Chapter 3: The Confusion

Maybe there were some men out there in the world that would be excited by what Sakura just offered to Naruto, and maybe there were men that would also be surprised as hell that a girl would actually suggest such a thing. Naruto in this case was the latter.

"Date more than one girl? Is that even legal?"

"It's not the most socially accepted thing in the world but it's not actually illegal Naruto-kun. Marrying more than one girl, that's illegal in all but one circumstance, but it's different for dating."

"If it's not accepted then it's still a bad thing." Naruto commented.

"Umm Naruto-kun, by that logic you're a bad person." Sakura told him, trying to spare his feelings.

"What'" He said in shock, not expecting that response.

"I mean no offense Naruto-kun, but think about it. You're still struggling to be accepted, and you said anything not already accepted is a bad thing. See what I mean?"

Naruto grumbled. "Fine, but still this doesn't feel right. Why would you even suggest such a thing?"

"Because you don't know what you want in a girlfriend. You want me because of a stupid reason, and beyond that reason you have no other criteria to reinforce your choice. You didn't have just one reason to want to become Hokage now did you?"

Naruto shrugged. "At first, yeah I did. Being recognized was all I wanted, and that was it. When it came to the other things involving being Hokage I didn't know or really care, all I knew was the hokage was respected and I figured if I become hokage I'd get the same treatment. It wasn't until I got older that I began to understand what it really meant to be Hokage. So my reason changed, but..."

Sakura immediately sensed some negativity. "But what?"

Naruto instantly shook his head and dove into his food. "It's nothing."

"Naruto-kun, I'm a girl. I know full well that 'nothing' never means nothing. So what's the problem? Maybe I can help you."

Naruto was hesitant to answer but at the same time a part of him did want to get this off his chest. "Sometimes I wonder if that's really what I want. I mean, I say I want strength to protect my precious people, but how can I do that when I'm stuck in an office or meetings all day? The hokage helps assign missions but almost never gets to take any themselves, so how am I protecting anyone when I'm sitting in a desk all day? Maybe I'd be better off settling for being an Anbu or something."

Sakura was stunned silent by his words. 'Naruto is doubting his dream? That's not like him. But then again I did sometimes wonder why he wanted to be Hokage in the first place. It's likely the Sandaime put the idea in his head when he was younger and never properly told him what the hokage does all day. All part of some master plan to cement Naruto's loyalty to the village no matter what it did to him. But now that he has a better idea of what the job entails it's natural for him to have doubts.'

The pinkette cleared her throat. "Naruto-kun, I can't tell you what you should or shouldn't do. Didn't you ever ask Sandaime-sama or even Tsunade-shishou what all the hokage does?"

Naruto shook his head. "I never thought about it until my long trip. Before then all I knew was that people had to like the hokage and that was all I needed to know."

"Naruto-kun, people don't have to like the hokage." Sakura corrected. "For the most part the hokage is supported, but there is no rule or force going around making them like her. Even Tsunade-shishou has to deal with people that want her out of office and only tolerate her simply because she is in office."

That greatly surprised Naruto. "But-"

"No Naruto-kun, I'm sorry to tell you this but no matter who you are or what job you have, you cannot make people like you. I'm not liked by everyone, Kakashi-sensei's not liked by everyone. Heck even Sasuke wasn't liked by everyone back when he was here. Everyone has enemies, you're not the only one."

"So, no matter what, I'll always have enemies?" He asked.

"Everyone has enemies Naruto-kun. But everyone also has friends and allies. You have me, you have Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-shishou, the Ichiraku's, Hinata, and more than I can probably name. You are liked too, not just hated. But becoming hokage will not make everyone your friend, and if that's the only reason you even want the job, then you'll only hurt yourself if you actually get it."

"So you think I should just give up." He said, sounding defeated.

"No Naruto-kun, I don't. Don't ever think that. I'm trying to say that you can be hokage but you won't be happy being hokage if that is the only reason you want it. If you want to be hokage, you should have more reasons for it, reasons that are more noble and less selfish."

Naruto looked confused. "Selfish? How am I being selfish? I told you I want to protect the people I care about."

"Like you said yourself, you don't have to be hokage to do that. If that was your true goal, you wouldn't be limiting yourself on how to do just that. But you've always been dead-set on being Hokage, even now that's still what you want. I know because when you thought I was arguing it you were crushed. You still want to be Hokage, but from what you said you aren't doing that to help others. You're after that because you think it will make all your problems go away. You want to help others, but you want to be hokage for yourself, not for your friends or for the village. That's selfish."

Naruto looked really offended and stop up, fists balled as if ready to hit something. "Here I thought you were actually trying to help me, but you're still trying to crush my spirit like always."

"What? No Naruto-kun I-"

"Shut up!" Naruto hissed in a tone she had never heard before. "You come in here, act like you're suddenly my best friend, and now you insult my dream and myself for even having it? Get out of my house."

Sakura stood up but came up to him rather than went for the door. "Naruto-kun, I'm not trying to hurt you."

"I said get out. I don't want to hear anything you have to say anymore." He said, turning away from her.

"Naruto-kun, please let me finish." She requested as she gently took his hand in hers, relieved he didn't immediately withdraw it.

"Why should I?"

