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Naruto: Story of a Boy and a Girl

Chapter 4: Sakura

Sakura's hands glowed as she attempted the newest jutsu taught to her by Lady Tsunade. The fish lying on top of the scroll flopped to life, it's breathing prolonged for another few minutes. The pink haired girl gave a sigh of relief. Healing jutsu were very advanced and very uncommon. They took a lot of training and a lot of concentration. Before Lady Tsunade had returned there had only been a handful of medical ninja. Now, a new squad was being trained under her and her aid Shizune's lead. Sakura was one of those new recruits, being trained separately and personally by the Hokage. She also acted as a personal aid at times, but there had been less of those lately. Lady Tsunade had been working on something privately away from her new apprentice and Sakura was curious about what it was.

She carefully picked up the fish which was slowing in its motions and dropped it into its tank. She watched as the fish swam to safety away from her. Giving a sigh she started to tidy up the office. Lady Tsunade was always so busy and her office lent itself towards chaos. She wondered where the room's owner was today, but knew that if she was meant to know, she would have been told.

As she was trashing a half-finished bowl of ramen, Sakura suddenly felt a massive surge of chakra. The magnitude of it was on a level she hadn't felt since fighting Garaa of the Desert. Like then she felt an instinctive sense of fear and dread. The sense was muffled, so it seemed to her to be far away. The sensation went away just as quickly as it had appeared though. Looking out the window she saw that even normal civilians had stopped in the street, dumbfounded by the sensation. Several officials barged into the room, not even bothering to knock.

"Lady Tsunade!" yelled a long robed official who's name Sakura had never learned. He and his entourage stopped short when they realized that the Hokage wasn't in her office. "Where is Lady Tsunade?"

"I don't know," answered Sakura honestly. "She's been out all morning."

"Doing what?" questioned another official angrily.

"I do not know," replied Sakura, keeping her annoyance in check.

The officials started to mutter among themselves. Sakura ignored them and continued to clean. After several minutes of doing nothing but talking, Sakura was tempted to try to kick them out of the room, but she saw a familiar head of blonde hair walking down the hallway, just visible over the mob.

"Lady Tsunade!" she called out, startling the officials.

"Hello Sakura," greeted Tsunade, ignoring the officials as she walked over to her desk. She sat down tiredly, but she had a smile on her face. Finally she looked up and acted like she had just noticed the officials. "Hello, to what do I owe this honor?"

The first official walked forward and cleared his throat.

"We were just concerned over an event several minutes ago," he said, his tone much more polite than before. "Even the non-trained members of the city were able to feel a massive surge of chakra. We headed up here as soon as it happened but found you absent from your office, and have been patiently waiting after the girl here told us she didn't know where you were."

"Her name is Sakura," said Tsunade with menace in her voice. "I assure you that there is nothing to worry about, since it was an experiment being supervised by me. I apologize for any undo panic, but I can assure you that everything was a success and now there is a new jutsu able to be used for the good of the village."

Whatever this new jutsu was, Tsunade seemed to be extremely pleased with the result, and was actually smiling. The officials looked like they wanted me information, so Sakura was already preparing to leave when Tsunade dismissed her with a sigh.

"You may have the rest of the day off, we'll pick up actual lessons tomorrow in the morning at the usual time," said Tsunade.

Sakura exited the room, shutting the door behind her. She gave a sigh, and walked out of the Hokage tower, just enjoying the nice weather. She realized she smelled like fish. I think I'll go take a bath then. Changing her course to the nearest bathhouse Sakura started to hum to herself. At the bathhouse she paid at the desk, stored her clothes into a locker in the changing room and walked into the girls' bath. Sakura looked around the almost empty bath and was surprised to spot a familiar face.

"Hey Hinata!" she called out. She saw the black haired girl turn her head from where she was sitting rubbing soap onto herself and stare at Sakura with her usual piercing gaze.

"Hello Sakura," replied Hinata. Since the Chunin tournament they had spent several days off just hanging out together with Ino and the girls had gotten much closer. Sakura was glad for this fact because it meant that the black haired girl stuttered much less around her now. Of course, Hinata also tended to stutter less when not surrounded by either Naruto, her cousin Neji or her father. Sakura walked over and joined her, rinsing off and starting to rub soap over her body.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Sakura. "Doesn't your family have their own bathhouse?"

