Sasuke woke up the next morning when a bright light shined through his window and hit him square in the face. He sat up quickly, wondering where he was. Then his memories flooded back to him. He was back in Konoha. He sighed. And Sakura had actually rejected him. "Maybe she really does have a boyfriend..." Sasuke thought. He smirked to himself. "I'll follow her today. Then if she has a boyfriend, I'll really know."

He sat up and got dressed, hurrying out the front door and across the village to Sakura's house. After the long walk, he decided to sit down and rest under a tree across the road. He watched the front door from the shadows, willing Sakura to come out and take him to her so-called "boyfriend".

Ten minutes passed. "Maybe she's already left her house. But we don't have any missions today as far as I know, so..." He sighed and didn't move.

Twenty more minutes ticked by. Sasuke finally stood up with a grunt and started to step into view, when suddenly he heard the front door open. He dived back behind the tree as quickly as he could, watching Sakura carefully. She hadn't seemed to notice anything. Sakura walked from her front door to the road, stopping suddenly. Sasuke held his breath. Had she seen him?

Sakura looked down at her hip, where her weapons pack was located, opening it and looking inside. Sakura grinned. "Everything's there!" she exclaimed to herself, continuing down the road towards the training grounds. Sasuke followed behind silently.

"She's going to train again? Sasuke thought to himself. "Probably with Naruto..." He smiled to himself. "Sakura dating Naruto...that would be a laugh!" He snickered at the thought of Naruto getting the girl Sasuke liked. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he ducked for cover as Sakura spun around.

"Who's there?" she asked. Sasuke was careful to make no noise as he watched her from behind a bush. Sakura carefully took out a kunai, but after a moment she turned back around and kept walking, the kunai still in her hand. Sasuke sighed.

"That was close..." he thought. "I need to be more careful..."

The walk took about five minutes, and even though Sakura turned around occasionally, Sasuke managed not to be seen. They reached the training grounds, and Sasuke saw that his suspicions were correct...she was training with Naruto. He hid behind a tree and watched Sakura walk up to the blonde boy.

"Hey, Naruto! Ready to spar?" Sakura asked.

"You bet!" Naruto replied happily.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Hmm...guess he finally stopped saying believe it..."

Sakura and Naruto both took their battle stances, and Sakura moved first, punching the ground so it cracked in a line to Naruto. Naruto jumped into the air and spun, taking out a kunai and throwing it at her. Sakura quickly blocked it with the kunai she was already holding, beginning to gather chakra in one hand.

"Hey, no punches today! I still hurt from yesterday!" Naruto cried.

Sakura smirked at him. "Fine. I won't use my fists if you don't use your shadow clones!" She threw her kunai at him and he dodged it.

"What? You know that's not fair!" Naruto told her, already beginning to form the hand signs.

"Fine. Use them," Sakura said, continuing to charge up her fist.

"Whoa, whoa, okay, I won't use them!" Naruto cried, waving his hands in front of himself.

"Too late!" Sakura cried playfully, charging at him. Naruto shouted fearfully and quickly created a shadow clone to stand in front of him and take the blow. However, he didn't expect Sakura to pummel right through it, and barely had time to move out of the way. She grazed his shoulder and left a small gash, but thanks to the Kyuubi it was already healing. Sakura stopped the fight. "Naruto, are you okay?" she asked, taking a step towards him.

"Oh, I'm fine..." Naruto smirked at her, and Sakura looked at him, confused.

"Wha..." Before she could finish, she felt someone grab her from behind. The Naruto in front of her poofed away, and Sakura frowned and spun around in the real Naruto's arms. "That was cheap, and you know it!" She exclaimed. Naruto grinned down at her while Sasuke watched with interest from behind his tree.

"I know. But I'm fighting with an injury, so we're even."

"You are not! You know I healed you yesterday, you baka!"

She glared up at him, but the grin didn't leave Naruto's face. "You're so cute when you're mad at me." He pecked her on the forehead.

Sasuke gasped. It wasn't possible...

Sakura looked up at Naruto nervously. "Naruto...not here...we could get caught!" Sakura whispered, but Sasuke heard every word.

Naruto shook his head. "Do you see anyone, Sakura?" He swept his arm around in a quick arc. "There's nobody here. We're all alone, so stop worrying so much!" He cupped her cheek with one hand and she stared back at him hesitantly. "Nobody is going to find out about us." He leaned down and captured her lips softly.

"Mmm...Naruto...but..." Sakura said between kisses.

Naruto pulled away and touched his finger to her lips. "Shh. Listen, Sakura. I really like you, and I hate having to keep it a secret that I've finally gotten the girl of my dreams. And when you're here in my arms..." He looked down at her lovingly. "Everything's perfect. The smell of your hair, and your hands..." Naruto shivered. "Even when you hug me, I get chills. And my favorite thing is the taste." Both Naruto and Sakura went pink, and Naruto suddenly became nervous. "Er...you can pretend I didn't say anything, if you want. I'm just...I'm afraid you won't like me anymore if we don't do anything more than we do when we're friends."

Sakura looked up at him curiously. "Naruto, is something wrong? You usually seem okay just knowing that I'm your girlfriend..." Comprehension filled her eyes. "This is about Sasuke, isn't it?"

Sasuke inhaled quickly at the mention of his name. This was all too much. Naruto and Sakura? Together? "I must be dreaming..." Sasuke thought. He pinched himself. It hurt. Sasuke sighed. "I can't believe this is happening! What does Naruto have that I don't?" He turned his attention back to the couple.

