Chapter 1: New Endings to New Beginnings

-Outside The Konoha Gates-

Sakura watched Sasuke walk away, her expression was quite radiant with hopefulness,
the tap on her forehead meant a great deal to her, but as he became more and more distant,
an unwelcoming feeling of sorrow slowly seeped into her mind like freezing wind on an already icy cold day,
the ends of her mouth slowly fell downwards, the front ends of her brows raised,
her sudden newfound feelings spoke clear as the bright sun that pierced through the clouds,
Sasuke was gone, and for who knows how long...again.

Kakashi Hatake had joined her to see Sasuke off, he had used this opportunity to take breather,
the duties of a Homage can indeed be most tiresome,
besides, Sasuke needed an escort out of the village so panic wouldn't ensue from any of the locals that might've been unaware of his release,
the famous copy cat ninja turned Hokage peered downward to his left,
he noticed Sakura's hand slowly turn into a fist,
Sasuke leaving must've brought some painful memories back...

Kakashi has a keen eye for observation, it was unfortunate that he was right in this situation,
there was noting he could say to ease Sakura,
Not because he didn't want too but because there was simply no words he could muster up that would cheer her up.

Sakura's memories flooded her like a dam that had been broken,
from Sasuke calling her annoying, to his insatiable lust for power that lead him to leave the village on a whim to join Orochimaru,
to ordering her to kill Karin, and using genjutsu to knock her unconscious,
she questioned her concept of love...
Is it worth loving someone who said he wanted to kill his best friend right in front of her,
was it worth going through the pain for the microsecond of happiness only to have it become a memory for who knows how long until the next?

These were the thoughts sending ripples through Sakura's mind like a calm day mere seconds before an earthquake,
yet there was a swift, unforeseen solace that had held the tears from leaving her eyes.
a yellowed haired, familiar faced individual who saved her many times, from simple words that helped her overcome a certain mind controlling jutsu,
to a villain from another world concocted by an old enemy, and even from Sasuke himself,
Naruto... she said within the depths of her mind,
her eyes looked down, it was at this very spot where he promised her that he would bring Sasuke back to her no matter what, the promise of a lifetime,
I always used to call you a dense, annoying idiot...but it was me who was all of that, I couldn't see how much you cared about me because I always hooked on Sasuke...

Another memory grabbed her attention, it was Sai telling her that even he could see that Naruto loved her, it certainly struck a chord within her heart, and ever since, even unto this moment, it held a resonating idea that rattled her mind.

A 'what if' scenario had posed it's question every now and then, when it had ...it gave her sleepless nights,
work ethic became a bit sloppy, so much so that she couldn't help but believe that even Lady Tsunade had taken slight notice which ended up giving her a bit of paranoia, but one definite reason for repressing these thoughts was due to the fact Hinata confessed her feelings to Naruto,
the moment she stared at her fallen comrade after the battle with Pain, a choice had been made.

Sakura simply had stronger feelings for Sasuke at the time, but as time progressed and she saw less and less of him,
her feelings for Naruto had as well, given that Hinata hadn't really spoken to Naruto since and he seemed,
it honestly seemed like he was hiding from her, but would it really matter if something develop between the two members of Team 7?
Sakura couldn't help but smirk a bit at the notion,
A girl confesses her love to you and you hide from her? You really are the most unpredictable ninja, you bone head...

Kakashi noticed a figure in the distance, is that...
"Naruto" He said aloud,
Sakura's eyes suddenly widened as she looked ahead to see Naruto waving as he approached, she quickly rubbed her eyes,
"Naruto, you were supposed to meet us here to send Sasuke off" she said,
her voice wasn't harsh or scold like, it held a normal tone with a bit of softness to it,
Naruto's thumb pointed backwards, there was slight chuckle,
"Sorry Sakura, I had an errand to run for Kakashi Sensei but I did get to see him" he said, Naruto suddenly looked at her with a strange expression,

"Sakura, is something wrong? You look a bit.." he began to say, he then slightly smiled,
as she looked at him she saw there was a clear indication that it was a bit forced,
but before she could say anything, familiar words were flowing out his mouth,
"Don't be sad Sakura, Sasuke will be back soon, I promise"

Sakura crossed her arms and liked away,
"I'm not crying" she said, Naruto's posture dropped,
"I didn't...even say that" Naruto said,
"Well you shouldn't assume how a woman is feeling" Sakura noted,
"Y...yea.." Naruto said.
Sakura noticed Kakashi was no longer there with them,
When did he...

