A/N: Hello everybody. There is something to keep in mind for this story; there is no Kurama clan. Just wanted to get that out of the way now in case anybody has questions about certain things in the story later on that would contradict there being a Kurama clan. Other than that, I can't really think of anything else you need to know at this point. Enjoy the story.

Random factoid: Kurenai and I actually have the same birthday haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 1: Breaking the illusion

It all started that night when he met her…

The sound of raindrops crashing down filled the streets of Konoha as what few people were out were either closing up their businesses for the night or rushing home to escape the downpour. The sun long since having dropped below the horizon, only one person could be seen walking through the quiet streets as water poured over his young body. That person, or rather, that child, was a young boy with golden hair and bright blue eyes. His eyes were obstructed from view however and had lost their usual brilliance as the boy looked toward the ground as he trudged through the village with no real destination in mind.

That boy was, Naruto Uzumaki. The 5-year-old blond wandered the village as his plain white shirt clung to his skin from the copious amount of water soaked into it. Why was he wandering around aimlessly in the rain? Because he had nowhere to go. The woman in charge of the orphanage had, quite literally, thrown him out into the rain and told him he was not to return. He knew if he asked the Hokage he would more than likely help him in some way, but at the moment, he didn't want the man he saw as his grandfather to see him. And so, he continued his walk in deep thought.

'Why is it always me? Why do they all hate me so much?' Naruto may have portrayed himself to be some happy-go-lucky dunce, but that was all part of his façade. Below the surface, he was actually rather intelligent and hurting deeply from the constant waves of hatred he received on a daily basis. His only source of comfort was the elderly kage. He was so deep in his thoughts about why he was a pariah, when he felt something crash into him and he fell face-first into a puddle.

"I'm sorry, are you okay? I wasn't paying attention," a voice called out to him as he pushed himself up and got to his feet without a word. He turned around to say he was fine, but froze as he stared into the eyes looking down at him. He wasn't sure how long he had actually been looking, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the crimson eyes that showed emotions that he wasn't quite familiar with. Naruto couldn't help but blush and turn away when she cleared her throat with a raised eyebrow. "I said are you okay?" she repeated.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Naruto replied with a forced laugh as he turned to face her again and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "W-who are you?" he dared to ask. She gave a soft smile as she replied. "My name is Kurenai, what's yours?" She already knew who he was of course, but felt a proper introduction was necessary. Naruto looked at her eyes again and couldn't help but think 'what a fitting name.'

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He gave a genuine smile having completely forgotten his previous troubles. "Well it's nice to meet you Naruto-kun," she said as she took notice of his appearance. "The pleasure is all mine Kurenai-chan." Kurenai gave a slight chuckle at the response and the huge smile plastered on the boy's face. Taking note again of his appearance, she asked him "would you like to come to my apartment to dry off, Naruto-kun? It's not far from here." Naruto's eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal. Something about her made him feel like he could trust her, but past experience was telling him to run while he had the chance.

Against his better judgment, Naruto had decided to agree to accompany Kurenai back to her apartment. He was currently standing in her living room drying off with a towel while she went to change. She returned shortly after with a large shirt. "Why don't you change into that so I can dry your clothes for you," she said as she handed him the shirt and pointed towards the bathroom. Naruto looked between her and the shirt before voicing what was on his mind.

"Why are you doing this for me?" he asked seriously with a blank expression. Other than the Hokage, the only time anyone was ever nice to him was to lure him into a false sense of security before attacking him so he was still skeptical as to why she was going out of her way to help him. Kurenai just blinked a few times at the question before asking "why not?" Naruto looked at her for another moment before slowly moving to the bathroom with the offered clothing.

After changing and giving his discarded shirt and shorts to Kurenai to place in the dryer, they had a long argument after Kurenai suggested he should stay the night. Eventually, Naruto reluctantly agreed to spend the night on her couch. They were now sitting on said couch having a cup of tea while talking about various things. Naruto had taken great interest in the fact that she was a genjutsu expert.

"That's awesome, Kurenai-chan. I always thought genjutsu was cool, but gramps said it would be pretty much impossible for me because of how much chakra I have." Kurenai nodded in agreement. "I agree it would be nearly impossible. However, it's not completely impossible." Naruto looked disappointed at first, but that disappeared as she finished talking. "So it's possible?" Kurenai thought for a moment before responding. "It's possible, but it would be far more difficult than ninjutsu would be for you. You seem pretty smart though and you're definitely very mature for your age. If you worked hard enough on your chakra control, I'm sure you could do it." Naruto smiled brightly before yawning.

