Blossom's New Bloom

disclaimer; I don't own Naruto.

Sakura has just finished getting ready for her date, with Konoha's number one bachelor, not that she knew, Minato. She was wearing a brights green dress, that was a bit brighter than her eyes, that went to her knees, a half button-up jacket that was a forest green color, for some sleeves, in case it got cold, and silver one-inch heels. She also put on some bright green stud earrings with a matching necklace, and put her hair in a high ponytail, tied with a silver ribbon, with her usual bangs framing her face. She added a dash of lip gloss and mascara and grabbed her silver purse before she left the room.

Minato told her last night to wear something nice, but casual. And it was time for her to got downstairs and meet him. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she saw Minato near the entrance, though he hasn't noticed her presence because he was checking over himself after he finished tying his shoes.

" Minato." Sakura called softly to get his attention.

He looked up and instantly his eyes looked dazed. Sakura wondered what had him so distracted, but just decided to wait a minute because she was looking over Minato. He was wearing a short sleeve open white vest, over a forest green long sleeved shirt, that was rolled up to his elbows. He also wore blue jeans and green and white sneakers, with a silver watch on his right wrist. Sakura thought he looked amazing and couldn't keep the small blush from creeping up on her cheeks, when she thought about going on a date with someone as good-looking as him.

Minato was also checking her over, which is why his eyes were glazed. He loved that she was wearing green, not only because it was Konoha's main color, but because he was wearing it as well and they looked even more like a couple. Which would show all the guys that looked her way, that she was taken. He also noted that he hair was up and that it was wavy instead of straight like it looked when in the long braid, which also made him happy because her hair looked like a pink sea of waves that he could float in for eternity.

Snapping out of his daze, he noticed that she was looking at him as well and that there was a small blush on her cheeks. " Like what you see?" he asked smirking.

" Yes." she answered without thinking, causing he cheeks to redden even more and Minato to smirk even wider as he watched her stumble for words.

" I mean...you look...okay, but...erm..."

" Well I think you look beautiful." he said as his smirk turned into a smile.

Sakura looked up at him and smiled." Thank you."

Minato stuck out his arm for her to take, which she did, and he lead her out of the house and after locking it, took her through the streets of Konoha to stop one of their date.

The first place Minato took her to, was a movie theater. I looks similar to the old one from her time before they tore it down and made a new one, with more advanced technology.

"I thought we could see a movie of your choice for the first part of the date." said Minato as he walked her over to the large sign that displayed the movie options.

" Hmm~, how about this one, it's suppose to be an action,comedy." said Sakura pointing to the movie named "A Spy's Spirit".

"Sure, it's playing in a few minutes, so we can get some snacks before it starts." Minato agreed as he and Sakura walked over to the ticket man and purchased theirs. Afterwards they went to the snack stand to get refreshments. Sakura ordered a large chocolate ice cream, small sized popcorn, and a blue rasberry slushy, while Minato ordered some small nachos, medium sized popcorn, and an orange crush soda. When Sakura went to get her money, Minato quickly stopped her and paid. As they walked away from the stand Minato whispered.

" Remember, this is a date and as the guy I pay for it. You just keep looking gorgeous and enjoy it." he spoke finishing with a wink that made Sakura feel like she was a thirteen year old girl because her insides were melting.

When they got in the theater the movie quickly started. The movie was about a guy, Light, who is an FBI agent and went undercover to discover why powerful people have been disappearing for the last few months. He is also teamed up with a beautiful and deadly partner, Nina.

The movie was really good with all the action scenes and jokes, but when they got to the romance Sakura was unprepared for it.

" Light, you can go it's suicide to face them all on your own!" shouted Nina. Over their stake out together both had grown to care for the other in more than just friendship.

" I have to. And tomorrow I will be going, whether I come back alive or not." confirmed Light.

" Then please, before you go grant me on last wish." spoke Nina softly.

" I can try."

