Disclaimer: I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

Chapter VII

"Say, how will we enter the hospital if your homicidal girlfriend is at the entrance, Shiki-kun?" Kiba teased the strategist to lighten the mood. He, Shikamaru, Shino, Akamaru and Hinata were hiding behind the one of the bushes strategically placed in front of the building for surveillance.

"Ki-chan, shut up before we die," Shikamaru countered violently, staring at the sand kunoichi with fear.

"Shh... We might get noticed," Shino chided the two and ducked. Temari almost saw them.

"Mendoukusai," the shadow-caster mumbled under his breath and thought of a plan.

"Anou sa… Anou sa, Gaara," Naruto smiled at his companion who was ironically frowning at him. "Arigatou gozaimasu." The look in the Kazekage eyes meant that he had no comprehension of what the Hokage was saying. "For saving me," the blond carefully added. "It really means a lot to me."

"It was nothing. I was merely doing what the contract says," Gaara explained plainly. "We are at peace."

"Yes, I know." The red head's primness forced the Sixth to be formal. "But, I still thank you nonetheless. You saved my life."

Silence. They were contented in this kind of atmosphere every time they're alone. It is as though the serenity of the surroundings help them communicate. But the Fifth Kazekage had other things in mind than just meager silence.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yes?"

"You are welcome," he promptly replied. "Your life was worth saving." The red strands called bangs hid the green depths of his eyes. Naruto had had a hard time figuring out his companion's reaction.

Still, with the red tinting of the cheeks, the Hokage assumed that it was something akin to coyness.

The Hokage broke into one of his famous grins. Who would have thought the Fifth Kazekage, former jinchuuriki, could blush?

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

Gaara raised his head to speak to him. "If you don't mind, I would like you answer my question."

"Sure. I mean; you did save my life!" He smiled at him. "So what is it?"

The Kazekage cleared his throat. "Before you fell, I heard you utter a name."

"Uh… huh?"

"I was wondering," he said. "Who is this Hinata?"

The Hokage blushed, chuckled and scratched his cheek. He had every right to look away. "Hinata? She's… ummm… I think you have already seen her? She was at our first chuunin selection exam."

If the Kazekage had an eyebrow, it would have arched. "There were quite a number of kunoichis there."

"Ah… she was the one with the white eyes," he clarified.

"Wasn't that Hyuuga Neji?"

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Iie. You see, the male Hyuuga's have milky white eyes while female Hyuuga's have pearly white eyes."

Silence.

"She is a Hyuuga," Gaara concluded.

"Hai… She's the heiress of her clan. She's quite shy, though, but she's very nice. She's one of the most talented kunoichi in Konoha."

"So this Hyuuga Hinata… is she important to you?" the red head asked out of curiosity.

The blonde's blush deepened. "H..hai…"

"And that is why you slipped?"

"I'm cornered, aren't I?" He smiled weakly. "I just wanted to see her smile."

The Kazekage sighed. "It truly is absurd. This thing you call love."

"You can say that again."

After a while, the Hokage spoke again, this time in a milder, less confident tone.

"Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think what I did was foolish?"

He answered right away, "One can never know. Especially if that person hasn't experienced what you are feeling."

"I see…" The sapphires fell down again. "But if you were in my position, would you have done the same?"

"As I said, one can never know." There was a pause. "But if it was to see those who are closest to me happy, I would gladly lay down my life."

"Minna-san?" Hinata called their attention.

The dog master looked over to her. "Yes, Hinata?"

"Why are we doing this, again? If we can't visit him today, then perhaps, some other day would be nice, don't you think?"

"Demo, Hinata," Shino spoke all of the sudden, still not breaking his surveillance on the Sand kunoichi. "We want to see him with you."

"I don't think this is a great time for that." She stole a glance at Temari, who was about to kill a person and then at Shikamaru who was meditating at that time, forming a plan.

"You worry too much," Kiba commented. "Nothing bad will happen as long as Shiki-kun is here."

"That's right." Shikamaru lightly tapped her shoulder. "I have a plan."

She brightened. "Really? What is it, Shikamaru-san?"

"Life-bait."

"Are you suicidal?" Kiba said under his breath, preventing himself from erupting in sheer indescribable terror.

"What? Can you think of anything else?" Shikamaru questioned back.

"Demo, isn't that a little dangerous?" Hinata interjected, concern evident in her voice.

The strategist sighed. "I know that. But it's the only thing we got…"

They quieted for a while, considering the options.

"Deal," Shino agreed. "Who's the bait?"

"I am," Shikamaru replied. They gaped at him. "She'll surely be preoccupied once she sees me."

