Author's note: Sakura is about 19 and Neji is 20. We can safely say that they are casual friends. I am not sure of the other pairing that will occur other than Shizune and her mystery man. Sasuke has been back for about a year now. Enjoy!
Summary: Tsunade decides that Sakura has been single for far too long. With the help of a jutsu can Tsunade shove her apprentice in the right direction for love and hopefully a couple of adorable grandkids? NejiXSakura.
Disclaimer: I dot not own Naruto or the characters therein.
It was a nice sunny day in Konoha. The streets were busy and full of life as people went about their daily business. One building was particularly quiet though.
The Hokage's building was devoid of any and all action. Konoha had been experiencing a time of peace recently. Orochimaru had died by Sasuke's hand and the young ninja was back and living in the village. much to everyone's relief, Itachi was also dead but not by the avengers hand, hence the reason why Sasuke was living peacefully in the village looking for a wife.
Thankfully he hasn't set his sights on Sakura… and thank heavens she's no longer interested. Tsunade thought as she sipped at her sake.
In fact Sakura had not shown any obvious interest in any men since her childhood crush on Sasuke. While this little fact pleased Naruto and Kakashi, it did not please Tsunade.
We're the spinster trio… she noted sadly.
All three of them, she and her apprentices, were single and had been for quite some time. While she was a lost cause in her old age her young daughter figures were not. But sadly Shizune had remained single from her twenties to her thirties. Sakura, on the other hand, had never dated and was almost twenty.
When Sasuke came back, Sakura made it very clear that she regarded him as a friend and nothing more. In fact she seemed to be unaffected by most men.
In recent years only two men had been able to get a rise out of her and only one of those men could do so on a regular basis, though it should have been no surprise considering Hyuuga Neji's handsome appearance and stoic attitude. The other man was Sabaku no Gaara and at a Kage's meeting, he had some how managed to make her blush. Despite this feat, Neji had the Kazekage beat.
Quite regularly the handsome ANBU captain caused a pretty pink flush to cross Sakura's cheeks. The powerful man seemed to go out of his way to get this reaction from her, but he was always very subtle about it. Tsunade would have never noticed it if Hiashi hadn't pointed it out to her. And to make matters even more frustrating was the fact that Sakura didn't seem to notice her reaction to the quiet male or the fact that he seemed to be attracted to her.
Yeah, him and the rest of Konoha's male population. Rolling her eyes at this thought, Tsunade sipped the last of her sake. Sakura's fan boys were quite annoying…
A deep sigh escaped her lips as she realized that something had to be done.
Sakura was not about to go chasing after a guy and she would never let anyone set her up. The girl clearly had a type and a fan club so why didn't she just choose a guy? Any number of men would have died at a chance to date Sakura. The girl was smart, strong, and beautiful. But no... Sakura just had to be difficult.
I do want grandkids before I'm too old to spoil them! The idea of dying with out grandchildren was not a pleasant one. Even more unpleasant than that was the thought of dying with out knowing that her surrogate daughter was happy and in love, which would then lead to the whole grandkid issue being solved.
Just then a thought came to her. A devilish grin spread across her red lips as she thought of the jutsu she had learned from an old woman when she was still a teenager.
That jutsu is how I knew Dan was the one… and oh what a riot that jutsu had caused while it was in effect.
This could prove to be very intertaining.
A small laugh erupted from her as she looked towards the door with determination shinning in her tawny eyes.
"Shizune, get me Sakura and sake on the double!" She shouted as loud as she could towards the hallway beyond the large wooden doors.
An exasperated "Hai Tsunade-sama" was heard from the other side. Tsunade nodded and placed her head on her desk, deciding that a small cat nap was in order.
Twenty minutes later a frazzled looking Shizune entered the office with sake, effectively waking the blonde Hokage, and thirty minutes later a delicate knock sounded through out the small office.
"Come in." Tsunade said, already knowing who it was.
Sure enough a pink head and a booted leg stepped through the door. Tsunade smiled at her young apprentice.
Recently Sakura had taken to wearing clothes better suited for ninja work. The tight black shorts, which had always been part of her uniform, were now worn alone and a short sleeved black shirt could be seen under her green jounin vest. Her pink hair had grown out and was held back by a black cloth with her hia-ate attached.
"You wished to see me Shishou?" Tsunade had to hold back a mischievous grin as her apprentice sat in the chair across from her deck. Gaining her composure, she folded her hands in her typical fashion.
"I need to test a jutsu that I have been working on. Come stand over here. It won't hurt." Tsunade said as she gestured for Sakura to stand in front of her. The look she received was a bit skeptical.
"Are you going to tell me what this jutsu does before you use me as a ginny pig?" Tsunade had never been known for having patience and the tone and stance Sakura took was quickly using up the little patience she did have.
"No, now get over here!" she growled out. Sakura sighed and moved to stand in front of her master.
This whole process was nothing new. Tsunade often used Sakura and Shizune to test out new jutsu that were not painful.
Sakura stretched her hands out palms up in front of her master and waited. Tsunade formed the required hand signs and grabbed onto Sakura's deceptively delicate looking hands.
Sakura gasped as a red glow surrounded her. As the light faded sakura noticed that her teacher seemed rather pleased with herself.
"Did it work shishou?" Curious green eyes searched the Hokage's face for some sort of answer. The manic grin and furious nod from her mentor were answer enough.
Feeling slightly vulnerable Sakura took her seat across from the large desk and watched as Tsunade rang a small gold bell. Very suddenly Kotetsu ran through the doors ready for his orders.
"Kotetsu, go out to the market and announce that the magnetism jutsu has been used on Haruno Sakura and explain the effects of said jutsu." Tsunade said as she calmly handed a scroll to the young man. With a bow the man was out the door again.
"What did the jutsu do shishou?" Sakura's voice was worried and her eyes scanned Tsunade's face for any sort of indication as to what the jutsu did. The grin that was plastered on Tsunade's face did nothing to ease Sakura's dread.
"Well, it helps you find the person you are meant to be with." It took a few moments for the sentence to process but when it did Sakura found that she was shocked.
"What?" She asked in a slight haze. Tsunade let out a sigh.
"I got sick of waiting for grandchildren so I'm helping you out. This jutsu will let you know who you are meant to be with. So go find that lucky guy!"
Sakura blinked a few times but was brought back to reality when she felt someone,namely Tsunade, pushing her out the door. She was quickly shoved out into the hallway. Turning around to face the door she had just been shoved out of, she saw her masters face through a small crack in the wood.
"Just so you know, the jutsu might literally pull you and your intended together so try not to trample over anyone in the process. There is a reason why the call it the Magnetism Jutsu. Have fun!"
And then the door closed.
For a few minutes Sakura stared at the dark brown wood in a mixture of wonder and confusion. And then it hit her.
Shit! What if I'm meant to be with someone like Chouji? Or what if I'm secretly attracted to Lee and I don't know it? This cold be very, very bad…
"Shishou!" She launched herself at the door and this time her knocking was significantly louder.
"Shishou! Open this door! You can't leave me like this!!!" Sakura ended in a wail only to hear a gut busting laugh from the other side.
Scowling, she continued to pound on the door until her fist turned numb. Rubbing her hand and bringing it back to life, she was about to start knocking again when she was interrupted.
"Sakura-san?"
Oh no, anyone but him! she thought as she turned, wide-eyed, to look at the young man whose voice was all too familiar.
End Comments: So I hope you liked it. There will be 14 more chapters (maybe more) hopefully by the end of August. Review please… this is my first real chapter story, I'm a little nervous.