Sakura got to the airport with ten minutes to spare. She walked into the small shop and ordered three bottles of lemonade. She paid for the drinks and made her way towards the arrival gate.

As the minutes ticked by, Sakura bounced on the balls of her feet, willing them to hurry up. She watched as people walked by, being greeted by their friends and family. She craned her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of them. Finally, she saw them. "Ino! Naruto!" she shouted, waving at them. She watched with a wide smile as they made their way towards her. "Hey guys," she beamed at them.

Ino threw her arms around Sakura, "I have missed you so much," before pulling away and kissing her forehead, "and your big forehead."

"Sakura wrapped her free arm around Ino, "I've missed you too pig." She let go of Ino and turned to face Naruto, giving him a one armed hug too. "How was the flight?"

"Ughh, I had to wake up so early," Ino complained, "I'm sure I've got eyebags forming."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "only you would complain about that." She handed over a cold bottle to Ino, followed by Naruto, "thought you might want a cold drink."

"Thanks," Ino opened the bottle and took three large sips, before sighing in content. "It is so hot here," she placed the bottle against her face, trying to cool down.

"Thank you Sakura," Naruto smiled at her and took a few sips of his drink.

"Have you guys got everything?" Sakura looked around them.

"Yup," both Ino and Naruto spoke in unison.

"Great, let's go." Sakura led the way out of the airport and towards her car, and helped them put in their luggage. "Do you guys want to go out and grab some lunch?" Sakura asked as they got into the car.

"Sounds good, you pick the place," Ino said as she buckled herself in.

"Sure, let's go," Naruto said from behind her.

Sakura started the car and first drove to her house, dropping all the luggage into the hallway before driving into town. She parked her car and got out, the others following suit.

They walked towards a small café, it was homely and inviting. When Sakura had first laid eyes on it, it had reminded her of a small café in Konoha that Ino and her would often visit. Together, they walked towards the counter and placed their orders.

"Please take a seat and we'll bring the food out to you," the lady smiled at them.

"How are things back home?" Sakura asked as they sat at a vacant table.

"Things are great. Your parents send their regards and your mum said you need to call her more often, she misses you a lot," Ino told her.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "I call her every other day, and if I can't, I send her a message."

"You know she worries about you, that you're so far away from Konoha and she never knows if you're eating properly, looking after yourself, getting enough sleep…"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "how about I get you to watch me like a hawk and when you go back home, you can report back to mother?"

Before things could get out of hand, Naruto spoke up, "how have things been here for you Sakura?"

Sakura sighed and shook her head, turning to face Naruto. "They've been good," she smiled, "really good."

"I'm glad to hear that," he smiled in return, "how has work been? Is old lady Chiyo breathing down your neck?"

"Naruto!" Sakura admonished, "you can't call her that!"

"She doesn't mind me calling her that," he chuckled, "when I first called her that, she had laughed so hard and told me that she liked me."

Sakura found that hard to believe, but at the same time, she had witnessed first-hand how Lady Chiyo treated those she was close to, and Naruto always had a way to get people to like him. "She's been nice to me," she told him with a smile.

"You're lucky, from what granny Tsunade says, old lady Chiyo sure likes to make people sweat and break bones," Naruto chuckled.

"Here is your food," a young waiter spoke, placing the dishes in front of them. "Enjoy, and if there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask." He smiled at them before walking away.

At the sight of the food, Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly, making them all laugh. With that, they tucked into their food and spoke about what had been happening in their lives.

With their plates empty, Naruto excused himself, "I'll speak to you later Sakura, I'm going to meet up with my friend."

"Okay, have fun." Sakura watched as he walked away with no care in the world, his hands resting behind his head and his eyes directed towards the sky.

"Sakura…" Ino started, "I'm sorry if I upset you."

"You haven't upset me pig," Sakura turned to face Ino, she pulled the blonde into a hug, "I just wasn't expecting you to lecture me like my mum."

"You know what they say… Don't shoot the messenger," Ino laughed, hugging Sakura back.

"True, but there isn't anything to say that you can't hurt the messenger a little," Sakura laughed, earning a jab in her side. "Come, let me show you around."

