"Naruto, wait!" Sakura yelled, holding out his hand, as if that alone was going to stop the blond from dashing away as fast as he could. Sakura couldn't forget the look in Naruto's deep blue eyes. Such…distrust…such pain…such…fear…? Why in the world would Naruto be afraid of all things? It wasn't as if Sakura would hurt the blond, no, never. He loved Naruto, loved him with all his heart. Which made it even more painful that Naruto ran away from him, from his confession.
He had to find Naruto. He had to talk to him, to explain a few things. It was going to take a lot getting used to, for Naruto to see Sakura as a man, and Sakura knew this. He was going to take it slow. He also had to tell all of his friends too. That was going to be...fun...
The first place Sakura figured he'd be, was possibly with some of there friends. Kiba, Hinata, Shino and Ino were gathered together by one of the training area's, sparring.
"Hey, have any of you seen Naruto?" Sakura questioned. Getting strange and confusing stares from all of his friends. Well, now was a good a time as any!
"Oi! Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here at the training grounds? You do know only Konoha-nin have the privilege to be here. And what the hell do you want with Naruto? What could you-" Kiba blinked and cut his sentence off short. Something about this person seemed very familiar, but Kiba couldn't quite place his finger on it.
"Oh, shut up Kiba, it's me, Sakura," Sakura responded, running a hand through his hair. It felt so much better now, to live as a male, because in truth, Sakura hated living life as a girl, and he hated long hair. He wanted to laugh when he remembered how pissed his parents were when he cut his hair during the first chuunin exams he was in.
"Hahahaha!" Kiba laughed, not believing this strange new guy. Sakura was a girl! Everyone knew that!
"I don't know what you're trying to pull on me, but I'm not that stupid, and plus, Haruno Sakura is a girl." He said, putting emphasis on the word girl to get his point across to the pink-haired stranger. Akamaru growled slightly and walked over to Sakura. With a quick sniff, he immediately warmed up to the pink-haired teen, licking his hand. Sakura laughed gently and scratched the large dog behind the ears.
"Whoa! You really are Sakura! But…but how?" Kiba questioned, astounded.
"Th..that can't be! Sa..Sakura is a girl!" Hinata said boldly. This was so..out of the ordinary. She looked over to Shino who nodded, agreeing with her.
"Look, whoever you are. I would know...Sakura is my best friend, and certainly not a guy. I would have known by now. So whoever you are please leave now before you cause any more trouble." Ino said, giving a bit of a snotty remark. She didn't like that some imposter was pretending to be her friend, and a guy at that!
Sakura sighed, not really wanted to deal with this right now. But he knew he had to tell his friends sooner or later. Might as well start now.
Naruto collapsed on his usual perch on top of the Hokage mountain, panting. He had run so fast and so quickly away from Sakura. Not stopping until he got to his destination.
He was, to say the least, shocked. Shocked that Sakura, someone he thought he knew so well, was a guy. Shocked that Sakura, the girl he used to crush on was actually a guy who liked him, no loved him.
Naruto didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to think, so he ran. Ran far and ran fast, to make sure Sakura didn't find him. He just didn't know what to do about it. He couldn't stay there any longer. He had to get away to think.
He had a huge crush on Sakura when they were younger. Showered her with attention, flirted with her, tried his best to impress her. But she was never interested. So, after some time, Naruto gave up. He truly loved Sakura. But as they say, 'if you love something, Set it free. If it comes back, it's yours, If it doesn't, it never was yours.' He let Sakura go. And now Sakura was coming back. But...Naruto never expected that, nor did Naruto ever expect Sakura to actually be a guy.
"Yes, yes, and that's it. So please, tell me, have you seen Naruto?" Sakura asked Lee, who was wide-eyed. Sakura had explained his story to Ino, Hinata, Kiba and Shino, and left when they had said none of them knew where Naruto was. He had then found Kakashi, who had just finished racing Gai, and told them too. Kakashi sort of laughed and shrugged it off, saying it was no big deal and that no, he wasn't angry about it. Gai had told him to now embrace his masculine side since he was already in touch with his feminine side. Sakura simply rolled his eyes and went off to find Naruto. After he left the sensei's, he found Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee, and Tenten, explaining the situation to them as well. Right now, he was talking to Iruka, Sai and Neji.
