Hello! If it wasn't obvious already, my pen name is TheBlazingPinkInferno and I'm extremely flattered you've decided to begin my story (that or you accidentally clicked on it, which is fine too)! This is my first story so I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to writing things like this, but I've loved Naruto for a long time now and have decided to express it in writing. Unfortunately, and I hope this doesn't turn some people away, but I was not at all satisfied with the ending of the series, as I felt that Kishimoto left a lot of developments open ended and unresolved. It had nothing to do with the ending pairings per say, more with how I felt some of the character's interactions were very out of character in the epilogue and the movie, Naruto: The Last. I felt that Naruto and Sakura getting together after the war would be very in character for both of them, so that's why they're the main pairing of this story.

Nonetheless, I do focus on other characters too, and I plan to dedicate a lot of time to them too, because I thought they were also underappreciated by Kishimoto in the last developments of Kishimoto's series. So if you're looking for a story that is all about sappy romance between two characters, then this is not for you. I don't own these characters, and I am not "re writing the ending".

This story takes place about three years after the conclusion of the Fourth Shinobi World War and Sasuke and Naruto's second fight at the Valley of the End (I loved this in the manga), and is, essentially, what I envision would've happened afterwards. Again, I'm a complete noob at all this. But I hope that you find something you like in this first chapter! Please comment and review!

Chapter 1

The wind blew in such a way that no one could possibly notice the bustling village hidden within the trees. People had always wondered why it was called the "Leaf Village", and most of the ninja who lived there had come to the conclusion that it was because of the gigantic, looming woodland that surrounded it. Everywhere you looked, there were trees, and if you focused the chakra in your eyes hard enough, you could see the individual leaves blowing in the breeze. All the trees and leaves worked together to conceal the village and protect it from outside invaders. They worked together to keep the village safe, just like the hardworking ninja who lived there. This was why it was called "Konoha".

"At least, that's what Gramps told me once," Konohamaru said.

"Honestly 'Hamaru," Moegi sighed, "I'd listen to your stories any other time. But, could you focus here? I don't want to be caught doing this."

Konohamaru pushed off another branch to keep up with her. She moved fast when she wanted to. "Oh, come on! It's a good story!"

She groaned. "Your stories are rarely good."

"They are if you listen to them!"

The two swung through the trees like monkeys and hopped off limbs like gazelles. Moegi was right. They had every reason to be cautious. Once someone from the hospital noticed one of the slug summoning scrolls was gone, they'd send someone out to look for it.

"Seriously, Moegi," Konohamaru said, "You couldn't have picked another technique to teach yourself? I really don't want Sakura's monster strength on my ass."

Moegi rolled her eyes. "Geez," she chided. "You have to be respectful! Say 'Sakura-sama'! She's much older and stronger than you are!"

"Hence why I said I don't want her strength on my ass," Konohamaru remarked, the wind whipping his hair as he gripped a tree limb and swung off of it. "And why are you talking about respect? You're the one doing the stealing."

Moegi's face reddened. "Shut up! You know I want t-"

"I know, I know. Sheesh."

Konohamaru huffed and eyed the scroll Moegi was carrying. It was about a foot long and had a red tassel on the end. It had been sitting on a table by the window in the hospital when they'd found it, almost as if it had wanted to be taken. Moegi had wanted to learn it so badly, and when she really wanted something and used her "big brown eyes" technique that Konohamaru hated, he normally couldn't refuse.

They had grabbed it easily, without a witness in sight. Konohamaru was confident he could take anyone who was on their trail. And even if he couldn't, he'd just tell them what he'd been mentally rehearsing for the last five minutes: 'She wants to learn slug summoning so badly, and she wants to be a top medical ninja. Do you really want to keep this poor girl from achieving her dreams? That's not what the 6th Hokage would want, now is it?'

To Konohamaru, the plan was foolproof. They'd head to the river where they always worked on their techniques together, practice for as long as it took for Moegi to master what was on the scroll, return it without anyone noticing, and then be on their merry way. Once that was all done, he would be able to resume working on his own techniques.

