Here's the next chapter, guys. I hope that you like it.

"Hello": regular talking
'Hello': thinking
'Hello': Inner Sakura talking

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, then Naruto and Sakura would have kissed already

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Day 2: Thinking about you

Walking through the village, Naruto couldn't help but frown. He sighed, because it was just the second day of his well earned vacation and he was hoping for it to end already. There was completely nothing to do in the whole village. Most of his friends were out of town and even Iruka and Jiraiya were nowhere to be found. To say it bluntly: he was bored, very bored.

The white haired sannin had taught him how to use one of the strongest jutsus in the world and because of that man Sasuke and Kakashi were alright now. He had told Tsunade to come back to the village and she was the one who healed his two team mates. He was even more surprised with the abilities of the frog tamer. He was able to scare Uchiha Itachi away, while both Kakashi and Sasuke were defeated easily. And to think that he was willing to train him for a while.

He was hoping to find the white haired pervert again, so that the man could train him. It wasn't as if he had something better to do at the moment anyways and the training he was doing on his own wasn't very helpful. In order to get stronger he needed to become faster, stronger and more intelligent. A few more jutsus would help too.

He had even gone to the hot springs in the village this morning in order to find him, but he wasn't even there. 'Where could that pervert be? The last time I saw him was when he was with the old hag, Maybe she would know where he is. Or better yet, maybe she could teach me some things, like that super strength. That would certainly come in handy.' Naruto then imagined himself with superhuman strength while beating the shit out of Sasuke.

Making up his mind, he decided to go to the new hokage. He started walking towards the tower of the hokage and put a huge smile on his face. Maybe something good would happen. He would do anything to become stronger. He needed power to become hokage and to protect his important people.

That group of important people had been growing a lot lately. It wasn't a long time ago since he was completely alone in the world, but he had come a long way already. His first real friend was the sandaime. The old man had helped him out of the orphanage, because they hated the boy there. He had gone so far to give him his own apartment and he had helped him into the ninja academy as well. Without him he would have never come this far.

A sad expression came upon his face now. The old man was no longer alive. He had died in order to protect the village. He could still remember how hard it was to keep his tears inside on the funeral. Even now his tears threatened to fall while thinking about the death of his first real friend. 'Don't worry old man. I will continue what you started.'

The third hokage was one of his reasons to become hokage in the first place. Sure, he wanted to get the title in order to get acknowledgment from the people, but more than that he wanted to become like the old man. He had given his life to protect his friends and his family and Naruto wanted to become the same. Ever since the man saved Naruto from the loneliness, the boy wanted to do the same for other people. He wanted to be there for them. Nobody should have to go through the same thing as him. That's why he wanted to become hokage. To protect everyone from harm and the loneliness.

He suddenly had to think about Sakura. She was his team mate and she was one of the strongest girls he had ever seen. Although physical strength wasn't her forte, her intelligence made her even more dangerous.

The pink haired girl had a special place in his heart. Ever since he had first seen her crying in the park one day, he had liked her. Just as him the girl had always been bullied in her younger days. Not because she had a monster in her body, but because people thought that she had a big forehead. Naruto didn't get it. He actually liked her big forehead, because that could only mean more brains right? But what made him angry was that people were being bullied for such stupid reasons. It just wasn't fair.

And then there was that day that he had transformed into Sasuke after they had become genin. Naruto found out a lot that day. Sakura had told him that she was searching for acknowledgment. Although she had told him that while he was transformed, it didn't make a difference for him. That moment changed everything for the boy. He then understood that they were a lot alike. Both were searching for acknowledgment and acceptance. Since that day he realised something. He liked her and he wanted to be there for her, to protect her from evil and to always keep her safe from harm.

Naruto's face fell now, because he knew that the pink haired girl didn't like him in that way. In the past every time that he tried to ask her out she ended up saying that he was being annoying. That hurt him a lot, because he really wanted to be with her. And to make it worse, the girl seemed to like his biggest rival.

But lately the girl slowly opened up to him. She actually began talking to him and she didn't call him annoying as often as before. And just yesterday she was actually being nice to him. He didn't understand why, but she smiled at him numerous times and it made him feel all warm inside. And he didn't want to lose that warm feeling.

