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Curiosity Broke the Scissors

-Chapter 14-

-Last Time-

Neither knew when Naruto wrapped his arms around Star's waist and held her close, when she wrapped her arms around his neck, or when they'd ended up at the standing in the middle of the square. Nor did any of those questions matter to either of them at that moment.

In fact, absolutely nothing in the world mattered to those two as their eyes closed and their kiss deepened.

-And Now-

"Awww, they are just so precious, aren't they?" Anko gushed as she, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke stood on the newly completed bridge connecting Wave country to the mainland, watching Naruto and Star huddling together a few feet away.

The pair were caught up in their own little world, the princess resting her head on the whiskered blonde's shoulder, both with one arm wrapped around the other's waist whilst they used the free ones to wave towards the crowd of people at the beginning of the bridge.

Lastly, Tsunami and Tazuna were standing just a couple yards away from the group, both smiling happily yet just a bit somberly.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it Anko-sempai, they're super cute together," Sakura sighed tiredly while shaking her head in exasperation. "It's been a week, could you give it a rest already."

"Never~! Staruto for life!"

"Uuugh."

Time had seemed to just fly by since Gato's was dealt with, as the whole village had stayed partying pretty much nonstop the entire week. The only real exception was those working on the bridge, which was mostly just a horde of Naruto's clones under the direction of Tazuna since most of his workers were either A: Drunk off their ass or B: too busy celebrating to care, usually both.

During that time, the blonde duo that Anko had dubbed Staruto (or Narustar depending) had practically become welded together at the hip. Seriously, with the exception of bathroom breaks and training those two had barely been seen farther than ten feet from each-other at any time, whether it be eating, sleeping, or pretty much anything else.

Speaking of training, after giving Kakashi a swift kick in the ass for not even teaching his students the basic tree climbing technique yet, Anko put all four of the genin through the ringer.

Starting with Sasuke, the resident edge lord was mostly left with just tree climbing and physical exercise, though Anko also suggested he practice the few fire jutsu he knew with Kakashi, who had more experience with them than herself.

Meanwhile, along with the tree climbing Sakura was made to start various weight lifting and flexibility improving stretches to help build up her rather lacking physique. At the same time, Anko adjusted the pinkette's entire dietary plan to something more appropriate for a kunoichi, or in plain speak forced the girl to quote 'actually fucking eat her damn food' unquote.

Since Star couldn't use chakra she instead focused on her spell work, casting various spells over and over to both demonstrate what they could do and redux future mishaps. Results were… varied to put nicely, on the plus side Wave will probably get a lot more tourists thanks to the singing cupcakes now running around.

And lastly, it seemed the trench coat wearing purplette wasn't entirely kidding about taking the resident whiskered blonde under wing as Anko would literally drag Naruto off for some one on one lessons once everyone else was set up. The scantily clad kunoichi mostly focused on the blonde's chakra control and fighting style, both of which needed major overhauls in her opinion.

Each of them was making progress but it was admittedly a bit slow all around, Anko and Kakashi were pretty new at teaching after all and they were still puzzling out what methods worked best for each student and occasionally clashes of opinion between the two.

However, Anko being Anko, had also made good use of this time to gush over the new couple, tease everyone endlessly, throw in random double-entendres or innuendos, and gloat about how she was the greatest matchmaker in all of Konoha. Admittedly it was a bit funny at first, but after a whole week of it nonstop and Sakura was thoroughly tired of it all.

At the same time though, the pinkette couldn't help this odd nagging feeling she had whenever she looked at the couple, Naruto in particular to be exact. She couldn't put her finger on it but for some reason the whiskered blonde just seemed different, his smile looked more pleasant rather than annoying, his laughter joyous and… genuine rather than grating and boisterous.

It was odd to say the least, but love was a weird thing that not even the wisest could understand fully so Sakura didn't look too deep into it.

"I wish you all could stay a bit longer, we can never thank you enough for all your help." Tsunami said while giving a small bow.

"Same here, but a jobs a job sadly, we gotta get back and report to the higher ups before they get grouchy waiting." Anko said joking, clapping her new friend on the shoulder with a wide grin before pulling her into a brief hug.

