Chapter #1:

Farewell Naruto

"SASUKE!"

"NARUTO!"

Both Sasuke and Naruto charged in their awakened state unleashing their ultimate move the outcome was a massive explosion Naruto wound up unconscious and Sasuke was close to it however he knew if he let the pain overwhelm him he would be taken back to the Village and he needed more power, so he limped away as fast as he could…

Only moments later did Kakashi find his Student unconscious and barely breathing he touched the Leaf headband that had a slash through the middle he knew what it meant Naruto had failed.

Kakashi sighed deeply and said allowed for no one but himself to hear "Naruto, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I failed you both.

A few hours later Sakura is by the Yamanaka flower shop reconnecting with her former best friend…

Ino sighs "I can't believe Sasuke would leave the village it's insane what's there to get out of becoming a Rogue Ninja!?"

Sakura sighs "It just goes to show neither of us knew what was really going on inside of his head."

Ino nods "Yeah… you're right."

They both suddenly hear lots of commotion outside, they look to each other and nod then they head outside to see Shizune ordering around some Shinobi.

Shizune shouts "Get the ICU prepped stat!"

Medical Ninja heading towards the hospital shouts back "Right away Shizune but who is the patient?"

Shizune with fear in her voice replies with "Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura gasps revealing herself to Shizune "Naruto's hurt that bad?"

Shizune sad for Sakura goes to touch her "Sakura I…?"

Sakura shouts "What happened to Naruto is he okay!? What happened?"

Shizune sighs "Shikamaru's team discovered the hard way that Sasuke wasn't working alone he had allies of Orochimaru who beat every last one of the team pretty badly the worst of them was Choji and Neji but they're no longer in life threatening danger however… Naruto managed to catch up to Sasuke their was a great battle between them from what the report indicates if Naruto isn't treated the second he gets back to the village he'll die."

The same Medical Ninja smiles and says "So you're saying 'He' won't survive if we do nothing?"

Shizune glares at him "Yes so get going!"

The medical Ninja yawns and says "Nah! It was pretty exhausting work healing everyone else I think I'm going to bed too bad for the Uzumaki kid but what're you gonna do, I'd hate to make things worse" he gives them all a smug smile.

Sakura gasps "No, Naruto can't die I won't let him I… I can't lose him too! Shizune what do I need to do!?"

Shizune nods "Head to the hospital and get the staff prepped."

Sakura nods "Understood, Ino you come too, we can't trust any other medical Ninja right now and you've been studying under Lady Tsunade too, right?"

Ino nods "Yeah, I have but I'm not that great at it yet, I can barely revive a half dead fish."

Shizune shakes her head "Doesn't matter you'll just be on standby me and Sakura will deal with the complicated stuff now move out!"

All leave the Medical Ninja who look disgusted at the three and head home themselves.

Kakashi gets to the leaf with Naruto soon after and he heads straight to the Hospital and is lead inside by Tsunade who had heard what happened with the other medical ninja so it was only her, Shizune, Sakura & Ino who operated on Naruto the surgery went for six hours but he was eventually saved weeks if not months went by, by the time Naruto woke up Sasuke's trail had gone cold.

Naruto wakes up with a scream "SASUKE! Huh?" he soon realizes he's back in the village "Wait, what? Where am I?" he feels a sharp pain "Ouch! Ah man what happened?"

Shikamaru sighs "What a drag, that should be obvious…"

Naruto surprised to see Shikamaru "Shikamaru what're you doing here?"

Shikamaru sighs again "I figured you'd wake up soon, so I asked Tsunade to let me be the first one to see you, to tell you…" he sighs again looking more depressed than usual "Sasuke… got away."

Naruto looks shocked at first then looks down at all his bandages "I see so that's what happened."

Shikamaru looks confused "You're taking this surprisingly well, you got a plan, you know what you're gonna do now? Kakashi and a few other tracking Ninja have searched the whole area they found you there's no trace of Sasuke left."

Naruto nods "I kinda figured that'd be the case but I made a promise to Sakura…"

Flashback;

Sakura pouring her heart out to Naruto "Naruto this is a once in a lifetime request… please bring Sasuke back to me!"

Naruto looks down sad "Wow, you really love him, huh, Sakura."

Sakura look up surprised "Huh?"

Naruto ruffles her hair with a big smile "Don't you worry Sakura, I promise to bring Sasuke back that's my promise of a lifetime Sakura"

End of Flashback;

Shikamaru nods "So what's your plan Naruto?"

Naruto smiles "Well first I gotta get stronger, Sasuke's beat me this time and he's gonna keep on getting stronger under Orochimaru so I gotta find me a teacher as strong or stronger than him and train so I'm ready to face Sasuke again then I'll drag him back if I have to."

Shikamaru nods "I see, in that case I'll help."

Naruto looks slightly surprised "What do you mean?"

