Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

Chapter Eleven: A Day on the Town

Characters Introduced: Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hanabi, Kureiha Tenten

Rated T for now

Naru/Hina

Sasu/Karin

Saku/Gaa

Sakura walked into her favorite home decor store and smiled as a sense of peace washed over her. "Hey Sakura. Welcome back." A woman with two brunette buns greeted. "Hey Tenten. It's good to be here. It feels like home when I walk in here." Sakura replied lightly. "What's up?" Tenten asked. "Ah I needed to calm down." Sakura replied. "Bad day?" Tenten asked. "Yeah." Sakura replied. The pinkette looked around at the merchandise and smiled brightly. "I have a list that I know you can fill for me Ten." She said. "Of course. Congrats on your new house by the way." Tenten replied. Sakura laughed. "Thank you." She said. Sakura left the list with Tenten and headed out to finish what she set out to do.

Sakura blinked when she found herself at her favorite little restaurant and smiled cheerfully at the Sabaku siblings. "Hey guys." She said.

"Hi Sakura. You're just in time. Gaara is about to unveil his newest dish." Temari chirped. "Ooh. I can't wait." Sakura replied excitedly.

The pinkette slid into a booth with Temari and both waited anxiously for the food. Temari laughed. "I can hear your stomach from a mile away you know." She teased.

Sakura blushed. "I um...forgot to eat before I left." She admitted. Temari laughed some more. "Good thing Gaara loves cooking." She replied. "Yeah. Otherwise I'd starve." Sakura agreed with a laugh.

A few minutes later, a plate was set ceremoniously in front of both girls and the red head waited. Sakura and Temari both smirked and dug into the food eagerly. Sakura groaned happily and gave Gaara a thumbs up. "Simply marvelous!" She said as she dove into her plate eagerly.

Gaara blinked. "It's just an Italian recipe I got from Itachi the other day." He mused. "Itachi is awesome. His palate is great." Sakura laughed. The bell above the door rang as two more females entered. "Hey Forehead! I knew I'd find you here!" A blonde said cheerfully.

Sakura grinned around her food. "Hey Pig! Hey Hanabi-chan!" She greeted both. "Hey Sakura-sempai." Hanabi ducked her head in a bow. Sakura smiled fondly. "How are your studies?" She asked, ignoring the blonde for the moment.

"I'm stuck on the theory of regeneration." Hanabi admitted. Sakura clicked her tongue. "It's rather simple. Do you remember what I told you?" She asked. "Hai sempai. I went to review my notes on it to see if I could find any answers there but they were missing." Hanabi replied. Sakura sighed. "Go kick the crap out of Mo-chan until she gives them back." She ordered.

"Hai sempai!" Hanabi perked up. The blonde with her laughed. "What bad habits you instill in your students Sakura-chan." She teased. "Aw shove it Ino." Sakura replied cheerfully.

"Friends of yours?" Temari asked curiously. "Yeah. Ino and I went to school together. We both studied medicine at the same college too. Hanabi-chan is one of the girls I'm mentoring for the medical program they're doing in her school." Sakura replied with a grin.

"So Ino is one of your coworkers as well?" Gaara asked. "She works in a different department at the hospital but yeah." Sakura replied. "Where do you work Ino-san?" Temari asked. Ino smiled fondly. "Labor and Delivery." She replied softly.

"Ino loves kids so she works in the children's wing of the hospital." Sakura clarified. "So if you love kids, why not have some of your own?" Kankuro finally spoke up. "Ino's single right now. She really wants to tell our friend Chouji that she likes him but she just got out of a bad relationship so she's kind of scared." Sakura replied.

Ino nodded. "Yeah." She agreed. "It doesn't seem that difficult to me. Just tell him how you feel. The worst thing he could do is say no and quit being your friend." Temari said. Sakura smiled. "See? I told you the same thing. Just tell him. Or write him a note or something. Don't wait around of you'll lose your chance." She said. Ino sighed. "You're right. Both of you are right. I'll see you guys later. C'mon Hanabi." She said.

The blonde and Sakura's student departed so Sakura went back to her plate only to find it empty. Her eyes widened comically and the blonde next to her had to fight not to laugh. "Who would dare eat my food?!" She practically shrieked. Only Temari knew it was actually her normally anti-social brother Gaara because he loved to eat his own cooking as much as he liked other people eating it.

Gaara gave Sakura a huge plate to go to make up for earlier though he never admitted to eating her food and the pinkette didn't push the subject. "See you tomorrow?" He asked. Sakura nodded. "I'm hosting a cookout. It starts at five." She replied. "I look forward to it then." Gaara said. Sakura nodded again and left for home before her mischievous cat did anything naughty for her being gone so long.

Gotta love Witches. We are a community-oriented bunch. ^_^