Alright time for chapter nine, finally Naruto and Sakura have their talk and really start to reconnect. Also Naruto's friendly nature towards Sakura gets better explored in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Two weeks had passed since the incident with Sakura trying to punch Naruto and they were all square again. At the moment it was dusk in Konoha and Keiko and Hitomi had left the training field leaving Naruto and Sakura alone. She had asked him for help with her jutsu, it wasn't that she couldn't use the techniques anymore but after nine years of not using them...
"Okay try that earth jutsu again, only this time... aim away from me." he smirked.
"R-right... Sorry about that." she smiled sheepishly.
She went through the proper handsigns and activated the jutsu, making sure to turn away from Naruto. At first nothing happened but then four large spikes erupted from the earth.
"Dammit." she sighed, there were supposed to be more.
"Don't sweat it Sakura." Naruto said and walked up to her.
She looked up at him. "You've only done medical jutsu for the last so many years, you'll get the hang of it again."
"Thanks Naruto." she smiled at him.
He smiled back and ruffled her hair. "Why do you always do that?!" she huffed and fixed her hair.
"A... friend, of mine would do that to me all the time. Guess it kinda stuck." he shrugged.
"Do you mean a girlfriend?" she asked.
His eyes went wide and he looked down at her. "I... Keiko and Hitomi told me..."
"Those little..." he growled.
"They didn't tell me who... Just that you've had." she said.
"Still." he mumbled.
"I wanted to talk to you about your past but... We never got a lot of alone time... and when we did well..." she trailed off.
"Heh, yeah." he chuckled.
"We never did have that talk Naruto." she said.
"Yeah, I suppose we didn't... how about now? Maybe grab some food or something?" he said.
"I'm not hungry, but maybe in a nice relaxing spot." she suggested.
"I'm game, but uh- where?" he asked.
She smiled at him. "Follow me."
He shrugged and trailed after her.
She led him to an easy to access area of the village but far away enough that no one really came this far. It was raised up to give anyone there a full view of the village, Naruto leaned agaist the rail that was set on the edge while Sakura stood up with her hands resting on the rail.
"So... I take it you have questions or something?" he started.
"Yeah... I'll try to avoid any that involve your past relationships... unless you." the shake of his head gave her the answer. "Of course, maybe we can explore those questions later?"
"Maybe." he said.
"Right, so first question Naruto. Why aren't you Hokage yet?" she asked.
Instantly he went into the mood he was in those two weeks ago. Sakura picked up on it and connected the dots, she threw her hands over her mouth.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't- I mean I-
"It's fine, there was no way you could've known." he said.
"Um okay- different question. Wh-
"No one to share it with." he cut her off.
"What?" she asked.
"Why I'm not Hokage." he explained. "The answer, no one to share it with."
"I don't understand." she said.
"When we were kids I wanted to be Hokage for the attention. And to rub it in the faces of all those who said I couldn't do it. Uzumaki Naruto, the neglected orphan becomes Hokage showing all those bastards what's up... But as we got older and all those issues with Orochimaru, then the Akatsuki and finally the Fourth Ninja War. I got exactly what I wanted, everyone knew who I was. People respected me, hell some of them feared me! Which is kinda awesome, I won't lie about that." he smirked at her. "A part of me still wanted to be Hokage, but first I had to advance in my own ninja career. No matter how strong I was it was still glaringly obvious... I was a Genin! So I took the Chunin exam with another team... and then I became a Jounin. It was somewhere between Chunin and Jounin that I realized, Hokage, it was just another rank but with a lot of paperwork." he laughed at the last bit.
"I still don't see..." she mumbled.
"Well if you'd let me finish..." she blushed. "I gave up on the idea of being Hokage... but then I started seeing her and, well I figured that if I had her to share the work with me. Keep me on my toes about it, I wouldn't mind all the paperwork and would love to be Hokage. But... I- she"
"It's okay Naruto." she smiled at him. "You don't have to keep going. I appreciate that you gave me that much."
He nodded. "So... I think it's my turn to ask you a question."
"Oh! Yes by all means." she smiled.
"Alright... How come you totally stopped training and such?" he asked.
"Well at first it was to do more research for, you know, and then I just kinda fell into the routine." she explained.
"Oh... Um Sakura?" he said.
"Yes Naruto?" she asked.
"I talked to Sasuke after that little incident..." Naruto trailed off.
