Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

.:. Notes .:.
I am really sorry that it took so long to update, I just wanted to write a really long chapter and got totally blocked somewhere along the way. However, don't worry! I'll try updating as soon as possible from now on, with nice, long chapters, too. I just got done watching like ten episodes of Shippuuden (I'm behind a bit on my anime hehe). I'm on episode like eighty-something and was randomly inspired to write strategically in this chapter.

Chapter 1 – Official: Let the Games Begin!

Several hours had passed since Sakura and Naruto succumbed to their slumber. The moon shone a pale blue across the bedroom as shadows from the treetops nearby covered the walls and bed. The two are having two completely different subconscious images playing back to them in their dreamlike states.

Naruto's subconscious spared him of the night terrors that Sakura's own subconscious plagued her with. Naruto slept still and calmly, while Sakura was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Her body tossed and turned about the sheets and her breaths came out in long, hard pants. She remained this way throughout her horror-filled slumber—distraught, traumatized, afraid. Nightmares plagued the young woman more now than ever before. Tonight, was no exception.

.:. Sakura's Dream .:.

"Sakura, huh?" A familiar, deep, and husky voice emitted from the darkness of which Sakura has found herself completely engulfed in. Everywhere around her, no light could be found and it felt as if she were blind. However, she knew that she could see perfectly fine, and that simply, all she would see for now was black.

The voice calling her name could easily be recognized to be Sasuke's back on the day when Sakura, Naruto, Sai, and Yamato discovered Orochimaru's hideout and seen their teammate for the first time after two long, painful years. That was the second time he truly broke her heart and yet she still managed to desire bringing him back to Konohagakure in whatever way she could manage. However, this was completely different from that painful day, because she wasn't at Orochimaru's hideout. Instead, she was in the darkness.

Chills rushed down her spine as she felt his aura surrounding her, even though she could not pinpoint his exact location. She wasn't in a room, or at least, she wasn't from what she could tell. It was far too spacious seeming to be a room. However, it couldn't have possibly been outdoors either, because there was no grass beneath her feet, nor nature around her. It was almost as if she had been cast into another dimension or something. She figured that was simply just in a large, wide, open space because of the fact that Sasuke's voice had echoed once he had spoken her name.

Sakura finally responded to the voice and called out his name uncertainly as to whether or not he would actually respond. However, she had been truly hoping to get some sort of response after a haunting silence engulfed her the moment that the sound of his voice left the room.

However, she received no answer. Suddenly, everything in the dream went from black to a bright white glowing. Everywhere she looked was as if she were staring up into the sun on a hot summer day. Her eyes couldn't adjust easily so she shielded them with her hands, trying to block the bright intrusion from blinding her further.

Finally, her eyes adjusted and her eyes roamed the place. It was a white room with white lights, and on the floor was a large puddle of blood stains, along with blonde hair. Wait…blonde hair? That could only mean…

Sakura approached the battered figure and looked down at it, her eyes widening in horror as her heart clenched in agony. She screamed Naruto's name at the top of her lungs and fell to the ground landing roughly on her knees. Suddenly, the room filled with an almost-sadistic type of laughter that echoed all around, but the source was nowhere to be seen.

"Sasuke! You bastard!"

She screamed in tears, her eyes roaming around the room trying to spot the Uchiha, though she failed to do so. She held Naruto's corpse in her arms and cried into his chest after checking to find a heartbeat. She discovered none and wept over his body holding him close to her broken heart.

"Dammit Sasuke, where the fuck are you?!" She screamed, her voice hysterical and her cheeks stained with tears.

Still searching the room frantically, she heard the loud, echoing chuckle coming throughout the room, though she had absolutely no clue where it was coming from. It was faint but continued growing louder until she felt the memories flooding back to her.

Images flowed back to her mind and replayed themselves in front of her. To her right, she saw the bench near the village gates, as her 12-year-old self stood there in tears, Sasuke speeding behind her before hitting her pulse point on the back of her neck, whispering his final words—arigato.

After that moment, the vision of the two disappeared and another began to play. Kakashi had just passed them by on the street, late for their usual meetings with Team 7, as usual. A young 12-year-old Naruto appeared, along with a younger version of Sakura gawking over Sasuke, whom was simply smirking devilishly and as calmly as ever.

That image faded as well and in came another one. Kakashi's corpse as they brought it back to Konohagakure for a proper burial. Her eyes welled up with tears as she saw Tsunade go to remove his mask, but stopped her hand and requested she didn't, as it wouldn't be right to do so without his permission—a virtue they will never have now that he was gone. Kakashi was buried in his mask and Sakura and Naruto had agreed that they would leave the mystery alive as it shaped who their teacher was.

As the sight of Kakashi's coffin lowering into the ground disappeared, the sight of Tsunade's appeared and Sakura's heart wrenched with pain at the memory.

"Shishou…" she whispered, reaching a hand out as the coffin of the Fifth Hokage was lowered into the Konohagakure shinobi memorial site. As soon as she reached for the image, it vanished as another began to distort into view.

