14

                                    

                                          
Naruto yawned as he sat under his favorite tree, waiting for Team Eight to arrive. Gaara had informed Temari in the middle of the night that she was needed to run a quick errand to a neighboring town a day away and she had left bedgrudgingly. Hey, Naruto was a warm body in the cold desert night...and desert nights were notoriously frigid. That was the only reason she'd been in bed with him...
He missed her company already. Temari had proven to be everything he could want in a woman. Sure, she was a bit on the affectionate side. She loved to be held and touched, but Temari, like him, never received it much when she was younger. Hell, once her mother died, she never received any physical contact outside of a pat on the head from Baki. Naruto didn't mind showering her with affection since he loved it as well.
But she wasn't just a fragile flower. She'd proven that many times over in their sparring sessions since he'd started living there. In battle, Temari was ruthless and would use whatever advantage she could to get the upper hand on her stronger opponent. Her analytical mind and knack for strategy could almost trump his on-the-spot plans and natural good luck.
It didn't work all the time though.
Naruto leaned back against the tree, nearly suffocating Sanzoku, who had taken up refuge from the cool morning air behind his back. The red panda finally wiggled his way from behind him and curled up around his neck, a much safer venue. Naruto scratched Sanzoku behind the ears and lost himself in thought again.
He had come far in his training with his father's jutsus. With Temari's help, he had torn into the wind jutsus with gusto, learning them quickly with the help of his Kage Bunshins. The tornado was the culmination of several months of study and trial and error. When he'd finally been able to do it without blowing himself up, he had wrapped her up in a hug and gave her a very passionate kiss. Temari had looked at him like he was crazy, her fingers on her lips, for several moments. Naruto was afraid he'd overstepped his boundaries...until she had bowled him over returning the kiss.
He'd been surprised that she had been jealous of his dating around. Temari had given no indication of jealousy on the outside but now that he thought about it, the signs had been there. Whenever they'd sparred in the past and she'd asked how his date had went, he remembered she was more aggressive the better his date had gone. She'd nearly killed him when he told her one time that he'd given a girl a goodnight kiss.
He sighed and crossed his arms as he looked up at the star-pocked sky. It had certainly been an adventure living in Suna. He'd just come here because he knew a few of the people and had ended up becoming a very popular schoolteacher and very desirable to the women of the village. Too bad for them he only wanted a certain spiky ponytailed blonde.
Sanzoku snorted, letting him know that Team Eight was close. Naruto stood and cracked his back, before walking to the stream and washing his face to wake himself up further. He smiled when he heard Akamaru approaching at high speed and stood to say hello only to be tackled by the enormous canine, right into the creek.
"Akamaru! Get off of him! What in the hell are you thinking?"
A few woofs was Kiba's answer as he hauled the dog off of Naruto, who was helped back to his feet by Hinata and Shino.
"No, I don't think he appreciated a bath this early in the morning."
A few more barks made Kiba raise an eyebrow and the others look on in confusion.
"What do you mean he smells like Temari all over?"
Naruto saw the need to stop any further speculation about what might have gone on last night (not that anything did happen).
"Soooo...what do you guys want to do? Wanna spar?"
Kiba threw his hands up in front of his chest in surrender.