So, I was hoping to get a bunch of comments, but I already had this chapter ready. So enjoy.

Naruto and Sakura walked together along the river that ran through Konoha. Naruto loved the time they were spending together. It felt surreal to him, as if all his dreams were, in fact, coming true. He didn't know how to explain it, but for the first time in a long time, he was truly happy. Of course, ever since he saw Hinata run away from him, he was a little anxious. It wasn't so much that Hinata had ignored him as much as it was her running. Naruto was a little afraid of another villain that was threatening the village. He promised Nagato peace, and he intended to keep his promise. That was his nindo after all.

"Hey Sakura," said Naruto, touching the water.

"Yes Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Is there something up with Hinata?"

Sakura clenched. Did he know? Had Hinata told Naruto the truth? She gulped before asking, "What do you mean?"

Naruto explained that Hinata had run from him the other night and that was bothering him.

"There isn't another enemy attacking the village, is there?"

Sakura breathed softly. "No, there's nothing. Don't worry."

Naruto and Sakura continued their walk. After a couple minutes, Naruto found himself far in front of Sakura. He looked back to see Sakura struggling around the river bed.

"Something wrong, Sakura?"

"I hate the woods!"

Naruto stood still for a while. He didn't know how to respond to Sakura's statement. He knew Sakura was joking, but the fact that she hated the woods hurt him. He knew that Sakura spent most of her time in the village, working in the family store as a little academy student. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't have such an easy childhood. He spent most of his time in the woods, away from the other people who hated him. To him, the woods were a second home, to Sakura, it was a difficulty.

"Oh," said Naruto quietly, "here, let me help."

"Welcome to Suna!" said a sand ninja before a large group of foreigners. Among them, Hinata stood, still heartbroken over her talk with Sakura.

"Here you have decided to work to rebuild our village. It will be difficult, hard, grueling…"

"Oh shut up!" shouted another Suna ninja walking out from a building.

It was Kankuro, except much older and much more mature after the war. "Look everyone," began the brother of the Kazekage. "You're here to help us rebuild some buildings and secure some walls, okay?"

The foreign ninja laughed at the Suna elder's dominance over a ninja twice his age. After all the workers had left, Hinata quietly approached Kankuro. Recognizing her, Kankuro bowed politely.

"Hello Lady Hyuga," said Kankuro, "are you here to help us too?"

Hinata nodded her head. "I'm sorry Lord Kankuro," she said quietly, "but I don't really have any physical strength to physically help rebuild walls or buildings."

"Oh," said Kankuro looking around. "Well, I don't know what you can do here? Do you want to go home?"

"No!" exclaimed Hinata. "I mean, I really wanted to help."

"Um, ok well."

"I have something for her to do," called a feminine voice. Temari walked over from the top of one of the buildings. She motioned over to Hinata who followed her.

Gaara sat at his desk working. Running a post-war village was not easy work, but if anyone could do it, it was him. As he worked diligently, Temari and Hinata walked into his office.

"Oh hello, Temari," said Gaara, "and, oh my, a friend of Narutos!"

Hinata bit her lip at Naruto's name, but she kept on smiling before her new host.

"Lord Kazekage," said Temari, "I thought Hinata could work as your secretary.

Gaara looked at Hinata who blushed slightly. Gaara smiled and nodded.

"Alright," he said, "that would be good."

After Temari had left, Gaara motioned for Hinata to sit at a desk near the door. There she began to organize some papers.

Back in Konoha, Sakura and Naruto had dinner. And of course, they were at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop. Naruto was happily eating away and Sakura giggled as she saw him gobble down his food. She should have been used to it, but it was still funny to her. She didn't understand how anyone could eat so much. Suddenly, Sakura felt an odd presence beside her. She looked beside her to see a guy giving her awkward glances. Sakura smiled at him and batted her eyelashes. The other guy continued to smiling and Sakura brushed her fingers through her hair.

"Excuse me Naruto," said Sakura, "I'll be back soon."

Naruto looked up to her. "Oh, can I have your ramen?"

Sakura laughed. "Of course."

Sakura walked away from the ramen stand and the guy sitting next to her followed soon after.

Naruto finished his ramen happily and attempted to pay, but Teuchi would not take his money. Despite the good fortune that was just displayed upon him, Naruto could not feel truly happy. Sakura had not yet returned and Naruto was getting worried.

He began walking around the village square and looking for Sakura, but he couldn't find her. He was now very worried. Naruto was very close minded and he expected his nindo to be everyone's nindo, and if Sakura could not keep her word, then something must be very, very wrong. He had to find her, and if necessary, save her. As Naruto ran across the Konoha streets to the Haruno residence, the sun began to set behind the far away, western mountains.

Beyond those mountains, the sun had already set in Suna and Gaara was getting ready to leave his office.

