It was a widely known fact that ninjas hated travelling home after completing missions. Haruno Sakura was no exception. Spending three days walking through insect infested forests and arid deserts with depleted chakra reserves was sometimes harder than the mission itself, especially when the mission is A-ranked and involves a certain loud teammate.

This was the exact scenario that Sakura unfortunately found herself in. She, Naruto and Lee were sent on a mission to eliminate three Jounin level Nuke-nins that had been spotted at the Iwagakure border. However, the mission had been a complete disaster and what's worse is not only did they not find the missing-nin, it was reported that the troupe was in the Fire country pillaging local villages.

And to make matters worse, it was Sakura who would have to deal with Tsunade's wrath as she was the one who was assigned team leader. Which she found ridiculous on a whole other level as Naruto was clearly a better combat ninja than her, but she figured he wasn't elected due to his reckless abandon. That and he couldn't really force her to do anything, ever.

Sometimes she just had the worst luck.

"Ne, Sakura-chan it's so hot!"

"Naruto-kun, that is not how your normal youthful self acts!" Lee piped in with a comically obscene amount of tears cascading down his cheeks. Ever since Naruto had saved the village from Pain, Lee had become his number one fan and self-proclaimed rival. He was in essence mirroring Gai in the Kakashi- Gai rivalry. Their rivalry was one-sided, unwarranted, and very annoying.

Sakura sighed, it really was hot and it was muggy and all she wanted to do was get home and dip her feet in some cold water. And the frustration building up from the incessant back-and-forth from her teammates only added to the unfortunate plight of record high temperatures. "Would you two just be quiet for two minutes? We're almost to the village."

"Well well, look what we have here." A voice came from within the tree that was coated with a smug mirth.

"Who's there?" Sakura shouted as the group came to stop. An ambush was really the worst possible thing that could happen for her. The team was tired and low on chakra the last thing they needed was to fight ninjas they couldn't see.

"I hear you guys were looking for us" rang a new more masculine voice coming elsewhere from within the cover of the trees.

"Shit! It's an ambush, Formation B!" Immediately, Naruto and Lee jumped next to Sakura and took their positions, standing back to back forming an impenetrable three-man circle.

No sooner had they assembled position B, when a kunai was thrown from behind the shrubbery aimed directly for Sakura, which Naruto blocked with his own kunai, diverting the blade from its previous trajectory. As the sound of metal striking solid rock rang out, one of the attackers jumped out directed at Lee's back bearing his fist. Lee turned and caught the man's fist, but couldn't avoid the swift chakra-enhanced kick that sent him sprawling onto the forest floor, dazed. The final of the three missing-nin, a grotesque looking man with a monstrous stature, burrowed out from underground and took Lee and ran into the shelter of the trees.

"Lee! Get your hands off him!" Naruto screamed bloody murder. He was wildly protective of the few friends he had and no amount of exhaustion would get in the way of him chasing the burly ninja to the ends of the earth. And with his bottomless stamina that was very likely a possibility.

"Naruto wait! It's a trap they're trying to separate us!" Sakura called out to him, but it was too late. He had run deep into the forest chasing the shinobi and there was no way he was going to be able to hear her calling him. Another kunai flew at her and she dodged managing to escape with a cut on her cheek. If her observations were correct there were two ninja still in the trees, and she was horribly fatigued which meant she was outmatched. Her only hope was to catch up to Naruto.

Gathering up some courage, Sakura collected a handful of shurikens from her pouch and threw them where she thought the attackers were. Even if she missed, it would give her enough time to get out of the opening she was standing in and get onto Naruto's trail. The shuriken faded into the trees and she bolted in the Naruto's direction.

A burning sensation built in her thighs as she tried to keep pace with her teammate, but he was always faster than her and she would never be able to keep up. Her heart started beating faster and her chest tightened as the image of Naruto disappeared into the trees. Fear overcame her as she realized she was all alone and two jounin class ninja were on her trail. She could deal with one, but facing two was something only Naruto or Sasuke would foolishly do.

Her ears twitched as she heard a branch behind her break and she knew they were on her tail. Shivers went down her spine; she could feel their breath on her neck. Memories of the vow she had taken to protect Naruto and Sasuke passed in front of her eyes, instantly her fear was gone and she knew what she had to do. Her fear would have to take second to her duties as a ninja and a friend; even if she might die she had to protect the special people in her life.

She stopped and turned to face her pursuers, kunai in hand and a determined look on her face. A woman, roughly Kakashi's age, jumped out first with a direct attack. Sakura dodged and sent back one of her own. Her fist was caught by the other ninja, an overwhelming man that stood almost a foot taller than Sakura. He was strong, but after years of training under the slug princess and Konoha sannin Tsunade, Sakura knew she was stronger.

With a graceful pivot on the branch she was standing on, Sakura turned and kicked the man's torso with her heel sending him sprawling into the trees, damaged but not finished. She turned her attention to the woman who was flying at her with a kick. Sakura raised her arm to block the oncoming barrage and with her other hand pulled out a kunai from her back pouch. Mustering up as much energy as she could, Sakura lunged at the woman impaling her with her kunai, upper cutting her out of sight. One was taken care of, the other one was still out in the forest. He was the stronger one; the leader.

She looked around trying to find the tall man. Her heart raced as she realized she couldn't sense his presence anywhere and her breath hitched when she heard his footsteps. She saw a blur dart across her eyes and then back in the other direction. Her heart pounded, her breath hitched, and her eyes darted. She cursed the anxiety building in her chest as she couldn't see her attacker. Snapped her head up when she heard the branch above her crack. No one was there. Her stomach churned as she realized without her chakra she was a helpless puppet in the gruesome game her attacker was playing with her.

"Looking for me?" She heard a voice ring in her ear from behind her and as she turned she faced the shinobi standing on her branch, kunai pointed at her vitals. With an elegantly deadly motion, the shinobi swung his arm down kunai point bearing down at Sakura's heart.

She gasped knowing it was impossible to dodge, and in stead closed her eyes just barely witnessing a yellow flash dance before her eyes. When the sound of pierced flesh wasn't heard and the pain wasn't felt, Sakura opened her eyes. She searched for the crimson blood she expected to be covered in, but instead she was staring up in to an endless abyss of deep cerulean.

Her delicate body was held by two strong arms cradling her bridal style supported by a stable frame, that she knew belonged to her blonde teammate. Her hands had unconsciously fallen on his chest in a way that made her seem warm but fragile, like a princess. Her head nuzzled against his shoulder as she closed her eyes in relief.

Naruto was looking down at the love of his life with brows furrowed in anger at the ninja that had almost killed her. In his mouth, stained with blood, was the kunai he had used to kill the giant ninja. Mastering the Hiarashin Jutsu his father had created had been Naruto's greatest achievement and he had achieved flawless control with it. A year prior he had given Sakura a necklace that contained a seal he could use to teleport to her location.

