Where once the idea of knocking on Tsunade's doors had brought a wave of fear and nervousness onto Sakura that made her palms sweat there was no a reckless courage that allowed her to simply walk right into the Hokage's office.

It had taken a few months, but now most ninja knew her as Tsunade's apprentice. While this didn't bring any respect or admiration, nor any real power, it did allow her freedom to come and go in Tsunade's office as she pleased. On the rare occasion that Tsunade didn't want her there a swift look was all it took and Sakura would try again later.

But this time she found her master in an empty room grumbling over some document. Sakura stepped forward directly in front of Tsunade, after a moment of the woman not noticing Sakura gave a soft cough. "Master?"

Tsunade waved her hand at Sakura chewing on the end of a pencil. "I know you're there Sakura, I gave you the day off, so why are you here?"

She really should be enjoying her day off. They were few and far between. Unfortunately, she had some important matters to attend to regarding her own sanity. "Oh, I was just wondering if you have any way of contacting Lord Jiraiya and Naruto?"

That got Tsunade's attention. "Why?"

How on earth was she supposed to tell her master that she thought that maybe Naruto was somehow creating a shadow clone of her and she was receiving its memories? The truth brought a blush to her face. She averted her eyes from Tsunade's to try and hide any tell of a lie. "Well, it's just that I haven't talked to Naruto into in a while and…" She trailed off trying to think of what next to say.

Tsunade gave a small gasp that turned into a chuckle. She folded her arms above the now forgotten document. "Oh, my Sakura do you have a crush on Naruto now?"

"What? No!" Sakura shouted in defiance feeling her cheeks flair at the accusation. Her Master just smiled at her outburst, like the act had basically just screamed that she liked Naruto. With her composure gather, Sakura rolled her shoulders and stood straight. "I don't like Naruto like that!"

"Uh-huh." Tsunade leaned back in her chair smiling at Sakura in a knowing way. She crossed her legs below her desk, the work now long forgotten. "Well, then why do you want to talk to Naruto if not to confess to him?"

She leaned forward elbows on the table smiling ear from ear. "Oh, I know! It's like in one of the romance books where distance makes the heart fonder and the two fall in love through the letters they send each other."

"I just want to talk to him! He's my teammate," Sakura crossed her arms and gave her master a small huff. "Jiraiya's your teammate, don't you ever want to talk to him."

"I'm used to it." Tsunade waved her hand at the thought like it was nothing. "But as for your question, I don't really have a way of getting in contact with Jiraiya aside from sending out ninja to look for him."

"But what about if there's an emergency? Or something happens here and they need to come back? What if Naruto hurts himself?" She was grasping at straws.

A soft laugh escaped Tsunade, her brown eyes danced with a deep fondness and amusement. "Sakura, if there was an attack on the village Jiraiya, would be the first to know about it, He's developed a knack of being around where ever trouble starts up. And it's not like I don't know what's going on, I receive an update every few weeks."

"And nothing weird has been happening?" She took a step forward placing a hand on her heart. Were there really no mentions of Naruto creating a clone of herself? If there were why hasn't Tsunade saying anything?

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Tsunade said in a calm even voice. She reached into her desk and pulled out a small scroll. "What's got you so worked up Sakura?"

Sakura shifted on her feet. Great so there really was nothing, with a sigh she resigned herself to the truth. Or at least part of it. "Well, recently," Since Naruto left. "I've had a few dreams," Two or three a day. "About Naruto and they have me worried."

"Aww," Tsunade smiled placing a hand over her heart in mock passion. "Young love is such a wonderful thing." She silenced any protest by throwing the scroll at Sakura. "That's Jiraiya's last message, look at it if you want. Nothing weird just Naruto's progress report and a few bits of info he's gathered."

Sakura nodded and… had no idea what the scroll was talking about. It seemed more like a love poem than an actual report. "I think you gave me the wrong scroll this one seems like a love letter or something."