"Aren't you just adorable Shiki-kun?" the dog master cooed.

"Urusai, Ki-chan…"

"So Ino-san," Lee started the conversation as they made their way through the park. Apparently, half of the Konoha population was out to visit the Rokudaime. And the park was vacant.

"Hmm?"

"Are you really going to tell me Mr. 1683's ninja registration number?" the taijutsu expert asked with puppy eyes.

She shook her head in exasperation. "Lee-san, for the 1524th time, yes. I will."

"Yosh!"

Ino sighed. Ever since they left the flower shop, Lee pestered her with that question. If Hinata just told the Sixth that he is Mr. 1683 then the issue would be just done with! Her mind rebelled against the I-can't-tell-you-because-you-might-keep-away-from-me nonsense. Honestly, it is the new generation. People should be more vocal about their feelings!

"Anou sa, Ino-san." Lee broke her reverie. She was expecting the question so she cut his sentence.

"Lee, for the last time, I will tell you his ninja registration number after we deliver the flowers." She pointed the basket she was holding.

"It's not like that," he laughed weakly. "I would just like to ask if these are for the Rokudaime."

She heaved a sigh at his sudden change of topic. "Iie. The customer said she and her husband are celebrating their 1st anniversary."

"And they ordered violets?" He smiled at the flowers.

"Uh, not entirely. She said she wanted flowers but couldn't decide which so I suggested irises. The one you're holding are actually irises, by the way," she clarified.

"You mean, these are irises?" he asked quizzically.

"Uh, yeah."

Lee raised an eyebrow. Obviously he didn't know what's the difference between irises and violets.

Ino cleared her throat. "You see, Lee, violets are bluer than irises plus their petals are smaller."

"I see."

"More so, irises are very fragrant especially during rainy seasons," she added.

Lee brightened. "Wow! You really do know much about flowers."

"Not really." She brushed the comment aside although she was very much flattered. "I just like the message attached to their name, that's all."

"Really?"

She nodded, happy with the thought that someone was interested in flowers. "For example, red roses stand for passion while white roses signifies true love."

Lee started writing in his notebook all the messages.

"Pink roses are grace while a yellow roses are for friends. Freesia states friendship and trust." She stopped to remember the name meanings.

He looked up from his notebook. "What do irises mean then?"

"May you have a brighter future ahead," she smiled.

He smiled back and put the notebook back to his pouch. "Ino-san is such a genius when it comes to flowers."

"Why, thank you. Your flattery overwhelms me." She theatrically bowed.

They arrived at their destination, Violet Twilight, a tacky but romantic riverside café near the park. Quietly they approached the guard.

"Hello. We're from Yamanaka Flower. We are suppose to deliver these to Mrs. Ishida Risa," Ino stated their purpose of visit.

The guard stared at them for one moment before he uttered, "One moment." He entered the doors.

It was ten minutes later before he returned. "Please proceed to table number 4."

"Hai, hai. Come on, Lee."

"Right behind you."

The inside of the vicinity was spacious. You can easily locate one table from the other. It didn't take a minute before they found their customer. She was a middle-aged lady, quite fashionable from head to toe in a green kimono. They approached her.

"Ohayou," Ino greeted. "Are you Mrs. Ishida?"

The elder woman turned to smile at her. "Yes. How lovely. Are these the flowers I ordered?"

"Hai! May you just please sign at the bottom part and hand over the payment." She handed her the piece of paper while Lee studied the situation behind her.

It was then that a tall, dark haired man went to him.

"Excuse me, you're blocking my seat," he said sternly.

"G-gomen nasai…" Lee obligingly moved as the figure took his seat.

"Ah… Seiguchi-koi, where have you been?"

He was arranging himself when he replied, "Pardon but my business appointment was indeed quite longer than I have expected." When he raised his eyes, he blanched. "Yamanaka Ino-chan?"

Ino quickly looked from the cheque and stared at the one who called out her name. She smiled.

"Oi, Seiguchi-san. It's nice to meet you here," she said amiably.

He returned with a smile. "Hai… It's nice to see you here as well. May I introduce you to my wife, Ishida Risa. Risa, this is Ino-chan. She advised me on how to prolong our relationship."

"Prolong our relationship?" his wife asked in astonishment and turned to Ino with admiration. "Why thank you! It's because of you that we were able to salvage our sinking relationship."

Ino was dumbfounded. Her mind was working on the bits of pieces happening in her society. Seiguchi-san is married. You're staring at his 10-year-older wife. It's because of you that they're still together. He lied to you when he said he wasn't married. Say goodbye to the man of your dreams and your dream wedding!