Sakura gazed back into his blue orbs with half-lidded eyes and Naruto softened his glare. He dropped the kunai out of his mouth and leaned in towards his teammates. He parted his lips, but words didn't come out. Seconds lasted for hours, as neither spoke. Their hearts beat in synch. Their breaths flowed together. Their eyes never faltered. A gust of wind blew through the trees and across the land, carelessly lifting Sakura's feathery pink locks into Naruto's face.

"I-I think I'm going to sneeze," Naruto broke the silence...

-0-0-0-0-

"You think you're going to sneeze?" Sasuke looked as his blonde friend incredulously. There was absolutely no way one guy could be that stupid or romantically awkward. Although, it wasn't the first time Naruto had left Sasuke completely perplexed.

"I know! I fucked up!" Naruto wailed, rubbing his temples to emphasize his frustration. "I could have literally said anything, from 'I love you' to 'Your eyes look like green apple hard candies' and she probably would have fallen for me!" he bellowed slamming his fist against the counter for exclamation.

"Everyone knows that 'damsel in distress' is the most romantic scenario you can get to say 'I love you'." Sasuke massaged the bridge of his nose. He knew from Naruto's excessive sighing and moping attitude their training session was going to be one big pain in the ass.

Kicking himself mentally, he made a mental note never to ask what's up again.

Ever since Sasuke had returned to the village two years prior, he and Naruto had trained almost every day without fail. The two had become inseparable, though neither would admit it, and if either had something on his mind he'd let it out, amidst beating the hell out of each other of course.

They had to keep the particularly embarrassing things quiet though, seeing as how their routine training session had attracted quite the female harem, like moths to a light. There wasn't a girl that would pass up the chance to watch Konoha's top two shinobi duke it out.

"How do you know this shit? For a guy who doesn't have any interaction with women you sure know a lot about romance." Naruto eyed his best friend skeptically.

"I have my sources." Sasuke had been on a few dates, he just kept the whole situation very secretive. Only Sakura knew about the whole ordeal, because she was the only one he could trust to keep it on the down low – it's not like he didn't want to tell Naruto, but he was just afraid that if he did the whole village would find out.

Not that he'd intentionally tell, it's just Naruto was so... loud.

"I swear to God, if you watch one more chick flick voluntarily, I'm going to be convinced of what I already think is true," Naruto laughed. Sasuke was a terrible liar, and Naruto had figured out long ago that he went on 'secret' dates. However it pleased him to no end to mess with Sasuke, so he figured he'd just play dumb until Sasuke sacked up and told him.

"Just because you haven't seen me with a girl does not make me gay."

"All I'm saying is that if I had a posse of beautiful, willing girls following me around I'd take advantage of it."

"You do! And you have, dumbass!" Sasuke retorted, pointing his finger dangerously.

"You make me sound like a manwhore," he feigned pain. "I've dated a couple girls and hooked up with a few more. Not a big deal." It really wasn't. There was a time when he would have never dated or looked at any girl other than Sakura, but after 19 years of waiting Sakura had went on a date with another guy.. It didn't last; she couldn't bring herself to love him, but it still hurt Naruto all the same.

At first Naruto had been in denial, then anger, then overall hurt, but he had learned to accept it and even use it as motivation to move on.

He failed miserably.

He couldn't even bring himself to fully invest in other girls, because he felt it was unfair that he still loved Sakura. It was why he settled with emotionless, commitment-free hooking up. Even then it was less than impressive; he could count the number of girls he'd done that with on his fingers, since he never was much of a ladies' man despite his blessed looks.

Sasuke facepalmed, realization dawning on him. "You should have just kissed her, you've done it before."

"It's not the same. Those were just friend kisses and even the last time we were both slightly intoxicated."

The Uchiha gave him a skeptical look.

"Okay fine we were hammered. Point is you can't be held accountable for what you do when you're drunk." Naruto said, matter-of-factly.

Sasuke smiled smugly, "Like the time you made out with Ino at Kiba's after party."

"Oh yeah–" Naruto visibly blushed. "I was smashed that night. Sakura-chan didn't talk to me for like two weeks after that." His eyes darted around the training field and onto the main road in embarrassment.

He spotted the very blonde haired kunoichi they were talking about walking with a designer bag in her hand. "Speak of the devil. She's a girl, she'd know what to do!"

As Naruto ran over to Ino, Sasuke was left in the field shaking his head. "Wait up, dobe!" He yelled to his teammate. "I knew I should have skipped training today" he muttered under his breath.

Ino was walking back from Konoha's designer shopping district when she saw Naruto and Sasuke barreling towards her, the blonde screaming her name. Recently Ino had decided to ditch the risky missions and long distanced trips for ninja duties closer to home, like joining the ANBU interrogation squad.

And with all the spare time she had, she decided to create a designer brand strictly for shinobi and kunoichi, one kunai holster and jounin outfit at a time. No more boring blue sweats and green vests. Granted it was still practical, so no hot pink outfits, at least not for missions. She eventually wanted to create a line just for ninjas with some down time in the village. She had tried to get Sasuke and Naruto to model for her, sadly they wanted no part of it.

It had been awhile since Ino had ditched her feelings about both boys. No longer did she loathe the energetic blonde or obsess over the broody Uchiha. She saw the two boys that stood in front of her as brothers and very good friends – albeit sometimes irritating ones.

"Guys, we get it you love your bodies, now would you please put a shirt on you smell like rank B.O." Ino sighed – boys.

Naruto, ignoring Ino, requested "I got this little situation, can I ask you for advice?"

"Um... Sure?" She was feeling kind and she really didn't have to be anywhere important. Plus, it was nice helping Naruto since he showed the most gratitude out of anyone else.

Describing in detail, Naruto recalled the situation with Sakura. He was fully animated in his explanation, and before he knew it, he was on a full rant. Ino for the most part listened intensively, nodding occasionally for reassurance, reflecting his emotions with her facial expressions. "– then her hair tickled my nose and I said 'I think I'm going to sneeze."

Ino tried not to laugh. She tried to focus on his downtrodden look or try and imagine what Sakura felt having such a romantic moment ruined. Though she was never explicitly told, Ino had a strong inkling that Sakura had feelings for her teammate. They were just different around each other; she couldn't put her finger on it. The whole thing bothered her truthfully, she just hoped whatever was going to happen would happen so she wouldn't have to hear about it anymore.

"Well–" Ino forced out, searching for the words to make his dilemma right, "Sasuke is right, that is about as high on the romance scale as it gets for a girl. But that doesn't mean there aren't oth–"

"Damn!" Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, who looked back as if saying 'see, I told you'. "So, what exactly do I do?" he questioned, facing Ino once again.

She exhaled a deep breath, this wasn't going to be easy, "See that moment was the perfect one to make a move. Now if you want to make a move it has to be at a time as perfect as that one."

"So what I can't tell her I love her anymore?" Naruto asked, befuddled.

