VALENTINE'S DAY LOVE ROULETTE

CHAPTER ONE:

STEP ONE; SET A GOAL

Valentine's Day, there was something about the day that always made Naruto feel a little unsettled...and uneasy. Valentine's day wasn't really a holiday for ninjas. What made the genin feel even more unsettled was that he was often the outcast when it came to receiving any gifts. Then again, he never offered any either. The blonde wanted this year to be different. As he sat down on the floor he suddenly clapped his hands to pump him up. "This year, I'm sending one," he vowed and hopped up to his feet to look for his little frog wallet to see how much money he had. When he opened it, he was suddenly very disappointed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have had so much ramen at Ichiraku..." he mumbled. If he were going to do something for Valentine's day, then he had to get some money quick. The only thing he could think of was doing a quick mission or borrowing the money. As much as he liked the old man, he rarely liked to hand out anything that really paid him anything. The only mission he was bound to get was something dealing with catching a lost pet or doing laundry. 'Might as well try,' he figured before quickly changing out of his nightclothes and hurrying down to the hokage's office.

Konoha was strangely very festive. He saw various people hanging lanterns and various streamers. He saw signs about Valentine's specials and various products specially designed for couples. He saw people walking hand in hand or girls hugging onto their lover's arm. He just stood there, watching. Then for a brief moment he pictured Sakura grabbing onto his arm and a giddy little giggle broke from his lips. As terrible as his mission was bound to be, he wanted to get enough money to buy Sakura something that she would like. Before he could make it to the Hokage's office, he was suddenly distracted by the sight of Rock Lee training. Well, at first he thought he was training, until he noticed that the male was counting off, "1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4" He noticed that his footsteps were moving with each number and his arms were flopping...strangely. "Ey," Naruto lazily began as he walked over for a quicker look. "What are you doing Bushy Brows?"

"I'm training," he voiced sternly. "If I don't make this turn perfectly, then I have to three hundred push-ups."

"Uh...huh," Naruto said as he tilted his head. "And...what exactly are you training for?"

The sudden question caught Rock Lee off guard causing him to stumble. He was absolutely devastated and for a brief moment his large eyes teared up. In stead of giving up, the dark haired boy started doing his push-ups and counting off to three hundred, just as he had promised. This did not answer Naruto's question.

"Hey, hey," Naruto began, but Rock Lee continued to count.

"Don't mind him," Tenten spoke up causing Naruto glance over towards her. She giggled before using a scroll to summon some type of advertisement flyer. "There's a love guru in town," she explained as Naruto started to read over it. "She tells you about your true love and what you have to do to well accomplish it. Everyone's been going over to her. You didn't know?"

Naruto shook his head.

"But...she's been here almost for three days," Tenten added, but Naruto continued to look just as clueless. This caused her to sigh heavily. "You didn't notice the big line? Or that everyone had one of these?" She held up her wrist and there was a beaded bracelet fastened with pink, red and white beads. Each of the beads had a special kanji for "good luck" "love" "fortune", etc, written in black ink. "She'll even bless your future relationships."

Naruto glanced over to see that strangely enough he did notice one of those bracelets on Rock Lee's wrist. "So, Bushy Brows went to the guru?" Tenten rolled her eyes towards Naruto's nickname for her team mate, but nodded. "She told him that he needed to be romantic and take up dancing. He should attack love. At least that's what he told me."

Naruto glanced once more towards Rock Lee and watched just how focused he was on keeping up his punishment. It was if he was trapped in his own little world. Tenten was about to continue on her way, however Naruto suddenly moved in front of her. "Tenten, do you think the guru could give advice on what type of gift I should buy...well, the person I want to make my valentine?"

"Youhaven'tboughtityet?!" she blurted out in sudden disbelief.

"Shhhhh," Naruto swiftly said and looked around to make sure that no one heard.

