A/N: Hi all! Happy New Year! Thanks for the feedback and comments on the story so far - I'm taking today and working on a couple more chapters. For now, I'm going to upload a couple I have already done. There's a little citrus in a future chapter, and I'm sure there will be more later on as well. Please keep the reviews coming - I'm always open to suggestions and feedback!

Sakura unlocked her front door and shut it behind her with a sigh. Deciding she might as well have lunch and keep the leftovers for later, she sat down at her little kitchen table and opened one of the containers she had prepared. She wasn't a great cook, but she was far better than she used to be and this curry was her specialty. It was still nice and hot thanks to the thermal bag she had received from Naruto for her last birthday. He was always hungry and flabergasted at how she could go for most of the day with practically nothing to eat when she got busy. So he had bought them dinner, put it in the thermal bag to keep it hot, and had brought her dinner while she worked late. She loved it actually. Sometimes she sent the genin trainees to get her dinner with the bag, and it had really been the most thoughtful gift she had ever received from the blonde air-head.

Taking a second bite, she jumped a little as there was a loud knock at the front door. Setting down her chopsticks, she furrowed her brow and walked to the door. She could see a navy long sleeve shirt and the green jounin flak vest through the window along the side of her door.

Opening it, she was greeted by a pair of brown eyes and a smirk that held a senbon. He looked completely at ease as he usually did, with his hands in his pockets.

"Genma! What are you doing here?"

"Hey Sakura-chan," he smiled at her, meeting her slightly shocked eyes. "Sorry to intrude...you kind of disappeared last night and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, that's sweet of you," she blushed. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you," she grinned back at him. Her smile slipped a little as something occurred to her. "But how did you know where I live? I just moved in a couple days ago," she gestured to the boxes clearly visible behind her.

Genma rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah. I found that out when I went to your old place. I was going to grab some lunch then but I ran into Naruto. I told him I wanted to check on you and he told me where you had moved to. I hope you don't mind. I was going to offer to walk you home last night to make sure you got here safe, but you disappeared before I could offer."

It was Sakura's turn to be slightly embarrassed now. Her blush returned and she looked down at the floor. "Sorry about that, Genma. I realized I had a bit too much and just kind of decided to slip out. I didn't mean to be rude...I just have a lot to do today...," she gestured at the boxes behind her again.

"Don't worry about it! Like I said, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I hope you have a great day!" he said, turning to go. He was stopped when she put her hand on his forearm. He turned his head to look directly at her and raised an eyebrow.

"W-would you like to come in for lunch? I was just sitting down to eat. I have extra made up."

"I'd be happy to. But only if you don't mind."

"Of course not. Please come in...unless you're going to judge my messy piles of boxes!"

He chuckled and came inside, removing his shoes out of politeness. The pinkette stood there waiting for him and when he was ready to follow her through the maze of boxes he offered her his hand for balance to maneuver through the currently crowded entry area.

She felt a couple of butterflies as she took his hand and started to lead the way. His other hand rested on the small of her back until she was in an area clear of boxes. He chuckled as he saw the blush creep farther onto her cheeks than it already was.

Genma followed her to the small dining table in the other room and sat down where she indicatd as she pulled a second bento box from a bag on the counter and set it in front of him with chopsticks and a glass of water. She apologized for the lack of anything else to drink, but she hadn't had a chance to go shopping yet, and Naruto and some of the other guys had cleaned out her soft drinks and kombucha during the move.

He laughed and told her it was perfectly fine. They said thank you for the food and began to eat. Sakura inquired as to events after she had left last night and Genma happily obliged. TenTen had apparently ended up in a dark corner with one of the Hyugas. Ino had ordered a couple more rounds of shots before the end of the night and had been walked home by Rock Lee. Or rather, had bee given a piggy back ride since Lee never missed an opportunity to "train". He had said something about next time a comrade needed assistance getting home after exhausting themselves in a fight, he would not lose to his sensei.

Genma looked confused at what that had meant, so Sakura enlightened him about the time Guy had carried Kakashi all the way home from Suna before the war. This got them started with exchanging mission stories and before she knew it, over two hours had passed while they visited. She jumped up from her chair and started rambling about unpacking and losing track of time. She stopped, realizing she was being rude again whenshe heard Genma chuckling behind her.

"I'm sorry Sakura. It's my fault for distracting you from your duties today. Can I help you at all? I can help you move the big things around if you need it. And knowing you, there's half a library in these boxes. I can move them around for you if you tell me where to take them."