He sighed. He really did need to get to work on forming his chakra. The Rasengan took forever to perfect, and Konoha's current Hokage had even struggled learning it. If Konohamaru was going to surpass even him like he hoped, then he'd have to work vigorously, day and night. He winced at the amount of soreness he was going to experience in order to train his body and learn this technique.

Yikes, he thought.

Unfortunately, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the tear in the branch in front of him before he landed on it. Moegi yelled his name as the branch snapped and he heroically fell with it.

Konohamaru's fall was stopped by a hand gripping his foot, and found himself staring from above at the ground, but not getting any closer to it.

"For Hell's sake, Konohamaru. How do you ever expect to beat me if you're tripping over your own feet?"

Konohamaru felt his gut lurch as he jerked around and was met with the face of his rival, the Hokage himself, whose amused eyes peered at him from under a gleaming Leaf headband.

And only one thought crossed the little ninja's mind:

Shit, he thought. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Double Shit.

Naruto hung upside down, chakra holding his feet to the underside of a thick tree branch. His white cloak hung off him, and you could read the words "Sixth Hokage" written on the back in red. His right hand was bandaged up to the middle of his forearm, and his left hand held Konohamaru's ankle.

The Hokage smirked.

In one swift movement, they were on the ground, where he held Konohamaru's ankle up high, like a trophy or a deer carcass he'd just caught in a hunting trap. He put his bandaged hand to his chin and swung Konohamaru around a little in his hand, making his body sway. "Gee, were you always this short?" he asked, unable to suppress a sly smile. "I thought for sure you were tall enough to at least have your hair touch the ground."

Konohamaru whipped around, punching thin air and trying to hit Naruto. "Put-me-down-asshole!"

So, Naruto did as he wished. He dropped him on his head.

Konohamaru hopped up and took a swing at the Hokage, who dodged easily. He tried again. And again. And again.

Naruto was laughing. "This all you got? Yikes."

The Hokage caught a punch and calmly flipped the boy over his shoulder, causing Konohamaru's back to hit the ground. Then, he drew a kunai and held it at his neck. The Hokage cockily raised an eyebrow eyebrow. "So, Konohamaru. You fall off trees often?"

Konohamaru pouted and stuck his tongue out. How embarrassing. Even though he was a Chuunin now, he still had trouble with some basic techniques, and apparently that included basic forest navigation and paying attention to detail. Not to mention he'd just gotten his ass kicked by this idiot.

"No. You have stupid whiskers on your face often?"

Naruto smiled. "Touché."

He looked exactly the same as the day he'd been proclaimed Hokage, which had been right after the conclusion of the 4th Shinobi World War. It'd been almost three years since then, and Naruto still had big, blue eyes, whiskered cheeks, tan skin, and blond hair that went everywhere.

Konohamaru thoughts were suddenly drawn back to how bad the situation was. He'd just been caught stealing a slug summoning scroll by the leader of the village.

His palms began to sweat profusely. I'm gonna die, he thought. I'm gonna die and be forever humiliated because this blockhead busted me. I'm gonna die of embarrassment. This is how it ends. How unmanly! And where the heck is Moegi?

Naruto pulled back the kunai. "Oi," he said. "Get your girlfriend out of the bushes over there, will ya? She's acting weird."

Konohamaru groaned. He looked toward where Moegi had not so subtly concealed herself in a bush and got up, walked over and tugged her out. She had leaves in her hair.

"You call yourself a ninja, yet you can't even hide in a bush?" he scolded.

"Y-you fell off a tree, moron!" she retorted.

The scroll was tight in her hand and she was shaking with fear. Naruto made his way over to where she sat on the ground, tears threatening to flow from her eyes.

How unmanly, Konohamaru thought as he stood beside her, arms crossed, looking at her trembling frame. Don't cry! It's not cool to cry like this, especially in front of...!