"Guess I'll...catch you later Sakura" he uttered as he began to walk to the village,
Sakura watched him walk away from her,
Naruto...

"You know...I'll accept your apology...over a bowl Ichiraku" Sakura said,
Naruto's face lifted itself with a radiating positivity as if a child had received a surprise gift from his parents,
"Ramen!? Now that you mention it, I'm starving!" he shouted,
Sakura smiled softly as she saw his excited expression.

-Ichiraku Ramen-

Sakura and Naruto sat next to each other in the now iconic shop, they occupied the two middle seats,
she had become very fond of the shop thanks to Naruto, who was the expert on all things ramen,
whenever she would feel bored of a certain taste, it was Naruto who created combinations for her with Teuchi; the owner of the shop,
The best thing for me to do is to have a good time, at least Naruto is here with me, Sakura thought.

Naruto stared at the ramen being with a mouth watering expression, the smell filled the air and encircled the two awaiting customers,
Teuchi's assistant, Ayame engaged in a conversation with Sakura as she handed her a hot bowl of ramen,
"You're becoming a regular here aren't you?" she asked,
Sakura chuckled nervously, guess the place had grown on her a bit more than she anticipated,
"Hahaha yea, thanks to Naruto" she said with a polite voice,
Naruto glanced over to her, a soothing feeling came over him from the way Sakura responded,
Wow...Sakura's being...real nice.

Ayame smiled,
"So, are you two on a date?" Teuchi asked as he passed the bowl,
the faces of the customers became quickly flustered by the question,
"Well, uhh..."
Naruto began to say,
Sakura's eyes veered to the left, she felt
people seemed to ask a question relating to the two being in some sort relationship that was above the friendship kind.

Naruto was especially dense
it seemed as though people naturally paired them together first glance, even Minato, the Fourth Hokage,
thought Sakura to be his romantic partner, she was also quite surprised to find that his father was in fact, Minato.

After the war had settled, Sakura grew somewhat curious about Naruto's parents, even asking her mother about it, her mother smirked,
she knew the day would come when her daughter would start becoming curious about Naruto's parents,
Mebuki began to tell her the story of her rival: Kushina,
the story was vivid, and reminded Sakura of her old rivalry with Ino,
as the story came to a close, Mebuki smiled, something she rarely did when reminiscing about the old days
"It's quite an eye opener, you act just like Kushina and Naruto certainly takes after his father when it comes to his taste in women" Mebuki said,
Sakura's eyes widened a bit, her own mother,
who had always hid her from Naruto, and seemed to not give a wit's end about her own daughter's life,
had suspicions of Sakura's hidden feelings just from that innocent question alone.

Ayame elbowed her father politely, he grunted and just chuckled,
there was really no reaction from from the two, they had almost gotten used to the labels,
"So Naruto, where've ya been lately? Haven't seen ya around" Ayame said,
"Oh..haha I've been studying real hard to be Hokage" he said,
Now that I think about it, I haven't been here in almost two weeks, must be why the ramen smells so good...he thought,
"Aw that's a shame" she said as she cleaned some dishes,

Teuchi smiled,
"It seems just like yesterday you were in here with Iruka getting a bowl, how is the teacher doing anyway?"
"I haven't seen him in a while either, but I know he's doing great" he said,
Teuchi looked over to Sakura,
"You're lucky this busy man has time for you!" he said,
Naruto almost spit out his ramen, Sakura's face turned a bit red as she nervously laughed,
she was completely caught off guard by his statement,
"Father, that's enough teasing!" Ayame said as she puffed, Teuchi laughed,
"I'm sorry Naruto, Sakura, forgive this old man, I just can't seem to let go of my youthful side. You two often remind me of another couple that used to come here when I first opened the store, they were my first customers" Teuchi said,
"Who were they?" Sakura asked,
"The Fourth Hokage and his wife!" he said proudly,
Sakura's face began to turn a bit red, she heard Naruto exhale a quick breath of air, she turned to look at him,
Expecting to see an expression less than positive, but instead there was a blissful smile across his face,
as if he was imagining an entire different life he could have lived,
"Mom and dad eh? I wonder how they were when they first met y know" he said aloud,
Naruto placed his right elbow on the table, his chin rested on his palm as he entered a state of wonder,
Teuchi put a warm towel over his shoulder and placed his hands on his hips,
"They acted a lot like you tw"-
Ayame's foot hit her father's ankle,
"They were perfect for each other, that's what you said, right dad? It's one of his favorite stories to tell" Ayame,
there was a strange feeling of her wanting to glance over to Naruto,
a way to negate this urge was eating ramen.

