chriscolossus here and I present you my very first One-Shot. Got the idea last evening lying in bed and it wouldn't leave me alone, so I brought out my trusty Notebook an tipped it down. Hope you like it.

What Lies Beneath

It had been several days since the chunin exam finals and the invasion of Suna- and Otogakure. Life in Konoha was slowly getting back to normal, even though people were still mourning for their lost ones and the Sandaime Hokage who had given his live when he had fought Orochimaru.

A day after the invasion a funeral ceremony had been held to honor those who had given their lives to protect their home and their loved ones and practically everyone in Konoha had showed up. After that the repairs had begun and shinobi had continued with their missions.

Team 7 had decided to meat up today to get some training done. At the moment Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were taking a break from their sparing session and were watching Uzumaki Naruto, the last member of the team, and Hatake Kakashi, their sensei, interacting with each other.

Naruto had demanded that Kakashi teach him the Chidori, a technique the Jonin had created himself in his youth and that had caught Naruto's eye the moment Sasuke had used it in his fight against Gaara. Submitting Kakashi had explained how the Jutsu worked and how to commence it.

Now Naruto was standing there clutching his hand, his face strained with concentration and tried to form lightning chakra in his hand. Kakashi stood beside him and looked down at the blond, a rather amused look under his mask.

Sasuke was thinking about how much the blonde had improved recently. He had heard how Naruto had beat Neji Hyuga, a Genin with one more year worth of experience, user of his family's Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan, and who was, like himself, considered a prodigy. Not only that but he had also seen how Naruto had beat Gaara, a viscous shinobi from Sunagakure who sought to prove his existence by killing everybody he deemed worthy.

It was beyond the Uchiha how the so called 'dead last' of their class had improved so fast in such a short time and how he was able to win against opponents that were considered far stronger than himself. There just seemed something about Naruto that screamed 'I will beat all odds'.

He was brought out of his musings when he heard his name being spoken and saw that Sakura was looking at him shyly and with a small blush on her face. "Yes?" was all he asked and waited for the girl to respond. "Well… you know… I just…" she said hesitantly "I wanted to thank you for saving my life from that Gaara guy. I if hadn't been for you I'd probably be dead."

The Uchiha looked at the pinkette and then back to Naruto, who was still clutching his wrist and shouting the techniques name he wanted to learn, and then spoke up. "It wasn't me who saved you. Believe it or not it was the dobe standing over there." This earned him a surprised look from Sakura who started to laugh several seconds later. "Oh Sasuke-kun you're so funny. Naruto winning against Gaara that's a great joke…"

She stopped when she saw the serious expression on her crush's face. "I'm not kidding Sakura, he fought tooth and nail. I can't believe it myself but he did. Hadn't it been for the dobe we'd probably be all dead and Konoha would be wiped from the maps."

The Kunoichi first stared at Sasuke and then over to where Naruto stood. Sasuke who was thinking about the Uzumaki's progress was suddenly hit by an epiphany. Naruto had talked how he would protect the people he deemed precious. What if… what if that was what made him so strong. What if the will to protect his precious people drove him to overcome himself and beat all obstacles standing in his way?

This brought him to his own situation. If he had to describe how he felt at the moment, he would probably answerer with 'contend'. His heart that was still hurt over the loss of his family at the hands of his own brother seemed to be healing slowly but steadily. He still wanted to kill Itachi there was no doubt about it but maybe… just maybe that could wait. His life wasn't that bad at the moment so why waste his time with brooding all the time

His thoughts wandered to the girl sitting beside him. He knew that she was one of his many fangirls but unlike the rest of them she had made something of herself. She wasn't that strong but what she lacked in that department she made up with intelligence and the will to prove herself. She was nice and pretty too he had to admit but if he was honest with had to say that she just wasn't his type.

He would need to talk to her about this issue and if he thought about it now was probably the right time. His eyes landed once more on the blonde, who was talking to their Sensei now and had to smirk on the inside. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone, get rid of Sakuras infatuation of him and get Naruto the girl he so obviously was in love with.

"Sakura." he said out loud, gaining the Kunoichi's attention. "We need to talk. This is gonna be hard for you but it needs to be done." He took a breath and continued. "Look, I know how you feel about me and I would lie if I would say I wasn't flattered but to be honest with you I don't think the both of us" he pointed at her and himself "would work. I like you but just not the way you want me to and I don't think my feelings regarding that matter will ever change. You are a great girl and you deserve somebody that really likes you."

