Hi there! Thanks to Forgotten Werewolf and Dbzgtfan2004 for their reviews. Here is the second chapter. Hope you'll like it.
UNTIL
Tsukuku wasn't at all like they all expected a writer of a gossip magazine to be. He was elegant, with that white shirt and black pants, and those glasses he wore made him look like a very simple person. Even his voice was nothing particular. And ordinary man, that's what he looked like. Still, he was what he was.
"Well, then, if you're okay with it, I'm going to ask you the first question" he said, picking a paper from the table in front of him. On the other side of the table, his five interviewed were sitting on a large easy chair.
"First of how many?" Shikamaru asked, obviously annoyed by this situation.
"It's not important how many, we will answer to all" Ino said, while pinching Shikamaru's arm. The man tried hard to suffocate a whimper.
"More importantly, Naruto still isn't arrived. Shouldn't we wait for him?" Lee noted, looking right and left, as if the Hokage was going to arrive in moments.
Tsukuku answered with an innocent smile:
"Oh, don't worry about that. I had a few questions to ask you guys, too".
Lee got all excited. "To me, too? Hooray!"
"Moreover, I have not so much time to waste, since I have to go the hospital as soon as this interview is finished" Sakura added. She knew it better. Naruto wouldn't come.
"Shouldn't the hospital have the priority on a stupid interview?" Shikamaru asked the pink haired girl, rising both his eyebrows.
"Oh, no, no, I only have to check minor things. It's not that important, really, but I should do it anyway, because otherwise Tsunade-sama will get angry at me" she answered, "forgetting" to add that moreover she wanted to join this interview as bad as Ino did, because she loved that gossip magazine!
"Then, let's start" Tsukuku said, one hand grabbing a pen and the other on the paper.
"You're the Hokage closest friends – or at least, those available for this interview – so I'd be very curious to know what you think of Naruto-sama as the Hokage".
"There's no need to ask us for this… All the newspapers are complimenting with him for his accomplishments in these two years…" Shikamaru pointed, but before Ino pinched him again, the interviewer answered.
"That's right. All the newspapers are talking about his accomplishments. So, that's why I'M NOT asking you about those things. He brought peace to the shinobi world, and money to the Fire Land, but my magazine doesn't care about that. I want to know the "man" behind the legend".
The ninjas stared at him blankly. They didn't know where he was getting at. Then he continued:
"For example, despite of being that great man he is, doesn't he have any defect?"
Ino and Sakura grinned fiercely. Shikamaru and Lee sweated cold. Sai, on the other hand, kept a straight face.
"Sometimes he's as mature as an eight years old kid!" Sakura stated.
"He spends all his money on Ramen!" Ino added.
"And he usually is oblivious to things that should be obvious!" Sakura.
"And he teaches to youngsters to use perverted justsus!" Ino.
"And he's clumsy!" Sakura.
"And stubborn!" Ino.
As the girls went on enumerating his flaws, Tsukuku wrote everything down on the paper, giggling for the gossip he was learning about the great Hokage.
"A trio of gossiper… How troublesome" Shikamaru stated.
But right then, Tsukuku looked right at him, and asked:
"And what about you, uhm… Shikamaru-san? Do you have anything to say?"
"Not at all, I feel like his reputation has already been destroyed enough" the man replied.
"And what about you? Lee-san!"
Lee's eyes sparkled.
"I'm… His RIVAL!!" the thick-brows answered with enthusiasm.
"Come back to heart, you moron…" Ino whispered to herself.
"And you, Sai-kun?" Tsukuku asked, looking at the silent guy.
Sai looked back, and answered: "Well, his peni-"
Couldn't end his sentence, because Sakura punched him hard in the face.
"QUIT TALKING ABOUT THAT ALREADY!"
A little sweatdrop appeared on everyone's face. Tsukuku needed a few moments to recover from the fear he felt of that woman, who looked so cute and sweet, but had that terrible strength.
But then, he asked:
"Ehmm… Sakura-sama, you said the Fifth can be clumsy, at times. You're one of the three legendary new-generation sannin, as declared by Tsunade-sama. Moreover you know him since you both were twelve years old. You surely have some episodes to tell me to support your statement".
Sakura thought about it, ignoring Sai who was losing blood from his nose.