"No dummy. You can tell her, it just won't have the same impact, unless it's equally romantic. It's too bad you can't get that moment back."

"Well, unfortunately only Rinnegan users and Madara could control time space jutsus," Sasuke said, with his arms crossed. The fight with Madara, a year earlier, was still raw in everyone's minds, especially Sasuke's.

"Not necessarily," he mused. Naruto's eyes were squinted as if he were deep in thought. The other two just watched him waiting for his response.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she squinted.

Sasuke slapped his forehead, "Damn it Ino, why the hell'd you ask? It's going to be some stupid plan that we're all going to get in trouble for!"

"Shut the fuck up, teme! It's fool-proof," Naruto retorted, with a giant grin plastered on his face.

"Bullshit, you two are involved," she pointed out. It was a common known fact in the village that when Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke are up to something it was usually no good. Sasuke tried to distance himself from that reputation, but due to his blunt nature and lack of social skill he was sometimes worse than Naruto.

"Don't sass us, Ino-chan!" he spat out, adding the honorific for a faux-sense of respect, "You're in this whether you like it or not. Or would you rather Sakura-chan find out, just why Jiro was too afraid to date Kunoichi ever again." He loved having dirt on people; it made blackmail so much easier.

"Ugh– alright, but that punk had it coming, he didn't even look at me like a piece of meat, like I'm unattractive or something," Ino remarked, a slight fire sparking in her eyes.

"Chivalry be damned, he deserved to be mindfucked by your clan's jutsus," Naruto replied sarcastically, ignoring the death glares he was receiving. "And you," he turned his attention to Sasuke, "still owe me from the one time I saved your ass from getting in trouble for insulting the Fire lord's dignitary."

"Fine, but I still maintain that calling his wife 'well-fed' was a compliment," Sasuke defended. The dignitary was furious and was actually trying to get Tsunade to suspend him, until Naruto pretended to be Sasuke's doctor and convinced the noble that the Uchiha had a mild case of Tourretes, onset by arousal to 'the unparalleled beauty' of his wife. It was a bunch of crap, his wife is a fat load. "So what's this plan of yours?"

"If we can't go back to the perfect moment, we'll just recreate it!" Naruto smacked his fist against his open palm, enthusiastically.

"Naruto, I don't think that's a good idea. I was suggesting more like a romantic date or something that equals the romance from before," Ino reasoned.

"Too late! I'm already there!" he exclaimed, his finger pointing randomly, "Posse out!"

"– I knew this was going to be stupid," groaned Sasuke.

-0-0-0-0-

Sakura hated next day mission briefings with a passion, especially if things didn't go according to plan. Tsunade would ask her so many questions about the mechanics, the budget, the injuries, the locations of encounters, and so many other things, that frankly were unnecessary and superfluous. She didn't blame her shishou though; she knew it was protocol for all Hokage. She knew her master wasn't actually mad or disappointed in her.

Still, sitting in the Hokage office getting assessed by Tsunade was making her unbearably nervous. She didn't have the rash gall to stand up to authority that her boisterous blonde haired teammate possessed.

"Sakura, your team leading skills were acceptable. We can't be held accountable for ambushes. However, your ability to pick up on the ambush and how you handled it could have been better. I suggest you work on it." She stopped when she noticed her student's look; she couldn't bring herself to follow the hard practices set by the elders. "Still, you did a good job fighting off two shinobi, I'm proud of you," she smiled.

Sakura whipped her head up in shock, "Hai, thank you Tsunade-shishou. We would have been toast if it wasn't for Naruto."

"Wouldn't we all?" she smiled.

Tsunade placed her elbows on her desk and intertwined her fingers in front of her mouth, pensively. "By the way, Lee is doing fine. If you want to go check in on him, you're welcome to. I know it's your day off from the hospital."

"Hai"

"Dismissed!"

Sakura left the Hokage's office and decided to take Tsunade's advice and visit Lee. He was in perfectly stable condition; he'd had a mild concussion, and the only reason he was knocked out was because he was caught off guard. He was awake before they reached the village, but once again under protocol he had to be admitted to the hospital for tests.

It was a beautiful day outside. The morning fog had disappeared leaving the village bright and cool, as is typical for an Autumn day in Konoha. A gentle breeze was constantly blowing, calming and relaxing the villagers. She glanced up the street taking full note of the cafes and restaurants that took full advantage of the weather by putting tables outside. This part of the village was always alive and bustling in the evening, especially in fall when the sun still set somewhat late and the air was cool and refreshing.

The district near the Hokage tower was also where all the seasonal festivals were held, one of which – the Matsuri no Aki – was approaching in three weeks. This was traditionally to celebrate the harvest, but in modern age became known as the Pig-out Festival. Vendors from every country would come and sell their home cuisine. The festival lasted for a week and every night fireworks were set off behind Hokage tower.

It was Sakura's second favorite festival next to Hanami, the flower viewing festival in which everyone observed Cherry blossom trees – her namesake. Mostly because for the last three years, Naruto had accompanied her, and together they would gorge themselves with as much food as they could – Naruto always ate five times more – and then try and climb up, full bellies and all, to the top of the Hokage monument to watch the fireworks.

Sakura smiled inwardly when she remembered the one night when Naruto in all his bravado tried the infamous Lighting Country Spicy Platter Challenge, only to end the night begging for someone to hit him in the face with a Suiton jutsu. Sasuke kindly obliged. To this day, Naruto wears the shirt he won underneath his Kimono during the festival. As she stifled a giggle, she noticed she had already reached the five-story hospital.

Her amusement was cut short as dry, cold air greeted her as she entered the hospital, a handful of bandaged shinobi and sick citizens in the waiting room. She glanced up at one of the nurses who ran over to her, and had he sign some waiver for a leg procedure. Even on her day off, she was always working for the hospital; it couldn't be helped though, she was the Hokage's top medical pupil. After signing the document, she asked the nurse for Lee's room number.

"342, Haruno-san," she answered.

"Thank you. Also, can you keep an eye on Mr. Tanaka's blood glucose level?" Sakura bowed and left.

Lee was sleeping when Sakura walked in. She checked his dressings to make sure that they were fresh, and she refilled the vase that held the flower she gave him the night before with water. She ran her fingertips across the velvet daisy petals, and let her mind wander as she gazed out the window.

Sakura had bought flowers for her friends so many times over the years. None more than Naruto, in the year or so after his trip with Jiraiya. After Pain, he fought the remaining Akatsuki shinobi, save Konan, Madara had recruited, and Kabuto, and wound up in the hospital each and every time. It was a stressful time for Sakura, who would stay awake by his bedside until he had completely healed. She sighed involuntarily; she just couldn't get the baka out of her head.

"Sakura-san?" a voice behind her brought her out of her musings, "Something wrong? You're not looking as youthful as you normally do."

She turned around to find the second coming of Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast staring back at her with one eye open. "Lee! How long have you been pretending to sleep?" she chuckled, surprised. "You should probably patent that 'youthful as you normally do' line," she winked playfully.

"Long enough to know something's bothering you," he assured giving her a nice-guy smile. "Is it Naruto-kun?"

"What?" Her head whipped in his direction, eyes wide in shock. "What makes you say that?"

"Why, the look you just had on your face," he pointed out, as if it was the most obvious fact ever, "It's just you only look at Naruto-kun like that."

Sakura looked around the room doggedly; she hadn't realized that she looked at Naruto... differently than anyone else. Sure he had become eye candy, and she had caught herself gawking once or twice, but never did she consider she had a special look for Naruto. She pulled a chair next to Lee's bed and sat down.

She placed her elbows on the bed and propped her heads up in her hands. Sighing, she contemplated whether or not to tell Lee the awkward situation she and Naruto were involved in. Figuring it would do no harm, she started, "Well, after you were knocked unconscious I was left to fight two ninja. I got one, but another was just about to kill me–"

"Ah Sakura-san! I apologize for my failures! I promise I will run around the village 100 times to avenge my name!" he interrupted, apologizing vehemently.

Sakura gave him a nervous laugh, "Lee! Lee! It's okay, I was about to be stabbed but Naruto came in and saved me, and defeated the ninja."

"Ah, Naruto-kun is so youthful!" he marveled, streams flowing down his cheeks. "But I'm afraid I don't understand what's bothering you."

She tried piecing together the words for just exactly what was bothering her, but the whole morning she couldn't put her finger on just what it was. She mulled over a plethora of possibilities. Maybe she was upset because she failed as a leader? Maybe she was bothered because she needed saving again? Could it be that she was expecting, hoping, Naruto would say something? Or maybe she felt she should have said something, whatever that may be?

"Well – it's just, when he saved me and I was in his arms, he looked at me like he was going to say something important. But then something happened and he didn't say it. I don't know why that's bothering me."

"Are you curious about what he was going to say?"

She gave him a limp-wristed 'maybe' motion. "Possibly, but even so for some reason it's still bothering me. There's more to it."

"Maybe you're wondering if he was going to say something you wanted him to say?" he guessed.

Her mouth opened, but she didn't have any words to say; Lee had left her speechless. Was he right? Maybe he was right and she wanted him to say something... more. More importantly, how had Lee figured it out when she had no clue?

"H-how? What makes you say that?"

"Because I can understand that feeling," he muttered, suddenly interested in his sheets.

"TenTen?"

"Yeah" he nodded.

She comfortingly placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a caring look. "She'll come around, though Lee I think you should be more up front with her. A girl appreciates confidence! Gusto! Passion! Although you're leaps and bounds ahead in gusto" she smiled.

"Thank you, Sakura-san."

"No, thank you Lee."

-0-0-0-0-

A week and a half later

"Baa-chan we need your help!" Naruto yelled, kicking open the Hokage's office door and barging in uninvited. He always tended to have an informal love rather than a formal respect for Tsunade, and he was damned if he'd let that change with age.

"Naruto, you can't just barge in! Show some respect, she's the Hokage after all!" Ino chided Naruto, yanking his ear.

"It's not like the Hag's doing anything better than sipping sake anyways," Naruto replied, massaging his reddening ear. He turned to face the Hokage, choosing to ignore the vein bulging in her forehead. "Baa-chan, I'm not going to beat around the bush. Can you give Sakura-chan and me a fake mission?" he asked, "It's all part of an elaborate plan I have to tell her how I feel," he elaborated.

Tsunade massaged her temples, "So let me get this straight, you kick in my door, you call me lazy, and you expect me to go against Hokage codes and lie to my pupil? Have you gone completely insane, Gaki!" Tsunade yelled of which had no affect on Naruto.

"He called you old too Tsunade-sama," Sasuke piped in rather meekly, to which Naruto replied with a punch in the arm. Ever since he had come home, Sasuke had tried desperately to try and win the approval of the elders in the village. He had kissed so many pompous, wrinkled butts that he could have swore he was in politics.

"Right, thanks I guess, Sasuke." Tsunade was honestly getting tired of the overly nice Sasuke. She had already forgiven the boy, as he had already shown his unwavering loyalty and his friendly gentle side. Still, it was nice having someone trying to constantly win approval from her. Certainly a refresher from the way Naruto treated her.

"Kiss ass," mumbled Naruto.

"What was that Dobe, you want to say that to my face!" he retaliated, Sharringan painting his eyes red.

"You want to die? Because I'll make it happen, Teme!" he shouted shaking his fist in front of the Uchiha's face.

"Boys, boys please not in the Hokage's office," Ino pleaded. Unlike Naruto, Ino was actually afraid of the Hokage's wrath. Not that Tsunade would do anything to hurt her, but just the fact that she could always scared her.

Not to mention that Sasuke and Naruto always were always bickering like brothers, which was fine, except they were both S-ranked ninja, so their petty fights always caused major damages. Wrestling moves eventually turned into Katon Jutsus, and then someone wound up in the hospital for a mild concussion. It was usually up to whatever sensible Kunoichi was around to separate the two, before they got hurt.

"Enough!" scolded the now infuriated Hokage.

"Oh right," Naruto remembered letting go of the half-nelson he had on Sasuke, "yeah, what you said pretty much sums it up. So what do you say?" He nodded matter-of-factly, like what he asked was so obvious.

"Umm... No," she uttered rather bluntly, "Now get the hell out of my office! I have work to do." This was their thing: He'd come in and make ridiculous claims, asking for far too much, and she would categorically deny it. Eventually one of them would tire and give, but the 'battle' always provided worlds of entertainment.

"Baa-chaan pleaase! I need this for closure," he waivered at the last part with his eyes focused on his feet. "To know if she cares about me. If she doesn't this time, I'll know I have to give up wanting her," he muttered to himself. "Besides it's fool-proof."

"Cut the puppy dog bullshit Naruto, I know you better than that," she chided. "And I seriously doubt it's fool-proof since you and Sasuke are involved."

"Ha! I told you!" Ino blurted, smile plastered across her face.

"Besides, Naruto there are easier ways to tell her how you feel. Why don't you take her on a romantic date?" she suggested helpfully.

"It's not romantic enough!" He argued. When he saw a wrinkle of confusion appear on her artificially youthful face, he continued "There was a romantic moment that... well occurred or we... err found ourselves in and umm... I kind of botched it. Well not comp–"

"The Dobe saved her life, but instead of doing something romantic he said he had to sneeze. And now he thinks he can't tell her how he feels until the moment is equally romantic," Sasuke explained flatly. "Thus he wants to put her in danger so he can save her again. You're welcome, retard."

"God I hate you," he sighed.

Tsunade bubbled with laughter, bringing attention to herself, "You said you had to sneeze? You couldn't just hold it?"

