A/N: Hello : )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

'Inner/Demon'

"Black Zetsu Talking"

(Author's Note)

Chapter 5: The captain is…

Sakura was standing peacefully along with her two blond friends namely Ino and Temari, staring and appreciating the beauty of the deep blue sea.

"How's Suna, Temari?" The kunoichi with long platinum blond hair asked, blue eyes not leaving the sea.

"Suna is doing great. Everyone's excited for the Sand Festival that will be held next month. I'm gonna expect you guys to be there." The other blond kunoichi replied; her emerald orbs kept on the sea as a smile curved across her pink lips.

"You know we have cleared our day just for that." Ino replied with a grin as she turned her head to look at the other blond kunoichi. Then, her eyes caught the scarlet haired sand shinobi. "You know what? It seems like Kazekage-sama has changed a lot. His aura, his face, he became really handsome." The blue eyed kunoichi said dreamily. Temari sweat dropped animatedly.

"No, he is weird." The pink haired kunoichi then said, clearly remembering how the Kazekage started kissing her hand. 'My hand is not that soft.' She thought to herself, not realizing that her face had turned as crimson as cherries. The two other kunoichi's then arched their brows.

"Why?" Temari asked.

Sakura then turned her head to look at the usually nonchalant Kazekage. The red head was talking with Naruto and Lee. Naruto was grinning like an idiot, Lee was smiling like his sensei, Gai and Gaara was wearing his nonchalant expression with his arms crossed across his chest while silently listening to his friends' stories. He was wearing his kazekage robe and she had to admit, he looks good in it. Ino was right, he had changed- but not that much. He just became taller and lean. His soft, pale complexion remained and she liked it that way. His bloody crimson hair was still unkempt and quite spiky yet it was longer and seemed softer now compared to when she last saw him. He did become quite handsome.

'I remember that hair with another guy.' The Hokage's apprentice thought; jade eyes were locked on the scarlet tresses of the Kazekage. "Actually, all Suna guys are weird." Sakura said as she turned her head away to look at her blond friends. Gaara and Sasori were definitely being odd. What the hell has gotten into them?

"Eh? Why did you say so?" Temari asked, curious and astonished at what her baby brother did to Sakura to make her say he's weird.

"Ah no, not all. Kankuro is still fine, he's not acting weird." The green eyed kunoichi then said.

"Hey Ino, I really want you to know that I like you very much!" The purple face painted ninja shouted, loud enough that almost all of the ninjas on the ship heard.

"Really?" Ino squealed; flowers bloomed on her surrounding animatedly.

"Now, all Suna guys really are weird." Sakura muttered.

"I think I half-know now what you mean." Temari replied.

Kankuro walked to Ino and held her hands, lifting them up slightly then locked his dark orbs to hers. "Yes, I really like you." He said huskily.

"T-that's sweet." The blond medic blushed slightly but a not-shy smile was painted on her face. She was never ashamed either to stare back into his eyes and never attempted to remove her hands on his.

"Kankuro, I heard that!" Kiba then yelled and walked to them with a frown on his painted face.

"Kiba?" Sakura, Temari and Kankuro asked in unison.

"Hi Kiba," Ino greeted with a grin as she released her hands from the sand shinobi and waved as bubbly as always.

"Hello Ino-chan." The dog boy greeted back; his frown vanished.

"-chan?" Temari, Sakura and Kankuro questioned the yellow haired kunoichi at the same time.

"Erm,..." Ino blushed again slightly, her cheeks as pink as her friend's hair.

"Ino, is he your boyfriend?" The puppet ninja asked.

"N-"

"Not yet." The owner of Akamaru said, cutting whatever Ino was about to say.

"What do you mean?" Kankuro asked, leaning his face closer to Kiba intensely.

"Ino-chan will be my girlfriend soon." Kiba replied cockily.