Taking a deep breath to calm herself slightly, Sakura smiled at Genma. "Thank you, but I'm okay. I kind of just tossed everything into random boxes anyway. I didn't have much time to pack so there's not much rhyme or reason to it. Besides," she said as her grin turned into a playful smirk, "I'm stronger than you."

He laughed at that. "When you use your chakra, you certainly are and I know it. But what kind of guy would I be if I didn't offer?"

She grinned at his acknowledgement of her strength before turning to walk with him to the door. Once again, he offered her a hand to steady herself and guided her with his hand at the small of her back around the entryway.

"Thank you again for coming to check on me, Genma. That really was quite sweet of you," she said as they stepped out onto the stoop.

"Anytime, Sakura-chan. Thank you for lunch. It was much better than I expected after hearing Naruto complain about your cooking the last few years. I don't know how he could have anything bad to say about it after a meal like that."

"He only complains about my food pills," she grumbled, "they don't taste great but even Tsunade-sama says they're the most effective she's ever seen. I just haven't had time to bother with making them taste better...but they aren't that bad." She looked down at her feet, realizing she was pouting.

He chuckled and gave her hand a squeeze, causing Sakura to realize he was still holding it from having helped her through the boxes. Her eyes widened a bit and she glanced at her hand in his, only to have her eyes widen even further as she felt him give her a soft peck on the small diamond-shaped seal in the middle of her forehead.

"Have a good rest of your day," he smiled, as he released her hand. As she watched him turn and walk down the path and then down the road in the direction of the center of the city where he lived, her forehead tingled and her face burned with a blush several shades brighter than her hair. She was so focused on her surprise and the ninja strolling leisurely away, she didn't notice the silver haired man where he had stopped in his tracks down the road behind her. Frowning under his mask, he turned and walked back toward his own home before she could see him.

Kakashi walked up his path kicking a rock every few feet. What he saw had troubled him, and that in turn troubled him. He had no right to be upset. Sakura was a single young woman and was free to see whomever she wanted to. He just didn't like it being Genma. He hadn't realized that they were together, but what he had seen as he walked up seemed rather intimate. Walking into his home he slammed the door behind him, knowing he was being ridiculous as he did so.

Throwing himself onto his couch, he pulled out the well-worn copy of Icha Icha Tactics and opened to one of the dog-eared pages at random. Rather than reading however, he simply stared at the page contemplating the afternoon's events. He had joined Guy for lunch and had spent some time discussing how Guy was training his upper body and mind since he was still confined to a wheelchair after the war. Guy had also dropped a few impressively subtle hints at Kakashi regarding his favorite medic and that Kakashi's youth knew "no bounds" unless Kakashi set them himself. Since Guy had been forced to adapt to his situation after the war he had become a bit more perceptive. He might not remember meeting people that he didn't know well, but for those he did know, Guy had learned quite a bit from his more careful observation. This was especially true for his greatest rival.

Kakashi had never talked with him about Sakura, but he could tell the blue beast noticed the way he interacted with her. He was certain Guy knew that Sakura had been sneaking out the back door of the bar last night as well as Kakashi himself had been leaving. Guy wasn't usually thought of as a sly one, but Kakashi had noticed this slight change in his jumpsuit-clad friend the last couple years.

When Kakashi had returned home after lunch, he had sat in this same spot for a half hour before he decided it wouldn't be silly of him to go stop by Sakura's home to check on how she was feeling. Just to be sure. But he had rounded the corner down the street from her house to see her holding hands with Genma. The kiss he had seen was perfectly innocent and one-sided.

...but she didn't pull away, either.

He sat there so long analyzing the situation he had stumbled upon that the light started to fade as the sun set. Deciding he had stressed enough about this where he was, he got up and left his house again. He would at least stress about this somewhere else. He knew himself well enough by now to know that until he reached a decision he wasn't going to be able to let it go.

Sakura smiled and dusted off her hands as she finished breaking down the last of her empty boxes. It was now just after nine PM, and she hadn't stopped for more than a glass of water since Genma had left, but she was done. She still needed to organize her bookshelves to the way she liked them, but who was she kidding? In a week they'd be a mess again so why bother now?