"It's a damn shame, but life must go on I suppose," Tazuna said to the group with a sigh, idly taking a sip from a tiny flask of sake as he spoke. "That doesn't mean this is goodbye forever though, you all better make sure to visit from time to time, alrighty?"

"You betcha gramps." Naruto said while giving a faux salute, chuckling a bit as the bridge builder mock glared at him.

Giggling under her breath, Star nodded in agreement with her fellow blonde as she entwined her free hand around his waist. "We'll squeeze in a visit every once in a while, promise."

"We look forward to it, until then good luck on your travels." Tsunami said with a soft smile, which only grew as both blondes gave her a hug at the same time.

"Let's just get going already." And like that the sweet moment was ruined thanks to Sasuke, who had gotten tired of the long goodbyes and started marching off.

"Whelp, you guys heard emo-gaki, daylight is burning." Anko with an overdramatic sigh as she followed after the Uchiha along with Kakashi, Naruto, and Star, the latter two still waving as they went.

"Oh brother, uh, it was great to be here, goodbye." Sakura said politely yet quickly with a short bow, a tinge of annoyance in her voice at having her own farewell cut off as she hurried along after the group.

'I'm pretty sure that's the only time that boy had spoken since he's been here.' Tsunami thought with a light giggle before smirking when Anko turned around and winked at her with a mischievous grin. "So father, ready to announce the name of the bridge?"

The moment that question left her lips, Tazuna grinned widely and puffed up his chest with pride. "Of course I am, for this is my greatest masterpiece yet! The great Tazuna Bri-"

"Father no," His daughter cut him off abruptly, making him deflate like a leaking balloon. "I'm talking about the actual name."

"Oh come on, I designed the damn thing, why can't I name it how I want?" Tazuna demanded with a huff, to which earned him a dull look from Tsunami.

"Because you always try to name things you build after yourself," She stated in a dry tone. "Don't think I haven't forgotten the Tazuna short-bridge or the Tazuna market bridge."

"…Fine… you name the stupid thing… not like it's that big a deal… my greatest masterpiece… mean daughter not letting me show my great legacy…" The old man grumbled under his breath as he turned away with crossed arms, making Tsunami roll her eyes at her father's childishness before spinning around to face the gathered group.

"People of Wave, in commemoration of the ones who freed us of Gato's tyranny, my father and I are proud to give you the bridge to new starts, of new hope, of new opportunity… and just a side of dango, the great Mitarashi-Uzumaki Bridge!"

This announcement earned a loud chorus of cheers, getting the ravenette mother's grin to widen and a burst of giggles to slip past her lips as Tazuna grumbled even more under his breath.

-Meanwhile-

"Alright gakis, as small as it is, there's still a chance Mr. Overcompensation and his buddy could be lurking around planning for payback," Anko stated as the group jogged through a dense forest at a casual pace, having already reached the far end of the bridge and roughly halfway to the outskirts of the Land of Fire. "So unless you wanna get shanked by his oversized butter knife make sure to keep your peepers peeled."

"…Are you saying that just for laughs or trying to piss him off if he's actually here?" Naruto couldn't help but ask before deadpanning when the purplette shrugged noncommittingly with a cheeky grin.

"A little of both."

"If I get cut open again, I blame you."

"Oh don't be such a wimp Mr. I'm a badass ninja, you'll be fine." Anko said with chuckle as she leaned on top of the blonde's head.

"Hey, who you calling-Hey!" Naruto started to demand angrily, only to be cut off when the purplette abruptly grabbed his waist and jumped back.

*Swoosh* *Thunk* And not a moment too soon either as a familiar big ass butcher knife dropped from the sky and embedded itself into the ground they'd just been standing, fracturing the ground as it sunk nearly halfway into the earth.

"You know, I may like dango but that doesn't mean I want to be kabobbed," Anko muttered dryly as she let Naruto go and got in a ready stance along with everyone else. "So the big bad demon came back for a rematch after all, I'm tickled."

"No, he has not," A soft somber sounding voice voice stated before a figure wearing a green kimono and Kiri hunter mask gracefully landed atop the sword. "Nor will he ever again."

