A/N: Well, here we go again with yet another new story because it is a necessary process in the writing of my other stories. I can't help it, I read a story and an idea will come to me and I can't focus on my other stories until I write it down and get it out my head, so forgive me if you don't like it. Anyways, I noticed that Naruto is read as Naruto U. so in a sense, this is a perfectly logical thing. Also, because I still haven't found a way to 'properly' translate jutsu, I'm still writing them in English, sorry. Warning, this chapter will contain yoai material.
-First Love-
"Do you believe that we'll ever find love?" Naruko whispered across the empty darkness. She had seen the couples walking around the village on their way home after school, and found herself jealous. It was a strange feeling, she had never felt jealous before, mad, condescending, sadness, happiness, even fear, but never jealous.
"What does it matter, if we do, then we deserve it, but if we don't then I have faith that we'll find something better." Naruto admitted as he began to turn away and leave the room.
"Tell me, Naruto, what am I to you?" Naruko asked. Such an innocent question, and one that Naruto never expected to come from Naruko's mouth, because of this, he froze, his foot raised in a half-step.
"You're my precious person, exactly what I am to you right?" Naruto said, still turned away as he silently prayed that this wasn't happening.
"But what if I wanted you to be more than that?" Naruko whispered in his ear as her arms encircled his waist, Naruko having to stand on her tip toes to rest her chin on his shoulder.
"What are you saying, Naruko" Naruto mumbled, his voice causing his chest and shoulders to rumble, a fact that Naruko vaguely noted.
"I'm saying that I want you to be more than my precious person." Naruko answered like it was the most obvious answer to the question.
"Oh, well, I can't be that." Naruto mumbled as he pulled away, only for Naruko's soft hand to grab his wrist.
"Why? Please don't do this." She said, her voice louder now that there was a chance of losing her friend.
"Don't do this, I could say the same thing to you. I can't be more than your precious person because I can't deal with my feelings. I'm a strange person, Naruko, I don't open myself very easily, and because of this, I don't have many precious people. Other than you, my brothers, and my Kaa-chan, I don't have anyone. So, I couldn't deal with losing one of you, especially if you were more than that to me." Naruto answered, trying to pull away from the girl, yet his strength seemed to leave him.
"I will move out, and be gone by tom-" SMACK! Naruko's open palm hit his cheek, leaving a faint red mark as he touch the wound.
"SHUT UP! You don't have many precious people, I have no one other than you!" Naruko shouted before covering her mouth as she realized what she had said.
"If it means giving up my dream of following in my mother's footsteps, and becoming a kunoichi, just so that you won't have to lose me, then that is what I'll do. Just, please, don't leave me. We're both training for this, and it's not like being a ninja is the career with the longest life expectancy, so I want to spend the rest of life with the one I love." Naruko said, pulling the older boy back towards her, yet his feet seemed to cement him in place.
"I don't know how to be anything more than what I am right now, so I guess I could stay with you until you find someone that can love you in return." Naruto retorted as he vaguely noted the anxious pulling of his roommate.
"NO! You get it through your thick skull, you're already more than my precious person to me, and you already do exactly what I want you to do. God! For being the most brilliant man, or boy, that I know, you can be a complete idiot sometimes!" Naruko said, as she changed her tactics and moved in front of the boy.
"Besides, no one else could ever make me love them as much as I do you. You have given more than anyone else ever has, or ever could, you gave me a reason to smile, you gave me a home, a friend, and you showed me how to live." Naruko continued as she brought Naruto's lips closer to hers as she had to stand on a convenient pyramid of empty Ramen cups, most likely Naruto's, he had a habit of building structures.
"You gave me attention, love, you gave me a family." Naruko whispered as she pressed her feather soft lips to Naruto's, Naruto noting that they tasted of Ramen, while Naruko noted his tasted like salt as she pulled away from the blonde boy.
Naruto rubbed his cheeks, trying in vain to rub off the red blush that dusted his cheeks. Pulling it away, he found it wet as he looked at Naruko's eyes. "Hey, I know that you love me, but did you have to cry on me too?" Naruto asked, even though he could see her eyes were dry, before his vision blurred as he closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek again, clearing his vision.
