Ch. Sum: Boys are stupid, stupid, stupid, but Sakura enjoys Naruto anyway. Sort of. Sometimes. Maybe.

CHAPTER 2

It was really hard to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, let alone be responsible for the lives of others on so little sleep. Sakura was so exhausted when she reported in to Tsunade the morning following the incident with Naruto. No amount of make-up, hair tricks, or caffeine could conceal the stagger in her step, or the unfocused nature of her eyes. Ino claimed her techniques with eye shadow were fool proof. Ino was also a bitch. This wasn't going to be a fun day.

Ino wasn't the only bitch apparently, because Tsunade found Sakura's whole report hilarious. "I was only expecting you to dump him off and leave," said Tsunade, and then another wave of tear-filled laughter sprung. Sakura groaned and rubbed her forehead. Awesome as she was, Tsunade was also obnoxious, stubborn, and loved to make trouble. In fact, Sakura insisted that Tsunade made her mission vague on purpose! Speaking of which, she called Jiraiya in to announce that he had won yet another bet. "I only meant for you to babysit him on the way to his place." What a joke! How could her master gamble on her love life. That was just... just... ugh!

"No student of mine leaves my training until he's become a babe magnet for even the toughest hags," said Jiraiya, earning him a punch in the head from Tsunade. Sakura was tempted to do the same, but unfortunately she had to respect her elders. That didn't mean she couldn't secretly enjoy the abuse her master inflicted on him, though; her inner especially loved it!

After a moment's thought, Sakura just kind of stood there and took her master's mockery with a grain of salt. So she took one little mission a little too literally. It wasn't that funny, but it also wasn't that big a deal. Nothing happened. It was a fairly painless night, despite the fact that it was a night spent with Naruto. A very long night, too. She didn't feel like doing any work at the clinic that day either. She was afraid she'd accidentally jutsu someone's liver into the vending machine, or something.

Tsunade must have been a mind-reader. Once the joking dispersed, she leaned her lips into her linked fingers and told her, "That will be all, Sakura. Go home and get some sleep."

"Huh?" said Sakura, as though her master were speaking in some intricate, foreign language that she had no hope in grasping. "But Tsunade-shishou, the clinic... "

"Not running on a hope, a prayer, and four cups of coffee, Sakura. You're not fit to be working today," said Tsunade, then she began snickering. In times like these Sakura sort of reminded Tsunade of Rock Lee, being all tenacious and determined to work. Why the girl wouldn't let the poor sap take her on a date... then again, even if she were younger the Hokage wouldn't give a freak with those eyebrows the time of day, admittedly. A shame that those with the best personalities always looked the ugliest. Unless you're Jiraiya. Then you're both ugly, and a disgusting pig.

And Jiraiya knew better than to ask Tsunade what she was snickering about when she snickered, especially when she was drunk. She wasn't drunk at the moment, but she thought she ought to be. If she wasn't the Hokage that had to set a great example for her minions, err, people, she'd invite Sakura along for a few rounds. The girl really could stand to loosen up a bit.

"Shishou, are you sure?" See what I mean? The girl worked too damn hard; it made Tsunade feel lazy. Not that there was anything wrong with being lazy, it was just wrong for the Hokage. Yeah, that's right, but guess who the Hokage was? Somebody had to do it right before Naruto inherited the throne. Well, the desk chair that gave Tsunade back problems. She'd invest some money into a new chair if she didn't need it to recruit ninja from other countries into helping out with the war. War sucked. She wished it had a stop button.

Tsunade started becoming irritated with her pupil's presence, so she rose her hand and made a shooing motion. Now was not a very good time to be around her.

"Yes, you've yet to take even ONE real sick day since you started working there last year! Go! Take the whole week off! Paid vacation. If I were you I would have taken fifty of them by now."

