A Growing Affection

Chapter 84: Returning Home

It was a blazing hot afternoon, the last Friday in August, when three  formless brown masses detached from the forest and shuffled silently  towards the main gate of the Konohagakure. Team Anko was on guard duty,  and Ino and Choji tensed as the shapes drew closer. Shikamaru observed  them, curious, yet decidedly unconcerned.

"I think we should hose  you down before we let you back in the village," he informed the  invaders, causing his partners to relax.

"Please do," Sakura  groaned, lifting her head far enough that Ino could now see her friend's  green eyes amidst the muck caking her body, "The Hokage put the  knucklehead in charge, and our 'leader' decided getting back to the  village to report on our mission was more important than taking a few  hours to clean up."

"Come on, Sakura," Naruto's pearly white grin  flashed from under the mud and reeds covering most of his face, "You  know this mission was for one of Gramma Tsunade's VIP friends, so we had  to get back ASAP. And after trekking around that swamp for a week, it  will take more than a few hours to get cleaned up, especially without a  real shower or a washing machine."

She sighed slightly, unable to refute his point.

"Besides,"  Uzumaki smirked even more broadly, "I can't wait to see the look on  Gramma Tsunade's face when we tromp into her office looking like this."

Choji  chuckled in agreement. Hinata sighed at her boyfriend in exaggerated  exasperation, but a twinkle in her white eyes showed she was not  completely opposed to the prank.

"You're asking for it," Shikamaru cautioned him, but he looked amused by the prospect as well.

"Let's just get this over with," Sakura grimaced, "I'm ready to spend about a week in the tub."

Choji  and Ino made way for them, and the blonde Kunoichi made a big  production of avoiding them. Naruto stomped forward, proudly filthy, and  his teammates followed with much less energy.

"Should we call the  Hokage?" Ino asked, knowing they might catch some heat from their  finicky commander. Shikamaru just shrugged apathetically.

"I'm  just glad they're getting along again," Choji said, opening a bag of  chips. Though he had recovered from his battle with the One-Tails  Tanuki, he was not yet quite back to his original weight; and Ino was  trying moderately to keep him where he was.

Ino and Shikamaru both  nodded, recalling the month of May. Though none of the members of Team  Kakashi had told anyone else about what had occurred between them  outside Naruto's condo, somehow everyone in the village seemed to know  that Sakura had made a move on Naruto, that he rejected her, and that  Hinata had seen the whole thing. For the next few weeks, Naruto and  Hinata had been on eggshells around Sakura, and she around them.

The  tension had spread to all of their friends, and battles lines had been  drawn. Lee sided with Sakura for obvious reasons, and Ino supported her  former rival as a matter of friendship. Temari didn't take sides, but  expressed a belief that Sakura had not done anything wrong. Choji and  Shikamaru stayed neutral for the sake of their respective lovers. But  Shino, Sasame, Neji, Tenten, and Konohamaru's gang all stood with  Hinata, though most of them were more outraged than she was. And finally  their was the anti-Naruto camp; Kiba and Hanabi were both of the mind  that Naruto wasn't good enough for either Hinata or Sakura, and didn't  deserve to be the center of a love triangle. Most of the older shinobi,  wisely, kept their noses out of the cyclone.

Hinata, meanwhile,  expressed to Naruto a feeling of liberation. She was not happy that  Sakura had kissed her boyfriend, but she was relieved to finally have  everything made public, and immensely happy that Naruto had turned  Sakura down. Despite that, they were unsure how to act around Sakura.  Uzumaki in particular; the new Tokujo became extremely jumpy whenever he  saw the color pink out of the corner of his eye. In the end, it was  Sakura who had taken the initiative to resolve matters.