Wonderful Life
by eixirt

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Chapter 2

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It was a wondrous day in Konohagakure no Sato. Everything started so perfectly and in Gai-san's point of view this will be a great opportunity to start his hundred mile jogging. Everything seemed so perfect when all of a sudden… a loud scream was heard all across the village that made most of the villagers stood up to their feet while some probably fell to their beds due to the recent noise.

Meanwhile, at a certain apartment…

"Get off the bed!" a female voice commanded as she covered her body with 'her' blanket. Heck, she was only clad in her underwear.

"This is my bed! You get off the bed!" Someone retorted but this time it was a male's voice. To say the least, he too was in the same state as the woman. But unfortunately, the red-eyed woman suddenly pulled the blanket with full force as she tried to cover herself once again. It only took her a second to realize that she was staring at him. She didn't even realize that she let out a small blush.

"What?! Don't tell me this is your first time to see a half-naked man." said Naruto.

At that reply, Kurenai snapped. She just walked straight to the bathroom without even giving a retort. Meanwhile, as she lay down in the tub, she couldn't help but to think about what had happened back there. She was sure that she herself is a light-sleeper so she would know if someone or something tried to do something to her. All she could remember was the feeling of something hard and yet warm and smooth and she was embracing it. At this point, Kurenai looked at her hands but dismissed the thought. She just continued to soak on the tub but suddenly…

"Kurenai-san, breakfast is ready." said Naruto from the other side of the door.

After hearing those words, Kurenai headed straight to the kitchen. She was still wet after coming from the bathroom and she was 'DAMN' well aware of it.

Meanwhile at the kitchen, Naruto was waiting for the said woman. He was taught by Jiraiya that the 'female species' take some time to get ready.

'Come on, it's not like she has anything else to wear aside from those wrappings and stuff.' said Naruto inside his mind. He stopped wondering inside his mind when all of a sudden he felt a presence behind him.

"'Bout time, I've been waiting for-…" Naruto was cut-off when he saw Kurenai. To say the least, Kurenai was only covered with her towel and to the fact that she was still wet.

"..No ramen? Now that's something new." said Kurenai as she looked at the food on the table.

"What are you doing?" asked Naruto.

"Eating" replied Kurenai.

"I can see that, you know… what I mean is, why are you not in your uniform, we're going to be late." said Naruto with a straight face.

Kurenai looked at him and surprised to say Naruto didn't even let out a single blush at the sight she was giving him and she respected him for that.

"I'll go and get ready once I'm done eating. Besides, I'm not like those girls who are slow in preparing themselves."

"Okay-okay… I get the point." said Naruto as he waved his hands in defense.

Meanwhile, as Kurenai was still eating, someone knocked/banged at the door.

"Naruto, are you in there? It's me Sakura." Both ninjas heard the voice and started to panic again.

"Sakura-chan, what a surprise… wait a sec!" shouted Naruto. Behind him was Kurenai running towards 'their' bedroom to get change.

Meanwhile, Sakura was still outside Naruto's door, wondering what's keeping him. He never kept her waiting knowing that she was his crush back then. Her train of thoughts were suddenly cut-off when she heard Naruto say. "Come in."

Sakura looked at him then at every part of his apartment.

"What's that smell?" asked Sakura.

"It must be me." replied Naruto.

"No." said Sakura, firmly.

"It's too feminine for your taste, Naruto." said Sakura as she walked around the said apartment.

"You know… why won't you just tell me why you're here?" asked Naruto with a hint of irritation on his voice but Sakura wasn't about to quit the fight.

"Are you hiding something?" asked Sakura, she could see Naruto's serious face turned into a shocked one.

"Now what or 'who' would I hide?" asked Naruto.

Kurenai was listening at their conversation. She was already dressed up in her Jounin uniform, especially with her make-up on.

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Meanwhile…

"Aha! I knew you were hiding someone." said Sakura. At this point, she walked on all corners of the apartment. The only place she hasn't searched on was Naruto's bedroom. Naruto, on the other hand, was starting to get pretty nervous due to the fact that he hadn't cleaned that area and that Sakura might see Kurenai. Sakura will definitely jump to conclusions or worse if ever she found Kurenai, especially inside Naruto's bedroom.

Sakura was about to open the bedroom's door when suddenly Naruto was trying to stop her, but to no avail, Sakura easily opened the door using her monstrous strength. She walked in and searched thoroughly.

"There's something wrong here…" said Sakura as she looked around.

"Of course there is! You wrecked my door!" shouted Naruto.

"No, it's not that…" said Sakura as she started to think deeply. "It's like there's some sort of a genjutsu placed in here."

'Shit! I forgot she's a genjutsu type.' cursed Naruto under his breath.

'I wonder if she detected me yesterday and decided to tell Naruto about this today…' wondered Kurenai to herself. She was currently under the bed and she even casted a genjutsu on herself to make her invisible and yet here she is hiding beneath the bed.

"Why won't you just tell me why you're here…?" said Naruto with a sigh.

"No. Not yet."