"Sorry, now come on back in before you catch a cold." Naruko said as Naruto smiled a caring smile as he walked past the girl, reentering the apartment.
"Yes, Mom." Naruto said, earning him a humph and a slap to the back of his head. Naruto just chuckled, the hit lacked the pain to hurt, more for show than punishment or annoyance.
"If your mother kissed you like that, than I wonder why you left." Naruko said, turning the corner to her room, leaving Naruto alone.
"Haha, she made a joke, and at my expense. Maybe nothing will change too much." Naruto whispered, only his ears picking up the sounds as he flopped down on the couch, passing out in his clothes.
-(The Next Morning)-
Naruto ran towards the school, his now girlfriend trailing behind him. They had awoken to find that that due to last night's festivities, neither one had set an alarm. Wearing pretty much the same attire as yesterday, taking only time to slap some water on their faces, and grab an instant ramen cup to go, the young couple had rushed out of the apartment and put all their strength into their legs to carry them to school on time.
Naruto spotted the building about a half-mile away as Naruko pulled up beside him, not slowing done at all as she noticed the building as well. However, they also saw the traffic jam in the middle of the street, blocking their way. They couldn't afford to make a detour so the pair jumped as high as they could, landing on the roofs as they jump from roof to roof, roof hopping their way to class as they made a mad leap, flying through the window right as the bell rang.
"Barely made it, Naruto, Naruko." Sasuke said as they looked beneath them, finding Sasuke who had the bad luck of sitting next to the open window that the pair had entered through. Standing up, they got off of him as Naruto reached down and pulled him up, Sasuke dusting off his clothes despite there being no dirt.
"SASUKE-KUN! ARE YOU OKAY, THOSE RUFFIANS DIDN'T HURT YOU DID THEY?" Sakura and Ino shouted together, the platinum blonde glaring at Naruko while Sakura did the same with Naruto.
Naruko just ignored them, instead turning to find her new female friend. Naruto on the other hand, just met the glare with one of his one, although his more indifference than actual spite. Sakura seemed to accept this answer as she dropped the look, and wrapped her arms around Sasuke's waist while her friend got his legs. This in turn, caused Naruto to smile and laugh at his brother's expense as he playfully glared at Naruto.
"Would you to get off of me!?" Sasuke asked/demanded the pair as they refused to release him, instead squeezing tighter. "Let go of me, now!" H tried again, and once again was ignored. A tick mark appeared on his head. "You will let go of me right now, or so help, I'll have you transferred to another class, trust me, I can do it!" Sasuke yelled as the girls finally disentangled themselves from Sasuke, who sighed in relief. He knew he could really have them transferred, but the way they treated him, they probably thought he could.
"God Sas-gay, you don't want two hot girls hanging off of you, sometimes I wonder about you, especial when you prefer Naruto's company over theirs." Kiba exclaimed, putting himself in the conversation as both girls rounded on him and promptly hit him, leaving two lumps on his head.
"Never call us hot again, Mutt!" Ino ordered as Kiba popped back up like nothing happened.
"Yes ma'm, but you have to admit, it is rather suspicious all things concerned." Kiba pointed out as the girls turned back to tell Sasuke to ignore him, only to meet a strange sight that caused them, and the majority of the class to blush and stutter.
"Naruto." Sasuke whispered, his lips brushing Naruto's ear.
"Sasuke." Naruto said back, his tongue flickering over his lips.
"Naruto." Sasuke again, his hand reached over to grasp the edge of Naruto's shirt.
"Sasuke." Naruto whimpered, his hands roaming Sasuke's chest, feeling the muscles.
"Naru-" Sasuke stared before their lips met, seemingly crashing against one another as the girls of the class's, sans Hinata, and Naruko, jaws hit the floor.
Their tongues were visible only for short flickers of time as the boys twisted around, revealing more and more skin as clothes slowly made their way off of the pair. Things really hit a hitch when Sasuke bent low, placing his head right in front of Naruto's crotch.
"Are you sure, there's no going back?" Naruto whispered, just loud enough for the class to hear as the boys look positively sick.