" Please make love to me, it's something I need from you, if this is truly going to be our last night together."

" Nina..."

" I love you Light and if I'm going to lose you I want to give you my everything before you go."

" I love you too, Nina." spoke Light as he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her slow and passionately.

Sakura's eyes widened at this and she knew what was coming next, which caused her face to heat up. She looked around the darkened theater and noticed, much to her embarrassment that many of the couples were having their own explicate scene, from tongues to touches. She chanced a glance at Minato and saw that he was to busy paying attention to the movie, which she thanked kami for, and turned back to the movie. Forgetting all about the fact of what is going on in it for a split second.

"Ahh...ahh...Light, please..." moaned Nina.

" What is it you desire Nina?" asked Light in a husky voice. He had already entered her, but was going slow.

" Please...faster...harder."

" With pleasure." and with that they went through their love making enjoying their last known night together.

By the time the movie was over Sakura could not get out of there fast enough, because there was another explicate scene at the end. Her face resembled a tomato and there were swirls in her eyes from over heating and not enough oxygen.

" Sakura," called Minato, but Sakura was so lost in thought that it caused her to jump. She looked at him, after the swirls disappeared and her blush lessened, though it was still visible. Minato grinned " You sure know how to pick a movie."

Sakura's face now beat a tomato by a mile and she could do nothing, but try and hide it with her hands.

" Don't make fun of me." she mumbled in her hands, but knew he still heard her.

Minato walked over to her and gently pulled her hands away."Don't hide your cute face from me, Sakura." he spoke softly as he stared into her beautiful bright green eyes.

Sakura was staring into his deep blue eyes as well, nearly drowning in them, until someone called her and Minato's name.

"Sakura! What are you doing here?" came a loud female voice.

And when Sakura turned around she was a little surprised to see Kushina and some guy she was pulling along with her.

" Kushina, nice to see you." said Minato as he let go of one of Sakura's hands, but made sure he was still holding the other.

" You too, but it looks like I was interrupting something, huh?" she said with a raised eyebrow, towards Sakura, whose eyes widen and she quickly tried to come up with an excuse.

"Your wrong! We were just...just leaving the movies." she rushed out.

" Uh-huh, and doesn't leaving require moving, or have I been wrong for the past 20 years?" she asked sarcastically.

" S-shut up!" said Sakura as she looked away embarrassed, when Kushina grinned.

" Minato, been a long time." spoke the mysterious man after a minute.

" Sure has Roy, how have your missions been?" asked Minato with a smile.

" Fine, but with the war and all, I'm sent out more often, which sucks. I think you had the right idea in being a genin instructor first and ANBU opt second. " the man dubbed as Roy complained, to which Minato chuckled.

" Haha. I didn't leave ANBU for those reasons and you know it." he then paused and looked at Sakura before pulling her a bit forward." By the way this is Sakura, she has recently become a part of my team."

" Nice to meet you, I'm Hinamori Sakura." introduced Sakura as she stuck out her hand.

" Nice to meet you as well, Sakura-san, I'm Uzumaki Roy." he said shaking her hand.

"Uzumaki...?" Sakura questioned looking at Kushina.

"Ah, he's not related to me blood wise, when he was 11 and I was 8, his mother married into the clan. We were close friends for two years till I moved here , but we wrote each other every month. A year after... somethings happened, he moved here as well and we began hanging out again." she clarified, though a little bit akward near the end.

" Oh, that makes sense. But um, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked again.

" Oh, I almost forgot! We were going to see a movie that will be starting soon. Come on Roy, we gotta hurry. Bye, Sakura, Minato, have fun and Sakura, we should get together soon, dattebane!" shouted Kushina as she pulled Roy with her.

"Hahaha, Kushina is like her hair, a real wild fire." laughed Sakura as she turned to Minato.

" I can't argue with that." mumbled Minato, as he tugged on her hand." Come on, we still have time before the main part of our date."

