A/N Hey readers! This is my very first attempt at a Naruto fanfic. I know I kind of went out of what my profile says I'm doing, but this idea just kind of jumped into my head. Personally, I don't think it's that great, but I'm just writing because I need to oil my writing materials. I just found out that in my "Byakugan Daughter" fanfic, I completely messed up the time period…so I'm just writing this story as a break from the Hyuuga side of Naruto…Enjoy!

From a bystander's viewpoint, anyone could tell that the relationship between Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura was a one-way street ever since the Genin years.

Naruto liked Sakura. Sakura disliked Naruto. End of story. Put up the stop sign.

Not only did Sakura pay no attention to Naruto, she had also been deeply in love with Uchiha Sasuke. Oh, that mad, sadistic, genius, Sharingan-user Sasuke was the heartthrob of Konoha. His sharp eyes, layered spiked hair, his deep hard-toned Avenger's voice…who wouldn't fall for him? And yet, Sasuke was the heartbreaker of all the girls in Konoha. He always believed that anyone who was his friend would hinder him from killing his older brother Itachi who had massacred the entire Uchiha clan.

Over the course of months, Team 7 had become a small family—but Sasuke chose revenge over his friends and hometown. After Team 7's mission to Tea Country, Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. Naruto appeared to be experiencing an extreme level-boost as a ninja. Suddenly, the insane dropout of the Ninja Academy was rapidly picking up new techniques such as Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) and Rasengan. When Sasuke once met Itachi by chance, the older Uchiha even said that he had no interest in Sasuke, but Naruto. All this was making Sasuke look pathetic.

So, the Sharingan-user betrayed Konoha and left to take Orochimaru's powers…just to be sure that he would be able to kill Itachi in the very end and to be stronger than his rival Naruto.

The poor pink-haired kunoichi tried everything to make Sasuke stay. She reminded her crush of the good times and of the bond that tied her to Sasuke, and inevitably, the entire village. She wailed, begged, promised that she would do anything for Sasuke. All her attempts were in vain. Sasuke had struck Sakura unconscious to prevent her from alerting others. Then, without a backwards look at the town that had so carefully nurtured its children, Sasuke left with the Sound Four for the promise of the powers he craved.

Now, now…Sakura didn't completely disregard her other teammate, Naruto. It was during the Chuunin exams that Sakura had begun to develop a true respect for Naruto. Even though he was still Konoha's most knuckle-headed ninja, even though he was still the most hyperactive boy, and even though, well, he still used his Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique), Naruto definitely had grown up.

All people who met Uzumaki Naruto became his friend through his power of being able to change others…He had convinced Hyuuga Neji to completely take a 180-degree turn at a view of life, he encouraged Morino Idate to trust others, and most importantly, he never gave up, nor took back his word. And Sakura admired all of those actions. At first, her admiration was just awe from a teammate, but it soon became the blossom of Love. It soon became official to Sakura herself that she was truly in love with Naruto.

It was easy for Naruto to admit to himself (and everyone else for that matter) that he loved Sakura. It wasn't a twelve-year-old Genin's crush over a girl either—it was a mature love for a childhood friend. Over his time away from Konoha with Jiraiya-sensei, he dreamt of Sakura. Night and sleep was a reward for the hard training with Ero-sennin—after all, in his dreams, he saw himself dating Sakura, holding her hand while eating at the Ichiraku Ramen booth. While he did see Sakura as pretty, he didn't only like her for that trait. She was smart and a powerful medic nin, having received training from the Fifth Hokage Tsunade-sama.

But it wasn't easy for Sakura to admit that she liked…no…loved Naruto. She had dropped hints to her other ninja friends Ino, Tenten, and Hinata that she was over her long-term crush on Sasuke, but she was still embarrassed to even hint about quitting on Sasuke to Naruto, much less confess about her true feelings.

Sakura knew that she truly loved Naruto. Naruto didn't know it yet. Sakura's only problem was admitting her feelings without embarrassment.

That, my friends, is where our true story of two young lovers begins…