Chapter Fifteen

P.O.V. Commander Sakura Haruno

"Congrats Commander."

I turned looking over my right shoulder to see Carver's smug face standing behind Tsunade and I as we walked through the ghostly streets that would soon fill with people leaving the arena.

"Hey." I smiled as he hugged me, my heart felt good almost light seeing him after a month of being away.

"It's about time-!" He instantly switched gears so quickly and began to lecture me, I think I got whip lash. "-only took you three years to get your ass here!"

"Well..." I shrugged my shoulders, "...I'm here."

"Yeah." Carver flexed a smile, "Better late than never. Tsunade said something about you going to the Waterfall Village before the announcement meeting today?"

"I did." I lightly nodded to his question.

"And how did that go?" Carver asked as Tsunade flashed a confused face along her facial features.

"It went..." I trailed off chewing on the inside of my cheek.

"Why did you go to the Waterfall Village?" Tsunade asked,

"To let them know she was moving here." Carver answered for me, I watched the bright realization spread across Tsunade's fair face.

"Oh!" She gasped in comprehension.

"Yes." I nodded, confirming Carvers answer.

"How bad was it?" Carver asked cramming his hands into his pants packets much like someone else I knew did, I licked my lips gazing around our quite surroundings.

"Dawn told me to not come back." I sighed, seeing no point in sugar coating the truth for them.

"What!?" Tsunade gasped, her amber eyes widened like the sun when it hung lazily in the open sky.

"Wow." Carver said, taking a moment to let this information settle in. "She is that petty-?" He laughed sounding amused, "-Dawn would let the two largest villages relationship fall because she is what...jealous?"

"Seems like it." I said, "It really pissed her off when I told Annistyn I wanted her to move here-"

"You did what now!?" Carver laughed harder as I mindlessly followed him and Tsunade, where were we going?

"I told Annistyn I wanted her to move here." I breathed in a breath through my chapped lips.

"I can see why you would want that." Carver nodded, "What did Annistyn say?"

"Nothing." I answered, "She was shocked and needed time to think it over."

"Yeah." Carver nodded, "Moving villages is a big change, especially when your young and have lived there your entire life."

"I guess." I smirked, "I wouldn't know-"

"I said sorry-!" Tsunade snapped, her hair rising in agitation. "-and you said you forgave me!"

"It was a joke." I slowly drew out,

"Oh." Tsunade blinked, relaxing as she turned to continue walking through the leaf village until I was led into the Hokage's Tower. I mindlessly gazed around until Tsunade stopped at a door adjacent from her office, she opened it and I was automatically pushed in.

"Why are we here?" I wondered looking around the brightly lit room, it held a nice desk with matching chair. Large clean windows lined the back wall, a couch was pushed off to the side with pillows resting on each arm.

"You're the one who said you wanted an office-" Carver mocked, "-with like walls and stuff."

"This is...?"

"Your office!" Tsunade cheered, throwing her arms up in excitment. "Your name will be put on the door tomorrow and-" Tsunade went on talking about the décor of excitement.

I was never given an office inside the waterfall village, I had to make one of the rooms inside my house into one. I smiled running my hand along the smooth desk, as my heart strangely felt warm and a soft fuzzy feel...it reminded me of a peach.

"There is also a gift-" Carver said coming around the desk and opening the bottom drawer. "-for you." He finished picking up a shiny bag placing it on the top of the desk for me.

"I get an office and a present?" I wondered eyeing him as I pulled out the tissue paper of the brightly colored gift bag. I laughed pulling out packs of different colored pens.

"You used to love them!" Carver sounded like he was defending the gift.

"I do." I nodded looking at the five packs of pens. "Thank you." I said giving him a quick hug.

"The tours not over yet!" Tsunade chuckled grabbing my hand pulling us out of the room.

"Where we going?" I wondered after a while, seeing Naruto's apartment complex was coming into view.

"Can't you just enjoy the view, Commander?" Carver laughed as I shot him an annoyed look, but I could see the delight in Carver's face that I had finally accepted returning to the leaf village.

"No." I answered, "I'm a buzz kill, tell me where we are going." I said.

"Home!" Carver groaned as he held the door open for Tsunade and myself to enter the building.

"Home?" I wondered outloud.