It was about 6;15 pm and the sun would be setting around 7;30 pm, so Minato had time to make sure they were in his special spot that he spent all morning and part of the afternoon preparing. So he and Sakura took a walk through the village, talking about anything and everything along the way.

"Minato, we've been walking for nearly an hour to this 'special place' of yours, when are we gonna get there?"

"Actually the walk was to kill time, but now we are almost there."

Sakura huffed, but kept silent. She wondered why they were going so deep into the forest on the other side of the village, but knew that Minato would not tell her just to mess with her.

"Here we are." said Minato breaking her out of her thoughts as he opened up a tall but thin bush.

Once Sakura was on the other side and could see properly, the sun was blocking her vision, she couldn't help bust gasp. The place was magnificent. There was a small water fall, that was about twice as tall as Sakura, so it was still hidden well by the very tall trees, that lead into a medium sized river with small waves, there was also a large cherry blossom tree, that was starting to bloom, beautiful flowers of many different colors surrounded by fresh green grass. But what shocked Sakura was the neatly made picnic as if on display that was under the great tree.

" Minato, did you set all this up?" she asked as she came closer and noticed the triangle sandwiches, chips, fried pickles, watermelon, and sparkling cider.

" Yes, it was the best I could do. Sorry if it's not what you had in mind for dinner, I'm not good with steak, fish, or anything fancy." said Minato coming up from behind her, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Sakura turned and wrapped her arms around Minato's neck. " How can I not be grateful for all this effort you put into this date." she said smiling at him honestly." And just so you know, this place beats some stuffy load restaurant any day."

" Well then, let's eat!" And with that they both removed their shoes and sat down on the blanket, which Sakura thought had a nice design, instead of it having a red and white plaid pattern, it had diamond shapes on it starting at blue on one end then changing to green at the other, with a white background. Something told Sakura, Minato had a thing for green and blue, however she decided to bring it up later and enjoy the food.

After a little while of peaceful silence Sakura asked something that had been bothering her." Ne, Minato?" She waited till he looked at her." Why did we need to kill time before we came here?"

Minato finished his drink then looked up into the sky for a minute." Cause I needed to time this just right and in about 30 seconds you'll see why, if you stare at the river."

Sakura gave him a questioning glace, but complied. After a few seconds Sakura's eyes widened when she saw not only the clear blue river, but also the waterfall change into a reddish-orange color. And it was not from the sun's reflection.

" H-how?"

Minato chuckled at her bewildered expression." I know amazing, right."

" Yeah." said Sakura with a smile.

" I found this place a year back by accident and it was around this time that I watched the water change colors. I was so shocked at first, however when I saw it change from reddish-orange to purple when the moon came out, I knew I was not just seeing things."

" No way it turns purple as well! Are there any other colors?" Sakura questioned excitedly.

Minato laughed now, her expressions keep changing so fast that he can help, but be intrigued by her. In more ways than one. " Yes actually, it turns green with the first few hours of sunlight every morning."

" Really?! Oh Minato, can we stay so I can see it?"

" You mean stay out here all night?"

" Well, yeah, I would be more than willing to stay out here all night, if it meant staying with...you." she said looking at him through her bangs shyly.

Minato paused for a minute to make sure he heard right. Sakura, one of the most stubborn person he has ever met, just said that she liked being with him and would stay out in the cold night just to be with him. He grinned and pulled her onto his lap, with her leaning against his right arm.

" Well then, I guess we should get close and comfortable to keep warm throughout the night."

Sakura's blushed and she quickly sat up off of his lap." I-it's sill early and I want to put my feet in the water." she said trying to get up, however Minato grabbed her wrist.

" You know, you've been blushing a lot today."

" No I haven't! Now, let go!"

" Could it be that, this is your first date?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

" Well sorry, if I'm new to everything. I was kinda busy with training, moving up in the ranks, missions, and ,oh yeah, a WAR!" she shouted, getting a bit defensive.