Naruto was about to ask something when all of a sudden Sakura formed a familiar hand seal and said "Kai"

Both members of team 7 saw nothing. Now, Naruto was wondering where Kurenai hid. After canceling the genjutsu, Sakura walked to the bed and lift it up and surprised to say Kurenai wasn't there. Sakura concentrated again. Meanwhile, Naruto sighed in relief but couldn't help but to wonder where could Kurenai be. His train of thoughts got cut-short when all of a sudden Kurenai showed up behind him. He was about to ask what was she up to when suddenly she placed her forefinger on her lips as if telling Naruto to keep quiet for awhile. Naruto saw Kurenai walked behind Sakura but the next thing he saw was a little bit unexpected.

Awhile ago Kurenai walked slowly behind Sakura and suddenly she hit her near the neck, making her unconscious. Naruto just stared at her as if she had killed someone.

"What?-!" asked Kurenai.

"You hit her." said Naruto, still not believing at what he saw.

"So? She was almost close to finding out about our situation." replied Kurenai, defensively.

"I know, but still you didn't have to hit her." said Naruto as he placed the unconscious kunoichi on the sofa.

Kurenai sighed and watched Naruto formed some hand seals and soon there was a green glow forming on his hands. Kurenai saw how Naruto healed his team-mate; it only took a few seconds for Sakura to wake up. Surprised to say Sakura couldn't remember what happened or as to why she was laying on Naruto's sofa and to the fact that Yuuhi Kurenai was there also.

"How are you feeling?" asked Naruto.

Sakura, on the other hand, tried to sit up and held the back of her neck. "I'm fine… I think. What happened and how come Kurenai-sensei is here?" asked Sakura, as she looked at both ninjas in front of her.

Both ninjas were taken aback, at first, they couldn't answer Sakura's questions but then Kurenai thought of a little lie just to cover up everything.

"I came here because Tsunade-sama wanted to see Naruto at her office. By the time I got here you were already unconscious." said Kurenai, hoping that the pink-haired kunoichi will believe her.

"I see…" said Sakura. The said Kunoichi stood up with success. She looked around the apartment once again and noticed the mess all around the area especially the broken door that seemed to be the bedroom's door before.

"We better go now." said Kurenai, as she walked to the door. Soon, Naruto and Sakura walked right behind her.

It only took them several minutes to get to the Hokage tower. As they walked along the corridors some were looking at the certain blond and both kunoichis were well aware about it. They suddenly stopped when someone called out Sakura's name. The three ninjas turned and saw who was calling. It was Ino along with her was Ten-ten and at the back was Hinata. They hadn't notice Naruto at first especially Ino. But when they realize Naruto was there all three young kunoichis, with exception of Sakura, were in deep shades of red especially Hinata who couldn't handle herself. Before the situation could rise up, Naruto spoke.

"Could you girls excuse us, we have to go and see Tsunade-baachan." Said Naruto, he turned and grabbed Kurenai's hand teleported away.

At the image of them hand-in-hand made them curious about those two. "Could they be…" Ten-ten wondered out loud.

"Is that a joke?! Kurenai-sensei is beautiful and all but come on, she's a few years older than Naruto and besides isn't she dating Asuma-sensei." said Ino.

"They did say that they were going to meet Tsunade-shishou." said Sakura.

"Sensei… Naruto-kun…" Hinata was out of words until suddenly she fainted.

"She never changes does she?" said Ino.

Sakura just let out a sigh and started to heal the unconscious Hyuuga.

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In front of the Administration's office a puff of smoke appeared out of no where. By the time the smoke was gone, two figures came into view.

"What was that for?" asked Kurenai more like demanded.

"Oww… come on don't tell me the little princess didn't liked it." said Naruto. All he could see was Kurenai's annoyed face.

"I certainly… did." smiled Kurenai.

"Wow… you two seems to be getting along so well." A female voice said from behind. Both ninjas were stunned to see their Hokage standing just right behind them. Neither Kurenai nor Naruto had spoken a word. They were too embarrassed about what had happened awhile ago. They just walked silently behind the Godaime as they entered the Hokage's office. Both watched their superior walked to her desk; she first looked at Kurenai then to Naruto and then back to Kurenai again. They couldn't figure out what was their Hokage thinking but when they saw her grin they both started to panic.

"So… how was your day 1 living together?" asked Tsunade, still her grin was plastered on her face.

Both didn't answer until…

"It sucks! I got kicked out on my own bed! What makes you think that I'm happy about?!" shouted Naruto.

"Ooh… this is interesting… don't tell me you both slept in a single bed?" said Tsunade. Now her grin got even bigger.

"It's not what it looks like, Tsunade-sama!" replied Kurenai.

Tsunade looked at both ninjas. They were probably thinking what was going on inside Tsunade's head then suddenly they heard a small chuckle then it turned into laughter, a loud laughter to be exact. Naruto and Kurenai were wondering what had happened to their superior, awhile ago she was dead-serious but now she turned into a raging lunatic who couldn't handle herself from laughing.

"Tsunade-sama, are you alright?" asked Kurenai as she looked at the blonde woman.

Tsunade tried to control herself from the laughter and then spoke: "You both should loosen up a bit…" said Tsunade as she started to laugh again.

Both ninjas watched their superior laughed all over again and decided that to excuse themselves. They bid their goodbye but still their Godaime was still laughing about something that they couldn't even think about.