"Oh yeah, then Ino-CHAN will be my wife, soon." Kankuro replied; his lips slowly curved into a smirk as he noticed the other shinobi's eyebrows knitted slightly.

"Ino-chan will be the grandmother of our million grandbabies." Kiba declared.

'Million grandbabies?' Sakura sweatdropped animatedly. Her inner on the other hand snorted. Temari raised an eyebrow and Ino was smiling, obviously enjoying the conversation between the two men.

"This is hot." The blond medic mumbled with a smile.

"Ino-chan will be the mother of my hundred babies!" Kankuro growled, glaring back at the leaf shinobi.

"Hundred babies? Million grand babies? Ino, you really are a pig." Sakura laughed.

"Shut up billboard-brow. If I know, you must be jealous because no one is fighting over you." Ino replied, her self-esteem as high as the highest tower as always.

"But you're still a pig." The rose haired medic continued laughing. The blond sand kunoichi couldn't help but to giggle slightly.

"Urgh, billboard-brow!" Ino growled, glaring at her pink haired friend as she crossed her arms.

Sakura stopped laughing and glared back to her blond friend. "Ino-pig!" The two medic then stared at each other with lightning on their eyes.

"Hey. Hey. Come down, don't fight here." Temari sweatdropped animatedly.

The pinkette then looked away. "Hmf, I have to talk to Naruto." She said and then walked away but couldn't help herself but to chuckle while walking.

A vein popped out animatedly on Ino's head as she noticed her friend was still laughing. Temari just sighed tiredly.

"Ino-chan and I will have our own house and we will live there until our hair turned gray." Kiba said.

"Me and my Ino-chan will travel the around world and every night will be our honeymoon." Kankuro said.

"I am sooo hot."

Temari gave Ino a dull look.

"Naruto, is Kakashi-sensei not here yet?" Sakura asked, quite worried that her ex-sensei might be left behind if he kept getting late.

"Neh, Kakashi-sensei? He's not here yet." The Jinchuuriki replied. "Don't worry; I know he'd make it on time. Believe it; he wouldn't want to miss this vacation."

"Yeah, you're right. Who would have wanted to miss this once in a life time vacation?" The pink haired medic laughed slightly. She then sighed in relief and was about to walk away but paused when she heard her friend mumbled a name.

"Sasuke," The blond shinobi whispered in surprise.

Sakura turned around in a swift moment then her eyes slowly widened. The first thing that her emerald orbs caught was his onyx hair. Her heart started drumming hyperactively when she saw his face; his beautiful, flawless face. "Sas-" She wasn't able to finish his name because the blond beside her suddenly ran.

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, tackling the raven haired missing-nin.

Sasuke's dark orbs widened slowly as he saw the blond ninja jumping over him. He attempted to dodge his former teammate but it was too late. "Ack, Naruto." He called breathlessly.

Naruto caught everyone's attention as they heard him yelled thus in just a moment, they were surrounded by curious ninjas.

"Finally, you came back!" The yellow haired ninja exclaimed happily, tightening his big bear hug to Sasuke.

"Ew-get-off-me." Sasuke said, still having a hard time to get out from the suffocating hug of his former teammate.

Sakura stood like a statue in the background. Her heart thumping so hard in her chest she wanted to rip it away. She wanted to walk away but it was as if her feet had grown roots and locked her to the ground. She wanted to speak, to at least act like everything was normal and scold Naruto for his immature behavior, but her lips remained sewed. 'Why am I feeling like this?' She thought to herself.

'I thought you don't like him anymore?' Her inner asked quite worriedly.

"Sasuke-kun," Ino gasped in surprise, covering her mouth with her palms; her crystal blue orbs never been as wide as before. Her bones turned spongy and her heart pounded so hard she felt like she just ran on a marathon. Kankuro and Kiba then looked at her worriedly.

Everyone knew that Ino and Sakura had feelings for that missing-nin who only seeks revenge and power. Everyone knew how he kept ignoring the blond kunoichi and how he kept breaking the pink haired medic's heart. He was the bastard that everyone knew and he just showed up out of nowhere. Now, what was his reason for showing up in the middle of random ninjas?