Shikamaru sighs feeling rather dejected "This was my first mission as a Chunin remember and it ended as a failure it'd be really depressing if I couldn't makeup for that so whenever you go after Sasuke again I'll be there!"

Naruto nods "Thanks Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru nods "Right, I'll let you get some rest then." He walks back over to the door and opens it to see a very depressed Sakura "Oh, Sakura you here to see Naruto?"

Naruto looks up "What Sakura?"

Sakura nods "Mm-hm…"

Shikamaru not sure what to say awkwardly excuses himself "Well I'll leave you two to it." He makes his way out of the room.

Naruto nervous not sure what to say "Listen Sakura I… uh… um… look I know I failed this time but I promise, I will get him back somehow someday I gave you my word and I never…"

Sakura shouts "I don't care about any of that!" she unexpectedly embraces Naruto causing some pain but she snuggles into him with tears running down her face. "Naruto… you almost died, because of me, me and my damn Sasuke obsession and he's the one who did it to you!" he cries even harder…

Naruto pats Sakura's head "It's okay I'm as good as new!" winces in pain slightly "See!"

Sakura wipes her tears away and asks "Do you remember our first mission with Kakashi Sensei?"

Naruto thinks for a minute "You mean to the land of waves?"

Sakura shakes her head "No, that might have been the first real mission where we grew I mean right after we met Kakashi Sensei"

Naruto realizes what she's talking about "Oh, the bells thing!"

Sakura nods "Do you remember what he told me?"

Naruto thinks for a minute "No I don't"

Sakura sighs "I figured he said something like 'You obsessed with Sasuke who was gone and forgot all about Naruto'"

Naruto depressed sighs "Oh, yeah that… uh… why bring that up all of a sudden anyway"

Sakura sighs "Because he was right all I've ever thought about was Sasuke… Sasuke when there was always someone else protecting me who actually cared for me and nearly died for me…"

Flashback;

The Yamanaka flower shop Sakura walks up to the counter Ino sees her and smiles "Hi, Sakura what can I do for you today?"

Sakura sighs "I don't know, do you know anyone who knows what kind of flowers Naruto likes?"

Ino thinks for a minute "Hmm… good question"

They both hear a light voice from behind Sakura "Cherry blossoms"

Both turn around shocked to see Hinata Sakura looks relieved "Oh, it's just you Hinata, how do you know they're Naruto's favorite."

Hinata stuttering "Well… I uh… um…"

Kiba walks in laughing "It's cause of all the times you followed him watching him right!?"

Hinata shocked "Kiba!? You knew about that!?"

Sakura looks nervous and thinks to herself "You mean it's true? Talk about stalker, sheesh!" she smiles then asks "So why does he like Cherry blossoms?"

Ino smiles "Oh, right he did buy some a once! I thought it was weird then he said oh what was it?" she suddenly remembers and blushes "Nope nothing never mind"

Sakura looks at her with determination "No, you know something what is it?"

Ino tries avoiding looking Sakura in the eyes says "Well… he told me they reminded him of the girl he loves most in the world"

Sakura seems confused by this "Oh, is that all well who could that be?"

Ino laughs says "Yeah, real mystery ain't it so I'll just go get some for you then?"

Sakura nods "Yeah thanks…"

Kiba laughs "Wait are you serious right now you seriously have no idea who Naruto loves!?"

Sakura looks surprised "Wait and you do!?"

Kiba laughs pointing at Sakura "Oh wow you're more oblivious than Naruto and that's saying a lot seeing as Hinata has been in love with him since before the academy!"

Hinata embarrassed says "Kiba… stop it…"

Sakura glares at Kiba "are you gonna tell me or not"

Kiba sensing danger stops laughing and says bluntly "Yes, ma'am. He loves you."

Sakura takes a moment to process it then freaks out "Wait, me for real!?"

Hinata sighs sadly "Yeah, he does during his training sessions he shouts a lot but something he says a lot is…"

Kiba interrupts Hinata "'Stupid Sasuke! I'll show Sakura that I'm just as cool!' or something like that…"

Sakura gasps and tears start welling up in her eyes "and he nearly died for me and I didn't even realize his feelings I'm a terrible friend… no I'm just a terrible person."

Ino hands Sakura the cherry blossom "Don't worry about it, he's too good a guy to hold a grudge"

Sakura annoyed says "Yeah, I know that's the problem, how am I going to ever face him again knowing what I do now?"

Ino thinks then says "Well, look you love Sasuke don't you, so nothing needs to change as much as I hate to admit it we're rivals in love so…"

Sakura embarrassed says "Well…"

Hinata's eyes go wide she is very surprised at this response and Ino grabs Sakura very forcefully "Wait for real!? Are you saying you like Naruto now that you know or something!?"

Sakura sighs "It not just that but the fact that I've known Sasuke and Naruto for about the same amount of time and we've been on the same team for a long time too and yet…"

Ino curious leans in "and yet…?"