"Tsunade-sama, that's just lazy," said Shizune, in her usual chastising voice that Tsunade often disregarded. After all, who was the Hokage here? The Fire Country hadn't been doused in a real sea of flames yet, so she was obviously doing something right. In any case, Tsunade in her current position would never see a vacation as long as she lived. She didn't need Sakura suffering the same fate, especially when she didn't need to use a jutsu to conceal her age quite yet. Lucky girl. But not lucky enough if she didn't get to live a little in her young age.

"Sakura, get out of my office. Go do something! Get a nice haircut. Get your nails done. Get a massage. Mess around with Naruto. I don't care, just get out of here and have some fun... I need a drink. Shizune?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," said Shizune, exasperated with Tsunade's whining. For goodness sakes, this woman sixty going on sixteen. Well, she wasn't quite sixty yet, but she was getting there. Maybe it was time she acted her age, even if she was never going to look it.

With that, Sakura left her master's office in a flush of embarrassment. She didn't even have a say in any of it, and now she was on vacation. At least it was a paid vacation, or she may have tried harder to refuse. Maybe. She did need the money, but she also needed the rest. Well, she was going to get the rest now, wasn't she. In any case, with a whole week off from work she now had time to do some of the things she normally wouldn't have time for, like getting a nice haircut, and getting her nails done. She'd see Ino about that...

YAWN.

Later. She had a lot of sleep to catch up on first. She just kind of lugged her way through town, trying to remember where she lived for a minute. Her parents would be none too happy about the fact that Sakura spent the night with a boy. What's more, she almost did... well... almost doesn't count. All that mattered was that it was all just an honest mistake. Every girl was entitled to a couple of those.

In any case, she had to get home and sleep before she dropped dead asleep right in the middle of the road. That wouldn't exactly be the smartest thing ever, would it? Who knew what kind of freaks lurked around, even if it was daytime.

Speaking of which, she saw Konohamaru charging toward her as fast as he could, and he had gotten pretty darn fast. She barely had time to dodge, but his scarf accidentally snagged against the bottom of her heel and he fell back. Painfully.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch. Sakura-neechan?! It's terrible. Hide me," he said, and he grabbed onto her waist and hid behind her for all of two seconds when she turned and elbowed him in the head. Spotting no signs of danger, she gave him two seconds to explain himself before she accused him of attempting to cop a feel. Just as he was going to say something, they heard Moegi holler from a distance, so he took out his super secret fence board drape and hid himself against the nearest fence.

Two seconds later, Moegi charged toward Sakura exactly as Konohamaru had, but stopped a little more gracefully before the older girl panting for breath.

"Sa.. kur...a-nee... chan," she took a few more deep breaths, then said, "Have you seen Konohamaru anywhere?"

Judging by Konohamaru's fear and the rage in Moegi's eyes, something perverse must have taken place between the two of them a few minutes ago. Sakura felt the urge to out and tell her that he was hiding along the fence, but she wasn't feeling quite that mean for some strange reason.

"What did he do to make you so upset?" asked Sakura. He could have done a number of things, like his girl-on-girl jutsu, or peeped on her while she was showering, or worse! He could have told her that she looked fat! The jerk. But boys will be boys. Stupid, horrible, useless... but somehow lovable. When Moegi started to cry, Sakura didn't really know what to say. She wasn't getting any answers, so she had to be as broad and generic in her comfort as possible.

"Moegi-chan," said Sakura, kneeling down before the sobbing girl. "Boys are dumb. Dumb as dirt. NO. Dumber! They're like machines programmed to do stupid things."

The smaller girl's sobs dispersed into little sniffles, and Sakura gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"Sometimes, though, we have no choice but to forgive them. But that doesn't... "

"Way to go, Sakura-neechan," said Konohamaru, emerging from the fence without really thinking. Moegi's face bounced between joy and anger, but eventually she had a smile on her face.