The tower of the hokage finally came into sight and a smile came upon his face. He just hoped that the old hag knew where the pervert was. That lazy sannin was probably just enjoying the weather somewhere while peeking on girls.

Finally reaching the tower of the hokage, he started to walk up the stairs. This was always the hardest part, because the hokage had chosen to get a room at the top of the tower. There seemed to come no end to those dreaded stairs. He was almost halfway there when he suddenly saw someone coming his way. A smile came upon his face when he saw who it was.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled while waving his hands in the air.

The lazy boy had to put his hands in his ears to damp the sound a bit. He didn't understand why the boy had to scream while they were so close. Shaking his head, he made his way towards the hyperactive boy. "Yo, Naruto."

Naruto started grinning until he suddenly noticed something about the boy. He was wearing different clothes than last time. "What's with the green jacket, Shikamaru?"

The genius looked down and saw what the boy meant. He started to smile, because he knew that Naruto wasn't going to like this. "Oh, nothing important really. It's just a chuunin jacket."

"Oh ok." Naruto said with a smile on his face. He was about to walk past the boy when he suddenly stopped.

Shikamaru sighed. 'Here it comes, how troublesome.'

Naruto quickly turned around and faced the lazy boy with an unbelieving expression on his face "What? Are you saying that you are a chuunin!?"

Shikamaru just shook his head. "I know that you aren't the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but you aren't that dense, are you?"

When he saw that Naruto was becoming very confused, he let out a sigh of frustration. He really thought that that sentence wasn't so hard to figure out. "Yeah, although it is very troublesome, I have become a chuunin."

Naruto couldn't believe it. How could that lazy bastard have become a chuunin, while he was still a genin? The guy had given up in the finals of the chuunin exams and he had won his match against the hyuuga prodigy. So why had he become a chuunin?

He turned to the lazy chuunin with a frown on his face. "When did you become a chuunin?"

"About a week ago, I think. Although I still haven't had to do any missions." Shikamaru answered while closing his eyes. He really just wanted to get away from here. Why did he have to run into Naruto out of all people? Just his luck. As if a cranky hokage wasn't enough for one day.

Naruto was still in denial. "But why did they make you chuunin, Shikamaru? You gave up in the finals and you are as lazy as hell. What did they see in you?"

Shikamaru wasn't sure himself, because he didn't think that he was ready for the job yet. He knew that he had the brains, but he was afraid that he was lacking the power. "They said that my strategic insight was perfect. And that seemed to be an important trait for a chuunin or something."

Naruto started to pout now. He knew that he had a lot of power, but he missed the intelligence to become a chuunin. Putting a smile on his face, he stretched out his hand. "Well, congratulations, you have earned it, Shikamaru!"

The black haired chuunin didn't know what hit him. Wasn't this the same boy who he had known for a long time? He was sure that the boy was going to freak out on him, but here he was holding out his hand to congratulate him. Shrugging, he shook Naruto's hand with a smile on his face. "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem, Shikamaru!" Naruto nearly screamed with a smile on his face. "You'll be a chick magnet now with that chuunin outfit, you know. It looks good on you and girls like men with power." Naruto started to smile very mischievously now.

"Don't you know how troublesome those girls are? My mom is bad enough, but Ino is even worse. Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't want to get involved with them." Shikamaru said with a boring look on his face. He was hoping that the boy would finally shut up.

Naruto didn't know what was up with that guy in front of him. He seemed to have a dislike for girls. That couldn't be right? Girls were the most beautiful beings in the whole word. Okay, that wasn't true. Sakura was the most beautiful being in the world. One thought about the pink haired girl made him go to heaven.

Shikamaru didn't know what was going on, but the boy in front of him had a dreamy look on his face and to make it ever worse: he was drooling. Turning around, he began walking down the stairs. He didn't even want to know what he was thinking about and this was the only chance he was getting to escape. Using all of his ninja training, he went down the stairs in utmost silence. 'Sorry, Naruto, but I have other less troublesome things to do.'

