AN: Here we are again. Another chapter to the story and another apology for it taking so damned long. College, work, Mass Effect 1, 2, &3, Skyrim, kitten, and my novel that I've been working on for over three years and sadly this fic kind of got sat on the backburner. Rest assured it is not abandoned and it will be finished at some point in the near future, so bear with me people. Here we go!

I do not own Naruto. If I did Sasuke would have bled to death from his eyes the first time he used Amaterasu, Itachi would still be badass, Kakashi would have the eternal Mangekyo, and Naruto would be much less hyperactive and annoying, as well as not wear "kill me orange"

Akatsuki Finished: Naruto Finds Love!

Chapter 4

Naruto and Sakura slowly made their way to the restaurant Naruto had chosen for the date. Naruto couldn't have been happier if he'd just been named Tsunade's successor as Hokage all over again. He was finally getting a date with Haruno Sakura, the girl he'd been chasing and pining after since he was in the academy and had first laid eyes on her. Sakura, however, was about to lose her mind. She was on a date with the most eligible bachelor in Konohagakure no Sato and was the ire of many of the village's women as evidenced by the fact that when she and Naruto walked by with their arms interlocked, they would begin to sharpen kitchen knives with fury, chop the vegetables for the night's meal with unnecessary hostility and force, and use the tenderizing hammers to hit the meat so hard, chips of stone tables were flaking off and bouncing across the cobblestone street.

Naruto, of course, noticed these stares and dealt with them by releasing a wave of killer intent that sent all non-shinobi people scurrying to reach the relative safety of the indoors. As far as the shinobi that were there went, such a large amount of killer intent sent the ANBU that were his personal guard into a red-alert and they immediately made their presence known by shunshining next to their Hokage in a protective circle, effectively defeating any attempts at sabotaging the date. Sakura, however, was caught completely off guard and nearly leapt out of her skin at the sight of twelve heavily armed black ops members surrounding her.

"Thank you, ANBU. That will be all."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

After that short exchange the ANBU vanished, seemingly into thin air, leaving a Hokage with a cheerful look on his face and one Haruno Sakura who looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Sakura-chan? Hello? Sakura-chan!"

"Huh? Oh, Naruto-kun, what're we doing?"

"We're on a date, remember?"

The mention of the date seemed to snap Sakura out of her daze with the force of an Oodama Rasengan. She immediately latched herself onto Naruto's arm, much to his surprise, and continued to follow with a look of peace on her face. They walked for roughly another five minutes before arriving at the restaurant. Sakura had half expected to be taken to Ichiraku Ramen for the date and was duly astonished upon seeing that Naruto had taken her to a new, very expensive restaurant in the clans district of Konoha.

"Naruto-kun, is this where we're going to eat?"

"Yep. Sure is, Sakura-chan. Unless you'd rather go somewhere else."

"No, Naruto-kun. This is perfect."

Naruto beamed down at Sakura, joy written all over his face. It was all he could do to keep from sprinting into the Gilded Leaf and drag Sakura along. As soon as they walked in they were seated and some bread was given to them to eat while they waited on their orders. Naruto nibbled on the bread and mulled over in his head as to what to say to Sakura in order for their date to be a success. He was ecstatic simply to be with her, however, he was sure she would need some form of entertainment; after all it was he who initiated the date.

"So, Sakura-chan, what made you finally say yes? Is it that I'm the Hokage now? Or is it that everyone knows my heritage and you want to make the Yondaime's son yours before any of the fangirls can stake a claim?" Naruto asked with mirth in his voice and a foxy grin on his face. He had a mask up to hide the pain at the remote possibility that she had accepted the date as a political power play.

"You're either very bad at flirting, or just incredibly stupid, Naruto. I don't go on dates with people to further my own standing anymore. I'm not the fangirl fawning over every famous guy I see from the academy anymore. I'm a Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato and a proud kunoichi thereof. I accepted this date because in truth I really like you, Naruto-baka."

