Sweet Cherry Blossom

Since I'm used to walking through the village alone, doing so today is no biggie.

All the villagers and other ninja are busy doing one thing or another, so they ignore me as I pass them by. I say 'ignore' because I can't help but feel like since I got with Shikamaru everyone's been watching me closely. He would probably just tell me I'm being paranoid, though.

And unfortunately, he is busy at work at the Intel Department right now. Sakura-chan is probably at the hospital making up for her missed shifts. Sai said he would report back to ROOT when we split up so he could see if there was any work he needed to do. Heck, even Ino and Choji are busy today.

So, to my displeasure, I'm alone.

As people continue to pass me by, I can't help but feel a need to go somewhere and do something productive. Most of all, I think I'm just really bored.

"N-naruto-kun?"

At the familiar sound of Hinata calling out to me from behind, I turn around and see her walking my way.

"Hinata?"

"Good afternoon, Naruto-kun." She says, and then starts twiddling her fingers when she reaches me.

"What's up? What are you doing wandering around?" I ask, assuming there's some training she would be doing this time of day.

"I was… um… getting a few things in the market. Kiba-kun should be arriving to meet me soon…"

"Kiba?! Hey! Are you two going on a date?!" I say, now much more interested in what she's doing.

Looking a bit shocked, she immediately turned her gaze down to her feet. "No, nothing like that! He and I were going to visit Kurenai-sensei. These things are for her, you see…" she says, lifting her bag. I hadn't even noticed she was holding it when she came up to me…

After I take a second to think, I remember that Kurenai-sensei is someone Shikamaru cherishes a lot. Well, her and that baby she had for Asuma-sensei. He brought me to see her once when she was pregnant, and also really helped me feel better about Pervy-Sage's death.

Him going out of his way to get me and cheer me up like that was a really cool thing he did, and I'll never forget it.

"Um, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata calls, making me realize I was in the middle of a conversation.

"Sorry, Hinata! I drifted off there for a second…"

"Oh, it's fine! Really!"

"No, it's not. I'm sorry for letting my mind wander like that. It was rude."

"…"

"Do you want me to wait for Kiba with you?" I offer, figuring that may be why she's not moving from her spot.

"Oh! Well… you don't have to-"

"There you are, Hinata!"

Obnoxious as ever, Kiba comes walking over to the two of us with Akamaru trailing behind him, as he usually does.

"Kiba-kun!"

"Hey, how's it going? And what's Naruto doing here?"

"I was… just going to visit someone." I say. Now that he's here, I push the lurking thought of going to see Kurenai-sensei from my mind.

"Oh yeah? And who's that? I can't imagine it'd be Shikamaru." Kiba says, folding his arms suspiciously.

"Wh- why not Shikamaru?!" I retort, nervous as ever. Does he know about us somehow?

"'Cuz you smell just like him, baka! You probably just saw him, baka. Jeez, take a moment to think about stuff before getting all loud…"

I can't help but feel that's a funny thing to hear from him.

"Well I wasn't going to say Shikamaru, anyway! I'm going to see Sakura-chan at the hospital!"

It's funny how my mind automatically jumps to finding Sakura-chan. But I don't mind, really. I might as well spend my free time with her to maybe help her out a bit, considering it is my fault she's working so hard right now.

"Hmph! You do that then! Let's get going, Hinata." Kiba orders, and then starts walking off.

"Right. Well… see you later, Naruto-kun." She says, before following after him and Akamaru.

As they leave, I can't help but wonder where Shino is…

Eh, he's probably already at Kurenai-sensei's place.

Turning and facing the direction the hospital is in, I smile knowing I'm going to see Sakura-chan.

"Naruto?"

"Hey Sakura-chaaan!" I smile, waving in an admittedly stupid manner to her from the front desk in the lobby of the hospital.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, coming up to me with a clipboard in her arms.

"Oh, well I was kind of hoping to spend some time with you."

"Why? I'm at work. If you want a date-"

"No, no. I mean, I want to help you out. It's my fault you have to work so hard. At least let me assist you as much as I can!" I say, confident and beaming. Maybe I can look like a hero to her because of how determined I am, hee hee. After all, I don't think she saw my grand entrance when I came back from Sage training to fight against Pain. Knowing her, I was probably the last person on her mind when the village was destroyed anyway.