"I just needed to get out of the house for a bit," replied Hinata in her usual quiet tones. She looked down at the floor and Sakura guessed that she was probably having some trouble with her father again. He was a bit harsh in his methods, and Sakura could understand how tough that had to be on the shy girl.

Sakura and Hinata rinsed the soap off of themselves and stood up to walk over to the hot water bath. They dropped into the warm water with simultaneous sighs of relief. Neither were in a very talkative mood at the moment, so they just relaxed. Just sitting and watching the flow of people in the bath house, Sakura's eye caught someone who looked familiar.

"Hey Hinata," she said, nudging the other girl. "Do you know who that girl over there is? She seems familiar but I can't remember who she is."

Hinata followed Sakura's finger and looked at the blonde haired girl who was currently nervously rubbing soap onto herself. The veins around the black haired girl's eyes bulged to show that she had activated her Byakugyan, the all-seeing eyes inherited from her clan. She let out a short gasp, and Sakura was surprised by the name that escaped her lips.

"Naruto?" whispered Hinata, confused.

Sakura realized she shouldn't be surprised at her perverted teammate's actions. He had snuck into bathhouses and hot springs to peep on girls before, although he was being much more subtle this time. Using disguise arts to pretend to be a girl? That was a new stroke of genius for him. Now that she knew it was Naruto, she could see the resemblance. She stood up and cracked her knuckles.

"Time to punish that perverted moron," she said to Hinata.

"Sakura, wait," said Hinata, but Sakura was already walking away, ignoring her.

Sakura walked over to the blonde girl who was dumping a bucket of water over her head to rinse off to the soap. When she was a few feet away she called out.

"Hey Naruto!" she shouted. The blonde haired girl looked up at her instinctively and Sakura saw Naruto's familiar blue eyes light up first in recognition and then in horror. Sakura was already pulling her fist back and drawing chakra into it, a suitable punishment she felt. She punched, aiming for Naruto's chest before he had a chance to respond.

"Sakura! No!" yelled HInata, who was suddenly next to her. At a blinding speed Hinata's hands shot out and Sakura felt her chakra pathways closed by her soft fist technique. The black haired girl blocked the now weakened punch. "That's not a disguise jutsu!"

"Huh?" asked Sakura confused. She looked from the now scared girl who looked like Naruto to Hinata. "So this isn't Naruto then?"

"It's not a disguise jutsu," repeated Hinata. She looked at the not-Naruto, confused. "But your chakra patterns are the same. Who are you?"

The blonde girl was looking around nervously, and Sakura saw that they had attracted some attention. Her personality seemed completely different from Naruto's, but she just looked so similar. The same blue eyes, color of hair and now that Sakura was closer, the same tattoo on her stomach. Her body though was definitely female, with developing hips and breasts, she looked like any other girl their age. Her hair was longer than Naruto had ever had it, currently wet and falling down her back. She was as short as Naruto though, Sakura mused.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" asked the blonde girl nervously. "I can explain everything somewhere else."

"Sure," replied Sakura, "Let's go."

They exited the bath, dried off and dressed in the locker room. The blonde girl put on regular girls' underwear, bra and panties, and a summer dress of a familiar bright orange. She tied up her hair in twin tails and belted on a Konoha ninja headband around her waist in a similar style to the way Sakura's friend Ino wore hers. She looked just like a regular girl. Hinata couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the girl, and every so often the veins around her eyes bulged indicating the Byagukan being activated.

"Let's talk at my place," said the blonde girl. She led them out of the bath house, greeting the lady at the front desk cheerfully, a smile on her face. When they left the smile disappeared, but Sakura was struck yet again by the resemblance to Naruto that the smile brought out. The three girls walked down the streets and Sakura started to recognize the part of town they were in. When they arrived at a familiar apartment building, Sakura knew something weird was going on.

"Up here," said the girl, gesturing to Naruto's apartment.

Sakura didn't say anything, figuring she wouldn't get answers to the mystery until the girl was ready to tell her. They walked up the steps to the third floor and stopped outside of Naruto's apartment. The blonde girl took out her key, opened the door and gestured inside.

"Come on in," said the girl, walking inside.

Sakura walked in, followed by Hinata, who closed the door behind her. The blonde girl cleared books and scrolls off of two of the kitchen chairs, and sat down at the third already empty chair. Sakura and Hinata both took their seats and looked at the girl expectantly.

The blonde girl looked at them hesitantly. She seemed to make up her mind after a minute and took a deep breath.