"But it's already Valentine's day. You're supposed to deliver them, not purchase them," Tenten explained, "Haven't you ever given anyone a Valentine before?"

Naruto's face revealed hints of embarrassment and awkwardly laughed to release some of the tension in his body. "No...I um...I haven't."

"Have you ever received a Valentine before?" Tenten asked out of curiosity causing Naruto to look even more embarrassed. Suddenly Tenten had a brilliant idea. "Then it's up to Tenten Cupid Matchmaker to help you!"

"What experience do you have with love?" Naruto flatly asked, causing her to defensively snap, "More experience than you!"

Naruto still wasn't convinced. "I dunno...this seems like something Ino would be better at. I mean, how many boyfriends have you had?"

"Uhhh" she began.

"How many Valentines have you received?" he added causing his skepticism to be even more apparent.

Tenten rose an eyebrow and tossed up her hand and started to walk past him. "Fine, don't ask for my help." "No, no,no!" Naruto plead as he moved in front of her once more. "I'll do whatever you ask if you help me!"

"Then first we need to go to the guru!" Tenten announced and started hurrying off, and Naruto ran with her. For Naruto it was a little odd hanging out with Tenten. After all, there was a lot of mystery around Team 10. All he knew was that they were older than the rest of the genin and they often worked really hard with Guy-Sensei. It was cool that he was hanging out with a girl, but Tenten wasn't as cute as Sakura. Just as that thought crossed his thoughts he saw the pink haired girl step out bakery. As always she had her long pink hair pulled back and Naruto found his thoughts starting to jumble.

"Hihi Sakura-chan!" Tenten greeted, causing him to stop near her.

"Hi Tenten," Sakura replied before glancing over at Naruto and noticing the awkward expression he had on his face. "Naruto, don't you have anything better things to do than to harass Tenten?"

"I'm not harassing Tenten!" Naruto argued.

"Tenten, don't stand for it," Sakura told her. "Naruto is the biggest pervert around, be careful."

"Sakura-chaaaan, don't word it like that," Naruto groaned.

"He even has this nasty jutsu," Sakura whispered.

"It's only for emergencies," Naruto tried to explain.

"That doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be going around doing stuff like that!" Sakura snapped as she held up her fist towards him, causing the blonde to immediately back down. Tenten watched the two, unsure of what to say at first, but then started laughing, causing both Naruto and Sakura to look at her.

"Sakura-chan, did you hand out any Valentine's?" Tenten soon asked, causing the pink haired girl to blush.

"Um, not yet," she admitted, "But I am." She opened the top to the box of chocolates to reveal what she had purchased. "I'm going to give them to someone special."

"But are they special if you didn't make them yourself?" Tenten suddenly asked. She wasn't trying to be rude, but had a genuine child-like innocence towards everything she said. She hadn't even realized that she had made Sakura suddenly feel very embarrassed.

"I...um..." Sakura began, however Tenten continued, "I mean, don't you want to put your love in your cooking?"

"I do," Sakura told her with an awkward laugh. "I um, I only need the box-"

"But is that even special?" Tenten asked, causing Sakura to panic.

"Well, um, goodbye, I have many, many things to do!" Sakura announced with a loud laugh and shoved the chocolates into Tenten's hands before hurrying off. Tenten waved, however Naruto stood there, confused and unsure of what had just happened. The brunette handed the box of chocolates to Naruto.

"It's not as special as making them yourself, but here you go," she told him.

"Thank you, Tenten!" Naruto told her. "But, these were Sakura-chan's."

"Geez Naruto, you don't understand women at all," Tenten told him with a sigh as she patted him on the shoulder. She was right, he didn't understand women or girls. What he needed was someone that he could go to for honest advice. Hopefully this guru would be able to help him! If not, then he wasn't sure who he could go to. He supposed there was his own team leader, Kakashi-sensei.