Taking a deep breath she caught a whiff of herself and grimaced. She'd been working furiously, moving from one box to the next as quickly as possible. She had sprinted up and down the stairs, used her chakra to walk on the walls and ceiling as the floor had become littered with piles of items to be put away, and generally had used the unpacking as an opportunity to train physically. She trained as consistently as she could, but usually it was her medical jutsus that she worked on, not her strength, speed, or stamina. She missed this feeling of being tired from physical activity...but certainly not the smell. She could feel the soreness starting as well, despite the stress of unpacking being lifted.

Grinning to herself, she grabbed a bag and stuffed some clothes into it, slipped on her ninja shoes, and ran out the door. She ran hard, working up a new sweat but rejoicing in the cool feeling of air moving past her as she ran. Turning a corner, she noticed Kakashi's house was dark as she passed and she found herself pondering over the two men she had been trying not to think of for the last several hours. The pinkette was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice when she passed the hotsprings until she was a few blocks past it.

Sighing, she jumped to a street light, using her momentum as she grabbed the bar to swing her feet up and over her head. Releasing back in the direction she had come from, she twisted in the air in order to face forward as she dropped to the ground and ran back to the hotsprings. She giggled a bit as she completed the maneuver. She missed this kind of training. Her job just kept her to busy to be able to indulge.

Sakura slowed as she came up to the hotsprings so as not to be rude to the other patrons. It wasn't actually necessary, though. 9:30 PM on a Saturday...nobody was here. Those that weren't out on missions were likely having a night out on the town, not sitting in the hotsprings like an old woman. An old, sore, smelly, and tired woman. Before heading into the women's locker rooms, she requested a pot of tea and some dango from the women's spring attendant. She thought about a bottle of sake for a moment, but after last night she knew she should just stick with the tea. The old woman giggled at Sakura's sweet tooth and handed her a fluffy clean towel and left to get the tea ready.

A few minutes later found Sakura soaking in the hotsprings as the attendant brought her order to her. Sakura thanked her, taking a cup of tea the woman had poured for her and holding it to her chest, just above the water, inhaling the calming aroma.

After a time, her teapot was empty, her sweet tooth was satisfied and her fingers were starting to get wrinkled from soaking so long. Deciding she needed to get home and get some sleep so she could hit the scrolls tomorrow, she climbed out of the hot spring and wrapped the towel around herself.

Clean and feeling much more relaxed than she had in several days (living out of boxes would do that to you), Sakura went back to the ladies' locker room to change into her clean clothes. She had brought a mesh tank top, a black long sleeve crop top to go over it, and her typical little, black shorts. The tops had been a gift from Ino a while back. She had insisted that Sakura had "a great figure and should show it off from time to time." The crop top ended well above her belly button and was relatively loose. It definitely was more fashion than anything remotely practical. Hell, she felt like if a strong wind blew she might lose what little coverage the crop top provided for her. But, she had to admit she looked good in it as she checked out her reflection in the mirror. It was also a perfect outfit to wear right after the hot springs, which was her point in bringing it here. It allowed her body to adjust back to a normal temperature faster after sitting in the hot water for so long. There was nothing worse than a relaxing session in the hot springs followed by putting on clothes that made you sweat all over again.

Who was she kidding. She liked the way it looked and she was just too shy to wear it out during the day. This gave her a good excuse.

She wasn't the only one who liked the outfit either. As she exited Kakashi stepped out from the men's locker room. He wanted to go talk to her, to walk her home. But after seeing her with Genma this afternoon he had lost his courage. He had grappled with his thoughts once he had heard her voice thanking the attendant bring her an order and asking if she needed anything else. Should he call out to her to talk? It was just the two of them there and nobody else was likely to come in on a Saturday night at this hour. He had only come to try and work out his thoughts.

Instead of leaving, he dawdled for a couple minutes, thanking the attendant and complimenting the quality of the facility. When he did finally step out into the night air, he could just see her rounding a corner. He let out a sigh of mixed relief and disappointment as the last of her long beautiful hair was lost to view, and started toward where she had disappeared, going home as well. He knew the next couple of days were already going to be bothersome with his duties as Hokage, and this certainly hadn't made it any better. Wouldn't she be on a date with Genma on a Saturday evening? Maybe they weren't that serious? Genma was known for being a flirt. Maybe he had read too much into what he saw? But what did that mean then? Even as her friend and hokage, he hadn't known she lived there, but Genma did.

He sighed, knowing the next couple days were going to be full of him analyzing this from every angle.