Forever Mine

Chapter 5

It'd been their third stop, yet there was still no trace of the person they were looking for anywhere, frustrating them further, especially now that they didn't know where else to look.

Kakashi had sent both Naruto and Sasuke to summon a certain anbu captain before they went home for the night, and after an hour of searching, they still couldn't find him. Had Naruto not insisted on visiting their old sensei, they'd probably be home resting already.

"I honestly thought Kai would be there," Naruto's shoulders drop in defeat. "He's always there."

"Yeah, I thought he'd be there, too."

"But Sakura wasn't there either, so it makes sense. Why else would he stick around, you know?"

Sasuke frowned, silently agreeing as they walked down the last hospital steps and onto the street.

"He's not in his office, or home, or here. What if we try the anbu training grounds?" Naruto suggested. "You did say he went straight to the hospital without changing uniform."

"That was early this morning," Sasuke informed. "He should've gone home to freshen up and rest by now."

"We have nowhere else to look, right?"

They headed down the street toward the anbu training ground, seeing as they had no other place to look. All they wanted was to get home, shower, and knock out, but the anbu training grounds were on the other side of the village and there was a great chance they would be walking there for nothing.

If Kai wasn't there, it'd be a wasted trip before having to look somewhere else. Merely thinking about it felt like a long night which was why the sight of a lone sensory kunoichi felt like a blessing sent their way.

"Hey, boys," Ino greeted in a flirty tone.

"Ino!" Naruto smiled, relieved. "It's a good thing we found you. You think you could locate Kai for us? Kakashi-sensei is summoning him."

"He's probably with Sakura," Ino smirked. "I saw them both leave together."

At her words, Sasuke finally turned back to look at the blonde. It seemed he was curious to know where the anbu was now, something that didn't go unnoticed by his teammate.

Ino made a hand sign as she closed her eyes to focus on the chakra signature she was looking for. She remained silent for a moment, using her very convenient jutsu before she suddenly squealed out: "Oh, my God!"

The two teammates looked at her questionably, waiting for whatever it was she was smiling so big for.

"Her and Kai are on a date!" she opened her now sparkling eyes.

Sasuke frowned at the information. A frown of confusion more than anger, though. "Where?" he asked.

"The barbecue place near Ichiraku's."

Sasuke nodded and then turned toward the restaurant's direction. "Let's go."

"What?" Ino frowned. "You can't interrupt their first date."

"Kakashi's orders," Sasuke said without any hesitation in his steps.

Both Naruto and Ino glanced at one another questionably for a moment before Naruto had to jog to catch up with the raven.

[Village Streets]

Sakura and Kai walked out of the restaurant and into the night, the moon and street lights illuminating the streets to keep their surrounding from being engulfed by darkness. They laughed side by side, talked, and teased, both enjoying their time spent together. So much so that they stopped a few feet away from the building, wanting to talk a while more before calling it a night.