"Ishida Seguichi-san…" Ino glared at him. "You didn't tell me you were married-!" Her sentence was cut off because she began hitting him. "You god forsaken despicable wench! You told me you were single! You lecher!!"

She would have used Shiranshin no jutsu if Lee hadn't caught her by the waist and forcibly restrained her.

"Anou… Mrs. Ishida, we would take our leave now. We enjoyed doing business with you." Lee disappeared together with a trembling Ino.

"Sakura, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, as long as you allow me to ask you as well."

Sasuke frowned but decided to press on. "Hinata likes the Sixth, right?"

She nodded.

"And her feelings remained unaltered for the past years, am I correct?"

Sakura's eyebrows drew together in tight concentration. "As far as I know, she still likes him… Why? Is there something the matter?"

He smiled sideways. "Just checking."

So he'd been right from the start. Rokudaime-sama was still the one. It didn't take him much brain cells to figure that one out. After all, who would be the one closest to the Rokudaime's conducts other than the Sixth himself? However…

'He's definitely not a genin!' he thought. 'Something is missing here…'

"So, Sasuke…" He turned to her. "Can I ask you my question now?"

He nodded curtly.

"Do you believe that first loves never die?"

The Sharingan inheritor froze. He wasn't inspecting that sort of question. "Why do you ask?"

She averted her eyes. "Well, you see…" There was a pause. "I have a black sweater at home. It's my favorite though it's thin and doesn't give me warmth. One day it disappeared. I searched everywhere but I couldn't find it. So my mom bought me another one, this time it's green. That sweater was so warm but I pay no attention for it because I'm still searching for the black one. I often throw it around! What's weird is that every time I throw it to any direction it always comes back to me. So I decided to keep it. When I started falling in love with that green sweater the black one appeared. So…" She paused to breathe. "I don't know whether I should keep the black one and donate the green sweater or donate the black sweater and keep the green sweater."

"Uh huh?" Sasuke frowned at the double meaning. "Sakura…" He inwardly pitied her. She still can't let me go. Well, now or never… "Let the black sweater be your throw-rag and settle for the green."

"Demo-."

"Either way you still won't lose them," he continued.

She smiled secretly. "But if the black one didn't disappear, would it still be my favorite?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you believe that first love never dies…"

"Uh…" He considered it for a while before saying, "Yes, first love never dies."

'It fades a way…' his head added. It'll probably hurt her further if he spoke that out loud.

"Really?" She cheered up a little. Her cell phone rang so she answered it. "Hello? Hai, Tsunade-sama, I'll be right back." She ended the call and gasped.

"Is there something wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"My key chain is missing!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Can't you just buy another one?"

"I can't!" She shook her head. "It was a gift from Lee-san. He said Tenten-san forged that as a gift for their team before they separated. He'll be disappointed once he knows it's missing."

"Okay so what exactly are we looking for?"

"It's a small miniature of the Konoha hitai-ate," she explained. "I was sure it was here when we left the supermarket!"

"Calm down. You won't settle anything when you're panicking. It may have just dropped somewhere in the park." He held out his hand. "Let's go?"

'I must find out who this Hyuuga Hinata is. But I can't search for her in this attire…' the Kazekage thought briefly before he uttered, "Henge."

Instantly, his clothes changed to his usual battle clothes though his sand gourd was not around.

"Gaara-sama?" A deep voice sounded behind him. He turned to face his former sensei. "Are you going somewhere?"

He nodded. "I expect to be back before nightfall." A ball of sand formed on the floor to envelope him. It paused midway, though, and Baki was seriously surprised by the next question.

"Baki, I want… Iie." Gaara continued in a meek, almost pleading voice, "May I… borrow your hitai-ate for a while, sensei?"

The man in question eyed at him. Is this truly the Godaime Kazekage or just a product of his obscure imagination? He did say Henge… Still, the improvement was remarkable!

"Is there something amiss?" Two green eyes bore confusion at him.

The elder man smirked and untied his forehead protector. "Not at all. I am merely astonished with your change of attitude, my Lord. Normally you want nothing to do with our village." He laughed weakly. "I wanted to do this ever since you were a genin." He handed it to him. "Wear it with pride, Gaara."

He nodded and accepted the piece of metal. The Sand emblem gleamed at him. "Arigatou." It was then that the ball of sand swathed him, and he vanished out of sight.

"Hi! We're from Konoha Times!"

"Out of the way! The Konoha Bulletin press is here."

"This is the Shinobi Today! We want to make an interview about the Hokage-!"