"My name is Naruko Uzimaki," said the girl.

"Naruko Uzimaki?" replied Sakura, trying out the name. "So does that mean you're related to Naruto somehow? I thought he didn't have any living relatives?"

The blonde girl gave a sigh.

"I was-am-Naruto Uzimaki," she said, her face deathly serious.

"Wait, was?" asked Sakura confused.

"I always saw myself as a girl," admitted Naruko. "Since I was young, I knew there was something wrong with my body. I hid it because people wouldn't accept me."

Something occurred to Sakura.

"So those times you peeked into the bath houses and changing rooms were…"

"Research," said Naruko with a small smile. People are much more accepting of a silly trickster than a transsexual.

Sakura reviewed all of her knowledge of and experiences with Naruto. This new revelation seemed so at odds with what she had considered as "Naruto", but it also fit. She didn't really know what to think. The situation was new and weird to her. She hadn't really had a grudge or been bigoted towards transsexuals, but the presence of one from a teammate and friend was jarring. She briefly wondered what Hinata was thinking. The black haired girl had been very quiet the whole time, just watching and listening. Sakura knew that she had a very obvious crush on Naruto, at least obvious to everyone but Naruto. Thinking about crushes, she suddenly had an epiphany.

"You had a crush on Sasuke, didn't you?" she said, referring to their renegade teammate. She herself was head over heels for the suave black haired boy, as were many of the girls their age. Naruto had been very close to Sasuke and risked his life to try to bring him back to the village. With her new knowledge of Naruto's, Naruko's, condition, the conclusion made sense. Naruko's reaction completely surprised her.

"No way!" denied Naruko, rather strongly. "He's just a friend!" The blonde girl calmed down a bit and then blushed. "I'm actually attracted to girls…"

"But if you're a girl, shouldn't you be attracted to guys?" she asked, confused.

"I'm a lesbian I guess," replied Naruko.

"Are you sure you aren't just confused about something?"

"I know my body!" said Naruko angrily, startling Sakura. Tears were starting to well up in the blonde girl's eyes. "Do you how confusing it was for me! I knew without a doubt that I liked girls, but I also knew just as much that deep inside I wasn't what I was born as! There was no one I could talk to! No books or scrolls to refer to! The best I could find was an old medical journal that listed my 'condition' as a mental disease!"

At the earnest pain in Naruko's voice Sakura regretted saying what she had. It occurred to her that Naruto's whole life had been a fight for acceptance, a fight that was still ongoing. He had many, many reasons for people to hate and fear him, none of which were his fault. It's how he was born as, and he had been working his hardest since he could understand what was going on. Before she could apologize though he was surprised by the sound of a chair scraping on the floor as Hinata stood up.

"I think that you are amazing!" blurted Hinata as she stood up.

Naruko and Sakura just stared at the usually quiet black haired girl in disbelief at her outburst. She blushed a deep red as she realized what she had done, but still managed to stutter out some more words.

"I-I mean…you've always been amazing to me. Y-you try your hardest a-at everything. You are headstrong, but I don't believe that you would rush into this without knowing exactly what you wanted. If you think you are a lesbian, then I believe you are probably right! You know yourself and you're willing to stand up for yourself." she blushed even redder somehow. "A-and that's why I love you!"

Naruko just gaped open mouthed at Hinata.

"Hinata…" she said, lost for words.

"A-and I d-don't care that you're a girl either!" continued Hinata, in a rush to get her words out before she wasn't able to anymore. "To me, you are and will always be more handsome and cute and beautiful than anyone else!"

The three girls sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, each unsure of what to say. Suddenly Naruko started to sob, tears pouring down her face. Sakura and Hinata both moved to comfort her, but the blonde girl held up her hand.

"I-I'm fine!" she reassured them through tears. "I-I'm just so happy to hear your words Hinata. I was so afraid no one would understand. And I never expected anyone to ever say those words to me. They mean so much to me to hear…"

The tears just continued to pour out, but Sakura saw a smile on Naruko's face. Sakura didn't know what to say, so she just sat there in silence, waiting for the tears to stop. Sakura wondered if Hinata was going to go over and hug Naruko for comfort, but the black haired girl had apparently used up all of her courage for the moment. She sat back down and joined Sakura in silence. After a few minutes Naruko calmed down and looked at them with puffy red eyes and a large smile on her face.

