A/N: Phew, can you believe I'm already starting to get lazy? This isn't goood! I'll try to update every other day or two days from now on!

But other than that, thank you for the reviews :D

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I'd be happily married to him already! But I obviously don't! :D

Chapter 5

Later that day, Sakura had been forced to join Team 7's little reunion dinner. Though she wasn't really up to going anywhere, she went anyway because she felt that the rest of Team 7 deserved all the little happy moments they can possibly collect, because you never know what could happen when living the life of a ninja.

Sakura went home after training and started to freshen up. She looked at herself for a long time in the mirror, the ever present blank expression on her face. She had a long classic black dress and black high heels. The dress had a slit where her thigh was, to make it easy to move in as well as adding an attractive look to the whole ensemble.

Finally, she decided she'd put on some light pink lip gloss and gray eye shadow, courtesy of Ino, so she wouldn't look too boring. Before leaving the mirror and her house as well, she flipped her long hair to one side onto her shoulder. She figured she looked well enough for this little get together.

Surprisingly enough, they were not going to Ichiraku's this time, no matter how much Naruto had begged. It had been Kakashi's idea to go to a more formal and expensive restaurant.

Naruto and Sasuke were already near the entrance of the restaurant. Kakashi was late, as he had always been; 5 years with his team hadn't affected his punctuality one bit. Sasuke had his usual aloof appearance; however, his face showed a bit of impatience. Naruto's habit of leaning against anything that could support his weight was popping up again. He found the nearest wall to him and assumed his stance; one leg on the wall, arms folded, eyes closed as if he was having an internal conflict within himself. He had been the unusually patient one of the two. He had expected this of Kakashi, but not exactly from Sakura.

The heels had made a lot of noise. Both of the male teammates could practically hear her from a mile away. Slowly, they looked up from their casual demeanor, only to have their mouths hanging slightly open. They've never seen this side of Sakura, and from the way she fidgeted under their stares showed that she was obviously uncomfortable with her closest teammates practically undressing her with their eyes. But of course, she knew neither of them was like that, atleast…she hoped not.

Eventually, both males composed themselves once again and felt a little embarrassed at their naivety. I mean, she's not the first girl I've seen in a dress, Sasuke thought. But she's the first woman, Naruto finished in his own mind.

Sasuke and Naruto weren't too badly dressed themselves, either. Sasuke had a white dress shirt with a black coat and black pants. Naruto, however, seemed to catch Sakura's eyes. He had a full sleeved orange dress shirt with a gray button up vest over and a black tie, along with black pants. His hair still seemed to spike in every which way, but with the same apparel as the Fourth Hokage, he could catch practically every girl's eyes. Somehow, he seems more attractive than before, Sakura found herself thinking.

"You look amazing, Sakura." Naruto finally got a coherent thought and made it into a sentence.

"Uh, thank you…Naruto," she just had to blush at the way he was looking at her; he was still in the same position, except this time, he had his eyes open and was looking at her with such an intensity that she couldn't pull her own eyes away from his. And that damn smirk on his face didn't make his features any less handsome.

Sasuke, on the other hand, made no plans of intruding upon the "soon-to-be married and happily-ever-after couple". Oh, how he desperately wanted Kakashi to show up and save him from this strange uncomforting air that he felt.

Ten minutes of nothing but silence later and with a POOF, Kakashi had made his grand entrance.

"Sorry I'm late guys, a poor kitten was crossing the-"

"Kaka-sensei, save it." Sakura cut him off.

Kakashi chuckled, like he always did when he felt nostalgia, but this time he chuckled at the way that Sakura still kept the childish nickname she always used to call him with. Kakashi was wearing an outfit similar to that of Sasuke's, except he had a navy blue dress shirt and a silver tie, but no coat.

"If everyone is done chatting," Sasuke cut in, "I'd like to sit down and eat now."

Realizing that Sasuke was right after hearing the rumble of their own stomachs, everyone proceeded to go into the restaurant, finding their table and sitting down. The table was round so everyone had a good view of each other else. Sakura and Naruto had unconsciously chosen their seats to be right next to each other; it almost felt like a natural routine to the both of them, as if they've been picking to be right next to each other all their lives.

