I want to thank y'all folks for your wonderful reviews, truly I am grateful. You give me the inspiration to write.
They've been people wondering when Naruto will be pregnant. I can't tell you when without spoiling the story, but what I will tell you is it wont be for awhile. I want to take it slow, I don't want to rush Naruto and Shikamaru's relationship. I'm not an expert on love, but I'm hoping to make this story as real as I can without coming off as cheesy. Just bear with me guys.
Okay, with everything said I introduce you chapter 6.
Enjoy!
"What do you think of this?"
Naruto looked at the dress that Sakura was holding, it was a strapless dress with a bow around the bust. She shrugged.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Could you at least pretend that you're enjoying yourself?"
"I stopped pretending four hours ago when you dragged me around every shop we passed. I'm sorry but even I have my limits." She said crossing her arms and turning her head to the side.
"It has not been that long!" Sakura protested, at Naruto's incredulous look she conceded reluctantly. "Okay, maybe it had been that long. But at least it was fun."
"I don't even see the point of all this!" Naruto said throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.
Sakura sighed as if Naruto was a small child that was being difficult. "Lady Tsunade said we needed to investigate while keeping a low profile and you can't do it dressed in your hideous orange shirt and shorts that are twice your size." She sent a meaningful glance at what she was wearing.
"Hey! I like my clothes!" Naruto said offended despite herself. Normally she would just ignore the comment and move on, she never cared much about her appearance or what people thought of it, but with everything that happened recently she's feeling a little low on self-esteem.
She looked down at herself, with her baggy shorts and equally large shirt. Maybe Sakura was right and she needed to make more effort on her appearance. It's not like she didn't have feminine clothes in her closet, in fact her closet was filled with a decent amount of girls clothing that she'd bought during her travel with Jiraiya. She'd never worn them, because she was more comfortable with her loose shirts and baggy pants and sometimes jumpsuit.
No, she shook her head shaking her thoughts with it. She likes her baggy clothes, plus it makes her look less curvy. She'd never admitted it out loud, but she'd always thought she was too curvy in some areas, the memory of the window incident came to mind. It was when Shikamaru had helped her get out of her bathroom window and she'd been only in her towel. Come to think of it, Shikamaru had been acting weird that day, maybe it was her lack of clothing that caused it, that thought strangely made her feel good.
She still had no idea why he'd kissed her, the having sex part she understood because they were both drunk (sort of), but she doesn't understand why he'd kissed her minutes after he apologized. What's confusing her more is the fact that she'd liked it, a lot.
When he'd kissed her, she'd first been surprised then she'd responded with equal enthusiasm, the only reason she'd stopped them from going further was because she didn't want him to apologize for that too (which he still did), being sorry meant you regretted doing something and she didn't regret it. Okay maybe a little part of her does feel bad for what happened, though who can blame her? It's not how she'd imagined her first time with a guy to be, not that she had ever imagined how anytime with a guy would be like, she was never interested in that sort of stuff. She was more interested in training to be strong enough to protect her precious people. But now, she can't stop thinking about it. She was brought out of her thoughts by Sakura, it seems to be a common occurrence lately.
"Look," Sakura said after seeing that Naruto had been quiet for too long, thinking that she'd hurt her feelings or something." I didn't mean it to sound bad, I'm sorry. All I wanted was to take your mind off whatever was bothering you since you won't talk about it and I love you no matter what you wear anyway, okay? It's just, after seeing how good you looked at the party I just think you should wear those more often, but it's fine if you're not interested I understand." Sakura looked down seemingly dejected, she put the dress back and started dragging her feet out the door. Naruto inwardly rolled her eyes.
'Yeah right.' She thought, 'As if she will ever let me go that easily.'
With a defeated sigh, her wallet is going to suffer at this point it's bad enough that they already have three full bags of clothing, she said. "It's fine Sakura-chan, I don't mind."
Sakura stopped but didn't turn around her voice was soft when she said, "Really?"
This time Naruto really did roll her but a smile was tugging on her lips, "Sure, why not? Let's have fun."
Sakura turned around, all signs of sadness disappeared from her face instead she had cheerful grin on her face. "Great!" She said walking over to her and linking their arms together, she dragged her out of the shop. "Let's go check in the next shop. I think I saw something that will look so good on you."
Naruto groaned, but let herself be dragged knowing that this is just Sakura's way of taking care of her. 'And punishing me for making her worry.' she thought with a long suffering expression on her face.
She watched Sakura talk to the saleswoman about what outfit she's looking for. Naruto glanced at her hands that was already full of bags. With another mournful sigh she followed after her friend, hopefully she will live through this torture by the end of the day.
It was another four hours later that Naruto was inspecting herself in front of the full sized mirror. She looked doubtfully at her reflection. She was wearing a pale blue cocktail dress that barely covered her knees with wedges in the same colour that was, thankfully, not very high. Sakura had done her hair up in a tight bun. She wanted to do her makeup too, but Naruto had refused, she couldn't stand the stuff, though she had allowed some cherry-flavored lip gloss.
She glanced over at Sakura who was busy doing her own makeup. She was wearing a yellow sundress with black heels. Naruto glanced back at her reflection, she had to admit that she looked quite good, even though she still thought it was pointless. They're on a mission not a pageant. It's so weird, she thought with a frown, here she is worrying about the mission while Sakura is busy playing dress up. The weird part is she's trying too hard and Naruto doubted that it was all to do with cheering her up. Sakura must have an hidden agenda somewhere and she's just using her to accomplish it, or she was just being an ungrateful ass she thought, with a little twinge of guilt.
"Something wrong?" Sakura asked noticing her expression.
Naruto shook her head still frowning, "You think your plan is going to work?"
"About the mission?" Naruto nodded, "Of course, why wouldn't it work?"
She shrugged, "Won't we attract attention if we all go in?"
"Sasuke isn't coming with us. He's going to investigate outside the restaurant just in case there's a secret door somewhere."
"Do you really think mercenaries go in there?"
Sakura shrugged as she put on some lipstick, "That's what we're going to investigate."
Naruto nodded in understanding. It made sense that she and Sakura go investigate the inside while Sasuke deals with the outside. People often underestimate girls, so there's no way people will suspect two girls of being ninjas, but...
"Hey, shouldn't you be the one investigating inside the restaurant? Being a waitress there will give us lots of advantage." She said remembering their arguments in the hokage's office, the one about her not being 'girly enough', she was still a little peeved about the comment.
Sakura didn't say anything at first as she finished with her makeup, she inspected herself when she was satisfied with herself she turned to Naruto.
"Truthfully, I still feel bad about what I said in Lady Tsunade's office. So I came up with a better solution."
Naruto looked down with a shrugged, "It doesn't bother me, you were right anyway."
Sakura shook her head, "I know it did, or else you wouldn't have come to the party dressed like that."
Naruto clenched her fist behind her back at the reminder of that night, she fought back the blush that was threatening to come up for the umpteenth time since she left Konoha. It's been like that since yesterday, everytime she would think back on what had occurred she would feel her face heat up and an inexplicable feeling will rise within her, feelings she doesn't want to analyse yet afraid of what it would mean.