"Ah, so this is a revenge fight then," The purplette said with a nod before flicking her hands, causing a kunai to slide out from either sleeve into her hands. "Well you must be pretty confident to take us all on by yourself."

"I have no intention of fighting any of you."

…

"""Say what?""" Anko, Naruto, Star, and Sakura all asked at the same time with baffled and/or confused expressions whilst Sasuke simply looked surprised and Kakashi had a mask so who knows.

"My master is gone, deceased by your hands," The fake Hunter stated while pointing at Anko… or Naruto… no definitely Anko… maybe. "Thus, by his honor, his blade now belongs to you. Take care of it… or else."

Not giving the group any chance to respond, the fake hunter seemed to turn blue and translucent before shattering into a thousand pieces of ice that fell into a pile at the blade's base.

"…Whelp, that was random," Kakashi said with a casual shrug, though if one looked closely they would see his solitary eye carefully scanning through the area. "Naruto, go check for traps."

"What?!" Said blonde exclaimed in surprised disbelief as everyone looked at him pointedly. "Why me?!"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you're the gaki who can clone himself a thousand times over without breaking a sweat." Anko suggested sarcastically, making Naruto blink a few times before smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of his head.

"Right, duh, I knew that… Kage Bunshin!" In a puff of smoke, a solitary clone popped into existence and after sending his creator a dull glare walked straight up to the massive sword. Once he was right in front of it, the doppelganger looked the weapon over for a few seconds while kicking the flat of the blade, making the whole thing shake with a dull thrumming.

Getting no other reaction, the clone shrugged before grabbing the handle and with a strained grunt yanked the sword free of the ground.

"Holy crap this thing weighs a freaking ton," He muttered, stumbling a bit as he hoisted the weapon up and tried giving it a swing only to almost fall over. "How the hell is somebody supposed to use this?"

"Very carefully gaki," Anko said in a joking wise tone as she walked up to the clone, deeming it safe enough for the moment, and swiped it from his grasp. "Like this."

With apparent ease, the purplette twirled the blade with one hand before bopping the clone on the head with the flat of the blade, causing it to dispel into a cloud of smoke.

"Ow?" Naruto muttered while rubbing the back of his head, a hint of confusion in his tone as he swore he felt a small shock of pain run through his noggin for a moment. However, this went unnoticed by everyone else while they watched Anko fiddling with Zabuza's weapon.

"Hmm, it's cool but not really my style, you can keep it boy-gaki." She said while quickly sealing it into a spare scroll in her pocket and tossing it to Naruto, who blinked in confusion.

"The hell am I supposed to do with it? It's almost twice as big as I am." The whiskered blonde pointed out even as he stuffed the scroll into his kunai pouch.

"Don't know and don't care, it's your problem now," Anko said with a dismissive wave of her hand before spinning around and pointing forwards dramatically. "Now get back to moving gakis! We still got a lot of ground to cover."

"…She really likes to make a production out of everything, doesn't she?" Sakura asked dully as they continued walking, earning a few chuckles and giggles from everyone aside from the aforementioned purplette and resident Uchiha.

Nothing much of interest happened after that, and without a civilian slowing them down the team was able to clear the rest of the distance to Konoha by the time the sun was starting to set. In what felt like no time at all, Team Seven finished the standard security check with the eternal gate guards and were back inside the village.

However, they only got about a dozen yards in before Kakashi and Anko abruptly stopped and faced the four genin.

"Alright everyone, Anko and I have a long debriefing to do with the Hokage so you all are dismissed and as per regulations have the next two days off." Kakashi said with his face already nose deep in the ever iconic Icha-Icha book he loved.

"Whoo!" "Sweet!" Naruto and Star cheered in sync while Sakura just smiled and Sasuke grunted non-caringly.

"Lucky bastards." Anko grumbled quietly with a huff.

"That said, next meeting is on Monday at seven and I expect a complete mission report from each of you," Kakashi added casually, causing the two blondes to groan and the purplette next to him snicker. "Goodbye."

"Hah! You guys get to suffer too!"

*Poof* *Poof*

And like that the two jonin were gone, vanishing in simultaneous puffs of smoke and swirls of leaves.

