Here's a story for all you Naruto x Sakura fans out there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, BELIEVE IT!

Gazing

A handsome, young man sat behind his desk, checking over several papers and putting them in huge, tall stacks. The window beside him filtered in the sunlight from the outside world, making his gold tinted hair glow with the utmost radiance. He was busy writing things down on a scroll, reading it over, putting it on one stack, and then taking another paper from another stack, and doing the whole process over. The room was silent, the scribbling of the pen and the rustling of the papers being the only sound throughout the room. After a while, he sighed deeply and tilted his head back to rest on the chair.

He closed his eyes, covering up the dull shade of blue in his eyes, and relaxed for a moment. The simple fact was that he was bored. For the whole day, he had planted his butt on the chair, and for the whole morning, he had been reading and signing hundreds of documents. If he knew that this job would be this boring, he might as well just become ANBU Captain or something. At least he would get some type of action and still be able to protect his precious people.

Still, he wouldn't give this up until he had to and the only way to do that was for him to grow extremely old or to die. All his life, he's worked to achieve this title and have his own face sculpted on the mountain behind the tower he worked in. He's endured so much pain, loneliness, and torture, just to reach this goal. At least everybody respected him and acknowledged him, which is really what he always wanted. The villagers would give happy smiles now, waving and greeting him with the kindness that he never got as a child.

Everything was great, except for one thing. He was 22, the leader of Konoha, the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, the best friend of the now returned Uchiha Sasuke, and the person that all people in the village look up to, but there was one thing missing. He's wanted it since he first laid eyes on it. It's been one of his main goals all his life, one that hasn't been reached yet. The soft, silky pink hair, the shining emerald eyes, her perfect body, her smooth, creamy skin, and her flawless face. She was the epitome of perfect in his vision, and he wanted her to be his.

Her name was Haruno Sakura. She was the apprentice of the Godaime, and is now the best medic-nin in the whole village. She is the head medic at the hospital, and his personal assistant if she had time. Her ability as a ninja had grown exponentially, and she was now on par with Naruto and Sasuke. Just like their mentors, the three members of the old Team 7 were now known as Sannins. Together, they were unstoppable, as well as individually.

Sakura was known as the most beautiful ninja in Konoha, much to Ino's dislike. She was also known for being the most scariest, her monstrous strength and medical knowhow being the fact behind this. Although he was the Hokage, she would occasionally give him a punch or two when they hung out.

She had changed over the past few years. He thought that she would be all over Sasuke when he brought him back about 2 years ago, but was hugely surprised when she just showed concern over a friend and not a love. He even questioned her about, but the only thing she said before taking off in a hurry was, "I'm not in love with him anymore. There's someone else." Although, she said that last part in a distant whisper, he heard it and swore he saw a blush. He decided not to press on about it, not wanting to get his hopes too high.

A knock at the door broke him from his relaxation and got into a working posture. He grabbed some random paper and placed a pen in his hand, trying to look like he was working.

"Come in!"

His eyes sparkled with joy when the sight of pink hair entered his view. If she was here, that meant one thing.

"Ramen!"

She just shook her head and chuckled, seeing the way he behaved when she came in.

"You'll always be Naruto." She thought.

"Hold on there Mr. Hokage," she said playfully, "we're not going until I've checked all your work. As your assistant, I have to check for-"

She stopped when she felt a breeze tickle her face. The window behind was opened, signaling his escape.

"Come on Sakura-chan! I'm starving!"

She just felt a little bit of annoyance, before she sighed heavily and proceeded to follow him towards Ichiraku Ramen. Joining up with him, they started their casual walk towards the restaurant, Naruto placing his arms behind his head.

"Seriously Naruto, you should've finished all those papers first."

"I could, but I'm hungry. Can't work on an empty stomach, y'know."

"Still same old Naruto."

"Oh am I?"

In truth, the hyperactive blond haired ninja had developed quite a lot during the last couple of years. He was more mature that he was when he was 16, having a more manly stature and more of a grown up personality, although his childish side would come up once in a while. His body was well toned, muscular, yet slender at the same time. The girls in the village would always stare at him when he strolled through the village, which caused Sakura to slightly become angry at them when she went on walks with him.

His hair became more wilder, reaching just over his forehead and towards his eyebrow. Unlike his father, he did not have his hair growing on the sides, giving him a more neater, yet wild look. His shining, blue eyes never changed, still radiating that same heart warming gleam that he had since he was born. One definite change, however, was his change of clothing. Since he was Hokage, he sometimes wore that outfit most Kages wear, but most days he would wear normal clothing. His usual choice of clothes were black pants, a black sweatshirt, and an open green vest. He wore his protector on his upper right arm now, and the standard shinobi sandals. He was always fitted for combat, even on breaks.

They reached the restaurant and almost immediately, he grabbed her hand and rushed them towards their seat. The place was partially empty, except for a few people here and there. Seeing their Hokage in this place wasn't surprising, but when Sakura came along, whispers usually broke out. Said girl couldn't help but blush at the things the villagers said and would try not to look at Naruto.

Why would she blush? She had figured it out. She'd known for several years actually. Her infatuation for the Uchiha avenger was just a childish crush, no actual feelings of love towards him. Becoming mature had that affect on you, and she dug deep, finding that she did in fact have feelings towards Naruto. Seeing his smile, his body, his being as a person always made this twisting feeling in her stomach, and she would often blush and try not to look at him. Everytime it happened, she would look back towards him to find a confused expression on his face and she would just dismiss it as nothing.