Standing before her now, in all of his glory, was Sasuke Uchiha, wearing his new outfit consisting of head bandages, a black sleeveless top, black pants, and his purple Sound Village belt. His Akatsuki robe was dawned on his shoulders loosely as he began approaching the pink haired woman, whom had become frozen to her spot knelt down on her knees on the floor.

"Sakura, huh? I figured you would have gotten yourself killed by now. You always were the weak one of Team 7, ne? I'd have never thought I'd kill the dobe before you."

"I'm a hell of a lot stronger than you think you, Uchiha-scum." She spat venomously at him, her eyes filled with disgust and hatred.

He vanished then, leaving her and Naruto's corpse yet again.

"Naruto!!"

.:. End of Dream .:.

Sakura screamed Naruto's name aloud, her upper body rising mechanically from the bed as she ran her fingers through her hair with one hand, clutching the bedding beneath her with the other. She looked down and saw a sleeping Naruto in the shadows. Hesitantly, she placed a hand atop of his chest. Noticing his steady and healthy heartbeat, she let out a long sigh of relief. Her relief, however, was short-lived as Sakura froze at the feel of a hand clamped tightly around her wrist.

Naruto whispered Sakura's name groggily before sitting up in bed, his eyes heavy from his sudden awakening from his slumber and he turned to face the woman in question. Sakura's eyes remained opened wide as she looked at what she had done – she woke Naruto up with her screaming. She mentally cursed herself for disrupting his sleep but still hugged him tightly nonetheless.

She thanked kami that Naruto was safe and alright from the hands of the Uchiha traitor that they had actually once called a friend. Sakura hugged him tightly and had caught him off guard, so when he turned his head to react, his lips brushed across hers. She felt his warm breath upon her and froze, her arms abruptly holding his neck in place as she stared at him, their faces merely inches apart from one another.

Naruto spoke the name of the woman in front of him, her breathing hitching a bit as her body became a bit heated due to their proximity. She tightly closed her eyes for a moment, trying to determine if she was awake or dreaming—everything still felt too unreal from her nightmare. When she opened them back up, he was still there looking back at her quizzically.

Sakura's grip on his neck only deepened, and she seemed to have forgotten their actual closeness and wound up pressing her lips firmly against his. Unconsciously, she closed her eyes; a reaction completely opposite of his, as his eyes had been widened with sudden confusion and nervousness. After a moment, he had pretty much mentally said 'screw it' and his eyes also lidded closed as he deepened the kiss as well.

Wrapping his own arms around Sakura returning her hug, he gently urged her to lay back on the bed, her head resting gently against the pillows. It was the moment that his hands started roaming down her sides that she parted for air. Snapping back to reality, she placed a hand on his chest, urging him to stop.

"Naruto…We shouldn't do this…"

Naruto looked back at her, both confused and hurt from her words, but obliged and nodded. He should have figured that she wouldn't have wanted to be with him. He kept repeating the phrase "Never In A Million Years" over and over in his mind and he mentally scolded himself for thinking anything beyond it.

He was hurt, however, because he knew that he still loved Sakura with all of his heart. That is, after all, why he turned Hinata down after she expressed her feelings. Well, at least, that was one of the reasons, the others being that he was focused on getting stronger and becoming the hokage. Even after he managed to do that, he still couldn't return her feelings and she took it pretty well, he figured. She only wanted his happiness, and for that, he remained good friends with her.

Truth be told, however, that there is always one person standing in his way whenever it comes to love, which was Sakura. The reason for that was simply because he had loved her since they were 12-years-old, and still would love her until the day he died. That wouldn't change ever, and he knew that. He stood up from the bed and walked out of the room, hoping to clear his mind which was now cluttered with thoughts of her and his seeming rejection.

In the process of walking out of the bedroom, he left a guilt-stricken Sakura in the wake, mentally chastising herself for hurting him yet again after she had sworn that she would never do it again. But she had to stop him.

It just didn't feel right. Something had clicked in her mind and sprung her back to reality in the heat of the moment—their moment—and she didn't know why, but she choked at the last minute. This was Naruto after all. He was her best friend and she was afraid that if they continued what they were doing, things would change for the worst. She wasn't sure how or why that would happen though, or if any change, even a good one, would be worth it.

She knew pain as she gave Sasuke her heart and he shattered it over and over again. Now that she was barely holding all of the pieces together, she was afraid to try love again because love had betrayed her before.

There was once a time when Sakura thought that love was the most important thing in the world, and that without it, life wasn't worth living. Then she realized that love was a haphazard for a shinobi, one which should truly be avoided before it can be used against you.

Sakura stood up from the bed to feel a cool breeze blowing in through a nearby open window. Clad only in her sleepwear, which consisted of a purple tank top and shorts, she picked up a long robe that rest on a chair in the living room. She noticed his hokage robe was gone, meaning he had left the house. She grunted in frustration.

She walked outside and channeled her chakra to her feet as she darted off into the night, her long, purple bath robe flying about her figure as the wind picked up along with her speed. She knew where he went because he always went to the same spot to think—the hokage monument. For some reason, he found comfort sitting atop of the Sandaime's head, instead of the Yondaime's.

