You know what? I like this chapter and I want you to have it too:) Enjoy! Note: The Sakura song is a lil' Japanese lullaby, you can listen to it on the grooveshark playlist- it's the song all the way at the end called Sakura, Sakura (I have two versions there!).

Have a happy fun time!

Chapter Nine

Sighing and Smiling

And the color, the overcast blue
Of the air, in which the blue guitar

Is a form, described but difficult,
And I am merely a shadow hunched

Above the arrowy, still string,
The maker of a thing yet to be made;

The color like a thought that grows
Out of a mood, the tragic robe

Of the actor, half his gesture, half
His speech, the dress of his meaning, silk

Sodden with his melancholy words,
The weather of his stage, himself.

The Blue Guitar, Stanza IX

Sakura tugged on a decent outfit and toweled her hair dry. Thankfully, the night was warm, and she packed a swimsuit in the hopes that the Hyuga gardens had a nice lake. Or better yet, a hot tub? A girl could dream, couldn't she?

She peeked out the window, but Naruto hadn't arrived yet, so she sat on her couch and took a long drink from her canteen. Her good mood faded after she looked around at the pile of boxes that littered her apartment floor, all that was left of her parents. That, and her memory. A thin tear carved a path down her cheek and landed on her pink skirt. Just two more casualties of war...Sakura tried to stay positive, to think about all of her friends who had survived, but...

Sakura brushed away her tears, refusing to give over to sadness on a perfectly wonderful Friday night. She walked over to the giant mound of stuff and whispered, "I really need to go through all this...but maybe I can at least organize it a little bit." Sakura started staking the boxes more neatly so that the corners did not chaotically jut out into her living room, threatening to impale passersby. After a few minutes, she had a few somewhat organized stacks of junk that were more out of the way. What's this...? Sakura slid out a larger box that had been hidden in back of the pile of crap. "Oh, no way! Awesome!" Feeling like it was her birthday, she tore open the lid and found-

"What's that, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura jumped 3 feet high. "For goodness sake, did you fucking hiraishin to the middle of my living room? You know, most civilized people knock on the front door..."

Naruto grinned. "Sorry, I was late...I thought you'd be more mad at being late? Heehee, but seriously, what is that?"

Sakura clapped her hands, "Yes Naruto, and you're lucky you didn't startle me into dropping this!" She opened the case and blew off a thick layer of dust. "This, was my dad's guitar!"

"Whoah, so cool. I didn't know he played...and plus, it's blue. I've never seen a blue guitar before..."

"It's better than cool, it's a custom-made guitar that came all the way from the Water country. You know, music was really big over there before the Akatsuki ruined everything. Let's see if I remember how to play any chords..."

Sakura stuck out her tongue between her lips in concentration, put her fingers in what she thought might be a probably chord constellation, and strummed.

"Wow...sounds...great..."

Sakura snorted in disgust. "You're a terrible lier, you know that?" She gingerly laid the precious relic in the case and snapped it shut. "I'll bring this with, I'm sure after I tune the damn thing, it will play beautifully."

"Alright! You want to hiraishin over there?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and began counting on her fingers- "One. Not funny. Two. You don't have a kunai placed over in the Hyuga gardens. Three. Don't make jokes at my expense involving that stomach-defying mode of travel. Four. Let's go."

"W-W-Welcome!" Hinata stuttered as they entered the unlocked Hyuga gates.

"Thanks so much Hinata-chan! You know, I'm hoping there's a lake or something we can swimming in, maybe even a hot tub?" Sakura asked excitedly.

"W-Well, the hot tub is broken, but there is an excellent lake for swimming-"

Sakura gave the shy girl a hug. "My hero."

"Thanks for having us, Hinata-chan. I could sure the break." Naruto smiled.

Hinata hoped the night covered the deepening hue of her blush. "S-S-Sure, Naruto-kun, a-a-any t-t-time!"

The full moon was just rising in the evening sky as the three made their way over the expansive Hyuga property. Sakura breathed, "Wow Hinata, I never knew the gardens here were so beautiful!" Hinata nodded, "You should come back in May when the roses are all in bloom. Everything is just starting to sprout right now..."

Finally they arrived at the lake, its mirror-like surface studded with lilly pads.

"Naruto-kun, close your eyes. If you peak, you're a dead man." Sakura stated.

"Eeep. Yes'm." Naruto did as he was told.

