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Disclaimer: The characters, the settings and any other content of Naruto used in this story belong to the original author, Kishimoto Masashi. The writing, plot, original characters and additional details of this story belong to me and shall not be reposted and publicized elsewhere without my expressed permission.

Cherry Doll

The first time he ever laid his eyes on her, the only thought that he had at the time was, 'How the heck does a doll move around like that?'

In the mind of a five-year old, he was caught up with a strange mixture of fascination and confusion. And, oh, he was definitely creeped the beejibbers out of him, too. Torn between the aching need to approach this animated little pink-haired doll and touch her under his fingers in his amazement and curiosity, and the sudden urge to turn around and run like the fires of hell were on his feet, in the end, he could only stood frozen, rooted to the exact same spot behind the swing and continued to stare.

And stared he did – for the longest of time that he'd failed to notice the gradually darkening sky and the dwindling number of children playing at the open park, until all that were present around the park were a few other children and the little doll. He cocked his head to the side as he contemplated of how strange it was that those two fully-grown adults were really enjoying themselves playing with the doll – wasn't that what most small, little girls liked to do?

And when the doll turned her head around and caught his intent gaze with her own curious ones for the barest of seconds, he could safely say that it was akin to the feeling of one being jolted by an invisible spark of electricity – one that came to such a shock to him that he actually flinched.

He could really understand dearly now how does a deer felt, caught pointblank between its eyes by the bore of an arrow.

In his panic, it was all he could do to quickly hide behind the tree and ducked his head away from view. He felt his breaths were coming in short pants, so he covered his mouth with one hand so that he wouldn't be heard, all the while listening in keenly to the sounds of his surroundings. In a strange mixture of apprehension and excitement, he could hear the sound of small, light footsteps slowly approaching his little hideout, and felt his heart beat faster, as if he had just done another getaway from being the 'target practice' by some of the mean ninjas late into the night.

Not knowing what should he do – stay and face the doll like a brave, strong man should, or just make a run for it like he always did – he opted to shrink further into himself into a small ball, tucking his knees in and closing his eyes shut, willing the doll away as he thought that maybe by making himself smaller, he might just get the chance to be overlooked, right? Believing firmly in his supposed logic, he figured that if could not see her, then neither could she, isn't it?

"Um… Hello?"

Maybe not.

He tensed for a moment, then slowly, he raised his head just enough to meet her eyes. No worries, there, he's not afraid, nope, he mentally convinced himself, One little moving girly doll is not going to intimidate him, nu-uh. He's going to be the strongest shinobi one day, for crying out loud! He's not going to chicken out –!

His breath caught in his throat, his mind reeled to a stop and his heart skipped a beat at the longest second in his short span of five years of life the moment his sky blue eyes were caught in the doll's warm, emerald ones. At that time, all he could think of in his suddenly incoherent thoughts suddenly left his mouth unthinkingly with a blurted, "You're alive."

The doll's – girl, he corrected himself – face scrunched up in confusion at his words. Kami, did he really said that out loud? He felt like kicking himself there and then. Trust his stupid mouth to spout out things at the wrong time!

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, bemused. Then, with two hands on her hips, she scowled. "Do I look dead to you?"

Blood was rushing to his face at that. The urge to kick himself doubled by then. "T-that's not it! I, uh, well…" Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head and smiled apologetically, nervously stuttering in his attempt to amend for his previous words. "I… I thought you were a… a doll, back then…"

Silence met them for a few seconds, before she echoed back incredulously, "A doll?"

"Yeah," he nodded vigorously, determined to convince the girl of his assumption earlier. "A really, really cute one, too!" Realizing the blush forming on the girl's round cheeks at his admission, he felt his chest went tight at the sight and a kind of…joy?... bloomed tentatively there, leaving him feeling uncomfortably uncertain in the face of something that had never happened to him before.

"So… I didn't know that you'll… err, move about and talk to me and, uh, actually be alive, I guess…" he finished lamely, all the while berating himself mentally for his brilliant choice of words.

"Ah, I see…" the pink-haired girl mumbled, then she brightened up, smiled and gestured to her face. "Well, then! Surely you need some more convincing if you had been so sure that I was a doll before, right?" She giggled as he only nodded dumbly. "Here, touch my cheek, and you'll know I'm definitely as real as you are. See?"

Was she telling him to… touch her? He had barely had any bodily contact with any other people before, aside from the kind Sandaime-ojii-san and the nurses tending him in his numerous visits to the hospitals before, and that was excluding all the punches, shoves and kicks he'd ever received in the back alleys when it was too dark for get back into his small apartment in time to avoid it. The kids his age had, sometimes, tried to reach out to him in curiosity – much like this girl – but soon abandoned him all the same, either by the stern admonishment by the parents or simply following the lead of other children's manner towards him. And here she was, offering him to touch her?

