AN:
_ I thank all those who have reviewed, put this story on their favorite and alert lists.
Writing this story is my pleasure, and every single one of you reading it is an honour, so, thanks!
_ This story has a reunited team 7 - very naïve of me maybe, but it's a silly fantasy of mine :)
XOXOX
"Haruno-san, all three of them are stabilized now. Here's the report."
"Thank you, Yuki." Sakura took the report which her capable and efficient assistant, an eighteen years old Chunin, had handed her, and quickly scanned through it, taking notes of the regular stats; they were indeed all out of danger.
Having shortly left the emergency room found on the ground floor, they stood in the busy main hall of the hospital, while medic-nins and patients milled all around them. The day had started out very early and hectically. Sakura had been called urgently at the hospital at the crack of dawn to see to a team which had returned from a mission. It was a three men cell, and upon reaching the hospital, she found out that Konohamaru had been the leader of the team. All the three male shinobis had been in bad state, showing symptoms of severe poisoning. Fearing the worst, with the Kumo attack of the previous week still fresh on her mind, Sakura had put her whole team on high emergency alert. A team had immediately been set on treatment, while a second team set on testing the cause of poisoning by doing an armada of tests; from the stomach contents to the blood works. The tension had been paramount, the fear of an attack from an enemy slicking through the team as they've worked on the case.
The tests results had been relieving and anticlimactic at the same time: it was wild mushroom poisoning; not any dark and terrifying jutsu of an unknown enemy, as Sakura had feared. A mere wild mushroom poisoning, which could have been fatal had not been treated on time. Due to the mission being a simple D rank, no medic-nin had been assigned to the team, and Sakura shuddered when thinking about the probable outcome had they been far from Konoha. As per the written rule of Konoha since Naruto's hokageship, a medic-nin was always to be included in missions for and above C level and comprising of more than two shinobis; in this case, the team had not qualified.
The team had, from what Sakura had been able to gather, eaten some wild mushrooms picked near their camping site for dinner; mushroom which had not been edible. One of the basic things taught at the Academy was to recognize edible food and spot out the toxic ones while on missions, and to have a whole shinobi team of Chunin level going for a toxic mushroom was just unbelievable.
How could three Chunins be so stupid? Sakura thought for the umpteenth times, quite irked by the incident. She could not prevent the scowl from taking over her face…Wasn't it enough that the war had taken so many precious lives, and now some morons needed to have into a near death situation because of some stupid mushroom poisoning. She made a mental note to inform Iruka about increasing the emphasis on the lesson of wild, edible food identification in the academy's curriculum. She did not want to have another such case again, where their shinobis could die by such futile reasons.
Now, the worst was over, all trace of the mushroom toxins removed from their system, the proper antidote administered.
"Konohamaru? Is he all right?" Extreme worry was apparent in the young girl's high, shaky voice, as a visibly distraught Moegi rushed over to Sakura. "I just learn the news. How is he? How are they all?"
"Moegi…don't worry," Sakura said soothingly. "He'll survive." She could not help her dry tone. "He's sleeping right now."
At the younger girl's questioning look, she explained. "They ate some toxic wild mushrooms."
"Toxic mushroom?" repeated Moegi.
Sakura nodded. "Yes. The orange, inedible one."
For one second, Moegi stared at Sakura, open mouthed. Then a deep scowl settled on her face.
"Oh the Baka!" she cried crossly. "If he wasn't so intent on always being goofy in class instead of paying more attention to his lessons, he wouldn't have come to this! The only time Udon and I are not in his team for a mission and he goes and gets himself stupidly poisoned!" Her voice rose in hot indignation and her face got redder.
Sakura was wholeheartedly in agreement with the girl's indignation; Moegi was voicing exactly what had been on her own mind earlier.
"Ooooh, let him wake up, I'll give him a punch he won't forget so soon!" Moegi growled, cracking her knuckles menacingly.
"His room is that way," pointed Sakura.
"Err…isn't it too early for visitors?" Yuki asked worriedly, as she watched the steaming young girl marching towards the designated room.
"Nah it's okay," Sakura smirked. "Konohamaru can have the visit of his best friend." And the one who loves him to pieces, she thought to herself. She wondered when the idiot will realize that.
Pulling her thoughts back to work, she called her team of medic-nin students over for a quick summing up. "From now on, I want two people on this case," Sakura briskly addressed the young group of six standing ceremoniously in front of her. "Kira," she pointed to the tall young dark haired man, "and Yuki, you two monitor the three and check their stats every hour. The rest of you can go on to other cases now. Good job, all of you."
The team had responded swiftly and efficiently to the emergency, and she was proud of their performance; she had trained them, after all. The rest of the group dispersed, while she carried on with the briefing with Kira and Yuki.
