By the time Sakura returned to the village, the sun had already begun to rise over the horizon, greeting her with an eyeful of blinding beams. Raising a hand to her brow to shield her eyes from the morning sun, she peered through squinted eyes at the group of artisans hard at work sawing wooden planks at the foot of the damaged village walls.
"Oh, well if it ishn't Shakura-chan and Shashuke-kun!" said a familiar-looking man through a mouthful of nails held in his gritted teeth. He lowered his hammer and spat the nails into his palm. "We asked after you, but no one could tell us where you had gone!"
It took Sakura a moment to place the fellow who was addressing her in such a familiar manner.
"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Tazuna-san, the bridge builder… then, that must be Inari-kun! My, you've grown!"
"Hehe," Inari said sheepishly. "You've grown prettier too, Sakura-oneesan!"
"Aww…"
Tazuna had not changed much, but crybaby Inari had grown from a snot-nosed brat into a strapping young lad about Konohamaru's height, shorter than even a twelve-year-old Sakura... which was not saying much, but then again, girls tended to grow taller earlier than boys during their pre-teen years.
"I could say the same for you three. You were just a wee lass and lads back then, during that whole Gatō debacle," Tazuna went on, lowering his head and forcing Inari to bow with him. "I'm sorry I got you mixed up in that sordid affair as kids, but thanks to you, and to the Great Sakura Bridge, the Land of Waves is now very prosperous."
Sasuke grunted. "Don't mention it."
"That's why we rushed here to repay you!" Inari piped up. "When we heard the Hidden Leaf was in trouble, we picked up our tools and came running!"
It was then that Minato, Kakashi and Naruto appeared at the gate.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he came bounding towards them like a gazelle, followed by the two other men, at their own pace. "You're back!"
"We already heard the details from Shikaku, and I must admit, that was quite the trick... I didn't expect you to pull the wool over everyone's eyes so easily," Minato said with a gentle smile. "The Daimyō and the village's higher-ups are seething, and best of all, they can't say a thing against what you've done… even if they could prove it was intentional."
The Grass Daimyō and his family would temporarily be lodging in a secure location alongside the Fire Daimyō, so if anything were to happen to them while they were under the Leaf's care, everyone involved would lose face.
If money was the chain that bound shinobi to their masters, then honour was what bound nobles and their ilk!
"Why didn't ya bring me along, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined. "I would have been much more useful than Sasuke, ya know!"
"Obviously because she didn't trust you to keep your mouth shut during a stealth mission…" Sasuke drawled. "...idiot."
"Obviously, I couldn't bother you while you were in the middle of your very important training," Sakura explained, stepping between the two boys before they started throwing hands. "Speaking of which, how's it going…???"
Sakura's voice broke off.
There was an unfamiliar scent clinging to Naruto's clothes... the scent of a bitch in heat. For the pheromones to be this strong and persistent, this unknown female must have rubbed herself against him for quite some time… which meant Naruto must have allowed her to do so.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said tentatively, watching Sakura's expression turn progressively frosty. "Is everything okay, ya know?"
"Everything's fine," Sakura said coldly, grabbing Sasuke's hand and pulling him along. "Come on then, I'm starving. Let's get some victory ramen. My treat."
"All right!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Not you. You weren't on the mission," Sakura said haughtily, shooing him away. "Anyway, if you've got enough free time to mess around with random girls, then you should get back to training."
And with that, Sakura and the others marched into the village, leaving a bewildered Naruto behind. As they passed through the village gates, Sasuke and Karin glanced back over their shoulders independently of each other, shooting Naruto smug looks.
A cross-shaped vein popped on Naruto's forehead. "Why, you…"
"Did something happen between the two of you?" Kakashi-sensei said, scratching his head. "It's exhausting keeping track of you brats' relationships."
Deep within Naruto's and Minato's seals, the Nine-Tails' two halves guffawed.
"There's a good exercise for you, Naruto," said Minato brightly. "Why do you think Sakura's upset at you?"
Naruto shrugged.
"Tummy ache, maybe?" he said. "How should I know?"
He also found it rather odd.
While Naruto wasn't the best at reading the air, especially when it came to girls whose motives and inner thoughts were often a complete mystery to him, he usually had a good handle on Sakura's state of mind. She was easier to read than most girls, almost as if she were one of the guys, but recently there had been times when he couldn't make heads or tails of her.
"That's not what I meant," Minato said patiently. "Why don't you try entering Ku… I mean, Nine-Tails Chakra Mode?"
'Just tell him our name, already,' said the Nine-Tails' Yin half. 'Naruto's a good kid, just lend him your chakra. You know what will happen to us if we get caught by the Akatsuki, right?'
'Hmph!' the Nine-Tails' Yang half snorted. 'Maybe you've lost your pride to the humans, but I'm different! I don't roll over on command, and neither do I give paws! If I show him my belly and give him my chakra free of charge, then I'd be nothing more than his pet!'
Naruto drew the Nine-Tails' chakra out of the seal, and in exchange, the Nine-Tails pulled on his, taking it for himself. A warm glow spread around Naruto as golden flames flared out from his body, wreathing him in chakra.
"So bright!" exclaimed Inari, shielding his eyes.
Naruto closed his eyes and locked onto Sakura's chakra signature.
"Which negative emotion is that…" he muttered to himself. "... is it jealousy, ya know?"
Naruto was both happy and perplexed.
If Sakura was feeling jealous over him, that meant she loved him enough that she didn't want other women fawning all over him… but when had he ever…?
"Ah," Naruto blurted out. "But that was an accident!"
'There it is,' the Nine-Tails sighed. 'Now he remembers… but how did the pink-haired girl find out?'