She had actually asked him once about why he preferred to sit on the Third's, and he simply replied by stating that the hair of the Yondaime's statue was too spiky and uncomfortable to sit on. Finally, she had reached her destination. Pulling the ends of her robe around her as the wind picked up, Sakura slowed her pace to a light stroll as she channeled chakra to her feet and ran up the side of the monument. Surely enough, sitting atop the structure was a sitting Naruto, whom was staring up at the moon above them.

Naruto wouldn't look at her however, and instead stared off ahead at the village below him. Sakura hesitantly walked towards him, the wind whipping her robe ends all about as she shivered a bit involuntarily. It was rather cool that night and Sakura mentally scolded herself for not dressing warmer before leaving the house.

She called his name once but he didn't answer. Figuring he didn't hear her, she called it again, this time only louder. Finally, he turned his head to look at the woman heading towards him. Otherwise, he said nothing in response to her, and simply looked at her.

She tried her best to wrack her brain for some kind of explanation to give him for her strange behavior that night; to explain that she didn't stop things from continuing because of him, but because of herself. However, she couldn't reach any other conclusion other than being afraid. So, that's what she told him.

She told him that she was so afraid of their friendship being compromised for their relationship going further, though even slightly, she didn't fully trust her words and reasoning. She brushed her doubt off, however, and apologized sincerely if she had hurt him in the process of being afraid, which she clearly had done.

Naruto just brushed it off and told her that it was okay and he shouldn't have pushed it further than it had gone. She felt even guiltier though having initiated the kiss in the first place. She knew how Naruto felt but honestly, she had no clue of what her own feelings were as far as romance went. She often wondered if there was any part of her that still loved Sasuke and somehow, she sometimes thought that she did. But remembering all that he had done to her—to Konohagakure as a whole—made it a bit easier to realize in all truth that she no longer did love him.

Out of the blue, Sakura began to explain what had happened in her dream that had caused her to wake up screaming. She told him that she was sorry for waking him up in the process and he forgave her, realizing just how troubled she was by all of this. Besides, he could never stay too angry at Sakura for too long.

She thanked him absentmindedly and Naruto chuckled a bit before asking her what she was thanking him for exactly. Her only response was simply for him being there. She smiled, attempting to reassure him that she would be okay, but that wasn't his Sakura's genuine smile, the one that he had always prided in her. No, this smile was the same smile that she had seemed put up more often than not anymore. It was fake and he knew it full and well. He knew it because her eyes darkened over with heart wrenching sadness and pain every time she forced it out.

"Sakura, why is it that you are always thanking me for just 'being there' anymore? I mean, you already know that I'll always be there for you and yet…I don't know, it feels like you've been thanking me on a daily basis now for it. What's going on with you lately? I mean, you look so lost anymore. You just don't look like the Sakura I've always known – always so sure of yourself and stare at me like you're never going to see me again. It's rather disturbing, to be honest."

"That's because I might not ever see you again someday, baka!" Sakura screamed at him, though the insult was highly insincere and more choked out, if anything. It would kill her if anything happened to Naruto. He was her everything now. He was all that she had left to hold her up now. Everyone else was gone. Kakashi, Tsunade, Sasuke, even Sai and Yamato both went back to their positions in the ANBU.

Sakura pulled her knees tighter to her chest, gripping her calves so tightly that all of her knuckles turned a ghostly white tint.

"It's because…If I lost you Naruto, I would die and…I would truly be all alone." She finished at barely a whisper, and had it not been for their closeness at that very moment, he would have probably never heard her.

Naruto gave her a sad smile and began to go into his 'wise Naruto' stance that was good for quite a few serious occasions now. Truth be told, the man was wiser than most people gave him credit for and his words…Well, they truly made him live up to his reputation by assisting him in making friends with everyone he encountered just about.

"I remember how when we were Genin—back when Sasuke-teme was still with us, I mean—it seemed like all we ever did was rival one another. At first, I always thought it was only Sasuke and I but…Later on, I seen that you were struggling for your own strength as well—different strength, albeit—but in the end, our intentions always were the same. That's what made us such a great team, ya know? We were so alike and yet, so different at the same time."

Naruto paused to run his fingers through his long blonde hair as he sat up on the bed bringing resting on his knee, which was now bent and facing upright in the bed, similar to Sakura's position.

"Sakura, I've had to deal with so much that I would have probably never achieved had it not been for you being there for me…I'll admit that, yeah, you've had to kick my ass most of the way here," he chuckled lightly, "but I've turned out pretty good, ne?"

Sakura chuckled sadly through her tear-filled eyes. She nodded her head in agreement and finally spoke in response.

"You know, it's funny, I spent all of our time as kids chasing after Sasuke, always trying to get his attention…Hell, I stuck with being a ninja just because of him. Along the way, I had given into my weaknesses so much over time that…I don't know, I guess it's shaped all of who I have become, you know?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side in his lack of full understanding and so, she explained a bit better.

"It's like…I've always had to battle my own personal demons and barriers to actually try to put forth some effort in achieving who I have become today. If it hadn't been for Tsunade-shishou's training, I'd still be the same as I was back then—afraid and weak to try to catch up to everyone else's strength. I was the weak one back then…Pathetic even…"

"Sakura-chan…"

"No, let me say this, Naruto…Please…"

He nodded his head slightly giving in to her wishes and she continued speaking.

