Unforeseen Consequences

Chapter 8: Naruto in the Middle

Ino and Sakura both were a little surprised to see Naruto looking at them, although Ino was quicker into action. She smiled as she latched onto his arm eagerly, "Hey Naruto, you know we were just talking about you." She made sure that she pressed her breasts into his arm, by the way he was blushing she knew that she had his attention.

"R-really?" Naruto couldn't help but feel the nice softness pressing into his arm.

"Yes we were," Sakura said as she put on her own smile and followed Ino's lead with doing the same. Although she felt her face heat up with it, she never was able to be as outgoing as Ino, but she wouldn't be left behind.

Now Naruto was really blushing, as he had in his opinion, the two prettiest girls in the village wrapped around his arms pressing up against him. He knew that he had been thinking about something while walking, but for the life of him he couldn't remember anymore. Something about the girls, but with all the blood rushing to his head to blush and then going lower in a tug of war was screwing up his ability to think clearly at the moment.

"I wanted to thank you for the training you were helping me with and also wondering if you were free?" Ino said to him.

"Hey wait a minute I was going to ask if he was free." Sakura narrowed her eyes at her friend-rival. "After all we're teammates and with all the missions we've had lately, Naruto and I, haven't any real time to hang out."

"But you two go on missions all the time, so you get to see each other more. I hardly see Naruto at all since we're on different teams. What do you say Naruto, will you keep me company for a bit?" Ino smiled up at him, all the while grinning in her mind. If Sakura wanted to spend more time with him, she was going to have a fight on her hands. Ino needed more time with Naruto to make sure the boy knew he had other options to him now. Although given how thick he was at times, she knew it wouldn't be easy. But she really did want Naruto to look at her as more than a friend.

He had this warmth about him, and she had felt the kinds of emotions he had in his head. He had felt his feelings for Sakura, both the longing and the sadness when she hadn't noticed him at first. A boy that could feel as deeply as she knew he could, was rare and she wished to have someone who thought of her like that. It was true, that both she and Sakura had been fools when younger but now they both wanted to have that same boy. Only this boy wouldn't reject them, this boy would open his heart fully to whoever could get it.

Sakura for her part didn't want Ino to get too much of a head start and she knew one thing that Naruto couldn't say no too. "Well I was going to ask him to get some ramen with me, as a treat for how hard he's been working lately."

"What, really?" Naruto's head turned to Sakura so fast it might he snapped the neck of someone else.

Ino narrowed her eyes, 'Oh so that's how you want to play it then huh? That was a low blow girl, but I can play just as dirty as you can.'

"Awww, I was going to take Naruto there, and I was even thinking of paying for it too," Ino whined but in a more cute way. Thankfully with working at the flower shop she had a second income. True, it didn't pay like a ninja's pay could at times but it certainly helped her to save money. She would need that too, given how much Naruto ate and all.

Now Naruto's head turned to Ino totally surprised by that, "Really Ino? Man, only Iruka-sensei would pay for my meals, no one else really has done that for me."

"Well I could," Sakura said quickly. "After all I made you pay last time, so I should return the favour right?"

"Hey I offered first," Ino said.

"Well he's my teammate," Sakura said back.

Meanwhile up above Sai was taking some very interesting notes. At first he wasn't sure but it would seem that the girls were fighting over who he spent time with. This seemed to be with what he read, how women will fight for their man as it were. So this could indicate that they both wanted him, although it could also just be a regular argument. He noticed that Sakura and Ino had an odd relationship. They were both very friendly with each other, but at the drop of a hat they seemed to get angry with each other. It was a bizarre friendship, even though Sai was confused on most issues on friendship. He knew that he would never totally understand the one those two held.

He caught movement as all three were now moving off, apparently they had all agreed to eat together. Sai followed as he made a few notes for himself. This was very interesting to study this in person, real life experiences were much better than books. As he sat on the building next to the Ichiraku ramen stand he had a problem. He could barely see them, he could just make out the voices but he needed a bit more help. He pulled out his scroll of paper and special chakra infused ink. He created a simple mouse that he could use to help observe his friends.

Meanwhile Naruto was nearly drooling at the prospect of ramen. Although he had each girl beside him, once ramen entered the brain he pretty much pushed everything else aside. It was one the few things that Naruto's unfortunate case of having a short attention span, was negated. The girls gave their single orders to Naruto's eight, it was still a sight to see how much Naruto could eat.

