So...what do you want to do?" Naruto asked his girl friends as they walked around the village one day.

Sakura shrugged. "I have to go train with Tsunade-shizou soon. Hinata-chan?"

Hinata shrugged. Ever since she and Sakura were on an S-mission together and almost died, they had been close friends. And being close with Sakura in turn made her close with Naruto.

Which she learned was part of Sakura and Ino's plan.

"Well this is pointless," Naruto grumbled. "We have nothing to do. How about we see if we can interrupt TenTen and Neji again."

The girls slapped their heads. TenTen and Neji recently found out their romantic feelings were mutual. Two weeks after the enlightenment, they were engaged. A month ago they were married and no one wanted to be around them very long. It was like watching bunnies!

Naruto smiled sheepishly and started to rub the back of his head. "Well...how about we train then? that way Neji won't kill me when I go there with Jaraiya later for training."

Hinata rolled her eyes. Sakura had made her less shy, and she didn't even faint around Naruto anymore! She wondered what kind of training he could do if he was spying on TenTen and Neji like that.

"Motto Icha Icha Paradisu, ne?" sakura asked, smirking and making Hinata turn red. "It's bad enough that he started the series and Kakashi-sensei reads them, but he's been trying to get Naruto to help him write more!" she complained in a happy manner.

"Urasai," Naruto told her, looking down and blushing. Now how was he going to get the courage to ask Hinata out? "Sakura-chan no baka!"

"How about...I have to go to the hearing later. Do either of you want to come with me?" Hinata asked, hoping someone would.

Her father recently passed away, and neither she or her sister wanted to take charge of the Hyuuga. So, they had a hearing that day with the council of elders about allowing Neji and his wife take over. She was afraid she'd be forced to take over anyways, but then she could have cunning friends there to help her out. Or in Naruto's case, just make them change their minds.

"Sure!" Naruto replied. "Oh, but I promised Sasuke-teme I would train with him. He's been kind of mad he has to be so cooped up...Oh yeah. He also told me not to take you out and away today!" Naruto told Sakura.

Sakura sighed. Sasuke had come back from revenge around the time TenTen and Neji were married. He went to the wedding before he made his appearance with the villagers.

He gained trust back quickly, but made things quite clear to Sakura: he owed it to Naruto, and he wanted to see him and the Hyuuga together. He could see clear as day they were both to dumb to get together without help. That was when she and Ino finally decided they needed a plan.

Shikamaru helped of course--he had to with his best friend begging and his girlfriend threatening to cut off all sex. Damn he couldn't take no Ino--and Sakura was close, too. But she didn't hold the threat of no sex over his head.

Of course, she did hold the threat of ripping off his reproductive organ altogether.

Since he came back on his own, he got a reduced sentence. No leaving the village for three years unless express permission from the hokage and three people with him. No leaving his house without a person watching him. No A- or S-ranked missions for four years.

It sounded bad, but it was better than death. At least he got to take the tests to become a jounin. Well, the fact he had indeed killed not only Itachi, but the entire Akatsuki with Naruto's help may have something to do with it.

"Then I'll go see him. If he really wants to train, he can train with me," Sakura told them, walking away. He wouldn't mind if it meant Naruto and Hinata getting closer.

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"Anything?" Sasuke asked, opening the door to see Sakura there.

"They're going to Hinata's hearing later together. That's the best I could do before Naruto thought he had to come to training with you," she replied, walking into the house.

She and Ino walked in on him all the time now, knowing he wouldn't kill them just for the pure fact that they were helping him. That, and they weren't fan-girling, as much as Sasuke wanted Sakura to fan-girl again.

"Were you trying to sabotage him? Ino and I have told you time and again that the hearing was today, and you ask him to train during it?" she complained, walking into the kitchen and flailing her arms. "if you wanted to train, you could have asked me, or Ino, or Shikamaru, or Lee--he would have been glad to train with you!"

Sasuke followed her and leaned on the doorframe. She was always so cute when she was mad and excited. "You wouldn't have come, though. You'd already be training with Lee or the hokage."

Sakura snorted as she went to make herself instant-ramen like she always did over his house. Then she faced him, digging a fork in the cup.

"Like a drunkard can really help much. She just gives me a bunch of scrolls to memorize. And Lee and I don't see eye-to-eye when it comes to training. That, and he's more into training with Gai-sensei when he has the choice. Poor TenTen."

No one knew until the wedding that TenTen hid her surname for a good reason--a very good reason. her father was Gai! TenTen Maito. When her mother died, he turned to guys--and that meant TenTen would be seeing Lee around a lot more.

"I didn't want the dobe here. I wanted you here," he replied, thinking he had to get this over with. She had changed way too much. "Sakura, I love you. But we've become so different since I got back. I want the Sakura I knew back. I haven't seen her since our genin days."

Sakura rolled her eyes and stuck the forkful of ramen in her mouth. With that, it was finished. She was moving onto the tomatoes--she never knew before they started planning that they tasted so good. Now she was just as addicted to them as Sasuke was.

"That's why you called me weak and annoying. I got the weak--Uchiha matriarchs are meant to be the most powerful, and-or best at something. You were telling me I could never be a matriarch. Fine. By the way...why was I annoying?"

Now Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No. I was telling you to get great at something so I could tell you I loved you already. And you were annoying because you'd always be in my mind--on missions, during training, when we had to worry about our lives. That's when I realized something--you were always the best. At being you. Getting in my head and never getting out."