"I was so stupid back then, Naruto—focusing my everything on a boy, it's a wonder I never got killed on a mission or something. I broke the main rule of being a shinobi and I let my emotions take control of my abilities. I only blinded my vision by doing that and restrained my potential. Does that make me stupid? Ya know, regretting it all now that it's way too late?"

Naruto shook his head no and looked into her eyes, his own bright blue orbs shining with his signature sincerity.

"I don't believe in the rule about destroying a shinobi's emotions because…my emotions fueled me to become hokage. I've always had such strong emotions…I loved, I got hurt, I got angry, and I cared so much…I mean, it's all lead to this and if I had hardened my emotions and feelings all of those years ago, I would have never cared enough to fight back and get stronger."

"Yeah," she smiled again a bit looking down at the bed below.

"Ya know, you always were the big softy," Sakura giggled along with Naruto as she ruffled her fingers through his shaggy hai, "but I'm glad you were."

The two walked back to their apartment and got back into bed. She recalled the events of her nightmare and told him everything that had happened, word for word. Afterwards, Naruto asked her what she thought it meant, and she simply shrugged her shoulders before giving him her answer.

"I have no idea what it could have meant. But I do know this…if he ever tried to hurt you, I swear to kami that I would fucking kill him myself."

Sakura's words were colder than ice and yet her tone was calm and serene. She spat the last bit out with sincere and genuine malice as she narrowed her eyes a bit, more heart wrenchingly than anything.

She wasn't absolutely sure if she stood a chance in hell against the Uchiha but she would have to just die trying, right? At least she would be able to rest peacefully knowing she did something rather than nothing at all.

They were sixteen now, which meant that considering their careers, they had been considered adults not long ago. They understood the concepts of war and peace—because peace was a foreign concept a good eighty percent of the time. They knew that in the concept of life and death, death was generally an occurrence to reach a shinobi before the age of forty.

.:. Flashback .:.

"When a person dies, he disappears, along with his past, current lifestyle and his future. Many people die in missions and wars. They die easily and in surprisingly simple ways. Hayate was one of them. Those who died had hopes & dreams, but everyone has something as important as those: parents, siblings, friends, lovers; people who are important to you, they trust and help each other. The bond between the people important to you ever since birth and the string that binds them becomes thicker and stronger as time goes by. It's beyond reason. Those bound to you by that string will do that because it is important."
—Iruka, referring to the Third at his funeral.

.:. End of Flashback .:.

The children born to the shinobi world were tools—born as tools, by tools, raised to be tools, and died as tools.

.:. Flashback .:.

"Don't look away…When you live like a shinobi, this is how it ends."
—Kakashi

.:. End of Flashback .:.

Often times, Sakura found herself wondering if she would ever have children in her lifetime. She doubted it, though. Several years back, she had hoped to marry Sasuke and have a family with him.

Now, she wished his death for what he had done. The wound in her heart was larger than she let on, but she focused on hiding how large the wound was so that Naruto—or anyone else, for that matter—worried about her.

He had enough on his plate now as the hokage of a village barely surviving by a thread. The last thing in the world that Sakura wanted was to burden him any more with her problems. She wasn't a genin anymore and had vowed never to be a burden again.

So instead, she would help him out with whatever she could. Who knew? They might actually be able to pull Konoha out of the gutter that Sasuke had attempted to bury it in. Together, they were a team – an unstoppable force, both of which had surpassed two of the Legendary Sannin's, Tsunade and Jiraiya. That thought made her smile. No matter where they end up in the future, they will always be Team Kakashi in their hearts.

The two passed the time talking about intimate things—secrets, hopes, dreams. Sakura told him how proud she truly was that he had fulfilled his goal of becoming the hokage. She knew he had it in him for so long now, despite all of her belittling him throughout their childhood. That alone was something she would always regret until she died and she knew that apologies would never be enough.

Naruto told her that the only reason he continued pursuing Sasuke for the past two years or so was to simply fulfill his promise to her so many years ago. She was shocked, to say the least, but more sorry for all of the time that had been wasted pursuing their former teammate and friend.

The traitor.

The two reminisced back to their former grey-haired sensei, whose hidden facial features, neither had ever gotten to see. They laughed as they thought back on the memory of the time that they had tried to see his face and failed miserably to do so.

.:. Flashback .:.

"Maybe it'll snow…No! Or are you guys hiding something?"
—Kakashi

.:. End of Flashback .:.

Eventually, the two fell back asleep at around three in the morning. Sakura awoke the next morning still fully clothed as she sat up in the now empty bed looking around the room for Naruto, but he was nowhere in sight. The entire room was dimmed a bit, so she figured that it must have still been early morning.

"Naruto…?" Sakura called out, her voice echoing loudly throughout the apartment, but had received no response from the blonde.

"Hmm, I wonder where he went?" She whispered softly to herself, biting down on her thumb nail deep in thought as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Hmm…I know that he was lying in here when I fell asleep…And I'm generally a really light sleeper so…how in the world did he manage to get out of bed without me moving? It just makes absolutely no sense."