A sudden commotion from the main entrance door made Sakura raise her head. She saw a visibly excited gathering crowding the doors - comprising of mostly the feminine staff, she noted - amidst which she saw the distinctive spiky blond hair standing at least one foot taller than the crowd and red robe of their Hokage. And some steps back, the dark head of Sasuke.
Naruto had come earlier to inquire about the three men; she had been right in the middle of treatment, so she had not been able to meet him. She had got a nurse to tell him that they were all going to be okay, and he had left, reassured.
Sakura handed the report back to Yuki. "Keep me posted on this," she told the two medic-nins, not missing the twinkle in Yuki's eyes, before she started to make her way towards the crowd.
"Sakura-chaaaan!" The deep loud voice boomed out across the hallway, making her feeling harried. He still had not get over the habit of being obnoxiously loud when calling out to her, and no-one seemed surprised by their Hokage thus seeking the head medic-nin– they were all used to it.
As she quickly walked over to Naruto, her sharp gaze noticed that he was holding his right arm up, close to his chest. And he was bleeding. That made her immediately frown.
Reaching close enough, she asked, "What happened to your arm?" Her sharp tone and piercing green eyes made Naruto involuntarily nervous.
"I'll leave him to you now," Sasuke drawled almost lazily, ignoring the almost pleading look that the Hokage was sending his way. Before Sakura could even think of questioning the Uchiha, he was gone.
"How are the three?" Naruto hurriedly asked.
"They are all fine," she snapped. "What else can be expected of bakas who have nothing else to do than stupidly get harmed?"
He cringed. Poor Konohamaru, he's in for a good lecture when he gets better, he thought. But hey, it's me I should be worried about right now!
"And you still have not replied, what happened to your arm?" She was already pulling the appendage to have a look. She saw a small, deep wound, like a bullet hole, slightly above his inner wrist, from which he was bleeding profusely. She raised frowning, questioning eyes to his.
"Um…It's nothing, really," he said sheepishly. "It's a nail."
'Huh?"
"I was helping out with the furniture of the office."
Sakura's eyes twitched. What was it with Konoha shinobi? She thought crossly. Even their leader was touched by the plague of stupidity or what? Here they were, she and her team working their souls out to save their people, and some idiots seemed to have so much fun by finding new means of getting themselves killed. Okay, getting killed seemed to be overboard – their Hokage certainly would not be defeated by such a mere thing as a nail, but still…
"And since when you've become a carpenter?" she asked almost acidly.
"But it was so fun! Sakura-chan, you should see the amazing tools that they have!" he said with a boyish enthusiasm, blue eyes shining. He followed her as she wordlessly walked towards the nearest examining room. "They have this sort of gun which fire out nails! Can you believe it? You don't need a hammer, the nails are gunned in whatever and wherever you want them to!"
She pointed to the examining table, and he meekly swung his body up and sat on it, putting his arm forward for her inspection.
"And the nail is now in your arm because?"
"Uh…it was an accident."
She huffed exasperatedly, and started to clean the perforated area to have a better look. Concentrating green chakra on her hands, she examined the wound. The scan showed a one foot length nail lodged deep in the flesh, and had pierced a secondary vein. It may look insignificant at first glance, but left alone, he would have bled enough for it to be quite fatal.
"I'll have to remove this manually," she said shortly, setting off to the side table to sterilize some tweezers.
Walking back to him, she sent him a glare. "Do I really need to tell you to be more careful?" she said crossly. "Kyuubi can heal you, but can't extract things which should not be inside you!"
"It was an accident, Sakura-chan."
He looked contrite enough, the guilty blue eyes staring so earnestly back at her. Slowly, she felt her exasperation ebbed away. Who could remain immune to the entreaty of those warm, cerulean blue orbs, which remind her of the warm summer skies. She decided to let him off the hook, and set to work. Apart from a slight wince, he was silent throughout the process. When the nail was finally removed, she used some of her green chakra to heal the region, and soon enough, his auto-healing process set to work and the hole disappeared within seconds.
"Thank you," he said, as he watched her collecting the instruments.
She just waved him off. "Just be careful, okay?" she warned, and walked him back to the entrance doors.
It was difficult to miss the increased horde of female staff, from the youngest to the oldest, which had stopped or gathered in the main hall at the news that the Hokage was in the hospital, as they always did, all whispering excitedly and eyes alighting when the young, handsome Hokage waved at them.
It seemed that all the female population of Konoha had the hots for their Hokage, Sakura thought with a grumble.
"At least you've made the day of the feminine population of the hospital," she smirked. A red tinge shot up Naruto's cheeks.
"Sakura-chan, not you too!" he mumbled, embarrassed.
XOXOX
"Teme!"
"What is it now?" Sasuke did not even bother to open his eyes. He was meditating on the new Hokage tower's roof. He had allowed himself the short respite while Naruto played carpenter; after all, who could harm the Hokage in his own office, deep within Konoha.
