"I think I'd rather eat bugs with Geezer Sage," Naruto complained with a groan.

After leaving Kakashi's office following their lengthy conversation about her new mission, Sakura sought out her yellow-haired friend only to find him face down in the grass beside the river. He was fast asleep, drool pooling on top of the textbook he was using as a makeshift pillow. With a disapproving click of her tongue, she'd woken him up with a swift kick to his side before chastising him about not focusing on his studies.

"You're going to be a terrible Hokage with that attitude." Sakura pointed an accusing finger at him with her other hand on her hip.

Naruto groaned again as he pushed himself to his feet, his eyes still squinting slightly from sleep. He yawned and scratched the back of his head. "Nice to see you too, Sakura," he said sarcastically.

Sakura rolled her eyes and feigned anger at him before breaking into a wide grin. She reached out and pulled him into a fierce embrace which he returned with just as much fervor. As much as he got on her nerves, Naruto was one of the people she had missed the most when she was away. She didn't realize how much she relied on his endless energy to lighten her mood and she found herself wishing he was there to annoy her with his enthusiastic rambling after long shifts at the hospital. The man was truly the embodiment of sunshine, both in outward appearance and personality.

"Say…you wouldn't want to treat an old friend and your future Hokage to some ramen now, would you?" He said when they parted. His teeth were clamped together in a toothy grin as he held up two fingers to form a peace sign.

Sakura scoffed and flicked his forehead with her middle finger, putting more force behind it than she intended. "You know, if you keep that up you might die from ramen poisoning before you get to be Hokage."

"Oi, you're always so violent, you know" Naruto said rubbing his forehead, a red welt now forming there. Upon seeing the woman shoot him a glare, he quickly waved his hands in front of her.

"N—no what I meant was you're always so strong and beautiful and uhh—" he grabbed the back of his neck, "—did I mention beautiful?"

"Nice save," Sakura rolled her eyes and she walked away.

"You coming, or what?" She called back when she looked over her shoulder and found her yellow-haired teammate still standing where she left him.

"Not if you're going to flick me again."

"Alright, guess I'll have ramen by myself then!" She took off running towards Ichiraku and disappeared over the grassy hill, laughing loudly as she heard Naruto curse and shout at her to wait as he scrambled to gather his things and follow her.

"Seriously?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief as he listened to Sakura recount her run-in with Sasuke. "I can't believe that bastard didn't even try to wait around to see if you were okay."

Sakura squirmed in her seat as his words, finding that it stung a little when they were spoken out loud.

"To be fair, I wouldn't stick around either if I had that many people coming after me," she replied.

"I guess so, but he could have at least tried to wait after all you've done for him," Naruto stated, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"He doesn't owe me anything, Naruto." Her voice came out a little more dejected than she wanted it to, but it was true. Sasuke was her friend and no matter what she did for him, she would never expect anything in return. She had changed a lot from the girl who used to beg him to love her. These days, she only cringed each time the memories resurfaced.

"You're a good friend, you know that?" Naruto eyed her with a soft expression, likely picking up on the disappointment in her tone. "And that Sasuke has always been terrible at socializing so he'd never say it, but I know that he thinks so too."

"Thank you, Naruto. You're a good friend too." She reached out to gently pat the side of his cheek.

With a smile, Naruto turned to face forward in his bar stool once again and proceeded to continue scarfing down the rest of his ramen at an inhuman speed. Sakura had to fight the urge to reach out and slap the back of his head and scold him for eating so messily. But she only smiled affectionately as she watched the way he never stopped grinning even when his mouth was filled with food, his cheeks puffed out and making him look ridiculous. She really did miss this idiot.

Once they finished their meals—with Naruto eating two bowls of ramen before Sakura told him, to his dismay, that she wasn't going to pay for a third—the duo walked side by side until they reached a bridge. The sun was beginning to set now, leaving a golden glow on the village landscape.

They had been walking in comfortable silence for several minutes as Sakura took in the familiar sights around her: the old lady at the fruit stand who was always grumpy unless you asked her about strawberries, the quiet rustling leaves of Konoha's many trees, and finally, her eyes fell upon the Hokage Rock for the first time since coming home. She focused on two faces as she smiled, the faces of the two people she looked up to the most in the world: Tsunade and Kakashi.

