Sakura woke up in her usual manner, slowly but surely. She took a quick shower and donned her usual attire. She secured her forehead protector and rushed outside, waving good-bye to her parents. It was a quick jog to Naruto's apartment building, not even five minutes. She was wondering during the quick trip though, what she was doing. The only thing on her mind was to ask Naruto train, but what did she expect of the day, a kiss like Hinata? Or did the kuionichi want something more?

The pink-haired girl rung the door bell and stood there, rocking back and forth while humming a catchy tune. As usual Naruto opened the door, slowly. His eyes still filled with sleep he almost snored his response. "Yea...?" The blonde-haired ninja asked.

"Naruto-Kun! Good Morning!" Sakura replied joyfully, her voice filled with fake pep. She had to put on a good show. She was practically forcing herself to not tackle the ninja and lock lips with him. It was some sort of feeling burning inside of her, a bit lower down. Not like the fury she experienced in her stomach during combat. It was a bit... lower.

"Sakura-Chan...?" Naruto once again said in his lazy voice. His mind was gearing up, slowly. "Come in... I'm eating breakfast." Naruto said. His brain was kicking into gear a bit faster than usual; Sakura's presence was probably helping.

"Thanks Naruto-Kun!" Sakura stepped into the dirtiest apartment room she has ever seen. His apartment consisted of three rooms. His living room/kitchen was littered with cup ramen bowls and wooden chopsticks. She wanted to sit down on his couch but frankly it had no room.

"Er... I'll wait outside Naruto-Kun, come on! The more training we do the stronger we get right? And in order to become the Hokage you need to be strong!" Sakura cheered, trusting her fist into the air. With those words Sakura quickly turns around and goes out the door.

Naruto heard the words, he understood it, and his brain was just taking its time to process a correct response. Shaking his head, the laziness lifted with a sudden burst of energy. He smile, humbled by Sakura's cheer. She really did care but then the sudden realization dawned on him. He kissed Hinata and Naruto knew it wasn't something simple or was it an accident. Naruto had felt the kiss and in his heart, he wanted more. He wanted to taste Hinata's lips, taste her tongue and her mouth.

Naruto felt a slight twinge of betrayal in his heart, but he shook it off as he grabbed his usual orange coat and rushed out the door. He continued to smile as he jumped from the apartment building and next to Sakura; not slowing down he continued to sprint towards the training grounds.

"Come on Sakura-Chan! Else we won't be able to train as much!" Naruto flashed a smile back before turning forward and running.

It was three thirty; Sakura and Naruto were sparring at the moment. They spent the morning helping Sakura practice her genjutsus while Naruto practiced resisting them (with little avail, though he was able to resist some simple genjutsus).

Sakura's Taijutsu needed work and Naruto was glad to help, she was quick, and her chakra control gave her some edge, but Naruto's close combat is very sharp. Naruto was observing Sakura (because the pink-haired kuionichi told him to) and was trying to see when she used her chakra control at the perfect timing.

Naruto was slowly walking in the foliage, his eyes and senses attuned to every rustle of the leaves. Suddenly, he heard the hard slap of sandal against wood. Sakura exploded out of some bushes and headed for Naruto head on. The blonde-haired ninja smirked and caught the punch, reversing the force and throwing the kuionichi into another tree.

Recovering quickly, Sakura flipped over and pushed more chakra into her feet, exploding off the trunk in another enormous amount of speed. Naruto's eyes scanned the situation and decided what Hinata taught him yesterday was the best idea. He couldn't see any chakra holes to close, but he can parry and counter with his own attack.

Naruto's stance changed, going into a Jyuuken style. As his right palm went to catch and Sakura's fist, the second it touched it disappeared. "What?" Naruto just realized he had fell for her trap. It was a Henge no Jutsu combined with a Kawarimi no Jutsu. She had made a clone, and had switched position with a small unnoticeable creature, like insects.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed from above, her feet about to crush the hyperactive ninja's head in.

Naruto scanned his head for ideas, and knew that judo would be the best way out. The three basic martial arts taught in the academy were Judo, Aikido and Ninjutsu. Naruto opened up his palms again, and was going to incorporate a bit of Jyuuken into it. He calmed his mind and caught Sakura's ankle gently with a chop, causing her to lose balance. She almost toppled over but Naruto caught her and flipped her over the hard wood.

Sakura braced herself for the impact but found that she landed on something soft. Naruto had twisted back and grabbed her tightly. "This isn't any simple Judo move Sakura-Chan!" Naruto turned and fell off the tree branch, the two spiraling towards the ground. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" he yelled. Several copies appeared everywhere and they all landed gracefully.

Naruto let go of Sakura before they hit the ground, and his copies caught them perfectly. "I guess that's it for sparring eh Sakura-Chan?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head as the clones let the young girl down, then disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"Sorry if I was a bit rough, but whenever I spar, it's hard to hold back." Naruto sighed. "I should probably work on that."

Sakura was surprised at that. She had never seen Naruto shown any real self-restraint. "It's fine Naruto-Kun" She smiled and brushed some dirt off her dress. "We have some time left, how about one more round of sparring?"

Naruto nodded. "Don't hold back on me Sakura-Chan!"

"I won't Naruto!" She formed several jutsus in and then disappeared. "Here's something that Kurenai-Sensei taught me."