"Can you use your eye thingy to have a look at this?"
Black eyes snapped open. A short silence followed. "No. Way. Not again!"
"Well…"
"How did you do that?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "It just happened!"
"I'm your bodyguard, not your nanny! And do you take my sharingan to be your personal scan or what?"
"Hey come on, be a sport!"
"Now, you're done for. That's for sure."
"Will you ?..." Hopeful blue eyes looked at him.
"And get killed along with you?"
Sakura was busy checking a patient when a nurse hurried in the examining room.
"Haruno-san, um, it's the Hokage."
Sakura looked up, frowning and immediately worried. "What is it?"
It's been an hour since his treatment, and she had made sure his wound had been properly closed. Surely there could not be any complication from such a small wound, and so soon?
"He has been – uh – wounded again."
Pink eyebrows shot high at this. "Wounded again?" Sakura repeated, incredulous.
"Yes, carpentry accident wounds."
For a second, Sakura stared at the nurse, mouth opened. "What?" she then exclaimed, incredulous.
The nurse immediately hurried by the now nervous patient's side. "Let me continue with the patient, Haruno san, while you attend to the Hokage."
It was an unspoken rule that if head medic-nin Haruno was in the hospital, the Hokage automatically gets treatment from her.
Wordlessly, Sakura handed the stethoscope to the nurse, and sped out of the room.
Sanyu was a carpenter from a small village of the fire country; a very good carpenter he was. As many small companies, he had jumped at the opportunity to come to reconstruct Konoha. He had been honored when his modest company had been designated to finish the Hokage tower, and had been even more honored when the young Hokage had proposed to give a hand, finding it impossible to deter the enthusiastic young man from helping out.
Being mostly non-aware of the Konohan people, he could not understand why Uchiha Sasuke, which was after all the Hokage right hand man, had categorically refused to accompany the Hokage to the hospital, when the latter had, umm, run into another accident. And the Hokage had needed to be accompanied, what with the difficulty in standing straight.
"I don't have such a futile and early death wish. You go ahead by yourself," the Uchiha had flatly told the Hokage.
So, out of courtesy to the Hokage – he could not permit himself to let the Hokage go to the Hospital unaccompanied – Sanyu decided to accompany him personally.
When he saw the pink haired lady, which apparently was the head medic-nin which the front-desk nurse had hurried to fetch as soon as they've reached the hospital, he understood the refusal of the Uchiha. The young woman marching almost menacingly towards them looked very scary, green eyes flashing fires, face set in a deep, dark scowl and Sanyu could swear that he could see black angry fumes escaping from her person. His first reaction as she advanced towards them was to cower behind the Hokage; but it seemed that the Hokage had the same idea, because in the blink of an eye, the carpenter found himself facing the formidable medic-nin head on, and alone.
"Hokage-sama?" The carpenter turned around nervously, only to find the young and mighty Hokage standing some steps back, peeping at the incoming scary lady.
"What happened?" Sakura barked, flashing green eye impaling both men to the spot.
"It was an accident," the poor man stammered.
"Just an accident, Sakura-chan," Naruto vigorously nodded his head.
"With?"
Naruto gulped audibly. "Err…the nail gunner."
She could feel a vein throbbing in her forehead. Her eye twitched furiously. "Narutooooo!" she growled. Who had been stupid enough to give this dunce of a Hokage the nail gunner again? She thought.
Naruto quivered when he saw her clenching her fingers in a tight fist, while Sanyu finally found the use of his limbs again and had move several steps away.
"Where?" she barked again.
Naruto nervously lifted the flaps of his robe and pointed towards his upper torso. She could see blood seeping from his orange inner shirt – the wound were on his right side. She could barely hold herself from punching the blond; her fist itched to make a satisfying, chakra enhanced blowing contact on the knuckleheads' head, but remembering that he was the Hokage now, and they were in a public area, she restrained herself. She satisfied herself by giving him a whack on the arm. She hoped that none of his organs had been punctured.
"To the examination room," she told him grimly. Turning to the carpenter, her eyes flashed ominously, she growled, "You'd better make sure that your nail gunner does not get in the Hokage's hands again, understand?"
"Yes, ma'am. Of course, ma'am," Sanyu replied hastily.
Looking at their retreating back, the carpenter released a shaky breath which he had not even been aware of holding. "Is she always so scary?" he whispered, awed, to one of the nurse.
"When it concerns our Hokage's safety, yes she is," the nurse replied back.
In the examination room, at Sakura short command, Naruto was removing his robe and shirt, taking the safest approach in front of her temper – that of silence.
"I really don't need to treat you for these types of things, you baka!" Her angry glare burnt into him. "Don't you have more important Hokage duties to do, like taking care of the village?"
"Um _" he started, but she cut him off.