Sakura who had listened to his speech was staring at him with an utterly devastated look. The boy she though she loved had rejected her. How was she supposed to react? She hung her head and muttered an emotionless 'Oh'.

Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder making her look back up to him. Tears were streaking down her face. Sasuke smiled and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "Look I know this must be hard for you but you deserve to know the truth. I didn't want you to get your hopes to high before you realized that I'm not interested in you romantically"

"What about the day when we were placed on the same team… what about that moment we shared at the bench when you said that you liked my forehead." She said sobbing and Sasuke raised a curious eyebrow. Then he remembered how Naruto had ambushed him and had tied him up and that brought a grin to his face. "Sakura, that wasn't me, that was Naruto: He must've transformed into me."

The pinkette had a shocked expression on her face which got red, first of embarrassment and then of anger. Thinking about it she realized that the Uchiha was right. He had acted rather strangely only to revert to his old self minutes later. And if Sasuke was right than she nearly had given her first kiss to Naruto. How dared he.

She wanted to get up and beat the blonde into a pulp but was stopped by Sasuke whose hand was still resting on her shoulder. "Calm down Sakura." he said calmly and she took a deep breath. Her anger subsided a bit but she still glared daggers at Naruto. "Look I know the dobe is annoying at times but he cares about you, a lot actually, that much I can tell and he probably had his reasons for pulling that off. I know he's not much of a looker, especially with that monstrosity," he explained and pointed at the blondes orange jumpsuit, making the girl giggle. "but I know for sure that he has a great personality, so maybe you should give that idiot a chance."

The young Uchiha got up, looked down into Sakuras green eyes and a small smile appeared on his lips. "Just think about it all right? I gonna go and spar with Naruto so you can figure everything out yourself." With that he walked towards his teammate and sensei and left the Kunoichi to her own devices.

An hour later Naruto made his way down the main road towards his favorite eating place, Ichiraku's ramen stand. He was rather happy even though he hadn't been able to use the Chidori. Kakashi had compromised with the blonde, telling him that he would teach him another Jutsu instead.

The small restaurant was already in eyesight when he heard a familiar voice call out for him. He looked back and saw the love of his live, Haruno Sakura, running towards him. He turned around fully and smiles brightly as the girl stopped in front of him, panting slightly.

"Hey Sakura-chan, what's up?" he asked and the pinkette rubbed her left arm, looking rather nervous. "Well… you see… Naruto… I… I actually wanted to thank you for saving me from Gaara and… and I wanted to ask you if you… if you wanted to go out with me."

The blonde had a disbelieving look on his face and actually wanted to hit himself to check if he was dreaming. There stood Haruno Sakura, the girl he had loved since he had first laid eyes on her, and was asking him, Uzumaki Naruto, out. "You mean like a d-date?" he managed to ask and the girl nodded blushing. A wide grin spread on his face. "I'd love to. How about tomorrow, pick you up at eight?" she thought about shortly and nodded again, making him whoop in joy.

They said their goodbyes and Naruto made his way towards Ichiraku's. He arrived, greeted the old cook Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, who seemed intrigued at his happy mood. Sitting down he ordered an extra-large bowl of miso ramen. The food arrived and he dug in with gusto. All the while he was thinking on what to do for his date. His first impulse was to take Sakura here, to Ichiraku's for ramen but the more he thought about it he came to the conclusion that this was probably his only chance to get Sakura to like him, so he had to come up with something special.

This however proved harder than thought when he had emptied four ramen bowls and hadn't come up with anything. He wanted to take her somewhere special but all the better restaurants in Konoha wouldn't serve him. Looking over to Ayame he got an idea. Perhaps she could help him.

"Ayame nee-chan I got a question. I got a date tomorrow evening with Sakura-chan but I don't really know what to do. I want to make it special but so far I wasn't able to come up with something, so could you help me?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head while grinning sheepishly.

The young woman in question turned to him and looked at him with a smile. "Well look at you, finally getting what you wanted ne? Give me one five minutes to talk to dad and change and we'll see what I can do. Sounds good to you?" The blonde nodded enthusiastically and the brunette went into the back of the stand. Several minutes later she came back wearing different clothes and after telling him that the food was on the house, the two left.

The next evening came soon and Naruto was getting more nervous every minute. He had spent yesterday and the majority of today with Ayame planning what she called 'the big night'. He was really grateful for her assistance because he knew that he had messed up big time if she hadn't helped him in every way possible.

