Tsunade was pleased with herself. Oh, so very pleased.

She went through the document she had been working on once again, before she would hand it to Shizune. Perfect. They would all have to be there. She smirked. Hopefully, a few of them would crack. It was the perfect opportunity.

"Shizune! If you please!" The door opened a few moments later.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama?" Shizune asked. Tsunade gave the woman one of her loveliest smiles.

"Please make sure this is sent out to all of our Ninja, yourself included. Then, you don't really need to send it... Oh, and make sure that Jiraiya-Sama gets one as well." Shizune stared at the piece of paper as she received it.

"May I, Hokage-Sama?" Tsunade nodded. Then she watched as Shizunes face changed as she read the document. A slight blush decorated her face.

"Un, Hokage-Sama..." Her blush got a bit stronger. "That's a brilliant idea... I'll go fix it right away." Tsunade smiled at her.

"Thank you Shizune."

--

Naruto was tiered. He had been sparring all day with Sasuke, and had his ass kicked. Not because Sasuke was better than Naruto, but because the kyuubi-container hadn't been able to concentrate. His mind was not so many miles away, hovering above the Hyuuga-mansion, refusing to leave. He picked up the mail as he entered his home. Bills, commercial, and... A letter with the Hokages personal seal on it. That was unusual.

He tossed the rest of the mail on the kitchen table, quickly opening the strange letter. He smiled in disbelief when he read it.

"She can't possibly be serious... This'll be fun."

--

Hinata was still training with Neji when they were interrupted by one of the servants. She bowed before she spoke.

"Hinata-Sama, Neji-San, an urgent message from the Hokage has arrived..." She held the formal-looking letter out in front of her. Hinata received it with a quiet 'thank you'. She held it up so that both her and Neji could read it. Their jaws dropped.

"So, Nee-san, what will you do?" Hinata asked curiously. Neji shrugged.

"Well, I guess I'll go, I wouldn't miss my friends looking like idiots... more than usual, I mean." Hinata nudged him in the side.

"Right... I have one word for you Neji, PANDA." Neji froze.

"Un, Hinata-Sama, with all due respect, I have no idea-"

"Of course Neji, silly me..."

And so, they went back to training again.

--

Tenten stared at the letter. Then she smirked.

"Tsunade-Sama, I love you." Lee and Gai stared at her.

"My springtime flower of youth, what causes you to say that?" Lee asked, brows furrowing slightly. She smiled broadly.

"MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND, WE SHALL HAVE THE TIME OF OUR LIVES!! LET US SING TO THE GLORY OF YOUTHFULLNESS AND BEAUTY AND GREATNESS OF LOVE!! LET OUR SPRINGTIME HEARTS SPREAD THE WORD OF LOVE TO EVERYONE!!" Gai and Lee just stared at her as if she was crazy, but Tenten didn't notice, only danced around after throwing the letter to them. They read it in silence, then stared at Tenten again who had started to throw weapons on the wall beside them in a heart-shaped pattern.

"Tenten-chan is acting strange, un, Gai-Sansei..." Lee said to Gai, who was now smiling sneakily. He crossed his arms over his chest, slowly rubbing his chin.

"I bet she is not the only one, either. I believe there shall be a lot of... youthful behavior for the next few days Lee, you may take my word on it." Gai smiled his good-guy smile, flashing his white teeth. Lee responded, doing the same.

--

"So, you going then?" Ino asked him.

"I guess. Everyone else seems to be going. I wouldn't want to miss it. Are you going?" Ino nodded in response. He wanted to ask her to go with him, but then realized that it would hardly be necessary. He decided to taunt her for a while, and ran a hand through his thick hair. He didn't see it, but he knew it drove her crazy. She was obsessed with his hair, even if she'd never admit it. He smiled inwardly at the rather silly piece of information.

Ino swallowed hard. It wasn't fair. She'd known him for so long, how could she have been so blind? She swallowed again. When had he become so bloody gorgeous? She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a soft, deep voice speak to her again. She loved that voice.

"Ino, are you quite alright?" Choji looked into her eyes, making her shiver.

"Un? I'm fine, just fine. Did you want those wrapped?" Choji smiled at her again. She loved his smile…

"No, it's okay. But I'd like a card, a simple one with-" Ino smiled and interrupted him, knowing him far too well.

"Like this?" She said, pulling out a white card with reddish-brown kanji on the front and dark-brown edges. Choji smiled back.