"Naruto, I can't babysit you. We've got a handful of infected patients, some who desperately need surgery, and others who need assistance in rehabilitation. So-"

"Sakura-chan, don't be so cold! I can help you!"

After seriously thinking my offer over, she seems to give in. "… Hm, fine then. Come with me." She says.

When she starts walking to the stairs, I follow after her with a big grin on my face. I'm always happy to help her out.

Falling onto my butt up on the roof of the hospital, I sigh heavily in the cool breeze.

Sheesh! I guess I should have just let Sakura-chan handle this...

Honestly, I didn't realize working at the hospital took so much effort! Even the smallest tasks they have turned out to be much larger when I actually started doing them…

Right now I'm up here hanging sheets on the lines because Sakura-chan has gone into surgery. I'm not permitted to join in on that since I have no experience, so she told me to find something else to do until she was finished. This job seemed to be the easiest one, so I saved it for last. But honestly, it's proved to be nothing but a pain.

Pulling a wet blanket from the white basket, I flap it out in the breeze, and then hang it on the line. I have a bag of clothespins at my waist because even I know clothes on the line need to be fastened so they don't blow away. I do all my own laundry, after all.

"Naruto!"

Oh shit!

Running over to the fence border along the edges of the roof, I am horrified to see Kakashi-sensei making his way over on top of the next building over that's a few stories shorter than the one I'm on.

"Ka-kakashi-sensei?!" I shout, and then take a few steps back when he jumps into the sky.

Landing next to me effortlessly, he pulls out a book from his pouch and takes a seat against the small cement wall that serves as a foundation for the fences up here.

"I see you're busy." He says.

"What are you… Have you uh- have you seen Tsunad-obaa-chan today?"

"I have. She filled me in on your little mission to find Sasuke, and I was coming to talk to you about your punishment."

"…"

"But… I can see you've been working hard today. I guess you decided to help Sakura?"

"Yeah."

"I've been around her once or twice while she was at work here. I know she can be a tough superior, and the jobs are not easy to accomplish, either. So just continue helping her. That will be punishment enough for now. I'll talk to Yamato about this when I see him."

"… Great…"

"By the way, where's Sai?"

"He's with the ROOT division, probably. Why?"

"Well, he's at fault in this situation too. So I'll get him to help you and Sakura. Working here is definitely no easy task, so it's a win-win."

"How do you figure that?" I ask with a slightly irritated look. There's nothing win-win about all this work to me… well… I guess impressing Sakura-chan is an accomplishment for me.

"The three of you are being punished, and that punishment is to help others. So it's not really a win-win for you, but for me and the patients here, it is."

Surprisingly, that makes sense. But Sakura-chan works here all the time. I wonder if she gets paid to do this tiresome work… Today has been hell!

"Are you just going to read up here?" I ask, turning back to my task.

"Well, I'm kind of avoiding Guy at the moment. My book is getting really interesting, so I don't have time to carry on our rivalry today." He answers, not even looking at me because he's so absorbed in his book. For such a serious and man, he sure has his weakness in romance novels.

Picking up another blanket from the laundry basket, I shake my head. "Enjoy your book."

"I will. I'm being very productive today, and I don't even need to stop reading to do it." He said, and then smiled underneath his mask.

Oh Kakashi-sensei… Same as he's always been.

Once all the laundry is hung out on the line, I go back inside in search of something else to do. It took me about forty minutes to complete that task, but considering Shikamaru doesn't get off until eight, I have a lot more time to kill.

Walking to the front desk again, I ask the lady who is busy filing things if there is anything else on the to-do list for today.

"You're that boy helping Sakura, huh? She should be getting out of surgery in a few minutes. Since there aren't any other chores to do at the moment, you could just go and wait for her. You look exhausted."

"… Kay. Thanks ma'am." I am disappointed there isn't much more to do, but she is right. I'm kind of worn out now.

"No problem." She says, and then gets back to her filing.

Just as I make to go down the hallway, Sai enters through the front doors of the hospital.

"Sai!"

"Hello, Naruto." He greets with a small smile.

"What are you doing here? Come to steal my thunder in helping Sakura-chan?"

"No, there's no thunder stealing going on here. But yes, I did come to help out. I just got finished making a report to ROOT about my absence. Since there was nothing else to do after that, I was told to come here."

"Well, the more the merrier, I guess. Sakura-chan is about to come out of surgery. So you can come wait for her with me."

"Sure."