Sakura sighed and stood up from the bed, her arms raising high above her head stretching the sleep-stiffened muscles in her biceps, shoulders, and upper back. She then walked towards the bedroom door and turned the handle, before poking her head out the door and calling Naruto's name out through the silent apartment.

Finally, the bathroom door down the small hallway cracked open and a shirtless Naruto poked his head out of the doorway, his eyes searching around a bit before landing his sights on the source of his name being summoned throughout the apartment. He had a toothbrush handle sticking out of his mouth and his lips were covered in white toothpaste, so he nodded his head indicating that she had his attention.

"Oops. I'm sorry, Naruto. I was just wondering where you were. I'll let you finish while I wait in the kitchen, okay?" Sakura replied apologetically while blushing a bit, mostly feeling silly for getting so concerned.

Then again, he was the hokage now. He was the most valuable asset that the village had at the moment and they certainly needed to know where he was a good ninety percent of the time, even it if was just one of his shinobi and/or advisors.

Hokage. Man, that would definitely take a lot more time to get completely used to, she mused. He had only been appointed Rukodaime Hokage a month ago and after all of that time which had passed—between the deaths of the Fifth, Kakashi, and Jiraiya; the Akatsuki's Invasion of Konoha; and the now constant wars among the surrounding territories—it still hadn't quite sunk in completely that Naruto had actually succeeded in his childhood dream to become the next hokage. Sakura had always assumed that surely, he would have matured out of that idea, but with Naruto being Naruto, his determination had brought him there.

She knew how hard the job of Hokage was, especially now with all of the conflict going on, and the fact that the entire village was now resting in his hands. She was grateful for all of his advisors whom were lending him all of their support and aid.

The ANBU members, of course, had remained loyal to their hokage and completely remained their strongest in handling and eliminating more elite ranked enemies.

Sakura and Ino both took up roles as medical instructors to shinobi of lesser rank whom held a special interest in medical ninjutsu.

Shikamaru, a genius capable of forming over two-hundred battle strategies a second PLUS choose the best one, had been assisting in commanding the Chuunin, Jounin, and even a few ANBU squads with their battle against any enemy shinobi whom found it opportune to randomly attack.

Naruto walked back into the bathroom and rinsed his mouth out with a small cup of water. When he left the bathroom several minutes later, he looked at Sakura who was sitting patiently on the kitchen counter top, her legs dangling freely as she stared down at her fingernails with seemingly great interest.

"Ah," Naruto stretched, "I feel better now. Sakura-chan, did you need to use the bathroom?" Naruto asked while nervously scratching the back of his head.

"I really am sorry I just kinda disappeared like that." Naruto chuckled a bit, his cheeks tinting in a pinkish-toned blush just below his eyelids. Sakura stared back at him attentively, blinking a bit before smiling sweetly at him.

"No, no. It's fine, Naruto…Really. Besides, it's your bathroom – you can take as long in it as you want."

Sakura placed a hand over her mouth as she giggled a bit before jumping down off of the counter top and strode towards the bathroom door, which remained open.

"Ne, Sakura-chan. But you live here too now, ya know. Even if it's not permanent, it's still our bathroom, not just mine."

Sakura giggled a bit more before halting before him. Staring up into his blue eyes she smiled at him sweetly.

"Thanks Naruto. I'll only be a minute or two. I need to freshen up and then we can leave. Okay?"

Naruto nodded his head smiling back at her as he walked towards the couch, picking up his long, red and white hokage robe that rested along the back of it. He draped the long cloak over his shoulders and sat on the couch, patiently waiting for Sakura to come out so that they could resume their work.

The two walked out of the house without breakfast as they began walking towards their jobs – His at the Hokage tower and hers at the Konohagakure General Hospital. On their way to the two buildings, they were met up with Team 10.

"Well, well, if it isn't forehead girl!"

Yamanaka Ino smirked at her pink-haired best friend who clenched a fist in response to the childhood nickname. Honestly, she finally manages to grow into her forehead and the blond nitwit still can't let that crap go?

"And look, it's Ino-pig. What a pleasant surprise." Sakura glared at Ino, her voice dripping in sarcasm as she placed her hands on her hips and stared seriously and intimidatingly at Ino. Ino, in turn, smirked and also placed her hands on her own hips as she stared back at the pinkette.

"You're both such troublesome women, I swear…Must you always start arguing with each other?" Shikamaru asked irritatedly as he took a long, hard drag on his lit cigarette, which he was holding between his index finger and thumb.

The girls averted their gaze to the lazy genius, before both bursting into small giggles at his statement. Ino took the cigarette from his mouth before putting it out on the ground and throwing it off somewhere.

"Shikamaru! You baka! You know that smoking is bad for you! How many times do I have to tell you that?!" She shouted angrily at her teammate, giving him an authoritative stance and gaze. Shikamaru growled a bit in frustration at the blonde before making his retort to her statement.

"Yeah, yeah – I remember exactly what you said about it. I know this because you tell me it every day, even when I'm NOT smoking."

