I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND/OR THE CHARACTERS

Sakura's Concern

Tenten was training with her teammates and Neji still couldn't believe how Tenten's mood was affected by Naruto. Being himself, he kept his thoughts a secret as he observed the two of them interacting.

"Okay, that's enough," Guy said. "Go and rest, that way you can recharge your youthfulness."

Tenten left shaking her head at Guy and Lee's antics.

"Those two will never change," she thought. "Oh, well, I've got a date with Naruto tonight."

As she made her way to her home to get ready, she bumped into Sakura coming from the hospital.

"Hey, how's it going," Tenten asked.

"Fine," Sakura said forcing a smile. "Where are you off to?"

"Oh, I have a date with Naruto tonight."

"Another one?"

"Yes," Tenten said after hearing a hint of jealousy in Sakura's voice.

Ever since Tenten began taking steps to bring her and Naruto into more of a relationship by taking what they had public, she sensed some animosity from Sakura.

"You two seem to be getting along well," Sakura said.

"Yeah, he's great to be with. Well, I gotta go, I have a lotta preparing to do. He just loves it when I wear my hair a certain way."

Naruto didn't really care but Tenten felt the need to rub it in Sakura's face.

"Bitch," Sakura thought. "Bye, Tenten."

"Bye, Sakura."

Kin was at Anko's house talking about her favorite guy.

"So, what are you going to do about Ino and Tenten?"

"I don't know," Kin answered. "Ino and I have acknowledged each other as competing for his heart but Tenten has the head start over both of us."

"What you need to do is make yourself stand out."

"How," Kin asked.

"I don't know but you have to make him see something in you that the other girls don't have."

Kin thought about her mentor's words in regards to how to make Naruto her and hers alone, elsewhere, Moegi and Hanabi were talking about the recent events, Hinata, in particular.

"She definitely did something," Hanabi said. "That's the only thing that could make Kiba and Naruto this mad at each other."

"But your sister isn't like that," Moegi said. "This is the girl that stepped aside to let Sakura do what she did to him we're talking about here."

"That may be the case but how would you feel if you had to look at the person you love without being able to do something about for as long as she has," Hanabi said astutely. "Something had to give and it may have been her giving it to Naruto."

"You've been working on that, haven't you?" Moegi asked.

"Could you tell?"

"You were forcing it a little," Moegi said with a smile.

"Anyway, I think Kin might be up to something," Hanabi said. "You think?"

"I don't know, maybe. It's not like I know her like that."

"Did you see her face when Naruto walked in that night? I knew Ino and Tenten were trying their hands with him but I think she may be too."

"Or it could've been his horrifically damaged face," Moegi said.

"Trust me, that was a look of genuine concern like Ino, Tenten, my sister and that other one had on their faces. Not like Kurenai, Shizune, and Anko-sensei had on theirs."

"I guess but I have to run," Moegi said getting ready to leave. "We have training today, bye."

"Bye."

As Moegi left, she had one thought.

"My birthday's coming up and I'll be 18 soon," Moegi thought. "Maybe I'll be able to make him see me as a woman."

Tsunade was in her office when Naruto and Kiba were brought before her by Jiraiya and Kakashi after having gotten into another fight.

"What happened now?" Tsunade asked.

Kiba was walking through the village when he caught a whiff of Naruto's scent, he looked up to find Naruto walking his way. Naruto noticed him and the two locked eyes as they approached each other, everything was okay until someone bumped into Naruto as they passed each other. Naruto bumped into Kiba and another brawl ensued between the two of them.

"Look, I understand the tensions brought on between the two of you," she said as she healed their faces. "But I have to ask, will this get in the way of your duties as a shinobi?"

"No," they said as they glared at each other.

"I have your word?"

"Yes."

"Good, you're dismissed, Kiba."

"Yes, ma'am."

On the way out, he pushed Naruto who had to be restrained.

"I'm really getting tired of you," Naruto screamed as his masters held him back.

"Quiet, Naruto," Tsunade said. "And don't you push it, Kiba."