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a loud noise. He was sure that it sounded like glass shattering. "What was that Shika…" The boy wasn't there anyone. How long had he been daydreaming about Sakura? Shrugging, he started climbing the stairs. He was sure that the sound came from upstairs.

That's when it hit him. The hokage was on the top floor and he knew that the hokage had a lot of enemies. The sound of glass breaking could only mean one thing. The old hag was being attacked! He increased his speed and ran up the stairs. Luckily he was in good shape or else this would have taken a lot out of him.

Thoughts of Tsunade being killed began appearing in his mind and tears began to form in his eyes. He couldn't lose another important people. Raising his speed even more, he finally reached the door. Opening it, he quickly ran through the long hallway, leading to her chamber. 'Please be okay, baa-chan.'

Getting a kunai in his hand, he quickly opened the door to her room with a swift motion. He jumped inside and quickly looked around. Inside he found a very confused and nervous Shizune, an irritated hokage and a broken window. "Where is the assassin, old hag?"

Tsunade gave her apprentice a confused look before turning to the young blonde. "What the hell are you talking about, Naruto? Have you been eating too much candy again?!"

Naruto was confused. There was nobody in the room but the two women in front of him, but the broken window was strange and why weren't they shaken from the attack. "I heard the glass break. That's the way the assassin entered the room, right? I can't see him anymore, so you must have killed him already."

This confused the two ladies even more. Shizune walked over to the godaime with a confused look on her face. "What is Naruto-kun talking about, Tsunade-sama? Do you think that he hit his head again?"

"I don't know, but it seems like he is being bratty and weird again." Tsunade replied with a frown on her face.

Then it hit her. He just thought that they were attacked, because he heard glass break. A smile came upon her face. They boy was a true ninja, although he didn't act like one most of the time. And she could see that the boy really cared about her too. "Naruto, don't worry. There's no assassin."

That got his attention. Turning to the hokage with a surprised look on his face, he could see the smile on her face. "What are you talking about, old hag?"

When he saw that she started to laugh a bit, he got a funny feeling in his stomach. He just called her an old hag two times and she didn't get angry at him. That couldn't be right. Suddenly an idea hit him. He could still remember how the enemies transformed into him to get the scroll during the chuunin exams. This being in front of him wasn't Tsunade, it was an enemy!

He ran towards the impostor with a confident smile on his face. Kunai in hand, he was ready to strike. Tsunade opened her eyes and saw the boy running towards her with his kunai. Her eyes widened and she quickly gathered some chakra in her hand. "What are you doing, Naruto?!"

"What do you think? I am going to defeat you and make you tell me where the real hokage is!" Naruto screamed while trying to cut the impostor with his weapon.

Dodging every blow, Tsunade was getting more confused and angry. What the hell was wrong with the kid? She was about to dodge another slash when she suddenly couldn't move her left hand anymore. Glancing to her side, she saw that her hand was being held by another Naruto. "He made kage bunshin too?"

A vein appeared on her head. She was starting to get very irritated now. She had other things to do and her sake was waiting for her. Shizune had made a rule that she could only drink her sake after work, so she had to get her work done quickly, but with Naruto being so stupid, she couldn't get a thing done. "Naruto, if you don't stop now, I am going to have to hurt you."

When the boy didn't stop, the woman used her monstrous strength to kill the clone. Naruto saw this too and took a step back. The woman began running towards him and was about to hit him when suddenly Shizune jumped on top of him, knocking him on the head while doing it. "Stop it, Tsunade-sama; you don't want to kill him, do you? How many times have I told you to control yourself when you get angry?

The busty blond stopped and calmed herself down. "I am sorry, Shizune, you are right." She then turned to the boy beneath her and gave him a glare. Naruto was sure that she was emitting a lot of killer intent and he knew that he was done for. "And as for you, I am not an impostor, you squirt! That stupid sensei of yours was being a pervert again, so I threw him out of the window! And why did you have to jump to conclusions, young man. If Shizune hadn't interrupted, I could have caused you some serious harm! "

Naruto's eyes widened and a blush formed on his face. How could he have been so stupid? The title of chuunin seemed very far away right now. "Sorry, I really thought that you were someone else. I wanted to show off my strength and I was kind of pissed that Shikamaru had become a chuunin. So I didn't think straight. Please forgive me, old hag!"