"Of course, you my only love, I am ready to give my all to you!" Sasuke answered with conviction.
ZZZZIIIIPPPPPPP!
(In Real Life)
Naruto and Sasuke were rolling on the floor laughing their butts off as Naruko tried to be more ladylike, and failed, as she struggled to hold back her giggles. Hinata was in a similar situation, with more blushing at the thought of Naruto kissing somebody.
Naruto was glad at the current situation, he got a chance to use a mass Genjutsu on some half decent shinobi, even if they were Academy students. After all, some, like Kiba, Shino, Ino, and Shikamaru, were from respectable shinobi clans. Of course, Naruto suspected that Shino had broke the Genjutsu, and Shikamaru was asleep so it didn't really faze him. Naruto hadn't included Choji in the Genjutsu, since he might have lost his lunch and that would put him on Choji's bad side, a place Naruto didn't want to be. Choji was a fun guy to hang out with, even if he could be extremely food oriented at times.
Releasing the Genjutsu as Iruka entered the room, the class blinked before looking around, a expected response in the face of a Genjutsu. Seeing Iruka, the kids rushed to their places, moving quicker than Iruka had ever seen them move, making him wonder what they had all been looking at. He just shook his head as he started the day with a lecture on the founding clans of the village as Naruto made regular inputs, so factual, some purely conjecture.
As the day slowly went on, students began watching any form of time keeping they could as they were ready for lunch, the idea of just a break was enough to send most into an ADD fit. The bell rung just as Iruka seemed to gain his second wind, leading to a loud cheer to erupt from the class.
Running outside, Naruto settled for a lounging approach, spreading his body out across one of the higher limbs of the massive tree located behind the Academy, it was usually used for target practice, but today it would be his perch as he yawned, revealing two sharp fangs and a rough looking tongue.
He closed his eyes for just a second, or maybe it was an hour before being awoken by small pebbles pelting him, bringing his attention to the 'ground floor' where Sakura stood, still chunking pebbles at the blonde as he moved slightly, avoiding the projectiles.
"With aim like that, it's no wonder you aren't the top kunoichi, book smarts will only get you so far, unless you plan to be a teacher." Naruto said, catching a pebble before flicking it back at the bubblegum princess.
Sakura just grabbed her head as she nursed the miniscule wound he had inflicted on her.
"I-I want your help." Sakura said, placing her hands behind her back, and shuffling her feet as Naruto just stared at her.
"With what?" Naruto asked, not trusting her enough to climb out of the tree. As things stood, if he made her mad, she couldn't reach him, well, he didn't think she could at least.
"You're Sasuke-kun's best friend and I want you to help me 'get' him." Sakura admitted in the face of the boy denying her his help.
"Oh, so you love him? You would do whatever I tell you to win Sasuke's heart?" Naruto asked back, rummaging around in his pockets for something as he grasps it finally, sliding the end out.
"Of course, I would do anything for him." Sakura answered adamantly, flinching as a kunai sunk into the ground in front of her.
"Fine then, cut your hair, no longer than shoulder length!" Naruto ordered as Sakura whirled on him, brandishing the kunai like a sword, that is to say pointed at Naruto and no where near her hair.
"What are you talking about, stop spouting such nonsense! Why Sasuke would like me with short hair, Ino told me that he likes long hair!" Sakura shouted, somehow managing to contain her screech.
Naruto lazily lolled his head to the side to meet Sakura's gaze, carrying the question the required distance. "You come to me, ask my help, and then decide that since you don't agree with my input, you'll do things your own way. I'll give you one more chance, but if you fail this time, I'll tell Sasuke to never have anything to do with you again, understand." Naruto retorted, his voice tight with demand to follow his orders.
Sakura paused for a second, before cringing as she brought the kunai behind her head and sliced through her hair as the pink strands fell to the ground as Sakura looked at the small pile with a sort of detachment.
"Now your wrist." Naruto's voice ordered from his perch, slightly impressed with her conviction. Quite frankly, he never expected her to really cut her hair or her wrist for that matter as, this time without hesitation; she slid the sharp weapon across her wrist, cutting into several arteries as she dropped the kunai, the pain an unfamiliar sensation.
