Naruto and Sai made it to the Hokage office in time enough to watch Tsunade chug down a rather large glass of sake.

This can't be good.

"Naruto..." Tsunade started, "I suppose you're wondering why I summoned you here today."

"Is it a mission?"

"No, in fact, this new info may put you on hold from missions for a while."

Naruto was shocked. He was being put on hold from missions. He didn't do anything wrong, right?

"I have summoned you here because I wanted to select you as the successor of my chair." Now Naruto was confused.

"You want me to sit in your chair when you get up? But why?" Tsunade sweat dropped.

"I'm starting to regret choosing you to be the 6th hokage-"
"THE SIXTH HOKAGE!" There was that energy. She knew he'd literally run around all 5 nations screaming from every rooftop saying that 'I'm hokage suckers.' Or something along those lines.

"Are you sure? Obaa- chan?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Of course, there will be lots of studying to get done. So, we should start the training around next week, got that?"

"Yes Obaa- chan, thank you!" Naruto said before practically dragging poor Sai out the door.

"B- Bye La-Lay- LADY TSUNADE!" Sai shouted.

Tsunade sighed heavily and looked towards her best friend and first apprentice. "Shizune! We need more Sake!"

~~X~~

"I can't believe it! Sai, did you hear what Tsunade said! I'M GONNA BE THE NEXT FRIKEN HOKAGE!"

Sai cringed, "Yes, yes, count on a dickless freak like you to ruin someone's sense of hearing."

*A loud scream was heard in the distance once Naruto and Sai left the Ramen shop. *

Naruto and Sai turned to each other and nodded their heads. They both began to jump rooftops to the location.

~~~X~~~

"Why mom?! Why did you let dad do such a thing?!" Sarada yelled at her mother. "I told you Sarada! I tried so very hard to stop him; HE WOULDN'T LISTEN!" Came the reply of the assumed mother of the child.

"Well, you obviously didn't try hard enough!" Sarada shouted back at her mother. That's when Naruto showed up with Sai by his side.

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" Naruto asked. He proceeded towards the two until the pink haired woman turned around to see who was interrupting their rather 'loud' private moment. Naruto froze on the spot, which happened to be just 2ft away from the young kunoichi.

"Sa-Sakura- chan?" Naruto stuttered. He hadn't seen her since he saw her off 12 years ago when Sasuke left the village on one of his 'journey trips'. She'd been pregnant and Naruto was begging her not to go on such condition. She'd insisted and Sasuke had promised to keep her protected from any danger they might run into. He'd receive a letter from Sakura a few months after saying that Sasuke had to deliver the baby and that was EXTREMELY funny to picture. But that wasn't why his heart exploded when he sees her this first time in so long. She had... matured. A LOT! Her hair had grown back down to her mid- back, her hips had grown wider, and... wait was this still Sakura? The Sakura- chan he knew was known for her petite breasts. However, her pair had grown to at least a D- cup size. Not as large as Hinata's 'used' to be. After Hinata gave birth to Boruto, it seemed like all her curves and stuff just got... flat.

"HEY CREEP, STOP STARING AT MY MOM!" Sarada yelled at Naruto. Sai smirked as he caught Naruto drawling a little bit out the corners of her mouth. "Na- Naruto..." Sakura said unusually shyly. "What are- are you doing he- here?"

"I heard a scream and I followed it here," Naruto explained, wiping the drawl from of his face with the handkerchief he had in his pocket. "Oh, is this the little Sarada I've been hearing about, eh?" Sarada watched as the tall blond walked towards her. HE WAS HOT! "Umm... um, what do you mean by that?" she stuttered out as Naruto knelt to get face to face with her. A deep blush crossed her face as Naruto reached his arms around her and gave her a rather tight hug. "Your mother wrote letters to me about you. You see, your mother and I are best friends, and I haven't seen her in a while.

"Oh, well can you talk some sense into her then? She just let Sasuke walk out on our lives! He sent a letter to my mom saying that he wanted to break up with her because apparently, he tried having another child with her and it didn't work."

To say that Naruto was shocked was an understatement. In fact, he was pissed. "He did what?" Naruto growled. He snapped his head around to look at an on- the- verge- of- tears- faced Sakura and Sai had magically disappeared somewhere, probably sensing that this was a sensitive topic going on. "Dammit, she's your teammate too, Sai." Naruto thought. "Say, mister, are you Naruto Uzumaki?" The raven-haired girl asked. "Yeah, I'm Naruto. You can call me Naruto by the way." He smiled at the little girl. "I know your father too. Sasuke Uchiha. Me, him, and your mom was on the same team when we were little."

"Really?" Sarada asked, her eyes gleaming up at Naruto. "Yes, it's true. But I need to have an adult conversation with your mother right now. Here." A shadow clown appeared next to him and he was smiling toothy. "Cut that out creep, you're going to scare her. Take her to my house. She can meet Boruto there and Hinata." And with that, the clone nodded, and squatted down, signaling Sarada to get on his back. Hesitantly, Sarada got on the clone's back and took one last look at her mother. She looked broken. She thought about what she could be going through right now. "I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean to make you sad." Sarada said. She had heard from her mother about how long it took her to win her father's heart. And now, just like he did before, he left her, again. A small feeling akin to hatred and anger filled Sarada's heart towards her father.