Little did Naruto realize, as he and Tenten were walking to the guru, someone was watching him from around the corner. Hinata held tightly to the side of the building, her heart beating ever so quickly. "I didn't realize that Tenten...was his type," she whispered to herself. Part of her wanted to give up, but today was Valentine's day. Hinata was determined that today would be the day she would finally confess her feelings for Naruto. So she continued to follow the two.

Tenten and Naruto came to the little hut that the love guru was staying in, however there was a lengthy line that stretched out of the doorway.

"Why are there so many people?!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed. "I thought that everyone would be off celebrating Valentine's Day!"

"Maybe they're like you and don't have anyone?" Tenten supposed with a shrug causing Naruto's entire body to tense up. Before he could snap at the girl he noticed Shino leave the little hut. The only problem was that Shino's name had completely left the blonde's mind. The only thing that Naruto paid attention to, was the bracelet that was around the boy's wrist. "I wonder what the love guru told him," Naruto mumbled, grabbing Tenten's attention. "Ah yeah, I wonder," she agreed.

It wasn't until after an hour that it was finally their turn to enter the hut. It was lined with beads and various antiques and mysterious relics. The space was cluttered to the point where the only place that he would be able to sit, was in a chair that seemed to jut out of the center of the mess. Although Naruto realized that there was only one chair. "Where are you going to sit?" he whispered to Tenten, but the girl soon flicked him in the forehead. "I'll wait outside. Have fun!"

Have fun...he wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to do that. He looked towards the woman sitting across from the table that separated them. Naruto took a moment to look at her. She definitely looked a lot older than he imagined, and she wasn't nearly as pretty either. Naruto hadn't even realized that he was staring until the woman cleared her throat, causing him to jump a little in his seat.

"You have a question about your love life?" she asked him.

Naruto blushed heavily. "Well, uh, I wouldn't say love life. I really...just want to know if I'll receive a valentine..."

"I'm not a psychic, but I can offer advice and I can give you a trinket that should give you good luck," she told him.

Naruto frowned unsure if this was what he wanted or not.

After he left her hut, he glanced down at the bracelet that was around his wrist, as he thought back to the advice she gave him. He was supposed to just jump in. He didn't see how that was going to do anything for him. At least he had his box of chocolates!

"NARUTO!" Ino called out causing him to cringe a little before glancing over towards her.

"Have you seen Sasuke-kun?" she eagerly asked.

He didn't know what it was, but just hearing Sasuke's name caused his face to twist a bit. "I have to finish the rest of my surprise for him, but do you think you could do a teenzy weezy little favor for me?"

"I don't see why I should," Naruto said with a blank look on his face.

"Because if you don't I'll make your life a living hell," she growled.

"Fine, fine," he groaned.

"Good," Ino giggled before handing him a letter. "Give this to Sasuke-kun for me."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but didn't protest against it. "Fine. Is there anything else?"

"No, not that I can think of," she told him, but before she could hurry off, she remembered something that she wanted to add. "Tell Sasuke-kun to meet me out in near the lake by the training ground~" She giggled, then hurried off.

Once again Hinata watched another girl give Naruto a Valentine and felt her entire body feel tense as her confidence started to drop. Then suddenly Naruto glanced over in her direction causing her entire face to turn red. 'Just call out to him,' she told herself, but she couldn't make a sound. Then suddenly he started waving at her, causing her heart to start beating rapidly in her chest. She fainted.

"KIBA!" he called out as one of his 'rivals' rushed over towards him. Akamaru offered a friendly bark from atop of the brunette's head. "Happy Valentine's Day," Naruto told him, which earned a strange look from the other.

"We're both boys, Naruto. Don't say things like that or people will get the wrong idea," Kiba warned him as he nervously looked around.

"About what?" the blonde asked...feeling incredibly clueless.

"Ah geez, you're even wearing one of those girly bracelets!" Kiba added as he gestured to the beaded bracelet around Naruto's wrist.

"It's not girly!" Naruto argued.