"Hmm…"
-- --
Sakura was happy every time she looked at those children. Mikuzu had those white long hair that made him look like Jiraiya when he was 12, but he was far more gentle and polite than that pervert; Ittiro was very talented but clumsy, in some way he reminded her of Naruto, and she liked his short black hair; and then Saori, that cute little girl, was so smart and funny, and Sakura feared someday that same cute little girl would have become much more beautiful than her.
She adored those children, but of course she couldn't show them. She was their sensei, afterall.
"What are you going to teach us today, Sakura-sama?" Mikuzu asked.
"Yeah, yeah, some new jutsu! Some new jutsu!" Ittiro proposed.
Saori looked silently at her sensei with a beautiful smile.
"Uhmm, well, what can I teach you…?"
"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called.
"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Sakura said in his direction.
At that name, the three kids turned their head in the same time. They knew that name. It was the name of the almighty Fifth Hokage!
"Eheheh… I wasn't feeling like signing all those papers, so I asked Shikamaru to deal with it".
Naruto explained as coming closer.
Sakura rised an eyebrow. "There's no way you could persuade that lazy bum to do all that work".
"In fact, he said no. Anyway, I heard you didn't know what training to do. I have an idea!"
Pretending not to hear Sakura who was asking him that if Shikamaru rejected, then who was going to sign those papers, Naruto looked at the sparkling eyes of those kid sitting in front of him. He took two bells from his pocket.
"You'll have to take these bells from me. But you'll have to attack me with full intent to kill, otherwise you'll never be able to succeed".
The kids nodded. They knew he wasn't lying. He was the most powerful ninja of the world.
"Like this?" Saori asked, after taking one bell from Naruto's hand. Since he was caught unprepared, and didn't want to let it know, he smiled clumsily
"Yeah, yeah, just like that… But wait for me to say when we start, ok?"
Sakura sighed.
--
"Interesting, interesting" Tsukuku murmured while writing on his paper. But then he rose his head up, and asked again:
"Well, and does the Hokage have any love affair? You know, every great man has a great woman behind him".
Ino laughed out loud, and everybody looked at her.
"Why are you laughing, Ino-san?" the interviewer asked.
"Because his love affair is here, in this room" she answered, pointing to Sakura.
Sakura blushed as if a whole bucket of hot water had fall on her. Lee's heart lost a beat. Shikamaru giggled, being very careful to not let her notice he did. Sai was still blooding, and somebody truly had to worry about his conditions.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING, INO PIG?" Sakura yelled.
Ino decided to ignore that "pig", because she was very amused by her reaction.
"Come on, big forehead, there's no need to be in denial".
Tsukuku looked at her with new interest, but Sakura was not going to give in. She couldn't. But, on the other hand, she was in panic.
"That's a lie! He even refused a date with me!" she shouted. Only after saying it, she noticed it was even more embarrassing than if she hadn't said anything. All her friends were staring at her blankly. Shannaro. She had to quickly add something.
"Well… uhmm… It's not as you think…"
--
After three hours of training, the three kids had to give up. There was no way they could catch those bells from Naruto's hands. At least until Naruto stopped, looked at them and opened his palms:
"Ok, that's enough. You can take the bells".
Ittiro stepped forward happily, but Mikuzu stopped him with one hand.
"Wait a moment. There are just two bells, but we are three. What happens to the one of us who can't get a bell?" the boy asked.
Naruto grinned, and answered: "Well, that one will be tied up to the trunk and will have no dinner tonight". Sakura smiled. That brought back memories.
The kids stayed still, confused. Mikuzu looked at Saori, who looked at Ittori, who looked at Mikuzu. And then, Mikuzu was the first to speak.
"Go on, guys. Take the bells".
"Ahaha… No, Mikuzu, you and Saori take them. I… I ate sooo much at lunch, today, so I can skip a meal!" Ittori interjected.
Saori went mad: "Stop acting all cool, you two! You don't need to be soft on me just because I'm a girl! I'm not taking one of those bells if this means one of you will have to be tied to a trunk!".
Since the guys were protesting, she came closer to Naruto and spoke for all the three of them.
"Give me the bells".
Everybody was very surprised to hear it, because of what she had just said a few minutes ago. But Naruto did as she said, and gave her both the bells.