Naruto then paused and freed the youngest Uchiha as he stared at the two other shinobi's behind him. "Neh Sasuke-teme, Orochimaru and Kabuto are with you?" He asked innocently.

"Baka, I'm not coming back to Konoha." Sasuke snapped coldly. "I'm going on vacation and what are you all doing here?"

"We're on vacation too!" Naruto replied more excitedly as a very large grin formed across his lips.

"Hn,"

"Oh, and I want you to meet my girlfriend." Naruto then grabbed Hinata gently and put his arm over her shoulders.

"You have a girlfriend?" Sasuke asked, giving his former teammate a dull look.

"Of course, teme!" Naruto grinned and then kissed the cheek of the lady in his arm. The said lady blushed as red as an apple.

Sasuke then leaned closer to the long haired kunoichi, staring at her like a grandfather who couldn't find his glasses. "Who is she?" He asked with a frown and crossing his arms over his chest.

"She's Hinata you baka!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Idiot! It's hard to recognize her. Her hair is longer!"

"Oh, yeah." The blond shinobi then looked at his lady. His blue orbs as soft as feather as he eyed the girl on his arms. "I like her hair this way; it makes her a lot prettier." He almost whispered and then kissed the girl again. Hinata blushed more and looked down shyly.

"Hn, I see."

"Uh," Naruto then pointed the crimson haired lady who was standing on Sasuke's side. "Who is she?" He asked.

"Hello, my name is Karin." The lady who was wearing glasses introduced herself and then possessively hugged the arm of the certain missing-nin as a smile formed across her glossy pink lips. "Sasuke-kun's girlfriend."

Naruto's sapphire orbs widened in surprise and his jaws dropped slightly, staring at the red haired kunoichi. Hinata on the other hand couldn't help herself but to frown as her pearl eyes remained on the lady with glasses. Everyone stared at Karin including Sasuke who was shocked too at what she had just announced to everyone. Sakura's green orbs were wide as saucers as they shifted from the crimson haired kunoichi to the raven haired shinobi.

Itachi, who was sitting not really far away from the crowd, stared at the scarlet haired lady blankly. 'Foolish little brother.' He thought to himself nonchalantly. His bloody crimson orbs then shifted to the pink haired kunoichi. The young lady was certainly surprised and caught off guard at what she just heard. He also clearly saw that her emerald orbs were not staring at the red head but to his younger brother.

'Why am I feeling this way? I feel like I want to cry, but no, I can't cry now. He will think that I'm weak again if I'll cry. And no way will I cry for him, but, but...' Sakura's thought trailed off as she felt her vision getting blurry from the tears that were forming on her jade eyes. Her heart was still beating faster than normal and her feet still glued to the floor. She shouldn't cry. She just shouldn't cry. She'd cry enough for him when she was young and now, she was moving on. Everyone must have noticed her eyes but Sasuke. Heck, the guy totally ignored her even though she was right in front of him beside Naruto.

Naruto then looked sadly on his pink haired teammate and finally, Sasuke noticed her. "Ah, Sakura." The raven haired shinobi called coldly.

"Sakura?" The red haired kunoichi asked curiously, looking up on the man she was holding.

"Hn, my former teammate."

"Oh yes, the fangirl." Karin said as she looked at the jade eyed kunoichi and then smirked. Sasuke didn't say anything and just stared coldly at his former lady teammate.

Sakura's heart almost stopped as she heard the word fangirl from the scarlet headed kunoichi. Sasuke must have mentioned her to that lady and she didn't want to know whatever he said to that lady about her. She knew what he told her anyway. It must have been about how weak she was and how she annoyingly kept clinging on him. Their meeting was a reunion but she didn't want a reunion. She need not a reunion because it only did one thing, it ruined her vacation. Her heart ached. It ached so much she wished she didn't have one. She wished to tear it off into pieces and move on completely. She hated this day. She wished she shouldn't have gone to this vacation. And to think that she'd be on the same vacation with his lady made her want to back out. To run away. But then again, she'd look weak in front of him and she didn't want that because all she wanted him to see was how she had changed and grown up. But still, her heart wouldn't stop aching.