Forcing herself out of her thoughts, she will deal with them later, she tried to focus on Sakura who was still waiting for her reply. "I guess, I wanted to prove something." She said suddenly tired of the conversation, tired of Sakura worrying about her and tired of feeling confused and embarrassed. Now, all she wanted was to forget the past two days ever happened.
"I'm sorry that I gave you a reason to prove anything. Lady Tsunade was harsh but I should've known better than to say anything."
"Stop beating your head around the issue Sakura-chan. I was kinda annoyed at first, but I'm fine now. My bad mood has nothing to do with that, I promise." She knows that Sakura thinks that whatever is bothering her has something to do with it, in a way it kinda does but she's not one to hold grudges and thinking about the past is always exhausting.
Sakura's relief was obvious, but her brow was still knitted in worry. "Then what's bothering you?"
Naruto shook her head, "I don't want to talk about it."
A flash of hurt passed on Sakura's face it made her feel guilty, but she stubbornly kept her mouth shut. Thankfully Sakura didn't push her. Instead she walked over to give her a hug. Naruto was surprised at first but then relaxed into the embrace. That's the thing with Sakura, she always knows what she needs. They pulled away after a short while. She grinned, suddenly feeling better... and hungry.
"How about we get this mission started?" Sakura asked with a wide smile.
"Yep, I'm famished. Who knew being an emo is so exhausting?" She said skipping her way out of the bathroom. Sakura laughed following her behind.
Sasuke's expression when he saw them was amusing, his eyes widened slightly at the sight of them and if he wasn't Sasuke Uchiha he would have been gawking.
"You like?" Naruto asked spinning around with a flourish of her dress exposing more skin as the dress lifted up.
"What the hell are you wearing?" He hissed in disgust.
"I believe it's called a dress, moron." Naruto said dryly.
Sasuke clenched his teeth in irritation, "We're not going to a bloody brothel."
"Obviously not. Do you think we would need to wear anything if we were?"
Sasuke's cheeks coloured and Naruto smirked in satisfaction at catching him off guard. Sasuke looked at Sakura, who was biting her lips to stop herself from laughing, knowing that all of this is her fault.
"Come on teme," Naruto teased. "Just admit that I look hot."
Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, he could feel a headache coming, "Don't be stupid." He said through gritted teeth.
Naruto pouted crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You're no fun."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Whatever. We don't have time for this. Take this." He handed them each an earpiece. "To communicate." He said shortly.
Naruto grinned as she took the earpiece from him immediately tucking it in between her voluptuous breast and winked at him. What? It's not like she could put it on her ear since her hair was tied up, it will tip people off. Sasuke looked away in disgust, though the effect was lost because of his red cheeks. Sasuke is such a girl, Naruto's grin widened, teasing him had always been so much fun, though this is the first time he'd reacted like that. Then again, she'd never teased him by flirting with him, if she knew that he'd react like that she would have done it much sooner. She had to admit it feels good to know that Sasuke was actually human, she was starting to worry that Orochi-teme had done something to him with his pedo-freaky experiments. She turned to see Sakura tucking the earpiece behind her her hair, she was sporting a small frown as she watched the exchange.
"Oi, are we going or what?" She said already walking out the door, she wanted to finish this mission as soon as possible.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses." she looked hesitantly back at Sasuke. He was still looking at the door Naruto had disappeared to. She felt a wave of jealousy which she quenched immediately.
Sakura bit her lips and silently turned to follow after Naruto, but before she got to the door he called after her. She glanced back up at him hope blooming at her chest.
"Look after her." he said then added, "I will be in contact."
"Oh. Oh, of course. " She said smiling to hide her disappointment, with that she followed after Naruto and together they made their way to the infamous restaurant.
Naruto rocked on the balls of her feet as she looked around the restaurant."It looks like a normal restaurant to me."
Sakura nodded in agreement next to her but didn't say anything. She'd real been quiet since they left the inn.
A waitress approached them asking if they needed help. Seeing that Sakura wasn't going to talk anytime soon, she answered. "A table for two please." The waitress bowed and told them to follow her and they did silently.
They sat at a table where they had a good angle of the whole restaurant. Naruto took her menu to peruse at through it. A moment later she scowled throwing it back on the table, crossed her arms in a pout.
"What kind of restaurant is this? They don't have any ramen!"
Naruto frowned when Sakura failed to react at her comment. "What's up with you?"
Sakura shrugged one shoulder, "Nothing." She said quietly as she picked up her own menu.
Naruto squinted her eyes in concern but didn't push it. If Sakura didn't want to talk then she won't pry, after all it was only fair since Sakura did the same for her. "I don't think that whatever we're looking for we're going to find it here." She said quietly instead. She turned to survey the room. It was fairly big for a restaurant, she thought, but it's not like she'd been to many restaurants to know how one is supposed to be except Ichiraku of course, though even that was more of a stand than a restaurant.
A waiter came to take their orders, while he wrote their orders he kept staring unabashedly at her exposed cleavage. Naruto had to fight the urge to cover it up. It's not that she was shy or anything she just doesn't like when people stare at her, she's always hated it. While they waited for their food Naruto distracted herself by looking around the room for clues. She noticed that people were glancing occasionally in their direction. She straightened, thinking that their cover was blown. She only grew weary when a waiter winked at them as he passed by their table.
"Sakura?" She called in a whisper, "Why are they staring at us?"
Sakura blinked from whatever thoughts she'd been in to look around and sure enough people were looking at them, mostly guys and the girls were shooting them glares. They watched in bemusement as their waiter came back with their food, he kept 'accidentally' brushing his hands with Naruto's as he set the food on the table and not once has he looked at her above the chest.
"Hey, keep your hands to yourself you pervert!" Sakura snapped in Naruto's defense, "And your eyes too for that matter, if you don't want me to shove these chopsticks in them!" She added with a growl holding her chopsticks in a menacing way.
The waiter squeaked and hurriedly left them in peace, though that just seemed to have grabbed more attention to themselves. Naruto slumped in her seat groaning, "So much for blending in."
"I guess this was a bad idea after all." Sakura said sheepishly, Naruto sent her a look saying 'you think?' And Sakura sent her a glare. "It's not like your idea was any better."
Naruto thought on her idea to come here leveling the whole restaurant down until they find any illegal dealings. "You've got a point." She conceded with carefree shrugged taking her chopsticks and digging into her grilled chicken.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Now we have to look for another plan." She said sending a glare to a fool that was brave enough to approach them, he immediately made a U-turn back to his seat.
"If there's any chance of us finding anything it's got to be in that room." Naruto said pointing her chopsticks in the direction where waitress and waiters were going in and out.
Sakura nodded in agreement, "Contact Salowed her food, "Shouldn't you be the one contacting him? I can't just take the communication device out in the open, what happened to being subtle and all?"
suke and tell him we're going to check it out."
Naruto tilted her head in confusion as swal
Sakura looked down, her hands clenching around the chopsticks, "I don't want to talk to him just yet."
Naruto narrowed her eyes, her lips turning down in anger. "Did the teme say something to upset you again?" She asked protectively.
Sakura shook her head, "No, it's not him, it's all me. And I think we already grabbed attention to ourselves, might as well go through with the mission."
Naruto looked at her for a long time before relaxing. "Okay, if you say so." She took out her headset from her breast and put it in her ear. "Hey bastard, change of plans we're taking the head-on approach for the mission."
Sasuke's voice came through, "Hn, already on it." There was a sound of a body hitting something.
"What do you mean you're already on it? And what's that noise?"
Another body hitting something and Sasuke's voice came through with a grunt. "I ran through some trouble, there's a house next to the restaurant, they're connected together, these guys were guarding it." there was a crash, "Look, you guys find the secret door that lead to the basement I will meet you there." There was another crash before the line went dead.
"What is it?" Sakura leaned forward.
"I think he ran through some trouble. He said this restaurant is connected to the house next to it and we should find the door that leads to the basement." Naruto said bewildered, "It sounded like he was fighting."
Sakura banged her forehead on the table cracking it in the process. "Why can't we ever do a mission according to plan?"
"Who cares? I'm just glad we get to finish the mission early." Naruto said wiping her mouth, she stood with a grace that only came from being a ninja, she walked over to what appeared to be the kitchen.
With a sigh Sakura followed after her, ignoring the gaping people in the restaurant, they disappeared in the kitchen behind the curtain.
Naruto squinted against the bright light of the kitchen as she looked around, they walked past waiters and cooks to the end of the kitchen, who gave them a wide berth sensing that they meant business, where they saw a hallway. They followed the narrow hallway straight to a door which said KEEP OUT in big bold red colour. She tried the handle already, sensing no traps behind the door, it was locked. Stepping aside she let Sakura break the door with her fist.
Channeling chakra in her eyes to enhance her eyesight in the dark, she saw that there was a stairwell leading down. "Looks like the teme was right."
"Isn't he always?" Sakura said from behind her. Her voice sounded strange, but Naruto didn't have time to ask, because just then they heard sounds of fighting. They both ran towards the sound, the scene that greeted them was a peculiar one. Sasuke was throwing bodies around like rag dolls. The 'basement' looked more like an underground club than anything.
Naruto spotted a bar where girls dressed as stripers were hiding -well, she thought they were strippers why else would they dress like that- while Sasuke beat men twice his size without breaking a sweat.
"Sasuke, you started without us, shame on you!" Naruto pouted crossing her arms and causing the action to enhance her already large breasts. Everybody stopped what they were doing to stare; Naruto's presence always demanded attention, the good and bad ones.
Sasuke punched the closest guy that was close to him and had the gall to drool in front of him, immediately rendering him unconscious.
Sakura smacked Naruto on the head, "Have some shame, you idiot."
Naruto grinned, she'd always enjoyed getting a rise out of perverts that's why she'd created that sexy jutsu when she was little. Shaking her head out of her amusement, she demanded "So who's in charge here?"
"That would be him." Sasuke pointed to a fat bald guy that was slumped against the wall, unconscious. He grunted as someone managed to get a lucky shot while he was distracted, he twisted the offender's arm the scream of agony music to his ears.
Naruto shook her head in disapproval as she joined the fight catching a thrown kunai with her teeth and throwing it back to the owner catching him on the shoulder. In the corner of her eyes Sakura had joined the fight too. "Sasuke, what have I told you about violence."
Sasuke scowled, "They attacked me first, I was defending myself."
Naruto snorted, "I'm sure." She sidestepped a badly thrown punch kicking the fat guy in the stomach, with a oof, he barrelled to an equally fat guy, both falling back on a table and breaking it. "What are they? Genin?" She asked incredulously.
"Hey! I'm chunin!" The guy that said it was punched a second later courtesy of Sakura. "Yeah, right." She muttered.
"This is ridiculous," Naruto said surveying their damage; there were broken tables everywhere, bodies lying around, lots of them. She counted only twenty people left standing. "How much are they paying us again?"
"Hn." Sasuke said in agreement, "These are not ninjas, they're a joke."
"I can't even use my shadow clones on them!" Naruto whined as she ducked from a sloppy punch.
"Forget about clones, they're not even worth taking out my kunai." Sasuke snorted in disdain.
"Quit complaining you too, you're driving me nuts!" Sakura said from her side of the fight.
"Let's have a spar when we get back home, what do you say?" Naruto asked as she sidestepped a guy that decided using his body as a weapon was a good idea. She backhanded him straight into a whole. Damn, she feels like a bully.
"Hn." Sasuke agreed, "Alright, I'm ending this." He grunted, Naruto jumped behind him followed after Sakura. Sasuke went through some hand seals. The twelve or so missing nin and mercenaries that were left paused uncertainly in front of him unsure of what he was doing. Sasuke smirked at their mistake and threw his hand on the ground, before they knew it, lightning surged from the ground electrocuting them all.
The lightning wasn't large enough to kill them of course. They weren't supposed to kill anyone, just beat them enough so they would run from the village and never return. Although it's not like they can run while unconscious.
The fight only lasted five minutes. The short moment of silence was broken by the stripers that were hiding earlier as they ran out screaming their lungs out.
"Well, that went well." Naruto said sarcastically. "The old hag will be very pissed." She created several shadow clones to help her tie the bodies.
Sakura grimaced at the reminder, she watched as Sasuke walked over to the guy that is supposedly the leader and the owner of the restaurant.
"Can you wake him up?" He asked her and she nodded. She hid her frown as she walked over to him. How can he ask her that? She's a medic, so of course she could do something as simple as waking an unconscious man. The way he asked her is as if he still didn't believe in her ability. She sighed in resignation as she bent over sending a small pulse of chakra with her fingers to the unconscious man immediately waking him with a start.
The man blinked as he tried to focus on them. When he saw Sasuke standing in front of him, he cowed in fear against the wall. "Please don't kill me! I will do anything you want, just don't kill me!" He cried out.
Sasuke looked at him in disgust, he'd always hated weak men. Weakness had no place in this world, he'd learned that the hard way. "Are you Hito Wakashi?"
"Yes-yes sir!"
"You're the owner of this place?"
"I-I..." The man now known as Hito stuttered.
"Answer me!" Sasuke growled.
"Yes!" He squeaked in fear.
Naruto who was done tying the missing nins came to join them. She watched as the man cowed at Sasuke's glare with pity, this guy wouldn't last five minutes in the tsukuyumi, 'Forget five minutes,' she thought. 'He won't even last a full second.' Sasuke was getting frustrated; he'd always hated weak people, though he doesn't realise that not everybody was as strong as him. She put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder an indication that she will take over.
Hito was relieved when he saw the beautiful blonde taking over, but when he looked up and she smiled down at him her crimson eyes gleaming in excitement, he wished that the raven boy had kept asking him questions. In no time he was telling them everything she wanted to know.
