Sakura's closed eyes gave a twitch. They opened a little and instantly shut again as they met the blinding sunlight of a Konoha morning.

She gave a groan and turned on her stomach, burying her face into the pillow. Just as she was dozing off again, she heard a bright voice that gave her a start.

"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan!! Look what I have for you!"

She turned back around to see Naruto similing from ear to ear and holding a breakfast tray. His hair was in a crazier mess than yesterday, and she noticed he had slept in undershirt and his favorite green boxers.

"Ramen for breakfast...in bed! Does it get any better?" He could barely contain his excitement.

Sakura laughed good-naturedly and propped herself up to a sitting position.

"Ramen...for breakfast?" she sounded skeptical and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey what's wrong with that?" Naruto asked defensively as he set the table over her lap. His ID tag swung slightly from his neck as he bent over. On the tray there was a steaming hot cup ramen with a glass of orange juice and a small flower in a vase.

Naruto stepped back and admired his work. He looked satisfied and continued, "If a woman did this for me everyday, I'd think I died and gone to heaven. I swear I'd marry her."

Sakura teased meaningfully, "Don't tell me that, tell Hinata."

He shot a cautionary look at her, "That wasn't funny." He rumpled his hair with his hand nervously.

Sakura shrugged with an innocent smile and then concentrated on the food in front of her. It did smell good, and she was very hungry. She realized with her first bite that she hadn't eaten in a long time. Her pace quickened as started shoving the food in her mouth.

"Whoa, slow down there, no need to inhale it." Naruto grinned, watching her with delight.

"Shut up, I'm hungry," Sakura said with her mouth full. "Are you just going to stare at me while I eat?" she asked after swallowing a few more bites.

Naruto scratched his head and said, "Come to think of it I need to take a shower. Maybe after you finish we can swing by your place so you can get take one too and get dressed..." He raised his eyebrows. "...in your own clothes."

Sakura avoided his gaze.

Naruto folded his arms and said, "Come on, Sakura. Spill it, where did you get that t-shirt and pants? They look like they belong to a man, and I know they're not mine."

She didn't like the suggestive tone of his voice. Sakura had to make up some excuse. "I found them," she said, then added truthfully, "I lost the ANBU mask, and I couldn't wear the uniform without my mask."

Naruto eyed her suspiciously, but her defense was logical enough.

"Whatever," he said as he turned and started to grab clothes out of his dresser. "I'll find out one way or the other."

Sakura kept silent. There was no way he would without her telling him.

"Try not to choke while I'm gone, okay?" he joked as he turned out of the room and into the bathroom.

Sakura took a deep breath and braced herself for the day ahead. She was successful in avoiding Naruto's prodding questions, but could she keep it up and fool everyone else?

She knew she would face as much scrutiny from others as she did from Naruto, perhaps even more. For one, Tsunade-sama would want her to see her first thing in the morning with an explanation. Sakura groaned. That was going to be an ordeal in and of itself. She had never lied to the Hokage before.

The long, relaxing shower Sakura took at her own apartment seemed to calm her nerves. She scrubbed away the events of the last few days and watched them flow down the drain. The cleanliness seemed to give her a new confidence. She felt in a better position to meet everyone's surprise when she revealed she was neither dead nor missing, but alive and safely back in Konoha.

After dressing in her own shirt and pants, she was about to throw the dirty clothes in the hamper out of habit until she realized who they belonged to. She held on to them for a minute.

Sasuke...

This was all she had left of him. She recalled the last time she had taken a satisfying shower—it was at his place in the forest. In her mind she saw him sitting on the bed in that dingy room, then standing up and moving towards her. Closing her eyes, Sakura remembered the breathtaking touch of his hand on hers. Time had stood still then.

Sakura sighed and clutched the clothes close to her body for a moment before gathering her composure and opening the bathroom door.

There was a man sitting on her bed. He stood up and moved toward her. She saw his big, blue eyes and rumpled blonde hair that was a little neater now.

Naruto.

----------

"Use an illusion to hide yourself," Naruto recommended as they prepared to visit the Hokage. "We have to see her first or she'll get pissed."

"Right," Sakura said as she opened the door to her apartment. As soon as her eyes recovered from the glare of the sun, she performed a series of seals and her body appeared to disappear in the air.

"I can't maintain this for long. Let's hurry," she said to Naruto.

He nodded as he felt her grab his arm. They lept onto the rooftops and starting taking the shortcut to meet Tsunade.

---------

Sakura dispelled the illusion and reappeared next to Naruto at the door of the Hokage's main office.

Though she had talked to Tsuande-sama many times and had even received from training tips from her, Sakura still felt uneasy. This building always made her shrink a little. Aftter all, this was where the first through fifth had made their biggest decisions regarding the safety of the whole village. When she walked through its long halls, it made her feel like an insignificant kunoichi.

Naruto squeezed her arm, trying to ease her nervousness.

"She's going to be happy you're okay," he said reassuringly. "She'll have questions, but if you answer them straight out you'll be fine. Just be honest with her." He laughed, recalling a past event and continued, "Believe me, I tried lying to her once...Boy, she looked like she was going to kill me. See, this one time I forgot to—"

Sakura could sense this was the beginning of another one of his long winded whoppers.

"Naruto! Shut up!" Sakura said sharply.

He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck apologetically. "Sorry, Sakura-chan! I'll save the story for when we eat lunch at Ichiraku together! How does that sound? My treat!"

Sakura sighed heavily and paused.

Gathering her courage, she knocked on the door in front of her.

"Come in," the female voice replied from inside.

Naruto smiled encouragingly. "Good luck," he whispered.

Sakura's lips tightened as she grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, letting herself in.