"Damn you Naruto!" 18-year-old Sakura Hurano was unbelievably pissed. Thus she was alone in the middle of the forest punching the crap out of any tree that remotely reminded her of said ninja.

Sakura rubbed her eyes, it was late in the afternoon in mid-autumn and she was tired from the intense training sessions the past two days…which reminded her again of said ninja which left a very nice dent in an offending oak tree.

About four days ago she was talking with Naruto. Nothing special, they just happened to meet in a ramen shop and began talking.

"I can't believe Kakashi-sensei made me clean his entire house as punishment, you have no idea what kind of hell that is," he slurped his ramen noisily. Sakura didn't mind this habit of his too much anymore, it was kind of his trademark now. "It took me several days just to clean the kitchen. Then it took me four days to do all his laundry. FOUR DAYS! Can you seriously believe that?"

"I can," she replied. She carefully ate her ramen. "But you kinda did deserve it; I mean, you did burn half his collection of Icha Icha novels." Thank God.

"What the hell was he doing bringing all of them to training anyway? He should know that I still suck, even after six years of training from him."

"You don't suck," Sakura said matter-of-factly. He gave her a look. "Okay, well maybe a little, but still, you're a million times better than you were when you were twelve."

He grinned at her. "Thanks Sakura, you're not too bad yourself." Sakura blushed. She didn't know when or why, but for some time now she had begun to like Naruto, in a romantic sense.

"So what were you doing with those matches anyway?"

"I wanted to practice my taijutsu." Sakura nearly choked on her water. "I wanted to see if I could fight with fire." Sakura rolled her eyes. Honestly, this guy's logic knew no limits.

"Why don't you ask Kakashi-sensi for help?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Well, um…to tell you the truth, I'm actually really embarrassed to ask him, you know with the novels and all. And you know how bad I am at chakra."

She shrugged. She couldn't argue with that. "Well maybe I could help you with it, I mean I won't help you with the fire part, but I can help you with chakra."

"You know I always get cocky and mess up when there are people around." Wow, when did he become so down to earth?

"We could train together privately." She took a sip of her tea. Wait WHAT? WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SAY!

Naruto brightened up. "Really? You would do that?"

Sakura was secretly pleased. YES! I am a GENIUS for thinking of this! "Sure, I don't mind," she replied nonchalantly. They made the necessary arrangements and agreed to meet two days later. The morning of the second day, Sakura was waiting for Naruto right outside the village.

"Huh, that's odd, he promised he'd be here on time, I talked with him yesterday." Sakura heard footsteps and turned "Naruto where hav-oh…" Kakashi stood in front of her looking vaguely interested in what Sakura just said.

"Um, good morning Kakashi-sensei." He grunted in response. "I'm sorry, I thought you were Naruto, we made plans to er-train today."

"Ah, yes he mentioned that…actually I'm here to deliver a note from him to you." He handed her a folded sheet of paper which she carefully took. In Naruto's messy handwriting, she read;

Sakura,

Please don't be mad at me, but Iruka-sensei asked me to train with him today and tomorrow.

I'm really sorry but I couldn't say no. I promise I'll make it up to you.

Naruto

Sakura's blood froze, He ditched me? But…he promised. "Sakura?" Her head shot up to see a worried Kakashi.

"Are you okay?" She nodded. "Yeah, this is just a note saying we won't be able to make it."

"What a shame," Kakashi replied. "Oh well, I guess we could train together," he replied. Oh boy…

Thus Sakura was in the forest, cursing Naruto's name, and slashing trees all around her. Damn Naruto. How could he leave me? Just like mom and dad…and Sasuke…her chest tightened with this painful realization. She took a deep breath and noticed it was getting chilly and rather late. She pulled her shuriken and kunai out from the various trees she threw them at. She was pulling out the last one when she heard the crackle of leaves. She readied herself and turned.

"Naruto?"

He looked at her guiltily. "Hey." She returned to tugging out her kunai. She mentally prepared herself. "Hi," she replied.

"Er…Kakashi-sensei was worried about you…he said you took off after training with him today."

"Really?" Stupid nosy Kakashi-sensei! Stupid shuriken, GET OUT OF THE TREE! She felt Naruto's hand envelop hers and he pulled it out. He handed it to her.

"Sakura, I'm really sorry I skipped out on you like that, I promise it won't ever happen again." Sakura took back her weapon. "It's whatever," she replied shortly. Naruto's face fell. He really screwed this one up…

He stuck his hands in his pockets. Damn it was cold! Sakura, noting the temperature earlier pulled out a knit hat from her bag which she put on. She began walking back toward the village, Naruto accommodating her quick pace with ease.

Sakura was livid. She stared at the ground, as though the dirt offended her. How dare he march in and interrupt me! I was busy! How can he just say sorry? *sniff* Does he really expect me to forgive him just like that? He blew me off! *sniff sniff* "Sakura?" Why did I have to end up liking him? WHY? What do I get from it? "Sakura?" He gives a sorry excuse and trains with Iruka-sensei. *sniffle* What are they a gay couple or something? Why can't he just understand!

"Sakura!" Sakura's train of thought was interrupted by a tug on her arm. She turned her body, but her eyes remained fixed on the ground. Naruto spoke firmly but gently. "Sakura, are you…?"

"Am I what?" She took several deep breaths to calm herself. Damnit I can't cry now! Not in front of him!

"Are you…okay?"

Stupid question. "Yes of course I am! I'm fine," she replied in a shaky voice.

"Look at me and say that again," Naruto said in a deep voice.

She took a deep breath and looked at Naruto's face. He looked worried and when he saw her face, he understood. "Sakura, I'm sorry." He opened his arms, inviting Sakura into a hug and that was all the invitation she needed. She ran into his chest and began crying in earnest, not caring if he saw now.

Naruto gently held her as she cried her heart out, not caring that she was getting the front of his jacket wet. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other he gently patted her head. He held her like that the entire time she cried until her tears subsided some. Sakura was embarrassed to say the least. When did he get so tall? Her head was pressed into his chest and her ear was just above the spot where his heart should be. When she was began wiping her eyes, she noticed a change in Naruto's behavior. He began rubbing her head in circles with his thumb as though to comfort her. She leaned back against his chest and shyly wrapped her arms around his torso.

Naruto gently pulled off her hat and began rubbing her hair in the same manner. Sakura began to cry again, grateful that Naruto was here now, letting her cry and holding her. When she finished crying the second time, Naruto's hand stopped.

"Sakura," he asked. She could hear the rumble of his voice in his chest.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. For leaving you." He gently kissed the top of her head. She relaxed a little in his arms. So he did understand.

"It's okay," she replied softly. After another little while he pulled away a little to look at her face. He let his hand on her head trail down to her cheek. He gently cupped her cheek, leaned down and kissed her gently.

Sakura's mind became blissfully blank as she gently responded to his kiss. He pulled her back into his embrace, gently holding her, one hand returning to her hair while the other wrapped around her waist. She rested her hands on his chest. When their kiss finally ended, both were flushed from the cold and their kiss.

Neither of them spoke, but he took her hand and together they walked back to the village.

A/N: I don't own, read or even watch Naruto. This is for my friend H, because this entire story is based off her life. Except the kiss, I put that in. So in case you're wondering, yes this did happen to someone and this isn't just another cheesy fanfic. Cuz it was REAL.