"And, who are you, exactly?" Neji asked calmly.
Sakura simply rolled his eyes at his naivety. He still kind of looked the same. His hair was still pink, but it was short and spiky now. His eyes were the same. Although, he did grow a few inches now that he was a guy, making him taller than both Naruto and Sasuke.
"Well, I owe you three an apology, and an explanation," Sakura began.
"Hold on, do we even know you? I mean, you look familiar…but…" Sai began. He thought for a quick second that this guy standing before them was Sakura, but immediately thought otherwise, because Sakura is a girl.
"Yes, you know me, very well actually. I am Haruno Sakura," He paused, watching everyone's expression change. Neji and Iruka stared at him in disbelief, and Sai had no expression.
"What? How is that possible?" Iruka asked. There was absolutely no way that this guy was actually Haruno Sakura. Sure, he certainly resembled Sakura, except for the fact that Sakura was a girl. He knew Sakura as the girl he taught back at the academy.
"As you all know, my parents are not ninja's. They wanted a girl, because they wanted their daughter to marry into a strong ninja family. But they didn't get their wish, because I was born a male. Therefore, they placed a genjutsu on me, and I've been living as a girl for the past sixteen years. They also forced me to seem weaker then I actually am," Sakura explained. He knew that it was going to take some getting used to, but everyone he had told were his friends and sensei's. They would accept him.
"Why did you decide to release the genjutsu all of a sudden then?" Iruka asked eventually. Everyone else had been thinking the same thing, but they were all too amazed and shocked to say anything.
"I was sick of living a lie! My parents are going to disown me soon, just as they said they would, but I'm alright with that. I feel much better now, I feel like I can be myself." Sakura responded, waiting for more questions.
"Ahh, I don't really care, Sakura, you are who you are." Sai responded.
"Yes Sakura, as long as you're happy with yourself, that's all that matters." Iruka reacted, smiling.
"Have any of you...seen Naruto? I wanted to talk to him about something." Sakura asked, hoping they had a clue where he was.
"Naruto? He ran past here just now, and he didn't look too happy," Sai stated, shrugging slightly.
Sasuke cracked his neck and stretched, sighing slightly. He had just finished his training for the day and all he wanted to do was go home and take a hot shower. He was sweaty, and his muscles hurt from the over strenuous training.
"Sasuke." A voice called out to him. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but he didn't know how. He quickly turned to the owner of the voice and furrowed his brows. This...man with pink hair and green eyes, definitely looked familiar.
"Sasuke-kun, I apologize to you the most, out of everyone, for lying. I never liked you as everyone thought I did. My parents were the ones who told me to pretend to like you, because you're the heir to the Uchiha family. But in reality, I see you as my rival." Sasuke's expression immediately turned to confusion. He was glad that Sakura didn't like him like he thought, but what did the pink-haired male mean by rival?
"Rival? What do you mean? Who the hell are you?" Sasuke asked, puzzled.
"It's me, Sakura. Shocking isn't it? I'm actually not a girl. Not one part of me. My parents, well, let's just say they wanted a girl and forced me into a genjutsu my whole life. But I grew tired of it, and decided to live my life how I want to." Sakura smirked. There was something about Sasuke she didn't particularly like. What it was, she didn't know. Sure, she sort of liked him, tolerated him at most, but there was just something off about the guy.
"Tch, like I care Sakura. You can do whatever the hell you want. But how exactly are you my rival? You can't beat me in a fight." Sasuke responded. He didn't care about Sakura being a girl, or a guy. It truly didn't affect him in any way. He would go about his life normally. He did want to know why exactly Sakura considered him a rival.