Hinata giggled. "You shouldn't boss Hokage-sama around like that, Sakura-chan."

Sakura snorted as she changed into her bathing suit, "It's important that Naruto retain his humility. I'm essential in keeping a lid on annoying behavior."

"Aw, unfair Sakura-"

"Did I say you could talk, baka?"

"Eeep."

Hinata giggled again. Sakura crept closer and whispered something in Hinata's ear. Hinata looked horrified, but finally acquiesced to Sakura's extremely adorable puppy-eyes. The two kunoichi snuck up on their prey-

"Now!" Sakura yelled.

"Huh?" A dazed Naruto yelped.

A minute later he was in the lake, completely soaked. "You too, Hinata-chan? Arg!" He flipped over onto his back dramatically and sank down in the lake, blowing bubbles up through the water. He emerged a moment later to find both girls laughing hysterically on the ground. "You girls want to play dirty? I can play dirty!" Grinning a very fox-like grin, Naruto stripped down to his swim trunks and hung his soggy clothes on a nearby tree. "Shadow clone jutsu!"

A moment later the two kunoichi were unceremoniously thrown into the pond, and a triumphant Naruto shouted, "You guys might want to stop laughing like lunatics and start trying to breathe, before you drown!" Shaking his head, he jumped back into the pond, and began splashing his comrades mercilessly.

"Oh, stop- haha-, I'm dying, whaaaa!" Sakura yelped, desperately trying to breathe despite all the water being splashed in her face. Suddenly, a giant wave of water pushed up by her side and smashed directly into Naruto-

"Mrphblish!" Which in I'm-being-smothered-in-water-talk, means "Fuck!"

"Truce?" Hinata asked sweetly, holding out her hand to Naruto.

"That wave- was you, Hinata-chan? I didn't know you were a water type..." He shook her hand.

"Fooled ya." Hinata smiled and with her free hand, dunked the Hokage under water.

Sakura whooped while Hinata and Naruto wrestled each other in the water, "Go Hinata! Kick his butt! Cha! Cha!"

Naruto was no match for Hinata's water style- she expertly manipulated tendrils of water as extensions of her own chakra, and soon she had him completely tangled in her watery web. "I win!" She said simply, as she let the jutsu fade, dumping Naruto back into the water.

"Oi, that was cool Hinata! I've never seen you do anything like that before." Hinata blushed deep crimson, her shyness catching back up to her. She had been a lot more confident after the war had ended- after all, she had been awarded a metal of excellence for her service- but old habits die hard. Or perhaps the blush was in response to her thought, I'm pretty sure you have seen me do water style jutsu before...

Sakura came over and slapped Hinata high-five. "You've got to teach me that move sometime..."

Hinata smiled and dipped down into the water, gliding backwards into the pond. "Sure, but right now, let's just relax..." Hinata lazily gathered chakra, rose up to the surface of the water, and swan dived back in. She emerged a moment later a few feet away, and twirled through the water until she came back to where her friends were standing.

"You're like a little fish, Hinata-chan!" Naruto-called.

She blushed and replied, "Everyone says my astrological sign is Capricorn, but I checked out my moon sign and it's Pisces, which are the fishes."

"Cool!" Naruto smiled, even though he didn't understand a word she had just said.

Sakura's fingers were starting to get prune-y, so she gracefully exited the water and toweled herself dry. Let's see if I can get that guitar tuned... Sakura lovingly opened the guitar case and slowly began remembering the tuning trick her dad had taught her so many years ago. Right- for the second string, I hold down this fret...and then I have to go up a fret for the next string... After a few minutes, Sakura strummed all the strings. Well, it wasn't the best tuning in the world, but at least the guitar was in tune with itself! That was the first step. Now let's see if I can remember the chords to that lullaby...I think it was just 'D' and 'A'...How do you make those chords again? Sakura sighed. It seemed like all the brain cells that once held musical information were now full of medical ninjutsu, but she refused to give up. After a few moments of dissonant sounds and cursing, Sakura figured it out and began to sing:

"Sakura, Sakura,Cherry blossoms, April brings
Up against the clear blue sky
Mist-like petals gently sigh
Fill the air with signs of spring
Come with me, come with me
See the sweet blooming cherry trees."

"Hey, Sakura-chan, that was beautiful!" Naruto called from the pond.

Hinata drew herself out of the water and slipped on her robe. "I didn't know you could play guitar- it was a lovely song."