"It's getting late. Get some sleep, Naruto-kun. We can talk more in the morning and then we'll go see Hokage-sama." Naruto nodded as he lied down and pulled up the blanket Kurenai had taken out for him. "Good night, Kurenai-chan." Kurenai gave him a warm smile before turning the light off and going to her room.

The next morning, Naruto had woken up to Kurenai making breakfast for the 2 of them. They talked a bit more while they ate and after Naruto changed back into his clothes and they were ready to go, Kurenai had given him some books to read. The first was a very basic book all about chakra. The next one was the one she expected would be the most helpful as it was about chakra control and would teach him several exercises on how to improve. The final book was on the basics of genjutsu. It explained the concept, practice and theory behind the shinobi art. Naruto was extremely happy. Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was most certainly not stupid; just uneducated. It's rather difficult to learn anything when you can't even so much as go to the library because you're a pariah.

Naruto thanked Kurenai repeatedly on the way to the Hokage's tower. Once there, Hiruzen was quite disturbed to learn of Naruto's situation with the orphanage. After much discussion it was decided that Naruto would live in his own apartment. Hiruzen had invited him to stay at the Sarutobi compound, but the boy sternly refused. Once it was decided, Kurenai stood to leave while they took care of the specifics. Naruto gave a sad smile as he looked into the crimson eyes that had captivated him once again before she left. 'I hope I see her again someday.'

Several years later, the day Naruto had waited so long for finally arrived. Today they would find out what their genin teams would be. Naruto was only half paying attention to his teacher as he named off members for each team. The majority of his attention was focused on what it always was on when he was in the classroom. And that would be his hand under the table with the point of a kunai rotating on his outstretched finger. Ever since he received those books all those years ago, Naruto had spent every chance he had trying to improve his chakra control. He was still unable to perform genjutsu effectively, but he could tell there was a difference now like he was on the verge of something.

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and…Kiba Inuzuka." Naruto let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding when he heard Kiba's name called. It wasn't that he hated the other 2 members, he just…okay he hated the Uchiha. He wasn't fond of the pink-haired fangirl, but he could tolerate her. The last Uchiha however, he disliked even being in the same room with. The boy's unfounded arrogance and his overall actions in general annoyed the blond to no end. His musings were cut short as the next team was announced.

"Team 8: Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto smiled as he looked at his new teammates. He wasn't very familiar with them, but they were 2 of the few classmates he had no problems with. Shino was quiet and Hinata was shy. Those may seem like flaws to most people, but Naruto was actually happy with it. Hinata was a very kind girl and while, yes she was shy, she seemed like she would be reliable. She was also pretty much the only girl in his class that wasn't a fangirl so that was a major plus. Naruto was actually fond of Shino. He wasn't boisterous or arrogant like the others even though Naruto had a feeling he was much stronger than the majority of them. All in all, he was pleased. 'If we get a good teacher this will be perfect.' Naruto thought as his academy instructor called for the jounins outside to enter the room.

Naruto watched the various jounins come in and walk to their new teams, but he froze as his eyes locked on one in particular. She was a fairly tall, light-skinned woman with black, shoulder-length hair wearing red lipstick and purple eye-shadow. She wore a red mesh shirt with only the right sleeve visible. Over this is very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages. But the thing that had his heart beating faster with every step she took toward them was her eyes. The same beautiful crimson eyes that appeared in his dreams regularly for the last 7 years.

"Kurenai-chan…" he whispered as she stopped in front of them. Kurenai gave Naruto a quick smile before turning to address the whole team. "Meet me at training ground 8 in an hour." And with that said, she disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Hinata and Shino stood to leave and raised an eyebrow at the dazed look on Naruto's face. They looked to each other and shrugged before turning to leave. Shortly after they left, Naruto shook his head and ran to training ground 8 as fast as he could.

