Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
This story is mainly based on friendship and platonic love for team 7. There might possibly be a couple but it is not certain. Here the story will go just as it did in the original Naruto series with a few twists and it is mainly about Sakura. The Characters will keep their personalities, with a bit of an exception with Sakura. In this story, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are friends from a young age but like in the original: Naruto has a crush on Sakura; Sakura has a crush on Sasuke, Sasuke and Naruto hate each other's guts but have a brotherly relationship and so on, the only difference is that Sasuke and Sakura have a strong (friendship) bond too. We'll start when Sakura meets Naruto.
Note: this is my first fan-fiction so I want my reviewers to mark the slightest mistake with a sharp critical eye, no matter how insignificant it is… for example: if I use a word too many times or I use the same expression too often. I mainly want you to see if I got the commas (,) or points (.) right because I suck at those.
I also want you to explain WHY if you don't like it so I can correct my mistake or something; finally, I hope you enjoy!
Ps: if there is a synonym to a certain word you know please tell me.
Prologue
"The land of Fire" or "Fire country" as most people call it, is one of the largest and most powerful countries.
It was the first to adopt a ninja village, Konohagakure.
Konoha or otherwise known as "the hidden leaf village" is one of the five great ninja villages in Fire Country, in which a great demon fox known as the fearful Kyubi attacked one night.
The fourth Hokage, Yodaime Namikaze, died in succeeding to seal the fox away in a human child to protect the village, the mother of the child died giving birth to him while the demon got sealed away in the child's navel, a permanent mark printed on his belly... a burden the child would forever carry wherever he goes for the rest of his life.
Chapter 1: Uzumaki Naruto!
A girl about the age of six walked along the streets of Konoha, humming happily to herself; her short, bubble gum pink hair blew softly in the wind like Sakura pedals and eyes the color of precious emeralds sparkled in the sun.
The girl was walking towards the park to pick some of her favorite flowers, passing many people who were either rushing or taking their time going about their business.
Reaching the park, she gave a content sigh as the scent of flowers waft her nostrils. She walked along, the grass tickling her toes, the calm breeze softly stroking her skin, the sound of other children playing at the playground close by…
The sound of other children screaming and running away from the playground close by…
Wait, what?
She paused, her happy thoughts coming to an abrupt halt as she saw other kids running away from the playground, a few younger ones about the age of four rushed passed her screaming, "Run! It's the monster!" the little girl panicked for a second, thinking there really was a monster nearby and spun her head around left and right but saw nothing, in the distance not too far she saw other older kids braving the 'danger' and decided to attack this… thing they were screaming about.
She heard a "Die you beast!" or "outcast! Do us all a favor and leave the village!"
One of the kids shouted "freak!" and the others agreed, echoing the word.
She looked in the direction of the playground and walked over to the group of 8 year olds, curious about all this commotion.
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What she saw the bigger kids beating up made her freeze in her tracks…
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A boy her age was crying and withering in pain as the others beat him up for a reason unknown to her.
Tattered blonde hair, three stripes on each cheek, kind of like whiskers adorned his dirty face, his clothes worn and ripped.
A spark of recognition flared in her eyes as she recalled seeing this boy before… He's the infamous troublemaker!
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Her eyes narrowed at his state, he tried to defend himself but it was all in vain as the punches, kicks and rocks hit him continually; it was then Sakura decided to help the boy; troublemaker or not, nobody deserved to be treated like that!
"Hey!" her shout earning a few glances, "leave him alone! He didn't do anything to you, you can't treat him like that!" she yelled and pulled one of the older kids away from the blonde boy; the kids sneered as the blond stared on with shock, "Do you even know what that is? He's the village's freak; we have every right to treat him like the low life he is!" a girl yelled, making the pink haired girl's eyes flare up this time in anger when the snobby girl in front of her called the boy what instead of who.
"Well if you all think he's a low life then you're lowering yourselves even more with what you're doing!"
She yelled back, stepping in front of the boy, earning scowls and glares from the older kids.
