Hmm, I've just noticed that I didn't put a disclaimer for the previous chapter. Being too lazy to delete it, I'll just post the disclaimer for this chapter and it will just count for the previous chapter, hopefully so I don't get sued or anything.

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Me not owns Naruto!


Sakura walked on the path to her home. Having left Naruto's home several minutes after he himself left, she pondered on about what he had told her. She knew of his life, how he has no family, his foul treatment by the village, and his poverty. Her blond team mate did not have much possessions in life, that was why he was looking for people to help ease his pain. For a long time, ever he had saved her from Gaara and the Shukaku's wrath, she had never once spoken to him any words of thanks or appreciation. Sakura felt like the lowest scumbag on the earth for treating Naruto the way she had been doing ever since she knew him. Having no room in heart for anyone but Sasuke, she never once thought about Naruto's feelings or how he had a crush on her for years. She even remembered many times when Naruto tried to ask her out. He was always kind and caring, and never gave up after a simple decline or a smack in the face from her. Her blond teammate possessed the qualities that she never found in Sasuke. Now that she was on the topic, why did she care about Sasuke anyway?

"Oh right," Sakura said to herself. "I wanted to fit in with the other girls who liked him."

"So what is the real reason for my affections for Sasuke?" she asked herself silently so that the people around her wouldn't think she was weird by talking to herself.

"Other than fitting in with the other girls, there's no authentic reason... you don't even like him," Inner Sakura noted.

"How could I have fooled myself this long?" said Sakura, coming into a sudden realization.

"It's like that old saying," Inner Sakura replied. "You tell yourself a lie too many times and you'll think it's the truth later on."

Sakura nodded to what her inner self said.

"Maybe I should talk to Naruto, like a real person this time..."

"I don't know... what if it's too late?" Inner Sakura said with worry. "I mean, just today, he stopped calling us 'Sakura-chan' right?"

"I don't care," Sakura said with silent determination. "I don't care if he doesn't call me with that stupid honorrific. I just want him to know the real me, the real Sakura."

"Good luck girl, you'll need it."

Sakura smiled and started running to Naruto's favorite hang out spots.


"Eight splashes, not bad, Naruto," said a very lazy pineapple head.

After walking for aimless minutes, Naruto arrived at the familiar lake that he, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba, used to play in when they were still at the academy. The lake, despite all the rocks they threw at it, was still very clean, and was glittering with the beauty it always had. Shikamaru found his blond friend throwing rocks and decided to ask him what was going on. Shikamaru knew Naruto almost as much as he knew Chouji, and when Naruto was throwing rocks aimlessly, there must have been something wrong. Shikamaru tried to talk to his friend for a while but it was as if his soul was in some other world while his body was down at earth, acting like a dummy to those who saw him.

"Naruto, seriously, what's bothering you?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto stopped throwing rocks and slowly turned to see his friend. Shikamaru was shocked, to say the least. The blond's eyes did not shine with their usual blue. It was like blue infused with gray. But the odd part was, he wasn't frowning, or emotionless... he was slightly smiling.

"Naruto, you can cut the act now," said the pineapple headed boy. "You don't have to keep your mask up around me, I know you."

Naruto scoffed, his smile vanishing from his lips. Naruto turned around and glanced at the lake.

"I always thought that my mask was indestructible, you know?" he said.

"Nothing is indestructible, you idiot," said Shikamaru as he leaned on a nearby tree.

"I know, but in order to keep everyone else away, I had to keep hardening my mask."

"Naruto..." Shikamaru trailed off.

"I should have known that sometime or another, my mask would reach the limits of its strength," Naruto closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "I believe that time to be, now."

"Is it Sakura again?" Shikamaru asked randomly.

Naruto shrugged. "Not really, it's mostly my entire team. But I suppose I am partly to blame because, well, why would they want to associate with a freak of nature, like me?"

"Naruto, you're not a freak of nature of any sort at all, and don't tell yourself otherwise," said Shikamaru with emotion. "You're more than what you give yourself credit for."