Naruto calmed down as Kiba finally left, she watched out of her window to make sure he was out of the range of his enhanced dog like hearing.

"Now, what did you do?" Tsunade asked Naruto.

"I didn't do anything," Naruto said.

"That's not what you told him," Jiraiya said. "He told him that he took a run at Hinata."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Tsunade asked. "I thought you knew better than that."

"I just said that to keep Hinata from looking bad."

"What?"

"Well, she came by and we talked, then she told me how she used to like me but took a step back and started dating Kiba when she thought that Sakura and I would get together but when…" Naruto trailed off as what Sakura did was still a tender subject for him to discuss. "Well, she was already dating Kiba when I was back on the market then she kissed me because she never thought she'd get the chance again."

"I see, he must've caught your scent on her afterwards," Jiraiya said.

"Seems that way," Tsunade said. "Well, it was nice of you to protect her honor like that."

"That's one reason I told him that," Naruto admitted.

"What was the other?" Kakashi asked.

"I wanted to let him blow off some steam and make up for not stopping the kiss."

"Well, that explains why you purposely took the worse of that fight," Kakashi said. "I could tell you weren't fighting that hard. Unlike just now."

"Well, between that and your two other little girlfriends," Tsunade said. "You've become somewhat of a ladies man."

"Yeah, I don't understand it either," Naruto said. "Why me all of the sudden?"

"That's easy, you have something other guys don't," Tsunade said.

"Ew, Grandma," Naruto said in disgust. "I don't want to hear you talk about my you know what."

"Boy, I've given a physical before," she said. "And don't call me Grandma. I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about listening skills."

"Really?"

"Yeah, whenever I came to visit you at your home and we spoke, you actually listen to me instead of looking at my breasts like most men do. Here's an example, come here Jiraiya."

"Yeah?"

"Today, I snuck off to the local gambling parlor and I lost a few mon…"

Jiraiya stood in front of her and she began to speak but all he did was look at her breasts.

"Now, repeat what I just said," she asked after she was finished telling him about her day.

"Something about your darn bra being too tight and how you'd love for someone to rub ice cold ointment on them for some soothing relief."

"You know, if wasn't proving a point I'd choke you," she said in annoyance. "Then there are guys like Kakashi who aren't paying attention half of the time.

"Hm?" Kakashi asked. "I'm sorry were you saying something?"

"See?"

"Oh, so that's it?" Naruto asked. "Well, at least I know now."

"What are you going to do about your current situation with Kiba? This needs to be resolved before it goes on any further."

"As soon as I figure out a way to do it without making Hinata look bad, I will."

"You could…" Jiraiya began before Tsunade cut him off.

"What'd I tell you about giving him guidance?"

"Only when it comes to being a shinobi," Jiraiya recited.

"Only when it comes to being a shinobi."

Later that night, Naruto was on his date with Tenten, they went to a fancy restaurant she suggested after hearing they had pretty decent ramen. She wore the outfit and jewelry he bought her for giving him her flower, as they were being shown to their table, the ran into Sasuke and Sakura who were out on the rare night he wasn't taking lives as an ANBU and she wasn't saving them at the hospital.

"Naruto?" Sakura said as they almost passed without noticing.

"Oh, hey, Sakura" Naruto said. "I didn't even see you guys there. What's going on, Sasuke?"

"Naruto, Tenten," Sasuke greeted.

"How are you, Sasuke, Sakura?" Tenten greeted back.

"Oh, we're just here for a night out on the town seeing as we don't have anything to do tonight," Sakura said.

"So, how's the food here?" Naruto asked. "Tenten said they have pretty decent ramen."

"It's not as good as Ichiraku's," Sasuke said. "Their sushi is better."

"Hey, I have an idea," Sakura said. "Why don't you guys join us?"

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked her. "I don't mind."

"Do you mind?" Naruto asked Tenten.

"Oh, I'm sure Sasuke wants some alone time with her," Tenten said trying to maintain her own alone time with Naruto.

"I'm okay with it if she is," he said.

