A/N Welcome back, hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far. Bear with me as I lay down the building blocks for something (hopefully) really good.

A good number of people tend to relate to plants. If you ask me I'd say it's because they, like people also have aesthetic, temporal, and spiritual qualities. In many cultures plants are acknowledged as providing universal familiarity and comfort. For this reason I heavily considered taking up gardening. Gardening is about connecting with the earth and getting back in touch of the natural rhythms of life. Additionally a person can't really speed the natural growth of a flower; it doesn't play along with the time tables we set for ourselves, cultivating a garden means adapting to it. It also provides a gentle reminder of the bare necessities of life, food, water, warmth, a bit of loving attention, and some room to grow. Flowers especially are symbolically and emotionally integrated with human life.

"Ino I'm thinking of starting a rooftop garden."

I looked over my shoulder and noticed that I was talking to myself. Seeing how I was currently in the Yamanaka family flower store, I expected a certain blond florist to be selling me on orchids and daisies.

"Hey Ino, it's not good business to ignore the customer."

I found her and Sai standing behind the counter. Sai held out an open scroll to her.

"OK, this is good" Ino stated. "But his hair is longer now, but still a little unruly. If you notice the blond strands droop over his eyes even with the headband. Also he's taller, his shoulders a bit broader. I like what you've done with the eyes; you got the childish delight down pat."

"Yes that did turn out better than I expected" Sai replied.

"But the thing is, you need to play up the animal-like qualities a bit. The powerful passionate demon within, see? Understand? Not too much though, keep it subdued. Sai you need to understand this is for women. "Can I tame him, maybe, maybe not, but I'll give it a shot" That's what they need to be thinking. What you did yesterday was good but it didn't send the shivers down the spine. The good shivers, you understand?"

"I believe so" Sai said as rolled the scroll up. He nodded to Ino before walking off into a back room.

I was aware Ino had brought Sai aboard to work part time at the store. I had imagined him getting work as a clerk; I had not foreseen him putting his artistic talents to use.

"What was that about?" I asked,

"Just a side business" she grinned.

"You were talking about Naruto just now, weren't you?"

Ino's eyebrows furrowed "what makes you say that?"

She must be taking me for a fool, I thought.

"The blond strands drooping over the eyes, being taller, shoulders a bit broader, and eyes filled with childish delight. That's Naruto!"

Another grin, "oh you've noticed then?"

I gave her a look that said she should know better.

"Strongest guy we know, the object of many people's admiration, and quite handsome to boot. That checklist is right up your alley isn't it forehead?"

"You would know, wouldn't you piggie? I recall us having similar tastes in the past."

She flashed her teeth at me. "Maybe we still do?"

Childhood friendships die hard, but rivalries die even harder. I felt the usual thrill that was spurned from any kind of challenge put out by Ino. It ran up my body, fired my arms and coiled my fists. No maybe it wasn't just because of Ino, since the war had ended I was beginning to rediscover my competitive nature. I knew I would never be the strongest ninja in the world, but I was driven to place myself in the position where I could hold my own against anyone. The resurgence of this side had served me well as a medic nin' but it had been a long while since I had allowed it to intertwine with the personal aspects of my life. After coming to terms with the fact that I had been staring Ino down for about half a minute. I realized, perhaps I was not as reluctant to allow such a combination to reemerge as I once thought.

"Hello?"

A young woman entered the store with an enthusiastic yet anxious look upon her face. Ino broke our eye lock and made her way to the customer, but not before giving me a little wink. I knew then that I had fallen for her trap. Agitated I backed away from Ino as she catered to the woman. Her psychological jab and my following reaction to it jump started a jumble of thoughts that formerly lurked in the back of my mind. To be perfectly honest, it would be a lie if I said my attachment to Sasuke had not resulted in a change of my perception.

For one thing I've come to appreciate the lack of a debilitating albatross hanging from my neck.