"No Sasuke, I don't care about fighting. As for my rival? Oh, you'll see." Sakura smiled. He didn't want to say anything about Naruto to anyone yet, especially because Naruto had gotten the shock of his life.
"Tch, fine." Sasuke said, turning around, ready to leave.
"Naruto! Come on, where are you? Naruto?" Sakura called out, banging on the door to the blonds apartment. After a few minutes of pounding, Sakura concluded that the blond wasn't there. Anyway, even Naruto wasn't dumb enough to hide out in his own apartment.
Sighing in defeat, Sakura decided to go back to Tsunade. The blond Hokage had been like a mother to Sakura, and the pink-haired shinobi told her almost everything, including how he felt about Naruto.
'So, it was Naruto you liked all this time then? And not Sasuke?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement. She always thought that Sakura and Naruto would make a much better pair than Sasuke and Sakura. In Tsunade's opinion, Sakura and Sasuke would never in a million years make a good couple. Actually, hearing that Sakura liked Naruto made her feel a lot better.
"Yes, it's been Naruto all this time. I'm going to release the genjutsu soon, because I'm sick of living a lie. If my parents disown me than so be it, it goes to show that they don't really care about me."
"Go for it than. Remember, I'm here for you, and I'm sure Naruto will be there for you too. He's your friend, and while he may be shocked, he'll stand by you," Tsunade said, smiling reassuringly.
"Thank you."
"TSUNADE-BAACHAN!" Naruto screamed, entering the room like a hurricane. Tsunade glanced up from her paperwork, to see a very flustered blue-eyed blond standing in front of her, panting. He seemed flustered and anxious.
"What the hell do you want brat?" She asked, wondering what had gotten Naruto so worked up. Certainly it wasn't because of training, because the blond look…almost hurt, and really confused.
"I want a mission! One that will keep me away for a while! I need some time away from Konoha...to think about things. Please baa-chan, I need to get away. Now, now, now!" Naruto stated, looking around, almost as if he was trying to make sure he wasn't being followed.
"Why so suddenly?" Tsunade asked, looking back at her paperwork, almost uncaring as to what the blond in front of her was asking.
"Ju…just give me one! And hu...hurry!" He stuttered nervously, glancing behind him, looking for Sakura. He was still being cautious. Sakura still trained under Tsunade, and Naruto wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to suddenly walk in. It was a high possibility, so he had to keep his guard up.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked. Naruto did like taking missions, now that he was a Chuunin, but he was acting too weird, and weird for Naruto standards. There was definitely something wrong with him, and before Tsunade would give him a mission, she was going to find out what was wrong with him. She didn't want him to crack under whatever pressure he was under.
"Nothing! Just give me a damn mission!" Naruto yelled, angry.
"Don't you dare use that tone with me you disrespectful brat!" She yelled back.
"Hey, Tsunade-sama, I-" Naruto froze at the voice that had suddenly entered the room. He only heard the voice once, but he recognized it immediately. Slowly, he turned around and saw Sakura standing in the doorway, a smile upon his face.
"Naruto!" Sakura called out, surprised. This was actually the last place he'd expect Naruto to be. Didn't Naruto know that Sakura trained under Tsunade? Didn't he know that Sakura still trained under Tsunade?
Naruto backed up slightly, getting closer to Tsunade's desk. He wanted to run. He wanted to run so badly but there was no way out of the room. Sakura was standing in the only way in and out of the room, and it didn't look like he was going to be moving any time soon.
"Oh, I see what's wrong with you now, Naruto. Sakura told you everything, didn't he?" Tsunade asked, almost amused at the situation. Judging from the expression on both Chuunin's faces, Sakura had confessed to Naruto, and the blond most likely didn't take the shocking news too well, considering the state he was in.
"Yeah. Come on Naruto, I just want to talk to you." Sakura pleaded, almost desperately.
"N…no! Leave me alone, please Sa…Sakura-ch…chan?" He said, almost dropping the 'chan' he usually added to Sakura's name. It was more of a habit to say it now.
