A/N: Thanks again so much for taking the time to review; it really means a lot to me! There seems to be disagreement about what's best: pancakes, French toast, or waffles. Hmm. I can use this! I know, I'm so weird! I hope you all enjoy!


Naruto giggled to himself as he waited for Sakura outside his favorite illegal ramen bar. He was so excited. "As giddy as a schoolgirl," passersby murmured when they saw him. Well, some murmured that, others murmured, "He's not stable and he's going to blow this place to smithereens; let's go to another ramen bar." The Hidden Leaf village was riddled with illegal ramen bars, after all.

A figure completely covered from head to toe in a black mourning gown approached Naruto. He jumped back, trying to avoid the creepy figure; you couldn't even see its face! Such a shady character! What if it kidnapped him and forced him to work in a ramen bar? He pondered upon that for a minute and realized it wasn't such a bad thing; maybe he should start begging. It leaned closer and Naruto grabbed its wrists. "Take me! I'll work in any ramen bar for any price!" The figure wrenched Naruto's fingers off its wrists.

"Eww, Naruto," Sakura cried out, prying at his fingers. "Don't every say that to me again! Not like that, anyway!"

Naruto's jaw hit the floor. "Sakura!"

Sakura cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah, hey, Naruto."

Naruto looked horrified. "What is with that hideous dress?"

"Hey, it's not that hideous!"

"Yeah, it is! It's horrible. I'm not dating you if you're going to wear a funeral dress when we're out!"

"We're not dating." Sakura insisted. "We're just eating ramen with each other."

"Pfft! Not with you looking like that!"

"What? I see! This is all about looks!"

"Hey, you wouldn't want to date someone in that outfit, either!"

"That's not true!" she insisted. "I brought you one, too!"

"You are joking, right?"

"No."

Naruto sighed. He was hoping he wouldn't have to use this, but when desperate times call for desperate measures, "Sakura, that dress makes you look fat."

"Whaaaat?" Sakura screeched, ripping off her black gown in no time. Luckily, she did have clothes underneath; her regular outfit. It wasn't anything special but way better than that lame dress she had on moments ago, Naruto thought.

"Okay! Yay! Ramen!" Naruto exclaimed, practically hopping from foot to foot. Grabbing Sakura's hand, he dragged her into the ramen bar. A lot of people milled about drinking milk and eating ramen. It was pretty hard to believe some of these places were illegal, but they were.

Naruto found a table for two for them. It was a cute little round bistro table off in the corner with cute, matching chairs. Sakura hopped on as did Naruto and they waited for their ramen; it was pointless to place an order as ramen bars only served ramen so they knew what you wanted as soon as you walked in! It simplified things immensely.

Naruto promptly began shoving ramen into his mouth, with little regard for mannerisms. Sakura chewed on some thoughtfully and then sipped some milk, realizing this wasn't so bad after all. She imagined it being torture, in an illegal ramen bar with Naruto, of all people. Naruto gulped some milk and glanced around looking a bit uneasy. It hadn't occurred to her before, but Sakura began to wonder if Naruto was actually nervous about this forced date. However, the next words out of his mouth assured Sakura that he was not nervous at all.

"So, isn't this great, Sakura? We can stare lovingly into each others' eyes now! Yay!" Propping his elbows up on the table, he rested his chin in his hands and stared at Sakura adoringly.

Sakura tried not to spit out her ramen in horror, but swallowed it and desperately thought of something to talk about other than staring lovingly into each others' eyes. There was something she was dying to know as well so as she sipped her milk, she asked, "Naruto, why are some of these ramen bars illegal? They don't seem to be doing anything wrong."

"It's because they only serve expired milk."

Milk spewed on their food as well as Naruto's face as Sakura spat it out, horrified. "Are you serious? What the heck are you thinking? Dragging me on a date to drink expired milk?"

Naruto shrugged; it had never really fazed him. "They have to do something to be illegal you know." He took a swig of some of his milk. "I've been drinking it for years and I'm fine."