Temari, eldest child of Yondaime Kazekage, sister to Godaime Kazekage, considered as one of the strongest kunoichi in the Hidden Village of Sand, was pissed. Utterly, juicily pissed to the point that she itched to blow the raucous reporters away with her Daikamaitachi no Jutsu (Great Cutting Wheel Technique). One-fourth of the Konoha Defense Unit was already blocking the approaching media.

What kind of language would she use to drive away these creatures? That she'll never know. They just kept coming and coming!

"WHAT PART OF GO AWAY DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?" she screamed.

"Patience, Temari. Patience." Kankurou warned in front of her.

"Patience, my crap! They'll destroy the whole hospital!" she answered back.

"Mendoukusai," drawled a very lazy voice in the crowd.

All froze. Even the reporters froze, recognizing that lethargic tone that came out of the oral cavity of…

"NARA SHIKAMARU!"

"There's our signal!" Kiba called back from his hiding point. Akamaru barked.

Shino bowed and offered his hand to Hinata. "Shall we run for our lives?"

"S-sure…" Hinata stuttered back in response and took his hand.

And they entered the vicinity.

From far off, Kankurou was torn between preventing his sister from killing an ally, blocking the reporters from entering the hospital or going after the former members of Team 8 who just recently entered the premises.

"Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Ninja Art: Wheel Whirlwind technique)

Fortunately (or unfortunately) Shikamaru was able to dodge, landing safely near Kankurou. When he turned he sweat-dropped. Approximately 80 of the rampant populace, ninjas and reporters alike, were blown to a far, far away land.

"Man, I haven't seen you for a month and you're already this ferocious," Shikamaru commented. 'Mendoukusai… At least her attention is diverted.'

Temari spared him an evil smile. "Consider it as my 'I missed you so much' gift for neglecting the peace treaty."

Shikamaru smirked. "Really? I wonder what your 'I love you so much' gift would be if I showed up."

"If you live through this, remind me to give it to you," she guaranteed as she raised her fan. "Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Great Wheel Whirlwind Technique)

"Temari! Not the hospi-!" Kankurou did warning signs which was cut off because the shadow-caster who leaped to evade the attack, dragging the puppeteer at the same time, and a…

"Saikou Zettai Bougyo: Shukaku no Tate!" (Extreme Hard Ultimate Defense: Shield of Shukaku!) A large amount of sand, turning into a miniature of the famed Shukaku of the Desert, gathered around the building, protecting it against the wind assault.

"Gaara-sama?" he whispered under his breath.

"Was the Kazekage watching?" Shikamaru asked him. Kankurou made a frightened face that instantly turned to one of extreme terror.

"Well then," a female voice spoke in front of them. "I suppose we should get serious."

Shikamaru inclined his head to the left and gulped. 'What came over me to do this plan again?'

Women were such peculiar creatures. First they were smiling, next they're killing, and before you know it, they're already crying. Sad, sorrowful whimpers that destroyed the whole serenity of the park and made all living animals around went away with tortured eardrums.

Rock Lee handed Yamanaka Ino a box of tissue, wanting to cry as well because he spent all his savings to buy all those loitered tissue paper. "There, there, Ino-san. We're already away."

"How could he do this to me!" she wailed, crumpling the tissue paper as she did so. "I thought he was the one! For gracious sake, I even planned our wedding!"

"Is it really depressing?" Lee asked innocently. His concerned onyx met two fiery blue ones. Grudgingly, she took the box of tissue paper from his hands and cried.

The taijutsu specialist gloomily stared at her. Truly it was such a hard way to lose a love one especially if he/she belongs to another. Somehow, he understood what the blonde was going through. Even though with hard work he got his precious' heart, a shadow of doubt enshrouded him if they truly were to be together.

He shook his head. He must not let these crazy hallucinations get better of him. His Sakura-chan would never betray him. That's for sure.

His hand wandered to get another box of tissue when the tips of his fingers touched cold metal. He looked quickly at it, thinking it was a dangerous weapon, only to realize it as a key chain. He smiled at it and picked it. The design looked new and ironically familiar.

"Someone must have dropped this," he said out loud. He read the name: 'Rock Lee'.

He froze. The key chain Tenten gave to him as a parting gift and the one he gave to Sakura-chan for their first month-sary! What is it doing here? Could she have left it on purpose and decided to forget their promise to one another?

'Iie, she must have dropped this while on the way,' he said to himself to calm down. Inside he was still trembling. He swiftly put the key chain in his pouch and snatched the box of tissue then gave it to Ino. He mentally reminded himself to add in his notebook that women can finish a whole box of tissue in a minute when they're depressed.