"Good morning, foolish little brother." Itachi, who stood beside Sakura, greeted nonchalantly.

The other members of Akatsuki showed up too and stood in the crowd. Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Kabuto's eyes slowly widened both in surprise and horror.

"Ah, Uchiha Itachi. How are you? You know, I still want to get your body-"

"Shut up." Itachi snapped nonchalantly. "You don't interest me for a moment, shoo." He said blankly as he motioned his hand for the snake sannin to go away.

"Why you-"

"It's okay Orochimaru-sama. We're here for vacation, not for fight." Kabuto reminded, holding his master's shoulders to calm him down. 'Actually I don't want my date to be ruined.' He admitted to himself and then sighed in relief as his master finally stilled.

"Kabuto," The man behind him called; his voice as cold as winter.

The silver haired medic turned around only to see the red headed puppeteer. His face paled and he could feel his body sweating abnormally. "S-s-sasori-sama," He said nervously. "Erm... you are... alive?" He tried his very best to sound as happy as he could but failed miserably.

"Let me tell you something."

"W-what is it Sasori-sama?"

"How dare you betrayed me you baka!" Sasori exclaimed. The silver haired shinobi shivered.

"S-sasori-sama, w-we came here for vacation, erm... I gotta find Shizu-chan, bye." Kabuto then fled as fast as he could.

"Itachi, I killed you! What the hell? And Deidara and… and… Tobi!"

"Tobi is a good boy." Tobi said.

"Itachi! I will kill you again!" Sasuke activated his sharingan and then ran to his older brother in rage but Itachi just poked his forehead nonchalantly and then stepped in front of the pink haired kunoichi. Sasuke stared at his older brother with his crimson orbs as wide as plates.

"Don't worry Sasuke they're here for vacation too. No fights in the middle of vacation." Lee explained.

The pink haired kunoichi stared at the stoic man in front of her, astonished and quite scared at the way he stares at her. "I-itachi-san?" She stammered.

The man towering her then smiled amusedly. Her face turned as pink as her hair. She had never seen the older Uchiha smiled like that. It hurts to admit but he was indeed, with no doubt, hot. Damn. What the hell was she thinking? He's Sasuke's brother for Jashin's sake. Then, his arm moved. She flinched very slightly as his hand caressed her face softly and gently. Knowing everything about sharingan, she tried her very best to avoid his bloody crimson orbs. Her head was lowering down but his fingers on her chin pushed it up slowly. Her face was getting redder and her emerald orbs were becoming restless until they stilled on his lips. On his damn perfect lips. She then wondered what would it feel like on her skin, on her own lips, but she shook it off immediately. His fingers then moved to her exotic tresses and gently placed them behind her ear. She felt her spine stiffened as he leaned closer until his soft lips touched her delicate ear. He was too close that she could feel his body heat washed against her and it didn't do anything good to her. She knew damn well that they were in the middle of the crowd and it only made her more tense and self-conscious. What if her face was so red and everyone noticed it?

The smile on his lips never left him as he placed a soft kiss on her ear. He loved the way how her shoulders tensed after feeling the touch of his lips. He also loved the way that her face turned red because of him. She was so delicate, so unique, and so beautiful. He knew she was about to push him away thus he whispered, "I don't want to see you cry for my foolish little brother because it will make me more jealous." A smirk then curved across his lips.