"I didn't even sneeze, which is the worst part. Do you see why I need this? I need to be in that romantic situation again, otherwise Sakura won't take what I say seriously"

"Oi Gaki that's not how a woman's heart works! There's no romance scale, you can be just as romantic without risking her life," Tsunade advised. "Go on a walk by moonlight, or give her your jacket when she's cold. The little things boy!"

"That's just it! I can't do all that cheesy romantic stuff! I might as well have been raised by water buffalo! I need this!" he pleaded.

"Well, can't argue there," she chuckled, "I suppose you're coming to me, because you tried your plans and they didn't work. Just how many times was Sakura put at risk?"

Naruto looked up as recounted all the plans that had gone awry in the last week and a half. There was the time he tried saving her from the piano Sasuke dropped from the third story of a building. She dodged and Naruto ended up taking the brunt of the blow to the head. Then three days later he tried saving her from boiling water that was 'accidently' bumped. Unfortunately he slipped and burned his arm, while Sakura gracefully side stepped the entire event. Then five days later, he tried catching her from the 3rd floor of a small building that her and Ino were standing on top of. Once again she caught herself and Naruto went careening into a wall.

"Three." Ino's response broke Naruto out of his musings. "Each and everytime Naruto's been comically injured" she laughed.

Tsunade sighed, "You're not going to stop until I allow this mission to happen huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he grinned.

"I honestly hope when you're Hokage you meet a child equally as tiresome as you are," she ran a hand through her hair. "Well Uzumaki, what's your plan?" she asked, honestly curious about what her adoptive son was scheming. She would later regret asking...

"Okay so," he paused to pull out, seemingly out of nowhere, a scroll containing a topographic map of Konoha and her surroundings, "I call this plan 'The Princess in the Tower.' Baa-chan, you're going to send me and Sakura on a mission to stop a 'nuke-nin' or something, I'll let you decide. Make it plausible though, nothing to easy but nothing to hard either." He utilized the proper hand motions and coordinated his speech while simultaneously pointing at the map.

"From there we will head due east towards the Hidden Mist, where 4 kilometers out at rendezvous point A I will be 'impaled' by a kunai that Ino throws from inside the bushes," he strategized. He glanced at Ino, who was heavily rolling her eyes. "Simultaneously, Sasuke will place a genjutsu on Sakura, to convince her that there is nothing she can do, but pursue my attacker in an eastward direction."

"Are you kidding me? I'm not putting a Genjutsu on her, she'll kill me if she ever finds out," Sasuke debated.

"She won't find out, it'll be fine"

"And if she does? Sakura is one of the smartest kunoichi in village and a pretty damn good Genjutsu user herself," he fretted, fearing his well being.

"You can blame the whole thing on me," reasoned Naruto.

"Fine, but I'm still going to get my lumps," he muttered.

"You got that right," Ino chimed, knowing full well what an angered Sakura was capable of, and honestly she had wanted no part.

"Well anyways," Naruto drew out trying to catch everyone's attention again, "as Sakura proceeds a three ninja 'ambush' consisting of a henge'd Sasuke and two Sunagakure shin-" he was cut off, while pacing the room with his hands behind his back.

"Wait! What?" Tsunade interrupted. "What do you mean sand shinobi? I have no jurisdiction over them. And why them?"

"I talked to Gaara, he's already sent a few, and they should be here today. And they're crucial because she won't recognize them! As much as it pains me to say, Sasuke is pretty damn good at disguising himself, but anyone else from Konoha, she'd recognize." He chose to ignore the arrogant look on Sasuke's face.

"You got the Kazekage involved? Gaki it's one thing you bother me, I'm used to it, but Gaara is the leader of another village," Tsunade rubbed her head in her hands.

"He owes me anyways, I taught him how to loosen up and have a little fun."

Tsunade shook her head trying to fathom Naruto's capability of connecting with people. "What would you have done if I had no to this mission?" she stated obviously.

"Baa-chan, that was never really an option," he shook his head. He continued with the plan, "She should easily be able to knock out the two sand jounin, and that's when Sasuke comes in to get in a position to finish her off. That's when I heroically come back and save her and tell her how I feel!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist into his open palm. "Then we run off into the sunset and romantic bullshit like that."

Tsunade stared at Naruto Uzumaki incredulously, her mouth agape. "I can't believe it... You two particularly are my highest ranking Jounin; I give you the hardest missions! When do you have time to come up with these half-baked plans?" She focused on Naruto who wore a look of pride on his face.

"Between those mission, Baa-chan," he smiled, "Besides, this plan is fully baked. So are you going to make it official?"

Tsunade burst into laughter, "How could I not? I want to see this stupid plan play out and watch you fall flat on your face. But when you do, you have to take my advice about Sakura."

"Ha! It's not going to fail Hag, just watch!" he yelled, pointing at her accusingly

She turned her attention to the other blonde, "Ino watch your boys, they're your responsibility now."

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama," she grimaced knowing full well they would get her in trouble with either Sakura or the Hokage.

"Oi Gaki," she called, as Naruto was walking out, "take some allergy meds, we don't need you sneezing again." He opened his mouth to retaliate but he couldn't think of any comebacks. The door closed behind him, "Even if everything goes to plan, he still has to tell her he tricked her," she thought aloud to herself.

-0-0-0-0-

Sakura strolled through the park, unusually cautiously for a girl walking in her own village, but recently it seemed as though bad luck just seemed to follow her around. And each and every time Naruto was there, hurting himself by acting like a complete goof. It was very amusing, but at the end of the day she had to patch him back up.

It wasn't even the random accidents that seemed to be bothering her. If anything she just attributed it to her knack of being a klutz. What really was on her mind was her last mission and the moment her and Naruto had. After her talk with Lee, she couldn't stop thinking about it and why it was bugging her so much.

The fact that she hadn't really even gotten a chance to talk to Naruto alone after the mission didn't help. Usually they grab a post-mission ramen, but this time she had to brief the Hokage. And ever since then Naruto had been really... dodgy, in a way that definitely suggested he was up to something.

"Oi, Sakura, what are you up to?"

She jumped, startled by the familiar voice pulling her out of her musings. Peering up at the nearest tree branch, she noticed her masked teacher staring back down at her, eyes closed which she assumed meant he was smiling at her. She flashed a quick smile back and called up to him, "Oh hey Kakashi-sensei you scared me half to death! What're you doing in a tree?" Her eyes darted to his hands, which contained the newly released collector's edition of Icha Icha. Ebisu had continued Jiraiya's unfortunate... legacy. "Oi sensei! Stop reading that porn in public!" she scolded!

Kakashi leaped off the branch in front of his only female student, hands folded begging her to be quiet, "Hey, hey shh. It's not porn, it's art Sakura."

"Right," she scoffed, an eye roll evident in her tone.

"What were you thinking so hard about Sakura?" he queried, hoping to diverge the subject away from his smut books. "You're usually pretty aware of your surroundings. Something bothering you?"