"How the hell have you managed to get nails here?" she asked incredulously as she examined him with his green chakra enhanced hands, bent over his lying form. The nails – two this time – were embedded on the side of his torso, beneath his armpits. And by sheer luck it seemed, they were buried in the flesh and muscles only; a little further it would have punctured his right lung. "What were you doing with that nail gunner?" She glared at him, before dabbing some antiseptics over the wounds and getting to work.
He stuck to his best strategy of the moment; that of silence.
As she extracted the first nail, she saw that it was a headless one, which would explain why his clothes had not stopped them.
"Of all the stupid things to do," she muttered under her breath.
Though the extraction hurt a huge lot, worse than the first wound, Naruto could not help enjoying the attention and her henning. After the long years of dragged ordeal which they all had gone through, he welcomed the little lapse of normality that her scolding was bringing about. He could be called a masochist, but it gave him a fuzzy feeling when she scolded him like that. It showed that she cared enough.
And he has to admit the feeling of her warm breath on his bare skin as she worked closely to his chest was doing wonderful things to his senses. She had raised the upper part of the exam table, so her face was close enough.
"I was trying to help," he broke the silence of her ruminating as she worked. "As Hokage, I must be able to do some manual labor as well, right?" he murmured, needing to say something as he watched her concentrated face.
She gave him a dark look. "Surely you had other means to help rather than jacking yourself with nails all the time?" she snorted, as she carefully removed the second nail. The sharp pain made him wince, and he did not reply.
The two nails removed, she directed her green chakra to the wounds, inspecting for any residue. Finding none, and satisfied that the extraction had been cleanly done, she focused the chakra on the gash and started to close it.
She had lost count on how many times she had healed him since she had become medic-nin; it was far from the first time that he stood near naked under her healing hands. Yet as her hands hovered over the broken flesh, she could not help but admire the familiar but ever changing anatomy. He was so far from the young lanky boy she had started to heal, all those years ago.
Her eyes made an appraisal of the smooth, tanned skin rippling over hard, steeled muscles. No over bulging, showy muscles here, just the right amount of sleekness. He was superbly built, she thought for the umpteenth time. Nice wide shoulders and toned chest tapering into an appealing V shape.…., and there was no mistake of the power emanating from him. He was the Hokage, after all, the strongest in Konoha, so naturally his body showed it. With her face bent over him as she worked, she was close enough to have his masculine scent tantalizing her nose; warm, earthy, with a hint of ramen. She felt a delicious shiver go up her back.
Not surprising at all, she thought. With all the ramen that he ingested, she was sure that he must ooze out the thing through his pores.
Will his skin have the taste of ramen as well…_ her thoughts suddenly screeched to a halt at the turn they were taking. Whoa! What the hell was she thinking? She hastily snapped her thoughts back.
At the same time, she realized that she had paused in her work, and had been staring at his bare chest for she had no damn idea how long. Giving herself a hard mental shake, she swiftly straightened up, avoiding to look at him directly. She could feel a heat starting up her neck as she turned away and busied herself with the medical instruments. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Good lord, I hope he had not realized that I was giving him a look over, she thought almost frantically.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto looked quizzically at her.
Sakura steeled herself. "There, you are done now," she said, working hard to keep her voice even as she turned to look at him. To her relief, apart from a slight puzzled frown, he looked clueless. "And you STAY AWAY from that nail gunner, you hear me? Because trust me, if I hear that you've hurt yourself again by anything concerning furniture making, I'll tie you to a hospital bed so that you do not go near any tools at all," she threatened.
He gulped, knowing that she could well follow with her threat.
"Sakura-chan…that's pushing it a bit far," he laughed nervously. She humphed darkly.
Yuki came in the room at that moment. Sakura did not miss the slight blush that crept up the girl's face as she caught a glimpse of the Hokage's chest while he was pulling his shirt back on.
"Yes?" Sakura's voice came out unnaturally sharp, making her assistant jump in nervousness.
What is it with us female medic-nins? Sakura thought almost sourly. We are supposed to be professionals and not get swooned by the sight of some flesh!
"Sorry to disturb you, Haruno-san," Yuki hurriedly said, "you told me to let you know immediately when the patient Ken wakes up."
Sakura nodded.
Naruto stood up. "Okay, Sakura-chan. I'll leave now."
She opened her mouth, intending to lecture him some more, but sensing it, he hurriedly cut in.
"No more carpentery for today, I swear!" he said solemnly. With a cheery wave, he was out of the room.
Sakura listened half mindedly as Yuki talked. She felt angry with herself. She had always prided herself about her professionalism at her work; when it concerns her duty as medic-nin, she always strived to keep up the highest standard possible, and her lapse just now did not please her at all.
It must be the conversation she had with Ino during their last lunch which was bringing all this about, she thought grumpily. She had been feeling a sort of restlessness since that talk, which was a week ago; her nights had seemed a tad bit longer, her dreams often disturbing. It seemed that some buried feelings, which had been dormant during the war and post war rebuilding years, were being brewed up to the surface.