"Lord Kazekage," said Hinata quietly.

Gaara smiled at Hinata. "Just Gaara is fine, if you're going to be working for me, I don't want to trouble you with 'Lord Kazekage' every day."

Hinata nodded. "Gaara, is there anything else you want me to do?"

"No, nothing," said Gaara. "I'll just see you at the party tonight."

"The party?" questioned Hinata.

"Didn't they tell you?" remarked Gaara, "Kankuro and Temari are throwing a party."

Hinata shook her head. "No, they didn't tell me. I'm actually not feeling well."

"Are you sure?" asked Gaara. "Please Hinata…" Gaara took Hinata's hand in the way most adults take little girl's hands. "I would be honored if you'd come as my guest."

Hinata blushed bright red. "Oh, well if you really want me to go…"

Gaara smiled. "I'll come pick you up at your guest quarters, alright?"

Hinata nodded. "Alright."

About three hours later, Hinata was all dressed up in a kimono and had finished her hair. She hoped she was dressed correctly, but she hoped to get by, by stating that she was a foreigner. She had no idea how Gaara would dress, and she hoped that they would not clash. She shook her head out of the thought. She wasn't supposed to be Gaara's date, just his guest. She sat down on a chair and looked around her room. She couldn't believe it was stable. It was a sand-like room, but the material was hard and strong. She had never seen sand able to do anything like that before. She was not familiar with Suna, nor was she a big fan. She only came here because it was the only village that offered some kind of program that imported workers. After a few minutes she heard a knock at her door. She walked over and opened it to find Gaara in his full Kazekage regalia. She should have known.

"Are you ready, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded and Gaara offered his arm. Hinata clasped his arm and the two walked off into the streets. The two eventually walked into a large banquet hall. Upon a raised platform was six seats, two of which were occupied by Kankuro and Temari. Another seat was occupied by Kankuro's girlfriend and another seat was occupied by Temari's guest.

"Come, Hinata," said Gaara smiling, "sit with me."

Hinata gasped. "You mean up there! In front of everyone?"

"Of course!" laughed Gaara. "Come on."

When everyone was seated and the entire banquet hall was filled, Hinata looked around. Thankfully, she was not the only one dressed in the Konoha fashion. The banquet hall was filled with people in all types of clothing from all villages across the world.

When everyone was settled, Kankuro stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began. "We are here to commemorate the birthday of my dear brother, and our dear Kazekage, Gaara!"

Hinata gasped. She didn't know it was Gaara's birthday. She turned suddenly to see a look of embarrassment and pride on Gaara's face. He was both happy and abashed. It was a strange combination, but it seemed to play perfectly to Gaara's persona.

Kankuro later gave a long speech about Gaara's life and heroism and eventually dinner was served. While dinner was being eaten, Hinata turned over to Gaara.

"Gaara! I didn't know it was your birthday!"

Gaara laughed. "Yeah, it is."

"Happy Birthday! I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

Gaara laughed again. "I didn't expect anything. I didn't even know about this party until this morning."

"But you must have assumed somebody was going to do something for you birthday!"

Gaara looked down into his food. "I taught myself to never expect anything. It's the best way to avoid disappointment."

Hinata looked down sadly into her own food. When he saw her sad, Gaara patted her on the back.

"But what am I worrying about that for? My siblings did give me a party!"

Hinata smiled at Gaara.

After dinner, everyone started dancing. Many girls showed interest in dancing with Gaara, but he shied away. Hinata too, had no interest in dancing with some of the Suna ninjas. It wasn't anything in particular in these guys. It was simply that she was embarrassed. After a couple of songs, Gaara walked over to Hinata.

"Why aren't you dancing?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she responded. "I'm just not that good a dancer."

Gaara looked down at the floor. "Me neither."

There was a moment of silence between the two, then Gaara turned his head over to Hinata.

"But, since we're both not that good, well, maybe it wouldn't look so bad if we danced together."

Hinata's eyes widened at Gaara's proposal. She thought about it for a moment. She had made it a point that she would not dance with anyone that night. Gaara then took Hinata's hand.

"What do you say?" Gaara asked.

Hinata made an exception that night. She and Gaara danced until the party was over. She held Gaara's hand when they walked back to her apartment and she even gave him a kiss on his cheek before she went into her apartment and he went back to his quarters.

Naruto looked and looked for Sakura, but she was nowhere to be found. He looked at her house and at all their friend's house. He eventually found himself sitting in the middle of the village square when he saw the rosette walk by him. After taking a double take, Naruto ran over to his girlfriend.

Their argument lasted a couple of minutes and ended with a series of apologies from Sakura. Eventually the two hugged and Naruto walked Sakura back to her house. Sakura was instantly forgiven and the eight hours of Naruto's worries were as if they never happened.

Hope you liked it. If you didn't, well, sorry for wasting your time.