Naruto then turned to Sakura, however it seemed a little too quickly,
"Say Sakura, how are things with Lady Tsunade?" he asked,
Sakura glanced over at him,
"Lady Tsunade has been getting me ready to take over a high position, I'm being promoted to Surgeon Supervisor" she said,
"Oh wow! that's so great Sakura!" he said, there was genuine happiness in him, but she had doubt he knew what she even meant,
she slouched a bit as if she was preparing herself for exhaustion,
"Not to be mean or anything Naruto, but it's a lot harder than it sounds" she said,
Suddenly, Naruto nodded, he closed his eyes, fixed his posture, and held his finger in the air,
"A Surgeon Supervisor trains up and coming surgeons, after that is Surgeon General, and well...uhhh, I don't really remember the part after that" Naruto said,
he went into deep thought to try and remember,
Sakura's eyes closed and held a big smile,
"Wow, someone's been doing their homework" she said, Naruto's eyes widened, his mouth almost hung,
Her smile was sunshine bursting through dark clouds after a rainy morning, he rubbed the back of his head,
"Yea, Kakashi Sensei and Lady Tsunade make study me study so much, I'm starting to have a hard time forgetting things like that" he said,
Sakura giggled,
"Naruto...that's what happens when you study hard"

She opened her eyes to see him blushing a bit, luckily they didn't make contact for his eyes were closed and he had a big goofy smile,
she quickly turned to her food and sighed,
her wide smile became a bit overtaken by sorrow,
Sasuke... never gives me this...you know what, no...I should just focus on enjoying my time with Naruto.

The two began enjoying their meals, laughing about past events, remembering good times, and even sad ones.

"Hey...Naruto, what are you gonna do about Hinata?" Sakura suddenly asked,
Naruto stopped smiling, he turned to the only crush he ever had,
his eyes lowered as they locked into Sakura's, her eyes also bored a somewhat lowered expression,
but they were aimed towards the almost empty bowl of ramen.

"What do you mean.., Sakura?" Naruto asked,
"She told you she loved you Naruto"

Naruto then averted his gaze, now he too, stared at his own, nearly empty bowl of ramen, there was an uncomfortable silence between the two, the tension could be felt throughout the shop, Ayame and Teuchi constantly moved about, excessively cleaning the areas, checking inventory, it was clear they were not only trying to distance themselves, but keep themselves distracted so they wouldn't accidentally catch any gossip worthy content.

"I don't...know...it's...strange, hearing those words..." he said quietly, the corner of his mouth raised, he chuckled softly,
"What can I do? Hinata...she's my..friend...I don't know how to turn her down" he said.

The silence that returned cake with a vengeance, it was much stronger than before, at this very moment, the two felt isolated from the entire world, Naruto picked up his chop sticks and began fiddling with what was left, he then heard laughter coming from Sakura, he looked up at her,
"That doesn't sound like the number one knuckle headed Ninja I know, running from something like that...confessing your love for someone...it's...it takes courage, and for someone like Hinata...she deserves an answer"

Naruto simply stared at her, Sakura tried to put on a smile to try and convince him of the normality of the situation,
but it seemed to be more of an attempt to convince herself,
Hinata...I feel so sorry for you, you're my friend too, but...this feeling that I've buried deep in my heart for you is slowly digging itself out, I don't wanna hurt you, but what it - if...if it gets out of control?

The isolation like mood between them was shattered like a rock being thrown at a glass ceiling,
"One miso please" a high pitched voice said,
the two turned to the right, a girl with black pigtails stood in a school like dress, she held a box in front her thighs,
her skin complexion was quite fair, she had brown eyes and an innocent smile, a tourist maybe?

"Coming right up ma'am!" Ayame said,
the girl turned, she stood still for a moment as Sakura and Naruto came into her field of vision,
her eyes widened,
"Y...you're...you're Sakura Haruno and...and.. NARUTO UZUMAKI!?" She shouted, her voice was obnoxiously loud,
the two where caught off guard,
"Oh my, oh - I'm sorry, let me introduce myself" she added,
the girl ran over to Naruto, completely disregarding Sakura, the girl bowed in front of him,
"I'm Katsumi Saito" she said in a less obnoxious voice,
as her postured raised and became straight, her eyes closed as her head slightly tilted to the left,
the next words that she uttered sent shock waves through the store,
"Well you...go on a date with me?" Katsumi asked.