...
"And they say you're the nicest of the three of us." Sakura said with a snort later on when they were sitting in front of a bar celebrating their success on the mission.
After Hito had told them everything they needed to know, which turned out to be not as bad like the report suggested. It turned out to be that Hito's restaurant wasn't as successful as he made people believe it was and he had needed extra money to keep his business running. That's when he'd opened the underground suit as it was called, to allow missing nins to gamble all their money off while having some entertainment and cheap drinks. They had gone to report it to the village chief leaving him to handle all those captives, they had done their job. So here they were enjoying their last night in waterfall country with free drinks courtesy of their client. At least the girls were enjoying, Sasuke stayed with their client making sure the captive were dealt with.
Naruto blinked innocently at what Sakura said, "I have no idea of what you're talking about."
Sakura snorted again taking a sip of her drink, her cheeks was tinged pink indicating she'd been drinking for awhile now, "Oh please, you literally made the guy piss in his pants just by smiling at him."
"It wasn't my smile!" Naruto said offended, she took a sip of her own drink which was actually lemonade, though Sakura didn't know that. After what happened with Shikamaru, it will be a long time before Naruto drinks alcohol again. Before her brain could latch onto the train of thought which she didn't want to think about yet. "It's Kurama's eyes that scared him shitless." She snickered.
Sakura shook her head, "No way, it was definitely the smile. I saw it remember? His expression was priceless."
"I can't help that guys find me completely irresistible."
"More like 'horrifyingly irresistible'," Sakura said and they both cracked up.
"I can't believe they were just gamblers though." Naruto said when they were more sober.
Sakura took a swing from her cup already feeling slightly dizzy. "Tell me about it, the way shishou said 'illegal activities' I thought child trafficking was involved somehow."
"I know right," she sighed, "What a waste." She grumbled thinking on what she could have been doing, maybe reading the books the hokage had borrowed her for her training. She inwardly grimaced, she doesn't get why she needs to read anything, it's not like the hag read 'the art of being a great hokage' book, she just took the hat on her head and was promoted hokage or was it the other way around? Whatever, the fact remains that the hag is being unfair by making her study all those notes about politics that's what the advisors are for. Okay, so maybe she was being stupid and she'd get punched through several walls if the hokage ever heard her say all that. That doesn't make reading any less boring. Though it's all going to be worth it at the end, no shortcuts in life after all. She took a sip of her drink.
Sakura glanced around the bar, "Will Sasuke be joining us later?"
"Probably not." Naruto shrugged, turning towards the pink haired girl, "That reminds me, what's up with you and Sasuke? You were acting strange around him tonight."
"Sasuke is a jerk." Sakura grumbled taking another shot of her sake.
"Nothing new there," Naruto said dryly. "What I want to know is, what he did do to piss you off?" Emphasis on the 'you' because Sakura had never been upset with Sasuke. So it's strange that Sakura is actually calling him a jerk.
Sakura didn't say anything for awhile, just when Naruto thought she would need to repeat her question in case Sakura didn't hear her. She whispered in a voice so unlike her. "I'm tired."
Before Naruto could ask what she meant, she clarified. "I'm tired of chasing after him, Naruto." When she looked up Naruto could see unshed tears in her eyes.
"Sakura-" Sakura cut her off before she could say anything.
"Stop telling me to be patient. You're just making excuses for him." Sakura grumbled, she downed the rest of her drink swiping a hand across her mouth, she asked the bartender for more. "I've been patient since I was little, hoping that some day he will..." She clenched her fist looking down, she took a deep breath. "Today when I wore this dress, I was hoping that it would grab his attention somehow. But when he saw me, he barely gave me glance. He was more worried about you. He doesn't see me!" By the end of her sentence, her tears was flowing freely down her chin. "Not the way I want him to see me, anyway."
Naruto was shocked at the revelation, she didn't know that Sakura was still actually in love with the teme and by the sound of it, it sounded serious. She'd always thought that all Sakura wanted from Sasuke was his friendship, not that she thought that they weren't friends, but considering this is Sasuke who's not friendly with anyone and the only reason he tolerates her is because Naruto is persistent.
She watched as Sakura sobbed, helpless to do anything. It's not like she understood what the other girl was going through, she'd never been in love so there's no way for her to relate. Why is it that everyone she knows are having some kind of relationship problems? First Shikamaru and now Sakura. She's not a therapist damn it! If she was, she would have known the answers to her own problem which included the lazy genius.
Sakura took a handkerchief from her purse and blew her nose. She took another sip of her newly filled cup.
"Uhm... Sakura I think you should stop drinking, it's making you stressful." Naruto suggested hopefully, she was surprised that her friend hadn't fallen unconscious yet. Maybe she was using her medical skills to lessen the effect of the alcohol.
"I'm not stressed, do I look stressed to you?" She asked taking a drink for good measures.
"Yeah, kinda." She said hesitantly, she hated seeing her friend like this. She contemplated finding Sasuke and beating him into apologizing to Sakura, but threw the idea away. It's not like it's Sasuke's fault that Sakura decided to fall for him. If she remembered correctly, Sasuke had rejected Sakura's advances countless times, but then again that was when they were still genin, maybe he'd change his mind. Though, she doubted that was the case or else Sakura wouldn't be upset right now. She inwardly cursed at being put in this situation.
"Did you tell him?"
Sakura shook her head in the negative. "I don't see the point. I will get rejected anyways."
"So what are you going to do then?"
"I don't know. All I know is, I don't want to chase after him anymore."
Naruto just nodded in understanding, trying hard and failing to imagine herself falling in love with anyone. Not that she wants to fall in love, that's just calling for a headache.
Sakura squinted her eyes. "You're not going to say anything?"
Naruto shrugged. "What do you want me to say? It's your decision."
"I don't know, I thought you would stop me, tell me to never give up or something like that."
Sakura was looking at her and Naruto realized that she was hoping that Naruto would stop her, that she would tell her somehow that everything will turn out okay, that she should just be patient with Sasuke. But Naruto can't do it, that would be lying, one thing Naruto hated doing was lying to the people that was precious to her.
"Sakura I'm not going to lie to you, but I think you should get over him. If Sasuke is not interested like you said, it's unlikely that he will ever be. It will just be best for you to not get your hopes up." It was probably harsh, but Sakura needed to stop hurting herself over something that might never happen.
Sakura frowned down at her drink, "Ino told me the same thing." She downed the rest of her drink with one gulp feeling light headed now, maybe it was time she stopped drinking.
"Sasuke is probably asexual anyway, so I don't think he will settle down with anyone." She joked to lighten the mood, she felt a little guilty for what she said.
Sakura didn't smile, she looked at Naruto with her frown still in place. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
"Eh! You know something I don't?" Naruto leaned in, excited despite herself at the possibility of Sasuke being interested in any girl. That girl must be something if she actually caught her bastard of a best friend's attention.
