A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for not updating this story in a little while, but I'm back finally! This chapter takes place 2-3 days after where things left off during Naruto and Sakura's first date. I'll save any closing remarks at the end. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishi does.

Chapter 2

A few days had passed since Sakura's date with Naruto. The pink-haired kunoichi would be lying to herself if she said that she still didn't feel a bit giddy over the experience. It made Sakura secretly hope that she'd get to see her boyfriend again sooner rather than later, if anything to break up the boring monotony of what her shifts at the hospital were now like.

Since the war ended just over a year ago, the rebuilding process had really begun to wind down. Sakura had mentioned to her boyfriend the other day that most of the patients she'd been seeing were general checkups. The only exception was from the occasional construction work accident. Today was proving to be no different.

Sakura was currently at the nurse's station, looking over the last few of her patient's charts before going on break for lunch. As she was checking over everything, her mind started to drift off to the final part of their date when Naruto walked her home.

Flashback

Naruto and Sakura found themselves in front of the Haruno residence. The bottom level of the building housed the shop run by her father, with the upper two floors being the actual dwelling where Sakura lived with her parents. The new couple was preparing to say goodnight to one another. Truthfully though, neither of them really wanted to part ways just yet. Sakura was the first to break the silence in the air.

"I had a great time tonight." Sakura bit her lip nervously.

"Me too. Hopefully we can do this again soon. If you have some free time, maybe we can have lunch together when you go on break at work." Naruto suggested, hoping she would say yes.

"Yeah, I would like that." Sakura smiled, her cheeks becoming rosy.

Sakura stood up on her tiptoes and leaned in to give Naruto a gentle kiss on the lips. As she pulled away, Naruto stood there a bit dumbfounded, making Sakura let out a cute giggle.

"See ya later, Naruto." Sakura said as she disappeared up the stairs that led to the residence above her father's store.

Once his mind came back to reality, Naruto burst into excitement, shouting, "Woo hoo!"

Sakura, who was still taking her boots off in the entryway just inside the door, shook her head and smiled at her boyfriend's antics. One word escaped from her mouth as she went upstairs to start getting ready for bed.

"Baka," Sakura whispered, as a smile appeared.

Flashback End

Sakura gently smiled as her mind came back to the present, returning to the task before her. She had one more chart left to review and then she would be free to go on break. However, that sentiment was cut short when she noticed the familiar sight of her best friend, Ino, approaching. The platinum blonde had the same familiar look on her face whenever she wanted to talk about gossip.

"Hey Sakura. I haven't seen you for a couple of days. How did your date go with a certain knucklehead?" Ino inquired, wondering what her best friend had been up to.

"It was great. I initially thought he was just gonna take me to Ichiraku's again or something, but Naruto had something entirely different planned." Sakura said, trying to tease her best friend.

"This sounds juicy, tell me more!" Ino eagerly requested, anxious to hear all the details of her best friend's date with konoha's number one hyperactive ninja.

"Well, he took me to our old training grounds. It turns out that he had planned this picnic for two under the stars, with some help from Captain Yamato and Aiko at the sushi stand." Sakura elaborated further, seeing the excited look on Ino's face.

"Wow, I never pegged Naruto as the romantic type." Ino said, a bit taken aback from what she just heard.

"Me neither, especially when you think about who his sensei was." Sakura added, making Ino snort, "Thank goodness Naruto did not inherit any of Master Jiraiya's perverted habits though. He was the perfect gentleman."

"It sounds like you two had a good time." Ino said, getting a soft smile and gentle nod from her pink haired friend in reply.

After their talk in the locker room the other day though, it left Ino a bit curious as to whether or not her pink-haired friend had been able to bring up the topic that had been weighing on her shoulders a bit. She proceeded to ask, "So, did you get a chance to talk about the confession?"

"Yeah, we did. It felt really good to get that off my chest." Sakura replied, feeling relieved still after the talk.

"What did Naruto have to say about it?" Ino inquired nervously wondering what the blond knucklehead would say.

"Naruto wasn't even mad about it. He knew that I was just trying to watch out for him and take some of that pressure off his shoulders." Sakura said, with a small smile on her face.

"You're a lucky girl, Sakura. I wish I had someone like that." Ino said, slightly looking off into the distance wondering when she'll find someone.

"Try not to be so hard on yourself, Ino. I'm sure the right guy is out there for you too." Sakura said, trying to reassure her friend a bit.

"Yeah, I'm a pretty special guy, aren't I?" A familiar masculine voice said, surprising both Sakura and Ino who turned around to see Naruto standing there, sporting a goofy grin on his face.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked nervously, wondering just how much of her conversation with Ino that he had overheard.

"I was here to see Granny for a check-up and a quick update on the prosthetic arm. I thought while I was in the neighborhood, why not stop by to see if you wanted to grab something to eat?" Naruto said, trying not to be too hopeful knowing how busy Sakura can be at the hospital.

"Uh, hang on just a sec," Sakura said, turning to look at Ino. "Ino, do you mind if I catch up with you later?"

"Sure thing, Sakura. Why don't you stop by the shop tomorrow? I could use some help cleaning up the backroom a bit." Ino said, as she turned around to leave.

"Okay, Ino. I'll see you then." Sakura replied, trying to shoo her best friend away so she could have some alone time with Naruto.

"Bye Naruto." Ino said, giving Sakura a wink as she scurried off to check on her next patient.

"So, how much of that did you hear?" Sakura inquired, turning back to her boyfriend.

"Just the part where you were gushing over how much of an amazing person I am. And…" Naruto mocked the pinkette in a slight feminine tone.

"Hey, I don't sound like that, you jerk." Sakura elbowed her boyfriend in the stomach just hard enough to let him know she was a bit annoyed.

