48 Suna

"Hehehe....." Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. After his answer, Sakura bonked his head. Although it was a light bonk, it still hurt a little.

"Hmph!" Sakura huffed and looked away from him, hiding her face that was as red as a rose. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon were shocked at Naruto's answer.

"Seriously boss!? She's your girlfriend?! You can do better than this chick! I mean just look at her! That pink hair is kind of weird, and can you see her forehead?! It's larger than Hokage Rock!" Konohamaru declared while pointing at Sakura.

*PAK!!*

Konohamaru grunted and staggered back as he just got slapped in the face by Naruto who had a dark shadow covering his eyes. He glared at Naruto angrily. "What the hell was that for?!"

The blonde crouched down in front of him while looking at him seriously, scaring Konohamaru.

" You better take that back, Konohamaru. Sakura-chan isn't weird! She's drop-dead gorgeous! And you better believe it! Someone like you with no taste in girls at all could never understand just how beautiful she is!" Naruto pointed at Sakura who had a flustered expression hearing his compliments about her.

"Her pink hair makes her stand out, and that's great because I like staring at it all day! It smells good too! Also, her future boyfriend is gonna be one lucky bastard because he gets to leave a bunch of kisses on her forehead! So you better take those words back, Konohamaru! Cuz I'll be having none of that disrespect to my precious people! Believe it!!" Naruto shouted. Konohamaru nodded repeatedly before saluting him.

" Y-yes boss!!!" He shouted. Naruto grinned at him.

"Good. Now apologize to her." Naruto requested

Konohamaru immediately bowed deeply at Sakura.

"I'm so sorry for saying those things!!!" He declared. Sakura laughed nervously as she waved it off.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I get this all the time." Sakura replied to him with a smile on her face, making Konohamaru even more guilty for making fun of her.

"Alright, now that that's over with. Let's go play ninja." Naruto muttered as he got up. He started walking with the Konohamaru Ninja Squad with Sakura walking closely by his side.

Sakura had a blush on her face as she kept replaying what Naruto said when he was scolding Konohamaru in her mind.

'H-he said I'm pretty. He likes my forehead and my pink hair....And he always asked me on dates....Oh why did I bully him?' Sakura thought to herself, feeling guilty for doing such horrible things to her friend. She knew that he would just shrug it off, which made her feel even more guiltier.

Naruto had been the only factor of her confidence back in the academy. Whenever something happened, whether it was something Ino or one of the other girls did or said, Naruto had always been there to make her feel better about herself.

She started staring at Naruto and his handsome face. She stared at his confident grin and his whisker marks on his cheeks. Her heart raced faster than ever and her face turned red again.

'Oh Sage! What's happening?! Why's my heart beating so fast?! Am I gonna die?!' Sakura put her hand on where her heart was. Her breathing became fast.

"Oi."

Sakura widened her eyes and looked up at Naruto who was looking at her with a concerned expression. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan? Are you sick? Do I need to take you home?" He asked while getting closer to the pink haired kunoichi.

" A-ah, it's alright Naruto.... I'm just feeling a little hot...."Sakura stuttered as she backed up a little. Naruto hummed and squinted his eyes at her, making Sakura look away.

"Hold my hand, Sakura-chan." Naruto suddenly requested while holding out his right hand. Sakura widened her eyes as her blush reddened.

"Wh-what?" She stuttered weakly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hold it so that you can calm down. Don't worry, I will always be here by your side, Sakura-chan. Believe it. " Naruto grinned confidently at her. Sakura nodded repeatedly before holding his hand.

Naruto intertwined it as the continued walking. Surprisingly it actually calmed her down as she felt safe when holding the blonde's large warm hand.

"C'mon boss! Pick up the pace!" Konohamaru shouted as he ran past Udon and Moegi. He turned around a corner and continued running until he crashed into someone and fell down to the ground.

"Oww....." Konohamaru rubbed his face which was stinging from the pain of bumping into someone. He looked up at the person he bumped into.

The person was Kankuro, a shinobi of Sunagakure's Kazekage Clan. He is the second child to Karura and the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, making him the second eldest of the Three Sand Siblings.

Kankuro bears a striking resemblance to his father, though usually seen on account of his costume and makeup.

Kankuro wore a Bunraku puppeteer's costume; a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wears a black hood which covered his head completely, and had cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead. Both this and later outfits are derived from traditional bunraku puppeteer costumes.

Bunraku puppeteers usually wear black outfits and hoods so as not to distract from their puppets. Kankuro sported a triangular face-paint design. He also wears gloves and carries his puppets on his back.

Beside him stood Temari, kunoichi of Sunagakure's Kazekage Clan and the eldest of the Three Sand Siblings.

Temari bears a great resemblance to her mother Karura. She has teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which is gathered into four consecutive pigtails.

Temari's outfit consists of a single light purple-coloured, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her black forehead protector around her neck.

The headbands they were wearing was the symbol for Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand, which was a ninja village allied to Konoha.

"That hurt ya little punk!" Kankuro shouted as he bent down to pick Konohamaru up by his scarf, forcing the kid to grab onto his hand.

"I think I need to teach you a lesson about watching where you're going!" Kankuro declared as Konohamaru had fear in his eyes. Temari scowled and shook her head in annoyance.

"Kankuro just drop him, you know we're going to get in trouble if 'he' shows up! " Temari warned him. Kankuro looked at her.

" Relax Temari, he won't show up for a while yet. Besides, this kid needs to learn not to disrespect his betters." Kankuro replied as he looked back at Konohamaru.

"Put me down your stupid make-up wearing freak!! If you don't my big bro's gonna beat you up!!" Konohamaru shouted. Kankuro growled at him.

" It's war paint you little shit!! I'll teach you a lesson for messing with your betters!!" Kankuro shouted before raising his fist.

" You know, if you're trying to look threatening you're doing a piss poor job of it." Kankuro and Temari looked up to see Naruto standing before them with a serious expression on him. He was glaring daggers at Kankuro who had a smirk on his face.

A few seconds later, Sakura whose hand he let go came up behind him with Moegi and Udon and watched the small confrontation. Naruto smirked at him.

"I think that might have something to do with the makeup. Please put the boy down, you won't like the consequences." Naruto resumed as his serious expression returned. Kankuro scowled while Temari blushed.

'Oh, he looks handsome. I like those whiskers.' Temari thought while eyeing the blonde up and down.

'Those look like Konoha Genin. Maybe I should play with them for a while instead.' Kankuro thought with a sneer.

When Naruto did not receive a reply from either of the Suna Genin, he scowled deeply at them, revealing his sharp fangs. "Hey make-up boy! I said you might want to let him go! If you're not going to listen to me, I can persuade you better by putting my foot up in your ass!!! You better believe it!!" Naruto shouted. That seemed to get a reaction as Kankuru scowled and Temari giggled.

"It's not make-up asshole! It's war paint!" Kankuro yelled. Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at him with an amused face.

" So you wearing a cat suit doesn't make you a transvestite then?!" Naruto shouted back. A transvestite is a person who dresses in clothes primarily associated with the other sex(typically used of a man). Basically Naruto called him a cosplayer and a sissy at the same time.

"That does it!! You better not regret it after I'm done with you!" Kankuro said as he grit his teeth. He tossed Konohamaru away and reached behind his back to the large mummified looking object.

Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed as he rushed behind the young Sarutobi and caught Konohamaru, setting the boy down before he turned a glare on Kankuro.

Temari looked at her little brother will a shocked expression. "You're going to use Karasu here!" She asked him.

"These brats need to be taught a lesson Temari." Kankurou replied as he began to unravel the bandages. Suddenly, a kunai was thrown at him out of nowhere.

*SHIK!!!*

"Argh!!!" Kankuro growled as he had a kunai embedded in his hand. He looked to see Satsuki standing beside Naruto while spinning a kunai in her hand.

"Get lost before I send you back in a body bag to Suna." Satsuki threatened while activating her Sharingan.

Naruto appeared behind Kankuro and pointed his tri-pronged kunai at his neck while Sakura appeared in front of Kankuro and pointed her kunai at his forehead.

"Not laughing now are ya? Don't move or I'll kill you. You don't wanna start the 4th Great Ninja War with your stupidity now." Naruto whispered menacingly, making Kankuro shiver down his spine.

This feeling felt so familiar. The only one who can make him shiver in fear like this was Gaara, his little brother.

"Stop and listen to him, Kankuro."

To be continued...