Word: Apple-polish |AP-ul-pah-lish| verb

Meaning: to attempt to ingrate oneself: toady; to curry favor with (as by flattery)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

~Naruto~

The only time Naruto heard the term apple-polish was when Sakura was complaining about having to help Tsunade with the political aspects of the Hokage job, specifically dealing with the old bats known as the village elders. He had looked at her with such a confused expression that she had stopped her rant midway through and asked what was wrong. He assured her that everything was fine and that he was just confused by the term. She plopped down next to him with a sigh.

"Remember how I was in the Academy?" she asked. "I was consistently getting the highest marks for everything, as long as it was book work. Always knowing the answers the teachers were looking for, always volunteering for the menial tasks the teachers would sometimes need one of us to run… Placing a polished apple on the teacher's desk, apple-polish." She sighed again. "Basically, Naruto, a suck up, and the village elders expect everyone to roll over and not question their judgment. I'm not saying their judgment is wrong, I just am getting annoyed with that arrogant air they have about them."

"Like Kiba arrogant, or Sasuke arrogant?"

"It's leaning more towards Sasuke arrogant with the sneers they have." She said thoughtfully as she pushed herself up to stretch. "It is the basic premise of a politician: who can you suck up to now to get ahead later." She looked over at him, sizing him up. "You sure you can handle being Hokage when you have to deal with people-pleasers and annoying Village elders who nag about things? Not to mention all that paperwork..." She gave him an impish grin as she pulled him up into a standing position and gave him a pat on the back.

"I can handle it, dattebayo!" He said loudly as she jumped away to start their spar.

"Glad to hear it!" she hollered back. "Make sure you are firm in your standings or people will walk all over you. There will be people who try to take advantage of you; they come out of the woodwork when shit starts hitting the fan. I've seen many people try to get to Tsunade-shishou, and it doesn't work out in their end."

"Any other advice for me, Politician-chan?" He teased before ducking under her fist that shattered the tree behind him. Her eyes were narrowed into slits glaring daggers at him.

"Yeah, many mind games are played in politics; we need to get you to see when these games are being played and how to counteract them." She dodged the blow and strategically got closer, to the point that her face was nearly touching his, only a hair's breathe away. His eyes widened, then a slight smirk spread on his lips.

"Sakura, are you flirting with me?"

"I'm showing you how close they can get," She whispered in his ear, "sometimes even closer."

"You almost kissed me." She jumped back a bit.

"Some people have no morals when it comes to getting what they want. The will stoop to such means as seduction." Naruto looked aghast.

"That won't work on me, Sakura-chan. I only have eyes for one girl and that is you."

Sakura chuckled, "Apple-polish will get you nowhere, Naruto."

~Naruto~

Thanks for reading. I'm glad to get this one up earlier than the one yesterday, and I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed trying to write it. They do pick some really interesting words, some of them are hard to get an idea of what to write about. Anyway.

Have an amazing day,

Silently Fleeting