On that note, we both head to the waiting room for surgery patients.

"Oi! Sakura-chan! Are you okay?!" I shout when I notice how much blood is smeared on her medical robe as she comes out of the surgery room.

"I'm fine, Naruto. And so is the patient. I was just about to go change back into my clothes, so don't go anywhere." She replies with red cheeks. I think she's embarrassed because the people waiting, who I assume are the patient's family, all looked when I shouted to her.

"Naruto." Sai calls when the waiting room fills with conversation again.

"Yeah?"

"How are things in the romance department for you?"

"W-what a sudden thing to ask!" I say defensively.

"Well… you and Sakura seem like you're the same as you've always been. Are you two together now?"

"Sai, I… I do still have strong feelings for Sakura-chan… that will never change. But… I think for now we're better off as friends. I'm not sure what the future holds for us… nevertheless, I'll find out as time goes by. Right now though, there's someone else in my life. And I like them a lot."

"Is that so…? Is it Sasuke perhaps?"

"What?! No! We just went looking for him! How could I be with him?!"

"That doesn't mean you can't love him."

"It's not Sasuke!"

"Then, is it Shikamaru?"

Feeling my cheeks go warm and my jaw drop, I try to play it off that he's hit the nail on the head. "Don't be crazy! He and I are just friends, ya know! And why do you automatically assume it's a guy?!"

Bringing his hand up to his chin, Sai seriously thinks about that for a moment. "Hmm, I'm entirely not sure. Apart from Sakura and that Harem justu of yours, I've never known you to show interest in any girls… So I've always taken you as someone who plays for both teams." He replies.

"Where did you hear that expression?!"

"In a book I read."

Of course…

"Well, don't go assuming things!" Even if they are perfect assumptions…

Sakura-chan walks into the waiting room and motions for us to come over. Perfect timing.

Without hesitation, I get up and walk over to her, leaving Sai alone on the couch.

"What's up?" I ask with a smile.

"Have you finished your tasks?" she asks in response.

"Yup! I told you I'd help, and I did! Now I'm all yours!"

"Good. Ino is coming in a bit. So we can all work together for a while. But you guys don't have to stay much longer if you don't want to."

Sai stands up and makes his way over to us before speaking. "Considering I just got here and haven't done anything, I'd say I won't be leaving anytime soon. This is my punishment as well."

"Punishment?" Sakura-chan asks. "You were only doing this because you were forced to?!" she says to me.

"What?! No! I promise!"

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm serious! Kakashi-sensei caught me working and said this would be a fitting punishment. But it started off with my genuine want to help you out, Sakura-chan!"

"Hmph. If you say so… Anyway, let's get to the rehabilitation wing. You can both help the patients there, I'm sure."

"Right!"

"Roger!"

When Ino arrived, she took up a good bit of Sakura-chan's time and attention. It took so much effort to just get a word in with her when they were together. One time, they both took a break at the same time and didn't come back for about forty minutes. That really makes me wonder what they were talking about, because I know they love to gossip.

But it's nearing seven now, and I'm so glad for that. I can finally go home and get ready to see Shikamaru.

The thought gets me energized, so I use that energy to help my assigned patient to stand from her bed.

"Oi, Naruto! You can't be so rough with the patients!" Ino says angrily as she looks up from some papers she was reading.

She puts them down, comes over to me, tells me to move out of her way, and then helps the girl walk across the room.

I stand and watch, thinking how easy that would have been if she would have just let me do it… or finish what I started at least.

"Naruto," Sakura-chan calls, and then comes over to me. "While Ino and Sai have this covered, can I talk to you?" she asks.

"Sure! What's up?"

"Follow me."

"Kay." I say.

She walks me out into the hallway and closes the door behind her. I can't help but feel like she wants some privacy with me.

Walking over to the wall opposite the door, she leans against it and puts her hands behind her back.

"Naruto…"

"Sakura-chan, are you okay? You seem a little… worried about something."

"Worried? Me? No, I'm fine."

"Then-"

"I wanted to ask you something very serious. And be truthful with me, all right?"

"Anything!"

Taking a deep breath, Sakura-chan looks down at the floor for a second, and then looks me in the eyes again. "Is there something going on between you and Shikamaru?"

Her words bounce off the walls of the quiet hallway and echo in my ears. I process them, then process them again to make sure I heard her correctly.