Still, it does not excuse my salivating like a sex starve, crazy woman in front of some mere bare male chest, she chided herself. Well, his bare chest.
Damn Ino, she thought again, banging her notepad down with more force than necessary, as a last thought flitted through her mind. It being his chest made all the difference.
XOXOX
A week later, Naruto stood at the main gates of Konoha, his red Hokage robes flowing behind him by the wind, and as usual having refused to wear the Hokage hat, his blond hair blowing freely, only held by his head band. Sakura and Shikamaru were by his sides, Sasuke discreetly some steps behind, as they greeted a Suna delegation, which consisted of Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, and a couple of Suna Anbu. Earlier that week, the Kazekage had sent a hawk announcing his visit to Konoha; his first official visit since Naruto was made Hokage. Naruto had been excited, and had been eagerly looking forward to the visit.
"Gaara!" His voice rang out with warmth and pleasure, his eyes bright as he greeted his friend.
The two young men stood face to face, savoring the moment, as they met for the first time as Kages.
"Hokage-dono," Gaara murmured, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth as he watched his friend. "You look good in the Hokage robes," he said after a short scrutiny.
Naruto grinned. "I told you we would meet as Kages not before long, didn't I?
Gaara nodded in amused agreement. "I never doubted your words," he replied calmly.
The first initial greetings from both group over, the young Kazekage turned towards Sasuke, who was standing some steps back. "Uchiha Sasuke," he greeted. Sasuke nodded a greeting back.
Gaara looked at the friend for whom Naruto had fought so hard. He was happy that the Uchiha had been given a second chance; having been himself being given a second chance, what with after spending his whole childhood blood lusting after any other human being, he felt an affinity with the Uchiha. They had both shared a past terrible dark heart, and had both been saved by the unique Uzumaki Naruto.
"Hope your journey was fine," Sakura said, the ever good hostess. "Would you like to go straight to the guesthouse, or..?"
"I'd like a short introductory meeting with you Konohan team first," replied Gaara, turning to look at Naruto.
"Let's go," said Naruto, leading the delegation towards the center, to the newly built Hokage tower.
"Managed to get your lazy bones down here this early?" Temari drawled, smirking at Shikamaru, as the two walked side by side.
Shikamaru gave a long sigh. "We were assigned to receive you guys," he said, his eyes lingering, despite himself, on the Suna Kunoichi.
Temari sneaked a glance at him. "Oh, means you wouldn't have come if it had not been assigned to you?" she taunted.
A red tinge crept up Shikamaru's cheeks. "You're too troublesome," he muttered under his breath.
Walking a few steps behind, Sakura watched the exchange with keen interest. She and the other girls of the ten teams had been madly speculating about these two since the war. It was very difficult to say what was exactly going on between them. They highly suspected that there was something, but Shikamaru had always been a clam about it, despite the ardent badgering of the girls. And since none of the girls had met Temari since the war, the few Suna visits had been carried out by the Nara himself, they could not get any info from the Suna Kunoichi. It was clear that the major obstacle of distance would impede on anything concrete to develop, and Shikamaru being Shikamaru, he would have meticulously evaluated and extrapolated all the possibilities and the outcomes; but still, the vivid chemistry between the two was impossible to miss. Sakura and the others dearly wished that something would come out of it. And now, with Temari within their grasp, Sakura intended to pump the information out of her.
It was a cheerful group which sat shortly in the Hokage's office, sharing news and having some drinks; nothing like the protocol directed, formal atmosphere that one would have expected for an official visit of the Kazekage. It was not so surprising; it was the magic of the reign of the Rokudaime, Uzumaki Naruto.
"Nice decor, nice furniture," Temari remarked, as she looked around the brand new office.
Sakura smirked. "Yeah, it comes with the added bonus of our Hokage's blood."
Temari blinked. "I don't need to ask," she grinned finally.
"Still as clumsy as ever?" Kankuro snickered.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto protested. "You're giving away national secrets!"
Sakura only rolled her eyes, while the others chuckled.
Soon, they settled down and discussed the schedules for the duration of the stay of the Suna delegation. Tsunade and Kakashi were to be present in all the meetings, while the council with the clan leaders was to be called for one single meeting, which would cover all the discussions that would need their input. There were many items on the agenda: bi-lateral treaties, open of trades between the two villages, and quite important in the list, discussions about the upcoming Chunin exams. The Kazekage wanted Suna to host the Chunin exams for that year, and wanted Konoha to lend their help in the events.
"Please don't forget you still have to return me the Hospital inventory report, duly signed" Sakura told Naruto, as she rose from her seat. She was the last one to leave the office. Gaaraa wanted to discuss some further things with Naruto, Kazekage to Hokage, so they two had stayed behind.