Naruto was scratching his head nervously. "Maybe..."

"It is, isn't it!" Sakura cried. "Naruto, we talked about this yesterday! I don't like him! I will never like him!" She ended her rant with a sigh. "He even asked me out yesterday, and I said no."

Anger clouded Naruto's eyes. "That bastard! Wait until I get my hands on h..."

"Calm down, do you want him to find out about us? I think he'll figure it out after the first punch in the face." Sakura grabbed his hand softly. "Listen...I know you're right. We're dating now, and it's wrong for me to want to keep it a secret in the first place. But..." She gave him a small smile, and Naruto smiled back. "...we ARE alone...so, I think it would be okay too..." She blushed. "Kiss. But that's it for now, okay?"

Naruto nodded seriously. "I'm not going to push you into anything, you know that, right?"

Sakura nodded. "I know, Naruto." She squeezed his hand softly and pulled him to a tree, sitting down next to it with her back against the bark. Naruto took a seat next to her and pulled her into his lap.

Sakura looked up at him, confused. "I thought you wanted to..."

"I do. But for now, I'm okay with just this," Naruto told her. Sakura sighed contently and leaned against his chest.

"You're the perfect boyfriend, you know that?" Sakura asked.

Naruto grinned down at her. "Can I get that on tape?"

"Way to ruin the moment."

"No problem." Naruto looked down at the girl in his arms and let his hand travel to hers, tracing patterns on the back of it.

Sakura jerked her hand away with a laugh. "That tickles!"

Naruto smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. "MY Sakura. Sasuke can't have you."

Sakura giggled and put her hands over his, turning her head around to look at him with pink cheeks. "Naruto...why do you like me so much?"

Naruto gave her a thoughtful look, withdrawing a hand from around her to tap his chin. After a minute, he grinned at her. "Cause you're perfect."

Sakura sighed happily and turned back around. "We haven't had a moment like this since you asked me out."

"Yeah." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Hey, Sakura?"

Sakura turned around once again to look at him.

"Yeah?"

Naruto stared at her. "Um...I know you already said it was okay, but...can I kiss you?"

Sasuke still hadn't moved from the tree. "No! Not again! Say no, Sakura!" He thought frantically, watching them with wide eyes.

A small smile played on Sakura's lips. "You don't have to ask, Naruto."

Naruto blushed and scratched his head. "Yeah, I know...but..."

Sakura cut him off by pressing her lips lightly to his. She pulled away slowly, and something changed in Naruto's eyes. He looked at her hungrily, leaning down and capturing her lips again. Sakura maneuvered herself completely around so her whole body was facing him without breaking the kiss. Her hands went to his shoulders, and Naruto put one of his on her waist and another against her cheek.

Naruto slowed down as he deepened the kiss, asking for permission gently. He felt Sakura hesitate, and he withdrew his tongue, closing his lips against hers in understanding. To be honest, he was fine with regular kissing; the fact that it was Sakura he was doing this with was enough. But that didn't stop him from gasping when he felt Sakura do the exact same thing with her tongue a moment later.

"You taste...like ramen..." Sakura breathed out, withdrawing from him at last. Naruto laughed huskily and moved to kiss her on the temple, but in the process he noticed how inviting her ear looked.

Sakura watched his face nervously. Naruto, what are you...oh." She closed her eyes and relaxed as Naruto took control, eventually moving down to her neck. Slowly his kisses got lighter and lighter until he finally ended with a featherlight peck on the lips. Sakura opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. Her cheeks turned pink. "I've...um...never done anything like that with another guy before."

Naruto blinked at her. "I've never done that with another girl..." he admitted. He blushed, thinking, "Please don't ask how..."

"How did you know how to do all that?" Sakura asked with interest.

Naruto blushed even darker. "You don't want to know."

"Yeah I do," Sakura grinned at him.

Naruto closed his eyes nervously, finally opening one halfway. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Naruto shut his eyes tightly again. "Ireadpervysage'sbooks."

Sakura gaped at him. "You WHAT?"

Naruto grit his teeth. "Please don't make me say it again. He needed someone to test them out before he published them!"

Sakura looked at him for a second, before bursting into laughter.

Naruto frowned. "It's not funny!"

Sakura nodded at him without stopping. "Yes it is!"

"No it's not!" Naruto defended. He smiled at her smugly. "But this is!"

Before Sakura knew what had happened Naruto had shoved her onto the ground and was tickling her sides.

"Naruto...stop...!" Sakura forced out between laughs.

"No way! Not until you promise to never mention what I just told you!"

Sasuke sighed from behind the tree, gripping his head in frustration. "Naruto! Naruto! I don't believe it!" he thought. "THAT'S her boyfriend? Naruto?" He shook his head roughly and looked at the couple determinedly. "I am NOT losing the one person I care about to Naruto, of all people! There's no way Sakura can honestly like him better than me!" Sasuke thought angrily. "I'll prove she still likes me, one way or another. I'm breaking them up if it's the last thing I do!" Sasuke stomped away angrily, not bothering if they heard him.

Just as soon as he was out of view, Naruto heard the noise and stopped tickling Sakura. "Did you hear that?" he asked seriously.

Sakura sat up, the smile fading from her face. "No? What?"

Naruto sat up and looked in Sasuke's direction. "It sounded like someone walking..."

Sakura gasped. "Do you think they heard us?"

"I don't know..." Naruto said. He stood up and helped Sakura off the ground. "Only one way to find out."