" Excuses, excuses, but I'll let it slide for now, Rosetta." spoke Minato as he let go of her and waved his hand as if to dismiss her.

*sigh*" Whatever, I should just save my breath with you, huh sunshine?" she questioned grinning back at him.

" Yep! You - you did not just call me sunshine." he said all chipperness gone.

" And what if I did, sunshine, you gonna smother me with happiness and positive thinking?" teased Sakura as she stood up.

" No~. I'm gonna pin you to the ground and force you to call me what I really am." said Minato as he folded his pant legs to his knees already knowing where this is going.

"And what would that be?" questioned Sakura as she took off her jacket and moved back slowly.

"Adonis in the flesh."

Sakura snorted." More like Medusa's yellow-haired twin brother." and took off.

" Oh no you don't!" and Minato gave chase into the river, where they splashed at each other and laughed whole heartedly.

After a while of splashing around, they both went back to the blanket. Minato laid down first and pulled Sakura so that she was on top, with her head resting on his chest and his arms wrapped around her waist. They both looked back at the river in time to see the water change to purple. And the crescent moon made it look all the more beautiful.

" Though I've never been on a official date before, I would have to say this has been one of the best I've ever heard of."

" It's not the best yet." spoke Minato as he cupped her face and made her look at him. She slowly her eyes closed. Minato quickly closed the gap between them.

Their lips molded against each other practically perfectly and that familiar warmth from last night was present again, but this time stronger. It was a slow and soft kiss, with just their lips against each others, but both thought it was perfect.

" Now it's the best." declared Minato.

Sakura giggled and agreed with him. They spent the whole night talking, joking, and bickering good naturedly, until the early morning, when the river changed. Sakura was ecstatic to see the water change, but soon after, sleepiness caught up with the both of them and they fell asleep. Bright and early, fully content in each others arms.

It has been three weeks since the date and true to Sakura's words, Minato didn't see her as often. She was rarely home before dinner, from working long hours in the hospital and teaching Rin. With Jiraiya, back and informed about Sakura, they are making plans on how to proceed. Which is why, they have been trying to devise a plan to take out Honzo and create a secret treaty between the two villages, so than when the time is right they can join forces when necessary. Sakura has not told them about everything she knew, however she did tell them that when the Ame Orphans created a movement in the next year, they will have to deal with Honzo, who will try and kill them no matter what, even through means of a false peace treaty.

This was one of the things her Shishou explained to her, before she came here. She learned a lot about Konoha's history with the nations and past conflict, conferences, ect. Her Shishou discovered, that Donzo and Honzo worked together in order to trick the Ame kids and get close enough, to where he forced Nagato to kill their leader, Yahiko. And she knew that just like Kakashi, Nagato would change drastically and not for the better if that happened, so she needed to keep all three of them alive.

Sakura, also met with Kakashi's 'eternal rival' and his team. It was a strange experience seeing Gai, Kurenai, and especially Asuma, seeing as he was long dead in her time. When both teams had time, they would be training with each other. Which helped both teams work together better and push themselves harder in order to beat their opponents. Sakura always thought a little rivalry never hurt anyone. It worked for her and Ino in getting Sakura out of her shy phase, Rock Lee and Neji, and of course Sasuke and Naruto. Though the latter did take it a bit too far. Sakura has also been teaching a bit of medical ninjutsu to Kurenai, when she is teaching Rin. A little medical knowledge never hurt anyone and because Kurenai and Rin needed to spend more time with girls instead of their male teammates. And when they did spend time together, Sakura could tell that Kurenai already had a crush on Asuma.

She works in the hospital almost everyday and lately the Hokage has been discussing making her head medic for her outstanding performance. But Sakura would like to remain as a regular doctor, so that she can still teach Rin and Kurenai and continue in her own research. In her free time she has been working on finding out how to seal Kurama into a host, without killing the sealer. And along the way discovered multiple seals that can be useful in battle. She has asked Kushina to accompany her in her research on several occasions, but never revealed to her about the nine-tails seal research. Kushina has been a great help in understanding and learning a few and they have grown closer each time they meet.