In all seriousness there was a sense of freedom in my life now. Something I was not ready to relinquish. It felt so freeing to know that I could turn away at anytime, that I had retained the sense to cut away when I felt the need. Of course there were downsides to everything. Freedom had been known to drop by unexpectedly with its lesser praised cousin who goes by the name of loneliness.

"I'd like to order the house special" the young woman whispered. I believe she had intended for it to be a whisper however it was loud enough for me to hear.

"Of course" Ino declared with twinkling eyes.

She then walked into the back and returned with a small bag of seeds, a small bag of fertilizer, and a scroll that was suspiciously similar to the one Sai had been showing her before. The woman departed as another female customer entered.

I returned to my thoughts.

Over the last three years I came to a few conclusions about myself and others. I was not one to throw myself at the first sweet inviting glance, though I knew a number people that worked out for. There are people who can find a lover around every corner. Admittedly that way of life can have a sense of "passion" to it. But the adventurous side of me did not extend to that aspect of my personal life. Wandering sentimental thoughts occasionally latched onto those with promising smiles. Something may happen then, but most often than not there was no follow through. In my more creative moments I have been satisfied by a complete imagined relationship with another person. In my mind's eye I saw the first date, first kiss, first annoyance, first argument, the inevitable breakup. This usually accounted for awkward moments where I would absentmindedly inquire ask "how are you holding up" to men I was never involved with. Yes after awhile, you just tend to forget, or make do with day dreaming.

Still there had been a few moments in time, attempts at relationships. Some of those moments, I was dipping toes into waters I had no intention of allowing myself to warm too. Long story short, I didn't stick around long enough for serious attachments to come to fruition. I assume Ino's implication over the last few weeks was that I should allow Naruto to pull me into the deep end. At the risk of abusing the water analogy, I recalled my last foray into the deep end and the subsequent battle to swim back to land. Well the little girl who had embraced that swift current in the past, I am no longer comfortable with to say the least. So a life lacking romantic excursions adventures was of my own choice.

Now I didn't think of myself as unhappy. I believe I possessed a majority of the attributes one needed to have available for individual happiness. On good days I was very sociable, and I had quite a number of friends. There was always the occasional party, a picnic here or there, a film every now and then, visiting family, combing through a "mature" novel. I can safely say I expended a decent amount of energy on entertaining activities.

Besides, while I was aware of Naruto's feelings in the past, it remained to be seen if any of it lingered on. I considered how I would feel if he did, I then considered how I would feel if he didn't. I concluded that one way or the other, to borrow a phrase from Shikamaru "it would be troublesome."

"I'll take the house special."

I watched curiously as Ino went to the back, returned with the same brand of seeds, the same brand of fertilizer and the same type of scroll. The woman thanked Ino while gripping the scroll tightly. Once she was gone, a few more women brought the house special, and strangely a handful of men. Eventually I had seen enough and I decided to confront Ino.

"So what is with the scroll?" I asked.

"Portraits."

"Portraits of what?"

"Really, you're going to pretend like you don't know?"

Before I could reply, Hanabi Hyuuga entered the store and marched regally to the counter

"I'd like to buy the house special please."

I just about fell out of my shoes and onto the floor.

Ino went through her normal routine and sold Hinata's little sister the standard package.

"Do you think that was for her or her sister?" Ino quipped when Hanabi had departed. "Maybe it doesn't matter; maybe it just runs in the family. Wouldn't be surprised if Neji came strolling in. "

"OK" I told her and extended out my hand.

"You want one, well for an extra thirty yen you can---"

