Smiles

At the age of twenty-three, Uzumaki Naruto became Hokage.

The Godaime had felt he was ready; in all honesty, she was ready as well. Eleven years was more than enough of a job she had never before considered, and though she grew to love it and to love Konoha again, she knew Yondaime's legacy would be better for everyone.

On the day Naruto officially accepted the Hokage title, Sakura was there. Since she and Naruto had first been assigned to Kakashi's team, he would declare most obnoxiously that he would be Hokage. At first, she had laughed at him. Surely, there was no way a shinobi as incompetent as he would claim such a noble title; back then she thought Hokage would be more befitting of Uchiha Sasuke. As the team had grown older and had experienced more assignments together, Sakura had begun to see that, perhaps, Naruto wasn't just wasting air with his boasts of Hokage; maybe he did have a fair shot. So during the official ceremony, Sakura watched the icon from her past fulfil his dream, and for him and those absent she smiled one of the brightest smiles of her life.

On the day Naruto officially accepted the Hokage title, his smile was forced. So many wondered why; hadn't this been his lifelong goal? Only the few present who knew the young man well understood. There were two people above all whom Naruto had wanted to witness his accomplishment, it had been that way since he was small. One of those two had been missing for almost eleven years; the other had been a little more than one. Still, he smiled- however pained it had been- for those present, and most importantly, he smiled for Sakura.

Later that very day, Naruto would cook dinner to the best of his abilities; it was never a culinary masterpiece, but he was proud to say he knew more than ramen. Later that evening, Sakura would mention- or, rather, grumble about- the temperature of the room. Six months into her pregnancy and it was showing. Naruto wouldn't answer her the first time, so she would say, a little louder, "It's really hot in here"; Naruto would find himself unable to keep a solemn face any longer as he would cross the room to adjust the temperature.

It was a ritual; despite the bitter reminders the day presented to him, he found that evenings with Sakura could always bring him cheer. She looked at him from the couch, a little disgruntled from discomfort, as a reluctant grin crossed her face.

"Congratulations," she said quietly, "Hokage."

End Chapitre

Post-Mission Analysis Sorry for the delay, I have no excuse. So, I realise the last chapter kind of jumped out of nowhere with the "WTF" factor; I'm trying to space the timeline so this doesn't turn into the trainwreck-of-overwhelming-detail that my other fics become. As for the girl-talk last chapter… you guys are still dealing with a female writer; girl-talk and Ino attack me when I'm at my weakest. Anywhoo, hope everyone enjoyed.