Tsunade sighed and sat down on her seat again. Why did she come back to this village again? First that Shikamaru was being a pain in the ass and now this too. Sighing, she shook her head. 'I really need my sake right now.'

"Shizune, get off of him. I think that he has learned his lesson for now." The black haired woman complied and stood up again, helping the boy up while doing so. Tsunade then turned to the boy who still looked a bit dazed. "Let this be a lesson to never call me an old hag again and if you ever do something like this again, I will make sure that you won't ever become hokage, you got that!"

"But you promised me that I would become hokage." When he saw the vein on her forehead and the glare she was giving him, he shut up. Walking over to a chair, he sat down with a slight frown on his face.

Tsunade saw the pouting boy and couldn't help but smile. Somehow she couldn't stay angry at the boy. "You weren't doing too well there, kid. Maybe you should use this time to train, because you still got a long way to go before becoming hokage." She knew that this would only infuriate the boy, but he could use the motivation. Although she would never say this to anyone, she really loved the boy like a mother would love her son.

Naruto's face dropped even more now. Tsunade was afraid that she had hit a sensitive spot and was about to say something when the boy jerked his head up. "That's the very reason I am here, hag. I was searching for Ero-sennin. You just pushed him out of the window, so do you have any idea where he is?"

Tsunade, still a bit taken back by the boy's reply, started to frown. Just thinking about that stupid pervert made her mad. Why couldn't he just act normal for a change? Maybe then they could have a regular conversation. But she knew that it was too much to ask. "I am sorry, Naruto, but he will be out of the village for a while."

"Aww, where did he go?" Naruto asked with a disappointed expression on his face. He was really looking forward to training with the frog tamer.

The blonde sighed and turned her chair to look out of her window. "I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you. It is a classified mission. The only thing I can tell you is that he will probably come back in three or four months."

"That long! That sucks." The boy then started thinking while placing his elbows on his knees and placing his chin on the palms of his hands. "Can you train me for a while then?"

Tsunade was taken back by his request, but she also knew that the boy didn't have the chakra control he needed to learn medical ninjutsu. And hell, it was his only vacation in the year. He just needed to relax at a time like this. "I'm sorry, but I have other things to do. And you should just enjoy your vacation. Aren't there any other people who you can bug?"

When she saw the downtrodden face of the boy, she became a bit sad. Had she said something wrong? Shizune saw this too and walked over to the boy. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she gave him a warm smile. "What's wrong, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed and replaced his sad expression by a happy one, although everyone could see that it was forced. "All of my friends are out of the village or too busy with work. So I have nothing to do in my vacation. I was hoping for someone to train me, but I guess that training is off the list too."

Tsunade sighed and walked over to the boy. "Just take some time off and relax, Naruto. A vacation is meant to enjoy."

Naruto puffed and let his head fall down. "I guess so. But what is there to do around here?"

"Well, you could go to the hot springs and you could go to the movies. There is a festival in the border town just north of Konoha too. So I could give you permission to go there one day. There is so much to do. Just because your friends aren't here, doesn't mean that you can't enjoy yourself." The old lady answered with a soft smile on her face.

The boy nodded, but even Tsunade could see that he wasn't feeling any better. 'Doesn't she understand that I don't want to be alone anymore? I have to get back to that lonely apartment every night and all of those years without friends have been bad enough.' He was about to stand up when he heard knocking on her door.

Tsunade sat back down and let out a sigh. Why couldn't those people just leave her alone for a while? She still had a lot to do. After telling the boy in front of her to keep quiet, she turned to the door with her poker face. Being a gambler had its advantages sometimes. "Enter!"

The door opened, revealing a pretty tall and muscular man with brown hair and green eyes. Naruto figured that he was forty years old or something. The man didn't look like a ninja and he had never seen him before. 'Probably someone from out the village.' He walked towards the desk and bowed. "Sorry for interrupting, Tsunade-sama."

Naruto could see that the hokage got a smile on her face, so she had to know the man. "Welcome Ichigo, how are you today?"