Suddenly, in Sakura's mind, so many things concerning Naruto made so much more sense. "Anyway," Sakura leaned over the table, anxiously. "About the internet. You can tell me now, right? I'm on the date!"

"I said 'after' the date," Naruto reminded her, grinning madly. Sakura was about to say something in protest, but a very familiar feminine voice chose that exact moment to make her presence known.

"Look at you two; you look so much like lovers. It's so cute," Ino grinned broadly, thoroughly amused. Addressing Sakura, she went on, "I had no idea you had a crush on Naruto." Turning towards him, she winked. Turning back to Sakura, she added, "So, I guess this means Sasuke is all mine now."

Sakura and Naruto both exclaimed different answers at the same time and anyone who knew them would be able to guess all too well which shouted, "yes," and which insisted, "no!" Sakura glared at Ino. "What you doing in this ramen bar, anyway?" she demanded. "It's illegal, you know. They serve expired milk only."

"Yes, I know." Ino replied smoothly, "I'm here for a PHA meeting."

"PHA?" Sakura and Naruto both repeated at the same time.

"You two are so in sync it's adorable!" Ino squealed. Sakura's glared hardened and Naruto smiled brightly at her. Ino explained, "Pancake Haters Anonymous. That's what PHA stands for."

"Well, it's not anonymous anymore," Naruto pointed out to which Ino only winked.

Sakura stared at her in disbelief for a full minute. "You hate pancakes so much you joined a pancake hating club?"

"Well, no, I don't hate pancakes with every fiber of my being, though some people in the club do. I just don't like the attention the Hokage gives them is all. She's going to declare them the best breakfast in the world once her special, secret 'breakfast team' has created the perfect pancake breakfast. Well, that's the rumor anyway." She paused. "If we could just find that team, we could make them not succeed in their mission." She sighed.

Sakura and Naruto looked a bit uncomfortable when Shikamaru approached looking bored as ever. Naruto looked at him, surprised. "You hate pancakes, Shikamaru?"

"Pretty much," he acknowledged. "I'm part of the WLA, too." At Naruto and Sakura's bewildered looks he went on, "Waffle Lovers Anonymous," he expanded.

Sakura blinked. "I had no idea breakfast was such a big deal in our village!"

"Where have you been, Sakura?" Ino asked. "It's the latest thing. People everywhere are choosing and picking whose side to be on; the Hokage's or the PHA's. You should choose soon, too! Anyway, you two lovebirds have fun!"

Shikamaru looked less bored now and peered at the two cautiously. "What? It's a date?"

Sakura hung her head as Naruto loudly told Shikamaru that it was, indeed, a date. Shikamaru seemed a bit thrilled and Sakura couldn't help but suspect he had some ridiculous reason as for why he looked so thrilled, which was just weird, considering Shikamaru generally only looked bored. He nodded at them and took off after Ino for their meeting in another room in the bar.

Naruto drank some more of his expired milk, glancing around. "Wow, I had no idea there were so many food clubs in Konoha! When I'm Hokage-!"

"Wait," Sakura cut him off. "Let me guess. You're going to declare ramen the best food and make a RLA club? Ramen Lovers Anonymous."

"Wow, Sakura-chan! We really are meant to be together! You almost read my mind!"

"Almost…?"

"It'd be the RRW."

"'RRW'?"

"Ramen Rules the World!"

Sakura let out an amused sigh. "Of course." Leaning towards Naruto again, which he relished, she whispered, "I hope they don't find out we're part of that team. I didn't know anyone else knew about the Hokage's mission and I had no idea we were considered a 'special team.'"

Naruto was too busy staring adoringly into Sakura's eyes so nothing she said actually sunk in. He simply nodded, hoping he was timing it right. She slapped him lightly on the arm. "Naruto! Pay attention! We need to figure out a way to find Sasuke. Instead," she sighed, "we're just looking for tree sap so Tsunade can have a good breakfast!" She looked on the verge of tears. "You care, too, don't you Naruto? Sasuke was your best friend after all!"

