Shikamaru slouched in the woods and breathed a sigh of relief, "Relatives are so troublesome."

Temari landed on the ground next to him, "That went well?"

"Before or after you brother introduced me to his puppets?"

Temari chuckled, "I was think more like after my other brother threatened to rip your throat out for not holding the door for me."

Shikamaru subconsciously rubber his throat, "Troublesome."

Temari sat down beside him, "Are you happy?"

Shikamaru looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Temari looked ahead of them watching the sunlight dance on a lake, "Would you be more happy if you were dating Blondie instead of me?"

Shikamaru scoffed, "Ino is way too bossy for me."

"So, you will put up with my brothers?" She casually put her hands on the ground.

Shikamaru put his hand on top of hers, "Everything that has purpose has troublesome times."

---switch---

Naruto looked in front of him and almost shed a tear for the fate of his wallet. He took a deep breathe at Sakura started to drag him into the restaurant. They walked up to a man in a black suit, "Can I help you?"

Sakura smiled, "Yes, reservations for Haruno."

The man looked down and smile, "Oh yes, here we go." He looked up and noticed Sakura's date. "Um, it appears we are full right now. You'll have to come back another time."

"But my reservations."

The man became more stern, "Miss, I apologize but we can't serve certain members of your 'party'."

"WHAT!" Sakura was about to punch the man when she felt a hand of her shoulder. She turned to see Naruto frowning slightly but looking at her with pleading eyes. "Let's just go somewhere else."

"Naruto, I-"

"It doesn't matter where we eat as long as you're there." Naruto reassured with a slight smile.

Sakura blushed slightly. She gave the man one more deadly glare, "I will have you know that I am the Hokage's apprentice, and she will hear about this." She then turned and hooked her arm with Naruto's before walking off.

Naruto smiled as he walked down the street, "Thanks for trying to stand up for me and everything."

"It's nothing, some one needs to beat some sense into these people."

Naruto shrugged, "I've gotten used to the stares and hatred." He took a deep breathe, "If we stay a couple, you know that that kind of thing will happen a lot more often."

Sakura smiled, "Just for more things for you to change when you become Hokage."

Naruto nodded and smiled, "I hope everyone else is enjoy their day."

Sakura giggled, "Well, Rin-san has probably caught up with Kakashi-sensei by now."

Naruto chuckled, "And since we haven't heard any excruciating cries of pain I would guess Shikamaru got through the lunch with Temari's brothers."

A thought hit Sakura, "Did I mention I ran into Hinata earlier?"

Naruto kept his eyes forward as they continued to walk, "Really? How is she? I haven't gotten much time to see her since I got back."

"She's dating Kiba now."

Naruto let out a laugh, "She'll straighten out dog-breathe."

Sakura elbowed Naruto, "Be nice. Besides, we're going on a double date with them when we get back." She then met him with an intense glare, "And you're going to behave yourself understand me."

Naruto bowed his head like a child being scolded, "Yes ma'am."

Sakura leaned up and kissed his cheek, "Good boy. So, where do we go now?"

A smile appeared on Naruto's face, "I know. Just follow me." He held out his hand as Sakura took it and he ran off towards a Chinese take out place.

---switch---

Rin looked around the village, "A lot has changed."

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah, when the Sound/Sand fought us it destroyed a lot of the older buildings."

"I wish I could have been here to help."

"I think it was for the better though."

Rin raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

Kakashi smiled behind his mask, "We had gotten too used to the peace. Before that the biggest threat the town had was…."

"When sensei died."

Kakashi nodded, "It was encouraging to see the village's people come together despite clan differences and feuding."

"Plus your gennin student defeated Gaara of the Sand."

"He is just like his father." Kakashi looked at the carving of the fourth and smiled as he saw two specks at the top of the fourth's head.

---switch---

Sakura looked over the beautiful view overlooking the city, "WOW! This is great!"

Naruto chuckled as he set up the food they had picked up along the way. "Yeah, I come up here to think or be alone."

Sakura turned and looked at Naruto before engulfing him in a hug, "Thank you so much for bringing me."

Naruto shrugged it off, "It's nothing."

Sakura sat down and started to enjoy her meal, "So, what else happened on your trip?"

Naruto sat beside her and started to eat as well, "Nothing much. Training, few missions, fighting, got to see a lot of villages."

Sakura took a deep breathe, "Where there any…you know…girls?"

Naruto nodded missing the hidden meaning, "Of course. Especially when Ero-sennin would go on one of his "research" expeditions."

"No, I mean did you ever meet a girl who you kind of grew attached to?"

Naruto froze when he caught the meaning, "You mean like a girl that was precious to me?"

Sakura nodded.

Naruto shook his head, "Part of my training was learning how to not get attached to people. You know in our line of work people precious to us often get involved in…accidents."

"So, you mean that you wanted to become dead to emotions? That's not the Naruto I know."

Naruto frowned slightly, "Well, after I left, Jiraiya thought it was best. I couldn't stop missing you."

Sakura blushed, "I'm nothing special."

Naruto smiled, "You're very special to me."

Sakura leaned against Naruto shutting her eyes. He smiled and put his arm around her as he watched the sun set.