As both ninjas namely, Yuuhi Kurenai and Uzumaki Naruto entered their department some Chuunins and Jounins were looking at their direction. Some were wondering if Kurenai had gotten herself a new boyfriend, while some where thinking how familiar was the blonde was.

"So where's my desk?" asked Naruto.

"There…" pointed Kurenai.

"So where's your desk?" asked Naruto.

"There…" pointed Kurenai, once again. She knew where this lead would on, it was quite predictable.

"So can I walk you to your desk?" asked Naruto.

"Eh..? Naruto, my desk is only three feet away from yours… surely, I can handle myself. Now, you go and sit at your desk." said Kurenai, as she turned and walked away too bad Naruto didn't even get to see her small smile.

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Naruto was exploring his desk. The space given to him was truly spacious. He was starting to wonder what a Tokubetsu Jounin's job was. Sure enough he's not going to handle a C-rank mission with his new rank. He could still remember back when he was still a genin the times when he would compete with his team-mate, Uchiha Sasuke. He placed both of his hands at the back of his neck and rested his head for a while. He closed his eyes and he did so. He only opened them when something was placed on his desk. By the time he opened his eyes, he saw a picture frame with a picture of Team 7 in it. In the picture, Naruto could see himself glaring at Sasuke while Sakura smiled at the camera and as for his Jounin-sensei who was holding both boys in the picture was also smiling just like Sakura.

"Thought this would brighten up your desk…" a voice said.

Naruto looked up and saw his Jounin-sensei, Hatake Kakashi, still with his Icha Icha Paradise copy on his hands. Naruto smiled and said. "You haven't changed a bit; Kakashi-sensei and you're still reading that book." smiled Naruto.

"I may not have changed but you… You even out-ranked me and on top of that… have you noticed the stares being given to you and by the way most of it came from the female populace." said Kakashi as he pointed at Kurenai's desk.

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Mitarashi Anko, one of the top female ninjas of the village, was currently talking to her best friend, Yuuhi Kurenai, about some certain blonde.

"Who's he, Kurenai?" asked Anko as she pointed at the blonde ninja who was currently talking with the Copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi.

Kurenai looked where was Anko pointing and to say the least she was a bit surprised at the question. "Why would you want to know?" asked Kurenai.

"Hey I asked first… don't tell me you already gave in and started dating again?" asked Anko. She know how to make her a little mad and liked the way Kurenai gets mad at her, it was priceless as though she thought.

"Isn't it obvious? That's Uzumaki Naruto, Kakashi's student. He got promoted into Tokubetsu Jounin by the way." said Kurenai in a matter-of-fact-way.

Anko stared at the said blonde as she tried to remember who this Uzumaki Naruto was. She was sure she had seen him before but the only problem was… where did she see him? Then, suddenly, memories filled her head as she saw an image of herself strangling the said blonde. It was back then during the Chuunin exams. Anko was the second examiner of the Chuunin exams and the said blonde was there along with his team-mates. She introduced herself to the examinees and surprisingly there was one genin who wasn't listening to her, this got Anko's attention, surprised to say, Anko threw a kunai at the said genin which caused his left cheek to bleed. But the next thing was unexpected; Anko licked the genin's trickle of blood with a sadistic grin on her face.

"AH..!" shouted Anko as she pointed at Naruto. Kurenai immediately pulled the outraged kunoichi back to her seat but it was too late. There were two shinobis caught their attention.

"See what I mean…" whispered Kakashi at the clueless Naruto.

Kurenai saw both shinobis looked at their way. It was as if both ninjas were talking about them. Kurenai only did was to turn back, not wanting to be seen at how embarrassed she was.

"What was that all of a sudden?" asked Kurenai, she didn't like the idea of her calm-composure get to be ruined all of a sudden outburst.

"I… w-well… I think I know where I've seen Naruto before. I was just surprised to see him like this…*ahehe*…" said Anko with an audible nervous laugh.

Kurenai just dismissed the thought and looked back at Naruto once again. He was currently talking with her student Inuzuka Kiba along with him was Nara Shikimaru and Akimichi Chouji. She knew the four of them were friends and they were always together in times of need. Her ears suddenly picked up something interesting. It was something about eating outside in a restaurant which to her surprise team Kakashi and team Asuma and along with team Gai already agreed on the only team that was left was hers, until, Naruto walked at her desk and still Anko was there.

"We were talking about eating outside… I hope… if you don't mind, you and your team could come, with us… that is… if you don't mind…" said Naruto, it was pretty obvious that he was nervous about asking her, while the other ninjas were watching the whole ordeal, they couldn't believe their eyes at what they were seeing.

"Okay, me and my team will come…" said Kurenai.

"Okay, I understand if you--…" said Naruto. He didn't heard what Kurenai just said being so nervous by just asking her. It was like asking someone on a date as Naruto put it. "Wait! Did you just say yes?" asked Naruto.

Kurenai only nodded and the next surprising thing Naruto did made Kurenai stunned even the other ninjas as well. When realization struck him, he immediately let go.