"Well, that's because I can smell the cigarette's on you! Just because you don't always smoke around me, doesn't mean that I don't know you've done it when you wreak of tobacco! Besides, I've explained to you a thousand times that smoking is—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Smoking is bad for me, blah blah blah, I'll probably get some fatal, life-threatening disease like lung cancer or something, eventually have to quit being a shinobi as said disease progresses, and slowly, I'll die at a young age."

Ino grinned matter-of-factly and nodded her head once in confirmation.

"Right! So why the hell do you insist on doing it still, baka?!" She shouted as he fumbled in his weapons holster, trying to get another cigarette. Finally finding his pack, he removed it only to let out a frustrated groan.

"Dammit, Ino! That was my last one!" Shikamaru whined, which was rather rare for him.

Complained? Sure he did that quite often. But whining and bitching fall hand in hand – something rare for the genius. If something was, as he put it, 'troublesome', he complained about it but ultimately submitted and did the deed. However, bitching on about anything, especially something as trivial as a cigarette, it was certainly a rare site to behold.

"Well, good for you! You need to quit that smoking, you lazy-ass!"

Ino scolded his actions and chastised him as if he were a mere child. He shrugged his shoulders before tossing the empty pack of cigarette's into a nearby trash can before stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Shikamaru scowled at his blonde teammate before greeting Naruto and Sakura. Chouji also greeted the two, totally ignoring Ino and Shikamaru's bickering beforehand, and once the five were re-acquainted with one another, they split up and treaded off into two separate directions. The three men waved the girls goodbye to Ino and Sakura who waved back in their farewells, and the two groups set off out of one another's sight.

Not long after, Ino and Sakura had arrived at the old Ninja Academy, preparing to begin their teaching sessions among a new group of about twenty to thirty students, depending on how popular the outcome had turned out to be. The girls remained rather quiet during the rest of their trek, too deeply concentrated on their nervousness about their first day as medical sensei's to really think, let alone talk about something else.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Naruto made it to the hokage tower. As the men slowly walked up the spiral staircase that surrounded the building, Shikamaru finally spoke up.

"Naruto, we need to discuss some issues involving the surrounding shinobi countries." Naruto stopped walking and a few steps later so did Shikamaru and Chouji, whom looked back at Naruto.

Naruto's head was down a bit, deeply into thought as he already knew what needed to be discussed.

"I know. I've been thinking about it too." He responded exhaustedly. This was going to be a long discussion.

"Alright. Everyone? Listen up!" Sakura chimed loudly, alerting the attention of about fifteen young shinobi whom were all gathered inside of an academy classroom.

"My name is Haruno Sakura and this is my friend and partner, Yamanaka Ino. Today, the two of us will be teaching all of you basic medical ninjutsu. Now, in order to be able to perfect medical ninjutsu, you must have fairly good chakra control. Okay, by a show of hands, how many of you are able to walk on water using chakra channeled into your feet?"

All of the young students' hands went up high into the air.

"Alright," the little hands left their positions in the air, "since you all seem to have that technique down, obviously, you guys have some chakra control. Okay, I want you all to focus your chakra to the palms of your hands."

The students began staring at the palms of their hands deeply in concentration. Some hands emitted with a blue glow while others struggled a bit to maintain the chakra.

"Okay guys, you're doing good. Just remember, focus all of your chakra into your hands."

The students who didn't quite pick up as easily before simply continued to attempt to focus their healing chakra, while those who had caught on easier maintained their chakra channeling. Slowly, more and more of the students were becoming able to maintain their chakra. After several moments, all of the young chuunin's palms were glowing in a steady shade of blue.

"Alright, you can stop now," the students did as told.

"Okay then, do any of you know about the art of chakra molding? Let me see a show of hands."

Sakura smiled sweetly at her young class while Ino sat to her right on a stool doing her best to keep from attracting attention away from Sakura's lesson. The two joked around a lot as friends, yes, but their teaching of medical ninjutsu to the young Genin was something the two girls prided themselves in. After a slight hesitation, only one chuunin female's hand raised into the air.

"Ah yes, you? What is your name?" Sakura asked the young and shy little girl.

"Um…My name is Hina," the small, brown haired girl responded softly.

"Okay, Hina. Could you explain to the class what chakra molding is?"

"I think so…Chakra molding…Isn't that what Naruto-sama needs in order to do his complex Rasengan jutsu?" The young girl asked uncertainly.

"Hai. Naruto-kun is a great example of this. However, do you know what chakra manipulation actually means?" Sakura asked grinning at the pupil who was trying to show her cooperation to the class, as well as a true desire to learn whatever Sakura and Ino had wanted to teach. Sakura beamed at the girl with pride, adoring the sight of the determined youth before her.

"Isn't chakra manipulation where you focus your chakra to take the form of a particular shape or object?" Hina's voice still held a bit of uncertainty and lack of full understanding in her answer. However, her self-doubt had eased the moment that Sakura said announced that her answer had been absolutely correct.