"So you can learn why you should be hokage, instead of why you shouldn't. Or how else you can help others." She stated, not calming him but at least he wasn't fighting her. "You say you want to help people. Exactly how do you want to help them? Do you want to fight with them? Or do you want to run the government? Keep in mind the hokage isn't the only respected person in the village."

"But they're the most respected." Naruto countered.

"Is that the only thing that matters to you Naruto? Being respected? You don't care what you do as long as people don't hate you for it?" Sakura asked.

"Is it wrong to want to be respected?" Naruto rhetorically asked.

"No, but would you respect a hokage who didn't know how to do the job? Tell me Naruto-kun, what exactly does the hokage do that you want to do too? What do they do that no other ninja does?"

"They get to lead the rest of the ninja in fights." Naruto pointed out.

"And how often does that happen?" Sakura added. "You've interacted with two hokages Naruto-kun, how often did they actually do that while they were in office?"

Naruto paused to think it over. The first incident that came to mind was the Oto-Suna invasion that killed the Sandaime, and then he remembered seeing Tsunade fight Orochimaru but he disregarded that as she hadn't been officially hokage at the time. Other than that, he couldn't remember another time he had actually seen the hokage work outside of the office.

"Only once I saw. Technically twice but I don't think the second time counted." Naruto grimly answered.

Sakura nodded. "That's right. Hokage's spend most of their time going over reports, managing the village's maintenance and legal issues, assigning missions, and stuff like that. They usually get a little time each day to train so they're in shape but they never get to take any missions themselves. Is that really what you want to do with your life?"

"Won't I still be protecting my precious people?" Naruto asked.

"In a way I guess. But not the way you're used to doing so. Naruto-kun, you'd basically be in charge of stationing such people where they're needed and telling them what they need to know. You'd be protecting them by guiding them, not fighting for them. Is that good enough for you?"

Naruto wasn't sure. "Maybe I should talk to Baa-chan about this instead." He then shook his head. "Wait, how did we get on this when you were saying I needed more than one girlfriend?"

Sakura had to mentally backtrack to answer that. "I was trying to show you how you need more than just one reason to want something that big. You wanted me as your girlfriend for one weak reason, and you wanted to be hokage for one weak reason as well. I tried to get you to realize that it doesn't work that way. So just like how you need to explore your options for what career you want instead of solely limiting yourself to only one option, you should try the same with girls. This way you can see what it is you want in a girlfriend besides just someone to talk to."

"Even so, what girl would agree to this? Girls hate it when boys see other girls." Naruto said.

"True, but that's mostly because the boy kept it a secret. Sure, being honest about it upfront is no guarantee she'll accept it or be a part of it, but at least she can't accuse you of lying. Besides, I know of one girl that will at least consider it."

"Yeah right, who?" Naruto challenged.

Sakura grinned. "Hinata." Naruto gave you a 'are you kidding me?' look. "I'm serious. If you asked her out she'd couldn't be paid to say no."

"You're kidding me right? Hinata? As in Hinata Hyuuga? The girl who could literally have anyone in the village? She would choose me over everyone else?" Naruto said with much skepticism.

"Yes, because you're the one she wants. If you could be with her would you give her a chance?"

"I don't understand why-"

"I'm not asking you to understand, I'm asking you would you go out with her if the opportunity came up? Don't think about whether or not you're good enough for her, just ask yourself if she said yes would you say the same?"

Naruto sighed. "Sakura-chan, you've kind of worn me out tonight. I don't think I want to think about complicated stuff anymore."

Sakura nodded. "Alright. I'm sorry if I overloaded you Naruto-kun, but please believe me when I say I'm just trying to help you with all this. I just want you to be happy."

Naruto mock-laughed. "If you wanted that you wouldn't be drilling me like this." Despite his words his tone showed he wasn't upset.

Sakura smiled. "Sorry, but I was only doing this for your own good. And tomorrow if you want, I'll go talk to Hinata about this."

"You positive she'd actually want to date me?" Naruto asked, not sure what to think of the idea but he had to admit he didn't hate it.

Sakura's smile got a bit devious. "Leave it and me and I promise your only problem will be deciding which one of us to take out first."

Morning came and Sakura woke up feeling rather warm and comfortable. "Wow, I feel so much better." When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Naruto, still asleep.

"What the-? How did I?" She asked herself, only to remember she had stayed at his apartment last night. "Wait, all I happened? I thought I was just dreaming coming here and having dinner and... kissing him? It happened?"

Naruto started to stir, but it looked like he wasn't going to wake up right away. Cautious, Sakura quietly left the room, grateful that she was still dressed, having slept in her clothes and felt nothing to implicate she had done anything but sleep.

"What happened to me? One moment I'm out on the street, next thing I'm here practically asking Naruto to date me. I kissed him, called him 'kun', even told him about Hinata." Sakura asked herself, wondering what could be responsible for her behavior last night. It was so unlike her... yet it didn't feel wrong or forced.

"I need to go see Ino. I need answers." Sakura said before going to the door. As soon as she grabbed the knob, she hesitated. "The least I can do is leave him a note. I walk out on him like this, I'll break his heart."

One written note later and Sakura was outside, trying to find Ino and wondering what had happened to her last night.