"See you guys later! Me and Naruto got a date at Ichiraku Ramen that we just cannot miss!" Star exclaimed as she grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him off. "I can't wait to talk to Ayame! I've got so much to tell her!"

"Whoa! Easy Star-chan! You're gonna pull my arm off!" Naruto exclaimed in mock alarm even as he laughed at his girlfriend's excitement.

Meanwhile, shaking her head with a sigh that was a mix between exasperation and amusement, Sakura couldn't help the soft giggle that slipped past her lips at everyone's antics. Then her face suddenly lit up in pure excitement when an idea hit her and she turned towards the ever-brooding raven-haired boy standing beside her with a bright smile.

"Hey Sasuke-kun, why don't we go out and celebrate our first successful…" Just as quickly as the pinkette's good mood came it withered away into nothing, her lips sinking to a sad frown as she watched Sasuke walk off without even waiting for her to finish.

Disheartened, Sakura's head drooped in depression, a small storm cloud seemingly popping into existence above her head and start raining on her just to emphasize her sadness. A few moments later though, her expression hardened into anger, her fists clenched and she turned around ready to…

…

Ready to…

…

'What am I doing?' Sakura thought as she stared at the empty space she had been about to pummel, her fist dropped back to her side while a look of total confusion spread across her face. 'I was …angry? Why?'

Rubbing the side of her forehead with her other hand, the pinkette glanced down at her still clenched fist in puzzlement, slowly uncurling and re-clenching her fingers several times.

'I don't understand, it feels like there's something missing, but what?' She wondered as she started walking, no real destination in mind as she stared at the ground, losing herself within her thoughts. After a few minutes of aimless wandering though, the girl stopped again, this time to clench the middle of her chest with a slight grimace. 'What is going on?'

Sakura was a smart girl, she always got straight A's in class, studied every lesson in class twice over, and could do math equations even grown adults would have trouble solving with relative ease. Yet despite all that, she just couldn't make any sense about what was going on inside her own head.

'But,' Sakura thought as the metaphorical lightbulb lit up within her mind. 'Maybe Ino can. Her family specializes in this stuff.'

With that in mind, the young pinkette finally looked up with a determined glint in her eye… which immediately changed to surprise as she found herself standing right in front of none other than the Yamanaka Flower shop itself.

"…That's oddly convenient." She muttered with a raised brow while taking in the store's appearance, or more specifically the new sign that was stuck onto the shop's main one and the female mannequin displayed in the window.

The former was relatively simply yet attention grabbing, just a plain white square about half as big as herself with the kanji 'Now Available: Custom Exotic Silk Clothing by Ino Yamanaka: Order Today' painted onto it. On the other hand, the latter was much visually appealing thanks to being adorned with a lovely kimono that was primarily a glossy black with varying strips of blues and purples interwoven across it, creating an almost perfect late dusk sky appearance.

"Dang… and I thought Star's dress was gorgeous," Sakura thought aloud as she looked the outfit over several times before shaking her head with a small frown. "Focus damnit, more important things to handle."

A bell softly chimed as she pushed the door open, catching the attention of the store's currently previously solitary occupant, Mrs. Yamanaka, who was in the middle of watering the various plants of the shop.

"Welcome to… oh Sakura-chan!" The brunette started to say the typical store greeting, only to cut herself off with a cheerful smile at seeing the pinkette standing in the doorway. Setting down the watering can in her hands, the regal looking woman quickly made her way across the room and pulled Sakura into a hug. "I'm glad to see you're alright, your mother and I overheard that there were complications with your mission and we were so worried."

"Yeah, it was pretty crazy Aunty Yuri but as you can see, I'm just fine." Sakura said with a small smile as she hugged Mrs. Yamanaka back while wincing internally at what the woman said. 'Crap crap, craaaaaap, I totally forgot to tell mom and dad I'm back first! Oh man Mom's gonna tan my hide for that!''

"And I'm glad for that," Ino's mother stated while patting Sakura's head, snapping the pinkette out of her thoughts just as the woman broke the hug and went back to watering the plants. "I'm guessing you didn't pop in just to see me though."

Nodding with a slightly awkward smile at being called out right of the bat. "Erm…yes ma'am, I was wondering if Ino was home?"