"Konohamaru-chan," she sang, then she ran toward him and gave him the biggest hug in the world. Sakura meant to tell her that he shouldn't get away with whatever he did wrong, but she didn't really care that much. She suddenly felt very tired again, and just wanted to go home. "You didn't mean it when you looked up that lady's skirt, right? You just fell."

"Uh... right... " he said, and it had liar written all over it. Now Sakura wanted to deck him one, but more so she wanted to go home. Moegi continued to coo, and cuddle, and huggle him.

Then she punched him right into the fence he'd been hiding against.

Well, justice was served after all.

Sometimes, Sakura really couldn't believe herself. Tired as she was, she'd barely managed to get her eyes closed when she flopped down into bed, let alone sleep. The sun was way too bright, even through the closed shades. Her bed was way too hot, even with the covers kicked off. Worst of all, she wished that Naruto was there.

She blamed her attraction toward him on her age, and her loneliness. She was well aware that girls her age weren't quite right in the head, and that she had to learn to overcome that if she were to survive in the Shinobi world. Learning that the hard way when Sasuke left weighed on her heavily. He would always be her first love, but if there was a reason for everything, then there was a reason why he needed to leave her; if she went with him she would have just been a powerless burden. Now, she was anything but powerless.

It was so pathetic. Sasuke had to be ripped out of the equation for her to unlock her full potential. He inspired her from afar, and held her back when near. Yet, she would do anything to get him back. Sure, he may never be happy, but maybe he'd be able to heal some. He would be safe here, where he belonged, where his new family would be waiting for him. Instead of the wife, though, Sakura compromised to take a big sister role. After all, he may not have been half the idiot he turned out to be if he had a few female role models in his life.

In any case, Sakura had vowed, along with her promise to protect Naruto and Sasuke, that she would not allow another boy play the strings of her heart and hold her back anymore. Sure, she would love to marry and have a family some day, but to allow a boy to hold her back... never again. She wouldn't give in to Sasuke's will anymore. She certainly wouldn't give into Naruto's!

That didn't stop her from imagining what being with him would be like, though. Probably stupid, though he had matured in the last few years. He certainly didn't show it the night before, but as she told Moegi, men were idiots. Useless, senseless, morons. They always took two steps back for every step forward at some point.

Sakura tossed herself around and hugged her pillow to her chest. There was no way Naruto wasn't thinking of... taking her. Yet he started with the request to kiss, a girl's greatest weakness. Who knows how far she would have gone if she had allowed him to kiss her? That may not have been so bad, though, but she was conventional in her desire to save that for someone special. Ino would probably tell Sakura to get real, but what the hell did she know?

This wasn't working. No use sleeping on a racing mind, she figured. It was beautiful outside, and she had an entire week to waste. She wondered what she should do first, at least until she looked in the mirror. Hair. Definitely hair.

Once she made herself presentable to the outside world (not that Ino's eyeshadow tricks were helping any) Sakura headed right for Ino's. There was no one else who gave her as satisfactory a haircut. It was also a reminder that Sakura couldn't pull off long hair the way that Ino could. That's just the way it was. Oh well. At least Ino looked like shit in the color red. They were even.

Sakura must have been out of it, because once she got to the block the flower shop was on, she could have sworn she had heard Naruto's voice. Tch, yeah right. This place wasn't anywhere near the ramen stand, or the training fields. What business could he possibly have on this side of town?

She thought she must have been hearing things in her exhaustion, when none other than Naruto himself greeted her when she walked into the flower shop. Ino must have been just as surprised, but if she was she did a good just hiding it. She now had a wry grin on her face, and stared directly through Sakura.

"My, Sakura. I thought you had such a rough night last night. What brings you out of bed?" Ino tossed, looking positively malicious. Sakura's slitted, blood-shot eyes snapped awake in an instant, and if looks could kill, Naruto and everything he had ever touched would have a slow and painful death to endure. Sakura couldn't believe he had blabbed! Why, why even HE knew that Ino was Konoha's gossip queen. She was the last person who needed to know.