Maybe she doesn't go out much…

If that was the case, then the possibility of her turning against him afterwards, like all the other kids had, was inevitable. His heart sunk at this realization, but he was nothing but hopeful. He might be an idiot for it, but he couldn't help but to cling to it nevertheless, and take the chance anyway. There was something about the girl, something pleasantly different about her that made him feel at ease and mesmerized at the same time, just to be in her company.

So he hesitantly reached up, and gained more confidence when she smiled encouragingly at him, then the pads of his little fingers grazed her right cheek. He inhaled in amazement at the soft texture, sliding his fingers down her cheek gently, taking great care in his ministrations, in a light touch of fervent wonder. His own cheeks reddened even more when her smile turned wider into a grin.

"Sakura!"

A shrill, panicked cry cut through the confines of his daze. Snapping back into reality, they both turned at the same time to find a woman and a man, the girl's parents, running towards them – one in fearful desperation, while the latter in protective rage.

Instinctively, Naruto dropped his hand and stepped back, mind already reeling to get away from there as soon as possible, but the man already was onto him by the time he broke from his stupor. The woman had her arms wrapped tightly around her daughter's small form, facing her away from him, while the man harshly shoved him away and into the bark of the tree, earning a pained groan from the blond boy.

He bent down to his level, gripped his small shoulders in a painful, vice grip and leveled a cold, unforgiving glare to Naruto.

"You better stay the hell away from our daughter, demon brat," he spat.

Standing up to his full height, the man fixed a menacing glare one last time before he promptly turned his back and walked away with his family; a confused, teary-eyed little girl in tow.

They were already halfway across the park, but Naruto could make out the questioning demands and hushed chidings even from the distance.

"But why, Okaa-san? He didn't do anything!"

"Listen to your father, sweetie… he's a bad one…"

"You'd do well to avoid him…from now….understand…"

Stumbling to twist around and peeked around the tree, he unconsciously reached out with his trembling hand as he watched them go, all the while fervently wishing that she would look back and smile brilliantly at him again, like she did before they were torn away so forcefully by her parents. It was foolish of him, truly, to wish against something so impossible even in the knowledge that something like this would inevitably happen anyway in the end.

But she made him so happy… with just a simple gesture…

He figured it didn't matter now, anyway. Why should he expect any different this time around, anyway? It wasn't like this occurrence had never happened to him similarly before – heck, he had even encountered too many of those, and most of them ended much uglier than this one had. Surely, another one added to the long list of enmity he had ever experienced should not be a bother to him anymore.

But neither did it ever make the pain go away, though.

Sighing deeply, he recalled back to the brief moments he had shared with the adorable little girl with soft, short pink tresses, clear green eyes and a pretty smile… for him…

Just the thought of her brought a smile to his face unbidden, despite the earlier ill treatment he had gotten from said pinkette's father.

Sakura. That was her name. He thought it suited her perfectly well, like the pretty pink petals of the cherry blossoms that fluttered down in a feathery fall down by the river along the streets of Konoha when spring came around.

The sun had already fallen deep into the horizon, signaling his cue to make his way back to the safe confines of his home, but he paid it no mind. He leaned his back on the tree, resting his gaze on the view of the Hokage monument carved into the high cliffs in the far distance, giving the impression of both menacing and protective to those below its shadow.

If only he was one of them, the mighty Hokages, admired and respected by all…

If only he could have the support he needed, just like the Hokages received from their people…

If only… he could be powerful enough… to prove himself…

Determination shone in his eyes, strong and steely, as his will strengthen ever more than before.

Maybe he wouldn't be seeing her and be friends with her properly this time around. Maybe she would follow through her parents' – and eventually their peers' – warning against him to treat him the same way as the others did. But a defeated Naruto was never him – he would fight with tooth and nail and all he had to become a worthy shinobi and climb his way through the ranks as the world's greatest Hokage ever. He would protect Sakura's smile – that pretty, pretty smile – with all the care and power he could give just as carefully as he would handle the most precious porcelain doll. He would prove to all of his worth, and gain Sakura's – along with everybody else's – full acknowledgement of him.

That day might not be today, he admitted grudgingly, but one day he definitely will! He was not one to back down without a fight!

He stood up, proudly puffed his chest out and grinned to the Hokage monument, nodding to himself as he made himself a lifetime vow.

"Believe it!"

Author's Note: Just a short oneshot, my first one actually on doing this. It's my own take on Naruto and Sakura's first meeting (because, c'mon, there's gotta be a reason why Naruto is infatuated with her at the very start of the manga, right?). Just something I need to do to ward off the darned writer's block, so I admit that this one is not thoroughly thought-out as I'd like it be, but I'm satisfied enough with the end result to post it here. Aaaannd I know I should be doing Crimson Threads' next chapter by now, but good news here is that I'm already working on it as I'm talking – er, typing? – right now.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks for reading/liking/reviewing!

Audy Ruki