Author's note: Friendship, drama, romance can be expected in later chapters.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi.
CHAPTER ONE:
SAKURA, NARUTO AND SASUKE
A blob of pink hair, accompanied by a messy blonde head, rushed screaming through the green fields of the park. They were laughing, ecstatic and happy. Without a trace of guilt the pink headed one stuck three of her fingers inside her mouth and swallowed the stolen piece of chocolate. Like most children, she felt no obligation to share her so called profit with her less fortunate friend.
The trees were tall and the leaves were the shade of a perfect emerald. Equally green, sparkling, eyes gazed up at the practically flawless scenery and for the umpteenth time that day, she sighed in sheer delight. This was how she wanted her entire life to be like; green nature, a warm wind, almost melted candy and Naruto.
Spontaneous as she was, the six-year-old girl twirled around, too occupied with herself to notice the admiring looks of her comrade. Her harsh, loud laughter scared away a good deal of the birds but she didn't care. The world was hers, she was its queen. She could call the birds back if she wanted to, with a simple whistle. As if to prove to herself that she could do just that, she blew air from her pouting mouth stubbornly, over and over again but the wheezing sounds didn't lure any of her winged friends back.
Devastated, crushed and severely humiliated she sat down on the grass, butt first, completely ignoring the consequences such an action would have on her white skirt. Bare, childishly chubby arms crossed over a tiny chest and she absolutely refused to face Naruto. Whenever he'd step in front of her, she just spun around to another direction. Again and again until he got the hint and sat down, his back against hers. He was shorter than she was, the palms of his hands were smaller and his legs not as fast. They wore the same size in shoes but the boy insisted on buying bigger ones, convincing himself his feet would grow faster that way. That was Naruto – simpleminded, stubborn and strangely determined. For some reason Sakura wouldn't be too shocked if he one day greeted her with feet as big as clown shoes. Just because he wanted it to be so.
The skinny back against hers flexed and she knocked the back of his head with her own, irritated. He'd spoiled her moment of peace.
"Stop moving, stupid. You ruined it!" Sakura whined and stuck her lower lip out, even though no one was there to see her misery.
"Ruined what?" Naruto asked curiously, yet guiltily. The last thing he wanted was to make his best girl friend sad.
"Like you'd get it", she muttered in response. Sometimes he could be so dense.
Naruto hunched forward, wishing he hadn't done whatever he'd done to upset her, and picked up a rock. It was uneven, weirdly shaped but otherwise pretty ordinary. Nothing special, full of sharp edges and colored a dull shade of gray with elements of white and red.
"Here", he smiled and jerked around suddenly, eager to present Sakura with this gift. It may not be beautiful, but it was unique. One of a kind, and he hoped more than anything at the moment that she would like it or at least approve of it. If she didn't, he'd find something else to give her, do anything to please her. To make her like him back.
"What's that?" she said dumbly, observing the item in Naruto's small, tanned palm. She put her hand over his and grasped around the rock, weighing it in her hand, judging it. "It's kind of heavy", she finally decided.
She was about to mock it, tell him it was silly and that he was silly thinking she wanted it but then she looked up and saw his pleading eyes. For a six-year-old, Sakura was rather intelligent. She was also caring and used to be pretty sensitive but tended to hide it behind a mask if insults. She was too young, still, to realize it was just an act of defense, to prevent her from getting hurt.
"Thank you", she finally worded and pocketed her strange gift. The blonde in front of her looked relieved and grinned widely, like he always did. The whiskers on his cheeks vaguely resembled wrinkles and she giggled.
"What? What's so funny? What? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
He grew almost hysterical. At the same time as he wanted her to be happy, he didn't want her to laugh at him. He wanted to be the strong, brave hero who made her swoon and admire him. The one who held her hand when she was afraid and protected her from dangers. In Naruto's eyes, dangers were dark alleys and stray dogs. He could defeat both, he thought confidently.
The boy was a born optimist. He was never, ever depressed and if he was, he hid it behind big smiles and plenty of jokes. His biggest dream was to become king, or emperor, or something like that, and to prove to the world that he was good enough to be in it. He lost his parents several years ago and all he had to remember them by were some old photographs and Iruka's stories. When other kids wanted bedtime stories about princesses or dragons, Naruto most often went to sleep listening to how beautiful his mother was and how great his father was. Naruto was blonde, like his father, but resembled his mother more when it came to attitude and behavior. She'd been straightforward, open and honest, he'd been told. Not a quiet force like her husband.
"Hey, Sakura", Naruto began but was immediately interrupted by her girlish squeals.
"Sasuke! Over here, over here! This way! Sasuke!"
She waved her arms with an energy and enthusiasm she saved solely for Sasuke and Naruto went back to hide inside his shell. He put on his frown and turned around to glare at the raven haired boy striding over in their general direction. His hands were in his pockets, they're always in his pockets, Naruto pointed out to himself. Like he's ashamed of his hands. Or doesn't know what to do with them.
Little did Naruto know, Sasuke kept his hands in his pockets to avoid human contact. He was turning six that year as well, and was already a bit of a loner. Instead of showing the world around how afraid he was of not fitting in, of being different, he found it easier to act like he was just the way he wanted to be. But one look at Naruto was all it took for him to be angered by his own choice and that's why he disliked Naruto so much. The blonde goof ball made him doubt, made him feel weak and wrong.
Ignoring Sakura like he sometimes did, Sasuke sat down a few yards away and stared at a squirrel making its way up a tree. He belonged with them yet he didn't. Somewhere in between was his favorite place. His safe spot.
Nonetheless, deep down he knew he belonged with them. When he was really angry with them he'd imagine what life would be like without them and found it to be surprisingly empty. So he reluctantly inspected the green stains on Sakura's skirt and the envious frown on Naruto's face. His mind played up a number of likely scenarios.
"Naruto and I took a piece of chocolate from old lady Tsunade down the street", Sakura admitted cheerfully, adding her prettiest smile. "She got really angry and chased us all the way to the park. Naruto didn't get any chocolate", the girl added after a while, suddenly not so cheerful any more. "He gave me a rock."
"Who?" Sasuke asked, confused by her irrational storytelling.
"Naruto of course. Look", she said and dug deep in her pocket, shortly after showing the newest arriver her latest gift.
Sasuke looked and said nothing. Girls were annoying and Sakura was no exception, but he tolerated her because they knew each other. The fact that Naruto shared something with her that he, Sasuke, didn't made him irritated. He looked around and a rare smile dominated his face for a second or two.
"Here", he offered and held out his hand to Sakura, who made big eyes.
"Wow", she breathed and patted the shiny object with her fingertip. "It's beautiful."
Hidden in the grass he'd found an earring. It had been stepped on so the shape was a bit off and a stone was missing but it had to beat a rock, Sasuke figured. Now he wasn't an outsider. He was one of them again and he could tease Naruto and ignore Sakura like they were his best friends.
At the end of their day together, the three lay down on the grass and Sakura felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
"I wish things could be like this forever!"
Next chapter: Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji