Chapter 11: Findings

Naruto inhaled deeply as soon as he entered through the gates of Konoha. It had been a few months since he and Hinata had become official. The presents at his door had reduced to almost nothing and the women and young girls that had followed him around had greatly decreased in numbers as well. He found that once someone was taken by another, the others would step aside out of respect. Especially for someone of high status, such as Hinata.

Most of the time, the dates were great, it was usually a stroll through Konoha, and then a meal followed by a brief discussion of their missions. He would tease her here and there as her blushes still escaped every now and then, but something had felt off between them. And for the life of him he could not figure out what.

As he walked toward the Hokage tower, he shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched the small number of people move through the streets. The sun had begun to set and the majority of the villagers had already retreated to their homes. The few that were still walking through the streets greeted him politely and a few made quick talk. This continued the entire way to the Hokage's office.

"There you are. I was beginning to think you had lost your way." Kakashi stated as he looked up from the large book he had held up to his nose.

Naruto sighed, "I was stopped a bit on the way here to catch up. And put that book down, you're not fooling anyone."

"Oh Naruto you pain me with your accusations, I would never taint the Hokage's quarters by-"

Naruto had approached him almost dragging his feet and once he was across from him, he had yanked up the large book. The smaller book that had been written by his late godfather and teacher had fallen from between the pages. Kakashi cleared his throat as he placed the book back in the drawer.

"How did the mission go?" Kakashi asked to quickly avert the scolding he would have otherwise received.

"It went just fine, nothing notable from those guys. I swear these A and B ranks get easier and easier." Naruto said as he opened the drawer opposite of the one Kakashi was currently guarding and pulled out his own forms for his mission report.

"Now now, I've already told you a million times-"

"I know I know, not to get a big head." Naruto said as he took a seat across from him and began to scribble in his report. Kakashi remained silent as the scribbling continued.

"When do you think you'd like to continue training?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto pulled his head up and looked at him with a confused expression.

"I always come in the next day don't I?"

Kakashi stared for only a moment before clearing his throat.

"Ahem, yes well, that was before I noticed that you were neglecting other responsibilities."

Naruto arched a blonde brow at this.

"What do you mean? I haven't been neglecting anything." Naruto said as he put off the papers he was scribbling in off to the side.

Kakashi sighed as he did not quite want to call him out for something he was not aware of.

"You know what? I don't think I have much to train you in for the next coming days. My schedule is far too busy at the moment. Why don't you take them off and enjoy your time? You seem exhausted and I'm sure you'd find better things to do within the village." Kakashi said as he laced his fingers together.

Naruto seemed even more confused at this. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Just before Kakashi had been able to respond, a hawk had flown in quietly from the open window of the office. It circled the office before landing on Kakashi's arm.

"Hey! That's Sasuke's hawk!" Naruto said with a grin as Kakashi made quick work of removing the note that had been attached to the foot of the hawk before sending the hawk off with a raise of his arm.

Kakashi opened the note and scanned the contents before quickly placing the note in the drawer.

"What's it say? How is he?"

"It's a brief report on certain findings, I can't go too much into depth but not to worry, Sakura is already on the case."

Naruto blinked at the mention of his other teammate, a switch had turned on in his expression that had made him come alive.

"Sakura-chan? What does she have to do with his report?" Naruto asked.

"I can't go into all the details just yet, please bear with me on this."

Naruto frowned at this response, clearly unhappy with the lack of knowledge.

"Kakashi-sensei what are you guys hiding? Why is Sakura-chan "on the case?" What's she doing by herself in all of this and why couldn't I be included?"

Kakashi remained quiet for some time before finally meeting his gaze.

"I know you still worry for her, Naruto, but she decided to study these findings on her own. I would not put her in harm's way if I found anything to be too challenging for her. She is safe from enemy's reach and she's still far too busy with her own travels as she's helping prepare the children's therapy facilities. She's safe Naruto. She's not the same little girl she had been on your team, she is fully capable of handling herself."

Naruto's shoulders had relaxed, but he couldn't recall when they had tensed during the conversation. He remained quiet with a pensive look but then nodded. He had been about to reply but he realized there was a bin with different papers and notes, some crumpled and others cleaner, some colored and others scribbled.

"Moving out of the office already?"

Kakashi gave him a questioning look before following his gaze toward the bin in the corner.

"Ah… those aren't mine actually." Kakashi said as he turned his chair back to Naruto just in time to catch his confused expression.

"So what-"

"Those are Sakura's. She just hasn't picked these up yet since she hasn't dropped by in a few weeks."

"Why would she have-"

"You're not the only one with fans, Naruto. People are always thanking Sakura and inviting her over to their villages to oversee the children's facilities."

Naruto's gaze moved toward the bin once again, a grin on his features as he looked at the amount of letters she had received.

"She's great isn't she?" Naruto asked with a grin as he stared at the bin.

"Of course, she was the least problematic out of you three. To this day she still holds the title of my favorite student." Kakashi said as he nodded more to himself than to Naruto.

Naruto's expression turned into a deadpan one. "Keep it up old man, your joke is getting old." He replied before finally returning to his paperwork to continue scribbling before shoving it back to his former sensei.

Kakashi quickly scanned it before nodding. "You know Naruto, you really should practice your writing. Once you're in office the other Kage may have a harder time reaching your cat scratches." He said as he stamped the papers and placed them into a file he had already had at the top of his desk.

Naruto sighed loudly as he stood up from his seat. "Alright, I'll ask Iruka-sensei to help me out with that."

"Good! Very good! Enjoy your next days off!" Kakashi said with a wave.

Sakura smiled warmly as she watched the children in front of her reenact the moves she had just shown them while walking. The small group had begun to follow her almost everywhere after the first time she had agreed to train them. She had decided that if they were that dedicated to visit her in front of the office constantly, then she would help them whenever she was available.

She'd never admit it, but she found it quite nice to find a group of kids who wanted to meet her and not continuously ask about the whereabouts of her teammates.

"Did you see how fast she was moving?"

"I didn't even see her!"

"She came up from the ground, Komi, who does that?"

Sakura snorted at the comments as she continued to walk behind them.

"Sakura-chan!" She heard in the distance. She raised her head and looked to find Naruto jogging toward her with a grin on his face. She smiled at him and waved as the children squealed with delight at the Hero of Konoha.

"Hey Naruto! You just got back?" Sakura asked as the kids whispered while they spoke.

"Yep! Mission was a success, like always!" He said with his hands on his hips, his chest puffed out as the children giggled. Sakura shook her head and rolled her eyes as she continued to walk toward the hospital, the children following her steps and Naruto did as well.

"H-hey wait up Sakura-chan! What have you been up to? I think it's been a month or so since I last saw you!"

"Oh please, Naruto, we say hi every week or so."

"Yeah… but I mean…" Naruto trailed off as he didn't quite know how to explain it to her.

Sakura looked at the kids who were not paying any mind to them, still discussing the training session.

"It's been fine. When I'm not working I'm usually just training with the kids."

"Huh, really? Nothing in between?" Naruto asked curiously

Sakura shook her head, "Nope, not really, just a few things I'm currently investigating but nothing that requires immediate attention."

Naruto kept his eyes on her as they continued walking, and Sakura didn't have to look at him to know that he still had questions. To her relief, he simply nodded and continued walking.

"How's Hinata? I'm sure she's still up and waiting for you."

The sudden mention of his partner caused his stomach to flip. "I uh, I just came from Lord Seventh's office for my report."

Sakura nodded, "Then you better be off," she said as they reached the front of the hospital.

The children that had continued to walk with them had begged her for another training session, to which Sakura sighed.

"Hey you know what would be great? A sparring session! And we can show the kids real hand to hand combat!" Naruto said as a lightbulb went off in his head.

Sakura snorted as the kids cheered, "Yeah right, I'm never sparring with you again after that fight with Toneri."

Naruto's smile twitched at this statement, but the children surrounding them didn't seem to mind as they were already shouting about the potential sparring session they would have a chance to witness.

"Oh come on Sakura-chan, I'd go easy on you!"

Sakura shook her head and pondered for a bit. "Fine, but you're going to have to wait until my schedule clears up."

Naruto frowned at this, "That's the same thing as never!"

Sakura clamped her lips shut at this statement, the children groaning and begging.

"Fine, fine! We'll do the dumb sparring session, but we're doing it bright and early tomorrow. And whoever doesn't show up, that's on you." Sakura said as her eyes scanned the children who cheered as they agreed and quickly dispersed, having received just what they wanted.

"Awesome! Looks like we got a show to put on Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered with a grin and a thumbs up.

Sakura smacked his hands down, the contact of his unbandaged hand bringing a familiar warmth followed by a tingle to her own fingers.

"Knock it off, I didn't want to agree but you saw those kids, they're stuck to me at the hip and won't leave me alone!" Sakura said as she entered through the front doors of the hospital, Naruto followed in after holding the door open.

"Oh come on, this is great! We haven't sparred in forever!" Naruto said.

Sakura sighed as she placed her hands on her hips and scanned him up and down, ignoring his statement altogether.

"So are you coming in for your physical?"

Naruto's face dropped altogether, "Huh?"

"You're back from your mission right? Your physical is due." Sakura said as she made her way around the front desk of the main lobby.

Naruto groaned as he frowned at this reminder, "Can you just clear me? You know I'm good!"

"No can do Naruto, if I did it for you I would have to do it for everyone. Besides, I'm not here on the clock, I just came to pick up some files that I left before I was dragged away by the kids."

Naruto stared at the hall that had become all too familiar as he would go down it ritualistically to be cleared after every mission.

"Just go, it takes all of twenty minutes and you'll be cleared. And if I don't see the slip that you're cleared by tomorrow then we're not sparring." Sakura added before patting his shoulder and walking off.

Naruto watched as she left with the file under her arm, wondering if it contained the findings that Sasuke had found during his travels. He sighed before finally making his way down the hall, contemplating whether or not to see Hinata tonight or waiting until tomorrow.

TBC

A/N: Ok wow, I don't upload for 2 1/2 weeks and suddenly my story was labeled abandoned? HULLO? Anyway, thanks for reading! If you have not favorited or followed I encourage you to do so because I update when I can! I'm an adult y'all, I'm on adult time so have mercy. Rest assured the story will get done because the outline is done. If you guys stick around for it, great, if you don't because you don't like where it's turning or I take too long, that's ok too. Be well guys, I'll see you in the next update!