"Uh-huh...?" she didn't like where this was going.
"I know that it was wrong but... I needed to know why, you two just seemed so good together." he explained. "I'm sorry Sakura."
"He told you that- that I-
"Yeah... I understand if you're pissed at me for this." he said.
"... I really wish you would have just left it alone, but it is you after all." she said. "At least you didn't force me to tell you."
"I'm sorry." he said.
"Apology accepted." she said.
"If it makes you feel any better I socked him." he said.
She giggled. "Not by much, but at least he knows not to try anything stupid again."
"There's another question I've been meaning to ask you." she said. "Hitomi and Keiko told me it was because that's just who you are but, why are you still so friendly towards me?"
"Drifting into that area again Sakura." he said.
"Dammit!" she sighed. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine, but if you don't mind this is the last question for today." he said.
"Of course." she said.
"My love, she helped me let go of such petty things. You dating Sasuke didn't mean I had to be a jealous ass about it." he said.
'His love... wow.' Sakura thought.
"I mean when you really think about it, we didn't hang out all that much because of our conflicting schedules." he said. "If I had any free time it was spent with her or training. And you, if you had any free time it was spent with Sasuke or doing research."
"I guess that's true." she said. "... This was... not nice, but pretty good."
"Yeah... I would have told you more but..." he trailed off.
"It's fine... if you ever want to tell me more I'll be ready to listen." she smiled at him.
"Thanks." he smiled. "Oh! And before I forget, tomorrow. Be ready for your first official mission with Team 3."
"Really?!" she asked.
"Yep, it's a B-rank, so be sure to keep on your toes." he said.
"O-okay." now she was nervous.
"I'm just kidding, it's only B-ranked because of the distance we have to travel. We'll be picking up a scroll from Kumo half way between Yugakure and Kumo." he explained. "So, you know get some rest."
She nodded and watched him walk away. She smiled, it wasn't much but at least she was able to get closer to her friend. She sighed and made her way back to her own apartment in preperation fo her first mission after so long. She put out her clothes and gear on her dresser for tomorrow before taking a shower and putting her head down for the night. Before she went to sleep she remembered, Naruto never told her the time!
The next morning a loud banging at her door snapped her from the pleasure of sleep. She looked at her clock, it was four in the morning! It was still dark out! Sakura huffed and got out of bed, she threw on a robe to stave off the early morning chill as she made her way to the door.
'Whoever is on the other side is going to get their ass kicked!' Sakura fumed in her mind.
She yanked to door open, the resulting rush of wind blowing her robe open. "What?!"
"Well good morning sunshine." Naruto chuckled. "And might I add, interesting choice of morning wear."
"Wha...?" she yawned.
"U-um Sakura-san." Keiko whimpered while rubbing a bump on her head. "Your robe."
"... My robe...?" Sakura yawned and looked down.
The bottom of her robe had been blown back and was caught on the back of her legs showing off her panties. The top, luckily, wasn't as bad, just blown open a bit revealing some of her breasts. She blushed and quickly fixed the problems before looking up at Naruto, who was still smirking. She looked over her teammates, Naruto seemed fresh and ready to go, Keiko and Hitomi only had a bit of sleep in their eyes but were both rubbing matching bumps on their heads.
"Are you going to get ready or are we going to stand here in awkward silence?" Naruto asked.
Sakura blushed again and ran to her room to get changed. She came back out in her usual ninja gear and a backpack filled with extra supplies and a sleeping bag. Naruto nodded to her and they left towards Konoha's main gate. Naruto took up the lead while Sakura hung back with Keiko and Hitomi to give light medical attention to them.
"What happened to you two?" she asked.
"Naruto-sensei..." Keiko whined.
"No! It was Sakura-san! She told him that we told her!" Hitomi pouted.
It took a few seconds for Sakura to connect the dots before she blushed and put her head down.
"Don't blame Sakura-san!" Keiko said. "It's just as much our fault!"
Hitomi huffed and sped up towards Naruto.
"Does he do this kind of thing often?" Sakura asked.
"No. Just when we cross the line... but we can't help it sometimes." Keiko smirked.
Well that was a short chapter wasn't it.
Alright the next chapter will be a chapter in the past, I orignally planned to make it a three chapter part but I've decided against it and just make it one long chapter. It will further explain the reasons behind Sasuke's acceptance to stay in the village and his status as a civilian.
-Raidori