Naruto stared at her a bit uncertainly. Being Sasuke's best friend had turned out to be very dangerous. And frustrating, he mentally added a bit bitterly. Seeing Sakura so torn up over it, he sighed defeatedly. "Fine," he grabbed her hand, surprising her and pulled her away from the table. She opened her mouth to ask her, but he held up a hand, silencing her. "We'll go look for him. I know how to!"

"Really?" Sakura looked doubtful.

"Yes," Naruto nodded confidently, "After all, the internet is on my side!"

Sakura perked up at that. "Oh, yes, the date's over, so about that!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, no, we didn't stay long at all and we're leaving early because you're crying and people aren't supposed to cry on dates. We'll just say it's an extended date and we're still on it."

"What? When will it be over?"

"I don't know. Until we find Sasuke?"

"What?" Sakura tried not to scream. That could very possibly turn into the longest date ever! They might even be able to make it into Konoha's Village Records Book! She wasn't sure if she wanted all of Konoha to know that she and Naruto had been on an overly long date.

"You want to find Sasuke, right…?"

Sighing, Sakura gave in and allowed herself to be dragged away from the ramen bar to the next stop on their "date." Naruto dragged her to the Hokage's place, looking rather excited. Bursting through the door, he quickly leaned over to Sakura and whispered in her ear, "Let me do all the talking." Sakura tried not to blush at that uncomfortable feeling she'd had earlier that day when Naruto's breath had been in her ear. It was so weird; it was unnerving. Naruto bounded up to the Hokage practically dragging the flushed pink-haired girl with him. Tsunade raised her brows at their sudden presence.

"I trust your date was hit?"

"We're still on it!" Naruto beamed and Tsunade decided not to ask. Naruto grinned at her, excitedly. "Tsunade-sama, I've found the perfect place for gathering tree sap for your syrup. It's a bit of a ways out so I was hoping you'd give us permission to leave right away." He quickly pulled out a map and pointed to a bunch of trees, eyes alight with anticipation. "It's called the Sap Grove," he explained. "It's supposed to have all kinds of sap there and one has to be the sap that will make the ultimate syrup."

Tsunade gave a quick glance at the map, but didn't pay too much attention to where it was located. "Did you find this out from your…..secret weapon?" she demanded. Sakura nearly fainted. Tsunade knew about the internet, too? Sakura was suddenly feeling very out of the loop. Naruto nodded, smiling broadly. "Good, then you have permission to leave right this very second!"

Allowing Naruto to continue dragging her as he raced out of the room, Sakura began to wonder if the whole village was playing a weird practical joke on her. All normalcy seemed to have dissipated within the last week or so and it was really starting to get at her. If this kept up, she might very well lose her mind.

Tsunade put her hands behind her head, sighing contentedly. Naruto had used that device she and Jiraiya had supplied him with; actually she had given it to Naruto. He was the most curious ninja she knew so he could probably find a better use for it. Better than the use Jiraiya had found for it, anyway, she thought, annoyed at her old teammate.

Glancing around, she noticed with much satisfaction how clean her office was. Her job was so easy, it was almost ridiculous, she mused. She had totally lucked out, becoming Hokage when there were nine rookie ninja with beyond awesome talent and talented teachers to teach them, too. Well, there had been nine, anyway. Until that Orochimaru had stolen Sasuke away from them. Well, she still had eight beyond awesome ninja to protect the village with help from their teachers, so she wasn't too worried about the village's defenses. It helped that all of them were super talented and eager to please. It was like a dream come true, really.

Leaning forward, she studied the map more closely and noticed that the tree grove Naruto had pointed out was right next to the Hidden Sound Village. Narrowing her eyes, she came to the logical conclusion that they would obviously be searching for Sasuke as well as gathering syrup. Hopefully, they wouldn't find too much trouble during their quest. It was Tsunade's own personal dream that Orochimaru had accidentally turned Sasuke into a red and black cow. Not because she disliked Sasuke, she simply wanted to see Orochimaru suffer and how much more awful could one feel after turning one of their own prodigies into a colored cow? That would be the most humiliating thing in the world, Tsunade decided. Though, accidentally turning one's own prodigy into a colored cow with only two and a half legs would be a close second, she mused. She briefly wondered if he had done that, would Sasuke still possess ninjutsu abilities and if he did, would make him the first ninja cow ever? She shook her head, shaking her strange thoughts out of her mind and remembering that Kakashi was still making her pancakes; it sure was taking long.