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"Whatever, I'm leaving" a boy from the group stated and started walking away; muttering, the kids slowly and grudgingly scattered as the girl glared at their backs, soon all of them left the blonde boy and the pink haired girl alone in the playground.
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The blonde looked at the girl shocked; did she just… help me? The boy thought, sniffling, his brain was still processing what just happened as he looked at the girl as confused as ever. This must have been a trick, he was sure of it, he turned his head left and right to see if there was anyone else around but he saw nobody. He jumped, startled when he saw a hand in front of his face, flinching in reflex, he looked up and was met face to face with green eyes.
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The girl gave a satisfied huff and turned around to actually get a good look at the boy, his blonde hair was dirty, messy and stuck out in odd angles but looking at his dirt covered, tear stained face, eyes as blue as the precious Safire but bloodshot and wet was what shot a twinge of sympathy through her being; she saw him look around confused and inwardly sighed, stretching out a hand for him to take and startling him in the process, he looked at her hand as if not knowing what to do, she rolled her eyes playfully and giggled, "you're supposed to take it silly!" the strawberry blonde chirped, he hesitated for a second but softly put his hand in hers and she helped him get off the ground, "w-why did you help me?" the blonde asked, still puzzled by these kind actions the girl gave him as he sniffed and wiped away his tears with his wrist; the girl crossed her arms and pouted, "I had to, those meanies can't just bully someone like that!" the girl huffed but her frown turned into a bright smile, "My name is Sakura! Sakura Haruno! What's yours?" the girl said and jabbed her thumb on her chest to emphasize her point, holding out a hand out again. The boy looked at her hand as she waited for him to shake it but his gaze shifted on the ground, "Why are you nice to me? Didn't you hear them? I'm a… monster…" he whispered, voice barely audible and cracked a bit. Sakura lowered her hand and furrowed her brows, "Hm…" the girl hummed as she closed in and stopping an inch away from his face; not used to being so close to someone he backed away, puzzled as she put her hand on her chin in a thinking gesture.
She then circled him, looking at him up and down with a thinking expression as if studying an experiment, his eyes followed her every movement with a very confused and cautious look on his face.
She circled him a few more times until she stopped in front of him again, reaching out and cupped his face with both hands, also wiping some dirt off of his cheeks in the process, he winced a bit but made no move; a touch besides a violent one was unknown to him.
The girl turned his head a bit left and right like a makeup artist would do before starting her work on her client, she then evened out his head and looked at him straight in the eye, making him fidget slightly as she invaded his personal space bubble.
Finally she let go and backed away a bit.
"Well… you don't look like a monster, I wonder what the others see besides a dirty little boy in front of me" she mused, scratching her arm in a confused way, the boy looked at her, shocked at what she said, did he hear right?
"y-you don't think I'm dangerous?" he asked, a small spark of hope appeared in his eyes when the girl giggled, "ha-ha! Dangerous? Are you kidding? You don't look like any of those things the bullies said!" she chirped and flashed him a cheeky grin; a grin of his own spreading across his face at the girl's statement, "so what's your name?" she finally asked again, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" the blond named Naruto shouted happily and smiled back at her, "Ok Naruto, do you want to play with me?" she asked but was slightly taken aback when his eyes grew a bit watery, his expression showed pure happiness and looking like he just won the lottery, she was surprised when he said nothing but nodded his head eagerly, "ok let's go!" she grinned and touched the boy's arm, "tag! You're it!" she laughed and ran away, he looked confused for a moment but then caught on, recalling that he used to watch other kids play this game; understanding how to play, he bolted after her shouting for her to get back here.
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Sakura fell on her back, exhausted after playing almost all day with Naruto, the sun was just above the horizon "wow, what a fun day, I'm tired" she huffed as the blond lay down next to her on the soft grass, "yeah, I've never been so happy in all my life! We played on the swings, the merry-go-round, the slide and the seesaw! Thanks for teaching me how to swing and play tag and hide and seek Sakura-Chan! Remember how you-" he ranted on and on, babbling to her about whatever came on his mind, seeming to not be tired one bit even if he was panting, dirty and sweaty.