"Son of bitch," she thought behind a smile. "Okay, then."

They joined the couple and their date became a double date, despite the slight tension between Sakura and Tenten, it was enjoyable as Naruto told them stories with Sasuke who seemed to loosened up a bit.

"So, I make this big grand entrance announcing my arrival to Zabuza and Haku," Naruto said as they all laughed. "Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke are like 'What the hell is he doing?'"

"Then we thought that everything would be okay as long as he stayed outside of the dome of mirrors," Sasuke added. "I don't know how he got that fast but one minute he was outside the next he was inside with me and had gotten himself trapped too."

They all laughed at Naruto's childhood antics as a shinobi.

"Hey, you remember the Valley of The End?" Naruto asked.

"Valley of the End?" Tenten asked confused. "Oh, you mean when Sasuke left?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Sasuke asked confused.

"Well, you remember earlier at the hospital when you said that I couldn't lay a scratch on your forehead protector?"

"Yeah?"

"Then when at the valley when you were coming at me with your Chidori and I was coming at you with my Rasengan?"

"Yeah?"

"Well," Naruto began to say to everyone. "There we are charging at each other, I'm using some of the fox's chakra and he has his Curse Mark amped up a bit. We have our two most powerful attacks aimed at each other then I start to thinking 'This is Sasuke, he's basically my brother. I can't Rasengan him' so I let the Rasengan go and I ended up putting the aforementioned scratch on his forehead protector while he gives me the Chidori to the chest. He's thinking I'm dead or, at least incapacitated and leaves, what he didn't know is that I could hear him still. You remember what you said?"

"No," Sasuke said. "It was so long ago."

"You said, 'I can't believe he scratched my forehead protector." Naruto said as they began laughing.

"I did?"

"Yeah, if I wasn't dying, I'd have been laughing in your face."

"Hey, I'm sorry about the Chidori to the chest," Sasuke said after laughing.

"Yeah, man," Naruto said still laughing a little. "That shit hurt."

"Uh, think I'm going to make a run to the ladies room," Sakura said.

"I'll come with you," Tenten said as she followed her to the bathroom.

They got to the bathroom and began checking themselves out in the mirror.

"So, who are things between you and Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Great," Tenten said. "He's as sweet as can be and a great joy to be around, how 'bout you and Sasuke?"

"Wonderful as always," Sakura said. "Look at this new necklace he bought me."

"It's nice," Tenten replied.

At the table, Naruto and Sasuke were just waiting for them to come back, for some reason, he began to think about Jiraiya.

"I wonder where Pervy Sage is," he said to Sasuke.

"I don't know," Sasuke replied.

"He's probably at a sake tasting party," Naruto said.

Jiraiya was at sake tasting party at the home of the local sake maker.

"Damn," Jiraiya said after taking a sip. "This is some good ass sake."

Back at the restaurant, Naruto came to realization.

"Oh, no."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"He's gonna be mad if they didn't tell him how good the sake was," Naruto said.

Back at the party, an angry Jiraiya walked up the sake maker.

"How come you didn't tell me how good the sake was, huh, motherfucker?"

Jiraiya slapped him, that's when one of the other guests came up to check on the situation.

"What are you looking at, you Nobunaga Oda looking motherfucker?" Jiraiya asked before giving him a slap as well. "You should've told me how good the sake was."

In the ladies room, Tenten and Sakura were continuing their conversation.

"If there's one thing I'm glad for," Sakura said. "It's that I don't have to compete for Sasuke any more, I have my man all to myself."

"There's no competition," Tenten said as Sakura's meaning wasn't lost on her. "I'm one hundred percent positive that he'll be happier with me than he could possibly be with any other woman in the world. I mean, it's not like I'm just going to drop him to the side the minute I think someone better shows up or comes back."

At the table, Naruto and Sasuke continued to talk and their conversation went over to the women they were with for the evening.

"So, you're dating Tenten too?" Sasuke asked. "You're doing well for yourself."

"Hey, man, there's nothing wrong with a few friends, right?"