Sakura shook her head feeling the world tilt at the same time. Naruto grabbed her to stop her from falling. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed." She said her words coming out in a slur. When Naruto shook her head, excited grin in place she rolled her eyes, "You're so dumb sometimes."
Naruto scowled, "You don't need to insult me, just tell me already!"
Sakura shifted in her seat towards her, "Okay, let me put it for you this way. Who would you say is Sasuke's closest friend?"
"Me, but I don't get what that has to do with anything." Naruto said brows drawing in confusion.
Sakura would have hit her head on the table if she didn't think it was going to be bad idea, since she was very drunk. "Who does Sasuke care about more than anyone in the village? Who does Sasuke talk to? Who do you think Sasuke is likely to take interest in?" She waited until realisation dawn on Naruto's pretty face.
"Me?" Naruto asked incredulously, "That's impossible, Sasuke is like a brother to me." The idea of Sasuke liking her more than in a platonic way seems so ridiculous.
"Doesn't mean you're like a sister to him." Sakura gave her a bored look. She motioned the bartender for more.
Naruto shook her head, "Okay, so let's say the teme likes me in that way. You're telling me it doesn't bother you?" She asked dubiously.
"Of course it bothers me, but if I had to lose Sasuke to anyone I'd rather it'd be you." Sakura shrugged, downing her drink in one go.
Naruto was too confused to notice her friend drowning in alcohol. One moment Sakura is upset about Sasuke's lack of interest in her the next she wants to get over him, and now she's telling Naruto that Sasuke might like her in a more than friends way. 'Maybe Sakura is on her period?' She wondered, that could be the only explanation for Sakura's odd behaviour. Now that she'd said it Naruto can't help but think about it and questioning Sasuke's behaviour too.
Could it be true? Could it be that Sasuke Uchiha, her fun-to-irk best friend has feelings for her? The thought surprisingly doesn't appeal to her that much. It was just weird, almost like Konohamaru liking her more than in a sisterly way, gross.
She shook her head in annoyance, there's no way that it's true. Why had Sakura told her anyway? She was fine being oblivious to the definitely-untrue- fact. How is she supposed to act around him now without feeling awkward? Naruto sent a glare to Sakura but the look went unnoticed by the pink haired girl who was almost ready to pass out from the alcohol.
Naruto rolled her eyes, with a sigh she stood up taking Sakura's hand and putting it around her shoulder to support her, together they made their way out of the bar with Sakura stumbling on her feet. Luckily their inn was just two blocks from here.
"This is unbefitting of a lady, Sakura-chan." Naruto said as she dragged a muttering Sakura in the inn lobby. "Just pray Sasuke isn't in yet. We'd hate for you to embarrass yourself in front of him." She teased.
"Sas'ke can kish my ash." Sakura slurred.
Naruto snickered as she kicked the door of their room open. "Well, that's not what you're going to say tomorrow when you wake up and you're more sober."
Luckily Sasuke wasn't in the room, she sighed in relief. She didn't know how to explain Sakura's state, and she had a feeling that Sakura would kill if she were to tell Sasuke about her still ongoing crush. In her opinion, Sakura should just tell him so or better yet get over him.
She dragged Sakura towards the bed, Sakura's body slumped forward causing them both to fall over the bed. She stared at the ceiling in disbelief as she felt Sakura's heavy breathing on top of her. The pink haired girl had fallen asleep, Naruto groaned at her luck. After a short moment of struggling to remove her friend from on top of her, she sat up straight on the bed. She mumbled curses as she removed Sakura's shoes and helped her get properly on the bed.
Sakura groaned, rolling over to the other side of the bed. With an annoyed huff, she stopped her from rolling too far off, Sakura groaned again but didn't move further. Naruto watched her sleep for a while contemplating whether she should take off Sakura's dress too, but decided not to. Sakura will survive probably, and it's not like the dress was tight or anything so it shouldn't be a problem.
Naruto climbed on the bed, too tired to undress herself, she covered them both with the thin sheet the inn provided them with. Good thing that the weather was a warm one.
She sighed as she stared up the ceiling, now that she wasn't distracted by anything or anyone. she decided on what to do when they got back to the village, regarding Shikamaru.
Now that she wasn't clouded by anger and embarrassment, she had to admit that she might have overreacted a little when she'd punched him. If she had to look at things in his point of view- which she did- she could sort of understand him. He had probably been angry, frustrated, confused and maybe guilty too, all the things she'd been feeling since she'd woken up in his room that morning. It's not like he wasn't right anyway, she had been making a big deal out of it, surely she wasn't the first girl to lose her virginity in this world and she wouldn't be the last and isn't it better that it happened with someone she actually knows than whoever she will have to marry in the future?
Yeah right, who is she kidding? It is a big deal, at least to her. Not in her 18 years of life did she ever imagined that she will ever have sex, with Shikamaru no less. She didn't even know what sex was before that day! Okay that was a lie, she conceded, she knew what sex was (thanks to Jiraiya and pervert ways- and it doesn't help that he'd once decided to give her SexEd during their travel, an embarrassing day that was), she just didn't know what having sex was like... Until two days ago.
Sex, she had to admit wasn't anything she had expected -not that she actually expected anything since she'd never really thought about it- it was a waste of time thinking about it, training and sparring with Sasuke and anyone that was willing to give her a challenge was more her thing. But now that she'd actually done it, she couldn't bring herself to regret that night even if she tried. She couldn't remember the night clearly, but she could still remember the way she'd felt. The exhilaration she'd felt, the sparks she'd experienced with every touch, seeing the same lust-filled-longing in his eyes that she was feeling, she'd felt special and strangely enough powerful. The power to make someone like Shikamaru lose his usual bored disinterested expression and to make him feel something other than laziness. It's that feeling that kept her wanting more, even now as she stared at the ceiling with Sakura snoring softly next to her, she felt an inexplicable feeling of longing towards the lazy genius.
Naruto frowned at that line of thinking, 'stupid hormones.' Shikamaru was right though, whatever happened between them should never have happened and it can never happen for both their sake and -at this she swallowed with guilt- Temari's sake. Things might be awkward between them at first but hopefully with time they could learn to get past it. She might still be angry and a bit ashamed, but that didn't mean she wanted to lose his friendship, that's why she's going to apologize to him as soon as she gets back. With that she turned making herself comfortable, she needed to get some rest.
Just when she was about to drift off, she heard Sasuke get in the room, he smelled of sweat and blood indicating that he'd probably been training. If she wasn't so tired she would have been indignant that he didn't invite her, but as it was she was too tired she would have to deal with him tomorrow. With that, she gave in to the exhaustion she felt, thinking too much always made her tired.
Shikamaru yawned as he made his way to the Nara compound. He closed his eyes to bask in the early morning sun, enjoying the morning peace of the village while it lasted. He walked past shopkeepers who were opening their shops for the day, the street was filled with early risers as they slowly started their day.