"You see what type of a slave driver I have to cope with?" Naruto told Gaara, sighing dramatically.
Sakura rolled her eyes, Gaara's lips twitched.
"You don't know the meaning of slave driving – yet, Hokage-Sama," she warned disdainfully.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto grumbled. He disliked it when she called him thus, and she knew that.
"See you later, Kazekage-sama," she bowed.
Blue eyes followed the alluring sway of the lithe hips with utter fascination as she made her way towards the door and out of the office. She wore a black, above knee length skirt, with side slits showing the mid-thigh length grey shorts she wore underneath, and her signature red colored top, which was sleeveless and V necked, with the white Haruno emblem at the back. The outfit flattered her soft curved, slim body to perfection and showed off her long, fabulous legs. Black summer sandals, with wide bands rolling up to above her ankles completed the wonderful picture.
"You are still staring. It's been a full minute that she's gone."
Naruto jumped, and turned to look at Gaara. He chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. Shortly though, a slight frown marred his forehead, his eyes turning serious.
"What's troubling you?" Gaara asked quietly.
Naruto did not answer immediately. He looked unseeingly into blank air. After a short silence, he said in a low voice, "I thought I had it under control since long now. But I feel so like a teenager again when she is around."
The young Kazekage was unsurprised. "The war is over, Konoha is rebuilt," he said simply.
Naruto looked at him questioningly.
"Life resumes from where it stopped prior to war. Your urgent issues are over now. Your mind and heart is free again."
"Still, it's so very complicated," Naruto murmured, shaking his head.
Gaara fixed his brow less eyes steadily upon him. "The Uzumaki Naruto finding something too complicated for him?"
"Would you risk facing her punches?" Naruto pointed towards the closed door. "Or worse still, lose her?" his voice dropped to a whisper, but Gaara still heard him.
"Nothing will happen if you don't take risks," Gaara calmly pointed out. "And you will definitely not lose her; your bond is too strong for that. Just follow your heart, and act on your instinct."
"You're the third person to advise me on my love life lately," grumbled Naruto. "And since when have you become an expert on such matter?" He peered suspiciously at the expressionless face.
The young Kazekage shrugged his shoulder, but could not prevent the slight blush from creeping up his face.
Naruto looked at him in amazement. "Who is it?" he immediately pounced.
Gaara avoided looking at him directly. "You will know soon enough. Hopefully," he said.
"Is it Matsuri?" Naruto pressed on. He knew Gaara had always been susceptible to the obvious admiration that Matsui, one of his very talented and beautiful Jounin, had for him.
The blush on Gaara's face deepened, confirming Naruto's suspicion. The blond grinned widely, standing up quickly and walking over to his friend.
"Well, congratulations are in order then!" he exclaimed happily, slapping the redhead on the back.
Taken by surprise by the back slap, Gaara lurched forward. He was not used to this type of casual camaraderie; only Naruto would feel comfortable enough to give him such treatments. His face brightened with a small, rare smile. "Whatever you do, don't let Temari know about it," he quickly appealed. "Not yet. She will surely try to rush me."
Naruto chuckled. "Okay, mouth zipped." Knowing Temari, he could understand Gaara's stance. "How did you do it?" he asked, still awed that Gaara had let his closed guard down enough to approach a girl.
"I followed my heart," Gaara simply said.
"Follow your heart, huh?" Naruto pondered aloud.
XOXOX
The tone of the gathering took a more solemn note later that afternoon, as a bigger group sat in the Hokage's office.
After the Suna group had rested, Naruto called in a meeting with Team Hokage. The Suna group had some info to impart about the recent Kumo village attack, which he felt was better to be discussed with his whole team present. Tsunade and Kakashi had already been briefed about the attack, and it was Kankuro who opened the meeting.
As per their Intel, Killer Bee had supposed to be at the small village for a local festival, but due to very last minute change, he did not make it.
"Apparently, the change of plans had been so last minute that they did not have time to inform the village leader," said Kankuro. "So, he was still expected as the festivities proceeded on."
The tension of the Konohan group sharpened palpably at this new information.
Kakashi's single visible eye was serious as he looked at Naruto. "This opens the possibility of attack being targeted at Killer Bee," he said.
Kankuro nodded. "That's what we deduced too.
"It would explain that nothing was damaged or missing from the village," slowly agreed Sai. "It was curious that with the six patrolling shinobi dead, nothing was taken or destroyed; the enemy would have had a free field. They wouldn't have met any resistance from the villagers, with none of them being ninjas."
"This leaves two possible cause of the attack," Shikamaru mused after a short silence. "It's either an attack aimed at the Raikage and Kumo, or a direct aim for the Hachibi."
"We came to the same conclusion," said Gaara. "So, if we go for option that it had been the Hachibi which had been the target, we must face the eventuality that there are some Jinchuriki tracker or trackers out there."