"What?" Tsunade asked as we stepped on the elevator, "You expect me to just accept you into the village and then go about my day?"

"Well...yeah." I answered earning a harsh look from her amber eyes.

"Did you even think this through?" Carver asked as we stepped onto his floor, "You just moved to a whole new village; you accept a job here. Did you think you'll just fuse into the village, like where did you expect to actually live?"

"I don't know." I said, the thought didn't occur to me. When I thought of my home, where all my material belongings I thought of my house inside the Waterfall Village that the Nine has fully taken over.

"It's a good thing you have me in your life." Carver said opening his apartment door.

"Is it?" I wondered to myself.

"Yes."

"I don't know-" I said looking around the clean apartment, it didn't look how I remembered his place to be. "-ever since I met you, I have a whole lot more headaches."

"And every single one of them is worth it." Carver flashed a toothy smile, "Welcome home, Sakura."

"Huh?" I asked turning from the two shinobi who watched me.

The apartment was different; there was fresh paint on the walls, there was a new furniture, it looked like a female lived here and not Carver well...I guess this could be Carver's place...

"This is your apartment." Carver said tossing a key chain at me.

"Are you offering me to live with you?" I teased catching it with ease.

"As fun as you are as a roommate-" Carver nodded across the hallway through the open front door. "-I live two doors down."

"What-"

"I moved out." Carver said putting his hands back into his pockets,

"Why?"

"You-" Carver said walking closer gripping my shoulders. "-are a creature of habit. I know you, and the life you lived inside that village it was hard for you to have a routine."

"So-" Tsunade stepped in. "-when I told Carver about you agreeing to become Commander of this village, we got to work,"

"You guys did this...for me?"

"Yes." Tsunade smiled, "You need a little familiarity around you during this big change, and I thought this place would do nicely."

"Thank you." I breathed not knowing what else to say.

"Of course." Carver and Tsunade grinned.

"So-!" Tsuande gestures around the apartment, "-do you like it!?"

"I do." I smiled, "Thank you."

"It was the least we could do." Tsunade blushed,

"How is Kaka-" I went to question the masked man's consciousness condition until Naruto came running through the open door.

"Sakura!?" He cried out, quickly engulfing me into an airtight hug.

"Wh-What?" I gasped out as he squeezed out all the air from my unsuspecting lungs.

"Is it true!?" Naruto blubbered on, "Are you really the new Commander of this village!?"

"Weren't you at the meeting?" I questioned.

"You better have been!" Tsunade snapped around, "I gave out clear orders-"

"I was there!" Naruto defended himself against Tsunade's hardened glare. "I just...I don't understand-!"

"Shocker." Carver muttered.

"-why now!?" Naruto rambled on, "What changed, what happened!? What-" I reached out covering his mouth with my hand.

"Aren't you happy that I am here?"

"Yes." He muffled from under my hand.

"Then can't you just be happy without all the questions?" I sighed removing my hand letting it drop down to my side.

"Well...yeah...but what happened!?" Naruto kick started his questions back up making me sigh as Raiden and Hinata came running into the apartment.

"Sakura!" Hinata grinned from ear to ear as she practically jumped into my arms pushing Naruto carelessly aside.

"Hey." I laughed hugging her back, "How you been?"

"I've been ok!" She smiles hugging me tightly.

"Hinata!?" Naruto whined pouncing to his feet.

"Why did you leave the arena so quickly!?" Raiden pouted, "You left before any of us could talk to you!"

"That was the point." Tsunade muttered under her breath.

"We wanted to show Sakura her new office and apartment before-" Carver quickly painted over Tsunade's comment.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked as Raiden raised an eyebrow.

"We are in Carver's place?" Naruto said slowly.

"Nope." Carver shook his head, "I live two doors down now."

"Why?"

"So, Sakura could move in here." Carver smiled my way, "It wasn't that hard, I had the Hokage on my side so things went pretty smoothly very quickly."

"Really now?" I lightly laughed.

"Yes." Carver nodded,

"Sakura!" Hinata bounced next to me.

"Ye-Yeah?" I asked,

"You just got a new job-" Hinata said, "-a new home, we need to go out and celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?" I blinked.

"Come on buzz kill." Carver said wrapping an arm around me, "Get changed and let's break in this village the right way."