"Why? What have I done to you? I've never hurt you right? I never did anything to make you afraid of me, did I?" He asked, stepping into the office. Naruto's eyes widened and he backed up even more, not wanting to be near his friend at this moment. All he wanted was some time. He wanted to process what had happened. Everything happened so quickly. Was it really so much to ask to give him some time to think?
"Ju…just don't come near me!" Naruto yelled. Sakura was far enough away from the door, so Naruto took the opportunity to dash towards it. However, Sakura seemed to have to feeling that Naruto was going to try and leave, so just as Naruto passed by, he grabbed Naruto by the wrist, and the two tumbled to the ground outside the office. Sakura straddled the blond from behind, and pinned his wrists behind him with strength that Naruto had never seen before.
"Let go!" Naruto yelled, trying to thrash out, but it was hard, considering the position they were in.
"Calm down first. I'll let you go, but I want you to listen to me. Please, just hear me out!" Sakura begged, slowly loosening his hold on Naruto's wrists.
"Fine! Just get off!" Naruto said, pulling his now-free wrists away. Sakura got off of him, and the two stood up.
"Now, let me just-" Sakura began, but Naruto ran.
Sakura was getting annoyed. All he wanted to do was talk to Naruto, and explain a few things. But Naruto, was running away. It shocked Sakura a bit, because Naruto was always the type to face his fears. Naruto never ran away from anything. Instead, he always met it head on. But now, Naruto had fled. It also made him quite mad.
"I'll catch you soon, Naruto. And I promise you'll love the outcome."
Naruto ran as far as he could, and he didn't stop running until he was one hundred percent sure that Sakura wasn't following him anymore, which had been for over an hour, and he was exhausted. There were a couple of times when the pink-haired male almost caught up with Naruto, but the blond managed to slip away. The young blue-eyed blond plopped down on the grassy bank and took off his sandals. He dipped his feet into the cool water and sighed. The cold water felt nice on his tired and slightly sore feet.
Everything had happened way too fast for Naruto.
'I don't even know if I like Sakura-chan in that way anymore. Now I find out that Sakura-chan is a guy? What does that make me? And…and Sasuke…he's been acting weird around me lately. Argh!' Naruto thought, as he laid back, his feet still in the water. He pulled at his hair in annoyance and screamed.
"Why is everything so hard?" Naruto yelled out in agony. Why was it always him that things seemed to happen to?
"What's hard, dobe?" Sasuke asked as he approached his best friend. He had been looking for Naruto since he found out the truth about Sakura. He wanted to find out why Sakura had called Sasuke his rival. Sasuke walked over to the blond and sat down next to Naruto, and the blond sat up, not really wanting to deal with anyone right now.
"Nothing," Naruto answered, turning away. He wasn't about to tell his best friend what Sakura had said before he ran away. For all he knew, Sasuke would make fun of him about the delicate subject, and either way, it wasn't something Naruto wanted to talk about. Not even with Sakura.
He always loved when Sasuke was around, and Naruto tended to hang around the raven a lot, almost because he was afraid that he would lose him again. Now, Naruto wanted to be alone to think. What was he going to do about Sakura? He couldn't avoid the pink-haired male teen forever.
"Tch, you're not that hard to read dobe, especially by me." Sasuke responded, reaching out for the teenager. He pulled off a piece of grass that was on the blond's shoulder, and threw it to the ground. Naruto looked slightly tired, sweaty, and…nervous? Had he been running for some reason?
"Shut up bastard, you don't know anything!" Naruto shouted back playfully, hiding any betrayal and fear he felt about Sakura.
"So, did you see Sakura yet?" Sasuke asked, looking forward into the small lake. Everyone else knew about Sakura, from that little 'meeting' he had. But Naruto wasn't there at the time. So did he not know the truth about Sakura? Or had Sakura told him earlier?
"Umm, ha-ha, yeah. Kind of weird eh? Our teammate is actually a guy. Who would have thought? Why are you asking, anyway?" Naruto asked, his cheeks turning slightly red. He had to turn around so Sasuke wouldn't see the blush.