"So," said Sakura, taking the initiative. "What are you going to do now? Weren't you on a training journey with Jiriya?"

"I guess we'll probably continue the journey," replied Naruko, turning thoughtful. "We were going to train my body first, to make sure everything was balanced and that I was comfortable with myself. I guess now that I'm comfortable with my body, we'll continue where we left off."

"H-how long are you going to be gone?" asked Hinata.

"We have roughly three years before Sasuke is in danger of getting his body stolen by Orochimaru, so I guess anywhere from a week to two years, I don't really know."

"Do you think you'll be fine with that perverted master of yours?" asked Sakura, trying to make conversation like she would with Hinata or Ino. She still had the image of Naruto as a boy in her head and it was hard to dispel, but she felt she owed it to Naruko to treat her like she would any other girl. "I've heard stories from Lady Tsunade about his…exploits."

"I'll be fine," replied Naruko with a cocky grin. "If he tries anything I'll make him regret it."

They all laughed at that. The conversation devolved into talking Naruko's likes and dislikes, something Sakura had never cared about before when she was a boy. She was shocked to discover the girl's preferences for clothes and that she was actually very recent and fashionable. Hinata mostly sat out the conversation, just listening, only occasionally supplying a question, answer or statement.

Sakura only realized how much time had passed when the light turned orange. Looking outside she saw the Sun slowly retreating behind the mountains, leaving streaks of purple and orange in its wake. She needed to get home for dinner so she stood up and excused herself.

"I'm sorry to say it, but I need to head home," said Sakura, slightly surprised to realize that she actually was sorry to leave.

"I-I should probably head home also," said Hinata sadly, standing up.

"No problem," replied Naruko, standing up to let them out. "I really appreciate that you two were so understanding and spent so much time talking to me. It really did mean a lot to me."

Sakura walked out of the apartment first, followed by Hinata. She started to wave good bye, but Hinata stopped walking and turned to face Naruko.

"I-I just want to ask you something before you leave on your journey again," she said, making a noticeable effort to overcome fear to force the words out.

"Yes?" asked Naruko.

"W-wou-would-would you," stuttered Hinata. She stopped talking, took a deep breath and then blurted out her question. "Would you please be my girlfriend?!"

Once again, Sakura and Naruko were caught off guard by the black haired girl. Sakura just watched as Naruko openly gaped at Hinata for a few moments before managing a response.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

She rushed forward and hugged Hinata, startling the shy girl at first. Hinata's face turned a bright red as she tried to figure out what to do with her arms. Naruko seemed to realize what she had done and disengaged, her own face tunring bright red.

"I mean, if you don't mind waiting," she said, composing herself. "I'll probably be gone for a while and not able to meet or message you."

"Its fine," replied Hinata, giving a shy smile.

Sakura found the whole situation amusing and couldn't help but interject at that moment.

"Just make sure that when you do return you go and see Hinata first!" said Sakura. "If you're are dating you always need to put the girl first!"

"But we're both girls!" complained Naruko, apparently understanding that Sakura was just joking around with her.

"Then I guess that means you two will both have to put each other first," replied Sakura, winking at Hinata. "Well, we'd better head home before dinner gets cold. Make sure you eat healthy tonight and on your trip Naruko."

Sakura walked away, followed closely by Hinata. She heard Naruko wish them a good night and walked back into her apartment, closing the door. As they walked down the apartment steps neither girl said a word, both thinking about the day's events. At the ground floor they separated, their homes in different directions. Sakura wondered if Naruko would be fine on her journey and if Hinata's family would be able to accept that their daughter was dating another girl. Honestly, with what she knew of Hinata's father he probably wouldn't have accepted the relationship even if Naruto was still a boy.

Everyone was going to face many hardships in the years to come, that she knew. They were ninja of the village, that meant challenges and dangers were always waiting just around the corner. They would need to train hard and fight for their lives many times. Danger was gathering, but Sakura still felt happy knowing that even in such a difficult, dangerous world dreams could be achieved. Even if she died while training, heaven forbid, she had still managed to move forward and achieve her dream.

Even Hinata had managed to take several large steps forward, and her courage was impressive. Their example gave Sakura hope that one day they really would bring Sasuke back to the village. She might even be able to honestly confess her love to him. Impress him, gain his respect. Become an equal instead of baggage. With her hope renewed, Sakura headed home, new life in her steps. In the morning she would rise early to train, and she would work her hardest to make her dreams come true.