"For medical ninjutsu, we have to mold our chakra to take the figure of a glue, as well as a needle and thread. Whenever medics heal an injury, they must completely seal a wound rather than stitching it. In order to do so, they must do what is known as 'molding' and re-seal the two separated ends of a wound together. The human body has a total of eight layers of skin. Now, the depth of a cut caused by, lets say, a shuriken…It would generally only go about three layers deep, cutting enough to draw blood and leave a visible wound, but not quite deep enough to reach muscle or bone."

A small boy in the second row back raised his hand.

"Ah, yes. A question?" Sakura answered while pointing her index finger towards the tiny hand that was raised into the air. The boy in turn nodded his head in confirmation.

"Yes? What is your question?" Sakura asked, showing off a sweet smile to the pupils whom all looked to be nervous wrecks having met their new sensei's.

"What would cause an injury to reach the eighth layer?" The blonde haired boy asked curiously as he cocked his head over to the side.

"Well, typically, those kinds of wounds are caused by direct stabs from large weapons, such as katanas and swords."

"Oh, hai." The young boy responded in understanding. Sakura smiled at the young boy.

.:. Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower .:.

"Naruto, we need to make some peace treaties with at least four other villages."

"Hai, hai. I already know that much. But I have absolutely no updated documents from Tsunade-baa-chan. I know nothing of the affairs of the other countries or hidden villages, and every document that exists is only basic. Do you have any suggestions or…well, what do you know about the other nations, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru pulled a fairly long scroll out of his back pants pocket. Naruto gestured towards his empty desktop with his hand, indicating that Shikamaru could use it to place the document upon if need be.

Shikamaru accepted the offer and laid the scroll down before gently untying a thin string that had been binding the contents neatly in place.

"Just make it as simple as possible, okay?" Naruto stated as Shikamaru smirked at him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Naruto."

Shikamaru unraveled a map outlining all of the countries, as well as all of the hidden villages located in each. First, he pointed to the Fire Country.

"These are all of the shinobi countries, as well as their hidden villages. Currently, Konohagakure is the only official shinobi village located in the fire country. However, there are other cities located here as well, such as Otafuku Gai, Tanzaku Gai, and Crater City."

Naruto nodded his head in silent understanding. Shikamaru then pointed to The Bear Country.

"Alright. There are many ninja countries known to be, as well as rumored to be, in existence. The first on the list is known as The Bear Country. The Bear country is one of the few countries in the world that has a shinobi village. It is the home of The Hidden Star Village, which is already allied with Leaf. However, the village is small and must rely on outside help when their manpower is not enough. Basically, this village is of little to no help to us whatsoever for the time being."

"Hidden Star, eh? I've been there before once for a mission. You're right – it is a small village and as of now would be rendered of no use to us. Go on."

"The next village is The Bird Country. The Bird country is a remote impoverished nation but it is making strides to improve. It was once led by Daimyou Oowashi, but he suddenly died of an illness. He was replaced by his daughter Toki. The country itself shares borders with Wind, Earth and the Rain countries. It doesn't appear to be currently allied with any countries, though country administrators have come here to Konoha in the past to request our help. Who knows? Perhaps they would be willing to become allies now that you're in charge."

Naruto shrugged.

"Perhaps."

"Well, anyways. The Bird Country maintains no standing ninja army, but guardsmen trained in the shinobi arts work under the leadership of the Daimyou's chief strategist Koumei. That could pose a problem again and thus, they truly wouldn't be of any aid to us either."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

"The third country on the list is The Claw Country."

"The…Claw…Country…?" Naruto blinked in confusion and Shikamaru nodded his head in agreement.

"Hai. Not much is actually known about The Claw Country. It is apparently a small nation that has had testy relations with the Fang Country. I would like to get to the bottom of what the cause of such testiness between the two has been, as well as check out whether or not they would even be worth approaching. Honestly, Claw is a fifty-fifty chance either way since nearly nothing is known about the actual country itself."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

"Try to find out as much as you can and make an immediate report back to me whenever you do. I'm interested in Claw now that you've brought it up. Eh, I like a challenge."

Shikamaru chuckled slightly before continuing his long strategical speech.

"Next on the list isn't an actual country, but it is actually a Hidden Village located in an unknown country. It's called The Takumi Village, or The Craftsmen Village."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I've never heard of this place either."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Neither did I before now. Takumi Village resides in an unknown country. Takumi is known for its skills in making weaponry. Many of which are sold to the ninja villages of the world. When the village faced hard times they requested help but they were ignored by the other shinobi villages. Certain skilled Takumi villagers grew resentful and felt the villages didn't respect them for all the help their weapons provided in the past. In fact, The Hidden Craftsman Village isn't actually an official shinobi village, which makes Takumi a dead end. The fifth actual country is The Demon Country. The country is allied with the Fire Country so we have them on our side definitely."

Naruto smiled a bit in reassurance.

"The sixth country is a major problem. Although we aren't at war with Earth Country as of now, we could very well go into one. Back before the Fourth became hokage, Earth Country and Fire Country were at war with one another. They're a very vicious country, or so I've been told. They have a lot of warlike tendencies that could pose a threat. I'd like to ally with them but at the same time, it is uncertain of their acceptance. Denial could very well lead to them joining in this war on a 'just because' type of basis, and we certainly do not need that. However, next to the Fire Country, they are the strongest choices for allies. We should really focus on allying ourselves with Earth and Mist."