She put one of the bells on the ground, then she charged up… and punched it once, twice, three times. Everybody looked at her in shock. Her hand began to bleed.
"What… what the hell…" Ittori tried to say, but was interrupted by Saori's crying.
"Saori!!" Mikuzu yelled, running by her side.
She looked at him, crying for the pain with her eyes, but smiling with her mouth.
"It's… it's nothing. Look…" she pointed to the bell on the ground, covered by her blood. The guys looked at it. It had broken in half.
"Now… Now we can all have a bell!" she said, still smiling.
Mikuzu was trying to do his best not to cry, biting his own lips. Ittori sat next to her, checking her hand while rubbing it down softly. Then, Sakura intervened.
"Now, Ittori, let me heal her hand" she said to the boy, gently. Ittori nodded.
Naruto was unable to say anything. That girl…
"You all pass!" he said with his best smile, referring to the kids.
Saori smiled happily, despite her pain. Ittori looked at her, worried. And Mikuzu kneeled in front of the girl, and said with a very serious tone of voice:
"Next time, ask for our help. I don't want to see you cry anymore".
…
"Well, I really was impressed by your pupils" Naruto said. The kids had already gone, and he and Sakura were the only ones on the training field.
"I know. Aren't they great?" Sakura said, looking at her friend with a sincere smile.
"Yup" Naruto answered, "especially that girl. You know, she could be the next Hokage. During the training, I noticed she already learnt some of your Justus!".
"I know. She's very talented" Sakura admitted.
Naruto got lost in his thoughts. Then, when he looked at the sunset, and realized what time it was, he exclaimed:
"KAMI, I'm late!!"
Sakura stared blankly.
"Late? For what?".
Then she remembered. "Oh, you mean for the interview? Don't' worry, we still have about an hour…"
Naruto looked back at her with that usual expression he had when he was confused, that expression she found so funny.
"Interview? Is that today?"
"Yeah! What, you forgot? So what did you mean when you said "I'm late"? Late for what?" Sakura asked.
"I'm late for the appointment with Sasuke-teme" he answered.
Sakura froze. Not again. She yelled in anger:
"WHAT?? Are you going to fight him again??"
"Well… I have to… We do it twice every year. And we won't stop until one of us will win".
"NARUTO" the woman growled, "Every time you two fight, you come back with a lot of wounds! You'll end up killing each other, one day!".
"We're not aiming to kill each other. Besides, I have to do it, even if you're gonna hit me for this!" he replied, smiling clumsily and putting one hand behind his head.
"WHY?" she retorted, "Why do you have to kick the crap out of each other?".
Naruto noticed Sakura was getting angrier and angrier, so he thought the best thing he could do was to run away.
"Wait!" she ordered, grabbing his arm, "If you stay here and renounce to get killed, I'm going on a date with you!".
She could feel his arm freeze, but he wouldn't look her into the eyes.
"Sakura-chan…"
"My treat?" she added, hopefully.
Naruto set free from Sakura's grasp, and finally looked at her.
"I… I can't" he whispered, then he left.
--
The room fell into silence.
"Do… Are you implying that Naruto'd rather fight with Sasuke than going on a date with you?" Ino babbled. Then she exploded in laugh. Sakura's face went all red.
"I actually didn't know those two used to have a fight twice in a year. What a troublesome rivalry" Shikamaru stated, scratching his chin.
Lee got quite depressed. It seemed he wasn't his only rival, afterall.
But Sai, who in the meantime had recovered from his wound on the nose, had something to add.
"I don't understand why Naruto rejected Sakura, can't understand all this "rivalry" thing, but I know one thing: Sakura is still Naruto's weakness".
Sakura sulked.
"Wait, Sai, you're not going to tell that story, are you…?"
--
Sakura, Sai, Kakashi and Yamato were at Ichiraku Ramen. They were waiting for Naruto, but he was late.
"That damn baka!" Sakura snorted.
"Now, now, don't be upset, Sakura" Kakashi said, trying to calm her down, "he's the Hokage! He's very busy, you know!"
"But, Kakashi-sensei, he's even more late than you!" she whined.
Kakashi sulked in depression.
"I really miss those times when you looked at me with respect" he murmured, to anyone in particular.