"Ah it's Naruto" she confessed. There was no getting around Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke were socially dense, but Kakashi had a certain wisdom that no one in Team 7 had. Maybe all those Icha Icha books paid off?

"Oh my other student? What has he done this time?" he joked, not all surprised that is was Naruto that was on her mind. However, he was shocked that it was Naruto that made her look so downtrodden, usually he would never stand to see her upset.

"Well," she began, "Naruto and I had a... well moment and ... um I don't really know... what to make of it," she babbled. "It's just that it has been a week and a half since the mission and I have yet to get a chance to talk to him about it."

"No post-mission ramen?" he quirked his eyebrow.

"Nope, he spent the next day training with Sasuke," she recalled.

"Sasuke? Those two hung out the day after this 'moment'," he said, putting air quotes around the word moment, to which Sakura gave him a quick glare. "You know they're prob–"

"Oh damn! They're up to something stupid again huh?" she groaned. Naruto and Sasuke were always up to hare-brained schemes and she was always blamed by association.

"Seems like" he chuckled at his students exasperated countenance. It reminded him of when they were just kids.

"Oh God, like when they were convinced Shishou's office was bugged and they blasted open two of the walls?"

"Or when they learned that fires are important for plants, and they burned down half of the Hokage's garden?" Kakashi reminisced.

"Ugh! What do I do, Sensei?" she bemoaned.

"Hm, I don't know," he shrugged

"Sensei! As my teacher you're supposed to help me when I need it."

"Naruto is the number one most unpredictable knuckle-headed S-class ninja. With Sasuke, the two are impossible to figure out. I think your best bet is just to wait until he realizes he's being an idiot and comes to talk to you."

"That's your sound advice? You used to be better at this," she complained. "You're getting a little lazy in your old age Kakashi-sensei," she poked him playfully.

It was true. Kakashi had gotten a little lazier during peaceful times. It was pretty common to find him roaming around reading Icha Icha books in sweat pants. Rumor had it he was a co-writer in the series, and another rumor, that Sakura was particularly excited for, suggested he was actually seeing a woman. Sakura squealed in delight at the thought of her sensei finally settling down.

"Ah, Sakura don't make your beloved Sensei feel so old," he pleaded grabbing his chest tightly.

"But you are!" she smiled. "And what's this I'm hearing about a certain beautiful woman that you've been rumored to be seen with?" she prodded rather unceremoniously.

"Uh well right, you see my cousin is in town and um... Oh! Is that Naruto?" he pointed behind her.

She whipped her head around, "Where?– Oh damn!" She turned back around to see Kakashi had disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Still gets me every time!"

Another puff of smoke appeared in front of her, "Aha! Gotcha now Kakashi-sensei!" She said grabbing the man within it, in a two armed tackle.

"Err– Haruno-san, I am not Kakashi-sempai, I'm here on behalf of the Hokage." Sakura craned her head up only to peer into an ANBU-masked face. She quickly shed her hold and apologized profusely, her face matching her cherry locks. "Right well... no worries," he coughed, "The Hokage has requested for you... um right– bye," he rather uncharacteristically stammered, as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. He was probably just as embarrassed as Sakura.

Sakura sighed, it was going to be a long day...

-0-0-0-0-

It was Naruto's day of reckoning, the day he'd confess his feelings to Sakura, and he was nervous to say the least. Pen furiously danced across paper, as he thought of the exact words he wanted to say, while waiting for his angel at the village gates. Nothing was clicking. He'd seen all the movies, where the man ran through bustling traffic and up multiple flights of stairs to come to the door of his beloved. Where he would recite some poetic masterpiece that he created on the spot from his heart, never once panting from his perilous journey.

Well Naruto tried writing from his heart, and he came to the immediate conclusion that his heart was only good for pumping blood. If he was going to say anything romantic, it'd have to come from his mind, which he also had to concede was not at all romantically inclined. He was screwed.

"What're you writing?" he heard come from a familiar pink-haired source.

He snapped his head up to meet her glance; he had been so predisposed with what he was going to say he didn't even see her coming. "Ah," he began, stuffing the paper in his back pocket, "just some plans, y'know? Strategies and possible scenarios."

She stared at him inquisitively quirking an eyebrow, "Since when do you make strategies? Aren't you more of a 'do things as they come' guy?"

"Yeah! Ha well... it's never too late to start thinking more– y'know?" he stammered, rubbing the back of his head. He knocked on his skull, "Besides if I'm going to Hokage someday, I'm going to have to know how to strategize," he chuckled nervously.

She crossed her arms and gave him a good, long stare. "Riight." Sakura guessed he was up to something. However figuring he probably wouldn't jeopardize the mission or her life, she dropped her inquisition. She'd just have to twist his arm after the mission to make him confess.

"Do you smell that?" she asked wafting the air, "Is that... cologne?" She moved closer to Naruto, sniffing his jacket, "Are you wearing cologne?"

"Ah," he started, gears in his mind whirring, "you see I had to pick up new underwear from the store, and I walked through the cologne aisle and the lady sprayed me," he explained, fitting lie after lie seamlessly together.

"Naruto, if you're up to something I swear–" she pointed a finger dangerously at him.

"Sakura-chan, don't worry!" he gave her his most comforting, genuine smile.

"– I'll hit you.." she sighed. Kakashi was right, there really was no reasoning with Naruto; she just had to let him do what he was going to do and then scold him later, like a little boy.

They started their journey slow, because the 'mission' wasn't too urgent. The two had kept conversation to a minimum and Naruto's unnatural despondency began bothering Sakura. The blonde was usually so boisterous with his boyish bravado. He'd make wild claims and tell fantastic stories accompanied by excessive arm motions and expressive eyes. Sakura always found it adorable how his eyes always paralleled his tone. Those particular memories of him always brought her inner joy and comfort. Whenever she was stressed, Naruto's goofy antics always took her to much simpler, happier times.

"I hope you've been practicing for the festival. I sure have; I think I could even eat more than you this year," she smiled warmly at him. Anything to break the silence.

His face lit up as he looked at his teammate, "No way! I ate circles around Chouji, you got nothing on me!" he boasted.

"Bah! So what?" she giggled at the squint he gave her, "I've been getting better at my bodies expense!"

"Sakura-chan your figure's perfect," he stated bluntly failing to notice the blush on her face. She loved how Naruto would compliment her because he honestly meant it and not because he had some ulterior motive. He continued obliviously "You remember last year you tried challenging me to a soba noodle challenge? Who ended up winning?"

"Who came to my door asking for help because his stomach was going 'to 'splode'?" she retaliated

"Shush, pain is temporary, glory lasts forever," he said proudly.

She punched him lightly on the arm, "That's such a boy quote!" she snickered, "Any who I know for sure I can drink you under the table!"

"Psh, yeah right! I can take any–"

"Whattabout that one time?" she interjected, squinting at him with an evil grin on her face.