"Now we're even. That's what you get for teasing me the other night." Naruto stuck his tongue out playfully making Sakura pout. She would find a way to get back at him later, but for now, she just wanted to spend some time with Naruto.

"So, do you wanna grab a bite for lunch?" Naruto asked once more, waiting for her answer.

"Sure. I would love to." Sakura smiled, as she reached for Naruto's hand and intertwined her fingers with his, setting off for the hospital cafeteria to grab something to eat before finding a place to spend a little time alone.

After grabbing a few bento meals at the hospital cafeteria, Naruto and Sakura found a quiet spot at a picnic table in the courtyard to settle down and enjoy their meal.

"So, how did your appointment with Lady Tsunade go?" Sakura asked.

"Granny said that it's gonna be at least another six months, maybe even a year, before the new prosthetic arm is fully mature. Although she said the process is going to be sped up a bit now that one of her best students is working with her."

"Oh, did she?" Sakura looked away, her face flushed slightly.

"Yeah, Granny mentioned that you are assisting on the project now too. Guess you weren't kidding when you said the other night that you want to be a bit more involved."

"Of course I did, Naruto! You are one of the most important people in my life, not to mention my boyfriend. I trained to be a medic so I could be there to support you in any way I could. That's why when you told me how challenging things have been with just a single arm, I wanted to assist Lady Tsunade so you could get your new arm sooner rather than later. Hopefully Sasuke will take the one we've been working on for him too." Sakura said.

"If he doesn't, I'll drag Teme's ass back here, whether he likes it or not." Naruto grinned.

"Yes I'm sure you would. And blow off your arm in the process." Sakura touted.

"Good thing I just so happen to be dating the prettiest doctor who works here. It gives me another reason to see her."

"You and those corny jokes." Sakura snorted, breaking out into a small fit of laughter.

"Heh. Sorry Sakura-chan, but I just couldn't help myself." Naruto said while giving her a toothy grin.

Quickly regaining her composure, Sakura went on to say, "No need to apologize, baka. A girl always likes to be told by her boyfriend that she looks pretty." Sakura winked.

Naruto tensed up a bit when he heard Sakura use the word boyfriend. While he was happy to hear Sakura refer to him in such an affectionate manner, he still hasn't gotten used to it, particularly with how new this whole dating thing was to him.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, his slight display of unusual behavior didn't go unnoticed by the pink haired kunoichi sitting across from him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sakura asked out of genuine concern.

"It's nothing." Naruto deflected.

"No, it isn't. I saw you get a bit nervous a moment ago. Please tell me what's bothering you." Sakura repeated once more.

Naruto let out a deep sigh before saying, "Fine. Now that you and I are seeing each other, I'm just not sure how I'm going to break the news to other people, especially this other girl who professed her feelings for me first."

"It's Hinata, isn't it?" Sakura asked, getting a small nod from Naruto in reply.

Sakura knew that this might become an issue, especially after learning that Hinata had confessed her feelings to Naruto while trying to defend him from Pain.

The pinkette had never told anyone beyond Ino this, but when her feelings started to become torn between Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura at one point questioned whether she was good enough for the hyperactive knucklehead. This made her doubt herself and her chance of being able to pursue something as more than just friends with Naruto.

Ultimately, Sakura came to realize that it wasn't about who was a better match or more deserving of Naruto's affection. Rather, it was up to Naruto to decide what would truly make him happy. And even in spite of her flaws and misdoings, Naruto had made it abundantly clear to her that she was the only girl for him.

Taking that to heart, Sakura began by saying, "Naruto, you're gonna have to talk to her at some point."

"I know. It's just… I'm not sure what to say to her."

"Is it because of Neji?" Sakura asked, wondering if his death had been affecting Naruto.

"Yeah." Naruto replied sadly, tensing up a bit again, this time thinking of his deceased friend.

Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled softly. She reached across the table, taking Naruto's hand and holding it in her own.

"We all lost people that we cared about. It doesn't change the fact that Hinata professed her feelings to you, Naruto. At the very least, she deserves to know where things stand."

"So what do you think I should tell her?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

"I think you should be honest with her. Hinata may be timid and soft-spoken, but she certainly isn't dumb." Sakura said.

"This may not be easy for her to hear at first, given that she's been infatuated with you since our academy days, but Hinata needs to learn just as I did that there's more to a person than being in love with the idea of who they are. Love is built on things like mutual trust, understanding, and compassion. If she truly cares about you, then she needs to understand that you don't feel the same way about her and you've made a decision about who you want to be with." Sakura said with inherent resolve.

Observing that Naruto was still a bit unsure of himself, Sakura thought it might not be a bad idea if she offered to go with him. "If you want, I can come with you when you talk to Hinata so you don't have to face her alone." Sakura offered.

Naruto took a moment to mull over his options. Finally sure of himself he replied, "No, I think it's best if I do it myself. As much as I appreciate it, Sakura-chan, I feel that this is something I need to do on my own."

"Okay. And just so you know, Naruto, I'm really proud of you for taking the initiative to talk with her. I realize it isn't going to be easy, but I believe in you." Sakura said, giving her boyfriend a reassuring smile before digging into her lunch.

As Naruto turned his attention to his own bento meal, the inevitable visit to the Hyuga compound continued to occupy his mind. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, as it would really be the first time talking to Hinata face-to-face in a while. But after his conversation with Sakura, Naruto felt a lot more confident in talking with the Hyuga girl.

End Chapter

A/N: Okay guys! Another pretty short chapter, but I wanted to set things up for what's to come next with Naruto finally having that long overdue talk with Hinata and breaking the news to her that he is dating Sakura. I'll try to get another update out when time permits. Thanks to both my friends Bruins35 & Awpingyou for their help with putting the final touches on this. Until next time, this is Nate signing off.