Hinata wouldn't speak anymore, resorting to silence. Rather than stick around, Naruto took charge. "Hinata," he told her, gingerly reaching out to touch her arm, "why don't we go to the precinct so you can tell me everything. Sound good?"

Hinata nodded slowly.

Since they were all leaving, Lee handed Sakura his keys. "Here. You may drive my car home. I will take Tenten's car to her."

In turn, Hinata returned Tenten's keys, muttering her apologies.

Sakura and Lee exchanged their goodbye's with a shared kiss before Lee headed off to find where Hinata parked Tenten's car. Before Sakura could depart, Naruto stopped her with a word.

"Hey," Naruto's blue gaze was transfixed on her. "You're free to tail me if you want. I think we're waaay overdue for a talk." His expression was friendly and yet— there was a bit of longing. Unlike Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto always stayed in contact. But it has been a long time since they had spent time together in person (crime scenes not withstanding.)

"Yeah..." Sakura found herself nodding. "I think I'll do that."

Naruto took Hinata in his police car, letting her sit on the passenger side and drove off. As briefly discussed, Sakura followed closely behind him. All the things she wanted to tell Naruto swam around in her mind. It was nice to have a friend that would understand what she was going through. While Ino knew about Sakura's brush with the other side of the law, she couldn't possibly understand fully.

And who knows what her parents might say or do about it. Sakura shuttered at the thought.

Once they arrived, Sakura had to find a free parking space while Naruto got to park in his designated spot. They went indoors and Naruto excused himself.

"Just lemme speak with Hinata to see what's going on," he dipped his head towards Sakura. He had a hand touching Hinata at all times, passively anchoring her by his side in case she decided to run off again. Naruto took her to one of the more comfortable interrogation rooms reserved for non-suspects.

This left Sakura alone at the front. She found a seat and slid down into it. The police department was buzzing with activity. Phone calls came in at every second, papers were ushered around. Sakura figured that somewhere in here were Shikamaru and Choji. If not, they were probably patrolling their beat.

Now what?

"You must be Ms. Sakura Haruno. I remember you." A soft spoken voice alerted Sakura to the presence of Officer Kakashi Hatake. For some odd reason he wore a face mask, as if he had a perpetual cold. One of his eyes were scarred.

Sakura sat up. "This is she... You're Naruto's boss!" She was curious to see how Naruto acted at work.

Kakashi nodded his head. His looming presence was intimidating but there was a bit of warmth emanating from him. "Naruto talks a lot about you."

"... He does?"

Before Kakashi could clarify, a more booming presence appeared by his side.

"If it isn't the blooming flower herself!"

Sakura blinked. "Guy Sensei?!"

Guy stroked his chin, amused by the manner of which she chose to address him. "Well. It seems you've spent a lot of time with my favorite protege. He's rubbed off on you." He was honored to be referred to as sensei by her.

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. "We're dating, so yeah."

Guy's coolness fractured, leaving him wide eyed and stunned. "Y-you are?"

Sakura raised a brow. "You didn't know?" Even if Lee didn't tell him directly, it should have been obvious. It wasn't like Lee hid his affections for Sakura. He quite openly loved her, not shying away from PDA. Although, it has been about a week since they've been around each other and others.

Kakashi rolled one of his eyes. It appeared that the scarred one was false. "That's Guy for you." He shook his head. "What brings you here, Ms. Haruno? You don't have a crime to notify us of do you?"

Sakura chewed her inner cheek, deliberating on how she should explain the situation with Hinata. "Naruto has got it covered, I'm sure." He had to report to Kakashi anyway, it would be easier to hear it from him. "I know why you're here, officer. But um, Guy Sensei?"

Guy grinned. "Just helping an old friend out." He offered solace to her confusion by giving a thumbs up.

"... Right." Sakura was unconvinced, but nonetheless dropped it.

"Tell Shizune and Tsunade that I wish them well," Kakashi told Sakura before departing off towards the back— she has almost forgotten about Tsunade's connection to the police department. Guy stayed behind, still grinning like a lunatic.