Sakura sighs "Do you remember the Chunin exams?"

All nod their head listening intently to the story "Yeah…"

Sakura smiles "Well… during it me, Sasuke, & Naruto were attacked by Orochimaru and that's when he placed a curse mark on Sasuke however that's not why I brought it up, I brought it up because me and Sasuke were so scared of him we couldn't move then Naruto he saved us and got us to move, then again when the Sand attacked with the Sound I was nearly killed by Gaara and Naruto saved my life Sasuke told me so…"

Everyone surprised "You mean it wasn't Sasuke who beat that insane Sand Shinobi?" Kiba asks

Sakura nods "Over and over again Naruto has saved me and Sasuke doesn't even give me the time of day I think I've always known how Naruto felt deep down because I think deep down I felt the same too."

Hinata terrified squeals "That can't be…!?"

Kiba frowns "Sorry, Hinata looks like you lost your chance"

Sakura bows to Hinata "I'm sorry Hinata but I…"

Hinata puts her hand up and she gets a look that freaks everyone out "If you're gonna say something pitiful like you won't move on your feelings don't am I so pathetic that I can't hold a candle to you or something!?"

Sakura looks confused "I… that's not what I…"

Hinata leaves the shop with Kiba following close behind "Hey, Hinata where are you going!?"

Hinata shouts back "To train! I'm not gonna lose to Sakura Haruno I am Hinata Hyuuga and I will beat her at least when it comes to Naruto!"

Kiba sighs "Alright, I'll help!"

Hinata shakes her head "No, I need someone who can really push me in the Hyuuga style of combat, I need Neji!"

End of Flashback;

Sakura sighs coming out of her Flashback and says "Naruto… do you really love me?"

Naruto looks horrified his most best kept secret had been discovered "Who told you!?"

Sakura smiles "Kiba and Ino confirmed it"

Naruto surprised "Wow, so two people know that's impressive."

Sakura chuckles "No, everyone that was in our class knows, apparently I only didn't notice because I was so Sasuke-obsessed."

Naruto sighs "I see, well that's depressing I thought I was good at hiding it"

Flashes-Flashback;

Naruto smiling "Hey, Sakura! How's it going Sakura! Hey Sakura let's go out on a date! Sakura wanna hang out and build our teamwork!"

End of Flashback;

Sakura smiles "Yeah you definitely kept it on the down low"

Naruto nods in agreement not sensing the sarcasm "I know right!"

Sakura sighs "Still you didn't answer the question… do you?"

Naruto realizes she truly wishes to know "Oh, I well… I um… yeah, yeah I love you Sakura, always have."

Sakura confused "But… why?"

Naruto smiles "Are you kidding, what's not to like about you!? Your strong independent don't take crap from anyone not even me! Your beautiful and kind… maybe not so much to me back in the day but you can truly be kindhearted person I know it I've seen it."

Sakura blushing heavily "nobody has ever complimented me as much as you just did… I… Naruto I…"

Naruto smiles "But you love Sasuke right… I'm okay I'm just glad you know now so I can…"

Sakura crosses the room in an instant and before Naruto realizes it he is kissing Sakura for a moment he didn't realize what had happened then it sinks in and he forces her to stop kissing her "Sakura… why?"

Sakura brushes her hair out of her face and says "Because you are kind even though I treated you horribly in the past, you always protect me when I'm in danger and your strong determined and refuse to back down even when people tell you it's impossible, I… I don't know how or when or if it was just because I was blinded by my crush for Sasuke cause that's all it was a crush but now that I have a clear view I see who it is I truly love… you so please… don't leave me…"

Naruto goes to say something then he hugs her not answering her

3 Months pass and Naruto had been released from the Hospital Jiraiya or the Pervy Sage had promised to train Naruto over the course of the next five years so he left a note apologizing to Sakura but promises to be back one day stronger, strong enough to protect her from anything and everything that is his new vow to her and one he intended to keep this time.

Sorry about all the Flashbacks in this Chapter next chapter we really get into Shippuden Territory I hope you enjoyed this one I am still working on my other Fanfics but I'm not getting enough reviews to make more speaking of which please read & review if liked it let me know what you think and how you'd like it to go something I'm changing from Cannon no one figures out Naruto is a Jinchuriki over the time skip so it'll be interesting to see what else I change thanks again hope to see you in the next chapter.

Update #1;

I have finished Chapter #3 already and would love to upload the chapter but I haven't got enough reviews I need at least Five reviews for this chapter if you want the next chapter please Review also I will only count one person's review as one so even if one person wrote five review it would only count as one if that makes sense, please review so I can continue the story.

P.S. This won't just be a cut and copy of Naruto Shippuden with a NaruSaku storyline there will also be original Story Arcs so the more reviews I get the sooner I will finish this arc and be able to get onto the next one