"Well, I have to say, I'm impressed, I suppose I'll be honest with you then." Naruto said, swinging his legs up and over as he dropped to the ground, landing with a faint thump. Sakura blinked her eyes as she realized Naruto had appeared from nowhere. Looking down, she couldn't find the pile of iridescent pink hair as Naruto reached forwards and dragged his fingers in the length; ending at the previous length for Sakura's her before she cut it.
"That was your first lesson, How to Dispel Genjutsu." Naruto informed her as her green eyes widened. That was a Genjutsu?
"Pain will dispel a Genjutsu, a branch of jutsu that you will need to know how to combat if you plan to be with Sasuke." Naruto said as he passed her, standing about 15 meters away from her as he assumed his stance, loose and fluid.
"Sasuke is a clan heir, so you'll have plenty of people that will try and kill him, or hurt him through you, so you'll need to know how to defend yourself. So, if you can get this from me, I'll tell you what Sasuke likes in a girl." Naruto said, producing a photo which Sakura noted was a picture of Sasuke, shirtless it would appear; oh this boy was going down.
Naruto attached it to his head with chakra, using a small variant of the leaf clinging exercise since the photo was heavier it required more chakra, especially since he need to keep it away from Sakura. Naruto noted that Sakura used the Academy style, not good but to a decent degree.
Sakura charged at Naruto, throwing a punch like usual which Naruto barely tapped with his finger tips, barely grazing the back of her fist as it turned to the side, causing Sakura to turn her side to Naruto as he swung his palm out, backhanding Sakura, and throwing her back across the field.
"Nice try, but next time, don't let me see you coming." Naruto suggested as Sakura picked herself up and charged again, this time trying with a feint, only for Naruto's hand to whip out and grab her wrist as he flung her away like a used rag doll.
"Since we're probably going to be here a while, I'll combine my second lesson with it since a kunoichi will be expected to think and fight together. What was the other purpose of asking you to cut your hair, besides teaching you how to dispel Genjutsu?" Sakura tried again, meeting a throwback once again.
"Uhmm, you wanted to know my conviction?" Sakura suggested as she used her leg this time which Naruto stopped and held, making it difficult for Sakura to attack him.
"Good try, so I'll give you the point, but wrong. Well, maybe it is right depending on how you look at it. Being in love is the strangest thing, you're willing to do whatever and change yourself however to please your beloved, but as the beloved, you love them for how they were to begin with. You demonstrated that by sacrificing some thing about yourself that wasn't easily replaceable for the chance of letting Sasuke know how much you love him." Naruto said, his attention split as he thought of the words he wanted to use, still though, Sakura couldn't retrieve the photo as Naruto always managed to moved just barely out of her way, she realize, using the minimal amount to accomplish his task.
"If I may ask, why are we doing this, can you please just give me the photo?" Sakura asked, acknowledging that she wasn't getting that photo today.
"Sure, catch." Naruto answered, running his hand through his hair, catching the corner as he flicked it at her head as Sakura hit the ground, the photo embedding itself in the tree behind her.
"Now then, Sasuke likes girls that are self-sufficient and able to actually fight to a degree where he doesn't have to protect you, that's not to say that he won't. He doesn't like girls that care too much for their looks, feeling they should work to get stronger so I suppose you're already at a disadvantage. Now then, taking that into account, can you guess the purpose of the second exercise?" Naruto explained as Sakura was still staring at him with wide eyes as her life flashed in front of her eyes, strangely, there was a lot of mirrors and low self-esteem.
"To-" Sakura started as her voice cracked and she started over, licking her lips, "To train me physically." Sakura guessed and Naruto grinned, a look that Sakura thought seemed to complete his face, like he had lost it and had finally found it. Unfortunately for her, it disappeared as fast as it appeared, vanishing beneath the eternal pool of 'I don't care' that seemed to be his normal expression.
"Correct, now then, shall we continue training after school. Tell you what, when you can release that photo from the tree, I'll let you loose to do what you will." Naruto said as the bell tolled, signaling time for class to resume. As Sakura rushed past him, he grasped her wrist to hold her back.
