Author's Note: Here is the next installment. I Hope you all enjoy!

title: celebrate, written for kairi-chan
prompt: "Congratulations! One of your dreams has finally come true. Let me give you a big hug and...wow you're warm."
pairing: naruto x sakura
genre: romance / humor
rating: t (for implications)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

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The village was bathed in varying shades of orange and mauve; the last golden rays of the sun giving way as dusk settled.

Sounds of praise and jubilance filtered through the streets, civilians and shinobi alike could be seen parading through town, the merriment of the occasion bringing everyone together.

Naruto watched from his perch by the window, a broad grin plastered on his face. It was odd, standing there after all this time, after all his dreaming.

The fruit of one's labor tasted especially sweet when the final goal was accomplished, and for Naruto, this was the one thing that he had wanted most of all.

Through his struggles and other's doubts, even with his team's ups and downs, and the fighting and breaking, and dying – though, technically he didn't stay dead, but his heart did stop– Naruto was finally, finally, here.

He broke away from his thoughts when the door to his office opened, then closed with a soft click.

"There you are," A feminine voice called out to him, tone slightly scolding.

Naruto turned to find Sakura standing on the opposite side of his desk, smiling brightly at him. The rosette looked like she had seen better days. Her pink locks were in a state of slight disarray, and the red tunic she wore was rumbled. There was a vibrant flush dusted across her cheeks and the bridge of her thin nose.

The blond wondered if her blush was caused by the exertion of dancing or a side effect of the alcohol she consumed.

'Probably both,' He silently mused.

"Everyone is looking for you," She chided as she came to join him on his side of the table.

Her mother hen act made the kyuubi jinjuriki's lips twitch, as he tried to suppress a smirk.

"Enjoying the party?" He inquired.

His ex-teammate – turned girlfriend – huffed, smacking him lightly on the shoulder. "As a matter of fact, I was," Sakura smartly replied. "Ino and I were trying to teach Sai how to dance. He ended up stepping all over Pig's toes and somehow managed to trip me."

The scene played out in his mind's eye, and Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. Sakura tittered along with him before she crossed her arms and stared at him with a slowly raising brow.

"The better question is, Hokage-sama, why aren't you out there, enjoying the celebration? It is in your honor."

The light-haired male frowned at her use of his honorific and instead of gracing her with a reply, he chose to ignore her. Sakura's smug expression grew at his lack of response, and in retaliation to her smirk, Naruto reached out and twined his slender fingers around a forelock of pink hair, giving it a swift, hard tug.

Sakura yelped and tried to retreat, taking a step back, but Naruto didn't let her get very far before he was on her. Grabbing the rosette by the wrist, the newly appointed Kage pulled the petite woman towards him, and she crashed into his chest with a small 'oomph.'

Naruto thwarted any future attempts at escape by wrapping his arms around Sakura's waist, tucking her head underneath his chin.

"You of all people should know better than to call me that," He sulkily muttered. "It sounds too weird coming from you."

The pinkette snickered, unperturbed by his manhandling, burrowing further into his embrace.

After a moment's pause, Sakura said, "This is an abuse of power, you know." The words were muffled by the fabric of his shirt. "Just wait until the council catches wind that you're bullying your head medic."

Naruto chuckled as he pulled back, cerulean eyes twinkling as he looked down at her. "Nice try, but I highly doubt the council is going to get involved in our domestic disputes."

His girlfriend scrunched up her nose as she pouted, emerald eyes dancing with unrepressed mirth. Sakura didn't say anything else before she dipped her head and nuzzled her cheek against his collarbone.

"You're warm…" She murmured offhandedly, which caused him to grin.

"How much have you had to drink?" Naruto asked.

He didn't have to look down to know that Sakura had rolled her eyes, he could almost feel the movement with her pressed against him.

"Blame Shishou," She provided as an excuse. "She started 'celebrating' early on this afternoon. Shizune and I could barely keep up."

"Yeah, that sounds like something that granny would do," The blond joked.

They both lapsed into comfortable silence then, and after a little while, Naruto thought Sakura might have fallen asleep standing up. Her breathing had evened out and hands clasped in his shirt became lax in their grip. Before he could pull away and see if his theory was correct, her head snapped up and that broad forehead he had come to love so much nearly collided with his chin.

Viridian eyes regarded him with emotions that Naruto couldn't recognize and for a minute, all he could do was stare back at her. Becoming slightly wary under his lover's unyielding green gaze, Naruto ventured to inquire, "Sakura-chan, are you alright?"

Sakura just blinked at him, once, then twice, before a smile bloomed on her lips that was so wide, it caused the corner of her eyes to crinkle.

"You did it," She whispered in glee, shaking him slightly as she spoke. "Naruto, you did it."

The underlying meaning of her statement hit him suddenly, and almost immediately, Naruto's smile was as large as her own. Her pleasure brought about his own ecstatic wonderment, and he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her temple.

"Yeah, I did," He commented almost breathlessly. "I finally did it."

They looked at one another fondly for a minute, but it faded quickly, Naruto's grin suddenly turning devious in nature.

"You know that this means right?" The blond practically purred.

Sakura considered his words, eyeing him skeptically. She already knew – despite her slightly inebriated state – that she wasn't going to approve of whatever it was he was thinking about.

"What does it mean?" She asked hesitantly.

"It means," He started. "That we should do some celebrating of our own."

His innuendo was understood loud and clear, but before Sakura could berate him for his one-track, perverted mind, Naruto pushed her back against his desk, hands immediately flying up to fiddle with the zipper of her top.

"Naruto!" She screeched, trying to swipe at his prying hands.

The Nanadaime put an end to her protests by slanting his mouth across her own.

Thank you for reading!

word count: 1,085
last edited on: 03/30/18

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