His face suddenly flushed red, "Th-that was one time! And Teme spiked my drink with some bootleg, illegal stuff! Tasted like I swallowed a Katon jutsu.." he defended, recalling just how potent that one shot was.

"Doesn't matter, if I remember correctly you serenaded me by singing into a toothbrush?" she recalled.

"One time! I have the Kyuubi no Yoko inside me! The demon of all demons to eat the excess alcohol, you got nothing on that," he informed her smugly.

"Pft, what's that little puppy to me? I am student to the legendary gambler and drinker Sannin, Tsunade!"

"Well, I can't argue there," he laughed his most honest laugh.

A small silence fell upon the two, and Sakura wasn't about to let him live the infamous night down. "And then you jumped on Sasuke's back and called 'Rodeo Sasuke' and wouldn't get off until he kicked you off."

"Sakura-chaaan, you're taking fun in my misery," he pouted.

"Aww, I'm sorry Naru-chan," she cooed, "did I huwt your feewings?" She giggled adorably which warmed Naruto's heart. It was moments like that he woke up every morning for.

"He–" he was cut short by kunai that flew at him from within the trees. "Ohh noo, oww! My chest, Sakura-chan oww I've been hit," he feigned his best pained yell. Unfortunately, he wasn't much the actor, so he let his body drop and hit the forest floor.

"Naruto!" Sakura was about to go help her fallen teammate, when something within compelled her to pursue Naruto's attacker.

Chakra pumping into her legs, she dashed into the forest canopy, the realization of deja vu not escaping her mind. She followed the enemy into a clearing in the forest, when from behind her she heard an attacker honing in. Gracefully pivoting she caught her enemy's fist and threw him into the trees. Another leapt out from directly in front of her and she swiftly kicked him into a nearby bush.

Her ears caught a rustle from behind her. As she turned to face the shinobi, she realized he was much closer than she anticipated with a kunai already raised above her head. As he swung down, her eyes instinctively shut. She cursed inwardly at her carelessness, wondering how she could possibly fall for the same scenario twice in two weeks.

When the blow she expected to come once again never arrived, she pried open one of her eyes. Her attacker remained frozen in his pre-striking position, his eyes nervously glancing between her and the bush to his left as if he were waiting for something. Sakura followed his line of sight, stunned immobile and not quite sure what to expect.

She heard violent rustling coming from behind the trees and then a familiar, boisterous voice, "Oww, I'm stuck ack– hold on! I'll be right there, sonuvabitch! Are these fucking thorns poisonous?" Both shinobi standing in the clearing shook their heads; Naruto could be so clumsy sometimes.

Sakura used the momentary distraction to her advantage and upper cutted the enemy, sending him into a nearby stump. She was about to finish her attack when she once again heard the voice of her knuckle-headed teammate.

"Ah, goddam it! Finally! I'll save you Sakura-chan!" he shrieked charging into the clearing, making a direct beeline for Sakura. Said kunoichi snapped her head to face the direction of the voice only to witness the Naruto Uzumaki charging towards her, arms open. "I'll save y– Ah what the f–"

He finally observed the situation, noticing Sakura standing alone in the clearing and his other teammate, whose henge had dropped, sitting against a stump cradling a bloody nose. Warning signs flashed in his mind as he realized if he didn't stop he would collide directly into the woman he was trying to save. His feet attempted to skip to a stop, but it was of no avail and in fact only sent him stumbling. Destiny was meant to be played out, and it was his destiny to botch up once again the moment he worked so hard to recreate.

Earth collided with heaven, as Naruto and Sakura tumbled to the forest floor. Naruto's instincts drove him to rotate the now uniform body so he would shoulder the landing. Sakura's body landed heavily on top of him, a few inches separating their faces. Her countenance, which was supposed to be in a half-lidded, lustful gaze, was contorted into a look of frustration, anger and sheer confusion.

"Ungh," she groaned from the roller coaster of a tumble she took. "Narutoo, what the hell is going on?" she yelled, lifting her body off the ground after realizing her proximity to her teammate.

"Uhh–"

Her attention diverted as she suddenly remembered the mission, and being attacked. Her eyes dashed to the location she had sent the last shinobi, looking for what had become of her foe; however her eyes rested upon none other than her Uchiha teammate.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?" The realization that Naruto and Sasuke were attempting to play some trick dawned on her. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, "Naruto, Sasuke-kun, what is the meaning of this?" she gritted out menacingly.

"Don't forget about Ino," Sasuke said massaging his nose.

"Sasuke you duck haired bastard! Why when I get my hands on you, you're gonna beg to get your ass beat by Sakura!" barked a voice concealed in the trees.

"Fuck it! I don't care! If I'm getting dragged down for this so are you!" he shouted back at her, shaking his fist at the sky.

"Ino-Pig you too? Seriously, what the hell is going on?" she asked into the heavens.

"Ask the Dobe," he muttered.

"Naruto. Explain. Now" She stared at him, and he stared back like a deer in the headlights.

He stood there mouth agape, searching for the right words for the moment. Reaching in his back pocket, he pulled out the paper with notes he had written earlier, which was accompanied by Sasuke and Ino's simultaneous facepalm. He cleared his throat, "Your eyes are like two gre–"

"You're such a baka!" she shouted, flogging his noggin. She stormed off hands flailing in frustration, her voice getting less and less distinguishable, "God save me, I'm surrounded by a bunch of no good, stupid, moronic..."

"Well Dobe, that didn't go so well.." Sasuke said walking towards Naruto.

"You fucking think, Teme?" he cursed, tending to his bruised head.

-0-0-0-0-

It had been almost a week and a half since Sakura had talked to him. She had not taken to kindly to his little stunt, and she had stormed off so fast he didn't even have a chance to explain. Not that elaborating on his plot would have made the situation better at all; if anything it would have just got her more peeved.

Part of him didn't even want to go outside for the Matsuri no Aki, seeing as how it wasn't the same without Sakura. Yet here he was, sitting at a stall selling Mizugakure's famous shrimp tempura, discussing his misfortunes with the bartender and a random old man from Sunagakure. He sighed, the food just didn't taste the same, when he didn't have someone to share it with. Neither Sasuke or he wanted to enjoy the festival with another man, and Ino was with her teammates. And Hinata was out of the question because, he could never spark a solid conversation out of her. Though, he knew that wasn't the real reason he couldn't spend it with her; the real reason was that she wasn't Sakura.

He drooped his head for the umpteenth time that day, and pulled away from the counter. He paid the man and placed a tempura in his mouth, before leaving the stall. The festival was truly beautiful, he observed: red lanterns lined the main road leading to the Hokage tower, which was lighted by lamps that shined lights on the exterior of the building. All the shinobi and citizens from all the different villages were dressed in their finest colorful attire.