Tsunade thought Kakashi was making her pancakes, but, in truth, he simply could not stand to miss anymore of Ninja Idol and had wandered off so he could catch the last few hours of it. He figured Tsunade slept at her desk as she feared someone else might actually sit there for two seconds and she treated that thing as if it were her only child. She wouldn't miss him for awhile.

Neji watched silently as Naruto pulled Sakura through the village at top speed, Sakura struggling to get out of Naruto's iron fist and trying to keep her feet on the ground at the same time. Naruto was such an amusing person; when Neji was bored he would simply seek the blonde out, spy on him for awhile and watch as Naruto did some of the dorkiest yet most amusing things ever and Neji could be silently entertained for hours. It occurred to Neji this could be considered very weird by some people, but he was well aware that he was not the only person that did this. He wondered how long it would be before Naruto realized that quite a few people used him as their source of personal entertainment. This new development was quite interesting and Neji decided to follow the two. He began to take off when someone else caught his attention first. Kiba had come barreling around the corner, riding Akamaru. Spotting Neji ready to leave, Kiba shot him a questioning look.

"Where are you off to?"

"No where."

"Doesn't look like it."

"It should."

"Hey," Kiba bit his lip nervously, "Do you know---- the know?"

Neji cautiously raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"

Kiba looked a bit ashamed, but admitted, "No."

"Well, that's why you're not in it," Neji explained, ready to take off. He was anxious to leave, even though he didn't seem so.

"What?!" Kiba cried, upset. "Well, tell me, if you're so smart!" He challenged.

"You're irksome." Neji told him before taking off, ignoring Kiba's confused look.

"What's that?" Kiba wondered aloud.

Neji might not have known it or maybe he did as it was always hard to tell with him, but both of his teammates spied on him, each for a different reason, so he was not completely alone when he left the village but neither of them acknowledged their presence nor did he acknowledge theirs.

Kiba shook his head after Neji had left. He still hadn't figured out what the know was exactly. And now he had to figure out what "irksome" was, too. Who used words like irksome in conversations, anyway, he thought, annoyed. He would find out and then if it was a compliment there wouldn't be a problem. But if it were an insult, oh boy, he would hunt that guy down and—well, Kiba wasn't sure what he'd do yet, but he was sure to figure out something!

"Naruto," Sakura cried out, finally ripping herself out of Naruto's grip. They were outside the village now and she was utterly confused. "I thought you said we were going to find Sasuke! Not go to a grove of sap trees!"

"We're doing both!" Naruto exclaimed, taking a moment to explain things to Sakura. "I found out from the internet that a grove of trees that produce awesome sap is by the place Sasuke is. Dotdotdotninja told me on chat!" he grinned. Sakura looked at a loss.

"Dotdotdotninja?" she asked, clearly not very fond of the name. Speaking of names, there was that word again: internet. Sakura was beginning to wonder if she'd ever get her hands on that weapon.

"Yup!" Naruto nodded again, grabbing Sakura's hand and taking off. "We have to hurry! We can sleep in the Sap Grove!"

Sakura wasn't so sure she liked this idea, but it involved finding Sasuke and Naruto seemed positive this was where he was. After all, the internet had told him so. She began to wonder what else the internet had told him. The internet must have been an actual person, she realized, if it could talk. Laughing, she yanked her arm away from Naruto and picking up speed, raced past him, excited that finally they were doing something other than just ridiculous missions; now they had a ridiculous mission, serious mission, and a date all rolled into one! And, maybe, just maybe she could talk Naruto into telling her about the internet before their "date" was over.

Next time: Will Sakura and Naruto find Sasuke? Will their date end? How will Neji and his team fare? How long will it take Kiba to realize the word irksome is not kind when using it to describe someone? More importantly, when will Naruto tell Sakura about the internet? Find all this out and more next time in PD&M!