The bright lights and the bustling streets of Konoha were busy and full of noise. They were oblivious to the blond man standing over them as he searched for a person in the crowd. As soon as his right blue eyes found its target, a gleeful smile marked his face as he jumped down and caught up with the person.

"Sasuke!"

"Dobe, get your hands off me." However the whiskered man did not comply and began to talk.

"Let's get ramen!" The raven hair man, knowing that he could not reject, just sighed and nodded his head as they headed to the opposite direction.

It had been seven months since Sasuke's return to the village and Naruto couldn't be happier. He got his best friend back and everything seemed to be well. None of the nations were at war and peace blessed all the lands. The only obstacle they had was rebuilding the wrecked parts of the city. Konoha planned on building a new memorial for all the lives lost in the recent war.

Many lives had been lost and it affected everyone. Everyone was still healing from their wounds however everyone was determined to rebuild the city and make sure those who lost their lives were to be remembered for the future generation.

Shaking the memories out of his head, they entered the small ramen house. To his surprise he was met with the sight of Hinata Hyuga and Shikamaru Nara. Both seemed to be in deep discussion until Hinata laughed out while Shikamaru just sat back and smirk. How strange.

"Hey guys! What are you guys doing here?" Naruto greeted them as he took a seat and awaited his usual, miso ramen.

"Just here for a dinner. Bumped into Hinata when I got here" The Nara replied. Naruto found the couple strange. When did they become friends? Naruto sure as hell missed a lot. In the seven months, he had been busy on missions, rebuilding some of the buildings and sleeping. He had only seen his friends a number of times.

Still, Hinata and Shikamaru being friends? Weird.

"Hello Naruto, Sasuke." The latter grunted in response while Naruto smiled back. Just ask Naruto was about to ask how they were, the Hyuga got up as she paid. Saying a quick goodbye, she disappeared into the crowd.

After she left, eventually followed by Shikamaru, the thought seemed to be pushed to the back of his mind.

The next time the thought sprung up was a few days later when Hinata was walking with Sakura. They seemed to be whispering to each other and in an in-depth conversation. That was until Naruto decided to intrude.

"Sakuuuuura." He cooed to annoy his team mate. "Eh, where's Sasuke?" Naruto and Sakura were told to watch over Sasuke for the next year just for the sakes of the council to feel safe without the thought of Sasuke going on a wild killing spree.

"We're on our way to see him. I wanted to train." She replied. Hinata seemed to go unnoticed until she almost tripped over as a child bumped into her.

"Oh! Hinata, you're going to train too?"

"No, I'll just be watching." She smiled. Naruto couldn't put a finger on it, maybe it was that sun and how it hit her face, but she seemed different. There was something about her that seemed like she was glowing.

"You'll get bored, trust me. You'll feel like the third wheel." Naruto sighed out to tease Sakura of her and Sasuke's increasingly long hours together. The pink haired girl just blushed and looked away.

"I think I can handle a few hours of third wheeling if I can learn about their fighting styles" She giggled lightly. It sounded nice to his ears, not like the giggles of his recent fangirls. Her laughter did not make your ears ring.

"The best way to learn is to do" Naruto spoke "Why don't I-"

"Oi! Hinata!" The trio turned around to be greeted with the sight of the lazy genius. Come with me for a moment."

The navy blue haired girl smiled apologeticly to Sakura and Naruto before running towards the Nara. How weird.

Naruto hasn't realised he voiced his thoughts until Sakura chirped in. "Hinata and Shikamaru? Not really, they both take care of Kurenai's child the most so they're with her everytime. Sometimes they walk around the village with her." At that Naruto stared at Sakura in confusion.

"You've never seen them? They're quite...cute. Almost like a family" Sakura decided it was time to push Naruto towards Hinata. She wasn't sure about his feelings but she was sure that the poor Hyuga deserved some closure to her confession from months ago.

Sakura also knew that there was nothing going on between Shikamaru and Hinata. They were simply just friends as Shikamaru was had an unofficial thing with Temari. But she decided to toy the idea around in Naruto's head.

Naruto was now staring dumbly at the direction where Hinata has left as he thought of Sakura's words. Like a family.

Huh. He wondered why that statement had made such an impact on him. Why did he find the thought of Shikamaru and Hinata being friends so weird?

And with that, the thought of Shikamaru and Hinata remained as a thought present in his head.