As they ordered, impatience started growing onto Sakura's face. She sighed, put her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands; a stance that Sasuke often took in their younger days. She closed her eyes and tried to think. But about what? Even she didn't know. Her left eye opened slightly and she glanced at Naruto. He was in his trademark stance, hands behind his head and leaning back into the chair. Apparently he had been looking at Sakura too because they exchanged glances. Sakura quickly looked away, feeling embarrassed that she was caught looking at him; but she would never show what she felt, of course.

The evening dinner somehow naturally fell into a comfortable atmosphere between all of the team members. Kakashi was cracking jokes that seemed to capture a few smiles and smirks from his former students, as they waited for their food to be served.

Finally, the food was served and for some strange reason, the conversations seemed to increase.

"Sensei, how come Sai and Captain Yamato aren't here? Aren't they part of Team 7 now, too?" Naruto asked as he ate.

"Well, they've been assigned a mission just this morning by Tsunade-sama." Kakashi replied dryly, "Apparently, she's been moody lately." Kakashi sighed and sweat-dropped. Naruto didn't even want to imagine the grandma barking orders at every ninja she could get her hands on.

Sakura seemed to space out as she poked at her food. Naruto and Kakashi both noticed this and waited for the other to say something. When neither of them said something, they both miraculously said at the same time, "Sakura, your food is gonna get cold."

Upon realizing what she had been doing, Sakura snapped out of her reverie and looked up to both of them and gave them an apologetic look. Why was Sakura so affected by Naruto, when he was just sitting next to her? She grew angry on the inside; she hated herself for not being able to get over him. But what she didn't know was that Naruto was even more affected by her presence. He was filled with regret and guilt; it had taken him this long to see that Sakura really did love him, and that it wasn't all just confusion in her heart. He so badly wanted to just wrap his arms around her and say, "I'm so sorry for everything, it'll be okay from now on," and just hope that she'll forgive him. But he couldn't risk that, not here, not now.

Kakashi and Sasuke had started a small conversation about battle strategies and were completely unaware of what was going on with the other two people they were here with.

Naruto tried talking to Sakura, "Hey, Sakura."

"Hm?"

"I know it's a bit random to say this and all…but you sure have gotten stronger." Naruto's face softened as he looked at her, trying to read what she was thinking.

A small smile found its way onto Sakura's face.

"I'm glad…you noticed."

Naruto chuckled, "How can I not? You almost broke my leg, remember?" he jokingly accused her by pointing at her with his fork.

"Narutooo, don't be a cry baby now." Sakura almost laughed at his pouting face, but then again, she didn't want to lose her composure.

But he went back to a serious tone, "But Sakura, I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"Why did you change so much?" He was almost scared to look at her face, to see the pain clouding behind her eyes, but he had to.

"You of all people should know why." She quietly whispered, not looking him in the eyes.

Naruto looked down at his plate, "I figured so. But Sakura, I…I'm starting to see what you were trying to say, back then."

Sakura was in shock. What did he mean by that?

"What are you trying to say Naruto?" She asked carefully, trying to hide any signs of hope from entering into her eyes.

"I'm saying…that I shouldn't have done that…that maybe I was just in denial." But he looked up at her once more, with gentle eyes, "I've always believed you," he added softly. "Deep down, I wanted to return those feelings, but…" he took her hand and was a bit sad at the way she stiffened at his touch, "but I didn't want either of us getting hurt. I thought you would go back to Sasuke once I brought him back. I'm sorry Sakura, for waiting this long. Really, I am."

Sakura was at a loss for words. She had heard almost everything she's always wanted to hear from Naruto. But she couldn't bring herself to show her true feelings again. She tried. She wanted to tell him everything, all over again, and this time she knew he'd return everything. But the words lingered in her throat and never left her mouth.

She nodded and took her hand back, looking away from his eyes. She'll wait for a more appropriate time.