"One that thing, I have a slight understanding of Uchiha marriage customs, and should you defeat Sasuke in battle, whether fair or not, he is obligated to marry you should you want him to." Naruto informed her and her eyes reached plate size as Naruto walked past her, his emotionless expression slipping for a second as he half-smiled, the corner of his mouth turning up in a smile.
There you go Sasuke, I warned you that I would find you a girl, course, she still has to beat you, but now she has a goal and is motivated. Naruto thought as he placed his hands in his pockets, fingering the kunai, pulling it out as he tossed it over his shoulder, the metal weapon flipping over his head to hit the one thrown by Sakura, knocking both to the ground.
"Don't think you're ready to face me yet, you forget, just because I am not first, doesn't mean that I couldn't be, after all, deception is a shinobi's best friend." Naruto said as he disappeared in a swirl of fire and wind, teleporting to the classroom; leaving the pink-haired girl to stare in wonderment.
-(One Year Later)-
"Come on, you can do better than that." Naruto ordered as Sakura tried once again to knock the blonde down, hell, she would settle for just a hit. But Naruto didn't train like that, or at least not to that degree; he may hold back against you, but he wouldn't let you think you were stronger than you were.
She threw a roundhouse right in his face, which he caught before smiling as he reached down just in time to stop the hidden jab by her left. "There you go, you're getting the deception lessons down wonderfully, and the weights don't seem to be slowing you down at all, I'll have to adjust them." Naruto said, complimenting her as if he was her Jounin sensei. Using his grip on her left hand, he twisted her wrist, allowing her right to get loose.
Tensing her legs, she flipped, using her gripped hand as a center point, let loose a kick at Naruto's head, which he ducked. Yanking her arm free, as it let out an audible pop, she landed safely and leapt back, facing Naruto as he smirked.
"Tell you what, I'll give you one free hit just to see how hard you can hit, after all, I have to assess these things." Naruto said, sounding superior while actually placing himself in the position of wanting to help Sakura get stronger.
Now Sakura wasn't going to pass up this chance so she chose her target, and pulled her foot back before bringing it up between his legs as his eyes bugged out and he crumpled to the ground. "Don't underestimate me!" Sakura said with as much confidence as she could manage.
Hidden in the trees, neither one noticed a girl watching their spar, her blue hair blending in with the shadows. She gasped as Sakura pulled that dirty trick, and then blushed as she watched Naruto push himself back to his feet.
"Good job, you attacked my weakest point, but next time, make sure you follow through because you won't get another chance, girly!" Naruto asserted, snapping the top buttons on his shirt/coat as it fell to the ground, leaving Naruto shirtless and Sakura stuttering as it glistened in the sunlight.
Naruto smirked before making a rapid series of seals and placing his hand in front of his mouth, channeling chakra to his lungs in preparation for his jutsu.
"Combustion Ash Cloud!" Naruto said as he blew out a thick cloud of ash, which enveloped Sakura as she began to cough before Naruto clicked his teeth, blowing the whole field up with his jutsu. Sakura was lucky to survive as Naruto dialed down the power enough for her to only be singed as Naruto called the fight, walking over to her.
Forming new seals, his hands became enveloped in green chakra as he worked on fixing her singes. Naruto had started learning some Medical jutsu, if only to be prepared and because he was a support type person, always complimenting his teammates through a battle; Medical jutsu was just another stop on the way.
Naruto was about to say something as he froze, and turned in the direction of his home compound, even though he no longer lived there. "Kaa-chan." Naruto mumbled as he stood, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on as he chose a more shinobi look with his expressionless face.
"I'm afraid that's all for today, Sakura-chan, I have a previous engagement to attend to, don't tell anybody." Naruto ordered as he didn't wait for her response, vanishing in a burst of pure speed.
A/N: Well, another chapter is done guys, and two thirds done for this tri-pack of my story. Strange thing happened this time around, I just couldn't work on the first one, so I skipped to the last chapter and finished it, then this one, so I guess it works in reverse this time around, oh well, I'll upload them all together. Have a good day, and one last thing. Shout out to my bestie- Madi, for always being herself, I dedicate this chapter to her.