"N-ne, Sakura-chan. I got you... " but before he could finish, Sakura decked him so hard that he went flying right through the wall. This wasn't some kind of game or bragging right. This was a woman's feelings here! Naruto was dead. SO dead. So DEAD. SO DEAD. SO. VERY. DEAD.

"You were on duty all night, and Naruto bought you flowers as a token for all your hard work. Great reason to punch him through the wall. By the way, who's going to fix it?" said Ino, evil smirk sunk into an irritated frown. It took a moment for that to sink in, and then it hit her. Oh no! What in the world had she done? Sakura was about to run out and see if he was all right, but he walked right back in with a fist-shaped mark on one cheek, a few splinters, and ruined flowers in one hand.

"Oh, Naruto, I'm so sorry," said Sakura, which was so weird for her that Naruto actually blushed. She never apologized for hitting him, whether he deserved it or not. Often he felt he didn't deserve it, but this time he knew he didn't. He felt horribly confused, and kind of mad. More so that the flowers he had taken forever to pick out were all messed up now.

"Eh, it's all right, Sakura-chan, except... "

"Hel-LO. Who am I holding responsible for the wall?" said Ino. Well, thought Sakura, there goes my haircut. Before she could say anything, Naruto grumbled, borrowed a hammer from Ino, and got right to work. He hadn't even tried to blame Sakura, though it was entirely her fault. Great, now she owed him! Oh well.

She at least lent a hand with sweeping debris off the floor, and when that was done Ino was in a better mood; however, Sakura didn't know if she should trust Ino with her hair after having pissed her off once today. Still, she took the chance and Ino agreed without so much as a grumble. That was when the whispering between the two began.

"So why exactly did you get so mad, anyway?" asked Ino, and though Sakura couldn't see Ino, she could hear the evil smirk in her voice. It would be too hard to lie, since Ino apparently knew that she had a rough night. Besides, Sakura was too tired to think of any good stories. She told Ino the whole story, knowing the consequences later would abominable. Or maybe not. Supposedly they were best friends.

The explanation and the haircut ended, and Sakura wrapped her arms around herself, willing herself not to be sick with embarrassment. She used to be proud to be in love with Sasuke, yet Naruto was something else entirely. Before she could mull over what exactly that something was, he had returned with Ino's hammer and a frown etched on his face.

"There. I fixed your dumb wall, bitch," he said, and this time it was Ino's turn to let him eat her fist. He only flew into the wall, rather than through it. Gah, Sakura one-upping her was so very annoying. She would need to get stronger, then! To Tsunade she would go, later, when she was done working.

"Well, I'll see you later, Ino. Thanks," said Sakura, dragging Naruto up off the ground and along with her. She hand her hand clenched to the cuff of his shirt, and eventually slid it into his when she was far, far away from the flower shop, or any busy part of Konoha actually. Naruto tried to say something, but she shushed him. And shushed him. And shushed him. And then they reached Ichiraku ramen, where thankfully no one was this evening.

"As a token of appreciation for the flowers, and an apology... " said Sakura, and before she could finish she was cut off by happy whoops and cheers.

"Yes, a date! A date!" said Naruto, and Sakura kicked him in the shins.

"Not so loud, stupid!" It was bad enough Ino knew all about them now, but did he really have to announce it to the whole village. It sort of went without saying that they were close, but she still wanted to be in control over how close they got. After all...

Bah, screw it. She was on vacation. She'd do whatever she damn well pleased, and who cares what anybody thought.

to be continued...

A/N: Hi everyone! I am sorry that updates for this fan fic are slow. I got a little caught up in other things so... in any case I appreciate the reviews. They were very nice and helpful, and so many! Wow 14!? lol. I am trying to write the charas as best I can, but it's harder than I thought. XD; Fun though.

More reviews please? If not for me than maybe for Chibi Gaara.

Chibi Gaara: ... /

So cute he he...