Ravens and Cherry Blossoms

Written By: SorrowoftheHeart

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters from it. They belong to Kishimoto.

Author's Note: This is an AU story in which the Uchiha were never wiped out. However, Minato and Kushina were still killed, leaving Naruto an orphan. I hope you will enjoy this story.

Chapter I

The sun shone brightly as the birds chirped and sang to their heart's delight. It was another beautiful and peaceful day in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. At least, so it had seemed. In a quaint looking apartment, there was a sudden banging on the door that could be heard all of the way into a certain green eyed girl's bedroom. Unfortunately for her, this roused her from her blissful slumber. She truly had every intention of ignoring whoever it was, but that plan went out the door when the persistent knocking continued. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was not going to stop anytime soon. So with a growl, she emerged from the covers and got out of bed. Already knowing who it was, she stomped to the door and yanked it open as she fixed a fiery glare on the blond on the other side.

He paused and blinked his baby blue eyes before he smiled sheepishly at the irate pink haired woman before him. He rubbed the back of his neck, averting his gaze as he stepped back a bit as if afraid she would lash out at him for waking her up on her day off.

"Hey there Sakura-chan! Sorry to wake you up but Teme and I were wonder-" "No."

The door would have slammed shut in his face, if not for the foot he had extended to keep it open. It would seem that he would not be deterred so easily if his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto. Which it was, of course. "Aw, c'mon, Sakura-chan! You didn't even let me finish!" The blond whined in protest, despite knowing it was not a good idea to further irritate the kunoichi on the other side. However, he would be damned if he would let his best friend sleep away this special day.

"Get your foot out of the door, Naruto. It's my day off and I intend to sleep it off!" The kunoichi growled back, trying to push his foot back so that she could close the door. Realizing that he wasn't going to give in, she scowled and open the door more. Before she could tear into him, there was a sigh from the previously unnoticed companion as Naruto was shoved aside. Ignoring the crash behind him, Sasuke Uchiha leveled his dark coal gaze upon his female teammate.

"Sakura, Mother has already planned the day and insists that you come and spend it with our family." He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants, blatantly ignoring the very angry look on the female before him. Sakura's expression changed for a minute before softening as she heaved a sigh, knowing she was trapped. He just had to bring up his mother, didn't he? He knew just how to wear her down.

Mikoto Uchiha was a beautiful and strong woman, but when it came to parties and planning things, she could be worse than Ino. Yes, Sakura knew that today was her birthday but after weeks of working, she had just wanted to relax and do nothing at all. However, it seemed that her wishes would not be respected so she moved from the door, leaving it open as she trudged into her living room. Sasuke, knowing what this meant, stepped inside followed by a very wary but quiet Naruto.

"Fine, fine, I'll come if only to satisfy your mother, Sasuke-kun. You know how much I adore that woman." She really did love Mikoto like a second mother and the Uchiha matriarch doted on her and treated her like the daughter she never had. It was hard to resist her summons and Sakura did love her cooking too. "Just wait here while I get showered and dressed… and keep Naruto out of the fridge, will you?"

With a defeated slump to her shoulders, the pinkette sauntered off to her room to get ready for a day that would hopefully get better. She entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her, walking over to the closet and flinging it open as she placed her hands on her hips. Her green eyes surveyed her clothing choices, pondering on what to wear. It was a good thing that Ino was not here; otherwise, she would have been forced to go all out in looking good. After a few moments, she figured out what she wanted to wear and plucked the article of clothing up before laying it on her bed.

With most of her clothing choice laid out on the bed, she moved to head into the adjoining bathroom to take her shower. Twenty minutes later and Sakura was freshly showered and dressed. She had decided on a simple white sun dress that had flowers on it and tied in the back with some ribbon. For shoes, she wore some wedge sandals that were ivory in color and came up to her ankles to be tied neatly. For accessories, she had chosen a pair of studded earrings that were in the shape of pink cherry blossom petals. The earrings were a gift from Ino, given to her on her sixteenth birthday. To match them, she wore a simple silver bracelet with sakura blossom charms dangling from it.

Now it was time for makeup and to do something about her unruly wet hair. She decided on going with a more natural look though she decided to wear eyeliner to make her eyes pop. On her lips were a pink lip gloss, that made them look shiny and smelled of cherries. For her hair, she decided to pull it up in a neat bun with some of her hair escaping the tie and decorated with a red ribbon. Checking herself in the mirror and becoming satisfied, she then exited her bedroom and headed into the living room.

Naruto and Sasuke had made themselves at home in her absence, though it seemed that Naruto took the term more literal as he was splayed across the couch like he owned the place. Sasuke sat in a chair, with his arms crossed over his chest, a frown perched on his lips. Hearing her come into the room, the two boys shifted their attention to their female teammate and couldn't help but stare. With a goofy grin spreading across his lips, Naruto sprung up and looked her over once more.

"Sakura-chan, you look beautiful! Doesn't she, Teme?" He asked, fixing his blue stare upon his black haired teammate with a look that just begged him to disagree. Sasuke made a quiet 'hn' sound as he rose from the chair and brushed himself off. Sakura took that as a form of agreement to Naruto's words as she laughed softly and moved to grab her keys from the keyring beside the door. "Let's get going. We wouldn't want to keep Mikoto-chan waiting."

And with that, the three of them were off to the Uchiha compound.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the story. I can't guarantee that updates will be frequent, but I will do my best to try to update often. I will warn you that chapters may be short and that's fine with me. I tend to do terribly if I try to force a super long chapter. If you liked the story, let me know in a review. See you in the next chapter.