Sakura was shocked as she popped a cherry tomato in her mouth--that's when Sasuke lost it. He sent his mouth and tongue in after it.

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"Thanks, Naruto-kun! You really helped!" Hinata told him, walking away from the hearing. They almost decided she had to, but then Naruto through some stroke of genius saved her.

"No problem, Hinata-chan!" Naruto replied, smiling. All right, he told himself, this is it. Sasuke-teme and Shikamaru have been teaching me to do this for weeks now. I can ask her out. "Hey, Hinata-chan?"

She turned and faced him, making him blush. She was so pretty. He always thought that, but he never knew he could ask her out--in fact, they only started to allow Hyuugas to date people outside the clan after Hiashi died.

Hinata smiled and looked down, twiddling her fingers as she blushed too. "Yes?"

"Would...would you like to go out with me sometime?" he asked, fearing the answer. She could have anyone--anyone in the world. Why would she say yes to him? "I mean, we could go out with friends or whatever, but...I wanted to tell you that I liked you," he told her, blushing harder.

Hinata gasped. She always wanted to hear those words! She smiled and jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. "Of course! Naruto-kun, I have to tell you...I l...I like you too," she told him. Maybe she hadn't told him the truth, though.

He beamed. She liked him! Yes! Step One in getting her to fall madly in love with him. "Come on. Let's go to Sasuke's house and make sure he didn't kill Sakura," he said, slipping her hand in hers.

He held it tightly, but not too tightly. Sakura explained that hold to Hinata once. It was his way of saying you were important to him and he never wanted to lose you. She smiled at the though of being important to Naruto.

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"How long have we been...occupied?" Sakura asked Sasuke, breaking the contact.

They had been busying themselves for the last half hour kissing and a bit of heavy-petting, and Sakura was worried about Naruto and Hinata.

"The hearing has to be over soon," Sasuke replied, shoving her to the counter and pushing himself against her. "But if I get my way, Naruto won't be here for a bit longer. And if I REALLY get my way, your clothes won't be--"

Suddenly there was a loud banging at the door and Sasuke looked like he was mad, annoyed, and depressed. Sakura just laughed as she inched away to open the door.

"Kombanwa, Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan. Daijoubu desuka?" Sakura greeted, smiling at her two friends holding hands.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted. "Hinata-chan and I are going out! Is it too early to ask her to be my girlfriend?" he asked, looking at her seriously.

"Ask her and ye shall receive," she replied as Sasuke walked up behind her.

"How?" Naruto asked, looking straight at Hinata and looking at her seriously. "I want to ask you to be my girlfriend Hinata-chan. Is it okay?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Watch dobe. You've almost already done it. This is what you do."

The Uchiha looked at Sakura and started to kiss her, pushing her up against the door as his hand started to wander. He licked her lower lip and made her moan. Taking the opportunity, he stuck his tongue in her mouth and let it roam.

Meanwhile, Hinata and Naruto looked on embarrassed. "Does a simple question suffice?" he asked. "I mean...do you want me to do that to you...right now?"

Hinata smiled. "Of course I'll be your girlfriend," she replied, leaning on him to kiss him. "But I want to kiss you like that someday," she whispered.

"Great. Then I'll do that to you. But I want to do more. I want to feel you too," he replied, pulling her closer. "Will you let me...now?" he asked, pulling her away when she nodded. "Great. My house then? Neji won't be missing you. He'll be busy with TenTen, while I'm busy with you."

Sasuke finally stopped kissing Sakura when he got her shirt off.

He had to stop before it got too far in public. Then he looked her in the eye. He had to have her--they were in so much lust right now. But first, making it official. "Be my girlfriend," he told her.

"Yes," she told him, panting.

"Marry me. Bear my children," he ordered her. "I need you. Please..."

"Anything," she replied, rubbing herself against his lower body. She needed him now.

"Good. Then help me get started. We're getting married next week," he told her, dragging her inside and slamming the door behind him.

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"Hey, Ino?" Shikamaru asked, watching Sasuke and Sakura dancing at their wedding. They just heard the Best Man propose too--Naruto and Hinata were going to get married within the next month.

"Mmm, Shika-kun?" she replied, leaning on his shoulder, smiling. She had the man she loved the most, and now her friends had someone too.

"Don't you feel like we had a really small part in this whole plan?" he asked, tapping the velvety box in his pocket.

He'd ask her later, no that the no-sex threat was lifted. He didn't need the world to hear him propose, and his wedding would be in at least three months with Ino planning everything.

"Of course not. Who else would have gotten everyone together?" she answered, thinking. "Maybe. We weren't with them when they actually--"

"We got screwed," he finished for her, knowing she'd get to that eventually.

"Yep," she said, leaning over and kissing him.

He looked at her confused. She didn't get to be the biggest star and she was FINE with it?

She smiled. "At least we got screwed by each other, though."

Shikamaru laughed, remembering where they had been until the day after Sasuke proposed--that was the day Ino had to go to the hospital because she couldn't walk. He was proud of that. It just so happened at the same time Sasuke and Sakura were telling Tsunade about what was going on.

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"We did it," she told Sasuke, smiling as they danced around it circles.

Sauske never thought she looked better. He smiled at her as he twirled her around and brought her closer again, kissing her lightly. "You're beautiful," he told her.

They were in the on world. She put her head on his shoulder and rocked with him. "We got Hinata and Naruto together. You're a god."

He smirked, leaning close to her. "Just be ready to be screaming that I'm a god later. And I'm better than you think--I got us together too."