Today, she was going to be watching both teams, instead of researching. And today was the first time in nearly three weeks she would see Minato for more than an hour or so. Though she knew that at night, when she comes stumbling into the living room and passes out on the couch often, that it is Minato, who is kind enough to put a blanket on her and sometimes even make breakfast for her. She really appreciates it and him,however every now and then she thinks of her blonde, her friends, and her past home. Kurama is there to console her telling her that even though things will never be the same between her and her unborn friends, that at least she will be able to watch them live happy lives, with all, most, or just some of their family.

Once she arrived she saw both teams huddled together at opposite ends of the field, no doubt discussing how they were going to beat the other team. She also saw Jiraiya talking with Minato near a tree on the other side of the clearing. They were so engrossed in their conversation, that they didn't see or hear her move and take a seat under the tree. And so when they finished talking and sat down, they nearly jumped out of their skin, at seeing Sakura right there.

"Well isn't that a warm welcoming." teased Sakura dryly.

" When did you get here?" asked Jiraiya as he tried to calm his racing heart

" And how much did you here?" questioned Minato.

" Relax ladies, I just got here, so sadly I didn't hear the latest gossip." she answered.

" Hey!" shouted Jiraiya, while Minato twitched.

" Hey~" replied Sakura as if she were talking to her best girl friend.

" No not "hey~", I mean hey!"

" Hey is for horses, good sir." Sakura scolded playfully.

" I just can't win." pouted Jiraiya, while Minato patted his back.

" You never can with women." he spoke wisely, just as Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma's sensei, Jin, came.

" You guys, it looks like both teams are ready to start." said Sakura gaining their attention.

Jiraiya stood and moved forward a bit, while raising his hand." And...BEGIN!" he shouted and both teams jumped back.

Kurenai, immediately sent shuriken at team seven, who all did their best to dodge, but Rin and Obito got a few cuts here and there. Next Rin sent a genjutsu to the team. Asuma and Kurenai broke it quickly, but Gai was still stuck in it and that's when Kakashi charged for him. Asuma seeing what he was doing quickly did some hands signs and called out, wind style; wind razor jutsu! The wind was cutting up any and everything in it's path, Kakashi was forced to jump out of the way and by that time Kurenai broke Gai free of the genjutsu.

Obito stepped up and shouted, while finishing his hand signs fire style; fireball jutsu! and created a huge fireball that went flying towards the three, who moved out of the way. But team seven used that as a distraction, because Rin began throwing kunai and shuriken at Kurenai, Obito was in a taijutsu spar with Gai, and Kakashi pulled out his tanto and started striking Asuma.

However, team seven didn't have the upper hand for long. Kurenai cast a strong genjutsu around Rin, then pulled out some rope and tied her up swiftly. Obito, was quickly overwhelmed by Gai's fast and swift strikes, soon he was battered and bruised, to where he couldn't stand straight. Gai sent two kunai at him, that pinned him to a tree. Kakashi was about to strike a finishing blow on Asuma, when Gai came at him, forcing Kakashi to dodge. He was able to hold off the three for a while, blocking punches and kicks, avoiding jutsus and weapons, and quickly dispelling any genjutsu. However, without his team and three ninjas focused on him, he could not rest or plan, so Minato stopped the match.

"It's over." he spoke calmly.

Kakashi and Obito cursed, while Rin sighed as they were all released.

Jin began clapping slowly." Well that was better than I expected. Team Minato was able to work together a bit more and caught my team off guard here and there, that's an improvement. Now come on team, let's celebrate, then get back to training for a little while longer." he said patting the kids on their head and ushering them out of the clearing.

