"This room is amazing!" noted Sakura to Temari when they finally arrived at the VIP room.
"I've always especially liked it. It can house upwards of five different people or pairs and yet it still remains private to the rest of the resort," answered Temari. "Take a look around. Pick the room you like best."
"Ok, thanks," said Sakura.
The three Leaf ninja wandered around the suite for a bit. The designation of the area may have been "VIP room", but it was nearly a home in itself within the resort. There was a central living area that had plenty of expensive decor. A table off to the side was obviously where the group meals were served by the resort staff. Another area of the central room was a sitting area, used most likely for chatting or socializing. The sitting area opened to the outside where a large hot spring bath was located.
"I think we'll take that room over here," noted Sasuke to Temari.
"I thought you'd pick that one," laughed Temari. "Shikamaru and I will be over here."
The two couples picked the nicest of the five rooms. Although there were five bedrooms in total, only two had their own private hot springs area, just big enough for two people to enjoy. They were completely isolated from the other hot springs, including the main one available for anyone staying in the VIP room to enjoy.
"I once asked Sabisu why only two of the five rooms had their own springs," said Temari. "She knew when they built this wing that only a handful of the rooms would ever be occupied so she selected two as the most likely number. Even then, there may be people who may have no desire whatsoever to have a private hot spring - they would be more inclined to use the joint one or even soak at all. She just thought it would be a waste of money to include private baths in all five."
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to indulge," said Shikamaru. "All this talk about 'hot springs' and 'bathing' has my aching body begging me for a dip."
"Now you're talking," said Sakura.
The couples moved what belongings they had brought with them into their respective rooms. Shikamaru and Temari were the first to emerge, nearly naked, from their room. Shikamaru wore the required towel around his waist while Temari had hers firmly tucked in at her chest. Soon after, Sasuke and Sakura also emerged dressed similarly. There was a bit of hesitancy on Sakura's behalf in that she was used to going to only single-sex areas of hot springs, but Sasuke reminded her that, as a shinobi, there must have been many times that she had to expose herself to other shinobi of the opposite sex as they traveled with each others for long durations. Once she recognized this, she was a bit more comfortable with the likes of Shikamaru seeing her so skimpily dressed.
The four shinobi who were now on a mini-vacation settled into the hot water nicely. A few groans and hums were heard as each of them slowly entered the heated water and gently eased themselves into a comfortable position around the edge of the bath.
The conversation wasn't very quick in coming on this particular day, but after a few minutes of awkwardness and near silence, finally, it got going. It started pleasantly enough with a reminiscence of the first chunin exam when they all first met all those years ago. It was that very same exam when Gaara went nuts and the Sand had joined Sound in trying to attack Konoha. Shikamaru had been the only Leaf shinobi to have received a promotion at that dark time.
Being such a dark subject, it quickly moved onto the successful exams for both Temari and Sakura. Sakura earned the rank of chunin about a year after Naruto had left with Master Jiraya. Within three years of the failed chunin exam, Temari had improved so much that she nearly bypassed chunin and went to jonin in the blink of an eye.
"I'd like to think it was completely because of my skills," Temari said. "But the truth was, the Sand was in a bit of a bind as far as leadership went and we just happened to need quite a few shinobi at the jonin level. I was in the right place at the right time."
"Don't sell yourself short," countered Shikamaru. "I was around when you quickly went up the ranks. You definitely deserved it." He leaned over and kissed her.
"Rising that swiftly is the mark of a great shinobi though," added Sakura. "Isn't it interesting that you can always kind of tell who is really going to rise to the top of the shinobi corps and who will remain at low-levels for much of their careers? I mean, Shikamaru, did you ever think so many talented shinobi would come from our Academy class alone?"
"Tsk," was all that he answered at first. "Yeah, but sometimes talent is hard to gauge. I'd say that you can tell those who will become great shinobi, but there is also room for those you never would have thought would succeed."
"Like who?" asked Sakura. It only took a look from Shikamaru for her to immediately regret asking the question. "Yeah, you're right. He almost didn't even graduate with us, did he?" she added.
"Do you think he'll become Hokage someday?" asked Sasuke honestly.
"I really do," answered Shikamaru.
"Even though he's a knucklehead?" asked Sasuke.
"The behaviors that make Naruto stand out as different from the rest of us are also the behaviors that make him a great shinobi. The Will of Fire, the urge to always protect, the ability to never give up... Besides, he will always be surrounded by talented advisors. He knows where he is weak and can make up for it with others," Shikamaru explained.
Sasuke sighed.
"What's wrong?" asked Sakura.
"Sometimes I think about how much I missed and I regret not being here with you guys. We were taught to protect and support one another, weren't we?" asked Sasuke.