Naruto arrived to find himself alone in the field and frowned a bit. "I had a feeling you'd be the first one here. Long time no see, Naruto-kun," Kurenai smiled as she approached Naruto from behind. Naruto smiled and had to fight back the tears that threatened to drip from the corner of his eyes. "It's great to see you again, Kurenai-chan. Err, I guess I should call you Kurenai-sensei now, huh?" He said with a nervous laugh at the end. Kurenai gave a light laugh of her own.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun. When it's just us it's fine to drop the sensei. How have you been?" They spent the next 15 minutes or so catching up until the others arrived. "Now that you're all here, let's introduce ourselves. I'll go first as an example. My name is Kurenai Yuuhi and I'm 27 years old. I like flowers and enjoy going out for drinks with my friend at night. I dislike perverts and people who underestimate genjutsu. I specialize in genjutsu and I don't really have a dream for the future at the moment." With her introduction finished, Kurenai motioned for Shino to go next.

"My name is Shino Aburame and I'm 12 years old. I like entomology and collecting new species of insects. I dislike arrogance and spiders. I specialize in my clan's ninjutsu and my dream is to surpass my father." Kurenai gave a nod and turned to Hinata.

"M-my name is Hinata H-Hyuuga and I'm 12 years old. I like pressing flowers and being with my little sister. I-I dislike bullies and selfish people. I specialize in my family's taijutsu and my dream is to make my father proud of me someday." Kurenai smiled and nodded and turned to the last member of the team to hear his introduction.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm 12 years old. I like training, ramen, and watering plants. I dislike arrogant people, vegetables, and people who look down on me. I hope to specialize in genjutsu someday and my dream is to become Hokage and…" Naruto trailed off at the end as he looked at Kurenai. The others waited for the rest, but ignored it when it was obvious he had no intention of continuing.

"Alright everyone there's something you should know. You're not actually genin yet. Your real test will be tomorrow morning. Meet me here at 7." Before anybody could question her, she disappeared in a swirl of leaves. The 3 genin hopefuls looked at each other and shrugged before going their separate ways.

Naruto was once again the first to arrive at their meeting place. Having woken up early and not being able to go back to sleep, he had nothing better to do so he came almost an hour early. He wandered out into the middle of the field and lay down with his hands linked together beneath his head. As he watched the clouds float by in the early morning sky, he couldn't help but think "I see why Shikamaru enjoys this so much." He had just closed his eyes when they flew back open at the sound of a voice from above him.

"Well you look comfortable," Kurenai joked as she held a fist over her mouth in an attempt to hold back a giggle. Naruto looked into familiar crimson eyes as his cheeks flushed slightly. Once the initial shock passed, he immediately sat up, and immediately regretted. They both groaned and rubbed their foreheads after Naruto unintentionally headbutted his, hopefully, soon-to-be teacher. "Ugh, I'm sorry, Kurenai-chan. You surprised me and I wasn't thinking. What are you doing here so early?" Kurenai shook her head slightly before responding.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun, but I should be the one asking that. There's still the better part of an hour left before the others are supposed to get here." "Yeah, I know. I couldn't sleep though so I decided to just wait here. What about you?" Naruto was now sitting cross-legged as he looked up at the woman in front of him. She decided to follow his lead and sat down as well.

"More or less the same. I was seeing off a friend that was leaving on a reconnaissance mission at the gate and figured it would have been pointless to go home before coming here." Naruto felt a strange sensation somewhat akin to worry wash over him at the mention of this "friend" of hers. 'Is it the same person she mentioned she likes to drink with yesterday? Could it be her boyfriend?' He thought to himself. "That was nice of you to see a friend off like that, Kurenai-chan. Was it the same friend you mentioned yesterday?" Kurenai gave a small nod before answering.

"Mhm, it was my friend Anko. She has a bad habit of forgetting things so I usually check on her when I know she has a long mission. The look on her face when she complains about being "mothered" makes it worth the effort," Kurenai giggled at the last part and it was like music to Naruto's ears. Naruto couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief hearing that her friend was a girl and laughed along with her at her last comment.

They spent the rest of the time waiting for the other 2 to show up just talking as they sat there. Naruto had learned that Asuma Sarutobi was persistently pursuing her and he tried to hide the clenching of his fists and teeth at that fact. He relaxed slightly upon hearing she had no intention of dating him, but Naruto was a perfect example of how persistence can payoff so the worry was still strong. When the set time for the test was approaching, Hinata and Shino, once again, arrived together. Naruto and Kurenai both raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't voice the question that was on their minds and chalked it up to coincidence.