"Sakura has a point. Besides, we're here only for him. I didn't want to eat Ramen" Yamato complained.
After a few minutes, a frantic Kiba appeared from the door
"Guys!! You have to see this! Naruto has been defeated in a fight!"
Kakashi, Yamato and Sakura looked at him with a shocked face. Only Sai didn't show any emotion, although he curiously looked at Kiba with a bit of ramen falling from his mouth.
They all followed Kiba to a street, where they saw something not even their fervid imagination could ever have expected to see:
Naruto, unconscious on the ground, with blood coming out of his nose, and a naked Sakura jumping all around in happiness.
"Yatta! I defeated him! Sexy Weakness no jutsu!" she screamed.
That, of course, wasn't the real Sakura. The real Sakura was looking at the scene with evident disgust. Which meant, the only explicable reason for two Sakura being in the same place was only one.
"Konohamaru…" she roared. The boy, after hearing her voice, turned back in his original form, and looked at the pink-haired medic nin with a fear he never had felt before.
--
After this tale, not even Shikamaru could stop laughing, although he was trying his best, but every try to restrain himself just made him laugh more.
Sakura didn't punch Sai in time, and now she was unable to even move.
Lee was lost in his imagination, thinking that he would have lost, too, after being attacked by such a terrible jutsu.
Tsukuku was smiling, but not laughing. He looked at Sakura, and said, with a very gentle voice:
"So, he DOES like you".
Sakura almost fainted.
Tsukuku wrote everything down.
--
The interview finally ended. Sakura trembled in fear when she tried to imagine what could Tsukuku write in his article for his magazine, but she had something more urgent to worry about.
She made his way to the hospital, and visited the room in which she knew would have found what she was looking for. There was only one room, in the top floor of the building, which could contain those two morons.
"Naruto! Sasuke-kun" she said, with a peremptory tone, as she entered the room.
The "two morons" looked at her, and stopped arguing as they had been doing since the very minute they had arrived at the hospital.
They were all covered with bandages, lying on the bed. Wounds everywhere. Sakura sighed.
"You don't deserve to be healed" she said, her expression very serious.
"Please, Sakura-chan, only you can save us!" Naruto said, half-a-way between mocking and begging.
Sasuke just "hmpf-ed" and looked the other way.
Sakura came slowly to check the medical records at the end of their beds.
"Naruto, you have three broken ribs, and your right arm is even worse. You should rest for at least one year to completely recover but, thanks to your incredible self-healing skills and a bit of my help, you'll be as new in one week".
"One week?? I'm the Hokage, I can't rest for that much!" he complained, but he stopped as soon as Sakura glared at him with a killing look. Then, she continued with Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun, after all that stress, your eyes shouldn't be able to recover in less than two years. Let's not talk about your left arm. But since you're that well trained and resistant, and I'm the one who will cure you, you'll do it in about seven days, too".
"A-ah!" Naruto exclaimed in joy, "I'll recover in less time than you, so I'm the winner!"
Sasuke looked at him like he was an alien.
"Seven days and one week are the same thing, YOU DOBE!"
Naruto was caught off-guard, and began to count on his fingers.
"Screw that, I'm outta here" Sasuke murmured, standing up and walking toward the window.
"W-wait, Sasuke-kun… Your wounds are very serious, you need medical treatment!" Sakura said, too fearful to even touch him. But she couldn't restrain the Uchiha.
Before he jumped off the window, he looked at her, and said: "Thank you, Sakura. But I can't stay here". Then, he left.
Sakura stared at the window long after he was gone, and that hurt Naruto more than his wounds.
"Sakura-chan…" he softly said, "… It's not like he doesn't like your company. It's just that, you know, after attacking Konoha he feels guilty and thinks he doesn't deserve to come back, and that his true home is with the guys of "Hawk"…"
Sakura still looked at the window, but heard what Naruto said.
"Why are you defending him?" she asked.
"Oh? Hemm…." Naruto babbled, "It's just… that I don't want you to feel bad about that… you know…"
She turned her head to look at him, and sighed.
"Will you ever stop worrying about others, and worry more about yourself? Just look at you. Once again, you got very close to death. And this story goes on since two years ago".
"Why do I have to worry for myself? You're there to heal me!" he answered with a smirk.