"Tell me about," Tsunade slouched into her chair so that the arm rest was up to her elbows. "But no that's just how Jiraiya encrypts his messages to me, but trust me Sakura there's nothing weird going on Naruto is making progress. Good progress, in fact, something about trying a new way to teach the brat. But nothing weird that Jiraiya has mentioned."

Relief washed over Sakura. So apparently there wasn't a clone of her showing up to help Naruto train. And the whole thing was just in her head. So she had nothing to worry about. Aside from the fact that she kept having weird daydreams about Naruto.

What on earth was wrong with her.

"Anyways, go rest for the day, tomorrow we're going to start your real training and you need to be well rested for this."

Sakura wanted to cry, real training? What on earth had they been doing up until now? "Yes, master."

"Gotta make sure you're strong enough to keep your new boyfriend in line now don't we."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Yet," Tsunade corrected with a sly smile on her face. "You have it written all over your face. You can't get Naruto out of your mind can you?"

All because of her weird ass dreams.

"What about you. I've seen you stare at a photo at Jiraiya when you think nobody's looking."

The older woman blushed, her eyes wide; she looked years younger. A soft chuckle sent a chill up Sakura's spine. "You really should go rest up my dear apprentice. I've got quite the day planned for you."

Sakura exited the room quickly.

"So, there was nothing about a clone of me in any of Jiraiya's progress reports." Despite the fact that they were encrypted. Sakura stopped just before the stairs, But she didn't actually know that. She had been given a love poem from Jiraiya that much was true. But why would Naruto's progress report be encrypted? Sure he was the apprentice of a Sannin, but her own progress had been on display from day one with several of the smaller villages.

She was known as the Hokage's, Lady Tsunade's apprentice by several delegations. So why was Naruto's progress hidden? Sakura sighed and shook her head. "No, it's probably just how Jiraiya does things. He is our spymaster."

After all, this was Naruto she was talking about.

XXXX

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto smiled at her, dressed in a blue summer Yukata. They were in a clothing that had multiple such items on display on various stands. A confused seamstress stood shocked looking at her and Naruto like they had grown an extra head.

"What's up to Naruto?" He was late for summoning her for their training. "And where are we?"

"Oh, We're in Koibito City, and there's this festival going on and the Pervy-sage said to take the day off and to have fun, and I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the festival with me," Naruto said breathlessly.

"Like a date?" Sakura asked raising her eyebrow as a clear danger sign. One that Naruto would no doubt miss.

Her blond companion's eyes went wide like he hadn't had the thought crossed mind. He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Are you okay with that? I mean you're…"

"A clone, not the real Sakura, a fake?" Sakura spat out with frustration that came out of nowhere. Wait, no it came out of her frustration about what the hell she was.

"I was going to say in love with Sasuke."

Oh. Sakura frowned tearing her eyes away from Naruto. She hadn't really even thought about Sasuke with Naruto constantly being around her and demanding her attention. There were just a few moments when she was alone that her mind would drift to Sasuke. Oddly enough his memory didn't have the bite it once had.

She closed her eyes and felt her heart beating. A small comfort that she was alive at least kind of real. Given that her body was so fragile and her existences was linked directly to the whims of Naruto. She needed to take her mind off of this.

"Okay, sure I'll go to the festival with you." Naruto's face lit up like the sun. "But just as friends. Not as a date or anything."

His smile didn't diminish. He pointed to the seamstress with both hands - who still looked really confused. "Anyways this lady owes Jiraiya some favors or something so she's going to let us borrow some her her Yukatas for the day!"

As the woman fitted her for a simple pink and red Yukata that complemented Naruto's blue Sakura couldn't help but smile to herself. Tonight was going to be fun.

She spun around for Naruto, his necklace dancing on her neck as a centerpiece for the dress. It had been so long since she had felt this pretty. Not since that day with Sasuke on the bench, her heart pounded at the memory. "Well, what do you think?"