"Maybe, but, it always seems that all troubles start with me," he said as he turned back to the lake.

"Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru called out and walked over to him. Naruto opened his eyes and turned to his lazy friend. "Before you go on with your endless sulking, I have a present for you."

Shikamaru took a rectangular shaped object, that was wrapped up in neat wrapping paper, from his pocket and gave it to Naruto. Naruto took it and opened it. The blond's smile widened a bit. There was a card that stated, 'From Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru... To Naruto...'

"I hope it's a reasonable present, considering your fourteenth birthday," he said as he looked at Naruto's face. Shikamaru, although never showed it, loved it when his friends were happy. "It's sort of like a gift card. It was mainly from the Akimichis' but Kiba and I chipped in a bit, so you have Chouji to thank for most of it. You can use it in any restaurant in Konoha, and get free meals for a month."

With speeds that would have shocked Mite Guy himself, Naruto jumped at Shikamaru and gave him one of the biggest hugs he had to offer. Shikamaru staggered a bit but was able to stay standing with some difficulty. Well this was something knew, Naruto never showed this kind of emotion. In the years that the lazy genius knew the blond, he never showed this side of him. Naruto always showed his tough side so no one worried about him, all the while, he was shattering ever so slowly inside. As much as Shikamaru wanted to pry Naruto from his skin, he secretly loved seeing his friend like this. This was not something that you got to see everyday. Naruto, showing this much emotion was definitely reserved for his birthday and his birthday alone. After another few minutes, Naruto broke off from his huge embrace. Shikamaru glanced at Naruto, his eyes had returned to their shining blue color. This was the Naruto that he became friends with and wished that his eyes would stay this way. It showed a rare form of happiness, not just a small amount of joy or anything, but genuine happiness.

"You don't know how much this means to me, Shikamaru," said Naruto as he took one last look at the card in his hand before putting it away in his pocket.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"Don't be getting all cheesy on me, besides, it's Chouji and his family that you really need to thank," Naruto nodded. Just then an idea popped into his mind.

"And I think I know how to thank him, as well as Kiba and everyone else," he said with a big grin.

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow.

"A yen (or whatever Japanese currency is) for your thoughts?"

"I'm thinking of treating Konoha twelve (rookie nine + Guy's team) to a restaurant this weekend," he said with a grin.

"Baka, we're supposed to be treating you for your birthday," said Shikamaru in an annoyed voice.

"I know it's my birthday, you lazy pineapple head, but for my birthday wish, I would like to make all of my friends happy," he said happily.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and put his hands down his pockets, and scoffed.

"Naruto no baka, you'll never change will you? You care more for your friends than you do yourself," he said. Naruto was about to say something but he was cut off. "But you know, You're unique like that. I'll inform everyone of your plans."

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed with joy. "Tell everyone that it's going to be on Friday of this week and the location will be at the 'Allucaneet' restaurant ."

Shikamaru gawked at him.

"Are you serious? That's like, the Akimichi's best restaurant!"

"I know, but my friends deserve the best, right?"

Shikamaru looked up at the clouds and sighed. "Today is Tuesday, right?"

"Yosh!"

Shikamaru nodded and started walking away, leaving Naruto there to do whatever he wanted to do. With his heightened hearing abilities, Naruto heard something very faint that he was not supposed to. These four words, especially coming from one of his best friends, meant a lot to him.

"Naruto, don't ever change."