Her emerald eyes widened. What the hell did he just said? Her heart was getting restless as it never stopped pounding mercilessly under her chest. Her bones felt like a jelly as the guy in front of her kissed her ear once again. His hot breath over her skin didn't do anything good either. If her eyes could widen more, they'd definitely would as she felt his soft, velvet, wet tongue slid over her ear. She then recoiled immediately, covering her abused ear in surprise; her face as bright and as red as the nose of Rudolf the reindeer. Her hands were shaking and her eyes stared at the older Uchiha. "W-what the hell?" She asked. Everyone around them including the youngest Uchiha stared confusedly at them. Itachi on the other hand just smiled amusedly before disappearing in the middle of the crowd.

"Sakura, are you alright? What did he do?" Tenten asked quite worriedly and curiously.

Sakura only looked down with her face remained as red as cherries and her hand on her ear. "N-nothing," She finally replied without looking at the brunette. "I gotta go." She then said before she ran away as fast as she could, passing by the astonished youngest Uchiha.

"I think I saw him kissed Sakura-chan on her ear." Naruto then said; his blue orbs were quite widened. Hinata nodded in agreement as a blush on her cheeks deepened slightly.

Some ninjas in the crowd were shocked while some men frowned and walked away quietly.

'Did she just ignore me?' The youngest Uchiha asked to himself in disbelief and then wondered what the hell was going on between her and his big brother.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" The scarlet haired kunoichi asked.

"Hn."

'I don't like her.' Karin frowned as she thought about the pink haired kunoichi and noticed how Sasuke reacted when she ran and passed beside him. The guy just literally shivered and turned his head to the running girl which definitely was odd for the kind of him.

Sakura sat on her feet as she rested her red face on her arms that were crossed over her knees. What the hell was going on with Itachi? What the hell was going on with men? She then tried to breathe more slowly, more even to calm her drumming heart. Her whole body felt like jelly. Her face felt like she just got out from the oven. Damn it. Then, her head rose up as she heard a sob. She looked beside her and found Ino, not far away from her, crying. "Ino?"

The yellow haired lady then raised her head and looked at her with tears on her face.

"Sakura," The blond kunoichi cried. "I can't believe it." Tears then fell again from her crystal blue orbs. "I hate myself." She then sobbed as she wiped off her tears but they still kept falling. "I still like him." She cried. "I hate myself. Why do I still like him? Damn me."

Sakura then stood up and walked nearer to her blond friend. "Shh, don't hate yourself. You're not alone here." She said, sitting down beside the blue eyed kunoichi and tapping her back. She then paused for a second and hid her face on her arms that crossed over her knees. "I can't believe I'm saying this but," Her fists then clenched the same with her heart. "I still have feelings for him too." She then sniffed and sobbed.

Ino then stared at her pink haired friend with widened eyes. "Sakura," She whispered as she laid her head over her crying friend's shoulder and then stared at the blue sky.

The pink haired kunoichi then raised her head and rested over her friend's yellow head while it remained on her shoulder. Her tearful jade orbs stared at the blue sky too. "Damn it." She cursed. "I kept telling to myself that I moved on." She sniffed. "And then this."

Ino then laughed shakily, tears kept flowing over her beautiful face. "And that girl," She laughed.

"Yeah, that girl." Sakura said softly.

"I'm jealous damn it." She cried.

The rose haired kunoichi laughed but still crying. "Silly huh?" She sobbed. "Sasuke-kun didn't deny it nor pushed her away." She laughed. "I thought he's not the type to fall in love and have a relationship with a woman. Someone like him who only seeks power tends to grow old alone."

The blond lady laughed too. "I thought he's heartless."

"He is." Temari said as she stood in front of the two kunoichis together with Tenten and Hinata. She then sat beside Sakura and hugged her. Tenten then sat beside Ino while Hinata sat on the other side of Temari. "Hurting you guys like this, he is definitely heartless." The sand kunoichi said.

"You two deserve a better man." Hinata said softly.

"Agreed." Tenten said. "But don't fall in love with the same guy again, okay?"

Sakura and Ino then laughed. "Thanks guys." The two said as a warm smile formed across their lips.