Sakura's face went blank, it took a moment for her to realize what had just happened, and when it did, her inner rage had no contestants,
WHO DOES THIS GIRL THINK SHE IS, WE WERE HAVING AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION, YOU CAN'T JUST WALTZ IN HERE AND SAY SOMETHING SERIOUS LIKE THAT TO SOMEONE YOU JUST MET! SHANAROOOO!

Naruto stared at Katsumi for a moment and Sakura stared at him, the seconds it took for him to respond felt like hours to her,
She said that without hesitation, Aw man..I'm here with Sakura already...but...this isn't a date or anything, right? ...and...what about...

"Hi...Katsumi, I'm kinda..well you see aha, I'm kinda in the middle of something..." he began to say,
Katsumi cut him off, not out of rude behavior, but more of an uncontrollable excitement,

"With...Sakura?" she said out loud, oblivious time the world, she turned around to see Sakura forcefully smiling,
"You're on a date...with her?" she asked,
Sakura would have lost it if not for Naruto suddenly looking at her,
there was something across his face that spoke volumes on his curiosity for an answer,
"I..." Naruto began to say, his cheeks began to show a little bit of blushing.

Sakura never intended this little outing to be a date, but deep down,
a rising tide covered the initial category in which she stood on with Naruto, and in such a tense situation,
she lost all confidence, Sakura felt as she once was when she was younger, the feeling of helplessness and fear of the unknown gripped her heart,
Naruto on the other hand, felt his heart racing, normally,
Sakura would immediately shut down any notion of the two being on any level of intimacy,
perhaps she was simply tired of saying no all the time, and wanted him to finally say it himself.

...Naruto...say something...say...say yes?...wait..I...
...Sakura...why aren't you saying no?...is this a..?..

This moment between the two seemed to take hours, however it was only about 2 seconds give or take,
"Isn't she into Sasuke Uchiha?" Katsumi said, breaking the short silence, Naruto and Sakura both looked up at the stranger,
"Sasuke?...how do you know about Sasuke?" Sakura asked,
Naruto's eyes veered down to his left at the ramen bowl, there was a melancholy smirk across his face,
Sakura noticed it, a feeling of dread came over her,
the person she wanted to forget suddenly entered her thought process, and with that,
conflicting feelings bubbled and popped like fizzing hot water.
"Oh I'm sorry" Katsumi said as she opened her lunch box looking box, there was a portable camera along with film and a journal,
"I'm a journalist, my job is to kinda know everything about everyone" she added,

Sakura looked at the new technology, the medical hospitals received a few in order to effectively document surgeries for future classes, references, and books,
it was much faster than the classic antique models that required the photographer to squish their face against the viewing lens,
but this camera wasn't the thing grabbing her attention, it was Naruto, and his completely different reaction that held it, something was new about the way he responded,
but Sakura wasn't given any time to dwell on it, this girl, Katsumi, was quite the mouthful.

"I know a lot about Team 7, but there are lots of things about Naruto that are missing, I was here last month interviewing people who knew Lord Hokage Kakashi Hatake, the famous Copy Cat Ninja, I searched for the three of his students, but you were all either in restricted areas or...ahem..well one of you was in maximum security until recently, that's why I came down here as fast as I could, I wanted an interview with Sasuke Uchiha and if I couldn't, I'd try and find Naruto" she turned and looked at him, it was clear this was more than just a journalist looking for a big scoop,
she was star struck, her brown eyes lit up as she made contact with Naruto, who was a bit flustered,
women had been noticing him more,
but hardly any of them approached him,
some would give him gifts and then run off giggling,
Katsumi was different, and Naruto was completely caught by surprise by her question.

"I'd really LOVE the chance to interview you over a bowl of your favorite ramen" Katsumi said excited like, she sat down to his left,
Sakura couldn't bring herself to say or do anything, this random girl just made a claim on Naruto's single life, and after she had found out he didn't have any mutual feelings for Hinata, not only so, but now, she felt conflicted when Sasuke was brought up,
a stupendous amount of feelings swirled about like a tornado inside her, was she in the right to even try and see if something could work out between them?
After so many years of knowing Naruto, how come in this moment, it was the most difficult to express herself?