" I just don't get it! We were more prepared, than we've ever been and caught them off guard, but they still managed to beat us!" shouted an angered Obito.

" It can't be helped Obito, they have been training with teamwork and battle strategies longer than we have, so of course they will beat us." spoke Rin as she healed Obito, though she was a bit upset too.

" You guys really don't see what your problem is?" asked Sakura. But when she was met with confused gazes, besides Minato she sighed." It doesn't matter how much longer they have been training together, right now. What matters is how you find their weak spots and use them to your advantage." she paused for a moment then continued." Rin did you notice how Gai needed more assistance to break your genjutsu than the others." she received a nod." That means that, if you caught him off guard, you could trap him in one and Kakashi could take him down. Obito, you could take out Kurenai, with your fire techniques, because with your sharingan activated it would be easy for you to dispel her genjutsu." she watched as a look of realization passed through both kids eyes." And Kakashi, your opponent is a bit tough, however if you can distract him long enough and pin him down with your speed. Don't give you enemy time to execute a jutsu and try using different weapons to save your tanto for last." Kakashi had a thoughtful look.

"Sakura is right you guys. Though you are getting better at teamwork and strategizing, it will all be a wast if you put yourselves against people, who you automatically have disadvantages of. When you used Obito's attack as a distraction that was good, but after a minute, elemental nature took it's course and caused you all to lose." explained Minato.

" You guys are going to have a better chance next Saturday, because this week, your getting into your elemental groups and will be learning ninjutsu every Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you will have a few days to practice and you now have figured out what you need to work on with your plans." encouraged Sakura.

Team Seven grinned up at their teachers.

" Well what are we waiting for, Christmas? Let's start some speed and stamina training, while we still have the rest of the day!" shouted a pumped up Obito. Rin jumped up and nodded her head in agreement and Kakashi "hn'ed" and got into a ready position.

" Alright team I want you to do as many laps as you can around Konoha and when you can barely take another step, then return here. After you catch your breath, you will begin taijutsu training with me or Sakura." commanded Minato.

" Hai!" they all shouted as they took off.

Sakura smiled at Minato." I think they will grow up to be even greater ninjas than they were in my time."

Minato nodded his head in agreement. Then grabbed Sakura and pulled her to the ground with him and made her sit on his lap, while he held her tight. "I've missed you, Rosetta." he said into the crook of her neck, as he breathed in her scent of jasmine and honey.

Sakura blushed. " I've missed you too. And thank you for putting a blanket over me every night I was home passed out on the couch and for cooking breakfast." she thanked burying her face in his golden locks, which interestingly enough smelled like fresh pine and mist.

Minato tilted his head up to look at her." Anytime. You work yourself so hard with the hospital, training Rin and now Kurenai, trying to form a truce between our village and Ame, and still planing ahead for the future. The least I can do is be there to support you as much as I can, so if you ever need help do not hesitate to ask me, cause I'm here for you, Rosetta."

" And as long as I know I'm not in this alone, I will be able to carry on. Thank you, Minato."

He leaned forward, about to kiss her when -

" Hey! Are we running just so you two can have private make-out time?!" yelled a sweaty Obito.

Kakashi ran by and just made a face of disgust, then continued.

Minato and Sakura were trying to catch their own breaths and once they did, they looked at each other, then back at Obito and commanded in unison. "Keep running Obito!"

"Come on." spoke Rin exasperated as she dragged a grumbling Obito with her.

" You have got to fix your teams 'perfect timing' problem." sighed Sakura, as she turned around , so that her back was flushed against Minato's chest.

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, while kissing her neck, as they both watched the clouds.

But they chuckled when they heard.

"Hey Kakashi-teme! How did you get in front of me!?"

" Because your slow."

" What did you say?! - Ow!"

" Keep running kono baka!"

" Rin-chan~"

" And a little stealth never hurt anyone either." added Sakura.

"I couldn't agree more."

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Had some free time and thought I would update.

Thx for reading!