"Sorry 'bout that…" said Naruto with a little tint of red on his face. He heard someone chuckled and saw it was a woman. He could barely remember who she was, until…

"AH..!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at Anko's face, obviously he already remembered her.

"I'm guessing he already remembered you, knowing that you both had the same expression awhile ago." said Kurenai in a matter-of-fact-way.

Anko was back to her teasing mode. She wanted to do what she did to him before but that will really cause some one heck of an attention, especially after he hugged Kurenai awhile ago. It shall make such a story about them being a threesome. –-- But what the heck… it could be fun. --- thought Anko as she grinned on her seat.

Anko stood up from her seat and walked behind the said blonde shinobi. Even he didn't expect this would happen but the next thing Anko pulled was something he REALLY didn't expect. Anko started to draw a shape of a heart in Naruto's chest with her long finger; next, she started to press her breasts harder on Naruto's back. Thankfully, it wasn't obvious to those who were far away from the three of them.

But Kurenai was starting to feel irritated. There was something from the sight in front of her that made her want to stand from her seat and yell at the two which she apparently did that made everyone's attention to the three of them.

"WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OUT!" shouted Kurenai. That was it, she snapped…

Naruto and Anko, who was still hugging the said blonde in such a manner, looked at Kurenai as if she had two heads or something.

Kurenai couldn't believe at what she had done. She only calmed down, face the floor, and walked outside. Naruto pulled away from Anko and walked back to the other ninjas.

"Just go without me… I'll just follow behind." said Naruto.

"Fine, do you remember the place?" asked Kiba.

"Yea, I remember… that famous Yakiniku house, I won't forget… see ya." said Naruto as he ran outside.

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On the roof top, Kurenai stood and watched the sky above as she rested her arms on the railings. She sighed deeply after remembering what she had done awhile ago. It wasn't, of course, her daily habit to get frustrated and at the same time yell at someone who didn't do something bad at you. At the mere thought, she sighed again, but this time, there was someone next to her. She looked at her right and saw Naruto. He too was looking at the sky, just like what she was doing awhile ago.

He turned and smiled at her…

At first she found it annoying, but, from the way it looked his smile wasn't offending as though she thought. It was rather welcoming and comforting at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" asked Kurenai. She sounded sarcastic but Naruto knew she was just acting but didn't know why.

Naruto only did was to keep his smile on his face and said: "Saving you." said Naruto in a matter-of-fact-way.

This caught Kurenai's full attention. 'Where, who, or why would I need to be saved?' thought Kurenai. She just decided to play along.

"And where or to whom are you saving me from?" asked Kurenai. Unconsciously, she let out a small smile which was a good sign as Naruto thought.

"Well, duh… from that sighing of yours." said Naruto with a playful smile on his lips. "You know sighing is one of the symptoms of stress, didn't you know that? And here I was thinking women outwit men… but I guess I was wrong…"

Naruto stopped talking when he saw Kurenai's face. It was as if she was mad again, but then, she suddenly laughed which made him curious at some point.

"What? What's so funny?" asked Naruto to the still laughing Kurenai.

Kurenai refrained from laughing and started to walk down the stairs. By the time they were outside the Hokage tower, Naruto was still asking why she was laughing at him awhile ago. He only stopped when they in front of the Yakiniku house.

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"What's taking him so long?" asked an irritated Sakura. Most of the group was waiting at the said blonde since he hasn't showed up for quite awhile.

For the mean time, just in front of the Yakiniku house, Naruto was about to enter when he noticed that Kurenai wasn't moving from her place. "What's the matter?" asked Naruto.

"…Nothing…" replied Kurenai. She was looking at the floor. Obviously, she didn't want the others to see her.

"Come on, let's go… I'm getting kind of hungry." said Naruto. He knew she was going to say something so he only did what he had to do. He pulled her arm and dragged her inside the restaurant along with him.

The moment Naruto let her go; Kurenai straightened herself and saw their group which apparently some of them were staring at them. Some had that eerie look on their faces while some were just happy that they made it before Chouji, one of the members of team 10, ate all the food on the grill. But some were complaining since Chouji ate almost half of the batch.

"Whoa… I guess we really lost track of time considering that most of the food are gone." said Naruto with a little smile on his face. "Oh well…" he continued.

Kurenai saw Naruto raised his hand and called out a waiter but when there was no available a waitress came instead. "What are you doing?" asked Kurenai as she pulled down Naruto's arm but it was too late the said waitress was already there.

"What does it looks like, stretching my arm? Of course, I'm ordering." said Naruto.

"I know what it looks like but you don't have to order." said Kurenai.

Everybody watched at their argument even the waitress, who thought that these two were in a relationship.

"Stop arguing with me! Besides, you didn't have that much breakfast awhile ago, remember?" said Naruto. He saw Kurenai paused for a second and took this opportunity to give his order to the waitress. "We'll just have the same set again." said Naruto.

The waitress jotted down the said order and even the following orders being given to her. To say the least, Naruto ordered five sets of the same meal that the others had awhile ago and he even ordered a few sake and drinks for everyone. As simple as it is, they were surprised at amount of food being served to them.

"So… how are we going to pay for all of this?" asked Kiba.