After his third bowl Ino sighed, "Okay I'm envious. You can eat all that and still not gain weight, while I have to work out to keep in the shape I'm in."

"I think it's because Naruto has a heightened metabolism," Sakura said as her mind went into medic mode. "Given how fast he heals, that means his body must work overtime, so it also needs more fuel to burn."

Naruto never thought about that before, although he wasn't sure what metabolism was. He heard the word before but wasn't sure on the full meaning. It was just another thing that made Sakura so smart, she knew all kinds of things. He thought about Ino, he wondered what kind of stuff she knew. She worked in a flower store so she might know about them. He wondered at times what kind of things the girls knew that he never thought to ask about. Well it was something to think about as he dug into his new bowl of ramen.

"So Naruto-kun, you seem to have gotten a bit popular lately," Ayame teased seeing the two girls with him. She had known about Naruto's attraction to his teammate and it seemed that now only the pink haired girl was interested, the blonde girl was also interested. She remembered her name as Ino, she had come in only a few times but she was one of Naruto's friends and she made sure to remember all of those.

Teuchi cast a look over his shoulder and smirked seeing what his daughter had pointed out. He didn't envy the boy once he realised what was going on.

"Huh, what do you mean by that Ayame-niichan?" Naruto asked.

Both girls next to him sweat dropped at his clueless expression, it was a bit cute to see his face look so innocent like that. But at times being so dense it was hard to get him to see what was going on around him.

Ayame giggled as she waved it off, "Oh nothing I guess. So have you three been hanging out lately?"

Now Naruto's face lit up, "Oh yeah, Sakura-chan and Ino-chan have been really fun to hang out with lately." He failed to notice the slight blushes on the girls.

"So Naruto who is more fun to hang out with?" Ino asked as she leaned over to him.

Naruto thought about it, he hadn't thought about it like that. He only thought about how he enjoyed his time with them. "Well it's hard to say, both of you have been really nice lately to me. Oh yeah that's what I was thinking about," Naruto snapped his fingers remembering what he had forgotten about earlier.

Now he got a bit more nervous as he was wondering how to approach this. Where they just being more friendly or did one of them like him? He kind of hoped for Sakura to like him, but Ino had been on his mind lately as well. "Why have you two been a bit more friendly to me lately?"

"W-what do you mean?" Ino asked a little nervous, she wasn't sure how to handle this kind of question without telling him the truth. Telling him that she entered his mind for a prank and got stuck, leading her to see all kinds of personal memories he might not take that well. She would tell him, when the time was right after all, but not now.

"Well, we hardly ever talk or hang out that much," Naruto thought about his past with Ino. "I mean sure we went on a few missions together and seen each other, but until a little while ago we haven't hung out like we have. Plus then there's Sakura-chan being nicer to me as well."

Sakura frowned as he said it like that, "Are you saying I'm not nice?"

"N-No, I mean you've been a lot nicer since I came back and all," Naruto said in a panic, knowing the temper the pink haired girl had and the new strength behind her punches. "I mean you took me to your parents which was really nice and I can't remember the last time you hit me."

Sakura winced at that last bit, sure she had matured since he had gone and had really missed him. It was that time away that made her really appreciate Naruto in her life. She admitted she hadn't been the best while younger although she was being gentler with him lately. "Well you haven't done anything worth it. I mean you haven't done that stupid jutsu you taught Konohamaru in front of me or done anything like that."

"Jeez you shouldn't be so violent Sakura," Ino said with a sly grin as she moved a bit closer to Naruto. "I don't think men like violent women. What do you think Naruto?"

"Uh...well..." Naruto wasn't sure what to say at this point. If he said the wrong thing he could get Sakura mad, but he couldn't think of what would be the good thing to say. He quickly tried to either find the right thing to say or look or a way to change the topic.

"I'm not violent," Sakura shouted out at her. "Besides you're just as violent as I am."

"What, says who?" Ino demanded as she slammed her hands on the tabletop.

"Shikamaru and Choji for one," Sakura said to her. She had heard all the stories from Ino's teammates and although they did like Ino as a sister. The blonde girl could be very controlling and scary to the guys when she wanted to be. "I mean who wants a controlling woman?"