Naruto stood over them, looking intimidatingly tall and holding an expression on his face that looked a lot like the one on the face of the Fourth Hokage carved into the rock back in town. For a second, Konohamaru wondered if Naruto would yell at them. He knew his grandfather, the Third, would've for sure.

"I-I'm sorry, Hokage-sama," Moegi mumbled. She was shaking uncontrollably and trying her best to be as small as possible. "I just...I didn't...I just wanted to-"

She was interrupted by a loud, hearty laugh, as Naruto knelt down in front of her. "Look at you! All scared."

Her faced turned white.

Naruto lightly took her cheek between his thumb and pointer finger, causing her speech to cease and her cheeks to redden. She looked up into his eyes, which held nothing but amusement. "The first thing you should know about me," he said, "is that I'm not someone to be scared of. Heck, I'm about as scary as Konohamaru over here."

He jabbed a thumb in Konohamaru's direction. Konohamaru slapped it away, scowling.

"Idiot," Konohamaru said. "You think just because you're Hokage now that you can crack jokes at my expense?"

"Kinda", he said with a smirk. He looked at the scroll Moegi was holding, who, upon seeing he was looking at it, let go of it quickly, dropping it in the dirt.

"Slug summoning, eh?" he noted as he picked it up and read the inscription on the side. "Good choice, but over the toads? Toads are way cooler!"

Needless to say, Konohamaru was shocked. He had expected that anyone who caught them stealing would be angry with them, especially the leader of the village. But, Naruto was just smiling, using the sleeve of his cloak to wipe the dirt off the scroll. He didn't look angry at all.

Moegi looked at her feet, her red hair drooping in her pigtails and her face still red from Naruto's pinch.

"Moegi," he said softly, "I'm not mad at you, and I think it's great you want to learn." He paused. "But you should probably go and return this. It belongs to the hospital."

The little girl looked away bashfully, causing the Hokage to chuckle. "I know, I know. You want to learn, and I don't blame you. Medical ninjas..." He looked down at his bandaged hand with a small smile, "...they're awesome. But you don't learn by stealing..."

He stood, and gave her a thumbs up.

"...You learn by never giving up."

There was a crack of another tree branch and she flew in from God knows where, landing in a flash, with more speed than Naruto knew she possessed. He barely even saw her. But he knew she was there; no one had hair that color. She appeared standing behind him. He looked down at his hands. The scroll was gone.

"So this is where it was!"

Naruto turned his head and met the sea green eyes of Haruno Sakura, who was tossing the scroll up and down in her hand. She had swiped it from him in an instant.

Konohamaru and Moegi backed up, scuttling like crabs.

Her hair was about four inches past her shoulders, a ponytail holding the top half of her hair up while the bottom strands flew freely. The shining diamond on her forehead reflected the minimal sunlight that showed through the forest canopy. She was wearing a red, short sleeved top, black pants, and black laced up sandals, all underneath a white, stained lab coat. And she did not look amused.

She held up the scroll, mock examining it. "I wonder why this is out here," she said nonchalantly, pointedly glaring at the kids cowering in the brush.

The two squirmed. "S-Sakura..!" Konohamaru stuttered, "I mean, Sakura-sama! W-We didn't mean-"

"Oh, I'm sure you didn't mean to steal my scroll," she said, "I mean, stealing is almost never intentional, right?"

Sakura crossed her arms, nonverbally asking for an explanation. To Konohamaru, she didn't look half as intimidating as she'd been described. She was tiny with hair the color of cotton candy, and she didn't look like she was able to crack skulls like the rumors said. She looked more like a village girl who picked flowers rather than someone who could kill you with a punch. He noticed something in her eyes, however, and it was the kind of ferocity that told you not to mess with her, or she'd break you.

Moegi looked at the ground, not making a sound. Konohamaru glanced at her and something in him began to warm. He knew what it felt like to be embarrassed. Heck, he had just catapulted off a tree branch and had been saved by that idiot. His grandpa had been the leader of the village and he, a member of the generation that was supposed to surpass this one, couldn't even jump through the woods without help. And even though he'd probably get punched by the girl in front of him so hard that his headband would become part of his skull, he realized it wasn't even a choice. He'd take this one.