Naruto raised his thumb and index finger to his chin thoughtfully as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"How do we ally with a village that once hated us enough to be at war with us?" Naruto asked the shadow using nin.

Shikamaru repeated Naruto's thoughtful action, his mind racing at top speed trying to find a solution to such a problem.

"Someone very persuasive."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru, his eyebrows raising in surprise at the answer's bluntness.

"That helps. Any suggestions on who?"

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and sighed loudly.

"Not yet. Give me by the end of the day. I got a lot of stuff to analyze as far as some upcoming battle strategies are concerned."

Naruto dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

"Hai, hai. Take as long as you need. Arigato, Shikamaru."

"No problem."

And with that, Shikamaru walked out of the hokage's office, gently closing the door behind him, leaving a puzzled and now overly stressed out Naruto alone to think. The village needed rebuilt. In order to rebuild a village, you need strong finances to pay for it. However, you cant get those finances without allies whom you can contract paying missions with when your in a multiple-village war. Besides, even if they did have the money, all efforts would be futile if the village would only get attacked again and again, putting it back into ruins. He was puzzled, that was for sure.

He wondered briefly what Sakura was doing right about now. Chances were, whatever it was that she was doing was more interesting than what he was doing. Then again, worrying is never any fun for anybody.

"Like this, Sakura-senpai?" One of the younger chuunin asked, her hand glowing dark blue with her regular chakra.

"No. Like this," Sakura said as she emitted her green healing chakra before she released her focus on it, the green glow disappearing as she looked back at the student in question.

"You have to apply the technique I showed you guys earlier! You're focusing your regular chakra and not applying it to convert into healing chakra! Thus, you will only cause more damage than you could repair."

The chuunin nodded and resumed her position with her three-member group over on the opposite side of the classroom.

"Sakura, are you feeling okay? You look pale." Ino asked, her concern for Sakura's health becoming evident as her pink haired friend had a deathly appearance about her.

"Hai…I'm just a bit low on chakra. That's all." Sakura replied wiping a stray trail of sweat from her pale forehead.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take over? I still have a full reserve of chakra and I can handle the class if you need to—"

"NO! Uh, I mean…No, Ino. Arigato but it's fine. I can handle it…"

Before Sakura could say much else she began to lose consciousness, falling backwards only to be caught by a pair of strong, suntanned arms.

"Sakura-sensei!" One of the chuunin students worriedly shouted upon seeing their teacher lose her consciousness. He looked at the man now holding Sakura's limp form in his arms.

"H-Hokage-sama…" Naruto gave the young man who addressed him a small, sad smile of reassurance.

"Sakura-sensei has…Overexerted herself for today. She should be as good as new by tomorrow but in the meantime, Ino-sensei will be taking over your class today. Is that alright with you Ino?"

"Hai! I told her that she should have gotten some rest but she never listens to good advice when it comes her way. Tch."

Ino scoffed trying to hide her extreme concern for Sakura's well being by playing it off as though she didn't care, despite the fact that really, she did.

Sakura's heavy eyes lidded to the feel of wind brushing against her face. She suddenly realized that she was being carried and…moving?

"N-Nani…Naruto-kun?" She whispered, stirring in Naruto's arms as he lept from rooftop, the wind blowing against the both of them roughly as his speed kept up at a fast pace.

"S-Sakura-chan. We're almost back to the apartment. Hey, don't move too much! I might drop you or something..."

Naruto spoke as he glanced down at the hazy eyed woman whom was looking at him confusedly before ultimately, deciding to just give in and allow her sleep to overtake her again, too tired to do much else otherwise.

Sakura awoke what seemed to only be ten minutes after as she felt her back making contact with the couch. Naruto began to walk away from her, not realizing her awakening from her state of exhausted unconsciousness, and was suddenly stopped by a small hand gripping his wrist in an effort to make him stay. Naruto turned around and looked down at Sakura, who was now leaning up on one of her elbows as her opposite arm was outstretched holding him in place.

"Ne, Sakura-chan? What is it?"

Naruto gazed down at the young woman in confusion, as her gaze was focused on the floor. Generally, it would seem as if she hadn't disturbed his actions at all, but instead was too deep in thought. However, the fact remained that she had his wrist gripped in her hand.

Silently, she begged him to stay. That much, he knew already. However, what Naruto couldn't figure out was why. What was bothering her if she needed him as desperately as she had seemed to be needing him right now? Of course, he would lend her support and be there for her no matter what, but he still wished he could figure out what the problem is.

Finally, after a minute or so of silence, Sakura finally answered Naruto's question.

"Stay here…Please? I don't want to be alone…"

Sakura brought her knees to her chest and sat upright on the couch as Naruto took his place sitting beside her, his body turned sideways so that he almost completely faced Sakura's direction.

"Okay, I'll stay," he whispered with a reassuring smile. And so, he stayed.

A/N:
Rawr, cliffhanger!!! R&R. I actually wrote two different renditions of the second chapter and managed to merge them. Hehe. 18 pages. Woot!!!!!!! Enjoy :)