"Where did you get it from?"

"The love guru," the blonde replied confidently, however Kiba wasn't convinced.

"You do realize that the only people who go to the love guru are either girls or gay."

Naruto's mouth dropped open and looked down at his braclet then back at the boy with the dog. "But, but, but I saw your teammate!"

"Hinata's a girl," Kiba reminded him.

"No! Not Hinata! It was the one with the bugs," he tried to explained.

"Shino?" Kiba answered in disbelief. When Naruto nodded, Kiba suddenly looked very troubled. "Well, I'm going to get to the bottom of this!"

"Before you go, did you notice anything different?" Naruto asked.

Kiba gave him a strange look, but couldn't figure out what answer Naruto wanted.

"I have these!" Naruto told him as he gestured to the box of chocolates and the note that Ino had given him.

"You probably stole those," Kiba laughed and then saluted the blonde before hurrying off.

"Fucking asshole," Naruto grumbled.

"As if you could fuck anyone's asshole," he heard a familiar, yet irritating, voice say. He glanced over to see Sasuke Uchiha walking by with his hands in his pockets.

"UH HUH! AND YOU COULD?!" Naruto snapped, however Sasuke never once lost his cool. "Of course," he shrugged. "Don't feel bad Naruto, you don't seem like the type of person who'd want to do any of the fucking anyways."

The blonde felt his entire body start shaking as he resisted the urge to strange the ravenette.

"I mean, you're the one who Kaka-sensei fingered," Sasuke chuckled as he walked past him. "Oh and your bracelet really suits you."

Naruto had wanted punch the male in the back of the head but remembered Ino's Valentine. He also remembered how angry the blonde would be if he didn't deliver it for her. 'Why do I have to be the messenger?' he mentally groaned.

"Sasuke," Naruto called out causing the male to stop.

"Think of an actual comeback? I hear it takes longer for blondes to process things," Sasuke taunted.

Without saying anything else Naruto held out the Valentine to him, causing the Uchiha to blush from pure embarrassment. "It's for you," Naruto grumbled as Sasuke hesitantly took the piece of paper.

There written upon the paper was a short message.

I really like you, please go out with me.

"Um..." Sasuke began.

"It's a secret admirer thing," Naruto told him as he fought against his own irritation. "You're supposed to meet her at the lake near the training grounds. Sometime tonight...or something like that."

"She...trusted you?" Sasuke asked, although he was still wasn't sure of how he was supposed to feel.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Naruto grumbled.

"Because you're a loser," Sasuke said as he shoved the valentine in his pocket. "Give me a hint. What does she look like?"

"She's blonde and has...blue eyes," Naruto told him after taking a moment to think back to what Ino looked like. "Oh and she's a ninja and our age-"

"Right," Sasuke said rather smugly, "Thanks for the Valentine, Naruto. And tell this girl that I'll think about it." He was walking away, just like that, and something about Sasuke not even being grateful towards the fact that he had girls wanting to be his Valentine, infuriated Naruto.

"ASSHOLE!" he yelled as he threw the box of chocolates at Sasuke, but the boy used his quick reflexes to catch it before it managed to hit him. "Thanks," the ravenette chuckled and continued on his way.

Naruto was glad that Sasuke was gone, but now he didn't have anything to give Sakura. Maybe instead of asking an old woman about what to do for Valentine's Day, he should ask an expert? "I'll fine Iruka-sensei or Kaka-sensei," he told himself before darting off. He was determined to make this Valentine's Day different from all of the rest. He wasn't going to be labeled a loser!

OoC: Thank you for reading! I wanted to do something fun and random. xD This story won't have nearly as many chapters as Medical Strawberries but it's definitely lighter. I'm going to explore a lot of pairings that I personally am a fan of. So there will be some yaoi and yuri, because I lovelovelove it. Haven't decided if there will be any sexiness or not. Not sure. Anywho, please review! xoxoxo