For the remainder of the afternoon, the women walked around, looking at the different shops, from clothes to jewellery, to sweets and savoury snacks. By the time they were done, they had brought an outfit each and Sakura had purchased a few sweets from her new favourite sweet shop.

"Is there anything else you want to look at?" Sakura asked as they walked back to her car.

"Right now? No," Ino sighed, wiping her brow, "I want to get out of this heat, I'm sweating."

Sakura laughed lightly, "it's not so bad, you sort of get used to it."

"Well, you're the one who's living here, not me." Ino shot back.

Sakura rolled her eyes and unlocked the car. They placed their bags in the back and got in. Sakura tuned on the air conditioning and drove home.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

After grabbing a cold shower and changing into shorts and a top, the women sat in the living room with a glass of wine.

"Genma was asking about you," Ino told Sakura as she took a sip of her wine.

"What?" Sakura looked at the blonde with a shocked expression. Last she had seen or heard from Genma; he was sleeping with someone else. "When?"

"A few days after you'd left, he'd shown up at the shop and asked me about you."

"What did you say?" Sakura took a large sip of her drink, watching the blonde carefully.

"And here I thought you didn't care what the man did," Ino smirked at her.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her, "Ino," she warned.

"I'm joking, I'm joking," Ino took a sip of her wine before placing the glass down. "I told him that you got a job offer in Suna and you took it."

Sakura nodded, waiting for her to carry on.

"He asked me if I knew when you'd be coming back and I told him you probably won't be back for several months. He seemed a little put out by that."

Sakura furrowed her brow, she couldn't understand why Genma would ask about her when they never really had a relationship of any sorts, unless you counted what they did in her bedroom, the back of his car, in the back of her car and several other places.

"Are you going to contact him?" Ino picked up her glass.

Sakura thought about the question. When they had started to see one another, it was nothing serious, a casual fling, that turned into them seeing one another when they were in need of another person. Sakura grabbed her phone and went through her messages, the last one from Genma was several months ago, the last time they had seen one another, and neither of them had reached out to the other. "And say what? It's not like there was ever anything going on between us," Sakura placed her phone down.

"I know," Ino gave her a small smile, "but don't you want to know what he has to say?"

Sakura shook her head, "no, I don't want to know, plus I'm happy here," Sakura smiled at her, finishing off her drink.

"I really am glad that you're happy, it's nice to see you so carefree," Ino bumped her shoulder, "but I miss you so much."

"I miss you too pig," Sakura placed her head against Ino's shoulder, "I still haven't found someone to call pig here," she chuckled.

"Ha ha, you're funny," Ino rolled her eyes and finished her drink.

"I love you, my Ino-Pig," Sakura smiled.

There was a knock on the door and Sakura sat up, the women looked at one another.

"Are you expecting anyone I should know about?" Ino smirked at Sakura.

Sakura rolled her eyes and walked towards the door and opened it. "I wondered when you were going to come back," she smiled at Naruto.

He smiled apologetically, his hand rubbing the back of his head, "I sort of lost track of time, sorry."

Sakura moved away from the door, letting Naruto pass through before closing it behind him. Sakura walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of wine and a bottle of beer for Naruto. "How is your friend doing?" she handed Naruto his beer and filled hers and Ino's glass before sitting back down.

"Thanks," Naruto took a large sip of the cold beer. "He is doing well," he rested the bottle on his leg, "I hope you don't mind that I've arranged for all of us to meet up tomorrow," he smiled at them both.

"What time tomorrow?" Sakura asked.

"Around half seven. Gaara has made a reservation at some fancy restaurant and then we are going to go out for some drinks at the bar," Naruto looked at Sakura, "I know I should have asked you first before going ahead and making plans, I'm sorry."

Sakura couldn't be mad at him, especially with the way he was looking at her, his bright blue eyes pleading that she agree and his lips slightly downcast. "You don't need to apologise for anything, he is your friend and you want to spend time with him. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun."

Naruto's face lit up with his smile, "thank you so much Sakura," he beamed at her, his eyes brighter than before. "I am starving, how about I buy us all some pizza?"

"Sounds good," both the women replied.

The rest of the evening passed by with them eating and laughing, enjoying being together once again. Sakura had missed this a lot, missed spending time with them.