"Oh… I'm hungry…" she grumbled as she held her growling stomach, the blond nodded and sat up, "yeah me too… but where can we eat? I'm not very welcomed in most stores…" in any store actually the six year old boy looked down in sadness, the strawberry blonde sat up along with him, placing a hand on his shoulder, her expression mirroring his but suddenly a smile split her face when an idea popped in her mind, "Oh I know! Naruto do you like ramen?" she asked and the boy looked at her and nodded frantically, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! I Love ramen!" he chirped as they got up, "Cool! I'll take you to a great ramen place, there are very nice people there and I'm sure they'll let you in!" she smiled and pulled his hand for him to follow but he didn't budge, she looked at him with a puzzled expression as he yet again stared at the ground, "I… I don't think they'll be nice to someone like me… I mean… look at me…" he closed his eyes and lowered his head, chewing his lower lip in a nervous manner; she placed both hands on his shoulders and made him look at her, "yeah… you're right." She stated and he lowered his head back down, a pang of hurt jabbing his chest but he looked up in surprise at her next sentence, "nobody would let you in all dirty and stinky like this, come to think of it they wouldn't let me neither, we need to clean up" she said, "were is your house? We'll clean up there" she smiled and gestured for him to lead the way, he paused for a second but then nodded and they started walking towards his apartment.
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On the way to the apartment she noticed every person they passed stared at Naruto in either disgust or hate and they were staring at her as if she were insane, she did not like that and was very tempted to shout 'what are you looking at?' at all of them but kept her mouth shut.
Naruto was fidgeting and tried not to make any eye contact with anyone even if he felt the glares melt into his back, he hated walking along the public areas but if it made Sakura-Chan happy then he would do it for her.
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Finally they reached an old, run down apartment, Naruto took his key out of his pocket, unlocked the door and they stepped inside; he scratched the back of his head nervously when he saw the pinkette scrunch up her nose slightly at the dirty place, "well… it's not much and certainly needs work but its home." He chuckled nervously and they walked all the way to the bathroom, "this place needs a girl's touch" Sakura stated as she rinsed off the bathtub of dust and dirt and filling half of it with warm water, she spotted three unused bottles of body soap, shampoo and conditioner. She opened one to find that it wasn't even opened for as long as it's been there! The girl turned around and placed her hands on her hips in a childish manner, a scowl on her cute face "Naruto how long has it been since you've taken a bath?" she asked the blond who was playing with his fingers awkwardly; he always hated baths and after the incident where Iruka forced him in the tub and washed him thoroughly, he hadn't stepped in the bathroom for weeks, he only washed his face in the sink or swam in the lake to get the stench off, in all honesty he hadn't remembered when he had last taken a proper bath, "I… uh… I don't remember…" he couldn't lie under Sakura's hard stare so he blurted out the truth, still playing with his fingers in a shy fashion.
She walked up to him and poked his chest, "alright mister, take off your shirt and get in the tub; it's time for you to take a bath!" Sakura's statement sounded more like an order, the blonde's eyes widened and stepped away from the girl, "But Sakura-Chan, I hate baths!" he whined as each step she took towards him, he took one back, "too bad, you're stinky and need one no matter how much you hate it, now come here before I throw you in myself!" she yelled and stomped her foot on the ground but the blond did not obey, instead he turned tail and started running out of the bathroom, away from her and she unfortunately had to chase him, "Naruto! Get back here!" her stern voice making the boy flinch but he decided to keep running.