"Whattaya say Naruto? Wanna get interviewed?" Katsumi said as she winked at him,
"What about..Sakura, she's apart of Team 7 too" he said, Katsumi chuckled, it seemed a rather uncomfortable one at that,
"That's right, she is...but...I'm looking for the big fish" she said,
Naruto turned to Sakura in hopes to find some kind of disapproval, but...she just...smiled, which confused him plenty,
"It's okay, Naruto, I forgot I needed to run an errand for Tsunade, I'll catch you later" Sakura said as she got up.

"Oh...okay, Sakura, do you want me to walk you home or anything?" He asked,
"It's the middle of the day, I'll be fine, besides, I don't wanna interrupt"

"Thank you for the meal!" Sakura told the chefs of Ichiraku Ramen,
Teuchi smiled as he cooked,
"Thank you, Sakura" he said, his voice was quite cheerful, he genuinely enjoyed Team 7's ramen trips,
though it now was mostly just Naruto and Sakura who went,
Ayame looked at her with a not so gleeful expression, Sakura smiled as she began to leave,
"Nice meeting you, Katsumi!" She said, her inner self was more...enthusiastic so to speak:
ROT IN HELL!
Katsumi smiled,
"Nice meeting you too!" She said.

As Sakura walked away, she could hear Katsumi complementing Naruto, she then heard a 'pss' sound,
she turned to see Ayame standing at the side of the shop,
making a gesture for her to go over to where she stood,
Sakura stared at her oddly for a moment but then quietly walked over,
"Sakura!" Ayame whispered,
"Umm-"
"Shh, Keep your voice down" she said,
"Sorry" Sakura whispered,
"What is it?" She asked,
"Is it true?" Ayame asked, Sakura raised a brow, the ramen chef's face was quite mischievous as it was curious,
"What?" Sakura asked,
"Do you like Naruto?"
Sakura's face turned as red as a volcano,
"N...n...no, we're just friends" she said,
"I've never seen friends stare each other like that before! Plus my dad is real worried about you, he doesn't say much with serious things but his face said it all, and you heard him earlier, you two remind him of Lord Fourth and his wife, I know we weren't around during their time but he gets so happy when you and Naruto show up to eat his cooking, it takes him back, he's been hoping for you two to be something since your team became regulars, I'm not saying do it for him, but my dad sure knows a couple when he sees one, and I agree with him" she said, Sakura was completely blown away by her statement, never in her life did she expect a pep talk from Ayame,
"W...wow...umm...that's..a lot to take in but..I still" Sakura began to say,
"Still have feelings for Sasuke?" Ayame asked, the ramen chef sighed and placed her hands on her hips,
"Oh Sakura, you're in a troublesome spot, that's certain, but what do I know, I just cook ramen for a living" she said,
Sakura grew a bit overwhelmed from Ayame's words, romance was stills foreign subject for Sakura,
she had only ever set her heart on one person in her life, something like this was scary, even dangerous,
"Thanks..I uh, I'll think about it, see ya around" she said as she quickly darted away.

Sakura stood in front of her house, before she entered to commit to house duties, she swam through hard decision process,
Now that I think about it, I got really worked up over that girl talking to Naruto like that...that only used to happen with Sasuke...but...I think...I think I should wait until Naruto tells Hinata...at least that way it's not a surprise...

-end chapter 1-

Okay! SO - there's the ending, I can't lie, it is really hard to write already well established characters, but I don't think this turned out too bad.

Notes on general personalities: Some may notice that characters are very shy when it comes to talking about romanticism, this is because, from what I've personally seen, there was simply no time for romantic growth in any of these characters,
No time to really grow up as normal teens, so something as complicated as love can actually be is foreign to them,
These characters only ever had the idea of love, never experienced it, or even had it reciprocated,
So I'm just having fun with it as well, hope you enjoyed it!

Notes on Mebuki's behavior towards Sakura: Mebuki's behavior has definitely changed towards Sakura,
It does indeed have more positivity than before, the reason for this is because her daughter is growing into a successful independent woman,
not only so but she is a war hero now and has brought high amounts of respect to the Haruno name, so naturally, her mother might be a little nicer.

Notes on Naruto's behavior / personality: In this story, we see a growing Naruto, of course he will be the same knucklehead when he needs to be,
but this in itself gives difficult and challenging writing scenarios (For me anyway)
I wish I could write him as the dense character we all know and love, but he is on his way to becoming Hokage, so there needs to be some kind of growth, right?

I plan on creating intense action scenes in the near future so it's not all boring, please enjoy the first chapter!