The man sat down on the empty chair and gave the woman a handshake. "I'm great, thank you. So were you able to find someone for me, Tsunade-sama?"

The blonde sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to find someone for you. All the active genin are already busy with missions. It's too bad that there are so many talented genin having their vacation at the moment."

Ichigo sighed, but held the smile on his face nonetheless. "Don't worry. I know that you tried your best for me. It's not that I can't do it alone." He was about to stand up when a voice stopped him.

"Baa-chan, where are you guys talking about?"

Tsunade sighed. She had told the boy to keep quiet, but of course he wouldn't listen to her. Was here ever a time that he did…Sighing she turned to the boy. "This man here is the owner of the biggest weapon shop of Konoha. I am surprised that you haven't seen him before. You must have bought some weapons from his shop. But he needs to go to 'Karakuri village' to give some people an important object. These people are famous for their aggressive nature, so he asked me for someone to escort him. But we don't have any ninjas to spare."

Naruto suddenly started to smile and this confused the blonde a bit. "Then why don't you give the mission to me. I don't have anything else to do and I could use the money. I'm just bored out here anyways, so I could use this vacation to make some money. What do you say, baa-chan?"

Tsunade was lost in thought for a while, before looking the boy in the eyes. "Are you sure about this, Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm sure baa-chan. I just want to do something useful for the village." Naruto replied with a serious look on his face.

Tsunade sighed, but nodded and turned to the weapon maker. "I can't change his mind anymore. Are you okay with this, Ichigo? He is one of the strongest genin in the village and I believe in him. And it is his vacation right now, so you could feel honoured that he wants to go with you."

Ichigo turned to the boy and gave him a confident smile of his own. "You look kind of weak, are you sure that you have what it takes, kid?"

Naruto stood up and pointed his finger towards the brown haired man. "You don't know how great I am, do you! I am the man who is going to become hokage no matter what. The strongest man in the whole village! Ask baa-chan over there. I am sure that she agrees with me."

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh when he heard that and saw the boy's face. "I don't know about your strength, but you sure are confident and you've got guts. I'll give you that. You know what. I like you, kid. I think that you will be more than enough to come with me."

Naruto didn't like the part where he doubted his power, but he was still happy that the man complimented him for his confidence. A smile came upon his face and he started to grin. "You know your stuff, old man!"

"I'm not old, young man. I'm not even forty yet." Ichigo replied with a smile on his face.

Tsunade just looked at the two and couldn't help but smile at the exchange. They only just met and they were already acting this familiar. "Well, looks like you guys get along well. Okay, I accept. Naruto your mission is to protect him and to help him with anything he asks. I expect to see you back at the end of the week, okay?"

Turning to the woman, he started grinning and made some kind of mock salute. "I'll keep the man safe from harm. I promise!" Seeing the reaction of the hokage, he smiled and turned to the man next to him. "Looks like you're stuck with me. The name's Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet ya!" He then stretched out his hand, waiting for the reply.

The man hesitated for a few seconds, before shaking his hand. "Kuroi Ichigo, nice to meet you too. I will be leaving in an hour, so if you can be there at the gates by then?"

Releasing the man's hand, he walked to the door of the room. "Sure thing, I am going to get my stuff and then I'll be right there. Don't leave without me, Kuroi-san."

"Call me Ichigo. Kuroi-san makes me sound so damn old."

Naruto nodded and left the room. When he noticed that Ichigo wasn't coming after him, he figured that he was going to talk with the hokage. Closing the door, he started to make his way down the stairs again. He had completely forgotten about them. He still had a long way to go. He suddenly lost his step and rolled down some stairs. "That hurt!"

After missing his step an additional three times, he finally exited the tower with a few bruises. Sometimes it wasn't handy to be so clumsy. He ran to his apartment and entered his home through the window. Grabbing his backpack, he started to get ready for the trip. He grabbed some kunai and shuriken, his swimming pants, a spare set of clothes, some scrolls to keep him busy and some food and water.

Looking outside, he saw that the weather was becoming better and better, so he decided to change into something more suited for warm weather. Putting his orange jumpsuit on his bed, he put on an orange shirt with some red letters on it. He cursed when he saw that he didn't have orange shorts, so he had to put on black ones. They reached to just under his knees. He decided to wear his usual ninja sandals, because they would be walking for a long time.