When I realize what she's just asked me, I'm floored with shock and fear, and totally unable to form a word in response.

I stand in place, looking her in the eyes, and am speechless because of how shocked I am. My body is getting all tingly and sweaty…

"Naruto?" she says worriedly.

"Sakura-chan… Why are you asking me… something like that…?" I grin, hoping to fool her even despite my shakiness.

Bringing one of her hands up to hold her chin in consideration of my question, she answers me fully. "Well, ever since that mission we all went on to the Land of Snow, you've been acting a bit strange. Stranger than usual, that is. And I couldn't help but realize that it was the first mission we had gone on with Shikamaru in a long time… I always felt like he had his eye on you, so I thought maybe he made a move or something."

"… Is that what you and Ino were talking about when you took your break together?"

"For a few minutes, yeah. I never said I suspected anything, though. I just asked her if she noticed Shikamaru acting weird around you lately. The conversation didn't go much further than her saying Shikamaru has never shown any interest in girls and how he was really eager to see you when he found out you came back to the village from our mission to find Sasuke."

"… Sakura-chan… Shikamaru is just-"

"Naruto. You don't have to lie, or hide things from me. We've been through too much for you to be doing that. And… if you think I would suddenly hate you for being of a different sexual orientation, you're wrong."

Feeling vulnerable to Sakura-chan's persistent prying and her honest expression, I look to the floor and close my eyes. "We... we are dating… Shikamaru is my boyfriend." I say. She says she won't hate me, but I'm not that stupid. I know this is something a lot of people look down on. When something is different and doesn't follow what is known as the natural law, it strikes fear in them because they don't understand it. So they lash out against it. It's just like Shikamaru said. And it's just like the villagers used to do to me concerning Kurama.

Suddenly, I'm surrounded in warmth in the front. Two very soft objects are pressing up against my torso, and I feel two arms wrapped tightly around me. I recognize this sensation. I recognize it from all that time ago when I came back to the village from talking to Nagato and Konan.

Opening my eyes, I am met with pink hair.

"S-Sakura-chan…?"

"Naruto, you baka. Why would you hide something like this from me?"

"I…" I don't know what to say. I cannot give her an answer.

"I could never judge you. Not you, who has spent all your time trying to help everyone so much, especially me."

"But-"

Pulling away from me quickly, Sakura-chan glares. Then I feel a fist slam against the top of my head, and I scream out in pain, bending forward in response to this feeling, which is also familiar.

"I'll always support you! So don't keep me in the dark! Besides that, we're a team!"

Holding my head soothingly, I look up to see Sakura-chan's violent expression turn into a much more inviting one adorned by her gorgeous smile.

"Gomen…" I say.

Now I honestly feel kind of bad for not telling her… but it wasn't something she needed to know right off the bat.

"Naruto, are you going to apologize to me, or talk to me about this?"

"I… I don't know what to say. I never expected you would take this so well."

"You don't know everything about me, silly. Now spill it."

"Spill what?"

"Well, I kind of want to know how far have you gone with Shikamaru. If that's too personal… you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Feeling my cheeks heating up, I avoid looking her in the eyes. "We… we um… haven't done very much…"

"Are you going to see him tonight?"

"Y-yeah."

"Here. Take this then."

Grabbing my hand, Sakura-chan puts a small, dark blue, cloth bag in my palm.

"What's this?"

"Open it when things get serious, okay?"

"Um… okay…"

Walking past me back over to the door of the rehabilitation room we just came out of, Sakura-chan smiles again. "If you two go out on a date at some point, you might want to wear something more relaxed… and less orange."

"Oi! Sakura-chan!"

"Hm?"

"Please… Please keep this a secret. I think it'd be best if only you knew about him and me for now."

"I won't tell anyone. I promise. Now go on. Go get ready to see Shikamaru. Ino, Sai, and I can handle things here."

"But-"

"My shift will be over in about an hour. So don't worry about me. Have some fun tonight. …Oh, and I'm really happy for you, Naruto." She said, then opened the door and went inside the rehabilitation room again.

Left alone in the hallway, I look down at the little bag she gave me. I was about to open it, but then I realized it's after seven now and Shikamaru is going to be getting off of work soon.

With a smile on my face, I put Sakura-chan's gift in my pouch, and then head to the end of the hallway where the stairs are. I need to get ready to see Shikamaru!

Please submit a review! And thanks for reading! See you next chapter!