Sakura was huffing and puffing. She had no idea that it was this hard to find Naruto. Since there were not many blonds on Konoha, it shouldn't be this hard to spot him, especially since he was the one that wore a color that stood out the most. She checked all of his favorite spots and he wasn't there. She even checked at his favorite ramen stand and he wasn't there either. The pink haired kunoichi looked down at herself. She knew she was partly to blame for all of this. How could she not have seen how sincere Naruto had always been to her? Was it her fake feelings for the Sharingan heir that clouded her true feelings for the one that was always there for her? Perhaps, but maybe it was time that she took responsibility of her surroundings and stop blaming anything on others, especially the times when she blamed Naruto for just being around. Now, after giving some thought into what he had said earlier, Sakura began thinking differently of Naruto. It was like he was this totally different person, not the loud and goofy boy that she had grown up with, but a matured person who experienced unimaginable pain that should be unknown to a boy of his age. If she ever found Naruto, she would tell him how sorry she was for everything. Before she was able to move again, the sight of Shikamaru walking over to her, caught her attention.

"Sakura-san, do you have a minute?" Sakura nodded and walked over to him.

"Naruto is planning for a birthday celebration on Friday at the Allucaneet restaurant," said Shikamaru, in his ever so lazy speaking voice.

"I see, but why are you telling me this?" she asked.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head and closed his eyes.

"Ugh, you're almost as clueless as he is sometimes," he said, receiving a glare from the girl in front of him. "I'm telling you this because he is inviting all of the Konoha twelve."

Sakura slowly nodded.

"Do you know where I can find him?" Shikamaru nodded.

"You can find him at the lake, south of here, I was just with him," he said as he started to walk away. "He's probably still there if you--" he was cut off as Sakura ran towards that direction.

"That girl, so troublesome," Shikamaru scoffed as he walked over to Chouji's house. "Reminds me of you... Naruto."

Sakura ran to the direction that Shikamaru pointed in hopes of finding Naruto. She so badly wanted to see him and tell him that she was sorry for everything. She didn't want to go to Naruto's birthday party all gloomy and depressed because he stopped including the honorrific at the end of her name. She wanted to tell him how she truly felt about him. Having realized earlier that her feelings for Sasuke were a fake, Naruto's image constantly hovered around her mind. He was always there for her, he saved her neck during missions, he would take a shuriken or kunai for her if necessary, but now, it didn't seem so possible anymore. She had almost lost hope until Shikamaru showed her the way. Upon hearing that, new hope was re-ignited inside her. Even though he no longer had any interest in her, which hurt her deeply as she now found interest in him, she still had to try to make him forgive her.

'Either way, I've still got to try!' she thought to herself as she continued sprinting.

After several minutes, she arrived at the lake that Shikamaru talked about and saw Naruto sitting on a fairly large boulder. Silently walking to his direction, she pondered how she would be able to do this. It was much more difficult than she thought it would be. She always imagined herself doing this only to Sasuke but his training was far too important for anything else. Before she got close to him, Naruto spoke up.

"You're slipping as a kunoichi, Sakura-san," he said as he jumped off of the boulder and turned to face her.

"Um... hey, Naruto," she greeted.

"Hello, Sakura-san," he greeted as well. Sakura slightly flinched. She was going to have to get used to the chan being replaced with san. Sakura approached him so that she was within speaking distance from him. Naruto picked up a pebble and threw it in the lake, as if motioning to Sakura that he was ready to listen.

"Listen, Naruto," she began. "I thought about what you said earlier, and I'm really sorry about how I've been treating you."

"It's all good," he said, picking up another pebble. "I have already forgiven you."

"No!" she exclaimed. "How can you forgive me so easily? I've made your life more unbearable than it already is! How is it that you don't hold a grudge on me? What makes me so different from others?"

Naruto threw the pebble and then turned to her.

"Well, to answer all of that in order; I can forgive you easily because I choose to, you have made my life unbearable but you have also provided me a challenge, I mean I don't want to be able to get you right off the bat, that wouldn't be very fun, now would it?" He said said as he took a breath. "I don't hold a grudge on you because it's not in me to do that kind of thing. You're different from everyone else because you have chosen to ask for forgiveness when none of the other villagers have."

"In that case, can you please call me Sakura-chan again?" she asked hopefully.

Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. He opened his eyes a second later and glanced at hers.