Sakura's answer stunned Naruto. Not only had she just shot down and doubts he'd had about this being a political ploy, but she had admitted that she had feelings for him. Even when he faced down the man masquerading as Madara he was calmer than he was now.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan. You don't know how much it means to me to hear you finally say those words truthfully."

Sakura looked down waging a silent war with herself. Naruto had inadvertantly brought up a horrible time in her life brought on by a moment of weakness when she claimed to love Naruto in the Land of Iron in order to get to Sasuke and try to kill him. Even after delivering such a horrendous blow to his heart he still came racing in headlong to save her from the teme.

"Naruto-kun, about what happened in the Land of Iron, I..."

"Stop, Sakura-chan. I understand what was going on and I've moved past it. It hurt then sure, but I'm long since over it."

"Can you ever forgive me, Naruto?"

"No. There is nothing to forgive, Sakura-chan. I know why you did what you did and quite honestly, that only made me love you more, if such a thing were possible."

Sakura could not believe what she was hearing. She had manipulated and deceived him the worst way imaginable and he just shrugged it off like Rock Lee getting puched by anyone other than Tsunade or Maito Gai.

"Naruto-kun, I..."

She never got the chance to say what she wanted to say. Four ANBU dropped into the resteraunt and took up defensive positions around Naruto and Sakura.

"ANBU, what is happening?"

"Hokage-sama, one of our scouts reported seeing someone matching Yakushi Kabuto's description wandering the forest around Konoha. Please come with us to the safehouse."

"No. Bring me Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi, ANBU Neko. The rest of you will take me to the nearest entrance to where this man was spotted."

Naruto stood up and began walking when he looked over his shoulder to notice Sakura still sitting at the table looking dejected.

"Sakura-chan, let's go hunting. The game: snake."

Sakura jumped up and walked with Naruto and the ANBU to the Eastern gate.

"Hokage-sama, I must advise against this. You are the village's leader, what will we do if you die?"

"You'll find someone else. Someone just as capable of being this village's guidance and counsel. Now enough, here comes the rest of the team."

Kakashi and Sasuke along with Neko landed in front of the gathered ANBU and company.

"Kakashi I understand, but what took you so long, Sasuke?"

"Got lost on the road of life, Naruto."

"You did not just say that, Teme."

"What are you gonna do about it, Dobe?"

"D-ranks for a month for Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi with chakra restricted. Please make a note of that, Neko-chan."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi and Sasuke ceased talking and grumbled something about troublesome blonds and Nara Shikamaru sneezed.

"Now then, let's get going. I've been informed that we have a snake problem that needs to dealt with, and Team Seven are the exterminators."

All shinobi present had a look of nostalgia on their faces as they thought back to a simpler time, before a shinobi world war had been waged with the Bijuu as the at the front gate, Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura made the final checks to their equipment. Powerful as they might be, Kabuto would not have simply sat by and done nothing. Especially not after he narrowly escaped defeat at Sasuke's hands after Itachi ended the Edo Tensei with Izanami. No, he would have been searching for any means possible with which to demolish Konoha and all its were nearly ready when Naruto reached across his body and unceremoniously tossed the Hokage's robes away sending ANBU scrambling to keep them from getting soiled, revealing the battle garb hidden underneath.

He was wearing advanced shinobi armor with seals strewn about the front that stored chakra and the Kyuubi boldly emblazoned on the back. The armor was a glossy black that seemed to draw in the light around it and the seals and Kyuubi were a deep crimson that shone like blood. All in all, Naruto cut the image of a true warrior. His new look was inspirational to his allies, and terrifying to his enemies.

"Ne, Kakashi? Why don't you take the lead on this one for old times' sake?"

"That's a little unprecedented, Naruto"

"Since when have I ever been predictable?"

"Fair point. Alright, delta attack formation, Naruto, you take point. Sakura, you're bringing up the rear. I'll take the left flank. Team seven, move out!"

And there you have it. I know it took an inordinate amount of time, but it's finally up. I don't know where we're going with this so pm me and tell me who you want to see our hero with at the end of it all. I'll be taking a poll and the options are Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, or nobody. As for why Tayuya isn't in the list, well, she's dead, if you've been keeping up with the Manga or anime.