Chapter 6:

After Sakura shooed them away, Naruto and Sasuke ventured to the west port to find their ship. Neither were very happy about leaving Sakura with Ren, but they didn't want to risk disobeying her. She wouldn't let them get away with defying her authority as team leader or any time for that fact.

They found their ship which would drop them off on the edge of Fire country. They would board in thirty minutes, so Sakura would need to hurry.

Sasuke's mind was swimming. Why did Ren have to talk to Sakura alone? Technically, they were in a crowd and his guard was present. It just irked Sasuke that Ren went out of his way to talk to Sakura when he and Naruto had left. Why couldn't he say what he needed to say with Team 7 present? He wasn't going to propose to her or something, right? Royals didn't do that in this day and age anymore. That was so two decades ago.

"Hey teme, I think this is the ship. Why don't you go get Sakura-chan? It's dark and crowded, so she might have trouble finding it," his best friend suggested which successfully interrupted his unsettling train of thought.

"Fine. Don't board until Sakura and I come back," the raven-haired nin replied.

He strode towards the east port where they left Sakura with Ren. He weaved through crowded streets filled with kiosks, food stands, and people. The capital of the Land of Spring had become quite a bustling and populated city since Team 7 had last seen it.

Sasuke spotted Sakura from across the street walking away from Ren and his guard. Her head hung low as if she were upset. Sasuke immediately assumed that Ren was the cause of her strife and became angered.

He crossed the street and approached her. She kept her head down, so she didn't see her teammate. She kept walking and walked straight into Sasuke's chest. Startled, she put her hands in front of her and looked up.

She gasped and blushed as she realized that she had her hands on Sasuke's chest. She immediately removed her hands from her chest and stepped back a foot.

" Sasuke-kun! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you," she apologized.

" It's alright, but you should be more careful and watch where you're going," he said with an emotionless face. If he was honest, he hadn't minded her hands on his chest or her close presence.

" You're right," she sighed. Great, she had embarrassed herself in front of Sasuke. He probably thought that she was feeling him up. It's not like she had a shot with him to begin with, but now her chances were surely ruined. Sasuke hated to be touched.

"So, what are you doing here?" the pretty pinkette asked.

" Escorting you to the ship."

" I'm perfectly capable of walking myself to the ship Sasuke-kun," she commented with a hint of annoyance. Her teammates treated her like she wasn't a sannin-level ninja who could level mountains. She could take a civilian and most ninja if she was attacked.

Astutely noticing her annoyance, the dark haired nin offered a simple explanation.

" Dobe suggested that I do so since the ship was difficult to find, and we only have a short time to board."

" Oh," she replied as her annoyance quickly disappeared. Her teammates were being considerate of her and the mission. They didn't want her to waste any time trying to locate the boat or risk her missing the departure.

"Let's get going," she proposed.

The pair strolled down the dimly lit streets and took a few detours to avoid the especially crowded areas of the town. It was brisk and silent walk, but Sakura could feel Sasuke's eyes on her, and she instantly felt exposed.

" Is something wrong Sasuke-kun?" she asked as she looked up at him.

A few moments of silence passed as Sasuke debated whether to ask her about what Ren spoke to her about. He wanted to know if Ren upset her.

" You looked upset before I ran into you. Did Ren say something to upset you?" he responded without his face betraying his nagging curiosity.

" No, not at all! He just wanted to personally thank me for escorting him. Probably since I'm the team leader. I'm just a little tired of all of this constant traveling," she explained.

" Were you worried about me?" she teased with an impish grin.

Sasuke scowled and crossed his arms. He refused to answer her silly question. Of course, he was worried about her. However, he had too much pride to say so.

" Keep it up and I might think that you care about me," she added in a joking manner.

She had to know that he cared about her well-being, but it didn't stop her from trying to pry it out of him. He did not want her to get kidnapped or injured as she was one of his precious people. He and Naruto would also have to answer to Tsunade. She'd probably take them off the mission roster for a week or two and then give him and Naruto a sparring lesson to show them the value of looking out for their teammates.

A few moments later, the pair arrived at the port and easily spotted their hyperactive blond teammate.

Naruto jumped up and down in excitement as his friends approached him. The reunited group boarded the ship and went to straight to their room to catch some shut eye. For early in the morning, they would get dropped off at a small town on the edge of Fire country and spend the day traveling by foot to Konoha. All of them had duties, missions, and meetings waiting for them at home; thus, it was imperative that they return to their village as soon as possible.

Sasuke was relieved to be going home as he was not fond of watching Ren practically throw himself at Sakura. He was also still a little suspicious about his conversation with Sakura. He still believed that Ren did something to upset her. Reminding himself that the chances of him seeing the royal were remotely low, he tried to fall asleep and forget about the whole mission.

Another member of Team 7 was also having a hard time falling asleep. Sakura laid awake in her bed as she struggled to sleep. Her eyes darted around the dark room as she contemplated her circumstances. She was trying to decipher her feelings and figure out what she should do about them. She tried to approach the situation objectively and not get swept up in her feelings and act rashly.

There was a handsome, somewhat arrogant, but thoughtful royal interested in her. He had extended an open invitation to visit, but she was hesitant to accept. Common sense told her to give the attractive and rich man a chance, but her heart wasn't so sure. Initially, she thought that she might have romantic feelings for him, but she determined that she only liked the attention. It wasn't every day that an attractive and wealthy man like Ren flirted with her. Having that type of attention from that type of guy was a bit of a confidence booster.