"No need. I'll pay for it, besides, let's just say it's a punishment for me getting late." said Naruto. He rose up his arm once again to call the same waitress. He gestured to the said waitress to get the bill.

Once the bill was in front them, Kurenai took it. "Hey, give it back." ordered Naruto as he tried to reach out for the piece of paper. "I already told you… I'm paying…" said Naruto as he caught the piece of paper.

"No, you're not. I should pay as well, besides, I was also late, remember?" said Kurenai as she snatched the receipt from Naruto.

"I'm not gonna let a woman pay, that's like, against the nature's law!" replied Naruto as he too snatched back the receipt.

Everybody watched the two argue about --- who's going to pay the bill --- thing. Some even thought as they watched the two bicker around at how close they might have been, especially from the way they've been together recently. They would just count it as coincidence but from what they were seeing there could be something more to these two that they couldn't see.

"Um, excuse me…" said the waitress.

Naruto and Kurenai stopped from their argument and looked at the waitress at the same time. The waitress, however, saw that Naruto was looking at her. She suddenly let out a small blush at the eye contact. Naruto stood up and reached out for his Gama-chan and placed the rightful amount on the waitress' hand both hands holding hers, trying to keep the money from falling.

"Here you go." said Naruto, still, he hadn't brake eye contact with the waitress.

"Right" said the waitress with a sweet smile on her face.

"So, like how long are you gonna hold her hand?" a female voice interrupted.

After those words, Naruto let go and immediately the waitress turned around with a deep shade of red on her cheeks. "Oh hey, Mitarashi-san, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto.

"Duh… what does it looks like? Of course I'm looking for you?" replied the female Tokubetsu Jounin.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

Anko sighed and tried to calm herself. She didn't like to get impatient, to say the least. "Tsunade-sama wants to see us, we have a mission." said Anko.

"…We? Just the both of us?" asked Naruto.

Anko smiled once she heard those words. She immediately clung onto him and said: "I knew you're looking forward on working with me alone, but unfortunately we can't, Ibiki is joining us and he's going to be the captain. But I'm flattered though…" said Anko.

"Hey, I didn't say anything about---…" tried to talk but instead he tried to free himself from the said woman. "Let's go before Tsunade-baachan come looking for us." said Naruto.

Surprisingly, Anko let go but before Naruto walked outside the restaurant. He walked to Kurenai and whispered: "Don't start dinner without me." Everyone even Anko wondered what Naruto whispered to Kurenai. Some were looking at Kurenai suspiciously and Kurenai could feel it. It was pretty obvious yet she just let it passed by.

"Come on everyone, we better head back and get to work." said the half-masked jounin as he stood up from his seat and eventually stretched his waist and started to read his orange book again.

Everybody followed behind their superiors. Still, inside their minds were the images of Naruto almost dragging Kurenai inside the restaurant, Naruto and Kurenai arguing over an order, again, both arguing over a bill, and last, the image of Naruto whispering something on Kurenai's ear. Even Sarutobi Asuma was a little curious. It was obvious enough since he finished almost half of his cigarettes on his way to the Hokage Tower along with the others. Kakashi might have noticed it but he just kept it under his mask. Well, as for Gai, he was pretty much occupied with the spring of youth just like his look alike student, Rock Lee.

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At the Hokage's Office

The well-known Godaime was having her third bottle of sake during her break. It was only fair for her sake after those four long hours of working straight and yet her paperwork doesn't seem to decrease she just sighed about it knowing that it will only grow in amount once again.

She sighed once again as she waited for the ninjas she called forth awhile ago. It's almost half an hour and yet they weren't there, until, Shizune's head popped out. 'Please… not another stock of paperwork!' pleaded Tsunade inside her mind.

Instead of a building of paperwork, the Godaime came face to face with Uzumaki Naruto and Mitarashi Anko. Shizune, on the other hand, dismissed herself along with Ton-ton, Tsunade's pet pig.

Tsunade's face turned serious. On her desk was at least half a centimeter thick of papers. She handed them to Anko and said: "Those are the list of people the both of you should interrogate. I already gave Ibiki the other half, you're both dismissed." said Tsunade in a commanding voice. Once both ninjas were gone, Shizune's head popped out from the door again, but this time, she had tons of paperwork on her arms. Tsunade slumped back on her seat once the terrifying paperwork was added with the unfinished ones. She couldn't help but to think how the heck her Sensei kept up with this amount of paperwork. Her train of thoughts subsided when she noticed that her assistant has a tint of pink on her cheeks. She was sure those were not make-up and it was natural.

"Are you blushing?" asked Tsunade.

Her assistant, Shizune, froze from the question. "What made you say that, Tsunade-sama?" said Shizune, trying not to sound nervous.

"Hmm… let me see… maybe because you're already blushing in front of me…" said Tsunade with a grin on her face. "It's Naruto, isn't it?" added Tsunade.

For once, Shizune couldn't answer her master's question. It was obvious enough for Tsunade not to hear Shizune's reply. It was written all over her face.

"What did he do?" asked Tsunade.

"…N-nothing…" stammered Shizune.

Tsunade stared at her first apprentice with raised brow. Shizune was trying to avoid the stare her master was giving her. It was making her shrink. She wanted to bury herself under the ground at this very minute. She hated when her master got the upper hand.