Closing his backpack, he still felt like something was missing. Glancing around the room, he finally saw what he had almost forgotten. He jumped onto his bed and reached out to get the picture that was standing on his nightstand. His lips curled into a smile when he saw the pouting Sasuke and him, the grinning Kakashi, and the beautiful Sakura.

Somehow he wanted to have that picture close to him. It reminded him of his bonds and he was able to see Sakura every time he wanted. Bringing his fingers to the picture, he touched the piece were the pink haired girl was. 'She's smiling so cute here. I wonder how she is doing. I hope that she is enjoying her vacation with her parents. You don't know how much I love you, Sakura-chan. But I don't know if I am ever going to tell you, because I don't want to lose you as a friend. You just mean too much to me.'

Putting the picture in his backpack as well, he looked at his clock. He still had thirty minutes left. He started to smile, because that meant that he still had enough time to get something to eat. Leaving the apartment with a smile on his face, he started to sing: "Ramen, ramen, ramen!"

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After eating six bowls of shrimp ramen, he finally reached the gates of Konoha and he was surprised to find Ichigo already waiting for him. The man was holding something in his hands and there was a bag next to him as well. It looked like a white cloth, but something seemed to be wrapped inside of it. "Hey, Ichigo!"

"Took you long enough, Naruto. Well, let's hurry!" Ichigo replied with a smile on his face.

Naruto closed in on the man and couldn't keep his eyes off the white cloth. Being the curious boy that he was, he couldn't make the trip without knowing what it was. "So, what do you have there?"

Looking down, Ichigo saw that the boy was pointing to the object in his hand. "Oh this!"

He started to remove the white cloth with utmost accuracy and it revealed to be a long sword which was completely white. Even the handle was white and it had the form of a dragon. It was the most beautiful sword he had ever seen in his life. "That's beautiful, Ichigo! Did you make that one?"

Wrapping the white cloth around the sword again, he smiled at the boy. "Yeah, I finished it just two days ago and it took me a long time to complete. I think that the person, who is going to wield this sword, will be a happy man. Well, we should be going, Naruto. If you could carry the bag next to me, then I will carry the sword."

Naruto nodded and picked up the bag. "Sure, that's easy enough. But can't I carry the sword? It looks so cool!"

Ichigo started walking towards his destination and glanced over his shoulder to see a grinning Naruto. "Sorry, but I don't trust anyone with this sword. It was really hard to make, you know."

Naruto pouted before smiling. "You're no fun!"

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh. He got the feeling that this was going to be an interesting journey. Somehow he got a good feeling with this kid. It was as if they had known each other for years. When he saw that Naruto was a bit ahead of him already, he increased his pace. "Don't walk so fast. I'm not as young as I used to be anymore, you know."

Naruto just smiled and continued to walk. His mind was still on the pink haired girl he was missing so badly. 'I can't wait to see your smiling face again, Sakura-chan. I will look forward to it.'

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AN: Thanks for the great reviews guys. I hadn't expected this story to be so popular. 17 reviews in two chapters. I really love you guys:D

I did it again guys. I got you a long chapter, even without much NaruSaku. This chapter is Naruto based and there wasn't much NaruSaku in it. So it can be quite boring, but I tried to make it good anyway. Naruto was thinking about her, but she's not there, so I couldn't get you any fluff. Don't worry, you'll get it soon enough. Next chapter will have a NaruSaku moment and then the fun begins. I hope that I kept Tsunade a bit in character. She is one of my favs and is just like an older Sakura. And I hope that you like Ichigo. He will play a role in the coming chapters as well.

I hope to have the next chapter soon. I have to work tomorrow and it is my birthday the day after, but I will try to finish it today and tomorrow.

Please keep on reviewing, because it means a lot to me. One of the reviews from before showed me that I made some mistakes and I feel that I made my story better because of it. So review and tell me if you have some ideas. I might insert them in my story. And again, I didn't proofread it, so there will probably be some grammar and spelling mistakes, but please tell me if you find a big one.