"I am not controlling Sakura," Ino glared at the pink haired girl as both girls only glared at each other.

The tension was so great that you could cut it with a knife, although Naruto was glad for the save now he had to deal with two violent girls. He still remembered how that BBQ place was trashed with Ino's team and his own. There was no way he would endanger the holiest of places, the Ichikaru ramen bar. He had to think of something to do to get the girls to calm down before someone threw the first blow.

"Well that was good," Naruto quickly said although he could still go for a few more bowls. He made a plan to come back later for a quick snack. "does anyone want me to walk them home?"

That got both girls attention as what they were fighting over was quickly forgotten. Both wanted to have Naruto walk them home because if one could, then they would be able to get Naruto alone. Already plans were being made with the girls as they both wanted to talk to him without the other getting in the way. So they agreed, paid for their meals and walked out. There was only one more problem, Sakura lived one way and Ino lived in the opposite direction, so Naruto was once again stuck.

"Naruto should be the one to walk me home," Sakura said politely as she could. "After all I bet my mother would love to see him again."

"Well that is nice," Ino said with a fake smile, "but he already just met them, and I wanted to show him around if he has the time. Besides I'm the one that sees him less after all."

Naruto wasn't sure why but he was feeling very awkward at the moment, both girls were giving off strange vibes and it was actually kind of scary. He had thought that he found a way out of this but now he had to choose. On the one hand, walking with Sakura was a dream come true, but he also didn't want to alienate Ino. She had been really fun to hang out with lately and he didn't want to blow anyone off. He mentally sighed, it was like trying to turn left and right at the same time again.

He thought about that as an idea hit him.

"Hey there's no reason to worry," Naruto said grinning that fox like grin of his. "Remember who you're with." He placed his hands in the cross seal as a large puff of smoke was created. There were now two Narutos, him and a shadow clone when the smoke cleared. One went with Ino and the other walked over to Sakura.

"There now I can walk with you both," one of them said. Because of the smoke the girls weren't sure which one was the real one and which was the clone. It was a solution to the problem at least so the girls decided to accept it rather than right about it.

Sai had the mouse come back to him when he noticed they were ready to leave. He laid out a blank scroll as the mouse sat in the middle of it. With a few hand seals Sai activated the special jutsu inside of the mouse. The mouse melted back into ink as an entire transcription of what everyone said was now written onto the scroll. He would use this as a reference material later on. He hadn't noticed when he was no longer alone but he felt a sudden shift behind him. He quickly turned around, ROOT training took over and if he was in his ninja gear he would have gone for the short ANBU blade he usually kept on his back. But he was in his usual black civilian clothing.

"Not bad kid, most wouldn't have noticed me until later on," Jiraiya smiled at the young pale person.

"Jiraiya-sama, I'm sorry it was just a reaction," Sai apologised.

Jiraiya waved it off, "Don't sweat it kid. I'm just here to check in on my apprentice as apparently you seem to be doing." Jiraiya picked up the school and quickly read through it. He had to shake his head, he knew just how clueless Naruto was but even without any voice tone, Jiraiya could see what was going on with just the words printed in front of him. Actually he'd have to see if he could get a copy, this could be decent material for the new book idea he had. Inspired a bit of course by last night but this would definitely help him with another plot line.

"The boy is totally clueless it seems," Jiraiya stated giving the scroll back to the youth.

"You know what is going on?" Sai asked the older man.

"Boy do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Jiraiya of course didn't mean it literally but he continued on anyway. He hopped onto one foot as he struck a pose similar to the one he used when he first introduced himself to Naruto all those years ago. "I am the Toad Sannin, the great Sage of the Toads, men fear and envy me, women swoon as they see me, I am the master of a thousand jutsus, and author of one of the greatest novels of all time. If anyone can understand the heart of a woman then I can!"

Sai blinked not sure what to make of the spectacle, "Oh…so what exactly is going on?"

Jiriaya composed himself now, "It seems that Naruto has both girls after his heart, which he'll choose is hard to say but if he doesn't figure it out soon there might be trouble later on. But at any rate I think a little more research into the subjects are in order and with you here I have the perfect way to follow them both."

He looked to see the two girls going on different directions with a Naruto with them, he could now follow one and have Sai follow the other and then compare notes. Things were certainly getting much more interesting in his life now. First the love of his life had finally accepted him, and now his prize student was having two young attractive girls fighting over him. Oh what he wouldn't give to be young again.