"So you're dating Lee," he said, not letting a single moment of silence pass between them.

"Yes."

"I'll spare you all the things you've probably heard about staying safe," he told her. It was a given that dating Lee came with all sorts of baggage. Ones that he was carrying and ones that latched onto him whether he wanted them or not. "But I will tell you this; Lee has grown into a fine young man but he still retains some naivety of his youth. Go easy on him. I did my best in raising him, but even I can admit I could have done better."

Sakura studied Guy's features. It was remarkable how much Lee and Guy resembled each other. She couldn't believe that they weren't blood related. Perhaps if she saw a photo of Lee's actual father, would it make sense. But no, Lee had none of those. As to why, she did not know.

While Guy was usually smiling, his eyes were a little somber.

"Lee loves you," was all Sakura could say in comfort. Lee didn't just love him either, he idolized him.

"I know he does." More than anything, Guy's strong bond with Lee kept with youthfulnesd in his otherwise aging body. Everytime he gazed upon the boy, he still saw the puffy cheeked, fishy eyed baby he held when Lee's mother died. "And what's more," Guy continued, "even if you and Lee don't work out, I'll love you like a daughter."

Lee clearly cared about Sakura, so in Guy's book, she was practically family.

"I'll be a sturdy oak, protecting my little leaflets." The somberness in his eyes were replaced with enthusiasm.

Sakura smiled. "I can see where Lee gets his intensity from."

It was all too much for her taste but Sakura was used to it, she came from an intense family herself. She could see herself fitting right into Lee's family for the long run.

ˏˋ ˎˊ

By the time Naruto had finished up with Hinata, Sakura was considering on taking a raincheck and heading home. She had been sitting in this chair for the better half of an hour. She sent Lee a text, telling him where she was and what she was up to in case he was worried but she doubted that he'd even see the message anyway.

Sakura sat up a bit once she saw the blonde coming her way.

"Hey you," he said with a smile.

"Hey yourself."

Naruto gestured with head head towards the doors. "Why don't we step out for some fresh air, huh?"

Together they walked out and sat on the curb. Silence stretched out between them, neither one sure of what they wanted to say. Naruto cleared his throat. "So... How's medical school?" He asked. She half expected him to ask about her love life as most people did these days. But he didn't. He wanted to know about her. How she was doing.

Sakura clucked her tongue. "It's going really well, actually." Studying was what she did best. Even if she found that her time was being tugged at in several different directions lately, Sakura always made time to study.

"I bet you're still smarter than Ino," Naruto snickered.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. Being around Naruto reminded her of their childhood. It helped that they all still talked. "I'll tell her you said that," she remarked between giggles. "What about you, how's work? Do you enjoy policing?"

"It's great!" Naruto exclaimed, he deflated a little, however. "I mean..." He lowered his tone. "I have to go off the book to actually get some things done around here. You'd be surprised how long it actually takes for justice to be served." He cast his gaze to his feet. "Like this Hiashi Hyuga thing. We wanna put him in prison already but he's stuck in jail instead. I don't even think he's gonna get a trial either. He's got bail but we're stuck negotiating it."

Sakura frowned. She sympathized with him. Everything was just too complicated. "And Hinata, what did she want?"

"Apparently that bastard Hiashi dropped a bomb on her that he had another daughter that was hidden away. He didn't tell her where though." Naruto snorted his disgust for the man. "I think he's trying to withhold information from Hinata to get her to bail him out faster. Legally or otherwise."

"That's..." Sakura didn't know what to say.

"It took me forever to try and calm her down," Naruto continued. He sighed. "I really should take her back to Tenten's but part of me wants to keep her close by. Tenten can't keep an eye on her forever, ya know?"

"Neji should be released any day now," Sakura informed him. "She could stay with him."

Naruto gave her a sidelong look. "You don't think that his location won't be compromised?"

"I imagine they knew where he lived this whole time. If they wanted him dead they would have done it a long time ago." She was also sure that Neji would go above and beyond to protect his cousin.

"True."

They watched as cars passed by across the street. The silence between them was now a comfortable one.

She missed this.