A heavy silence fell on the room. Sakura eyes widened at the implications. She felt a trickle of fear running down her back. Won't this nightmare ever be over? She looked over at Tsunade, and could see her clenched jaw; the older woman was concerned as well.
"The Raikage had not yet responded to my message," Naruto said, his face tight. Killer Bee was a good friend, and he did not like the idea that there was someone, or several people, out on the look for the Hachibi.
"If indeed Killer Bee had been targeted, you can be sure the Raikage would have put his best team on this case," said Tsunade. "You know how protective he is towards Killer Bee."
"So, there's the possibility that Naruto could be a target as well," said Sakura, making a statement rather than asking a question as she looked from Kankuro to Gaara.
"Yes, the possibility runs high," Gaara affirmed. "The war has lifted the strict secrecy of the Jinchuriki identities, and with only two Jinchurikis left," he glanced at Naruto, "they both are easy targets now."
Neiji spoke up. "All safety measures are already in place, the Hokage would not be so easily brought down," he stated calmly. "Not within Konoha. We should as well consider measures like refraining from any travel outside Konoha; at least until all this is solved."
"It seems a good enough measure," Tsunade said, and all the others immediately nodded in agreement.
"Whoa, whoa!" Naruto protested hotly. "Calm down, guys!" He looked around the serious faces. "If you're hinting that I should miss the Chunin exams, Neiji, Baa-chan, I say no way. I refuse to be scared into hiding by some petty terrorists."
"Naruto, it's just a question of being careful, at least until this is solved!" Sakura interjected, her voice worried.
Shikamaru as well looked disapprovingly at the Naruto. "You're too troublesome, Naruto," he said in exasperation. "We should take this seriously. Why take unnecessary risks? The most reasonable thing would be to keep a low profile for the time being."
"I am taking this seriously," said Naruto sharply. "Just… don't treat me like a weapon to be hidden – again."
Everyone in the room knew he was making allusion to the war, when he had been kept in secret. He had been furious when he had discovered what had been going on, and he still retain a tiny grudge for being kept away in the dark while all his precious people had been fighting to death. Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats, not having any comment to that.
"And anyway, this is all based on assumptions, and the Chunin exams are still months away; let's not jump the guns, should we?" he continued, in a more subdued tone. He turned towards Sai, "Try to get more clues on this new info. We will follow this closely," he said with a tone of finality.
Kakashi gave a long sigh. He refrained from saying anything for the time being; knowing his former student, he knew that it would be pointless to try to convince him otherwise if he had put something in his head.
Sakura looked sideways at Sasuke, who was sitting next to her, a worried frown etched on her face.
He sighed. "What else did you expect?" he told her in an undertone as he caught her look.
"I hope all this get sorted out soon enough," said Sakura quietly.
XOXOXO
"Okay, we've fed you, now spill out!" Sakura demanded, green eyes wicked as she watched the girl.
Temari inspected the group of faces looking at her expectantly. "Hey, that's cheating!" she grumbled.
A day after the arrival of the Suna delegation, the girls, as in Sakura, Ten-Ten, Ino and Hinata, had arranged for a lunch meeting with the Suna Kunoichi, while the Kazekage and the Hokage were tied in long meetings for the day, and Kankuro having gone to visit their training grounds with Shikamaru and some others. The girls, having formed a tight friendship with the Suna Kunoichi during the war, had spent a great time and caught up with the last news. Now, with lunch over and all of them sipping a drink, relaxed, Temari found herself being at the center of attention.
"We'd like to know what goes on with you and that team-mate of mine," Ino said with an air of information-gathering-by-torture. "And since he says nada, we figured that you would fill us in. So, out with it!"
"At least the food was great," sighed Temari, bashfully ignoring the questions.
"And?" Ino rasped impatiently.
"If you think I'm going to talk about Shika at all, you girls would wait for a very long time."
"Shika, huh?" Sakura immediately pounced, while Ten-Ten smirked.
"Come on, at least give us something!" wailed Ino.
Temari smiled deviously. "Well, he is good," she said in a suggestive tone, twirling her drink nonchalantly; then waited for the explosion. She was not disappointed.
"Kyaaa?" Ino screeched as the implications sunk in, while Hinata blushed to a crimson red. Sakura gaped speechless at the blond Suna Kunoichi, and Ten-Ten was grinning.
"Hey, I've given you something," Temari said dryly. "You don't need to be such prudes now."
"Our Shikamaru?" wondered Sakura. "Geez, our boys are definitely growing up," she groaned, shaking her head.
"You make a great couple," said Hinata, smiling shyly. "Even though Shikamaru-kun tries to hide it, you can see how much he admires you."
Ino held a sour expression. "Oh, the sneaky one," she muttered, feeling deflated that she, as his team mate, had not known anything at all about him dating Temari. She thought they were close enough that he would share something as important as that.