"I-I…" she started to stammer again.

Tsunade rolled her eyes and said: "You what?-!"

"I couldn't control myself when I see him nowadays… a-and…" started Shizune.

"Will you just get to the point!" said Tsunade, more like an order.

"I well… I fainted in front of him." answered Shizune. Her head was low and Tsunade was sure Shizune didn't like what happened awhile ago.

"Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure Naruto was the one who took care of you." said Tsunade as she lifted the girl's face.

After hearing those words, she could remember when she woke up from her sudden unconsciousness she saw Naruto looking at her with concern.

'That must be the reason why those two got late…' thought Tsunade.

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For the meantime

Mitarashi Anko and Uzumaki Naruto, both Tokubetsu Jounins, arrived at the place where most of the captives that were written in their list were being interrogated as of the moment.

Naruto looked at the list again and said: "Oh man…, this will take forever!" He was flipping through the list and it was quite a number. It will take them until night, if so, until tomorrow just to finish the whole interrogation. He even thought of using his Kage Bushin Technique to finish the process but Anko said it will be a waste of time and chakra since they were dealing with various criminals.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Don't tell me you have a date with Kurenai?" asked Anko with a sly grin on her face.

"Of course not..! And what does Kurenai-san got to do with this?-!" replied Naruto. He didn't look amused at all. He only moved forward into the building, leaving a curious Anko.

'What's gotten into him?' thought Anko as she jogged behind Naruto.

"Hey, wait up!" ordered Anko, but Naruto didn't stop, he just walked straight as if he hadn't heard Anko's call. He was about to tell her to shut up, but, he couldn't hear her calls anymore. Naruto looked back and he didn't saw Anko anymore. He raced back from where he had walked onto and immediately he found Anko, who was trying to stand up.

"What happened to you?-!" asked Naruto. He helped Anko sit up and from there he saw she had sprained her ankle.

"What does it look like?" said Anko with a little bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"Sorry…" said Naruto as he looked at the injured ankle.

Anko was about to say something again but when she heard Naruto apologize, she didn't know if she's going to say --- You don't have to apologize. --- Or --- Damn right! You should be sorry! --- But instead, she just watched him formed some set of hand seals and then suddenly there was a green glow forming on his hands. She watched him placed his hands right above her injured ankle. And soon, the pain subsided and her ankle was healed, thanks to him.

For once, Mitarashi Anko was silent. Heck, she was staring at Naruto's eyes. Even in the dark she could still see its color, its deepness, everything… she could see herself drowning in those cerulean orbs of his, until…

"You two must have been getting along so… well, while here I am doing almost half of your "SUPPOSED TO BE JOB"." A voice interrupted. By the time they both saw who it was; they almost felt the feeling of fear when they saw their mission leader, Morino Ibiki, standing in front of them.

Naruto immediately stood up and tried to explain as to why they were late. "Anko-san sprained her ankle… I had to help her. I apologize for being late." said Naruto as he bowed down right in front of Ibiki. He was trying to look at Ibiki's face and at the same time he was waiting for Ibiki to say something but the other male Tokubetsu jounin started to walked away. Naruto only walked back to where Anko was sitting on and offered his hand for her to reach on.

Anko stood up with the help of Naruto and for awhile she has been silent which made Naruto wonder. "You seemed to be quiet, are you feeling okay?" asked Naruto.

"I'm fine…" replied Anko; still, she has been awfully silent. Naruto just kept in mind not to complain about the time.

They walked further more and found the room where Ibiki has been interrogating the last batch of criminals. To say the least, there were still a few. Ibiki noticed that they finally arrived. He decided to give the remaining batch to them since it was their original job. Once he gave them their job, he left the two to take care on getting the other batch of criminals to the prison.

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5:30 in the afternoon, Third floor – Hokage Tower

There was this eerie feeling once again and it was spread all across the room. Kurenai even wondered when they will get tired of staring at her. She couldn't pin point where or who was staring on to her. She was currently waiting for Naruto to arrive. She was just wondering what was taking him so long. It was just a simple interrogation nothing more nothing less. She looked at the clock and saw it was almost 5:45. Soon, it will be night and they will have their dinner and she will do her monitor duty.

She sighed once again. '…Another Monitor Duty…' said Kurenai on her mind.

Meanwhile, four kunoichis were watching Kurenai's every move, until… they saw someone who had a stressed face just like hers, and surprised to say it was Sarutobi Asuma, team 10's Jounin sensei.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei…" greeted Ino.

"Oh hey, Ino, what do you want?" asked Asuma as he looked at his smiling student. He could already tell there was something going on inside her blonde head.

"Well, actually not just me… we want you to do us a favor and I'm sure you're willing to do this." said Ino while behind her were Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, and Ten-ten.

"Looks like you four cornered me up…" said Asuma as he lit up his cigar. "What is it exactly that you four want me to do?" asked Asuma.

"We want you to take Kurenai-sensei to dinner right now." said Ino.

"You want me to do what?-!" said Asuma, almost shouted. Apparently, it made most of the ninjas including Kurenai to look at their direction.