~~~X~~~

After the clone was gone with Sarada in tow, Naruto turned to Sakura. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. But now wasn't the time to drawl over her beauty. She looked depressed. Naruto walked over to his best friend and embraced her in a hug. She began to sob into Naruto's chest. He held her tighter when he felt her about to fall. Just when her knees completely gave out. He caught her and held her bridal style. He jumped the rooftops to avoid bringing attention to them and headed for the Hokage Monument. This is where he'd usually go for peace and quiet.

"Sakura- chan," Naruto started. As if reading his mind, Sakura put a finger up to his lips to shut him up. "No you baka, I don't need you going after him. He's made his decision and I respect that he's trying to rebuild his clan. We are still best friends though, that was clarified through the letters we sent to each other while I was on the way back." Sakura explained. Naruto gave her a look that said, 'you have got to be kidding me right now'. He sighed, "Sakura, you know that I'd only want the best for you. I'd feel completely guilty if I couldn't do anything to help you." Naruto caressed the side of her surprisingly soft face. "You are doing something for me…" Sakura started. "You are doing more for me than I'd ever expect from you. You are treating me with so much… so much… love. And I can never ask you for more. It'd be too much."

"Caring for you would not be too much Sakura. I love you too much to just not give you more than enough love- "

"You have Hinata and Boruto to give most of your love to-"

"Don't talk about them, not right now, please." Naruto really didn't need his 'family' brought into the conversation right now. In fact, he'd rather help Sakura out with her problem than go back home at this point.

Sakura understood and could comprehend Naruto like he was an open book. She knew when topics were getting to sensitive for him to handle at a moment. Part of her wanted to explore more of his personal life since she'd left the village, but she knew that it would be impossible with his ever persistent attitude. He'd put her before his own life. She could see that just talking about Hinata and Boruto was paining him. She could only pray to kami that he gets over his problems soon, as well as hers.

"Just tell me what I have to do to take your pain away. I know, you're probably going to get mad at me for even attempting to be so caring towards you, but, out of all people, you should know that I'm just like that, to you more than anyone, because you were one of my first precious people."

Sakura teared up. "I wish you'd have as much care for yourself than you do others, but I suppose I can't change that trait within you. I love you for it, though it also makes me very concerned about your own safety."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "You don't have to worry about my safety Sakura- chan. I've survived all these years being reckless, I think I have matured a bit to survive the life of adulthood." Sakura couldn't help but giggle at his remark. "You're still that same baka I left 12 years ago huh?" Naruto smirked, "Well you know me, I'll always be your 'precious baka'." Sakura blushed at his comment. Normally, she would've punched his lights out for saying something like that. Heck, she still would've if it hadn't been for her being depressed or him comforting her in such situation.