"Hey, whatever there is between us, it's still shaky," Temari said, suddenly serious. "We both don't know where this will go; we don't even know whether it will last up till the next time we meet, which you know is very rare. That's why we prefer not to say anything." She looked at Ino. "It's not like he wants to hide things from his team-mate."
Ino grudgingly nodded. She could understand that. "Well, you guys better give us a decent amount of notice for the wedding," she grumbled.
Temari only rolled her eyes at this. "Marriage is the last thing on our minds for the time being," she assured. "We are still struggling to get a decent schedule of us seeing each other."
The girls nodded in commiseration.
"Talking about marriage, have you heard that the Daimyo is expected in Konoha with his daughter next week?" Ten-Ten asked.
"Yes. So?" replied Ino.
"Well, it's being whispered that it could be about a marriage proposal for the Hokage."
Sakura chocked on her drink. "Marriage proposal for Naruto?" she spluttered.
Temari looked at Sakura with keen interest. "What so surprising about it?" she said. "As a single, young and hot Hokage - he's bound to attract marriage proposals from all over the nation. We have been plagued by gazillions of proposals for Gaara since he'd been Kazekage."
'Oh." A mysterious, heated discomfort gripped Sakura. She stole a glance towards Hinata. Apart from a slight blush, the Hyuuga girl appeared collected. "Well, I'm sure the whisperings are just speculations and gossips," she said firmly. "Naruto would have said something about it otherwise."
"I really doubt that he would know about it yet," remarked Ten-Ten, "knowing how clueless he usually is about these things."
Hinata chuckled softly. "Yes, that's Naruto-kun, all right."
Sakura was quiet while the others continue with their chatter. She felt unsettled by the conflicting emotions running through her. As his best friend, she should have been ecstatic that Naruto was receiving such high-class marriage proposals. She had been prepared that such a day will arrive that he would have a girlfriend, a fiancée or a wife, and she had made the resolve to be happy for him when such a day would come. So, the clench in her stomach at the news took her by surprise.
Furthermore, there was Hinata. She looked at the beautiful Hyuuga again. She had grown out of her shy stuttering, and turned into an even more stunningly beautiful young woman. If there was someone who had been highest on the list of deserving Naruto, it had been Hinata. The girl was perfect in every sense; she had always loved Naruto, and had never ever been nasty to him. Sakura had never asked Naruto about his feelings for Hinata; it was subject she had difficulty in approaching, and felt that it was up to Naruto to discuss it with her if he wanted to. But she had been sort of expecting that something would build up between the two. Now, out from nowhere, a Daimyo's daughter was just about to enter in the picture.
Catching Ino's eyes on her, Sakura hastily forced a smile and dragged her attention back to the conversation.
XOXOX
"It was wonderful having them," Naruto said, feeling a bit sad as he watched the Suna group disappearing from view, some days later.
Sakura and Ino nodded, while Shikamaru remained silent. The small group had come to the main gates to see the Suna delegation off. Sakura stole a glance at Shikamaru. Though he kept his face as neutral as possible, she could detect the hint of bleakness in his eyes as he continued to look out towards the already disappeared group.
"But we will see them soon," she said cheerfully to no one in particular, aiming to rise the mood of their silently brooding friend.
"Yeah," Ino piped in, catching her intention. "The Chunin exams are only two months away. We will meet them again in no time at all!"
"And what with the new trade agreements that had been settled," Sakura continued, "we should expect to see them very often now."
"I'm looking forward to go to Suna for the Chunin exams," agreed Naruto, oblivious to what the two girls were up to. He did not miss Sakura's immediate worried frown as he said that. "I'm sure things will be fine by then," he told her firmly. "Now, I'm getting hungry. Let's go and have some ramen!"
Sakura sighed. It was no use debating the issue with him right now; they would have to see how things proceed in the coming months.
"Always hungry," she grumbled; then turned towards Shikamaru. "It's a good idea, though. I still have some time left for my lunch hour. Shizune will take care of things. Let's go."
Shikamaru shook his head. "I'll decline_" he started, but immediately Sakura and Ino pulled him each by an arm.
"You can postpone your sky gazing for another time," Ino said firmly. "Chouzi would be joining us as well."
"Hey, I was not going to sky gaze!" Shikamaru protested, affronted. He had given up on that hobby long ago. Well, he only did it very rarely, but he was not about to admit that; it would spoil the image of the serious, responsible man that he held.
Both girls ignored him.
"Whatever it is, it can wait," said Sakura, and both girls dragged the protesting young man towards Ichiraku. They had no intention of leaving their obviously blue friend to mope alone.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto helplessly.
Naruto only shrugged. "If Sakura-chan says you need ramen, it means you need ramen!"
'I should have known you would side with her!" grumbled Shikamaru. "And you girls are too troublesome," he groaned, giving up on resisting.
Naruto followed them, grinning, Sasuke by his side.