Ino walked with Naruto, at least she hoped it was Naruto after all it was impossible to tell the difference. But still, at least if this was a clone the original will know of the events. She knew that Naruto had learned that about the shadow clone ability while training in wind. It was odd knowing so much about Naruto like she did now. She most likely knew more about him than anyone else alive. She even experienced the memories as well, although a few of those memories would never leave her.

One would be how he witnessed death for the first time with that boy Haku (who Ino still didn't think it was within nature for a boy to be that pretty) and Zabuza. Even a cold hearted killer had found his heart thanks to Naruto. Other things like the battle with Sasuke when he left, she would never see Sasuke in the same light. She couldn't believe the boy tried to kill Naruto, plus that awful second transformation. The boy looked like a monster, Ino knew she would have nightmares of that in time.

But she didn't want to think on that, she wanted to focus on Naruto. It felt nice just walking with him, she even slipped her arm with his. He was surprised and she noticed the blush on his face but she only smiled at him. He got a bit more at ease as they walked on, oh yes, this felt very nice for her. Soon they came to her family's flower shop and she wished she lived further away, the walk was just too short for her.

"Well I guess this is my spot," Ino sighed.

Naruto only smiled at her, "You know I might need to come in and see the place on day. I bet you can tell me all about flowers and stuff."

Ino giggled as she nodded, "Oh trust me I know practically anything." She paused as she got a bit more serious. "Hey Naruto, have you ever thought about dating anyone? I mean we're all getting older and I wouldn't be surprised to see people starting to pair up soon."

Naruto shifted a bit, it was true that he liked Sakura but she hadn't said yes to an actual date. Sure he treated her to ramen once but nothing more. Well the dinner with the family might be considered one but he wasn't too sure. Plus there was another issue, would a woman be interested in him knowing his secret? How many women would be able to over look that fact he had a demon jailed inside of him?

"Well I've thought about it..." Naruto trailed off not sure what to say yet.

"Well you know I bet soon a lot of pretty girls will be after you," Ino smirked at him as he got a bit closer to him. "After all you got a lot taller and I have to say cuter since you got back."

"R-really?" Naruto blushed as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yes in fact there would be a lot of girls who might like to date you, all you should do is ask."

"Well...I wouldn't know who exactly, I don't know that many girls." Naruto said honestly. The only girls his age he knew were Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Tenten.

"So?" Ino asked him as she reached up and gently trailed a hand onto his cheek. "You should really think about it. Who knows, a girl that would say yes, might be right in front of you." She winked at him as Naruto's mind became a whirlwind of thoughts. Her hand felt very soft, he could smell the scent of a light perfume on her skin, he felt his heart beating faster.

Naruto never really thought of Ino in anything more than a good friend, but at the moment he hadn't felt like this except with Sakura. He looked at her lips and they looked soft and inviting. Ino smiled as she walked away, making sure that she put a little extra swagger into her hips. She caught him looking in the reflection of the window and smirked in victory as she noticed him staring at her.

Naruto just stood there really dumbfounded as his mind tried to process things. Then he turned into smoke as the Naruto clone was dispelled.

With Sakura the same thing was going on, well she couldn't work up the never to put her arm with Naruto's. Her mind was telling her to do it, but Sakura was a bit more shy in comparison with Ino at times. But it felt right walking with Naruto down the street, like how they had just walked together as usually but she felt something more now. Naruto was a warm presence that she just wanted to wrap around her. She hoped this was the real one as well but at any rate with Ino out of the way she could work up the nerve to really talk seriously with Naruto. There had been something eating at her for awhile now and she really needed to get it out.

"Naruto, I just wanted to say how sorry I am," She said seriously looking a little down.

"Huh? Sorry about what Sakura-chan?" Naruto couldn't remember her doing anything recently that she should feel sorry about.

"About a lot of things actually," Sakura said as she looked back on her life. "The way I treated you when we were younger. I was totally out of line a lot of the time, I was just so obsessed I let it blind me to a lot of things. I know I wasn't the best friend back then but I wanted to change and grow. When you were gone I missed you every day, some days it hurt to know that I wouldn't see you for a long time."

She smiled a sad smile now, "It wasn't until you were gone that I started to realize how much better my life was with you in it. You always could make me smile after Sasuke-kun left, in fact you tried to help me out. You've always helped me out and supported me and I wish I had done the same for you back then."