"Just curious. Do you have any idea why he called me his rival?" Sasuke asked. It had puzzled him since he saw Sakura last. Why in the world would Sakura see him as a rival?
"A rival? He called you a rival? No…I don't know, why don't you ask him?" Naruto asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"What do you think I am, stupid? Of course, I asked him. He said 'you'll see'." Sasuke responded. Sasuke pondered for a long time on the different reasons why Sakura had said that. And he finally came up with one, but he didn't want to believe it, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. He was going to find out more about Sakura, before he came to any conclusions.
"Jeez Sasuke, you don't have to be a bastard about it. I was just asking." Naruto responded, standing up. He couldn't think with Sasuke around.
"Where are you going?" The raven asked.
"I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." Naruto said as he turned away, but before he could leave, Sasuke grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him forward. Naruto, who didn't expect to be grabbed, fell backwards into the lake, pulling Sasuke along with him.
"Wha…what the hell was that for?" Naruto asked, coughing as he pulled himself out. He pulled himself onto the ground completely, and gasped when he saw a pair of legs that didn't belong to Sasuke.
"Sa…Sakura-chan!" Naruto stammered, looking up at his friend. Sasuke was a few feet away from him, trying to drain his hair of the water. Since all Sakura cared about was talking to Naruto, he didn't take any notice of Sasuke, who seemed to be glaring at him.
"Naruto, why do you keep running away? Do you think I'll hurt you? Is that it? I love you, Naruto. All I want to do as talk." The moment Sakura spoke the three words 'I love you' Sasuke stopped the attempt to dry himself off, and jogged over to Naruto.
"Love? You love him? Ha! After you called him annoying and ignored him? After you purposely ignored the fact that he liked you? After all the times you were so mean to him? And you say you love him?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes as he helped his best friend stand up.
"Oh, and you're any different? All the times you taunted him? Laughed at him, and made fun of him? After the time you tried to kill him? You're so full of it!" Sakura yelled, watching Naruto's eyes grow sad.
"What are you saying?" Sasuke asked. Where exactly was Sakura getting at?
"Don't give me that! I know how you feel about him! Why in the world did you think I called you my rival?" Sasuke's eyes grew wide at what Sakura had told him. Love…did Sasuke really love Naruto?
When Sasuke returned from Konoha, Naruto was always around him. Whether it be bickering, sparring, or eating together, Sasuke had grown used to having the hyperactive blond around. Naruto had even slept over a few times before. But love? Sasuke knew there was something different about the way he felt about Naruto. But was it really love?
"Love? No, Sakura. I do not love him. I can barely stand having him around." Sasuke stated, looking over to the blond teen, who seemed to be hurt by his words.
"He'll only get in my way, just as he has in the past. He means nothing to me, and I certainly don't love him." Sasuke glanced over at Naruto quickly, trying to avoid the sadness in his best friend's eyes, before poofing away, leaving Naruto to fall to the ground on his knees.
"Naruto, oh, I'm so sorry!" Sakura said as he ran over to the blond. He hadn't realized how much those words could truly hurt Naruto.
"No, stop! Do…don't touch me! Please…" Naruto pleaded. He thought Sasuke liked having him around. He thought Sasuke was enjoying the time they spent together. It sure seemed that way…But after everything he said..He couldn't have really meant it, right? No. Of course he didn't. Sasuke was his best friend, and that was just how he acted.
"Shh, it's alright, I'm here for you." Sakura said as he slowly reached forward, and pulled Naruto against his chest. Naruto protested for a moment, feeling uncomfortable being embraced by Sakura, but at that moment, he didn't care.
Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm glad you all like it this far.
So what do you all think so far? Do you like it? Do you like the idea of Sakura being a man and wanting Naruto?
I'd also really love to rename this story, but I'm at a lose for what to call it. Any ideas?
Also, a special thanks to Juneblue for your amazing review!