Now then, let's get started." Kurenai said as she stood up and brushed herself off followed by Naruto doing the same.

The 3 genin were seen panting on their hands and knees after the "test" was finished. Kurenai had mentioned that all the jounin had different ways of testing their potential teams and after what they just went through, they couldn't help but wish they had been given a different test. It had started out simple enough with a test of their tracking skills. Kurenai had made 3 clones and had them all go in separate directions instructing each student to find one. Hinata was the first to find hers of course. The byakugan made it a very simple feat. Shino found his fairly easily as well using his bugs. Naruto took slightly longer, but his advanced sense of smell made it simple enough. The fact that he had taken every opportunity to memorize the woman's scent helped. Her scent smelled heavily of roses with a light hint of white plum that he attributed to her perfume; He couldn't seem to get enough of her scent.

After they had found their targets, she had placed them under a light genjutsu that they all broke free from almost immediately. The thing that made the test so difficult was the last portion. Kurenai had claimed she was testing their taijutsu skills, but to them it seemed more like she was testing their tolerance for pain. She countered every attack they sent at her and pointed out the holes in their defenses. She didn't just tell them the problem though; she demonstrated the flaws with brute force. They were all sure they had at least a few broken bones by the time they were done. Naruto knew that even with the fox's accelerated healing, he would be mostly out of commission for a few days.

Yes, Naruto was aware of his jinchuuriki status. About 2 years ago, Hiruzen had finally caved in to the boy's demand to know why the village hated him. He wasn't told the specifics of who his parents were, but he now knew that they were both talented shinobi that loved him dearly and didn't abandon him by choice. It took him awhile to get over the information he had received, but eventually he was back to his old self.

"Good job you 3 and congratulations, you passed. You can take tomorrow off to rest up, but be here the next morning at 8 for our first mission." Kurenai smiled and gave a short wave before disappearing in a whirl of leaves to report her team's success to the Hokage. The 3 new genin could do little more than smile at the news as they tried to recover. Once Naruto was finally able to stand, he helped his teammates up and they all limped their way to the hospital.

About a month later, team 8 was the perfect model of how a team should be. Their teamwork was impeccable and they had become fast friends. To Naruto and Kurenai's surprise, about a week after their first mission, Shino and Hinata announced they were an official couple. At first Kurenai was worried about how this would affect the team, but Naruto couldn't be happier for his new friends and it eventually became clear that their relationship didn't pose a threat to the team. If anything it helped because Hinata was slowly becoming less shy. That aside, they were very reliable and completed all of their missions in a timely manner without complaint.

They were just finishing up a team meeting and Hinata and Shino were on their way to have a date. Naruto took the opportunity to see if he could spend some time with his teacher. "I'm Sorry, Naruto. Anko gets back today and I was hoping to catch up with her a bit." Kurenai barely caught the disappointment on his face before it vanished. "I understand, Kurenai-chan. Have fun and be careful. I'll see you tomorrow," Naruto said as he turned to walk away.

"If you really want to, you could come along." Kurenai surprised both of them when she said that. She knew Anko would be fine with it, but she hadn't actually planned on inviting him along. "Are you sure? I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to meet Mitarashi-san, but I don't want to impose…" Kurenai waved him off and assured him that it was fine. He hesitantly agreed and they left to go to the dango bar Kurenai and Anko always met at.

"Hey, Kurenai, long time no see," Anko called out as her friend approached with the boy she knew to be their village's jinchuuriki. She raised an eyebrow when they got close and asked the obvious question "who's the brat?" Naruto bowed and introduced himself. He was rarely so formal, but he wanted to make a good impression with his sensei's best friend. "Nice to meet you, Mitarashi-san. My name is Naruto Uzumaki." Anko just stared at him and blinked a few times before laughing. "Cut the formalities kid. Just call me Anko."

"Okay, nice to meet you then, Anko-chan," Naruto winced slightly as he felt a kunai graze his cheek and heard a growl come from behind him. "Call me Anko-chan again and it won't just be a scratch. I said to call me just Anko. Got it, brat?" Naruto kept still and just nodded slowly. Kurenai let out a sigh and shook her head at her friend's antics. With that out of the way, they all sat down and talked over dango drinks. As a ninja, Naruto was allowed to drink despite his age s long as the server felt he wasn't getting too intoxicated. Kurenai drank vodka while Naruto and Anko shared a bottle of sake.