Naruto was seriously at a loss now and it took him a moment to find his voice. "Sakura-chan you don't need to say you're sorry, I've already forgotten about that kind of stuff. Plus you've already helped me out, like with those pills you made for my elemental training." He didn't mention how they tasted bad but it was the thought that counted. "And you have been with me a lot more, plus you've been super nice recently too. Plus you're my best friend and teammate, there is no way I could ever hate you for anything you've done. Plus some of things I've done have been kind of stupid and I did deserve a few of those punches."

He laughed as it was a bit true, he knew that he did stupid things at times and Sakura would straighten him out. In fact that was secretly one of the reasons he liked her, he never had anyone growing up to show him what was right and wrong. What was appropriate and what wasn't, but Sakura did those things. He was a better person because of it.

"I am sorry about a lot of things though," She blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"Well since you can't change the past, the best we can do it just learn and do better right?"

Sakura was surprised by that, "Where did you get something that profound?"

Naruto chuckled at that, "Iruka-sensei told me that once a long time ago, I didn't really get it at the time but I got it later on."

When they got to her home she felt regret, they had been having a nice conversation and she felt a bit better that he had forgiven her stupidity when she was younger. It felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but she still wanted to improve her relationship with him, both as a friend and as something more. Maybe it was time to finally let him see that she thought of him as something more, if she didn't what if Ino took the advantage and because of that, Ino managed to gain Naruto's heart? Sakura wasn't sure she could take losing another, although at least it wouldn't hurt her like Sasuke had hurt her. Plus Naruto would still be around and her friend, but Sakura still wanted more than just friendship with him. She wanted to make him happy like how he made her happy, she wanted to make up for all those years and also give him years of happiness.

"Thank you for walking me home," Sakura said with a slight blush on her face. "You know for the longest time I thought that Sasuke-kun was the one for me."

"We'll get him back, I promised you that," Naruto said solemnly still remembering his promise to her. He always carried out his promises and whatever he felt for her, if he couldn't keep a simple promise to her than he didn't deserve her.

"I know and we will get him back even if we have to smack some sense into him," She smiled at him. "But looking back on it...I think I only want him back because he's our team member, our brother in a way."

"Brother?" Naruto asked confused, didn't she like Sasuke?

"I do love him but only as a brother now," Sakura admitted to him. She wanted him to know her feelings for Sasuke had changed over the years. "It was just a stupid crush I had on him, it wasn't real love. I know that now. But I still want to free him and I know we can do it. But lately I've been thinking that I should move on with my heart."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto felt a bit more excited now, if she didn't love Sasuke in that way anymore did that mean he finally had a chance?

Sakura nodded as her blush deepened a bit, "In fact lately I've been thinking about someone else." She saw his face and she knew that he didn't think it was him. She laughed a bit in her mind, the poor boy had some self confidence problems with girls even though he didn't have it with anything else apparently.

She walked to her door as she opened it, "I'll see you later Naruto-kun." She told him before going through it.

Naruto smiled, "Sure thing, Sakura-ch...huh, hey wait did you just call me..." He hadn't noticed it at first but she never addressed him other than his name. She never used an honorific with his name before, let alone that one. He didn't know what to think that she actually called him that, the only one she used that had been Sasuke. So did that mean that she liked him?

He suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke at that moment.

Meanwhile the real Naruto had been at the ramen stand the entire time. He still was hungry and with the shadow clones he would know what would happen. When he made them, he switched out with all the smoke and let the clones take the girls home. He was happily eating some pork ramen when one of the clones memories suddenly slammed into him. He froze at what he remembered, then suddenly the other clone's memory came as well. He froze as he tried to make sense of everything.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Ayame asked seeing the look on the boy's face.

"I'm...not sure..." Naruto trailed off as he thought more and more on the memories he just got.

-Elsewhere-

Tsunade had finally managed to get to the tower, after last night she really wanted to sleep in. She smirked to herself, it had been so very long since she had been with a man. She had forgotten how it was like, plus despite everything, Jiraiya apparently knew what he was talking about in his books. She just knew that the old pervert would turn that night into a scene in his new book when he got around to it. Well, she didn't mind too much, it's not like anyone but her, knew of what characters were who in his books. She stretched as she walked the empty halls, she hadn't felt like this since she had been a young woman.