"I realize now that the term chan is reserved for a person that has affections for another. Sasuke doesn't know it yet but he probably has affections for you, he is just too blinded with revenge to see it. He may refer to you with chan but I cannot. Although I have, or had," this struck Sakura to the core, "affections for you, you only feel the same way for Sasuke. Therefore, I have chosen to refer to you with san. Your friendship means more to me than you know, and I will no longer take the chances of breaking that friendship by fruitlessly asking you out on dates."

"Naruto, you don't understand!" she shouted a bit louder than expected. "I realized earlier that my feelings for Sasuke is non-existent. He has never been to me the way that you have. You've been more of a friend to me than anyone else has, even Ino, and she's my best friend!"

Naruto could only watch as his teammate continued to break down.

"I only had feelings for Sasuke because I wanted to fit in with the other girls who liked him. I realize now that they were clouding my judgment from the genuine truth," she said as tears began flowing from her eyes. "Naruto, I've never been more sure of anything in my life. You're the one that I have feelings for."

Naruto, being the gentleman that he was, ran to Sakura to help her during her trauma.

"I don't know what to do anymore Naruto," she said to him. "It seems ironic, you know? Now that I realize my feelings for you, you no longer feel the same."

Naruto smiled at her. Not with his goofy smile but a smile that seemed to pierce right through her problems.

"I wouldn't give it up just yet, Sakura-s-- ehm, chan," he said. Sakura brightened up at this. "As I said before, I don't hold grudges like some other people. I know you're sorry, and I am too for giving up too soon." Naruto was rewarded with a smack on the head.

"Baka, I'm the one that should be apologizing," she giggled as Naruto helped her stand up. "By the way, I have surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes."

Naruto made a face but did as he was told. Right when he closed his eyes, he felt soft and warm lips meet his own. Knowing already what had happened, he responded to it and wrapped his arms around her waist, his eyes still closed. Sakura embraced his neck around her arms and deepened the kiss. This was her first kiss with the blond and she was now hoping that it wasn't going to be the last. Naruto may not have known it but he was an extremely good kisser. He tasted her lips with his tongue, begging for the entrance that she so gladly gave to him. The insides of her mouth was heavenly. At first, the thought of his saliva mixing with her own seemed gross, but now he regretted ever even having that feeling. This feeling, this kiss, was all that he ever dreamed of. Naruto cleaned her teeth with his tongue and took note that it tasted like sausage and eggs. Sakura did the same and was not surprised that his teeth and tongue tasted like ramen, miso ramen to be exact. Their warm tongues battled for dominance over the other. Neither wanted the moment to end but oxygen was running short on their lungs. Oddly enough, it was neither Naruto nor Sakura that broke the kiss, but they did it at the same time. Panting heavily, cerulean eyes met emerald eyes.

"That was... amazing..." said Naruto, obviously wanting more.

"Yeah... it was..." she said as she moved her face closer to his.

"Oh and, before I forget, happy birthday, Naruto-kun," she said. Naruto grinned at her and claimed her lips once more. Little did the new couple know, behind some bushes, a pair of red sharingan eyes were watching them. The owner of those eyes was not very happy, to say the least.

A few hours later, the sun had begun to set. Naruto, not wanting to ruin his first real impression on Sakura, thought up of a surprise for her. Although he enjoyed holding her in his arms, near a quiet and peaceful lake that glittered in its beauty, he would have to let her go for a while. Not wanting to do that, Naruto thought up a better idea. This idea seemed cheesy but he thought it was romantic.

"Sakura-chan," he started. Sakura glanced at him. "You gave me a surprise earlier, but now it's my turn to give you a surprise."

"Nani, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked with a sudden curiosity. Naruto smirked and tied removed his forehead protector. He placed it over Sakura's eyes and tied it tight enough so that it wouldn't slip off easily, and not so tight that it would hurt her. Backing away a few steps, Naruto flashed through the several handseals.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" he shouted as a giant toad puffed into existence.