Sakura sighed, at first, it was expected that he'll act like this, knowing that he likes the woman for a long time. "Stay calm… you're just going to ask her for dinner that's all, is that difficult for you to do?" asked Sakura.

"…Yes…" was all he said before he left the room.

"Sensei..?"

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7:14 in the evening, Third floor – Hokage Tower

'Where is he?' wondered Kurenai. She looked at the window and saw that it was starting to rain. 'Could anything get worse than this?-!' asked Kurenai in her mind. The last time she asked this question her apartment got burned down. She made a mental note not to be a pessimist, but apparently, her day just or shall I say night just got worse since it started to rain hard.

'Darn it! There wasn't any news about a storm coming today… what more, today is my monitor duty…*sighs*.'

Thankfully, there were only few ninjas inside the room. Some were going in and out while some talked as they let the rain passed by. Kurenai slowly walked to Naruto's desk and acted as if a document of hers slipped out from her hands, and so, she tried to pick it up, but instead, she was actually placing a note inside one of Naruto's drawer which says:

Naruto,

About the dinner, don't wait for me.

~ Kurenai

Once she left the letter on Naruto's drawer, she already left to do her Monitor Duty even if it was raining hard.

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They were already done interrogating the criminals and they also managed to take those criminals to their respective cells at the prison.

Even after the mission, Anko was still silent.

'Is she giving me the --- silent treatment ---? Did I do something stupid again?' wondered Naruto.

"Hey, you're starting to worry me… are you feeling okay?" asked Naruto, this time, Anko could feel he really meant what he was trying to say.

"I'm fine… maybe I'm just…" she hesitated for awhile but Naruto gave her a look that it was okay for her to say it, and so, she continued: "…Hungry… would you like to eat dinner with me?" asked Anko. She looked serious and not the usual brash, annoying, boyish look on her face was there. Instead, her face looked innocent like it had never showed any negative emotions like anger or rage.

But when the word --- dinner --- was said, Naruto immediately remembered at what he had said to Kurenai. "I'm sorry… I can't."

"Oh… it's okay…" said Anko with an unusual smile on her face. They walked outside the building only to find out that it was raining hard. "I guess were gonna stuck here for a little while…" she said.

'This is bad…' said Naruto in his mind as he looked at his watch. It directly indicated that it was almost 8 o'clock. Anko could feel Naruto's eagerness to go home.

"You know, it's not like she won't understand that you're late. Besides, you're a ninja. Doesn't she understand that you go to missions?-!" said Anko. She had this tone, as if, she was debating with Naruto.

Naruto sighed at the latter words. He knew that Kurenai would understand since she knew herself that he was going to a mission. He saw Anko walk to the entrance of the building, and then, turned to him. "Since you look desperate enough, come on, let's go run under the rain." said Anko.

Anko was about to take off her coat but Naruto stopped her to it. "If you want to cover your head so badly… here, take this." said Naruto as he offered his jacket to the said woman. Anko looked at it and said: "What about you?" she asked.

"You'll need it more than I do… besides, I have greater resistance, remember?" said Naruto.

Anko knew what he meant with the --- greater resistance --- thing, but still, she hesitated for a while. Naruto knew she would take without any argument, any so, he himself placed the jacket on her head and promptly walked under the rain.

Anko couldn't move on her feet. She just watched Naruto's figure running away from her through the rain. She had a smile on her face as she watched on. She loved the moment and all of a sudden she remembered that she has Naruto's jacket. A thought occurred to her. She gently took of her coat and replaced it with Naruto's jacket. Surprised to say, it was a little bit big for her. She slowly walked out through the rain with her coat on top of her and with Naruto's jacket, keeping her warm and comfy.

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11:02 in the evening

It was evidently dark and cold due to the hard rain. Kurenai hoped it might end tomorrow morning. She had been drenched and cold at the same time.

There was this awful feeling that she couldn't comprehend herself as she closed and locked the apartment's door. She knew that Naruto has a copy of the key to their apartment, so, she didn't have any worries of him entering the apartment.

It had been a hectic day as Kurenai thought as she changed her clothes into casual ones. She looked at the clock and it clearly said: 11:13.

She sighed, then, she sneezed…

She wanted to curse this day but the more pessimistic she gets, the more she attains bad luck, as though she thought. She just lay on their bed and felt the drowsiness of her eyes. She could feel the hotness of her eyelids as she tried to open them up and the next thing she could see was Naruto's face.

Naruto placed his hand on Kurenai's forehead and felt she was burning hot from a fever. She needed help and fast. Naruto knew that the healing jutsu was not enough. She needed real medicine, but the only problem is… he doesn't have one since he doesn't need one. He walked back to Kurenai's sleeping figure and placed the blanket on her and whispered: "Wait for me this time…"

With those words said, he ran fast under the hard cold rain, he looked for an open pharmacy. He knew it was impossible to see one at a time like this, but when an image of Kurenai, fragile and in pain, flowed in his mind. He pursued to continue on with the search. He was starting to think of asking Sakura's help, or even, Hinata, Tsunade, Shizune, any med-nin that he knew. He was beginning to be desperate. It couldn't be helped; knowing that on each passing second Kurenai was feeling ill. His desperation was gone when he saw a pharmacy. Naruto ran as fast as he can when he saw that it was about to close.