She cut herself off as I glared at her. A moment later I had a scroll in my hand. I unrolled it to find a highly detailed ink drawing of a half naked Naruto in shorts laying innocently upon a bed of what had to be flower petals. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were inviting but droopy. The expression on his face seemed to say "I'm not sure what's happening right now, but maybe it's a good time to take advantage of me." It was a true testament to Sai's artistic skill that he made sure much of Naruto's.....assets were in tasteful yet full display. The tender brushstrokes did a fine job of implying a submissive "vulnerability" to Naruto I had never considered. That being said, I did not have much time to explore the depths of Sai's artistry, as I had rolled the scroll up and proceeded to hurl it at Ino's head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After all these years, you'd imagine I would have known better than to spend my lunch breaks with Ino. More often than not I came out of those little distractions charged for a fight or some kind of field work, instead of the established work that comes with working at the village hospital. By no means was I a warmonger, and I truly enjoyed working at Kanzeon Medical. Still as irrational as it sounded, there were times when I felt the occasional itch for some bodyguard work. Those days were likely over though, for anything less than A rank mission Kakashi wouldn't waste his ink to write my name on the mission reports. Of course I understood this was nothing if not a tremendous compliment. However when the weeks turn into months without a mission, you can start to wonder if you're being passed over.

Sadly in the world of negative emotions, doubt is severely underestimated.

Today's schedule called for some substitute instructor work. I was called in to handle a class of impressionable but exceptional, recently promoted, Chuunins who needed an introduction into the world of medical nins. About fifteen minutes before the class was scheduled to begin I began walking around the perimeter of the hospital examining the teacher's aides I brought in for the students. I had charts, diagrams, and a few booklets that I thought would prove useful to them.

The medical field was not an easy task to take on. There were no short cuts in learning to save lives. This was a completely different beast from the Chuunin exams. At the very minimum a high intelligence and excellent chakra control were required to become a medical ninja. With the risk of scaring some of them away, it was my job to let these kids know what they were getting into. Not everyone had the good fortune of having access to the insight and support of the world's greatest medical ninja like I had. I knew the importance of having excellent guidance; I wouldn't be where I was without it.

With a minute to spare I entered the well lit classroom and set my items down on the desk. It was a class of ten and most of the students already had their noses in whatever text they brought along with them. This was a good sign. Well intellectually anyway. In a medical ninja's world a high intelligence could easily be curbed by a lack of will and determination. Still it was a good sign, a less promising sign however was the two preteens squaring off in the back of the room.

That was a discouraging sign.

One student was a tall boy with wavy flaxen hair in a cream-colored jump suit. The second student was a girl wearing a pink flax jacket. She had frizzy dark hair that was tied up into a rope braid. She also had a noticeably bulbous nose.

"Take it back" the girl shouted.

"I don't know what you're talking about. But if you want to fight, fine!" he said.

They then exchanged fists across their cheeks. By that point their little melee had gathered the attention of everyone else in the classroom. Without even saying a word yet, I was already losing the class.

Now if I had learned anything from Kakashi or Tsunade; when dealing with prospective students I needed to grab their attention quickly by putting the fear and respect of seniority in their lives.

The fight didn't last very long; the girl caught the boy with a hay-maker and sent him bouncing across the floor. He got back on his feet but it was clear he no longer wanted any part of her. He had no rebuttal for such a forceful closing argument. Seeing this, the girl stuck her nose up in the air and grinned proudly.

I cleared my throat loudly to remind everyone there was an adult in the room. I waited until every eyeball in the room had turned my way before saying anything.

"Someone going to explain what happened here?"

"She started it" The boy whimpered through bloody lips.

"I heard him say something about my nose!" the girl exclaimed.

"No I didn't! I swear she's crazy."

"Crazy enough to beat your ass again" she threatened. "And anybody else who says anything about my nose!"

OK it was obvious the boy wasn't the biggest problem in the room. I turned to the girl. "You might want to calm down Miss...?"

"Mari Yosano."

"Are you sure he said something about your nose?" I locked eyes with the girl. She had Grey-blue eyes, enthusiastic eyes.

She balked, but for only a moment. "He stared at it for a long time; I knew he was about say something. It was a preemptive strike!"

It wasn't what she said, it was the way she said it. I imagine it would have been impossible to fit any more pride and stubbornness in her cadence. Objectively speaking it was quite funny. But I wasn't there to be her friend. For the next few hours I was her instructor.

"I understand Miss Yosano, now I've got good news and bad news for you. The good news is..."

I quickly looked over the entire room, making sure that they all understood I wasn't just speaking to Mari. "A medics combat training consists mainly of taijutsu skills. With that said, you are ahead of the curve, Miss Yosano."