"You read my mind, Ino." They gave a soft laugh. "Thanks for the help Ino. You have the loveliest poppies I've seen in years." She gave a small smile.

"Un, Choji, I didn't know you cared about flowers." He shrugged a little.

"Well, it's all your fault, you know. Before I knew you… well… I just never cared for flowers before…" He met her eyes. She was lost. Choji blushed. "Un, Ino, we really should get going you know… The party starts any time." Ino snapped back to reality.

"Of course, just let me get my coat and the gift for your mom…" Choji nodded and went to go to turn the sine on the door from 'open' to 'closed'. He sighed to himself, running a hand through his long, brown hair. He saw Ino stop at the door across the room.

"Ino?" She didn't move. He stared at her eyes, her own wide open, staring back at him. "Ino, are you still here?" She nodded slowly. He walked towards her, stopping about a meter away from her.

"Choji, I-" But Choji interrupted her.

"Ino, not here, not now. It's not right." She looked up at him.

"How did you-"

"It doesn't matter." He smiled at her. "Perhaps you read other people's minds so much that you forget to check up on yourself sometimes." He smiled. "So, should we go then?" He offered her his arm, and she accepted it happily, enjoying the closeness. He seemed so safe, and she was so tired of all the other men who didn't mean anything. She wanted him. She wanted her Choji.

As they walked down the streets of Konoha towards the Akimichi-manor, they couldn't help but to smile. The faces people around them made didn't matter. But Ino had to admit, it must have looked quite strange. For one, Ino wasn't flashing any skin. She wore perfectly cut black pants and a tasteful, heavy purple blouse, her hitai-ate around her waist and her hair completely down. Secondly, both of their chakras had changed. It always seemed to somehow tangle when they were together. It became a calm kind of green, if you would have been able to see it. A soft kind of green. A safe kind of green.

When they arrived at the Akimichi-manor, they firstly went to Chojis mother to wish her a happy birthday. Though as they did, she looked strangely at them. She could feel it, something was very different. But she just smiled at them, thanking them for the flowers and the book on advanced ikebana that Ino had gotten her. She loved ikebana.

Shikamaru saw them across the room. He and the rest of the calm party couldn't help but to look up, their conversations fading slightly as they did so. First they'd thought that it was a stranger, then they'd seen that it was just Ino and Choji. Shikamaru sighed, and then smiled.

"Troublesome people…" A gentle hand on his shoulder brought him from his thoughts. Temaris voice was soft as she spoke to him. That had been the best part of her pregnancy. She had gotten calmer. A kind of reversed effect Shikamaru really didn't mind.

"I'm so glad that they are happy now. It was about time." She smiled softly at him, and he put a hand on her tummy. It wasn't too big yet, and it was a good four months left. He sighed.

"So very, very troublesome…" He smiled up at her again.

--

Sasuke wished it would have been raining. Not that he particularly liked the rain, but it would have suited his mood far better than this seemingly never-ending sunshine. He glared up at the sun, but it didn't care. Stupid sun…

Sasuke sighed. It was all her fault. Stupid, pink-haired woman. Stupid Sakura. Stupid Kiba who had sat right across from her. You had to be blind not to see that they were on a date. Sasuke winced at the sting in his chest. He had finally decided to tell her how he felt, and he had been too late.

Sasuke glared up at the sun once more before he entered his empty mansion. He sighed in defeat. It really had never seemed emptier than now… He stared blankly in front of him and started to walk towards his bedroom, but stopped as he heard the sound of paper pressing beneath his feet. He quirked an eyebrow when he saw the formal letter on top of the pile of bills and junk-mail. He slowly opened it and sighed inwardly as he read the text. Well, it was worth a try at least. And all of a sudden, he was glad that the sun was shining.

--

Dude, it's like three in the morning, I appolgize if there's any weird stuff I've missed to correct. If it bothers you, plz tell me.

The second chapter should be here soon. Very soon. I appologize to those out there waiting for chapters to my other stories, but I'm obsessive/comulsive, or so it seems, and I just can't help myself sometimes. Well, I hope it's alright anyways.

I do think you will enjoy the thing with Kiba later, mohaha.

Also, if some characters seem ooc, well, when it comes to me, just let me tell you: It's called Fan Fiction for a reason. The reason usually becomes very obvious when you read my stuff.

Well, gotta sleep now. keep on reading. plz comment and read my other stories.

xxx-me-xxx