Anko continued to pour the young genin drink after drink trying to get him to make a drunken fool of himself. But, to her and Kurenai's surprise, he was by no means a lightweight. They all assumed it was due to his tenant breaking it down faster than it could have a major affect. The fact that he was perfectly aware of the beast inside of him was another surprise to the women sitting across from him. By the time they had decided to call it a night, the moon was high in the sky and they were all at least somewhat feeling the alcohol in their system. Anko more so than the others.

They were walking towards their respective apartments when Anko decided to embarrass them one last time before they parted. "So when did you 2 hook-up?" Naruto couldn't hide the blush that crossed his face and Kurenai's eyes widened considerably. "Oh please, Anko. You know that would never happen." Kurenai didn't see the pained look that crossed the boy's face as he visibly winced at the comment, but Anko did. Anko's eyes narrowed slightly as the boy turned to leave. "Well I'm gonna head home. It was nice meeting you, Anko. See ya around," he waved over his shoulder without looking back as he walked away from them.

"That was a bit harsh don't you think, Kurenai?" "What do you mean?" Kurenai was completely ignorant to what she had just done and Anko shook her head with a sigh as she stopped in front of their apartment building. "You really hurt the kid with that last comment." Kurenai still had no idea what her friend was talking about and Anko almost growled at how dense her friend could be sometimes. Okay so maybe she did growl a little bit.

"I can't believe you seriously don't realize what you just said. The kid obviously has a crush on you and you just brutally stated you could never feel that way. I may be a bitch, but even I think that was over the line. Especially considering the life he's had…" Kurenai's eyes widened when she finally realized what Anko was talking about. Kurenai turned to say something, but Anko was already in her apartment and closing the door.

"I'm sorry, Naruto…"

Instead of showing up an hour early the next morning like he usually would, Naruto arrived right at the scheduled meeting time. Hinata and Shino gave a confused look that turned to one of worry when they saw that his eyes were puffy like he had cried himself to sleep, but the redness of his eyes and the bags under them told them he probably didn't actually get to sleep.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Shino asked as he looked into his eyes. Naruto clearly had his mask up as he smiled and claimed his allergies were acting up. Shino knew it was obviously a lie, but nodded and dropped the subject anyway. Kurenai motioned for them to follow her to the tower for the day's mission and everyone's worry rose further when, instead of walking alongside Kurenai like he always did, Naruto chose to walk behind them all with his hands in his pockets. Even though the smile on his face said otherwise, his eyes held none of their usual happiness or energy.

Their mission was to, once again, catch Tora, the cat that belonged to the daimyo's wife and continued to runaway for obvious reasons. The woman squeezed the life out of the poor animal so it couldn't really be blamed for its repeated attempts to flee for its life. Normally, Naruto was heavily involved in planning out their strategy, but today, he just nodded along with Kurenai's plan without saying a word. And once the mission was complete, he said he was going to go train some more and immediately left before anybody could say anything else. Hiruzen was completely baffled by his pseudo-grandson's behavior and the worry showed on his face as he asked if they knew what had caused this. Shino and Hinata shook their heads while Kurenai just sighed.

"Shino, Hinata, you 2 may be excused. I would like to speak with Kurenai alone for a moment." The genin nodded before bowing and leaving the office. "What happened, Kurenai?" Kurenai let out another long sigh before answering her superior. She explained the events of the night and how Anko had said it was blatantly obvious the blond had feelings for his crimson-eyed teacher. Hiruzen nodded knowing full-well how the boy felt about the genjutsu mistress. He was actually the one who explained the feeling to the boy not too long ago.

2 weeks ago

"Hey, gramps, can I talk to you about something?" Naruto asked as he walked into the office and closed the door. "Of course, Naruto. What's on your mind?" Naruto walked around the desk with a worried expression. "I've been getting this weird feeling lately around Kurenai-sensei and I don't know what it is." Hiruzen motioned for him to continue and Naruto told him the whole story from the time they first met when he was 5 until now. To say he was surprised would be an understatement, especially finding out the boy had clearly been jealous of his son Asuma.