Sakura blushed. "It's an old lullaby my dad taught me a million years ago...I'm surprised I was even able to figure it out after all these years, but I finally realized the chords were all in the minor key, and from there it was pretty easy."

"Cool! Do you know any other songs?" Naruto gushed.

Sakura shook her head. "I can't remember any other ones...maybe when I get home, I'll see if I can find any of my dad's old music books! I think I only remembered that one because I played it so many times...my dad said this song was the reason my parents named me Sakura." She blushed slightly and carefully put the guitar away.

Suddenly eager to change the topic, Sakura laughed, "Hey guys, I totally forgot- I brought a few bottles of sa-ke with me!" She said the word "sake" in a bit of a sing-song voice, and proudly displayed 3 large bottles of wine.

Naruto chuckled, "You know, Kakashi-sensei is always on your case for drinking too much-"

"Shhh! It's Friday night! Enough of that!" Sakura groaned.

"S-S-Sakura-chan, you brought a whole bottle for each of us?" Hinata asked, horrified.

Sakura winked. "Doesn't hurt to be prepared now!"

After she got her friends good and drunk, she leaned back on the grass and gazed up at the stars, humming to herself.

"Hmmm, you seem like a happy drunk!" Hinata giggled.

"If you only knew- Sakura can be a really angry drunk too!"

"NARUTOOOO!"

Hinata burst out laughing. Sakura chuckled, "Looks like Hinata-chan is a giggly drunk."

"Hey girls, what kind of drunk am I?" Naruto asked, curious.

"A stupid drunk!" Sakura wailed.

"Hey!"

Hinata just kept giggling.

Nodding to herself, Sakura moved out from the middle of her two friends and went to go take a swim. Let's give them a little privacy, cha! As she slipped into the cold water and gazed up at the moon, she congratulated herself on a well executed plan to get her two friends together. But soon her smile changed to a grimace, and she felt something hallow and cold in her chest. Shaking her head, she dunked herself under the water and chased the unbidden feelings away again. I don't need anyone. I'm perfectly happy by myself, she lied. She extracted herself from the water and threw a towel around her middle and eyed her friends. They were both giggling like children, and she overhead Naruto say something puerile about how the stars looked like ramen or something. Baka, Sakura thought cheerfully, this is the first time I've seen him so happy in a long time.

"Oi, you guys, I'm fucking beat. This week at the hospital was grueling. I think I'm going to head back and sleep-"
"I'll walk you home-"

Sakura broke off Naruto's sentence, "Nah, I'd like some time to think by myself on the walk home. Besides, I want you two to enjoy this last bottle of wine for me!"

Hinata giggled, "I don't think I can drink another drop!"

"Aw, come on, this is an expensive bottle, and I'm giving it to you two as a present! So drink up, enjoy the night, ok!"

Naruto nodded, "Sure, I don't think I can walk right now anyway..."

Sakura snorted. "Lightweight. Also Naruto, don't forget we have to go over those papers tomorrow at four..."

"Nani? Papers?" Asked Naruto, clearly not getting it.

"Remember- we were going to go over the medical charts from the prison together...?"

Sakura could see the wheels in his head turning ever so slowly, until finally a light went off- "Oh yeah. I'll remember, dattebayo!" He giggled, his childish catch-phrase tacked on at the end.

Sakura winked, "And if you forget, I'll summon you, so no worries, catch ya latta alligator!"

Hinata scrunched up her nose, "Aw, now you sound like Bee-sama!"

The friends laughed as Sakura waved goodbye. Damn they are so cute together! Sakura giggled as she sauntered home. She hummed to herself as she made her way out of the Hyuga compound and out into the street- everything was so quiet. Suddenly, the moonlight shifted and illuminated a cherry blossom tree, revealing tiny new buds. Grinning, Sakura started whistling the "Sakura, Sakura" lullaby, and was still whistling as she reached her apartment.

She opened the door slowly and gently put the guitar on the couch. As she made her way to the kitchen to put on the kettle for chamomile tea, her eyes fell on a picture frame in an open box on the floor. She picked it up and stared into the eyes of her parents, smiling softly. "Did you guys wait up for me? Shucks, I'm a grown woman now mom, dad, I can take care of myself..." Sakura was startled when she noticed a few wet spots on the picture glass and wiped them with a corner of her shirt, sighing and smiling at the same time.

Alright my dears, that was three chapters in one day! Woot! Don't you think that deserves a bit of a review? ;)