A large vein in Sakura's forehead pulsed as she stared at the Hokage. "Tsunade! You can't be serious! You want that, that, guy, to live with me, you have no right!"

Tsunade noted the small blush on Sakura's face. One that she was sure even Sakura didn't notice. "He needs a place to live, and I need someone to keep an eye on him. Seems like a good match to me." She went back to shifting through the piles of paperwork.

"But, you're forcing me to live with him! He's probably in my house sniffing my panties right now!"

Tsunade looked skeptical. "Please, aren't you being a bit melodramatic. I mean, come on, just cause he's a guy doesn't mean he's a pervert."

AIYAH I just want to punch her face in. "But it isn't right. We're talking a total invasion of my privacy. Let Lee take him, he seems to be plenty buddy-buddy with him."

"Exactly. You and Lee are the only two in the village who I could trust to be able to take him out. I may not look like it, but I'm getting older, slower. I couldn't handle it. Lee's a good man and an excellent Shinobi, but he counts this man as his friend. I need someone who will have no problem taking him out if he goes against us."

"Do you expect him to?" Sakura looked deep into Tsunade's eyes as the Hokage shook her head. "Then why?"

"Because I may be wrong, and my first duty to this village is to protect it. As Hokage I am assigning this mission to you. You are to keep track of him at all times. If I send him to do something, you go with him. If you're needed in the hospital, he'll be there with you. That's the way it's going to work for the next six months. Now, if there's nothing else, go!"

Sakura stalked out of the office and back towards her home.

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Sakura's Apartment.

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She opened the door and peeked inside. The darkness of the room shocked her. She slowly scanned the corners for any sign of her unwanted guess. It was then her ears picked up the distinct sound of water hitting vinyl. She moved towards the bathroom and opened the door.

Her eyes scanned the room and found his clothing piled in one corner. He stood in the shower with his back to her. She could see only half of him thanks to the pink curtain that obscured her view of his right side. What she did see caused her to blush as her eyes traveled down his well cut physique and saw the lines of what looked to be a massive tattoo on the center of his back.

She licked her lips. Whoah, maybe Tsunade did me a favor.

"So do you like what you see, or do you make it a habit of standing in the doorway of the bathroom?"

Sakura turned a red so bright that it complimented her hair nicely. "Uhhh"

He reached over and turned off the shower. "If you're gonna stand there you could at least throw me a towel."

She blinked heavily and grabbed the towel from the cabinet next to her, threw it at the shower and slammed the door. She quickly retreated to the kitchen and started fixing herself a TV dinner.

He emerged from the bathroom fully dressed with his sword back in it's customary place. Sakura thought about that. I didn't see that in the bathroom, where was it? She shook her head.

"I see you've made yourself at home."

He nodded. "And I'm just as sure you'd prefer I didn't go around smelling like stale sweat and sitting on your furniture."

She looked up at that. "So the only reason you took a shower was so you didn't offend me?"

He snorted. "Yeah right. Despite what you seem to think, I do have a sense of hygiene. Keeping you from screaming about it is just a bonus." He looked at her dinner and snorted before going over to the fridge and pulling some ham from the day before some carrots and pulled a few potatoes from a bag in the corner. He took a second of looking in cabinets and drawers to pull out all the things he needed. The microwave started to beep while he filled a pot with water and started chopping vegetables.

She stared in wonder at the fact he was actually preparing a meal, and from leftovers of all things. "Well what do you know, he knows his way around a kitchen."

"When you're on your own in the woods you learn. It's just soup, but it's a damned sight better than what you're making."

The two continued with banter for awhile longer until Sakura went into the small living room and flipped on the TV.

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ten minutes later

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He dropped himself down onto a chair off to the side and stared at her. The bowl of soup in his hands steamed and gave off a curious though pleasant aroma. Sakura's mouth watered as she watched him slowly sip at the soup he'd made.

She didn't notice hi eyeing her.

"If you want a bowl there's plenty. All you gotta do is go and grab some."

She sneered. "You think I don't know that! Hell, it was made from my food."

He shook his head. "Geez you're defensive. Just trying to be nice. I'm gonna be here for awhile." He thought for a bit. "In fact, now that I think about it, I think it's time for a change in the wardrobe. And it might as well be here. Tomorrow we're going shopping."

Sakura stared at her brazen roommate. "And what makes you think I'm going anywhere with you?"

He got up and went to deposit his bowl next to the sink. "Simple, the Hokage told you to."

He walked out and turned towards the guest bedroom.

Sakura gritted her teeth. He is so asking to die.

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The next morning.

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He turned around to the girl who stared at the number of items he'd bought. Most of it was grocery related. Like he was planning a feast though there were a couple of small clothing purchases. He turned and headed into a far different store.

He went straight to the counter. "Hey, you do customs?"

The man looked him over with an appraising eye. "Yeah, what do you need?"

"Armor, it needs to fit over my head and shoulders. It needs to have a section that comes up around here." He indicated an area just under his nose and just above his collar. "Shoulder pads like what i'm wearing and that's it. Think you can do it?"

"Don't see why not, but it won't be much armor if you do that."

"It's what I need."

The man nodded. "Okay then. It'll be done in a week. Does that work?"

Naruto shook his head. "Longer than I'd like, but I guess that's the way the world works. That'll be fine."

Naruto walked out of the store and stared at Sakura who was holding a bag of groceries. "Well, let's go drop this stuff off. I'm sure you've got things to do."

With that he walked off in the direction of her apartment with Sakura hurrying behind.