"Indeed she is, she's holed up in her room working on a new order she just got from the Fire Daimyo's wife," Mrs. Yamanaka stated while pointing towards the staircase at the back of the shop/home, pride clear in the brunette's tone as she spoke. "I must say, never in my wildest dreams had I thought my little girl would already have her own little business running, let alone for it to be so successful."

"You and me both Aunty," Sakura muttered with a slow nod as she looked back at the Kimono on display, idly running a hand across the soft and silky fabric. She was more than a little shocked that her friend actually got an order from that woman, who while a generally kind woman was notoriously stingy when it came to the quality of her clothing. "I had no idea Ino could sew so well, did you teach her?"

"Nope, she taught herself for years, said she wanted to prove she could be a good housewife when the time came." The mother said while shaking her head, her tone still proud yet now with a hint of annoyance… no, not annoyance, exasperation.

'Ugh, of course, why didn't I think of that?' Sakura thought, mentally beating herself up for letting her former rival have such an obvious advantage in their attempts to catch the romantic interest of one Sasuke Uchiha. "Well I guess it's a good thing she did, it's certainly paying off for her."

"Quite literally in this case," Mrs. Yamanaka said with a soft giggle that the pinkette shared before she made a shooing motion with her free hand. "Well go on then, I told you where my daughter is and besides, I'm sure Ino could use a break right about now anyway."

"Right, thanks Aunty Yuri." Sakura said, giving the woman a brief hug as she zipped by her and clambered up the stairway.

Reaching the upper floor in practically no time at all, the young genin only took a moment to locate the door to Ino's room and loudly rapped her knuckles against the wooden slab.

"It's open!" Ino's voice called out, prompting Sakura to open the door and step inside, revealing Ino sitting at a new looking desk that had a small sewing machine attached to it, a stand for spools of thread, a dye rack, several drawers, and a basket filled with bundles of Star's silk.

The blonde was holding up a little red baby-sized and oddly shaped kimono with golden trim and flame designs, looking it over with a critical eye for several moments before setting it back down and fiddling with the seams.

"Well, are you gonna stand there staring at me Forehead or are you gonna sit down?" She asked without even looking up from her work, causing Sakura to blink in surprise.

"Wha… how did you…"

"Mom wasn't exactly quiet when you arrived," Ino stated bluntly, finally looking up from her look to give the pinkette a dull look which quickly turned to one of interest. "So what can I help you with? Here to tell me about your first C-Rank went?"

"Not really, I actually came here to ask for some… therapy," Sakura admitted reluctantly, making Ino's jaw drop in surprise, at least until the pinkette added. "And no, it's not about Sasuke-kun… I think."

"You think?" The mind reader repeated with a raised brow, disbelief clear in her tone.

Sighing, Sakura decided to use the one card she knew would get her instant results. "Help me and I'll tell you how Naruto and Star's became a couple and how their first dates went."

*Swoosh*

…

"The fuck?" Those were the only ones Sakura could think as in the blink of an eye, she suddenly found herself laying back-first on the bed whilst Ino took a chair next to her, notepad and pen in hand.

"Alright then, what's been bothering you?" Ino asked in a faux professional tone while slipping on a pair of stylish looking glasses. "Did something bad happen on your mission?"

"Uhhh, it had a pretty hectic start but other than that not really," 'I'm starting to regret this already.' Sakura said and thought as she gradually recovered from her surprise. "Look, the reason I came here is that something weird happened right when I got back and I have no idea what to make of it."

"Okay… go on."

-Que quick recap-

"…The next thing I know, I'm standing there with my fist in the air, ready to pummel something and I just have no idea why," Sakura finished her tale with a sigh while placing a hand over her chest. "And if that wasn't weird enough, I've had this annoying gnawing bubbling sensation in my chest ever since then, like I'm pissed as hell, super depressed, and completely confused all once."

"And were there any other oddities you might have noticed recently, perhaps over the last week or so?" Ino asked while writing something in her notepad.

"Well… now that you mention it, it has felt oddly quiet these last few days."