He finally reached his room, finding a spot to hide in, he jumped under the dirty pile of clothes as Sakura ran in after him; she saw dirty clothes everywhere, spotting a few empty or half empty ramen bowls but no Naruto, she carefully scanned the area and finally spotted a few yellow tuffs sticking out under a large pile of clothes, she smirked and quietly took a blanket beside her, opening it, "now where can he be?" she fake mused and stalked towards the pile. Moments passed and she hopped on top of the pile "maybe he's here!" she yelled, effectively catching the boy as she heard a yelp and felt a struggle under her, she wrapped the blanket around him like a net and pulled him out of the dirty laundry, "you're coming with me mister!" she chirped as she looked at the humorous sight before her, Naruto was wrapped like sushi in the blanket with only his head sticking out, struggling to get free; he only managed to get his arms free as he tried to get the rest of the blanket off "No please Sakura- Chan! I don't want a bath!" he whined and yelled, with tears in his eyes as she comically pulled him by the feet to the bathroom with difficulty, his nails scratching the floor as he struggled to break free but his efforts were all in vain when she closed the door and locked it, any hope of escaping was squished.
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In their huge struggle Sakura managed to get his shirt and shoes off, now how to get the blanket off and him in the tub; no way was she going to remove his pants.
Naruto was released and made a dash for the door but before he managed to unlock it, arms wrapped around his torso and pulled him towards the tub "Ah! No! You can't make me!" he gripped the door knob as Sakura struggled with him to release it, Naruto lost his grip and they stumbled backwards… and both of them fell in the bathtub with a large splash, coughing and sputtering. Sakura's clothes were drenched; she saw Naruto trying to get out of the slippery tub but she grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to sit.
"Sit! Stay! Bad Naruto!" she scolded, lifting a finger and sternly looking at him in the eye, (this gesture you often see an owner doing this to their disobedient dog) the boy gave a cute pout, "Sakura-Chaaaaan! I don't wanna bath!" he whined again as she took the orange scented shampoo and squirted a large amount on his head, lathering it up; the blonde finally sighed in defeat, crossing his arms, a displeased pout evident on his cute face but soon it melted into a smile and closed his eyes in bliss as she massaged his scalp, trying to make it a bit enjoyable for him.
It worked, the happy sigh escaping his lips proof of her success, "hm… that feels nice Sakura-Chan…" the boy sighed in content as she even washed behind his ears, tilting his head to the side as she scratched one of them, the girl giggled, "ha-ha! Naruto you look like a puppy!" she laughed and took the shower hose, "now put your head back a bit" she said, he tilted his head back and she carefully rinsed away the shampoo off his hair, when she was done she picked up the sponge, "Now my turn Sakura-Chan!" the boy shouted happily and picked up the shampoo, "huh?" the girl looked at him oddly, "it's my turn to wash your hair!" he chirped and before she could say anything he squirted the shampoo on her head, lathering it up like she did to him, "it's ok Naruto I can do that when I go home, you're the one who needs washing!" she said and took his hands away from her head, but he gave her a pleading look, "Please? I wanna help too!" he said, the girl sighed and let the happy blond wash her hair.
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When she rinsed, she took the sponge and squirted some body soap on it, lathering it up and glanced at Naruto who was playing with the bubbles, "turn around so I can wash your back, you can do the rest yourself after" she said and he nodded, turning around in his seated position, she then started scrubbing his back and Naruto melted into bliss once more, "wow… when Iruka-sensei forced me to take a bath it didn't feel so good, soap always got in my eyes and it sometimes even hurt a bit (from the pressure Iruka used on him to make him stay still) when he washed me but now it feels really nice… Can you go a little to the left?" he smiled and gave another sigh as she hit the spot.
They played a bit in the tub, blowing bubbles at each other and splashing one another.
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"Ok Naruto I'm done!" she finished and stepped out of the bath after rinsing him and herself to rid off the soap, Naruto blinked "it's over already? But I want another bath!" he whined, the girl looked annoyed, "No Naruto, I'm tired and hungry" she said and found three towels that somehow managed to stay clean in the bathroom, "well… ok maybe next time?" he asked, eyes filled with happiness, Sakura shook her head no, "I showed you how to take a bath so you should be fine by yourself next time!" she stated and his happy face drooped but another smile quickly replaced it, "Ok thanks Sakura-Chan, so we get ready and go eat now?" he asked as the six year old boy got out of the tub as well, catching a towel she tossed him, "yeah!" she said as they both toweled their heads dry, they looked at each other for a moment, each looking at the others hair and they burst out laughing, "your hair looks like a porcupine's!" Sakura laughed, "Yours look like a fluffy cat's!" Naruto replied.