I locked eyes with her again. "Give me your best shot."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

I stood facing her, standing light and easy on my feet. "Your taijutsu skills, give me a taste of your best stuff."

The challenge was made. And I made sure my facial expression communicated how serious I was about it.

"OK" she said tentatively.

She stiffened up and her reluctance faded very quickly. I knew exactly what was going through her mind, I was bigger than her. I was a high ranking Jounin and she was lowly Chunin. If this was an actual battle, she'd probably already be dead. However what if she did land a blow on the instructor? She'd be a hero for all the Chunin who had to suffer under an arrogant superior. At the very least even for herself, she would know that she was strong.

I saw a young woman who looked like I had once, or perhaps I still do. She was so serious now so, determined to prove herself, so completely unaware that her body movements were telegraphing her attack from a mile away.

She struck.

I parried her thrusting blow with my hand, turned it aside and in about a second I delivered two blows on each side of her head. She was momentarily dazed as I had expected. But her recovery time was surprisingly quick as she had the presence of mind to follow through with a counterattack. It was impressive but ineffectual since she was likely seeing double at the time. I caught her fist and turned it into a hammer lock.

There weren't many moves she could make without pulling or dislocating something, so for all intents and purposes she was immobilized. I added a bit of pressure but she clenched her lips shut to keep from uttering a sound.

"Not bad Miss Yusano, your attacks almost could have hit me. If I wasn't paying attention." I negated her attack and I followed it up with a poke at her ego. These were two basic introductory principles from the Kakashi and Tsunade school of teaching. I am sure they would have been proud.

Mari however glowered at me.

"Now I already gave you the good news, its time for the bad. The way you are now, you are not even close to being mature enough to be a medic."

I turned to the rest of the class.

"For you guys who are quick to jump into fights and turn each others' cheeks. Remember that a medic-nin is trained first and foremost to avoid getting injured in any way. The death of a medic can mean the death of a team."

"Miss Yosano, you're headstrong taijutsu style got you trapped. If anyone on your team got injured, who is going to heal them?"

I released her. Chastised Mari massaged her forearm.

"If you don't know how to keep a level head, you're not fit to be medic. A medic nin is sent along with the team to increase the survival rate of that team. How can you save anyone if you can't control yourself or your emotions?"

I paused to give them some time to let the words sink in. The moment passed, and none of them broke their gazes on me. I had captured their attention, earned their respect and thus I was worth listening and paying attention too.

"But that doesn't make you a coward or a weakling. Lady Tsunade is the greatest medical ninja the world has ever seen and not only is she a legendary figure for the Leaf she is also a former Hokage. You can be as strong as you desire, just remember though that you have priorities."

I glanced around the room and smiled. "OK class has officially started any initial questions?"

Mari's assault victim placed his hand in the air.

"Yes?" I inquired.

"Miss Haruno, did you ever save Naruto's life?"

There was an inward sigh, but I kept the smile on my face.

Another hand. "Can you tell us about the war?"

"How many people would you say you healed on the battlefield?"

More hands.

"How do you control the slug Katsuyu? Does it look gross?"

"How fast can you create an antidote for---?"

"Did you really---?"

"----I heard your reattached a man's-----?"

"Tell us about Naruto---"

I had momentarily forgotten that I had a somewhat accomplished life. In addition to having some very accomplished friends. The recognition was always very flattering; however it was very rare that such status ever simplified a situation.

I was getting ready to settle them down, when a nurse friend of mine named Yonanka Aomori came rushing into the room. She paused for a moment to regain her breath before meeting my gaze.

"Uh we're having a problem with a patient."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My ribs were breaking.

Though I suppose the surprising thing was that they hadn't shattered when the patient had hurled me into the ground. It shouldn't have come as a complete shock though, I'd like to think that I was pretty durable, pretty resilient. In any case my ribs were most definitely in the process of breaking, I knew this because I could feel them being crushed under the weight of the crazed patient. I can say for sure there isn't much of a sliding scale of pain when it comes to having broken ribs and being in the middle of having your ribs broken.

Eventually I realized, it was time to stop worrying only about my ribs. It was time to be concerned about my life.

I couldn't expect much help from anyone on this floor of the hospital. When I had arrived in the morning there were only nurses around. I knew for sure Tsunade, Shizune, or any of the handfuls of medical ninjas with a higher rank than mine were not available this afternoon. Excluding those without combat experience, I may have been the highest ranking medical officer on call. Such was the price to pay for climbing up the ladder so quickly, large responsibilities to be handled alone.

For now it would just be me and the patient.

Which I didn't mind, you don't take up the profession of ninja and end up shocked when you find yourself in a tight situation. However I did wish that I was dealing with an enemy. The patient being a fellow Leaf nin' limited my options even further than my stance on killing.

I was pinned to the ground and the patient continued to push down against me with his massive strength. He was still screaming at me, babbling insanity at the top of his lungs. I caught a few coherent thoughts here and there, something about his wife, something about his teammate, dirty sheets and a comment about showing respect to a war veteran. Much of the time he was howling so loudly I could barely hear my own thoughts. He was enraged, partly because I couldn't explain why his wife would betray him, and partly because I was not dead yet.

And therein lay the problem, I wasn't fond of losing, and dying to some mindless brute was one loss I could never accept. So unfortunately, we had come to an impasse in our argument.

I stiffened up, braced myself, and then slammed my lamentably large forehead into his face. It would have broken a normal person's nose but he just flinched a little, eased off a little. Not enough for me to free my body, but enough to free my arm. I had a few second tops to conjure just enough chakra to do serious damage to his skull, or smash the floor below us. I chose option two and we tumbled onto to the floor below us.

Admittedly it had become apparent that he was going to be trouble the moment I stepped onto the eighth floor of the hospital and discovered a few injured nurses crawling away to safety. Before that I hadn't been expecting much trouble, Yonanka hadn't truly communicated the magnitude of the problem.

Now Ninjas are warriors, from a young age we are taught to defend our village and to put our lives on the line every day for essentially total strangers. We are physically and mentally trained to conquer specific fears or pains. In theory, once a fear is conquered it never returns. In theory once a person braces themselves for pain; they can bear it and move on.

The truth is, some people never truly conquer these fears. As for pain, the easiest pains to ignore were those you've already experienced. But even with experience, when it comes to pain physical or emotional you are always in the position to be overwhelmed.

See pain and fear, and this includes all the subsections that fall under that term like dread, anxiety, uncertainty, can either be overcome or suppressed. Suppression creates a time bomb of free floating emotions with no real target. It simmers beneath the surface and can erupt at any given moment, aimed at the wrong person for the wrong reasons. In the case of wars, well that is a riptide of fears and pains. A ninja who finds himself pulled under by the tide is unfortunately labeled a "Broken Blade." They were not a secret to those in the medical profession. This was what I had expected when I had first heard about the patient, a broken blade trying to regain his bearings.

It didn't take more than a glance or two for me to realize I was wrong

The patient had come out of his room like a mad beast; arms flailing, kicking anything that came into range, sending people and furniture flying in every direction. A few nurses tried to soothe him with calming words, but it was like trying to sweet talk a berserk dog. As he whirled, shouted and foamed at the mouth I noticed the bulging veins in his arms and forehead. He grabbed a nurse off the floor by the chin, screeched something about his wife and then attempted to crush her face with his meaty palm. I leaped in and attempted to restrain him; he shrugged me off, picked me up and proceeded to throw me into the nearby wall. It quickly became evident that he had the base speed and power advantage over me. Luckily as strong as he was, in his state of mind he hadn't been much of a thinker. Seeing how he had thought pinning a ninja to the ground was enough to defeat her.

So we broke through the floor, he lost his grip on me but I didn't lose mine on him. I clamped on to his shoulder and pulled downward; we twirled and exchanged places in midair. He landed on his back and hit ground, I landed on him, and my fist landed on his liver.

Neither landing was a particularly soft one.