He nodded in greeting at some villagers. He passed a drunk man who laid passed out on a bench. He glanced at the man with envy wishing that he could be asleep too, but alas, that wasn't to be. He'd promised his mother that they would have breakfast together today, after she'd complained that she doesn't see him anymore since he moved out.
He'd moved out when he and Temari had started dating, he'd wanted privacy for whenever she came to visit. He'd also wanted a break from his mother's nagging, not that she doesn't nag him anymore. In fact he doesn't think distance is enough to stop Yoshino Nara from being a troublesome woman. Nobody can stop his mother from having her own way, not even his father could.
He briefly wonders how she will react to the news of his break up. At this his lip turned down into a slight frown.
He'd been thinking a lot about everything that happened recently after the break up. Temari, Naruto and that night. For some reason he kept replaying what happened, as in everything that happened. It seems so surreal, not in a million years could he have imagined he and Naruto doing anything together that isn't mission related except for the occasional get together with the rest of the Konoha 12.
Now that he wasn't panicking and hungover, he could remember the whole thing and he had to admit that it wasn't bad, in fact he'd enjoyed the whole thing and that's the problem. Sex with Naruto shouldn't have been enjoyable, the idea should have been enough to make him gag. Yet, he couldn't stop his body from reacting to the memory of her laying naked under him, of her adorable blush every time he scrutinized her body with hunger. And there's the matter of the kiss the following morning, he still had no idea why he'd done it except that she'd looked inviting standing in front of him covered in sheet embarrassment and frustration playing on her face, he didn't think he'd just acted on his impulse which is so unusual because he never act on impulse like ever, he always like to think of his moves beforehand, up until that day his moves had always been calculated. It's like Naruto had managed to make him forget how to be rational.
The whole ordeal made him curious and wary. He is still struggling to understand what had happened, he get it that he was drunk and hurt about his break up with Temari and Naruto had been there listening to him and she hadn't judged him about him not marrying Temari even though he loved her, so maybe that's why he'd let his control slip with Naruto to forget his problems. But, what about Naruto? The Kyuubi should have kept her from being too drunk so she doesn't even have that has a reason. He was still confused as to why she hadn't stopped them from getting too far, he would have stopped if she had said no, drunk or not.
He narrowed his eyes in thought as something occurred to him. Her getting upset that morning, could it be that it didn't have to do with him kissing her and to do with him apologizing about it? But why? He refused to think that Naruto somehow wanted all of it to happen, it would be too ridiculous. So why does a little part of him feel disappointed?
He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. What happened between them should never repeat itself for various reasons, one of those being that he just broke up with Temari and he still loved her. It wouldn't be fair to the both of them if something were to occur between them.
There's something else that has been bugging him. Naruto had managed to surprise him that night by acting more matured when he'd told her about Temari. She'd been a good listener, a huge contrast to the loud girl she's always portraying. That spiked his curiosity making him want to know what else she's been hiding.
"How troublesome." He muttered, oh how he wished he could smoke right now, but his mother would kill him if she smelled cigarettes on him. He shoved his hands in his pockets instead as he walked through the gates of the Nara clan, greeting the two guards standing there.
He'd spent the whole night thinking of their (his and Naruto's) conversation too and he had to admit that he could've worded the things he'd said better. He recognized that he had been a jerk, okay he had been a massive jerk and as soon as she returned from her mission he would talk to her and apologize but this time he would do it right, it's the least he could do. He realized that telling her to pretend like nothing ever happened was a dick thing to say. It was her first time, to girls that's a very big deal and Naruto obviously wasn't any different. Hopefully the next time they see each other things won't be too awkward for them, but then again that is just wishful thinking. He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts as he approached the main household.
When he arrived, he slid the shoji doors open and went in leaving his sandals by the door. He could hear his mother's voice coming from the kitchen. He followed it, he was surprised to find his mother singing as she put plates of food on the table. He hasn't heard his mother sing since... in a long time. He watched in amusement as his mother did some jiggle danced.
When she spun and saw him, her eyes lit up in surprised.
"Shikamaru!" His mother exclaimed happily, not the least bit ashamed that he caught her. "I missed you." she said as she walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
She grabbed his chin and narrowed her eyes as she looked him over, luckily the bruise Naruto had given him disappeared or answering her would have been uncomfortable. "You look too thin and you should sleep more." She said critically after making sure he didn't have any physical injury.
"Hey, mom." He said enduring his mother's fussing. "How are you?"
"Good, good!" She chirped cheerfully, she returned to the stove humming under her breath. "Sit down, I'm almost done. I will join in a second."
"Somebody is in a good mood." He commented as he took a seat on the table.
"Oh, you could say things are looking up." His mother said joining him with a plate full of bacon, she avoided his eyes but still had a smile on her face.
He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Though, he hadn't miss the smell of perfume on her and the fact that she was wearing make up. It was nice seeing her happy.
She hadn't been this happy since his father died during the war. Seeing her like that was nice, she deserved to be happy.
"So tell me, how are things going with you?" She asked taking a sip of her tea.
Shikamaru took a second to think about what to say, he'd rather not spoil his mother's mood by telling her of his break up. And it's not like they're going to stay broken up for long anyway. He planned to get some answers, he'd requested an audience with the hokage. He just needed to know why Suna was trying to pressure one of its shinobi into marrying-Konoha and Suna are on pretty good terms, in fact they are on the best terms considering the Kazekage is best friends with Naruto. He was hoping the hokage might fill him in on that, as one of Konoha's advisor he needed to be aware of political things. But that is for a later time, right now his mother was still waiting for a reply.
He shrugged deciding to be half truthful, his mother can be quite perceptive when she wants to. The perks of being a Nara, he supposed. "Everything is good, except for a couple things that hadn't gone my way."
His mother looked at him in concern, "Nothing bad I hope."
"Nothing I can't handle." He said taking a bite of his bread. "How's everything going on with you?" He said before she could ask any more questions or worse pick up on the fact that he's hiding something and force him to spill everything.
His mother seemed surprised by the change of topic, but brightened up immediately as she recounted everything that has been going on around her.
His mother must have realized that he wasn't up to talking, because she spent most of the time talking about everything she's heard and seen. His mother was big on gossip, it still surprises him sometimes how much she knew about everyone. Apparently one of his distant relative was caught cheating on his wife with a much younger woman, 'What a douchebag,' he thought in disdain.
When he was done, he took his plate to the sink where his mother was already busy washing.
"By the way," his mother said when he was ready to leave. "I saw one of the clan elders yesterday on my way to the market."
Shikamaru tensed, but didn't give any other outward expression. He shoved his hands in his pocket.
"He wanted to know when you're planning on taking the title."
He shrugged, "Not anytime soon." He said making his way out the kitchen.
His mother sighed as she followed after him, "You cannot run away from your duties forever."
"I'm not running away, mom." He said wearing his shoes by the front door, "I'm merely postponing it, until I feel that I'm ready."
Yoshino sighed again, but didn't push it, her son can be stubborn when he wants to be. Instead, she walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Okay, just as long as you don't take too long. Take care of yourself."