"You know we're always here for our best girl friends." Tenten said, hugging the blond kunoichi tighter.

"Ah, I think I just heard that the captain is here." Temari said.

Naruto walked to the old man who was wearing a captain suit. "Hey, are you the- waaaa!" Naruto shouted as if he saw a ghost. Everyone then, including some of the members of the Akatsuki, walked curiously to the blond shinobi and the newly arrived captain. "Old Sarutobi!" Naruto exclaimed.

"S-sarutobi-sama?" Shizune and Kurenai stammered; their eyes were as wide as saucers as if a ghost stood in front of them.

"Tsunade!" Sarutobi then ran to the Gondaime and hugged her tightly.

"Get-off-me!" The drunken hokage said, obviously annoyed and irritated but never seemed surprised to see her former sensei. The third hokage then freed the yellow haired woman.

"Old Sarutobi, what the heck are you doing here? Alive?" Orochimaru asked in surprise, his snake eyes were as wide as the others.

Sarutobi's eyes widened in surprise too as he saw the snake sannin. "Orochimaru!" He exclaimed excitedly then gave his former student a very tight bear hug.

"Get-off-me o-old man!" Orochimaru pushed Sarutobi and stared at him in horror, catching off his breath. "You gonna kill me, old fool?" asked him, obviously annoyed.

"Uhm, Sarutobi-baa-sama, may we know what are you doing here?" The pink headed kunoichi asked politely.

"Oh, hi there Sakura. You have grown into a beautiful lady." Sarutobi said, tapping the emerald eyed medic's head like a grandfather. Then, his eyes caught the certain frog sannin. "Jiraiya!" exclaimed him happily as he gave the shinobi a tight hug.

"Get-off-mee."

"Sarutobi-sama, what are you doing here?" This time, it was Gaara who asked.

The third hokage then freed the frog sannin and stood in front of the crimson haired sand shinobi. "Gaara," He called, his tone quite surprised as his eyes scanned the blue and white robe on the red head. "This is such a surprise." The old man then smiled widely. "I see you are now a Kazekage and you have changed too." He then tapped the head of the jade eyed shinobi. "You've turned into a very handsome young man." The old man then turned around to the crowd. "Oh, and I almost forgot, I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third hokage of the fire nation, is your captain." He announced.

"You're kidding right?" Jiraiya asked in disbelief.

"Does the old man, jokes?" Sarutobi asked amusedly.

"Erm..."

"So, is everybody here? It's almost ten am." Sarutobi asked.

"No, Kakashi-sensei is not here yet." Sakura replied. 'Stupid Kakashi-sensei.'

"He's late again." Naruto muttered.

"He didn't change." Sasuke mumbled.

-poof-

"Kakashi-sensei you're late!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed.

"Sorry," The silver haired shinobi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he apologized. "An old lady passed out in front of-"

"Zip it, I don't want to hear your lame excuses." Sasuke said, obviously annoyed and quite not in the mood.

Hatake Kakashi was laughing sheepishly when he finally realized that it was Sasuke. His visible eye popped open and he froze as he saw the Akatsuki and some of their enemies and also the deceased third hokage.

"Long story Kakashi-sensei. But to make it short, they're on vacation too and Sarutobi-baa-sama, believe it or not, he is the captain." Sakura explained.

After a minute the ship finally departed.

-End of Flashback-

"Jiraiya,"

"Pein,"

"Jiraiya,"

"Pein,"

"Jiraiya,"

"Pein,"

"So the third hokage, your sensei, is the captain?"

"Yes, why?"

"He's the captain of the SHIP?" Pein asked as if the large vessel was about to sink.

"I cannot believe it either." Jiraiya replied blankly.

A/N: Okay I lied, the flashback was too long and oh, Sakura has a few feelings for Sasuke- but only few. Okay that's all. It's almost 3 am here,

-Yawn-

-Drinks coffee-

Bye.