"It looks great on you Sakura." Naruto half mumbled staring at all of her. He spoke the words like they were nothing but the simple truth. "I really like your hair to you look great with a ponytail."

Sakura brought her hand up to her hair and felt the small ponytail with a smile. She had resolved herself to keep her hair short so that nobody would be able to use it against her. It had been her first step towards taking being a ninja seriously.

"Thanks," She gave him a practiced smile pushing a bit of hair behind her ear. He squirmed and blushed under her gaze, she had tried the look on Sasuke several times, he never paid attention to it. But to know that it had power over Naruto was a wonderful thing.

It was then that she realized something was off. "Naruto, are… are you taller than me?"

They stopped in the middle of the road where Naruto looked at her like a confused puppy. Then his smile grew wider. "Yea, I think I am but just a bit!"

How had she not noticed it before? Sure she only had an inch on him when she last checked but she should have noticed that he was now ever so slightly taller than her. And he'd only grow more too. "That's great guess I'll just have to stop calling you shrimp behind your back."

"You did that to my face too."

Sakura simply smiled at him. "Don't look so glum, Shrimp, we have a festival to Explore!"

It might have been the smells of vendor food, the sound of festivities, or the lights slowly illuminating the city as the sun set on a shining emerald bay, but a rush of joy and excitement rushed over her as she took Naruto's hand without thinking.

In a frenzy, they rushed from stall to stall gathering a variety of festival foods and trying out a variety of the games. Everything was going so perfectly.

"Hey, Naruto, here try this?" Sakura offered him one of the Takoyaki balls. If there was one upside to being a clone. It was that she could literally eat all she wanted and not have to worry about gaining weight or any of that stuff. The food she ate was probably directly turned into chakra.

Obediently Naruto did as he was told and opened his mouth for Sakura to put the sauce covered ball into his mouth. He chewed slowly making an unusual face as he did. After a painful eternity, he swallowed. "That was great Sakura."

"Don't lie to me Naruto." She waved another ball in his direction before she plopped it down into her mouth. She munched on it happily "I can tell you didn't like it, besides that just means there's more for me."

"Hehe, alright then Sakura." Naruto scratched his head with a smile on his face. "Do you think we can get some ramen then?"

"If we find a ramen stand sure."

"You're much nicer when you're eating."

Sakura bit down on the tooth pick and glared at Naruto. "Are you saying I'm not nice?"

"What no, it's just that." Naruto took a step back and bumped into somebody.

It was a girl, perhaps a year or two older than them and well on her way to becoming a woman. An inch taller than Naruto she was by no means tall, but she outclassed Sakura in every aspect. She was prettier than Sakura, her hair was more beautiful than Sakura's being a darker shade of red, womanly than Sakura. Everything that this woman was Sakura was not.

"Oh well, hello, what's a cutie like you doing here?" The overly pretty girl practically draped herself over Naruto by touching his shoulder in a kind way that made Sakura's skin crawl. Worse still was when the pulled Naruto with her for a moment.

Sakura bit down on another Takoyaki ball and glared at Naruto. He was smiling at the girl like he wasn't spending an evening with the girl he had a crush on for years. No, it was totally fine for Naruto to flirt with another girl while she was standing right there. They even shared a meal! And weren't they going to go get ramen soon?

"Naruto's free to do what he wants and can talk to whoever he wants. Not like I'm alone here or anything. I'm sure there's bound to be a cute guy that'll flirt with me. And..." She reached for another bite of Takoyaki but found that she had eaten them all. Had she really eaten them all without noticing?

Naruto's loud laughter echoed through the crowd. She could barely make out what they were saying. Something about pretty, handsome was a word she heard. Oh, and Naruto was blushing! And he was doing that thing where he rubbed the back of his head.

