but before I could get up Naruto had already let himself in with the spare keys I had given him when I had first moved out of my parents house and into my own apartment a few years back. While it was nice having him be able to pick up my mail when I was gone or water my plants, the boy still didn't understand that after you knocked you waited a moment before barging in.
"Hey Sakura-chan! I was on my way to the training grounds and I thought I would stop by and that way we could walk together!"
The training grounds were closer to his apartment rather than mine, but I thought it was sweet that he had decided to come and pick me up. The blonde was wearing his famous orange suit and I couldn't help but smile; only Naruto could pull off wearing such a ridiculously obnoxious color. "Apple?" I asked figuring he probably hadn't eaten breakfast.
"Naw I had some instant ramen before I left."
"Naruto, you can't eat ramen all the time, do you realize how unhealthy that is?"
"Aww Sakura-chan, you know me and ramen, it's an age old love story!"
"Well when you start feeling sick and getting fat don't come crying to me."
As we started towards the training ground I could still hear him mumbling about how nobody could understand him and ramen. Good grief you would think the boy was married to the food. As we stopped in the village for a moment so that I could pick up some new kunai that I had ordered, I smiled as I watched some of the village kids run up to Naruto screaming "Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama! Is it true you have a demon fox in you? How did you defeat Madara? Watch this Hokage, I can create a clone now!" It didn't seem too long ago that the villagers would whisper as he walked through the streets and shielded their children from him. Naruto had come a long way since then and I don't think there was even one person in the village that didn't admire and respect him.
"Shouldn't you kids be heading to the Academy right about now?"
"Aww Sakura-san!" they all chorused, but I kindly sent them on their way as Naruto made sure to tell them each goodbye and that he would answer their questions later.
"They really do love you Naruto."
He grinned and rubbed his neck looking almost sheepish as we continued our walk. After so many years of seeking attention, now that he actually got it, it was cute to see that he almost didn't exactly know what to do with it all.
After we had been sparring for a few hours I sat down under the shade of a tree to take a break, while I prided myself with being on par with my boys they both had an almost insane amount of chakra and after awhile I just couldn't keep up.
"Forehead! What are you doing here? Hanging with your boys?"
"Ino-pig I could ask you the same question." I laughed as I embraced my friend. After the war we had gotten extremely close, especially now that we weren't both chasing after the same guy. Ino, though she constantly denied it had taken a liking to her lazy teammate and everyone knew it wouldn't be too long before the two started dating….at least I hoped it wouldn't be too long, I had recently entered the bet as to when the two would hook up and being the competitive person I am, I wanted to win….nor did I feel like losing my money.
"I was sent to track down that knuckleheaded Hokage of ours. The council has some building contract they needed to be signed by today, so they sent the first person they saw to find him, which of course happened to be me." I watched as she stared at Naruto and Sasuke battling it out-
"Not that I mind."
"Wait not that you mind what?"
"Not that I mind tracking him down. I mean look at him Sakura, your teammate is hot, actually they both are. And to think I got stuck with the fatty and the laziest shinobi in Konoha." I smiled knowing she thought the world of her teammates.
"Yeah I guess they are," I then took the chance to gaze at the two ninja that held Ino's attention….she was right, they both were undeniably attractive. Sasuke still had that tall dark and handsome look while Naruto….well Naruto was kind of like the sun bright huge and glowing. They really were different. Apparently having finally reached their limit the two made their way over and I blushed noticing they both were shirtless; I blamed Ino and her recent comment that made me ogle at their physique. Sasuke was lean, while Naruto was on the broader side and a bit taller. When my eyes started drifting lower I decided this was probably a good time for me to stop my lustful thoughts and concentrate on healing the two as I always did after a spar.
"Go ahead and sign this so I can get back to work Naruto, it's the building contract for the new greenhouse they want to build near the hospital." demanded Ino as she flipped her hair impatiently and gave the contract to Naruto who scribbled his name on the document as he sat down and waited for me to start healing his injuries.
With a final wink at me Ino bounced off as I began healing Naruto and then not soon after Sasuke. Their competitiveness had not been dulled over the years and if anything it had only gotten stronger. There had definitely been several times where I had ended up healing not only nicks and bruises, but broken bones as well.
"At this rate I'm going to have to start charging you two for my healing services." I joked.
Naruto P.O.V
I watched as her hands drifted over my body, their green glow always hovering, but never touching. I allowed myself to wonder what it would feel like for her just to touch me and not even in a sexual way, but just a simple touch on the cheek or something, anything….
Lost in my thoughts I tripped over a root as I got up and landed-
Sakura P.O.V
I began to laugh when Naruto had gotten up and immediately tripped over some root. It wasn't until Sasuke had turned from his sitting position to see what had happened, when Naruto unable to stop himself, landed on Sasuke and crashed into his face, their lips touching…. Unable to contain myself I broke into hysterics when they both clumsily untangled themselves and recoiled from each other; Naruto stormed off shouting profanities, while Sasuke stood glaring with perhaps one of the most hate filled stares I had seen on him in a long time. All the while tears were pouring down my face as I took in the scene unfolding before me.
"Son of a- It was bad enough you stole my first kiss, but now the second? You.."
"Stole? If you weren't so clumsy this would have never happened in the first place!...or the second for that matter!"
"Ughhh just stop talking about it!"
"You were the one who tripped!"
"Blah, blah, blah."
"Stop, stop. You guys are killing me," I finally managed to say through my tears and laughter. And then it occurred to me that Naruto had said that was only his second kiss….surely at some point in time he had kissed a girl. Hadn't he? I simply opened my mouth stunned. Now thinking back I couldn't recall seeing or hearing about Naruto going on any dates, but he had to realize that practically every girl in the village would kill for a chance to date him, I mean he was the Hokage for crying out loud...we were 20 years old now. I looked over to Sasuke and remembered my silly crush, though I had forgiven him I could never forget all that he put me through...all that he put us through.
"Stupid Uchiha." As I looked up I noticed the brooding black haired ninja walking away as Naruto continued his whining.
"Hahaha, oh gosh, hahaha. Sorry Naruto I'm done now, I promise." I finally stopped my laughter for poor Naruto's sake, the poor guy could never catch a break.
"It's alright Sakura-chan, I will allow you to go on a date with me to make up for it," he said with a smile on his lips.
"Allow me?"
"Yep, I mean who wouldn't want to to go on a date with the hot Hokage."
I watched as he wiggled his eyes suggestively and-
"Naruto! You were listening to me and Ino's conversation weren't you?"
"Maybeee," I watched as he walked away his booming laughter echoing through the village.