"Crap... Genjutsu." Naruto focused his eyes, trying to find some weakness to exploit. This Genjutsu didn't seem to focus on the surroundings, but just the target. As Naruto thought about that, a tree suddenly grew from the ground and enraptured the young boy. "Damn..." he muttered.

"Sorry Naruto, you need to work on how to counter genjutsus!" Sakura said. She slowly appeared from the trunk, her kunai in hand. She was going to bring it close to Naruto's neck, to signal her victory. Suddenly, Naruto dove through the branches as if they were what they were: illusions.

"Sorry Sakura-Chan! I don't lose that easily." Naruto had bit into his lip, hard. It was bleeding and the pain must've awakened him from the illusion. "My turn! Here's something I learned from Ero-Sennin!" Naruto formed a few quick seals and "Katon!" He said.

"Fire Ninjutsu?" Sakura's eyes snapped wide open, seeing if this was some sort of trick. No, she can tell by Naruto's body language, he was summoning real chakra. She jumped and prepared some shuriken; she was going to counter by stomping the wood and flying high. In mid-air she would fling the medal projectiles at Naruto, ending the match.

"Housenka No Jutsu!" Naruto breathed into the sky, small puffs of fire flying through the air. As they quickly approached their target, Sakura hit the tree, shattering it's trunk as she blasted into the air. She flung three shurikens, all of them ready to hit its target. Sakura was positive her friend would dodge it.

Naruto knew he had no time to dodge it, the fire Jutsu he used took a lot out of him, and it was one of the first times he's done it. He attempted to catch it, his hands caught the first, second and was going for the third when...

The shuriken hit Naruto straight in the chest, the metal object piercing flesh and causing large amounts of blood to flow. "Gah!" Naruto screamed in pain. Sakura's eyes widened in worry as she jumped down to help her friend. No to help the one she loves.

"Naruto-Kun!" She slid to his aid, pulling the shuriken out without a second's notice. Naruto's Housenka No Jutsu had taken way too much energy, and it seemed like the shuriken had hit a nerve, cause he was almost going into shock.

"Sakura-Chan..." He muttered, falling into her hands. She threw the bloody shuriken away and ripped his jacket open, then used her kunai to cut her shirt. She had learned some healing techniques from Tsunade-Sama, but was it going to be enough? She applied some chakra into her hands and exerted it in the way that Tsunade had taught her. The wound slowly closed up, and Naruto's breathing started to regulate.

"Naruto-Kun!" She hugged the blonde-haired ninja and almost cried.

"Sakura-Chan...? You all right? Did I hit you with my Housenka No Jutsu?" Naruto said. He was quite aware of the wound he had just taken, but he was much more concerned about Sakura.

"No... No... Stop worrying about me, worry about yourself you idiot!" Sakura cried.

"It's alright, I can't die... not until I'm the Hokage." Naruto smiled. Sakura couldn't help but smile back. His hand slowly came up to her face and brushed the tears from her eyes. "Don't cry... if you cry it makes me sad."

"Naruto-Kun..." Sakura brought her face closer to Naruto's; she could feel his breath, his chakra and aura.

"Sakura-Chan..." He repeated then closed his mouths onto hers. Sakura's heart almost leapt in joy. She embraced him just like he embraced her. Nothing fancy, nothing special, just a kiss that they both enjoyed. Sakura's body cradled Naruto and they continued to kiss. No tongue, just kissing, just tasting each other's lips.

Soon they stopped and they just hugged each other, happy to be in each other's embrace. Suddenly, Naruto pushed Sakura off, as if something had hit him.

"No... Sakura-Chan, I can't." Naruto got up shook his heads. "I can't... I don't... I'm sorry Sakura-Chan." He ran off, confused. He was... he was in love with Sakura wasn't he? No, he was in love with Hinata? No... He was just damn confused. His heart ached and tears continued to stream from his eyes as he hopped from building to building, finding his apartment building, and locking himself in.

His heart hadn't felt this way since that hell... since that hell he escaped from calls "Loneliness." He clutched his chest, trying to force the pain down. He was... wrought with pain. He wasn't sure who he wanted, who he loved, whom he wanted to be with. Hinata and Sakura were perfect girls, perfect in their own ways, so... perfect. Something that Naruto had only dreamed about.

Sakura lay still at the training ground, stunned, dazed and confused by the whole event. Naruto and her... they were close, so close. She touched her lips, feeling his saliva still on her lips. She enjoyed it, and she was sure that Naruto did too. Why did he run off? The answer was obvious, but Sakura's mind didn't want to wrap around it, her mind didn't want to accept it.

"Hinata..." Sakura shook her head. She had a rival now but it wasn't like her rivalry with Ino about Sasuke. She was... in a rivalry for someone's love, not just his or her affection.

"Naruto-Kun... I love you." Sakura said the words flowed instinctively.

Hinata was sitting in her house, sipping on tea when she felt a slight pang in her heart. It wasn't pain no it was something different. It was... someone after something of hers. She had something precious, and someone else wanted it. She looked out the windows and into the sky. "Naruto-Kun..." She muttered. "I love you..."

Naruto stood on his bed, shaking his head. "I... don't know who I love." The young boy sobbed. He wanted to know, he wanted to see, he couldn't help but feel his heart wrought with guilt. "I love you... both." Naruto said.

Whoo... Well that was an interesting chapter eh? I wonder how it'll turn out? Email me suggestions cause frankly, I really don't know!