"What the..." Gamabunta let out as he stared down at his summoner. Before he got to speak again, Naruto jumped on top of him and whispered to his ear. After a few "uh huhs", Naruto jumped back down to the ground and picked up Sakura and jumped up on Gamabunta's head. Gamabunta positioned himself on the angle that he was instructed to by Naruto.

"That should do it..." said the chief toad. Naruto nodded and removed his forehead protector from Sakura's field of vision.

"Surprise, Sakura-chan," he said. Sakura took in the view before her. She was beside Naruto, on top of the head of his summoned creature. Just before her was the sun just beginning to set. Sakura smiled at Naruto and hugged him, this was a beautiful sight indeed.

"This is a wonderful sight, Naruto-kun," she said to him as they sat down. Sakura lay her head on Naruto's lap.

"I'd hope so," Naruto replied. "I'm starting to feel the after effects of all that chakra that I used to summon Gamabunta."

Gamabunta only scoffed and continued smoking on his pipe.

"I didn't know you could be so romantic, Naruto-kun," she complimented. Naruto smiled at her again.

"Only for you, Sakura-chan," Sakura smiled and gently placed her lips on Naruto's.

After the sun had completely set, and darkness shrouded the sky, Naruto dismissed Gamabunta and decided to walk Sakura home. He didn't want her to get in trouble with her parents just because he was too selfish to keep her for himself other than taking her home. The new couple walked down the streets of Konoha very slowly so that they could spend as much time together as possible. There was always tomorrow and the day after but, since they lived the life of a ninja, any day could be their very last. Naruto entwined his hands with Sakura's smaller ones. The pink haired kunoichi glanced at her favorite blond headed shinobi and kissed him on the cheek as they continued walking down to the path to her home. Later, they arrived at Sakura's house. Naruto walked her to her doorstep and gave her one last kiss before he departed.

"Good night, Sakura-chan," he said to her as he turned around and left for his apartment. Sakura giggled to herself and entered her house.

"Good evening Sakura," her mother said to her. Sakura smelled her mother cooking something delicious. She sat on the chair in front of the dining table.

"How was your day?" her mother asked.

"It was like a dream come true," she replied happily.

"Did Sasuke finally give in to you?"

Sakura made a "Hn" that would disgrace the Uchiha.

"I don't feel anything for him anymore, mom," she said, staring at nothing, daydreaming about a particular blond.

"Oh, so, who was it?" her mother asked curiously.

"It was Naruto."

Sakura's mother flinched when she heard that name. She turned off the fire and untied her apron.

"Sakura, dinner is ready," she said as she walked out of the kitchen. "Go ahead and help yourself."

Sakura got up and grabbed a plate and chopsticks.

"Aren't you going to have some, mom?"

"N-no. I'll just get some sleep, I'm tired."

Sakura cocked her eyebrow up and noted to herself to ask her mother what was really going on. Sakura shoved the thought away and helped herself to the fried rice and fish that her mother cooked while still thinking about her new love. Love? Nah, it's too early to say such a powerful word in the beginning of such a relationship. Even though not many would call it love, Sakura knew that she had found the one. He was so gentle, romantic, and sweet, such traits could not be detected in her former crush, even with the Byakugan. Sakura gave it a bit more of thought. Would she be happy with Sasuke, even if he had possessed those traits? Sakura shook her head lightly. Sasuke was too heavily caught up on revenge. Although she did not know who it was he wanted to kill, she no longer cared. Sasuke was now, no more than a teammate to her. Her eyes were now set on the one person that she thought would never end up with, the young man that was making her dreams come true, the blond headed shinobi that she would now care for and cherish forever...

"Naruto-kun..."


A/N: Well, there goes chapter 2. Sakura and Naruto are now together and it seems things are going well. Frankly I could end it here but where's the fun in that? There has to be some kind of plot right? If you haven't guessed it yet, that plot includes a familiar raven haired shinobi. Will he spoil the birthday party? No offense to Sasuke lovers but this is my story. I'm hoping for a lot of hits or reviews before I post the next chapter.

...Sharinyakugan...