"Hmm… interesting, very interesting," Ino muttered softly while jotting something else down, a knowing glint starting to grow in her eyes. "Have you also noticed a feeling of emptiness or perhaps that something was missing?"

"Yeah actually, exactly like that," Sakura admitted in surprise with a nod. "I could swear that something was gonna happen but nothing did, it was like the total opposite of Déjà vu."

"Well that confirms it then," The blonde said while setting the pad in her hands down and jabbing the end of her pen towards Sakura. "Sakura, the reason you feel like this is because you miss Naruto."

"…Heh?" Was the pinkette's intelligent retort.

"Just hear me out on this," Ino said with her hands held up in the classic 'Hold on a sec' pose. "You said that right after Sasuke-kun ignored your offer for a date, you were sad but then got all steamed up and turned around to punch something. Tell me, what normally happened after getting shot down by Sasuke-kun?"

At this question, Sakura rolled her eyes with a scoff. "First off, I do not get shot down, Sasuke-kun just has other things to do, and Naruto would usually try to ask me out but I don't get what that-"

"And what would you normally do right after he asks you out?" Ino cut the pinkette of while pushing up on the bridge of her glasses, causing the light to reflect off the lenses ominously.

"Uh, well, I would get annoyed… and… and…" The pinkette slowly trailed off and her voice grew quieter as it at last clicked together in her brain, that moment in the street getting flashing in her mind only now in the empty space she'd been facing a faint outline of a certain whiskered blonde could be seen ever so briefly.

"Now you get it Sakura, you've been using Naruto as your emotional outlet for years, where you could dump all your pent up feelings without remorse since his infatuation with you meant he'd never retaliate," Ino explained. "Now that he's dating Star though, you don't have that same luxury anymore, so all the anger and sadness you'd normally vent out on him are getting bottled up instead. But as you know, old habits tend to die hard so when you got upset at Sasuke-kun's rejection your mind defaulted which ended up confusing the ration part of your brain at a lack of actual target, IE Naruto."

"I guess that makes sense… kinda of," Sakura said as her tone turned sullen, memories of various moments she'd done just that flashing through her head. "I really owe Naruto an apology, don't I?"

"Undoubtably," The blonde agreed with a nod while reaching down and pulling the pinkette up into a sitting position, a serious expression spreading across her face as she tossed aside the glasses she was wearing. "Though speaking of Naruto, there's actually something about him I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, he and Star got together du-MMPH!" Sakura was once more cut off, only this time it was due to Ino actually clapping a hand over her mouth mid-sentence.

"Not that! …But I do want all the juicy details later." Ino exclaimed before adding the last bit as an afterthought when she pulled her hand away. Then things seemed to take a turn for the truly weird as the mind reader suddenly locked her door then rushed over and pulled the curtains closed on the solitary window of the room. "I'll be blunt, have you noticed anything strange or unusual about Naruto since becoming his teammate?"

"Uuuuuh, other than he heals stupidly fast somehow not really," The pinkette said with a somewhat unnerved expression while slowly inching her way towards the locked door. "Why?"

Not answering verbally, Ino walked back over to Sakura and stuck a hand underneath the mattress, fishing around for a few seconds before pulling out a small inconspicuous looking piece of folded parchment which made Sakura immediately deadpan. Flicking it open to reveal a storage seal, the blonde set it down on the bed just as it released a cloud of smoke with an audible *Poof* sound, which soon cleared away to reveal a corkboard.

It was covered in various notes, some strings, a few rough sketches, and a solitary picture of Naruto in the middle all held in place by various pins. This thing was Ino's personal gossip theory board, which she used to help track down the most truth out of any rumor that was giving her a particularly hard time.

"Seriously, you still use that old thing?" The pinkette asked dully while staring at the mind reader with a bland expression. "And why is Naruto on it?"

"Because Sakura," Ino started as she sat down right next to her friend and stared at the board intently. "The village is hiding something about him, something big…

…And I think I know what."

-End Chapter-

AN:

Mitirashi-Uzumaki Bridge: Syrup Whirlpool bridge

Huge apologies for the long delay but a combination of sickness and work left me pretty much unable to write at all. I tried, honestly, but what little I could write in that state was mostly incomprehensible gibberish. That all aside, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review.