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"Finally we were able to find clean clothes! And I had to change into yours because you got mine all wet!" Sakura scolded and tugged the loose white shirt she had along with baggy grey pants, Naruto only scratched the back of his head, that gesture often came when he was nervous or embarrassed, "Sorry, at least we found some right?" he laughed slightly and looked at his own attire, a loose orange shirt with black baggy shorts, "here we are!" the girl chirped and pointed at the sign, "Ichiraku?" asked the boy, shifting from foot to foot nervously, "yeah! The ramen is great here!" she smiled and dragged him inside, a few people were seated on the stools and the duo sat as well.
Sakura smiled at Naruto to help him ease his nervousness, he gave a small grin in return but it faded quickly and got replaced by a full out distressed look when the few people in the small shop gave him ice cold glares, soon all got up and left immediately after paying up, mumbling curse words at the blond but Sakura glared right back, sticking her tongue out at them, they glared but said nothing and left, the store emptied quickly.
A middle aged man around 50 came out of the kitchen to the front and looked to see the counter empty with money and half eaten bowls of ramen instead of people, only two kids were left in the shop, "where'd all my customers go?" He wondered and scratched his head, then spotting a familiar pink head, "oh, hello Sakura! How are you today? Who is your friend?" the chubby man asked, smiling at the grinning girl, "Hello Teuchi-san! I'm great! This is Naruto Uzumaki, a new friend I met today!" she declared and the man narrow his eyes as he got a good look at the boy; blonde, spiky hair, blue eyes, whiskers on his cheeks…
"I'm sorry Sakura but I'm going to have to ask your friend to leave" the man ordered, his soft tone turning a bit stony and Sakura's eyes widened, the blond of course expected this…
…but that didn't stop the feeling of rejection blossoming in his chest.
"Not you too Teuchi-san!" the girl shouted, slamming her small fists on the table, "he didn't do anything! Why do you hate him?" the man looked at the girl, a bit hesitant "it's hard to explain Sakura" he said, "but it's not fair! He's a good boy, just let him stay! Please, for me." Sakura begged, the man sighed at her large teary eyes and nodded "alright, just this once" he mumbled, "The usual for Sakura of course, now what would you like?" he asked Naruto, his expression softening at the blonde's edgy state, "O-one miso please" Naruto stuttered, looking at the man as if he was expecting him to abruptly pick him up by the collar any second and throw him out like everyone else had done; the man nodded "Ayame! Get me one plain and one miso!" he yelled towards the Kitchen, a "yes father!" and the sound of shuffling was heard inside.
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Finally Teuchi placed the steaming bowls in front of them and they started digging in, Naruto had already shoveled all the ramen down his throat by the time Sakura even finished half of it, "Wow sir! This is the best ramen I've ever tasted! Can I have some more?" the young boy handed out the bowl for more, surprising both the man and girl, a smile slowly spread across Teuchi's face, "of course you can my boy!"
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Sakura's nerves were about to burst, I know I said I'll treat him to ramen but five bowls are going way overboard! I can't pay that much! He's eating like he hasn't eaten in years!
Her thoughts paused;
Maybe he hasn't even had a chance to enjoy a proper meal with all those stupid people…
"This is great! Hey Sakura-Chan I'm full you wanna go?" the boy asked, "yeah ok" she said, and placed all of her money on the table and counted the yen, "oh no… Teuchi-san I don't have enough money… I only have enough to pay three bowls…" the girl said guiltily, the man sighed but smiled, "it's alright Sakura, you can pay me tomorrow, don't forget ok? In favor of my number two top favorite customers" the man said with a grin and took out a notebook and wrote it down, Sakura nodded and both stepped out of the shop.
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Naruto felt bad…
He looked at his feet, "Sakura-Chan?" he asked as they walked along the path; the sun had almost set, painting the sky a pink and orange color, "hm?" she hummed and glanced at him to see guilt written all over his face, "I should have eaten only one bowl, I'm sorry you have to pay more than you were suppose to" he mumbled, the girl smiled and ruffled his hair in a playful gesture, "nah, don't worry about it, you looked really hungry anyway, I'm more than happy to help my friend" she said and the boy froze.
