"Hmm, Sakura? What about these?" Naruto asked, holding up a yellow jacket and bright blue vest. Sakura looked at him with a stare that could make the dead shiver.
"Naruto, if you show up with one more stupid choice of outfit I swear I will bury you with just your head above the ground and make you watch me eat all the various Ichiraku Specials without giving you a single taste. Do you get my point?" Sakura said in a chill-inducing voice. Naruto nodded like a chicken pecking for grains on the ground.
Naruto was currently preparing for a date with Hinata. When Sakura had heard of it she was stunned. Apparently, Thanks to Sakura making them interact multiple times, Hinata had finally come out of her shell and started interacting with Naruto in a casual way. Her new confidence also impacted her fighting prowess, which became better than ever.
Naruto had helped Hinata train her Byakugan and Gentle Fist style these past few days. His role was of a punching bag army, courtesy of Shadow Clone Jutsu. After one such session, Hinata had apparently invited him for a casual date session in Ichiraku.
As this was his first date, Naruto came to the only one he could for advice: Sakura. To prepare him for his date, Sakura had currently dragged him to a shopping trip, using this as an excuse to finally get rid of the cursed orange outfit.
After three hours of slogging through various stores, Naruto finally picked an outfit that Sakura was satisfied with. A sleeve-less black zip-up jacket with a dark orange inner vest, a pair of black pants with orange fire motifs near the ankles, a pair of black sneaker-like shoes with orange highlights.
The final touch was a long soft black colored scarf, created with a cocoon of an ice silkworm specially breaded by ninja clans, and enchanted to keep the wrapped area in a comfortable temperature regardless of external temperature. The effect could be enhanced by actively pouring in chakra.
Sakura had gifted this to complete his ensemble. Even she had to admit that in this outfit, Naruto looked very dashing, especially after she made him tame his spiky blond hair in a slicked-back look. The orange prankster that everyone hated was nowhere to be seen.
Though his new outfit too had hints of orange, Sakura allowed it. She theorized that it might be because of Naruto growing up with Kurama inside him ever since he was born. The color orange had somewhat become his identity and he probably felt uncomfortable without it.
Sakura laughed at Naruto's expression when she saw him gawk at the mirror in astonishment. He himself couldn't believe the dashing figure in the mirror currently.
"See, I told you that a wardrobe change was completely necessary." Sakura said with a smile "Now make sure to get a few copies of this outfit so that you can wash and wear them alternatively. The scarf is fine to be kept without washing. Its enchantment comes with an automatic cleaning function too."
At the time of the bill, Naruto protested when he saw that the scarf Sakura was paying for cost more than all the copies of his outfit combined. But Sakura refused to let him pay for it. She told him it was a gift and in return, he had to make sure that Hinata had a good time.
-x-x-x-x-x-
While they were returning from their shopping trip, Sakura suddenly felt a surge of Malevolence. Such potent killing intent and desire for blood was something that dwarfed even what she felt from Zabuza. She immediately rushed towards the location of this intent and Naruto followed after her immediately.
When she reached the area, she saw a trio of unfamiliar Genin surrounding Sasuke. He was protecting a bunch of crying leaf kids, who had already lost control of their bladders in fear of the three unfamiliar Genin.
Sakura recognized them in an instant, thanks to their unique looks and the Ninja bands of the Village Hidden in the Sand displayed on their body.
The one with a weirdly designed black bodysuit and wrapped up a human-sized object on his back was Kankuro, the Secret Black Style Puppeteer. The one with the Giant Tessen, a War-Fan weapon which was a specialty of Hidden Sand Village, was Temari. Her spiky blond hair and immense arrogance made her stand out easily.
Finally, there he was in the flesh, the source of malevolence that Sakura sensed, Gaara of the Sand. He was very noticeable with his short red hair, sleepless eyes with prominent dark circles, character for love tattooed on his forehead, and most importantly, the Giant Sand Gourd that he carried on his back.
Unlike the canon Naruto had not run into them with Konohamaru, So Sakura searched for the reason of conflict immediately. It didn't take her more than a few seconds to see what might have started this fiasco.
In the hands of the kid with goggles and a long scarf, who was bawling the most, was a broken leftover of a big ice cream cone. This was Konohamaru the troublemaker himself. She saw that Gaara's Black T-Shirt, and the long white cloth he had wrapped around his body diagonally, were covered in dripping cream of what was formerly Konohamaru's ice cream.
'Seriously, if it is not Naruto then it is this troublemaker. The two of them keep the Leaf busier than bees.' Sakura sighed as she decided to help quell this conflict.
Before this could escalate, Sakura sent out a dozen chakra strings to wrap around Sasuke and the kids, and immediately pulled them to safety. Surprised by the intrusion, the Sand Trio were unable to react in time. She and Naruto then stood next to Sasuke as they glared at the Sand Trio.
"A Shinobi's act of aggression with intent of harm on a person of a different Shinobi Village, who is not of/above the Genin Rank, can instantly be listed as an act of terrorism or instigating act of war. In such case, it gives any Shinobi of the said village who are nearby to capture and detain you to the T & I department."
Sakura said calmly listed this fact while taking out a Kunai and spinning it at high speed on her finger "Now, do you want to explain your actions or shall we rumble? I am okay with it either way."
The Sand trio had instantly quelled their aggressive atmosphere a bit when Sakura mentioned the T & I Department. Gaara especially glared at this insect that was buzzing in front of him, preventing him from claiming his due blood.
The Sand Trio and Sakura both knew that the possibility of Sakura capturing them successfully was small, but she could most probably create enough commotion to bring more experienced Shinobi or even ANBU here.
"We were not the ones to instigate this, those little brats were the instigators!!!" Kankuro shouted.
"Oh really? Three full-fledged Genin, with clearly specialized weaponry and techniques. And yet a bunch of kids with not even a full decade of growth under their name instigated you? Do tell, I am very interested to know how they achieved it." Sakura said, sarcasm thickly dripping from her tone.
Kankuro blushed in embarrassment and clenched his fists. Gaara's killer intent started leaking out like a thick cloud around him. Naruto and Sasuke got ready with their own kunai to respond to any attack.
Sorry for the late release, I wanted this and the coming chapter to be perfect.
Next chapter coming soon.