"Still, even I was a little concerned about you after the way things went down."

"Yeah, well, it's not like you did anything but I think I just got over it," Naruto said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, even just a few hours ago, I'd have found some reason to avoid Sakura but I didn't think anything of it when she invited us to sit down."

"Good for you, by the way," Sasuke said. "I know about you and Kin."

"You do?" Naruto said. "How?"

"I caught her coming out of your house as my ANBU squad and I were on patrol."

"Well, don't tell anybody, I don't think anyone knows about her other than Ino and I don't think she knows what level Kin and I are on."

"Right," Sasuke said.

"What about you and Sakura?" Naruto asked. "When should I start buying wedding gifts?"

"Things are going okay."

"Just okay?" Naruto asked. "I thought you two were love dovey."

"Yeah, well, sometimes it feels like something's a little off about our relationship," Sasuke confessed.

"Really, what?"

"I don't know but I just chalk it up to being in a long-term relationship."

Sakura and Tenten eventually came back and they continued their date until the two couples went their separate ways for the evening. Tenten and Naruto went on a nice moonlit stroll through the village.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked Naruto.

"Nothing," he answered. "Just enjoying being here with you."

His answer earned him a kiss from her on the cheek, after they walked through the village, they headed for his home for the evening. Over the next few days, Sakura watched as Naruto was juggling the three women after Kin made her move and went on a date with him and grew increasingly frustrated, especially when she saw Temari's subtle affections for him when she came to visit the village. One day, she was sent to his house to deliver a message from the hokage, she knocked on his door to find him home alone to her surprise.

"Hey, Sakura," he said. "Come on in."

"I came with a message from Lady Tsunade," she said as she entered his house. "She wants you to report to her office for a mission tomorrow."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he said. "I was about to make something to eat, you want to join me?"

"Uh, sure," she said. "I haven't eaten yet. Wait, it's not ramen, is it?"

"No, I've learned that the ladies aren't as big a fan of ramen as I am, so I've begun to appreciate other dishes."

They talked as he made their food, they ate and she found that it was very good.

"Wow, Naruto, this is delicious."

"Thanks."

She looked around and saw that he had some new decorations in his house.

"Where'd you get these flowers?" she asked. "I've never seen them in Ino's shop."

"Uh, they're from my garden but she helped me with them, though."

"You have a garden?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?

"No."

She looked around and saw a sword on a rack in his living room with a learning scroll next to it and a wind chime in his door that she figured that was from Tenten and Kin, this all made her feelings well up inside her and she had to ask him something.

"Naruto, don't you think all of these girls all around you may be a bit much?"

"What?" he asked confused.

"I mean, do you think all of these girls chasing after you is good for you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I'm concerned about you, that's all."

Naruto just leaned back in his chair as he took in her words and tried to figure her motives.

"Why are you so concerned?"

"I don't know, it's because maybe they don't like you for you."

"So, what do you want me to do, get rid of them or something?"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt, Naruto."

Naruto's face dropped as he heard what she just said.

"You really didn't just say that, did you?"

"Naruto, I…"

"You don't want to see me get hurt?" he asked. "You have no right to talk to me about that after what you did. The funny thing is that you know what it felt like to be abandoned and you did the same thing to me, you couldn't even give me the courtesy of letting me down easy, could you? I mean, I worshipped the ground you walked on, if you'd have asked me to kill Lady Tsunade, I'd have thought about it."

She surmised that he was serious from him calling her Lady Tsunade instead of Grandma.

"That's how much I was into you, I mean, I missed out on Hinata, a beautiful, kind, and caring woman because I chased after you and when she drew up enough courage to speak to me, she sacrificed her happiness for mine because she thought that we'd end up together. And now that there's happiness staring me in the face, all I have to do is make a choice and you don't want to see me get hurt? Thanks for the concern but fuck you."

His words hit her like a ton of bricks, so hard that she didn't know what to think.

"I didn't know you felt that way, Naruto. I'll leave now."

"Wait," he said. "I didn't mean to say all of that."