"Thanks, Lee-san," she gave one final sniff before she blew her nose.

"No problem." He grinned at her lack of modesty. "Do you feel better now?"

She nodded and sniffed. "Why didn't you let me kill him, Lee-san?"

"Because the Ishidas looked as if they belong together," he replied right away.

"Do you really think so?"

He nodded without hesitation.

"Even if Mrs. Ishida is older than Seiguchi-san by 10 years?"

"Love knows no boundaries. Look at Temari-san and Shikamaru-san. They're together even though she is older than him by 3 years. Plus they kill each other every time they meet!"

Ino fell silent.

"Ino-san."

"Hmm?"

"One day, you'll find the person who will make you happy. You'll realize that he's the man who deserves your tears and will never ever make you cry. But until that day comes…" He handed out a petal. Ino raised one eyebrow before she realized that it was from an iris.

"May you have a brighter future ahead!"

She stifled a sob, miserably doing so, and whirled about to envelope him in a fierce hug. There in his arms she broke down crying

And all he did was to hold her close.

"Sakura," Sasuke said.

She slowed her pace and finally stopped. "Huh?"

"About what you said earlier, that if the black sweater didn't disappear would it still had been your favorite."

She looked at him and understood quickly. "Don't worry about it. I was completely out of my mind when I said that…"

He smiled side-ways. 'Good.'

The two came around a thick yew bush to see Rock Lee in front of Ino, his arms around her, kissing her hair.

Sasuke froze.

Sakura jerked back as if she'd been struck. She yelled like a banshee, ran to the couple, grabbed Ino's hair with all her might.

"You miserable boyfriend stealer!" she yelled and threw herself on Ino, knocking her over backward. "How dare you, Ino! You have a boyfriend, and you have the nerve to take mine!" She yanked at Ino's hair.

"Stop it! For Kami-sama's sake-!"

Sasuke grabbed Sakura and picked her up, shoving her toward Lee, who caught her and held her arms to her sides. "Let me go! I'll make her two inches shorter!"

"Sasuke-kun, take Ino-san away from here!"

The medic-nin turned on Lee and yelled an inch from his nose, "How dare you take her side than mine! You unfaithful-!"

Sasuke heard the yelling behind him, but he did not turn to stop them. When they were at a fairly good distance, he dropped to his haunches and gently brought Ino down. She was shaking her head, as if to see if Sakura was still around. She was filthy, her face streaked with dirt, eyes watering.

"Are you alright?"

"No, my scalp is on fire. I hadn't realized Sakura was so strong."

"What were you two doing?"

She sniffed to calm herself and wailed instead.

The interior of the hospital was dark, cold and lifeless.

"Hinata…"

"UWAH!"

THONK!

"Ow. Shino!"

"Stop fooling around," the bug master replied. "Hinata, can you see with your byakugan?"

"Iie." For it was dark, Shino could not see when she shook her head.

"Kuso," Kiba cursed softly. "Akamaru, can you sense the Sixth?"

The dog grumbled and growled. "The sand is getting away with his scent?" he sighed. "Kuso… We should have known that it wouldn't be easy to locate him. He is the Hokage after all. Let's call it quits?"

Sounds of clashing winds came from outside.

Kiba cleared his throat. "Let's search that Hokage!" He tripped. "Ow!"

"Who goes there?"

The dog trainer straightened himself. "You guys go ahead. We'll handle this Sand-nin. Right, Akamaru?" The dog barked.

"Demo, Kiba-kun…"

"Take care." With that, Shino dragged Hinata around the hall.

"Halt! Intruders!"

'If I were a medic-nin, where would I place the Rokudaime?' Shino asked himself over and over again as they run about. Two Sand-nin drew nearer as they proceeded to another hallway.

"Mushi Kabe no Jutsu (Bug Wall Technique.)." He uttered and the Kikkai bugs gathered around them.

Hinata winced. Was it really necessary to use all this chakra just to find Naruto-kun?

"Hinata-chan?"

"Eh?"

"I'll distract them. When I say three, open the door closest to your right. Don't come out until I come for you, understand?" Shino's tone was too serious so she had no other choice than to comply.

"One."

THUD!

"Two."

THUD, THUD!

"THREE!"

She pushed herself out of the wall of bugs and opened the nearest door as she was told. She entered and shut the door firmly closed, catching her breath at the same time. She had never run that long for a long time!

The Byakugan mistress inhaled large amount of oxygen to steady herself. Already, her fingers were shaking.

"Hinata?" A familiar cheerful voice asked behind her. Her heart froze in place. When she turned, she didn't dare to breath.

"N…N-na…r-ruto-kun?"