Now he stood before Sakura's house, a bouquet of flowers he had bought at the Yamanaka flower shop in his right hand, and tried to calm himself down. When he was sure that he wouldn't faint when somebody opened the door, he walked towards it and climbed the few stairs. Knocking he waited for somebody to answer. From inside came a few noises and what seemed to be shouts until finally the door opened.

His eyes widened the moment it reviled who had opened it. Before him stood Sakura, wearing a beautiful white Kimono with a red obi sash. Her hair was tied back into a short ponytail and held by two silver hairpins and was wearing just a little bit of makeup to enhance her natural beauty. She smiled at him. "Hey Naruto." Snapping out of his daze he returned the smile and handed her the flowers. "Hey Sakura-chan, uh these are for you. I hope you like them:"

She took them and smelled their scent, the smile on her face never leaving. "They're lovely. Thank you Naruto." she went into the house and came back not a minute later. Stepping outside she closed the door.

Naruto blushed before saying. "You look really beautiful tonight Sakura-chan." The rosette's face turned the same color as her hair and she took a quick glance at Naruto and had to suppress the urge to pinch herself. The blonde wasn't wearing his normal attire but a dark blue kimono with an orange obi sash. He wasn't wearing his headband, letting his unruly hair fall into his face and cover his eyes partially. He looked… handsome. "Thank you Naruto. You don't look too shabby yourself." she answered truthfully.

"Well then of to Ichiraku's right?" she said, the smile returning to her face but he grabbed her left wrist before she could move. The pinkette turned around looking at him curiously as he brought out a red scarf. "Actually," he said, a large grin forming on his face. "I have something different planed out already. But it's a surprise so I have to tie this around your head so you can't see where were going."

To say that the Kunoichi was shocked was an understatement. Was this person before her really Naruto? Not only was he something else but that atrocity he called clothing but they would also be doing something different than eating ramen. Not able to respond she just nodded and waited until he was done. Then the young Uzumaki picked her up bridal style, making her squeal, and then headed towards his destination.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived and Sakura was placed on something soft. Naruto removed the scarf and waited for her to open her eyes. What she saw was taking her breath away. They were in a small clearing surrounded by the forest. Fireflies were flying through the air and crickets chirped a melodic music. She was sitting on a blanket and before her laid out were several plates with different foods.

She brought her hands up to cover her mouth and gasped. Naruto who was watching her reaction sat down beside her and averted his gaze towards the clearing. "This is one of my favored places to hang out." he explained. "Whenever everything gets too much for me I come here and relax or do some training. I don't think people know about this place, since I never saw anyone near this area."

Sakura nodded absentmindedly. How many times would Naruto surprise her this evening? "This place is beautiful. It's so… peaceful." she whispered. Naruto smiled at the pinkette's reaction. He was proud that he hadn't messed up so far and he would make sure that he wouldn't the rest of the evening.

"Well then Sakura-chan, shall we eat? He pointed towards the several plates and Sakura nodded. "I made several dishes so you could try some of everything." Her eyebrows raised and she looked disbelievingly at Naruto. "You made all that?" He showed her his trademark grin. "Yeah I did. When you're living for yourself for so long you pick up one or two things."

"Then why do you eat ramen all the time?" she was really curious. The blondes grin faltered for a bit and Sakura saw something appear in his eyes that she couldn't quite make out. "That's because I don't earn enough money to buy fresh foods all the time. I can treat me to something special from time to time but most of the time I have to eat canned or dried food." he explained, leaving out the bit where he wouldn't be able to buy fresh food because most the shopkeepers in Konoha hated him because he was the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki.

"Oh, okay I guess that makes sense. And it also explains why you're shorter than Me." she said giggling, before picking up a plate with sushi and trying one of the small roles. Her eyes lit up and her smile got even wider. "Naruto, this is great." Naruto who had begun pouting at the previous statement stopped and his trademark grin appeared again on his face.

They spend the next hour talking while eating the food Naruto had made. This way they got to know each other better and Sakura began to see her teammate in a whole new light. He told her a bit about his life as an orphan, making Sakura regret her previous statement of him being somebody who just didn't know how it was to have parents, about the times he had pranked people or how he had trained under Jiraiya of the Sannin, who he called Ero-Sennin because of his perverted nature, before the Chunin finals.

A question popped up in Sakura's head and she voiced it out immediately. "Say Naruto, regarding the final. At the end of your fight with Neji when had sealed your Tenketsu you were able to generate chakra. How did you do that? Normally it shouldn't have been possible."

This question made the smile on his face vanish instantly and Sakura looked at him with a concerned expression. "You really wanna know Sakura-chan?" he asked and she nodded.