Just thinking about what Sasuke did to her brought her back down, worse than before because now that Naruto knew about it, she knew that he'd forever be trying to bring him back. "Another burden that I've put upon the man who loved me more than life itself again." Sakura thought.

"Sakura- chan, are you okay?" Naruto said.

There were those strong arms again. Holding her through the depths of her despair. "I'm alright, just tired from the trip I guess." Sakura responded. Then it was her turn to ask the same question to Naruto, who was now hurled over grunting in pain.

"Naruto?" she asked. There was a tingly feeling in her gut the moment she saw him in pain. "I'm okay, Sakura- chan. I guess that I just have a cramp. Here, let me walk you home." Naruto lied. He knew that type of pain by heart. It was a pain that he was too familiar with. It only appeared on one condition:

Kurama was trying to warn him about something.

~~X~~
After doing a short meet and greet with Hinata and Boruto when they got home, Naruto walked Sakura and Sarada home. He watched as the raven- haired girl busted into their house, exploring her actual home since she'd never actually been in there before since she was born outside the village. During the time while she was outside of the village, she had been receiving training lessons from both Sasuke and Sakura. When she was halfway up the stairs, she turned towards her mom and Naruto who seemed to be in a conversation at the moment and yelled out, "Hey mom, aren't you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec!" Sakura yelled back. Sarada just nodded her head and continued her exploration of her new home.

"Sakura- chan?" Naruto said, looking deeply into those emerald green eyes that he missed oh so badly.

"Yes, Naruto- kun?" Sakura responded, shocked that she added the honorific to the end of his name, though Naruto didn't seem to notice.

"I'm always right here by your side, you know that right?" He asked her. "Of course, Naruto, just as long as you know that I will always be by your side too."

"Yes, good night, Sakura- chan." Naruto responded, giving her a kiss on the cheek that lasted longer than he intended.

Sakura gasped at the action. She tried not to turn into jelly by the pleasant warmth he brought to her cheeks when he did that. When he pulled away, he was completely red, redder than a tomato. "Sa- s-Saku- Sakura- chan. I-I'm so- sorry." The sweet gesture lasted for about 15 seconds. It was worth those few seconds of her life, so she decided to let him know that she wasn't going to kill him. Though weirdly, she didn't want to hit him for that, in fact she wanted to-. No, she couldn't do that.

"It's okay Naruto- kun." Sakura said. There was that kun again. She hugged and waved him good- bye. Watching him leave until he was out of sight. She sighed, closing the door and sliding her back down against it until her bottom hit the floor. She didn't know that Sarada was standing right in front of her with an amused smile on her face until she open her eyes. She gasped when she finally registered who it was. "Sa- Sarada! What are you doing here? I thought you were exploring the house."

"Yeah, you see, about that, I just so happened to finish up and come back just in time enough to witness an almost make out session between you and Naruto." Sarada teased.

"WHAT?!" Sakura shouted. Sarada giggled. It was obvious that there was an unspoken thing going on between the two. If she hadn't known better, she wouldn't have noticed that they probably had feelings for each other back when they were teens. And for situations like these, she was glad that Sakura was her mom, for she had inherited her mother's smart analytical thinking. "Yeah right mom don't try to act innocent, I SAW HIM KISS YOUR CHEEK!" Sarada laughed, barely unable to breath. "And besides, if he's the man you described him to be, I would easily accept him as a step- dad!" Sarada joked, before running off to hide somewhere in the house.

"Why you little! SHANAROOO!" Sakura yelled, chasing after her laughing daughter. Part of her actually fantasied more than a few times about her and Naruto being married. But the other part was worried that she was actually that easy to read that her own daughter saw through her feelings.

"I've really got to put my act back together before more people start getting the wrong idea." Sakura thought, as she continued to chase Sarada around the house.