"Yeah, but not everything was your fault, Sasuke. You had no idea Itachi was doing what he did for the village. Not to mention, the time you spent with Orochimaru screwed you up quite a bit. I'm surprised you knew up from down when he was done playing with your mind."
"You can say that again," added Temari.
Sakura threw her a look.
"What? I had to fight him at the Five Kage Summit. He was kind of a bastard back then," added Temari.
"Yeah," said Sasuke agreeing. "I kind of was."
"I'm glad you've changed, Sasuke," said Temari genuinely.
"I'm glad, too," he said. "I didn't realize how much I was throwing away by not being with my comrades in the Leaf. It's only now that I can truly thank Itachi for setting me on the right path."
"Itachi?" questioned Temari. "Your brother?"
Sasuke explained all that happened between him and Itachi during Edo Tensei and how Itachi had requested Sasuke live the life Itachi had wanted, but would never live to see. That was the primary reason Sasuke came back. But since then, he had reforged friendships, found love, reclaimed the Uchiha land (or at least a part of it), and become a respected shinobi once again. He may have initially gone back because of Itachi's request, but his eyes were now open to the true happiness the Leaf could bring him.
"So when are you going to take the chunin exam?" asked Shikamaru to Sasuke with a straight face. He knew Sasuke was one of the most powerful ninja in the whole world. However, he had never officially passed any sort of exam - the same situation as Naruto.
"Bastard," Sasuke murmured under his breath, jokingly.
The four friends heard a clanking noise from inside the room and looked over. "Oh, I see they are preparing our next meal," said Temari. Inside were the staffers of the resort delivering and setting up the table for the four of them.
"I'm starving," said Sasuke.
No other words were necessary as each of them made their way to their bedrooms to put on robes. They reemerged still damp, but dry enough to eat.
Temari was first to the table. Sakura was the second; she took a seat next to Temari.
"So are you enjoying yourself?" asked Temari.
"Absolutely," said Sakura. "I thought the diplomatic quarters were fancy, but they are nothing compared to this."
"Good," said Temari. "We all deserve a little down-time, especially now that we have found someone special to spend our time with. I hope you don't mind that I asked for this room rather than two completely separate ones."
"No, not at all," remarked Sakura. "It's nice getting to know you...I mean, like a good friend rather than just an acquaintance. And I'm learning much more about Shikamaru as well. I've always known Shikmaru from various missions we were on, but we were never close."
"He's a really good guy," noted Temari. "The funny thing is, with my brothers and my leadership position in the Sand, I didn't think any man would show an interest in me. Even if they liked me, they would be too scared to approach me."
"I've kept other men away for years while Sasuke was gone. I don't think I meant to, but I've been in love with him since I was at the Academy with him. At first it was probably just a crush, but even when I was older and he was gone, I couldn't cut my heart off from him completely. I didn't know if it would ever work out...I'm just happy that it did."
The two women embraced lightly in support of one another. Shikamaru was the next to emerge. "Whoa!" he said. "If you two want to be alone, Sasuke and I will room together."
"Speak for yourself," said Sasuke emerging from his and Sakura's room.
"Jerks," said Sakura.
The conversation continued over the meal and was enjoyed by all. It had been so long since Sakura truly felt like she was "off" as far as duty went. The war was over and she wasn't at the Hokage's beck and call. The Konoha hospital in which she often worked was days away and she wasn't currently on a mission. It wouldn't last forever, but even this one day and night away was welcome.
After the meal, the couples decided to split for some privacy. It was funny because Sakura swore that Shikamaru and Sasuke were probably making some sort of hidden hand signs behind her and Temari's backs, which she thought was downright hilarious. Men...especially men of this age...was this really one of their goals in life? To find a woman and get laid? Sakura rolled her eyes to herself as she replaced the robe with the wet towel and made her way to the private hot spring exclusive to her and Sasuke's room. "Yeah, probably," she muttered aloud to herself.
"Probably what?" Sasuke asked when he heard Sakura's soft words with no apparent connection to any other thought.
"I was just thinking to myself," said Sakura.
"About what?" he asked, slowly immersing himself into the water next to her.
"I saw what you were doing behind my back," said Sakura.
"Aww, Sakura. It was just a joke," said Sasuke. He could tell she wasn't being serious at all.
"And what would you do, if I got up out of this water, got dressed, grabbed my stuff and went to the bedroom next to this one?" she asked.
"I'd probably cry," he answered, nearing her spot in the water.
"Cry, eh?" she asked. "I guess I get to call the shots then. If I don't get my way, I'll just leave."
"Oh yeah?" he asked laughing to himself. "I guess it's ok then." He leaned in to kiss her gently on the lips. "You can call all the shots." He kissed her again, longer the second time.