"It sounds to me like you like her." Naruto nodded, though not understanding the true meaning behind the words. "Of course I like her, gramps, but I don't feel this way around any of my other friends." Hiruzen couldn't help but laugh slightly. "No my boy, that's not what I meant. I meant you like her in a romantic way." All Naruto could bring himself to say in response was "oh…"

"I see. I was afraid something like that might happen," Hiruzen walked over to the window and looked out at the village below as he thought things over. "I don't blame you, Kurenai. True, you could have chosen your words more carefully, but I won't hold that against you. As for resolving the situation…I'm certainly not going to ask you to date the boy, but I would like you to apologize. Whether you do or not is up to you, but it would be difficult for your team to operate with Naruto in this condition." Kurenai listened carefully and nodded at the end. "I understand. I will take care of it, Hokage-sama." The door closed with an audible "click" and Hiruzen sighed. "Please let him down easy, Kurenai…" he whispered to himself.

Kurenai looked everywhere trying to find her blond student. He was nowhere to be found at his usual hangouts or training ground 8. She ran into Hinata and Shino and neither of them had any idea where he was either. She was about ready to give up the search when she heard a loud cry of "dammit!" from the forest nearby. She moved silently through the trees until she saw the source of the yell. Kneeling in the middle of a clearing was her missing blond. She failed to notice the waterfall and nearby cave off to her left as she watched the boy pound his fists into the ground and yell profanities repeatedly.

Just as she was about to call out to him, he did something that amazed her completely. First, he put himself into a handstand. Not anything special on its own, but then he pushed himself up onto his fingertips. Surprising yes, but not what amazed her. From there he went on to balance on the tip of only his right index finger. At first she was confused because his finger shouldn't have been able to support the weight of his full body. Then she saw it. Just below his fingertip, was a small, barely noticeable concentration of chakra.

'Amazing. I know he spends a lot of time on his chakra control, but that is just unbelievable. I doubt even I could do that!' Kurenai thought to herself. She was brought from her internal musings when she noticed the droplets falling from his face to the ground. At first she presumed it to be sweat, but then she heard the soft sobs that accompanied them. 'Is he…crying?'

As if to answer her unspoken question, she heard his cracking voice. "Why? Why does it hurt so much?!" Naruto asked nobody in particular as his unoccupied left hand moved to clutch his aching chest. When he heard the soft call of "Naruto?" he lost his concentration and fell face-first into the ground. He used the back of his hand to try and remove the bulk of the dirt, sweat, and tears covering his face. When he looked up, there was the last person he wanted to see him like this.

"K-Kurenai-sensei? What are you doing here?" he asked as he turned away and walked toward the nearby waterfall to wash off a bit. Kurenai finally took notice of everything in the clearing and was rather impressed. "This place is amazing," she said softly. Naruto nodded his agreement with his back to her. "I found this place a couple years ago. It's the perfect place for me to train without being disturbed. At least it was…" he mumbled the last bit to himself as he washed his face in the pool of water located beneath the waterfall. After taking in her surroundings, Kurenai addressed her student once more.

"Listen, Naruto, about what I said last night…" Naruto cut in before she could finish. "Don't worry about it, Kurenai-sensei. It's not a big deal." Kurenai couldn't help but notice the "sensei" honorific instead of "chan" or the lack of emotion when he spoke. Kurenai sighed for what seemed like the 100th time that day before starting again. "I didn't mean it the way it came out. Anko was just teasing and I chose my words very poorly. I wasn't trying to-" "It's fine sensei," he interrupted again. "I need to get back to my training so if there's nothing else, I prefer to train alone." Kurenai couldn't help but wince slightly at his cold tone. "I understand, Naruto. I'll leave you to your training. Your chakra control is amazing. Keep at it," she turned to leave and Naruto could taste blood as he bit into his bottom lip.

"Sensei, wait. Could you do me a favor?" Kurenai turned around and motioned for him to ask his favor. "Please don't tell anybody about this place. It's kinda my sanctuary." Naruto begged and Kurenai gave a soft smile as she nodded. "I promise, Naruto." With that said, she left and Naruto dropped onto his back with a deep sigh. "Goodbye…Kurenai-chan."

And with tear-filled eyes, Naruto locked away the feelings he had for his first love.

That's it for the first chapter of my new series. Please let me know what you think.