Naruto, understanding that she wasn't ready to feel such emotions again, let her hand slip away from his. But next time, he told himself, I won't be letting you slip away from me so easily. Next time, I'll hold onto you forever.

Sasuke and Kakashi had gone outside for a smoke long ago, but it's not like Naruto and Sakura had noticed; they were too busy in their own little world.

Suddenly, a POOF appeared right on their table. Once the smoke cleared away, Sakura recognized that it was Lady Katsuyu, Tsunade's slug that she had made a blood-pact with.

Hurriedly, the snail spoke up, "Sakura-sama! Naruto-kun! Tsunade-sama wants you both to report to her office. It seems an important mission has been brought up, one that specifically needs both of your skills."

Sakura and Naruto quickly stood up, nodding in understanding.

"Please, hurry! It's very important and….and there isn't much time left." Lady Katsuyu continued.

A slight look of worry was seen in both of their eyes as they made quick of their time and ran over to the Hokage's tower.

Naruto and Sakura nearly burst open into Tsunade's office, but had enough common sense to just teleport inside once they could see the tower from where they were.

Tsunade immediately turned her attention to them, knowing that she had little time to explain everything to her two favorite ANBU protégés, although she wasn't allowed to pick favorites, but no one had to know.

Tsunade made no waste of her time, she began briefing them and catching them up with recent events from earlier that day,

"Sakura, Naruto, I need both of you to do an assassination mission. It is strictly A-rank and the only reason I picked both of you is because of your highly skilled teamwork." She looked at them both for a moment, making sure they understood what they were facing with such a mission.

She continued, "You are very, VERY familiar with the person that needs to be assassinated, I'm afraid. But don't worry," She looked over both of them once again, "I'm sure you both would be more than happy to get rid of this person."

Naruto looked confused but decided to let her finish and ask questions later. He knew how to handle assassination missions, but he was surprised at the fact that it was someone they knew; he had never killed a familiar face before. Moreover, Sakura was to go with him, which meant only one thing; the person they were dealing with was known for doing unimaginable damage, seeing that Sakura was the best medic and perfect for that situation.

"This is more than top secret; make sure you two understand that. No one, I mean absolutely no one is to know that you are going on an assassination mission, let alone who it is that you are killing. If it comes down to it, you will even lie to your friends about what kind of mission this is." Tsunade started looking for a file on her desk.

Once she found it, she continued impatiently, "Any questions before you receive your assignment?"

Naruto was the first to speak up, "Exactly why are we in such a hurry?"

"No Naruto, you were in a hurry to get here and get filled in before I tell you what to do next. But this next part doesn't involve you." She looked over at Sakura, "It involves you."

"What do I need to do, shishou?"

"Sakura. Kurenai is…trapped in a difficult genjutsu." Sadness glazed her eyes, "Kurenai, our genjutsu genius is going crazy as we speak!" Her anger at the enemy rose up even more as she spoke this.

"And seeing as you excelled in genjutsu as well, I am asking you to find a way to dispel it as soon as you can." Tsunade took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She knew Sakura could do it; she believed in her student.

"Hai. I will do my best, I assure you of that." And with that Sakura turned to hurry down to the underground sealing room at the hospital.

Naruto received the mission file and was about to turn to leave when Tsunade's voice stopped him.

"Naruto," she looked concerned, "please watch over Sakura during this mission. I feel that she might be in more danger than you."

"B-but why?" Naruto was so extremely close to shouting at Tsunade for sending Sakura with him if she had a higher chance of getting killed than Naruto himself.

"Because she is the one being targeted."

And the plot thickens! Dun, dun dun. Lol jk(: Believe it or not...I'm still trying to work on it more -_- In the meantime, I'm basically making it up as I go along :D

But anyways, thank you guys for the reviews! I really appreciate it and if there are any hints you can give me on how to make it better, please do tell! But I don't really want help with the plot, I need help in writing better stories -_- sighh, this chapter kinda sucked :[

But reviews are appreciated! :D and thanks for taking the time to read this!