Couples walked up and down the street hand in hand, sampling culinary fares from all over the shinobi nations. All of them had a smile plastered across their faces; all of them stared longingly into their significant others' eyes. How he wished he could walk with his arm draped over Sakura's shoulder, talking about nothing important.

The sun had long set, and soon the vendors would close their stands for the night while the bustle on the streets died down and the local bars would open for the all night adult crowd. Soon the fireworks would start and Naruto would have to make his way to the top of the Hokage Mountain. In all his years he had never missed one, provided he was in the village of course.

Others also made the trek to the top of the mountain, but no one dared take the treacherous path that led to the top of the Yondaime's head, except of course shinobis. But when word leaked that the Yondaime was Naruto's father, it became an unwritten law that the spot on his head was Naruto's only. He of course found this ridiculous and begged people to use it as well, since it did have the most spectacular view, but he did find it nice to have people recognize the father-son bond.

As he made his way up to the top of the mountain he realized, his spot was especially nice during the Matsuri, because from there he and Sakura would watch the fireworks undisturbed, spending hours talking even after the show ends. Occasionally she would nod off on his shoulder and he'd brush her hair out of her eyes.

Approaching his perch, he caught wind of a very familiar scent: strawberries. He always wondered why people assumed she smelled like cherry blossoms just because that was her name; he didn't even know what that smelled like. He gazed upon her silhouette peering over the village, waiting for the fireworks to begin.

His breath hitched as he got closer and noticed how much she had grown in the eight years since the days they were twelve. She was wearing a white yukata with pink sakura petals and obi, and embroidered with a green trimming. Her hair was tied up in a classy yet sexy bun that artfully showcased the length and leanness of her nape. With her hair up, her long green earrings were dangling visibly, shining against the moonlight.

Had her hips been slightly wider, she would have had the perfect hourglass figure, yet Naruto considered her shape exactly what a goddess should have. He was aware that as a kunoichi her trained body was lithe and tight. It had to be if she could climb to his spot in such traditional, restrictive clothing. And though her legs were covered by her yukuta, he knew her legs were long and slender, just how he liked. He smiled thinking of just how much her he thought was perfect.

He broke from his conscious, "Heya Sakura-chan."

"Hey Naruto," he could hear the smile in her voice.

She turned to face him and his voice escaped him. In his eyes the moon herself paled in beauty to Sakura. Her face was adorned with just the right amount of make-up that complimented her eyes sublimely. Her lips had a natural redness that screamed for a kiss from him. She looked strong yet fragile, somber yet excited, and angelic yet attainable. He wanted so much to reach for her and pull her into his arms, to kiss her and make her his, but was afraid if he did his majestic portrait would vanish.

"Watcha up to?" he said snapping out of his trance, before he drooled rudely. He walked towards her stopping a few feet away, peering into her eyes.

Sakura was also pleasantly surprised to see how handsome Naruto had become. His semi-formal kimono screamed classy but young. His usually wild hair was shaped charmingly around his forehead, with his bangs covering his eyes. Sakura would never cease to get lost in the two endless dark blue pools he used as eyes. He had gotten much taller and much more muscular since their Gennin years; however, he remained cut rather than bulky.

"Waiting for you ya' big goof," she chuckled. "Don't tell me you forgot?" she feigned being hurt.

"Ah of course not, how could I forget?" he laughed. He glanced over his shoulder, "Y'know climbing up here is a lot easier when I haven't consumed my body weight in fish!"

She smiled, "True, but I still kinda missed our challenge. I was so ready too." She paused for a moment trying to direct the conversation, "I would have joined you, but Tsunade wanted to talk to me."

"About?" he asked awkwardly while trying to keep his distance.

"You"

"Me?" He pointed at his chest.

"Yeah," she began, "about me being mad you and our last... err mission."

"Oh... Listen Sakura-chan, I'm really sor–"

"Shh" she hushed, getting close enough to put a finger on his lips, "she explained what you were doing and that you really had good intentions. Just tell me what was the point of such a... well stupid plan?"

"I don't know."

Naruto, I've known you long enough to know when you're lying–"

The dam between his brain and mouth broke as his words spilled out, "I don't know, we had that really romantic moment before and I botched it by saying... y'know... and then I didn't know what to do so I asked Sasuke, and he's a retard and Ino said too bad you can't have it back and then you didn't get stabbed. And. I... fail," he finished drooping his head at his lousy and frantic explanation.

Sakura blinked at him multiple times, before bursting into laughter. She cupped his cheek, "Oh Naruto, you're such a dope! You could have been just as romantic in another way."

"How? I'm not good with romance!" he pouted.

"Really? What do you picture a perfect moment with me is?" she inquired.

He was taken about by the question. "Well we're alone."

"Mhm, and?" she said inching closer.

"We'd probably be under the stars."

"Anything else?"

"And... there's a beautiful view," he said

"That sounds pretty romantic to me, don't you think Naruto." She wrapped his arms around her waist and craned her neck up, realizing just how much taller he was than her. "You should look around, dummy"

It finally hit him, what she was implying, "Sakura-chan, this place has all that stuff."

"Yeah, it does baka, so kiss me," she whispered, lifting herself onto her toes

He responded by leaning down and crushing his lips against hers sending a fiery explosion of passion and warmth down their spines. His arms completely enveloped her and her hands tangled in his hair as their kiss deepened.

She pulled away and opened sea foam eyes to make contact with his cerulean eyes. Her mouth was still parted from their passionate kiss, her expression was half-lidded and dazed. He looked down at her, breathing heavily with neurons firing a thousand miles a second. It was as if all his neatly packaged dreams and organized fantasies had unraveled in a chaotic collision of joy and anxiety.

He rested his sight on her radiant face and instinctively said, "I love you Sakura-chan."

She smiled and closed her eyes against his chest, tightly wrapping her arms around his waist. "I love you too Naruto"

She buried her head into his chest, smiling happily at the warmth emanating from his body. He rested his chin on her head, watching the finale of the fireworks.

"Sakura-chan, let me tell you a story about the Man and the Spicy platter challenge..."

She smiled. This was perfect.

Review please! Doesn't have to be something nice, constructive criticism is good too! AND/ OR favorite, I'll love you forever, possibly...

Hey guys, I haven't written in a long time and I figured I would this week, seeing as I'm relaxing at home during spring break. I started this in Summer and now picked it up again like 6 or 7 months later, so it might not be too good. It's a pretty dumb premise by ah welll.

Oh and if you like this check out my other story "If you were a star."

If you don't, I dont blame you lol.

If you're waiting for any of my chapter fics just know they have passed on. RIP (They were terrible anyways)

I just wanted to have a goofy topic and little mushy romance. Yes I do think Naruto is that dumb haha. So I hope you enjoyed and leave reviews. I do love reviews =]

BTW I'm not Japanese nor do I speak Japanese, so that Japanese festival and the clothes is coming out of pretty much wikipedia. The festivals totally made up, but it'd be bitching if it was real lol.