She looked forward to all their meetings together, and on certain days, she would catch herself staring at him and sometimes he would catch her. She knew that she liked him, and she knew that he like her. The fact that he would die to protect her or for her happiness made her certain that he liked her, or possibly even loved her. Sure, in their younger days he would proclaim to love her, but that was different. Saying "I love you" as a 13 year old is much more simple than when you're 22 and Sakura had no clue on how to deal with it.

The truth is, they were scared. If they admitted their feelings, and were wrong, their entire friendship could be ruined, and they both did not want to happen. Naruto wasn't as dense as everyone else thought he was. He saw the signs. The way she would stare at him, the way she would get angry at the females that gawked at him, the way she clung onto him, and the way she would sometimes blush around him. But what if those signs meant something else? He didn't know, and so he would never make the move.

30 minutes later, the two had finished eating and were on their way towards the training grounds. She figured that Naruto was bored doing all that paperwork, so they decided for a light spar. Reaching the old training grounds, they were surprised to see their teammate on the ground meditating. He opened one eye upon feeling people surround him, and smirked.

"Well look who's here. Hokage-dobe, what are you doing here?"

"Hmmm...I was just thinking that today a certain Uchiha needed his ass kicked?"

"Geez guys. Can't you guys greet each other normally?"

"No." They said in unison.

"Whatever. Listen, me and Naruto were about to have a friendly spar, wanna join?"

"S-"

The Uchiha was cut off when a puff of smoke revealed a ninja with a mask on.

"Captain, we need you at the base," he noticed the Hokage, "good afternoon Hokage-sama."

"Good afternoon. How's things at the HQ?"

"Hectic as always. Captain, they need you there now."

Sasuke just gave a sigh and reached for his mask.

"Guess I'll have to kick you butt another day, huh?"

"You can try. See you later."

He just smirked and nodded at the both of them before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Come on Naruto. Let's warm up shall we."

"Sure!"

Sakura threw a punch at him and now the fight was on.

It wasn't until early evening that they stopped. Apparently, their friendly little spar had turned into a full blown fight, and the two were having the time of their lives. They both lay on the ground, panting heavily as the cool breeze of the coming evening blew across their skin.

"You're...strong...Sakura-chan."

"So...are...you...But I guess...you have to be since...you're the Hokage now."

"Yeah."

They both stared at the sky, gazing at the orange pigment of the sky and the hovering masses of clouds. The clouds were different shapes and sizes, and seemed to look like different objects. However, one cloud stood out from the rest as they were both looking at it. It was the shape of a heart. Naruto and Sakura both turned to look at each other, meeting each other's gaze. They looked into each others eyes, her emerald orbs matching his pure blue spheres. They felt this weird connection that made them stay like that, feeling like an eternity trapped in that gaze. They couldn't tear away, and found it hard to believe what was happening.

Naruto was about to move until a puff of smoke interrupted their moment. An ANBU appeared from the smoke and looked down to see the Hokage on the ground.

"Hokage-sama, the council is asking for you in another meeting."

Getting up, he brushed himself off before nodding at the ninja to go. Finding Sakura still laying there, he walked over to her and put out a hand, which she graciously took, although trying very hard to not look at him. The contact of their hands sent a shiver up their spines, which caused them to unconsciously blush. They didn't what was going on, but before they could go on about it, Naruto remembered the meeting. Missing a meeting with the council was not good at all.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. Looks like I...um...got to go?"

"Y-Yeah." She stuttered, obviously still flustered over their gazing towards each other.

"See ya!"

He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, giving her a smile that made her stomach turn. Regaining her senses, she started walking home for some well need rest and some time to think.

"What just happened?" She started. "It was as if I was trapped in his eyes. Those blue eyes. So happy and joyous on the outside, yet so mysterious the deeper I looked at it." She began to think some more, unconsciously walking the path towards her house. "I think he was gonna make a move as well. So confusing!"

She sighed, trying to clear her head of the last few minutes. First, they were sparring. Then they were watching clouds. All of a sudden, she noticed a heart shaped cloud and then that's when the whole eye thing started.

"Stupid ANBU." She mentally cursed that ANBU guy for interrupting a moment like that. The whole setting seemed perfect to tell him her feelings and she even had enough confidence to tell him right then and there.

Reaching her house, she undressed and went into the bathroom to clean up and proceeded to make some dinner. After cleaning the dishes, she went to work on some papers before heading to bed. The minute she closed her eyes, the memories of today popped into her head, causing her to twist and turn.

"Look at what you've done now, you lunkhead."

Naruto had no such luck sleeping at all as well. After the boring meeting with the council about his duties as Hokage, he went straight to Ichiraku and then his room in the Hokage tower. Just like Sakura, his mind had been plagued with the same thoughts as her, which in turn, didn't make sleep come any easier.

"Hey, Kyuubi."

A low growl was echoed through his mind, until a gruff voice entered.

"What do you want, Kit?" The beast questioned, annoyed at his container disturbing his rest.

"Do you think Sakura-chan likes me?"

"What do I look like? A matchmaker? Leave me alone." The fox just stopped talking and proceeded to go to sleep, again.

"Stupid fox." The blond haired Hokage muttered before trying another attempt of going to sleep, trying to not think about a certain pink haired kunoichi.

Um...there's the first chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and be sure to read and review.