He was here with her dammit! Not some random flousey he happened to bump into. Sakura tightened her fist crushing the container with a splat. Tossing it into the garbage she marched over to Naruto and that stupid bimbo. She was probably some air headed twat that thought Naruto was an easy mark.

"Hey, Naruto." She added extra sugar to her voice moving right up beside him and hooking their arms together. Naruto was her teammate dammit. And no redheaded-overdeveloped skank was going to take him away from her. "Who are you talking to."

She glared at the other girl the enough vile to start a war.

The bimbo's laugh was so sweet Sakura could feel her teeth rotting out. "Well, it appears you have nothing to worry about Cutie."

Naruto laughed nervously when Sakura tightened her grip on his arm. "I umm," He swallowed hard. "Sakura this is Futaki, she's the daughter of the Daimyo."

Sakura didn't care, she'd still cut the bitch.

Futaki sighed, either immune to Sakura's glare or so air headed that she hadn't even noticed. "Yes, well I was just about to invite Naruto up to my father's estate, we have a great view of the bay and the fireworks."

The bitch was flirting with Naruto. And the dumbass didn't even know it. "Sorry, but Naruto already has plans with me."

Spinning on her heels Sakura dragged Naruto down the road with their arms still locked like lovers.

"Sakura?" Naruto stammered out, trying desperately to keep up with Sakura's aggressive pace. Finally, once they were far away from all the lights and lanterns did they stop. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sakura said though she knew her tone said that everything was wrong. The more she thought about it the more in frustrated her. And it wasn't just because of that stupid bimbo. It was It was… she didn't know what it was and that made her even more frustrated!

"Oh, okay," Naruto said slowly as he walked up beside her. "Hey, the fireworks should be starting soon. Want to go watch them up there?"

He pointed towards the top of a hill where a small shrine was located looking over the bay.

Sakura just shrugged and pointed at the darkening path before them. "Fine."

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Sakura choose not to answer that question. She didn't even know what the hell was wrong with her in the first place. Finally, after a long time, Sakura sighed. She was still angry but that didn't mean she should spoil the night for Naruto. "What were you and Futaki talking about?"

"Not a lot," Naruto's blush could be seen as the last tendrils of the setting sun vanished beyond the horizon. He swallowed as his eyes were unable to meet her.

"Then what did she mean by 'You'll have nothing to worry about."

"Oh, umm. Well, when I bumped into her she asked me if I wanted to go out with her, I said that I was here with you, and she started asking questions about us."

"Us?" Sakura asked narrowing her eyes at Naruto. A futile effort in the growing darkness.

She saw Naruto nod his head. "Yea."

"And what did you say?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to be quite as they reached the final stretch towards the top of the hill.

It didn't make any sense, why would Naruto refuse a date with a girl that was prettier than her? Not only that she was a Daimyo's daughter that was like a shortcut to having a lavish easy life. Hell, she'd probably accept a date from a Daimyo's son if they were more attractive than Sasuke.

But, she had a reason to refuse didn't she?

"So why didn't you accept her offer?" Sakura finally asked taking the first step out onto the small shrine. She folded her arms on the railing that overlooked the bay so filled with smaller boats and lanterns it looked like a second sun resided in his depths."I mean, she's rich, she's pretty, she actually likes you." /

"I was with you." Naruto joined her on the railing, Far enough apart that another person could comfortably come between them.

"I'm a clone, you can make me leave whenever you want."

"Doesn't matter you're still Sakura."

Sakura let out a laugh, running a hand through her hair. "Why do you like me so much?"

"Because you're Sakura." Naruto turned to look at her, the pale moonlight illuminating his smile. He spoke the words as though they were just a simple truth. Like he was saying that the sky is blue.

When did they get so close? Was she the one that moved or was he? Did it matter? Their arms were touching now. "But why? I'm mean, I'm rude, I'm not really interested in you, I'm not even that pretty."