While she was flattered by Ren's amorous interest, she only had feelings for Sasuke. Sasuke was always there for her. He was the first to jump in front of a spray of shuriken for her. He never missed a birthday or holiday. He always checked on her after an especially taxing mission and brought her his mother's home cooked food in order to make sure that she was eating well.

He was loyal and devoted not just to Sakura, but to those close to him. When he saw his older relatives struggling to carry their groceries, he carried them. He was one of the biggest supporters of Itachi and Izumi's relationship. As for his parents, he made sure to support them in any way possible. For example, he volunteered to step in as head of the police station so his parents could go on a honeymoon for their 30th anniversary. All around, Sasuke was a family man, and Sakura admired that very much.

He also cared deeply for his teammates. He never questioned their abilities and trusted them with his life. Teasing Naruto about being dead last didn't count. He put up with Sai's lack of social grace. He respected Kakashi despite his constant tardiness. He was a loyal best friend to Naruto and practically adopted him into his family as Naruto was invited to practically every Uchiha gathering.

Sakura's predicament was clear now. She was in love with Sasuke, and no amount of flirting from a rich handsome man would change that. How unfortunate. At 20 years of age, she was still hopelessly and completely in love with her childhood crush. Worst of all, he couldn't return her feelings.

Her apathetic teammate wasn't called the 'Ice Prince of Konoha' for nothing. In all of the 16 years that she had known him, she had never seen nor saw him show any romantic interest in a female. A few years ago, Naruto and she had debated whether Sasuke was gay, but Sasuke's disdain for a male charge's flirting towards him cleared that right up. Team 7 had been tasked with escorting an affluent banker to a resort in the Land of Tea. Their client had made several passes at Sasuke, and he got so mad that Kakashi had to restrain him from burning the client to a crisp.

Perhaps he was asexual, but he got when Sai had asked him about it and denied it. For all of Sasuke's talents, he was not a good liar in social situations. He could be extremely suave and convincing undercover, but he was never good at lying to his friends or family. Sakura counted his honestly as one of his great qualities. Too many men she had met lied to her about their intentions, status, and/or age all in order to get in her pants. Honesty is the best policy.

After mulling over her unrequited love, Sakura felt her eyelids grow tired and she drifted off to sleep.

X

A loud voice boomed throughout the ship annoying that the ship would be docking in Fire country in approximately half an hour.

Sakura and Sasuke rose and got straight to packing up. Naruto slept like the dead, so it took Sakura shaking him for five minutes to rouse him. He whined a bit, but he got ready for the next leg of the journey.

Later, the intercom came on and declared that the ship had docked and those getting off for Fire country had 10 minutes to do so. Team 7 gathered their belongings and exited the ship. They entered a nearby forest and leapt through the sea of trees as they began their journey home. Trying to not attract any unwanted attention the ninja traveled in silence. A few hours had passed, and Naruto was getting hungry and restless.

It also didn't help that he had not made the progress he anticipated to make during the mission on his personal endeavor. Sure, Sasuke had gotten pissed when Ren kept hitting on Sakura. However, it translated into a violent reaction instead of the ' must-claim-my-woman' reaction that Naruto had been hoping for. Sasuke had become briefly flustered around Sakura and had started noticing her feminine physique, but he had made no attempt to pursue Sakura romantically. Naruto only had a few weeks left until the bet was over, and he felt that he wasn't making enough progress. He was going to be a chunin forever and have to do D-rank missions for a month if he didn't get his shit together.

" So how long until we're in Konoha?" Naruto asked as he yawned.

"If we continue at this speed and don't stop, we should arrive at Konoha an hour before dinnertime. We've been making great time," his pink haired teammate answered.

Due to the constant traveling and early mornings, the blond was exhausted. He didn't think he could make the journey home without stopping somewhere for a meal and some rest. Suddenly, he remembered that there was a small inn about three hours South of Konoha. It contained a hot spring and served food to its customers. He knew of the inn from his travels with Jiraiya.

One time, the pair had visited the hot springs on the way back from training. Naruto's sensei wished to gather some more research for his erotic series whilst at the hot springs. He had been sorely disappointed when he realized that the hot springs were all but empty, so they had never returned. Right now, a quiet hot springs seemed ideal to the fatigued blond.

" Sakura-chan, can we stop at a hot spring? It's pretty empty and three hours south of the village," he requested.

Sakura pondered his question. A nice hot bath seemed quite appealing as they hadn't bathed since their stop in Oparu two days ago. They were ahead of schedule, so it wouldn't cause them to get home late.

"I don't mind stopping. Is that alright with you Sasuke-kun?"

"Sure. Dobe hasn't bathed in a few days, and he's starting to smell," he commented.

Sakura laughed nervously and hoped that Naruto would let the comment slide.

" Shut up teme! I could say the same about you!" he fired back.

" Tch. I don't smell. I'm much more hygienic than you," the ebony haired man snarled.

Sakura sighed and promptly told her boys to shut it, at least until they got to the hot springs. There was some moaning and groaning from Naruto and glaring from Sasuke, but they kept quiet.

Being extremely reactive to his best friend's baiting, Naruto was plotting a way to get back at him for being a rude asshole. A terribly wicked but smart idea came to the knucklehead. He had to stop himself from grinning at the pure genius of the plan lest he give himself away. If his idea went according to plan, he could get back at Sasuke and push his friends together. He couldn't wait until to get to the hot springs.