After waking up to a warm body beside her, she had taken a shower. Of course he insisted in joining her, not that she put up much of a fight against it. She had been a bit worried that Shizune hadn't woke her up, or maybe that she might have tried to. So after a mid-morning meal she took off for work, Jiraiya said something about checking on Naruto's progress. But he didn't leave without giving her a long kiss, she reached up to touch her lips. She swore she could still feel the heat there from it.

She really had been an idiot all these years. She sighed feeling light on her feet and happier then she had been in so many years. She had opened her heart up again to a man for the fist time since Dan's death and she didn't actually regret is this time. In fact she felt more fulfilled since she had finally opened her heart up to Jiraiya. With Dan, things had been great. He had been a solid rock for her, someone she felt enchanted by and she had been swept off her feet. With Jiraiya, things were so much different but she still felt that same kind of love. With Jiraiya, she could be herself, she felt at ease and in his arms she felt like she could just relax and let him be her whole world.

She strolled into her office seeing that some of the work had already been done. She hoped that Shizune would have taken care of some things while she had slept in. As she came to her office and opened the door she found her first apprentice working very hard at the desk. By the looks of it she was organizing the paper work. In fact she was working up a storm, that was a bit worrying to the older woman.

"Shizune, slow down there isn't any reason to work that hard is there?" Tsunade asked as she walked into the room.

Shizune jumped up but as soon as she looked up into her mentor she looked back down. She wanted to hide the blush on her face and avoid eye contact. The memories were still too fresh in her mind and she really didn't want to think about that again.

"Sorry to startle you Shizune," Tsunade smiled as her assistant got up and Tsunade took her place behind the desk as she looked over the paper work. It was piled so far into priority, so she would get through the pile that needed her immediate look over before being approved. Normally she would get bored but honestly she was in too good a mood to ignore. She was wondering how Sakura was doing with getting Naruto. Now that the girl had her feelings straightened out, she couldn't help but root for her. The girl was her best protégé, Sakura had mastered things even Shizune hadn't been able to do.

Still, Sakura had some competition in Ino, that girl could be just as stubborn and tenacious when she needed to be. If she had put that kind of effort behind her medical training the girl could have been very close to Sakura's level. Although after the first year, Ino had passed the basic testing but had never gone any further. Then again, unlike Sakura who could train a lot more with her team broken up, Ino had still been on an active team.

Tsunade wasn't sure who the boy would pick, she just hoped that whoever lost didn't take things too hard. She knew what heartbreak could do to a person. For years her own heart had been stone to avoid the pain, she basically ran from her pain for decades. It was odd how it was a little genin that got past her walls and made her feel something other than the emptiness and pain in her heart. And it took an old pervert to show her that she could still find love in life.

She looked over the papers and paused, the first one in the urgent pile was a vacation approval, for Shizune. That alone made her think for two reasons, first it wasn't like Shizune to put her own personal stuff first, and second she couldn't remember the last time or even first time, Shizune took a vacation. She looked up and noticed that the young woman was a little odd. If she didn't know any better, she swore that the other woman was avoiding looking at her.

"Is there something wrong?" Tsunade asked as she looked over the vacation request. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a week long leave pass was all it was.

"I-I-I just wanted to take a break, I've been feeling very stressed lately," It wasn't a total lie for Shizune. She was stressed but she also needed to get away and just relax for once. Plus if things between Tsunade and Jiraiya kept going on as they were, she really didn't want to be around the house. Although she was delighted to see that those two were together, she knew that there was something going on between Tsunade and Jiraiya for years but Tsunade never let him have a chance. She wasn't sure what made Tsunade change her mind but she was thankful for it. Even the slight glances she managed to take she could see that Tsunade was almost glowing with happiness.

It had been a very long time since Shizune had seen her mentor look like this. But seeing the after events first hand was not something she wanted to have a memory of. So she would give the two their space and for her to just get away from it all for a short time.

Tsunade looked over the sheet and stamped her approval, it would be hectic around here without her around but the young woman deserved some time off finally. Maybe the young medic would finally find herself a man for once. She grinned at that thought and passed it to her. "Here you go and enjoy."

Shizune took it with a bow, "Thank you Tsunade-sama."

Next up Chapter 9: Confessions