"What did you talk to Kakashi about for so long?" Naruto finally broke their silence, his eyes following her gaze until it rested on their ex-teacher's face carved on the side of the mountain. They were both standing on the bridge, leaning their elbows against the railing that overlooked the water below.

When Sakura only looked at him questioningly, his eyes met hers again as he tapped his temple with a finger. "Ino," he stated simply.

"Ah," she answered in recognition. Of course, Ino would have told him where she was as soon as she sensed Sakura in the village. Thanks to the Yamanaka Mind Body Transmission Jutsu, the sensory kunoichi was able to send messages to virtually anyone within range by simply channeling her thoughts directly into their mind.

"Nothing much, just catching up since we haven't seen each other in a while," Sakura averted her gaze and studied the water. She could feel the blond watching her. She had neglected to tell him about her upcoming mission and her discoveries about Sasuke's attackers during their earlier conversation at the ramen stand, fearing that the notion of a comrade betraying them would hurt him.

Heavy silence followed and Sakura could hardly hear anything over the nervous beating of her own heart. She hated lying to him but she also knew that he would try to convince her not to do it and she couldn't handle that conversation right now. She couldn't stand the sight of his expression, riddled with worry.

"You're a terrible liar, you know." Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper and sounded sad. Hurt.

"Naruto, I…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say next. She cursed silently. He knew her too well and it was no use lying to him. For several minutes, the friends stood in silence, both studying the reflection of their shadows in the water as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. She decided then that although the mission was classified, it shouldn't include him. Besides, if anyone understood her complicated feelings towards Sasuke and who could understand why she had to be the one assigned to this mission, it would be Naruto.

"It's not good news," she finally continued, breaking the heavy stillness that settled between them.

"I'm going to be Hokage, remember? The village's burdens are also mine to bear."

Sakura's head shot up to face him, her lips parted slightly in surprise. She knew Naruto was capable of being serious, she'd seen it many times before and especially during the War. But it was still strange to see him with such a solemn look, speaking with such a grave tone.

"We think someone in the village is responsible for the bounty on Sasuke and that they're supplying the hunters with Jonin weapons from Konoha. We're launching the mission in two days." She paused to gauge his expression.

"Not a lot of people have access to those weapons, right?" He stated it like a question but Sakura knew that he was smart and he knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Yes. So unless someone has managed to sneak into the Hokage Tower, which we both know is impossible…" She could barely get herself to speak the next words. "We think it's someone we know."

Sakura watched him carefully as the words spilled from her tongue. He was still facing the water, his eyes unblinking as he stood perfectly still. But she could see his mind reeling from the way his hands were clasped tightly together, the muscles in his arms and shoulders tense.

She continued to observe him as his eyes traveled from the river below to his right prosthetic arm, wrapped in white bandages. Undoubtedly, his thoughts were wandering back to Sasuke who only a few years ago had also betrayed the village, vowing to murder his friends and break their bonds. A lot of time has passed since then and all has been forgiven, but Sakura knew it would take more time before all could be forgotten.

When he finally turned to look at her, agonizingly slow, she felt an uncomfortable and almost painful sensation settle in the pit of her stomach. With his blue eyes meeting hers, she could see the intensity of the emotions they held. Disbelief and anguish were clearly displayed in his features, seeming so out of place against his usual happy demeanor. Her chest ached at the sight.

"I see," his voice was gruff and scarily low. He averted his eyes once again, focusing unseeingly on something in the distance.

Hesitantly, Sakura reached out and twined her fingers with his, gripping tightly. Without looking at her, he returned the squeeze, both acknowledging her efforts to comfort him and also signaling that he was doing the same for her.

For a long while, the two friends stood just like that, taking solace in each other's presence. The sun was gone now, leaving moonlight to illuminate the still water in its place. From the corner of her eyes, Sakura watched Naruto silently as he continued his thousand-yard stare into the darkness. No matter how much they wanted it to, the calm and cool night air could bring them both no comfort as they braced themselves for the treachery that was yet to be unveiled.

A/N

Hi again! Sorry for the delay in updates, finals has been kicking my butt. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review to let me know what you think! Your feedback helps me improve :)