That was Naruto for you. He said such things like they were nothing, with that innocent look, and still he could always touch the heart of his interlocutor.
Sakura got close to him to check the bandages, and talked to him with a sad smile.
"Is it too much to ask you why you keep on doing this? What's so important on deciding who is stronger between you and him?"
"It's not just about that… Ouch!" Naruto's sentence was stopped by the sudden pain he felt when Sakura touched one of his wounds.
"Sorry" Sakura said, "Then, what is the other reason?"
"It's a bet between me and him. If he will be able to defeat me, I promised to leave him alone. But-Ouch!"
"Stop complaining like a kid. I didn't even touch you this time!"
"Uh… well… But if I win, he promised he would come back to Konoha. To us. To you-OOOOUCH!"
This time, Sakura didn't hurt him by mistake. He really got angry, and pressed one of his wounds.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined, but then he shut up. He noticed tears were coming from Sakura's eyes.
"Sakura-chan…?"
"I… can't believe this" she murmured.
Naruto didn't understand.
"Uh? Why are you crying, Sakura-chan?"
"You mean, for all these years, you fought Sasuke-kun to bring him back…. TO ME?" she yelled, still crying.
"Uh… That's… what I promised you, isn't it?"
"Naruto… …. STOP THIS OR I'M GOING TO SMASH YOU! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR WOUNDS!"
That scared Naruto to death. He quietly shut up and covered his face 'till his nose with the sheets. Sakura couldn't stop her tears anymore. She kneeled on his bed.
"Why?" was all she could ask.
Naruto hesitantly answered.
"… Because that's my ninja way. I don't go back on my words. Besides… I don't want you… to be sad…"
Sakura slapped his face. Naruto screamed in terror.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" he screamed again, defensively. Then he looked at her eyes. She was as sad as he had never seen her. She decided to give vent to everything she felt.
"YOU… YOU BAKA! STOP THIS! Who.. Who do you think I am? Do you think I'm a stupid girl who can't come over a childish crush? Do you think I need to be protected for the rest of my life?"
Naruto didn't know what to do. He didn't want her to cry. How the hell did this happen?
"No! No, I don't think that of you! I know you don't need to be protected! But … But I want to protect you anyway!"
"AND what about WHAT I WANT?"
Naruto froze, completely surprised by that question, although it seemed kinda obvious.
"You… You want to be happy…?" he said, uncertain.
Sakura calmed down, and sighed. She had told that guy of the magazine: sometimes, Naruto could be oblivious to obvious things.
"Naruto… I don't love Sasuke-kun anymore. I care of him as a friend, a very important friend, but… I'm not twelve anymore… so please, would you make another promise to me?"
Naruto didn't need to think about it.
"Of course! Anything you want!" he answered.
"Then…" Sakura looked at him in a strange way he couldn't decipher, "… promise me you'll forget about that promise".
"Uh?" the Hokage couldn't think of anything else to say. "Sorry, Sakura-chan, but that's kind of confusing! You want me to promise I'll forget about my promise? But then what's the importance of this promise I'm making you if I can't keep a promise?"
"Oh, shut up, you're just making things more complicated!" Sakura said, "What I really want to say is that you should stop worrying about Sasuke-kun… and ME. How many times do I have to tell you, before you understand it?"
"But…"
"DON'T "but" me. Just promise".
"You want me to… Promise I won't keep my promise? That's nonsense!"
Sakura sighed. How could he be that way? Why was he that way? Why did she like him that way?
"Naruto, I care about you more than I care about him" she then said in a whisper. She couldn't even believe she had said it.
And Naruto was as persuaded as she was.
"W-What?"
She had said it. There was no need to deny it anymore.
"I care about you more than I care about anyone else" she confirmed. She cried. Again. It was time to say everything.
"So… So… Please… Would you stop risking your life for something I don't care about anymore? Can you promise me this? And keep this promise as stubbornly as you did with that other one?"
Sakura hugged him in desperation. This time, he had to promise. He had to!
Naruto's life had always been troublesome. But it seemed like he finally obtained everything he wished for. He saved his friend. He became Hokage. He obtained the heart of the woman he had loved since ever.
"Yes" he whispered, hugging Sakura back, "I promise you. It's a promise of a lifetime"
Well? Did you like it?