The wind got knocked out of me for a moment but I was no worse for wear. The landing and punch though did a solid number on the patient. He was dazed long enough for me to turn him around and wrap my arm around his windpipe. I kept him cut off from oxygen just long enough for him to go to sleep. I rolled off him when he stopped moving.

At the moment I wouldn't have minded taking a nap as well. I turned to glance at my slumbering assailant, the bulging veins had receded, and I finally noticed the paleness of his skin. I tried to revive the memory of his face in my mind, the sunken eyes and the clenched jaw told me that he had indeed been suffering. The symptoms didn't exactly fit but that couldn't discount that maybe his "matter of time" had finally come. Whatever the problem was, hopefully while unconscious he would find some measure of peace.

I turned away from him. Strangely enough looking up at the hole in the ceiling I found myself thinking about ice cream. Two fist sized scoops of creamy goodness, swirled with a river of fudge. Perhaps with a pair of cherries on top, I had gone a long time without treating myself to a huge bowl.

Yonanka suddenly hovered above me. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I've never seen someone freak out like that. Who is he, why is he here?"

Yonanka rattled off from memory. "Hisao Ito, he was poisoned by the enemy on a recent mission. It was diagnosed as a class C poison and it was treated and contained on the battlefield. He was only admitted to have his system flushed."

She shrugged. "It was a pretty routine procedure, until he started going berserk."

"That doesn't add up" I sat upright. "Help me move him into the prisoner ward."

I hated to resort to that with a fellow Leaf ninja. But the truth was everyone would be safer if he was strapped down.

"Who is the kid?" Yonanka asked as I inspected Hisao.

I looked up to see Mari apparently on all fours staring down from the hole.

"That's a trainee. What are you doing here Mari?" I asked.

"I was watching the fight" she replied. "Did you kill him?"

"He's alive" I sighed.

"Maybe you should have killed him."

"Medical ninjas are supposed to save lives." I remarked.

She blinked back at me once or twice. "I guess that's true."

Yonanka started waving her away. "Get away from that hole, the area around it may end up collapsing with you there."

A hospital staff member showed up behind Mari. "Let's go Miss."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and she pulled away. "Hey, you teach."

"Temporary teach, just for the day...which seems to be over already" I replied.

"Yeah well..." she broke our eye contact. "So um did I....I think I kind of messed up today."

I waited for her to look back in my general direction before speaking up. "So I guess you're going to quit?"

Indignation flared up on her face. "Hell no!"

I laughed at her "casual" demeanor with her assigned instructor. "You're already in the building right? Lots of people can't get that far. Obviously you've got the ingredients; you just need to give them time to cook."

She blinked back at me once again.

"It'll all come in due time" I told her.

She seemed to consider this for awhile before finally allowing herself to be led away by the hospital staff. Then I took Hisao by the arm and Yosanka took him by the legs. As we led him away from the civilian area, I briefly wondered if the hole in the ceiling would come out of my pay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I made sure to request that Hisao be put under heavy sedation before I had my bumps and bruises treated. We still had no idea what was wrong with him but I suggested that any bits of poison remaining in his system be thoroughly analyzed. That would probably take a few days; in the meantime there would be constant shifts of medics with combat experience to watch over him. I made notes for Tsunade, Shizune and anyone else on the staff that was high up on the "need to know" list. As mandated after coming across an "unusual occurrence" I drafted a report for Kakashi and ANBU, knowing how the latter worked they may have preferred that Hisao had died so they could simply dissect him. A corpse was easier to investigate then a living body.

I wandered out of the hospital into a chill spring night in Konohagakure. I walked about aimlessly not really knowing where I was headed until I got there.

"Sakura?"

The voice took me away from a world of poison symptoms, traumatic stress disorders and prideful, aggressive, possibly in over her head medical trainees. Scanning my environment I realized I had neared the ramen bar.

Naruto waved me over enthusiastically, and I took up his invitation.

"Didn't expect to see you again until tomorrow." I saw his eyes go over the medical tape around my wrist and forearms and possibly, to my extreme embarrassment, the unnecessarily large band-aid on my forehead.