A female worker of the pharmacy was starting to close down the covers but she found it very difficult to pull downwards, until, she found a hand forcing the covers upwards.

"What do you think you're doing?-! We're closed, can't you see that?-!" shouted the worker.

"I'm sorry but… I really-really need some of your medicines." said Naruto as he looked up to the woman in front of him. He was already wet from the rain. Some of his hair was hanging low, while some were still sticking up. The form of his body was starting to be evident from his damped white shirt. He pushed the covers even harder and heard someone yell from the back of the store.

"Miyuki, I told you shut down the store already!" a voice of a man echoed at the back of the store.

"I know! But, someone needs our help!" replied the woman named Miyuki. She turned and smiled at Naruto and said: "Sorry 'bout that… so, what kind of medicine would you like to buy?"

"Something for cough and colds, fever, and also, headache…" answered Naruto. He watched the woman gather all the required medicines and after a couple of seconds it was all right in front of him.

"Here you go…" said the woman as she handed the small bag full of medicines in it. It was until now that she realized something about the man before her, and it was…

Naruto's body…

"Ano?" said Naruto. He hesitated for a while but decided to continue.

"Hai?-!" replied the woman with a tint of color pink on her cheeks

"Um, could you tell me…" started Naruto.

"Yes?" waited Miyuki.

"… Could you tell me the instructions on each remedy?" asked Naruto.

Kitano Miyuki, daughter of the owner of the pharmaceutical store, was standing in front of Naruto, at first, she was hoping that the man in front of her was going to ask her name or something, but it wasn't! Instead, he asked her how to use the following medicines.

She sighed and said: "Everything, except the medicine for the fever, is to be taken for every six hours while the medicine for the fever is to be taken for every four hours." instructed Miyuki.

"Thank you very much!" said Naruto. He gave the woman the payment for the ordered medicines and with that he ran as fast as he could back to his apartment.

"Why do I have the feeling you like that guy all of a sudden…" a voice from behind suddenly crept up and scared the hell out of the said woman.

"Father, don't scare me like that!" retorted Miyuki. She was sending him death glares as her father teased her.

Her father laughed when he saw the way her daughter looked at him. She was already guilty as charged. "So, what was his name?" asked Miyuki's father.

Miyuki's glare suddenly came to a halt when she remembered that she didn't ask his name. Of all the things not to remember! She sighed, deeply, and lowered her face to the floor.

"I'm guessing you didn't get the chance to talk to the guy, huh?" said Miyuki's father. He knew his daughter was feeling depressed, besides, it's not everyday you get to meet someone who's good-looking. "It's a small village, dear. You'll get to see that guy again."

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11:38 in the evening

Naruto walked inside the apartment. He found Kurenai coughing with beads of sweat on her forehead. Naruto checked her temperature and found out that it only gotten worse. He placed the small bag of medicine at a small table near the bed. Then, he looked for a basin and a face towel with success. He poured some water onto the basin, then, checked Kurenai's temperature once again and found out that it didn't change at all. He sighed and looked at Kurenai's burning face.

He decided to use a healing jutsu just to ease up her pain. And so, he formed some hand seals, and soon, there was a green glow on his hands. He placed them right above Kurenai's forehead. He looked at her and found that her cheeks weren't in shades of red just like awhile ago.

Naruto took the small bag and took out a small pill. It was for Kurenai's fever. "For every four hours, huh?" said Naruto as he looked at the pill then to Kurenai and then back to the pill again. There was one problem though…

HOW THE HECK WILL HE ABLE TO GIVE THIS TO HER! Then an image occur to him, it was him giving the medicine to the unconscious brunette, but, the process was rather oral, to say the least. It was as if he was kissing the said brunette as he tried to give the medicine. The image he saw only made him nervous, but, he needed not to get nervous. He was only gonna give her the medicine for every four hours while the other medicines were for every six hours.

Isn't that simple? NOT!

"Come on, Kit. Do it, think of it as helping her not taking advantage of her." said the Great Nine-tailed Fox as he watched his jailor, staring at the medicine.

Naruto sighed and did what the Kyuubi had said. He placed the pill inside his mouth and grabbed Kurenai by the cheek. He placed his left hand on her chin and tried to open her mouth in a slow manner. 'Here it goes…' he said to his mind. He closed his eyes as he claimed Kurenai's lips. Slowly, he pushed the medicine in using his tongue. After a few seconds, he parted from her lips and placed her back to the bed.

"So, what does she taste like?" teased Kyuubi behind his prison.

"Shut up, Fur ball…" retorted Naruto. He currently walked to the table where the basin was placed at. He took the towel and tried to take the excess water. He gently placed the damped towel on Kurenai's forehead and watched her sleep. He had to keep track of the time every now and then as though he thought. He walked back and sat on the floor. He didn't have the chance to change his clothes after getting it wet and dirty. He had the urge to fall asleep at the very moment but he knew that he had to look out for Kurenai; knowing that she might wake up. But his drowsiness overcame him and the next thing he knew, he was already in a sleepless slumber.

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A/N: Sorry for the wait… anyways… enjoy the holidays!

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.