How was he supposed to answer this question? Sure he could always lie claiming that it was some kind of Kekkei Genkai but he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to lie to his Sakura-chan. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt that Sakura had taken one of his hands with hers and gave him an assuring smile. "Come on Naruto. You can trust me. We are friends aren't we?"

He closed his eyes shortly and sighed deeply. "Okay if you really want to know Sakura-chan. You remember how they told us in the academy how the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi the night it attacked?" she nodded confused and he continued. "Well that was a lie. You see, as strong as he was the Yondaime couldn't kill the fox. So he did the next best thing to save the village. He sealed it inside of a newborn baby." Sakura's mind was working in an incredible speed. Everything made sense now. The hateful stares, the fact that her parents had not wanted for her to play when they had been children, why he was the way he was. "That baby was you." she whispered and the blonde nodded.

A frown appeared on her pretty face. "But why you?" Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I am an orphan so who cared what happened to me." This answer shocked Sakura. Did he really think so lowly of himself? "I guess I can understand why nobody adopted me or took me in now." he continued. "… I mean who would want to house a demon under h…"

Naruto wasn't able to finish because suddenly he was tackled and embraced by Sakura who cried into his shoulder. "I am so, SO sorry Naruto. Had I known…" she sobbed and Naruto did nothing but hug her back. "It okay Sakura-chan. Nobody from our generation is supposed to know anyway. That's what Hokage ji-san told me" he whispered into her hair and she shook her head furiously. "No it's not okay Naruto. You have endured so much pain and how have we treated you? How have I treated you?" she said still sobbing.

They laid there for what seemed like an eternity to Naruto, encased in each other's arms. Then ever so slowly they separated and Sakura looked into Naruto's cerulean eyes. They were full with a variety of emotions; happiness, sadness, hope, hurt, anger and… love? Before Sakura realized what she was doing, she was leaning back down bringing their faces closer to each other. They could feel each other's breath tickle the their skin and then their lips connected.

The kiss was soft but full of emotion and Naruto, despite his surprise, wrapped his arms around her waist while she went with her hands through his hair. A minute or so went by and they finally parted. The pinkette smiled at his surprised expression. "I am sorry Naruto for everything I have ever done to you. I swear I will make up for all the wrongs I have done." He smiled back and hugged her once again. "You don't have to apologize Sakura-chan. There is nothing to forgive."

His answer brought back the tears. How could he forgive her just like that, like nothing had happened? Then she remembered what Sasuke had told her and what she had seen in his eye before they had kissed. Did he really love her? The thought of that made her happy. Why, she didn't know and quite frankly she didn't care.

Several minutes went by and both sat up. Naruto looked up into the sky to try to predict what time it was and then sighed. "Well I guess I better bring you back home." She raised an eyebrow at that. "Why, you want to get rid of me already?" she giggled and he shook his head. "No, but it's getting late and I don't want to be killed by your parents."

Sakura stood up still giggling and squealed when he, once again picked her up bridal style. She glared at him playfully. "What are you doing baka?" He only grinned at her. "We're faster that way." and with that he made his way towards Konoha.

They arrived several minutes later and Naruto put Sakura down before her doorstep. She turned around smiling. "Thank you Naruto, this evening was fantastic." He only rubbed the back of his head while chuckling. Then all of a sudden her face got serious. "Oh and one more thing… if you ever think once again that you are the Kyuubi, I am gonna beat that thought out of you, understood?" He gulped and nodded. Seeing that he had understood her expression softened again and she gave him a peck to the lips. "Good night Naruto."

With that she opened the door and vanished inside the house. Naruto looked at the door for several seconds before a smile crept up into his face and he turned around to walk home.

Inside Sakura was leaning against the door and her heart was beating against her chest. She smiled and touched her lips. They were still warm and she could still feel the sensation when they had kissed. She closed her eyes and sighed than she slowly opened her eyes and they were filled with determination.

"You had to so much to endure in your short life." she thought. "You carried this burden alone for so long. You gave so much and never asked for anything in return. But now… but now that I know you won't have to endure anymore. I will help you carry this burden." she smiled and started walking towards her room. "It is time for me to give you something back Naruto… kun.

The End

Authors Note: That's it. I really hope you enjoyed my first attempt at writing a One-Shot. I am actually thinking about continuing this as a small series. I know Sasuke is a bit OOC-ish in here but I like to think that his canon attitude regarding the whole revenge thing and his place on Team 7, at that moment, matched the one Sasuke has in here. Only one thing left, please review.

chriscolossus OVER AND OUT!