"Doesn't matter," Naruto said happily as he turned to face her more directly. There was a bit of hesitation as he reached out towards her to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I just like Sakura, because she's Sakura. And I think you're really pretty too…" He paused biting his lip, his blush all but glowing in the pale moonlight. "That and…."

The lights below them vanished, and a sharp whistle pierced the silence of the ocean. An explosion of royal purple exploded over the bay turning night time into day time drawing both their attention away from the conversation.

But not for long, Sakura elbowed Naruto gently. "And?"

It was rare for her to see Naruto so afraid of something. Sure he had cowered before her when she was angry several times this week alone. But this was a different kind of fear. "That and…."

They were so close that she couldn't escape it. Naruto leaned forward placing his lips onto her forehead. "Your forehead is so big and beautiful it makes me want to kiss it."

What? Sakura started to laugh, it was an uncontrollable laugh that brought tears to her eyes. It was him. That wasn't just something that sounded like something Naruto would say! It was something that Naruto would say.

"That was you! Back then on the bench?" She laughed out between fits of giggles, tears, and fireworks.

"Futaki said I should be more honest with you." Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "But, yea that was me. Sorry for tricking you."

"No, no." Sakura laughed out still barely able to contain her giggles. Her tears a mixture of laughing too hard and a million other reasons. It made so much sense now that she thought about it. Sasuke talking to her, leaving, come back from a different direction looking for Naruto. "Just you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"When we get back to the village, I want to be there when you tell this to the real me I want to see the look on my face!" She wiped a final tear from her eye as the laughter died, turning back to the impressive display of fireworks.

She could feel Naruto's look on her. It made her feel real, like she couldn't vanish at any moment. "Yes sure."

With a soft smile, Sakura closed the distance between them, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder, eyes still fixed on the on the fireworks and a barrage of pink and orange began to light up the sky.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked after a moment.

"Shh, don't ruin the moment."

XXXX

Sakura woke up with a start. Her heart pounding for so many reasons as her mind raced to figure out what the hell just happened. Sweat drenched her body seemed to glisten in the pale moonlight that filtered in through her window, her hair was even more soaked clinging to her head like a wet napkin.

"No," She whispered to herself, pushing a hand through her hair, ignoring the slimy texture as she did. It, it actually made sense. Like it made a stupid amount of sense, that rare glimpse of Sasuke that she had held onto as who he truly was, a kind caring individual that looked at her like she was important. Was a lie.

It wasn't Sasuke that had told her that. It was the stupid boy who she wouldn't have given the time of day back then. It was Naruto. It was so obvious now.

There were many theories that claimed that taking one's mind off of something would allow for a problem to be solved quicker. That had to be it right? Just her mind figuring out something that had apparently been bothering her while she slept. "Yea that's it."

"But still," Sakura bit her lip and slid out of bed, the bright light from her light flicking on blinded her for a moment. She pulled out an old map and sighed. "Koibito City. Koibito City."

Large enough to show up on the map, right in The Land of Rivers where three rivers poured into a large bay. "Okay, so the city exists, but I could have just remembered it from a geology quiz or something."

Pulling out a more detailed map Sakura wiped the sleep from her eyes. Her mind was wide awake, but her body was demanding sleep, she'd need it for tomorrow as well. Flipping open the map to Koibito City Sakura's eyes flew towards the hilltop shrine where she and Naruto viewed the fireworks.

"That doesn't mean anything," It was more a whine than actual words. She stomped her feet pouting at reality. Why couldn't things just be easy? She read the information blurb about the city "Koibito City, also known as the City of Three Rivers, is known for its large shipping and fishing operations. Every year during the summer solstice they hold a festival…"

Her throat went dry. A glance at her calendar confirmed everything. Turning her lights of Sakura flopped back down onto her bed burying her face into her sweat soaked pillow.

She let out a long muffled scream. She had to tell somebody about this.

AN: NARUSAKU!

Do I update to much? And Fem Shika was for her own fic but I lost interest in it and wrote this.