A… friend?
Naruto's mind was running a mile a second, his heart rate quickening as he soaked up the words he just heard, shock weaving and pumping through his veins "Friend? You want to be my friend?" he gasped and his eyes widened, Sakura didn't notice his tense stature and his breath hitching when she said what she did, "Of course silly! I decided that the moment I met you!" she smiled but frowned when she saw his bangs shadow his eyes as he lowered his head once more, shocked to see a tear slipping down his cheek, sparkling in the remaining sunlight.
She quickly placed her hands on his shoulders, worry nipping at her being, "Naruto what's the matter? Did I say something wrong? What-" she was silenced as the wind got knocked out of her while her petite frame got squeezed to death.
Naruto hugged her tightly, "You don't know how long I've waited for someone to say that!" he sobbed loudly, the girl was startled; she backed away, placing her hands on his shoulders to look at him.
His face was covered in tears and a bit of snot while he rubbed his eye with his small fist, trying not to cry but not able to help it, he hiccupped as she wiped a tear away with her thumb, his eyes sparkled with the crystal tears, "Y-you don't know…" his voice cracked, the girl only smiled, "Naruto… you're one of my first friends too" she said and softly wrapped her arms around him in a friendly, comforting embrace; he rested his head on her shoulder and hugged back, "I don't… don't want to be alone… any… anymore!" he hiccupped, his voice pitching a high note as he cried.
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Sakura let him cry and listened to him pour his heart out as they sat down on a bench.
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After about an hour he had finally stopped crying all together and settled down to small hiccups and sniffs.
"Are you ok now?" she asked as they broke the hug, he sniffed a bit and nodded, a small smile forming on his face, "thank you Sakura-Chan…" he whispered, "you're welcome" she said and looked at the time, "oh my, we both better go home, we need rest! I need to round up the rest of the money I have to-"
"I'll pay for it" Naruto interrupted, "I'll find the money and pay" he repeated, "oh its ok-" she began but he cut her off again, "No, I'll do it, I want to somehow repay you for everything you've done for me, that's a promise of a lifetime!" he said, a determined look on his face, Sakura looked at him and shook her head at his unpredictability,
"Silly Naruto, the things someone does for their friend doesn't have a payment, if they're a true friend they don't do it because they want something in return, they do it because they want their friend to be happy and that's the only reward they would ever want from them" she said and Naruto looked at her with an unreadable expression "see you tomorrow Naruto, Goodnight!" Sakura smiled, waved him goodbye and walked away while he stood there, staring at her retreating figure until she turned the corner; unknowingly his feet got him back to his apartment and he lay down on his bed without changing, pulling the covers over him he then smiled, "Goodnight Sakura-Chan…" he whispered and closed his eyes, letting sleep take over.
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Naruto had earned the money given by Iruka in return for some chores to be done, the scar-face teacher was curious and asked why he needed the money so badly, Naruto explained to him about Sakura; when the man heard the story he smiled, happy that the blond had finally found a friend his age.
Naruto paid his dept for the ramen and Sakura was shocked when he worked to repay her, she wanted to scold him but she couldn't, seeing his proud face so she just smiled and thanked him.
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A year had passed since that day and the two children met each other everyday at their meeting spot at the playground, spending time together from dawn till dusk. Sakura had participated many times in the pranks Naruto usually played, finding it fun; some of the mastermind ones were hers! Iruka sighed in annoyance when he had to deal with another prankster other than Naruto but he had never seen the blonde so happy, the hollow loneliness in his bright blue eyes had vanished completely, making the man happy not only for that but because Sakura had taught Naruto how to properly take care of himself and his possessions… even if the blond was too lazy to do so. The two spent everyday, most of the day and did many things together.
They were inseparable.
Disclaimer: How was it? Next up is chapter two: Enter Sasuke!