"Bye, mom." Shikamaru said as he opened the shoji doors. With a last wave he made his way to the hokage tower.
As soon as he was out of the compound, he took out a cigarette and put it on his lips. As he felt the smoke in his throat, he allowed his displeasure to show on his face as he thought on his mother's words. He wasn't running away from his duty, he just didn't see the rush in becoming clan head so soon. He was already one of the hokage's advisors, and all of his friends that are clan heirs were still being trained by their parents. He sighed, taking another drag of his cigarette blowing the smoke out of his nose, he knew that he was being unreasonable. He also knew the reason they're pressuring him was that unlike the others his father was dead so it was up to him to take up on the title, except Ino but she's... Well, she's a girl and her clan is not that big anyway, who ever she married would take the title if she didn't want it.
Shikamaru sidestepped a couple of boys running in the direction of the academy. He smiled slightly at that his mood lifting a bit, at least some things were going right. This year more had children enrolled in the academy, all with a goal to be the best ninja they could be, which was good. The children are the kings of Konoha.
His eyes drifted up to the sky, and to his delight there were clouds up. He sighed wistfully as he looked back down to the road that led to the hokage tower with the promise of going to his favourite cloud watching spot. He heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned to see Ino waving at him to wait. He resisted the urge to curse as she approached him, just when he thought that life couldn't get any worse they send him Ino to deal with. 'how troublesome' he bemoaned taking a last drag of his cigarette before letting it fall and stamping on it.
"I saw that." Ino said as she caught up to him, he grunted in response as he resumed walking. And that just seemed to set her off into a rant of how dangerous smoking can be, he rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking-because experience told him it was never a good idea to do it in front of her-apparently she wasn't mad at him anymore for the other day seeing as she wasn't ignoring him.
"So," she said after she was done. "Where are you off to?"
"Hokage."
"Oh? I was just on my way to the hospital to get something."
"The hospital is that way." He pointed to the street they just passed.
"I know, but I saw you walking and decided to let you know that I'm not mad anymore."
"I figured." He said blandly shoving his hands in his pocket.
"Yeah, well don't be an ass about it." She grumbled sending him a sideways glare.
They walked quietly for awhile, Ino kept shooting glances at him. He could almost feel the question wanting to burst out of her mouth. After another minute it seemed she'd given up keeping quiet.
"So what are you going to do about Temari?"
"I need to find out what's going on first." He said with a shrug, "If the council is involved, the hokage is bound to know something."
Ino nodded as they turned a corner, her face pensive. "I still can't believe she broke up with you." She said, disbelief evident on her face. "Poor Temari, I can't begin to imagine how she feels."
He held back a grimace, he felt a bit bad for handling things the way he did. His father would have been very disappointed in him. He had been taught to always think things through before acting, to be aware of the thoughts he is thinking, separate them from the situation which is always neutral. But that day, when Temari had come to tell him about the council, he'd said he wasn't ready and that he was going to find a solution to get her out of that situation, he'd even proposed to go to the hokage she would know what to do, but Temari had refused accusing him of not loving her and of being a coward and that's when he'd lost it and said that the only reason she was upset was because he didn't want to be tied down to her. The revelation had shocked the both of them, him because he hadn't planned on saying that aloud, his outburst had shocked him. And her probably for what he'd said which surprisingly had been kind of true. The next thing he knew she was leaving telling him it was over between them.
He had stood in his room frozen in shock and disbelief. When the shock had left him, he'd paced in his room wondering what the hell had just happened. What he'd said had disturbed him greatly, not only because he had said it without thinking but because he realized that marrying Temari had never entered his mind. He love her yes, of that he had no doubt, but the thought of marrying her had never once passed through his mind which is weird since he always thought of everything. After thinking about it for several minutes, he'd made a decision to let her cool down first, he would request a mission to Suna so they will talk it out like rational beings. Thinking on it, maybe he'd made a mistake, maybe he should have run after her. He was brought out of his thoughts by Ino's voice.
"That looks like team 7."
He looked up to see where she was pointing at and he could see three people walking ahead of them. With Sakura's unmistakable colour hair, she was walking at the back of her teammates (she's the only one he allowed himself to look at) it seems they were going to the hokage tower too, probably to give in their mission report. He cursed quickly thinking on different ways he could escape the situation without tipping Ino off, but it was already too late as said girl started calling for Sakura at the top of her lungs.
"Hey, forehead!" Ino called waving when Sakura stopped to look back, eventually stopping the rest of her team too. This time he did curse aloud and Ino gave him a funny look. "What's wrong with you?" But didn't wait for him to answer, "Come on. Let's catch up to them." She said grabbing his hand and pulling him to go faster.
He groaned aloud, already wanting another cigarette. When they got close, he braced himself to look at her. He felt like someone pushed him the way his breath caught in his throat, he had to stop himself from gaping and the only reason he managed was because he could feel the Uchiha glaring at him. Naruto was wearing a blue flower dress that barely covered her thighs, he had to keep from staring at her tan legs, they were nice legs he realized. Her hair was tied in a ponytail on top of her head, showing her heart shaped face. Normally she had her bangs covering the side of her face. She was carrying a huge plastic bag, more clothes maybe?
She looked so beautiful, that even passers-byes were making a double take in surprise. But she didn't seem to notice, she was too busy looking down on the ground, with a small frown pulling down on her lips. She kept glancing nervously between Sakura and Sasuke. He hoped it wasn't because of him, but as he looked at the rest of her team, he could see that they had similar expression on their faces, though, Sakura's was more tired and wary.
"What's up forehead? You look like shit." Ino said stopping in front of her best friend/rival. Sakura did look like shit, her hair was in disarray, her dress had creases on it, her eyes sported shadows under them. "Hi Sasuke- whoa! Naruto, is that you?." Ino asked, her eyes wide in surprise.
Naruto gave a weak smile. "Hey Ino." She turned to him but didn't meet his eyes. "Hi Shikamaru."
He gave a lazy wave in her direction, as he tried to get himself under control, he didn't understand his reaction to seeing her. So what if she looked good in that dress? It shouldn't surprise him, considering he now knew what a killer body she was always hiding under those baggy clothes of hers. Personally he preferred this look better and- wait, what? He shook his head of unwanted thoughts.
"You look amazing!" Ino exclaimed, "And I love your dress."
"You really think so?" Naruto asked scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.
Ino nodded, "Definitely. It's a huge improvement from that horrible jump suit of you used to wear."
"Shut up, pig." Sakura growled under her breath, she was the only one who was allowed to insult Naruto's clothing.
"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Ino said as they all resumed walking. "What got you so pissed off?"
"Ino, shut up." He groaned taking out a cigarette and putting it on his lips.
Sakura smiled gratefully while Ino sent him a glare. Naruto only sent him a sideways frown at his cigarette.
"So where are you guys off to?" Sakura asked.
"The hokage, I need to speak to her about something. I don't know where she's going." He said pointing at Ino who stuck her tongue at him, they've long passed the hospital already.
"I'm going to drop you, Sakura, so that we can go to the hospital together."
Naruto who was uncharacteristically quiet piped up. "Sakura-Chan, I think you should go home, you don't look so well. Sasuke and I can handle the mission report."
Sakura waved her hand dismissively. "It's just a headache, Naruto. Nothing to worry about."
Ino peered at her best friend, before a grin appeared on her face. "You have a hangover!" She exclaimed loudly and Sakura winced since she was walking close to her. "I can't believe you would drink during a mission, you miss goody-two-shoes." She laughed.
"Actually, it was after we finished the mission we decided to celebrate." Naruto said taking defense on Sakura's part. She has yet to look at him since they started walking, for some reason it irked him even though he'd anticipated it. He tried to tell himself that it was because she was making it obvious and that he just didn't want anyone suspecting them.
"Technically, a mission isn't done until you report it to the hokage." He said in a bland tone, trying to gauge her reaction, now she can't ignore him without making it more obvious.
There was a short pause in which her eyes met his and some emotion flashed in hers before she quickly looked away her cheeks tinting pink, she waved her hand dismissively.
"You sound like Kakashi-sensei." She mumbled.
He shrugged taking a drag of his cigarette, he ignored Uchiha's look of disgust as he let the smoke out of his nose. They had already arrived at the hokage tower, Naruto greeted the two guards at the entrance with her usual enthusiasm. He watched with half lidded eyes as she bounced her way to the hokage's office, her dress going up with each bounce. It seemed that even the people in the hokage tower were shocked to see her dressed in something that wasn't orange, because they kept stopping to stare with their mouths hanging open.
"Obaa-Chan!" She exclaimed as she kicked the door open dodging the stapler that was thrown her way, Uchiha caught it in one hand before it could hit him, Naruto smiled sheepishly and he rolled his eyes at her.
"Brat, what have I told you about showing me some damn respect?"
Naruto wave her hands dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, whatever old hag."
Tsunade rubbed her temples in irritation. "What do you want?"
"Team seven reporting for a mission accomplished." She said in a mock salute with a cheeky grin on her face.
The hokage looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "And you?"
He shrugged, "I have an appointment."
Tsunade glared at him, a vein pulsing. "I will not tolerate smoking in my office." She ground out.
Shikamaru paled. He dropped his cigarette immediately unless he wanted to get punched through the wall. Ino snickered at his expense behind him.
The hokage took team seven's report and read it after a moment of silence, she groaned rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Can't you people ever do a mission right?"
Sasuke turned his head away like he couldn't care less about what was going on in the office. Sakura looked embarrassed and Naruto was still grinning like an idiot. Strange that now she was acting more like herself.
"When you make a plan you follow through with it. I told you people to be subtle about it." The hokage was lecturing them, when something caught her eyes. "What the hell is this? You did a shopping trip during a mission?"
Naruto not so subtly tried to hide all her bags behind her.
"It was so that we could blend in!" Sakura defended weakly.
"Yes, and look how that turned out?" She turned to the Uchiha. "I can't believe you allowed that to happen."
"It got the mission done." He said with a shrug.
The hokage snorted, with a sigh she shook her head. "Whatever, take your money and get out of my office."
Team seven gladly did so, Sakura and Ino were already out of the door followed by Sasuke. Before Naruto could go through, the hokage stopped her. He watched with interest as she handed Naruto a bunch of envelopes. Naruto hesitated before taking them. When she turned her eyes briefly met his an embarrassed blush could be spotted on her cheeks, for the second time that day he felt his heart stop momentarily before it picked up again when she dropped her gaze. With a mumbled bye she walked past him and out the door.
He let out a breath, wondering as to what was happening to him. He quickly shook himself, he needed to be focus for the conversation he was about to have with the hokage.
He walked further in the office to stand in front of the desk and waited.
The Godaime gestured to the seat next to him and folded her arms on the desk, she watched as he sat down.
"So, what can I do for you?"
He took a deep breath, he was getting tired of repeating the same story, hopefully this will be the last time.
...
"I see." The hokage said, expression thoughtful.
Shikamaru waited calmly, he'd told the hokage about his break up (not everything of course), and she'd been surprised and maybe a little angry. She'd been even more shocked to hear that Suna was planning to strengthen their alliance by trying to marry one of her shinobi with theirs. But he had his doubts about this whole alliance thing, he'd been thinking a lot about it since that day.
There's no way they would've sent Temari if it was an official order. They would've needed to first agree with the hokage before any decision was to be made and judging by the hokage's it seems she was not aware of anything. So that means that Temari was acting alone, but why?
"That's the first I've hear about it." The hokage said drawing him out of his thoughts and confirming his suspicions. "Can't say I'm surprised though, she is the Kazekage's sister."
Shikamaru shook his head, "But, I don't get it. What about the whole alliance thing?"
The hokage shrugged leaning back on her chair. "As far as I know the alliance between Suna and Konoha has never been stronger thanks to the Kazekage and our favorite orange loving blond."
Shikamaru frowned in thought ignoring the slight flutter at the mention of Naruto. He'd already worked all that out, the hokage's words just confirmed his suspicions.
"Look," the hokage said drawing him out of his thoughts. "I will look into it, it probably has nothing to do with you and the alliance and more to do with the fact that being that she's the Kazekage's sister and a powerful kunoichi."
Shikamaru nodded in understanding, already knowing what the hokage meant. Temari was powerful, surely any offspring of hers will be strong too, a great asset for the village; and as the Kazekage's sister she has obligations and duties to her village. Does this mean she will be forced to marry someone else? He didn't like the fact that she was being forced into marrying anyone and he voiced his concerned.
The hokage shrugged again, unconcerned. "There's nothing I can do about it, that's Suna's problem." But then added, "If you want, I can grant you leave so you can go talk to her."
"Thank you hokage-sama I really appreciate it, but I would like to wait a few more days if you don't mind." Keeping the reason to himself, after all, he can't tell the hokage that he was planning on apologizing to her surrogate daughter first, she would want to know why.
The hokage raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, instead she took a pen and started scribbling on the stack of papers on her desk. "Fine with me. I will call for you when I find anything."
Taking that as his cue to leave, he stood up from the chair bowing slightly to her with another thanks, he turned and made his way out of the door.
When he was out of the hokage tower, he yawned, stretching his muscles. It was always exhausting to be in the presence of the hokage. He always felt like any wrong movement might send him through a wall courtesy of one of her infamous punches. He'd never experienced it, but just watching her use it on tables daily is enough to make him wary. He glanced up and saw that the clouds were still there. And made his way to his usual cloud watching spot with the intention of catching up on a little sleep.
From here on the story get's interesting, you guys probably noticed that the length of the chapters are increasing that's because I'm getting used to this writing business. Thanks again for taking your time to read this story. Please don't forget to tell me what you think. Any constructive criticism is welcomed.
Thanks to my two betas... Shikilove and the many masked identity for their wonderful help.
Until next time!