"It was m-"

"It was my fault, Sakura-chan."

Konohamaru almost swallowed his tongue.

Naruto stood up from the ground, dusting off his knees. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Naruto sighed. "They came to me yesterday asking if I could get them a scroll from the hospital. I figured since I was the Hokage, I wouldn't need to ask in order to borrow one. So I just...took it. I'm sorry."

Konohamaru gazed at his rival.

He was lying for them.

Naruto turned around to face her properly. "It's my fault," he said again. "Don't blame these dorks."

Sakura looked at him for a long time. Then, something in her eyes softened. She shook her head. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

Konohamaru blinked. What the...

Sakura tossed Moegi the scroll and it landed in her lap. The girl stared at it in shock. "Wha-"

"Moegi," Sakura said with a smile. "If you want to learn slug summoning, all you have to do is ask!"

She hopped forward with finesse and landed in front of Moegi, sitting back on her haunches in order to be level with her. Moegi trembled, but Sakura only smiled.

"Now, I expect you to keep Naruto in line during times like these," she said. "If you know he's stealing from me, don't let him do it."

She looked back at him. "It's wrong, and I'd only hope that the Hokage of our village would know that."

Konohamaru had to forcefully close his mouth. He'd heard so many stories about how this person, the thin, pink haired girl in front of him, could break boulders with her fist and how pissing her off was a death wish. He did not expect this.

What was with the world today? he thought.

Sakura looked down at the scroll. "This is my favorite scroll. Did you know that, Moegi?"

Moegi timidly shook her head.

Sakura smiled again and said softly, "It has my favorite red tassel on it. I always like to whip it around when I'm bored in my office."

Konohamaru looked over at Naruto, whose eyes were on Sakura's back.

"I want you to have it," Sakura said, the gentle tone in her voice almost startling to Konohamaru. "Not only do you have to keep an eye on Naruto now, but you have to take care of my scroll, too. Can you do that for me?"

Moegi nodded, suddenly gaining confidence. "Y-yes! Sakura-sama!"

Sakura stood up, patting her on the head. "All right. I wouldn't expect anything less from a future medical prodigy," she said, which caused Moegi to blush. "Now, how about you and Konohamaru run along. You have a lot of training to do! And I expect weekly updates!"

Moegi stood up and obediently. "Y-yes!"

She grabbed Konohamaru, who was still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened, and pulled him through the brush and toward the river.

Sakura stared for a moment at the spot through which the two Chuunin had disappeared. Then, she slowly turned around, her eyes resting on Naruto, who was leaning against a tree trunk and staring at something in the distance, arms crossed. He must have felt her eyes on him, because he glanced over at her, smiling slightly. "You're pretty good with kids, Sakura-chan," he said.

Sakura shrugged. "Eh...not really. They were cowering in fear until you came up with that lie."

"Ah...you figured me out, huh?"

She crossed her arms, smirking. "Saying I 'figured you out' implies it was difficult. It wasn't. You may be the big shot Hokage now, but I can still read you like a book."

Naruto scoffed and then looked at the ground, smiling. "You've always been able to do that pretty well, haven't you?"

Sakura just chuckled.

The two stood there for a moment, wind weaving between them. Naruto took in the girl in front of him. Same hair, same eyes, same outfit. Same smile. Despite it being years later, she still looked the same as she had when he had first met her, when they were children.

Except, to him, she was possibly even more beautiful now.

"Well, Hokage-sama," she said softly, "I'd better get going back to the hospital."

Naruto kept his eyes on her face. "You don't have to call me that, Sakura-chan."

She grinned and met his eyes. She held up her hand and saluted. Then, in an instant, she was gone as quickly as she had come.

Naruto remained there for a minute, leaning back against the tree and breathing in the scent of pine that blew around the forest. Then, he shook his head, trying his best to rid the boyish grin from his face.