Still unless I suddenly felt daring, he would not see the ones around my abdomen.

"Uh?" he started

I waved it off. "Long story. Ask me later."

Taking a seat beside him by the bar I noticed the bumps on his head. "Uh?"

"Short story. Tsunade."

"Ah" I nodded. "So having dinner?"

"Had dinner, delicious dinner as always." Naruto saluted Teuchi the ramen bar owner.

"No offense to Teuchi, who is a master, but maybe a little variety in your eating habits probably wouldn't hurt" I said.

"Nah" he shook his head. "Whether you're eating with friends or alone ramen is always warming."

He then smiled. "I like that warm feeling."

"Syrup covered dumplings give me the same feeling. That an ice cream" I told him.

Naruto shared a smile with Teuchi. "How does ice cream give anyone a warm feeling? Its cold."

"Oh please, you are just jealous because my food choices were better than ramen."

"Sakura, the only thing better than a bowl of ramen."

"Is a second bowl of ramen!" he and Teuchi said simultaneously.

"You guys are ramen zealots."

I laughed, he laughed, Teuchi laughed. Mutual laughter is unappreciated.

A moment later Naruto sighed, a very heavy sigh for someone like him. "Since the last time I was here, Ichiraku added ten new items to their menu."

"Yeah this place has gotten really popular since you were away. Though that could be because everyone knows this is your favorite place to eat."

"I would say Naruto is a big part of it. Good food is the other part." Teuchi exclaimed.

Naruto grinned broadly, "happy to help."

Teuchi saluted him.

Visibly embarrassed Naruto returned his attention to me. "They've also added another wing to the ninja academy and the hot springs has a new section where men and women can use it at the same."

He stopped in his tracks.

"It's what I heard" he cleared his throat. "I heard about the unisex hot-spring from someone, I haven't been there---"

"Yet" I interrupted. "You were going to say you haven't been there yet, meaning you plan on going eventually."

"That wasn't what I was going to say."

"Yes it was. Your pervy side strikes again."

"No, I was just saying...." he then pointed at me. "Sakura are you flirting with me?"

I almost slipped off the bench onto the floor.

"No I wasn't" I managed to sputter.

"Yes you were" he smiled.

"No, I was just--"

"You were inviting me to the hot springs. That was a subtle invitation."

If I didn't know that it was physiologically impossible I would have sworn my jaw had hit the floor. "I did not"

Teuchi suddenly howled with laughter. "Ah Miss Haruno. You were trying to tease Naruto, but it seems the tables have turned."

Naruto chuckled softly as he scratched at the back of his neck. Teuchi's theory was apparently confirmed, and I felt my face flame as I desperately tried to quell my initial embarrassment.

I ended up just hitting him on the shoulder.

"You've changed in three years. It's subtle but you've changed."

He blew out a breath. "The village has changed its subtle but it's changed."

I leaned in close. "Hey, what you need is a reintroduction to the village. And I'm going to be your guide."

"That would be.....pretty awesome" he grinned.

"First things first. Since you've already had dinner, why don't we have some dessert? There's this café that opened two years ago and it serves the best ice cream in the village. Oh and keep gama-chan in your pocket, it's my treat. That's right I am in the mood to share the warmth…."

"Sounds like fun."

We bid Teuchi farewell and started off down the road.

"Hey" I said after a few minutes of silence. "I'm glad you're back, I missed you."

He laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just...it caught me off guard...how happy that me....once again."

"Oh, well I meant it." I told him.

"I know thanks. I appreciate it."

I waited, one beat, two beats, three beats...

"Well?" I declared.

"Huh?"

"Didn't...you know.....didn't you miss me?" I managed to mumble with the grace of a small child.

"Yeah of course" he stated.

"Well, it wouldn't have done any harm to say it."

"Ah, right" he glanced at me. "I'm sorry, I thought it was way too obvious to even mention."

I chuckled. Sharing the warmth indeed.

A/N I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Read and review