Hihi y'all! This is Queenie! First of all, I'd like to thank my protégé Inu Baby 12 for editing the story and for all the ideas. Second of all, I'd like to say that if you don't like randomness, just leave now. Just go. You're not wanted here. And you'll probably just flame anyways.

Realizations

Summary: Sakura starts to realize Naruto has grown more than she had originally thought. MANGA SPOILERS!

Pairings: Sakura/Naruto, Kakashi/ Rin, Shikamaru/ Temari, onesided Ino/Shikamaru, onesided Ino/Sai, onesided Choji/Ino, Neji/Tenten, Gaara/Teddy bear, Sasuke/Tomatoes, MAJORLY onesided Hinata/Naruto, MAJORLY onesided Sasuke/Naruto, onesided Kiba/Hinata, Shino/Bugs, onesided Lee/Sakura, onesided Gui/Lee, Jiraiya/Tsunade, Orochimaru/Little children

Genre: Romance/Humor with Angst and Drama

Chapter 1: Sakura

Disclaimer: This part always makes me sad. I don't own anything, except Garfield Theodore Harry Logan Dawson, or Gar, the coolest binder ever.

Haruno Sakura lay in her bed, scowling moodily at the ceiling above her. She was thinking both of her best friend, Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's most surprising ninja, fondly, yet at the same time, she was frustrated.

Naruto had been not much more than acquaintances in the beginning. They had been put in the same group, forcing them to work together. As they got to know each other, the awkwardness seemed to fade away; Sakura grew comfortable around the boy, and Naruto's crush on her seemed to disappear. They gained comradeship and friendship.

When Sasuke left, Naruto and Sakura become closer in his absence. Sakura still thought Naruto was her pillar of strength throughout the whole ordeal. He was the light in the darkness, the one person she could talk to about anything, and know he wouldn't judge her one way or the other.

It hadn't been until after he had left for his training that she had realized how used to his presence she was, and how happy he made her. But it wasn't until after he returned that she had realized she loved him. Not Sasuke, him, Naruto.

A thought popped into her head that made her sigh. 'I wonder if my parents were ever like this.' Sakura shook her head at that. She honestly didn't know. Her mother had told her who her father had been. She had always just assumed that either he had died when she was a baby, or he had not wanted to be a father. Either way, it would probably hurt her mother to talk about it.

She was born when her mother was just 14. Early births are normal for kunoichis, with shorter lives, but 14 was young even for them. Sakura had thought this might have been the reason her mother had chosen to travel when she was younger. Honestly, she had no idea what village her mother was from, or if there were other members of the Haruno clan somewhere.

Although her mother never talked about her past, and the fact she never took ninja jobs, Sakura was sure her mother had been a kunoichi once upon a time. Her reflexes were superb, she could be very sneaky, and she could always tell if Sakura was lying. Yes, Haruno Rin had once been a ninja.

Sakura sighed again, and got out of bed. She didn't have time to mope around all day. She had the next shift at the hospital, then training with Tsunade for the rest of the day.

After getting dressed in her normal outfit, she stood in front of the mirror, putting on her gloves and head band. As she tied the red ribbon into her soft, pink hair, she observed her unusually light green eyes gazing back at her.

In all honesty, she had always wondered about her pink hair. She obviously hadn't gotten it from her mother, whose hair was bright red, so had she gotten it from her father's side? Or maybe her one of her grandparents had had the hair.

She turned from the mirror and walked from the room. She walked down to the kitchen, still lost in thought. She smiled at her mother when she saw her. Haruno Rin smiled back and placed a plate of food in front of her daughter.

As soon as Sakura began eating with a dreamy look on her face, Rin asked, "What's up with you? Something on your mind? A boy perhaps?" and watched as her daughter paled visibly, and sighed.

"Yes." The girl of 15 answered, and then paused. "Well sort of."

"I see." Rin studied her daughter for a moment. "There's a boy you like, and a boy you love." She continued to study the girl. "Unfortunately, they're two different guys. Also," Rin paused before continuing, "Also, the guy you love used to love you, but you're not sure if he still does."

Now this surprised the teen. "You learned at that just by looking at me?!" Sakura gasped. "How could you know?!"

"I had the same problem, once upon a time." At these words, Rin got a dreamy look, and stared into space. Sakura looked at her mother curiously. Was this about her father? Which one was he? The one she loved, or the one she liked? Or neither?

Although Sakura was curious, she knew better than to ask. She slowly finished her breakfast and bid her mother good-bye. Tsunade was not one to be kept waiting.

As she was walking to work, she subconsciously took a detour past the Ichiraku Ramen stand. Low and behold, just as she was walking past the sunshine of Konoha himself appeared in front of her, leaving after having his breakfast.

"Hi Sakura-chan!" called the blond teen. "Going to work?"

"Yup. No training for you today, remember? Your arm is still healing."

"Yeah right. My arm took all of 2 days to heal, but apparently, I still can't train." He sighed. He suddenly looked as if he had an idea. "Hey! You want to grab something to eat tonight? You pick!"

"Like, just like old times?" Sakura replied hoping it was a date, yet knowing it wasn't.

"Just like old times. 'Cept this time, you're gonna pick what we have." Naruto smiled at her. In her head, she gave up trying to convince herself he still liked her. Well, at least for now.

Sakura returned his smile. "I'd love to. But you're paying."

Naruto's gentle smile turned into one of his signature foxy grins. "Sure. I mean I did ask!"

"You bet you did." Sakura looked down at her watch and sweat dropped. "I've got to go. I'm gonna be late! And you know, Tsunade and waiting don't mix."

"Okay. Meet me at the bridge at 5."

"Got it. See you later!"

Sakura ran down the street and towards the hospital. When she arrived at the doors, she skid to a stop and walked quickly inside. She arrived just in time. Panting slightly, Sakura quickly changed into her medical uniform and put her stuff in her locker. 'Another day, another 20 injured villagers and ninja.' And with that thought, she set off for work.

Okay! Review! Next Chappie funnier!