Sakura counted down under her breath as she stared down the wooden door of Naruto's apartment. She heard keys jingle, and Naruto whistling to himself as he jimmied the lock on his door. It creaked open and a hand reached in and switched the light on.

"Surprise!" a chorus of voices greeted his arrival.

Naruto was holding a kunai to the throat of the person who was in front of him in a quick motion. It only took him a second before he realized his mistake, seeing that Sakura would most definitely not be out to kill him. Upon realizing this, he dropped the kunai and looked around his apartment. All his friends, even Teuchi and Ayame from Ichiraku Ramen stand were there, looking at him funny because of his uncalled for reaction.

"Ah...erm...ah," he stuttered before Sakura hit him on the head, lightly.

"You idiot!"she yelled. "We're throwing you a party, not trying to kill you!"

The atmosphere generally loosened up at that statement. Many people laughed slightly nervously and struck up conversations with each other as Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Ah...yeah...erm...I knew...that..?" His face flushed.

Sakura sighed and Naruto knew he was forgiven. He grinned his trademark grin at her and said, "Well, let's get this party started then!"

Sakura inwardly facepalmed at the cheesy statement but instead just shook her head and led Naruto around. Many people waved at Naruto and wished him a happy birthday. It took them all of ten minutes just to reach the snack table. It was elaborately set up with food, with a large orange-frosted cake with the symbol for Konoha frosted in the middle. There they found Kakashi and Jiraiya in a deep discussion about who knows what. The only words Sakura and Naruto caught were, "...Kyuubi... acting strange.. seal," before they got abruptly cut off by Naruto's loud yell of,

"Ero-sennin! I thought you were on a mission in the Tea country?"

"Well, I was, but I just managed to get back to Konoha in time for your birthday!" Jiraiya said, discounting the nickname his apprentice had used for him.

"I...erm... kinda forgot it was my birthday today," Naruto said, scratching his head sheepishly once again. He had not actually forgotten, as it was also the day the nine tailed demon fox had attacked Konoha. Because of the unfortunate event that the demon had been sealed into him that night, many villagers believed he was the fox and had been torturing him all day. It would never be easy for Naruto Uzumaki to forget his birthday.

He did WHAT?! How can you for get that it's your birthday? Sakura fumed to herself. We went through all this trouble for this? Naruto's loud voice jarred her back into focus,

"But this is awesome! Thanks, guys!" Naruto's whiskered face was set in a sincere grin.

Wait, whiskered?Hmm... I've never given much thought to why Naruto has those six whisker-like strokes so artistically marked on his cheeks. Are they tattoos? No, Naruto would never get a tattoo, much less six. Does he paint them on? No, I know for a fact that Naruto has no artistic talent whatsoever, so he would never be able to paint six perfect lines in the exact same place on his face every morning. Sakura ran through quite a few scenarios in her mind, but pushed the thoughts to the back of her head when she saw that Naruto was waving a hand in front of her face. Sakura blinked a couple of times and blushed, seeing Jiraiya, Naruto, and Kakashi all staring at her.

"Sakura? Hello? Anyone home?"

"Huh? Sorry, I kinda spaced out for a sec."

"Yeah, you did! You were staring off with a weird look on your face. Anything wrong?"he asked, looking concerned.

"No, I'm okay,"Sakura forced a smile and thought to herself, I guess I'll try to figure out the mystery of his "whiskers" later.

"So, how about you two go join the party and enjoy yourselves," Jiraiya said.

"Great idea, Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya inwardly cringed at his apprentice's nickname for him,but let it slide this one more time. 'Let the kid enjoy his birthday party.'

Sakura lead Naruto through the crowd by the wrist, searching for someone to talk to. There was music in the background and people everywhere. Naruto must be more popular than he thought.

"Hey, Naruto? What do you think that Jiraiya and Kakashi- sensei were talking about before we interrupted them?"Sakura said, elbowing the hyperactive ninja to get his attention..

Naruto instantly paled and pointedly looked in a different direction before answering, "Uh...I have no idea."

Sakura noticed his peculiar behavior but decided not to address it, instead changing the subject completely, "What do you think of your party so far, Naruto?"

Naruto's face instantly lit up, like she had just given him a free bowl of ramen.

"It's great!"he said, excited. "Though it is kind of loud," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"Konoha's number one most hyperactive ninja, not liking noise? Who are you and what have you done with Naruto?"Sakura jokingly said, rather yelled than said, over aforementioned noise.

"How about we go into my bedroom to get away from it. Would you mind that Sakura-chan?"

"Why don't you just call me Sakura, as I just call you Naruto."

"So is that a yes, Sakura?

"I guess so."

The two maneuvered surprisingly quickly through the thick crowds,before finally reaching a door of which Sakura presumed lead to Naruto's room.

"After you, my lady," Naruto said mockingly as he held the door open for her.

Sakura giggled very slightly and stepped inside, Naruto following right behind her. They both sat down on Naruto's bed, Sakura cringing slightly at the neon orange bedspread.

Sakura's eyes traveled over Naruto's room. It wasn't as messy as the rest of the house, surprisingly. Sure, it had its fair share of clutter, but it relatively surprised Sakura how clean it was. After its quick sweep over the blonde's room, Sakura's gaze settled on said blonde's face.

Oceanic blue eyes, trademark grin, leaf headband, and last but not least, those whiskers! Sakura made up her mind then and there that she would ask Naruto about them tonight, if not tonight, then tomorrow.

"Sakura-cha-Sakura?" Naruto asked somewhat timidly, stuttering as he tried not to use the suffix. Sakura frowned since the loudmouth blonde was never shy.

"Umm... well, you were looking at me funny." Naruto quietly stated.

Sakura blushed, realizing that she had been staring at him, but then her face turned stony.

"Naruto I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer it honestly, no if's, and's, or but's about it."

"Anything, Sakura-chan!" Naruto's face brightened up considerably. Sakura sighed at the added honorific, but didn't mention it.

"Naruto," she began, "Why do you have those whisker-like marks on your face?"

His once jubilant smile slid off his face like molasses. Sakura even felt a little bit guilty about making him feel this way, but curiosity got the better of her and she quickly shook the feeling off. How bad could his reason really be?

The silence was tense. Naruto's face looked panic-stricken and Sakura idly wondered why such a simple question had caused him so much grief. A little worm of guilt squirmed into her heart once more, and this time she couldn't shake it off.

"Na...ru...to?" Sakura asked, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen on them. Naruto, though, seemed to be lost in his own mind, though, in fact that was exactly what was going on. Naruto was having a conversation with the Kyuubi in his head. You see, the relationship between the fox and the blonde had become more of a master and pupil as soon as the Kyuubi had told Naruto about being forced to attack Konoha by none other than Madara Uchiha himself. The demon fox was still bloodthirsty and strived to get free, but looked fondly upon his jailor now, looking in Naruto's best interests.

"Kid, she may end up hating you, but if you don't tell her about me now, and she ends up finding out on her own, she'll most likely hate you even more because you kept such a huge secret from her." The fox demon's monstrous eyes gleamed from behind the gigantic bars.

"I see what you mean. But what if she does hate me? What if she sees me as a monster?"

"If she can't see past the fact that you contain me inside of you, then she's definitely not worth your time anyways. She'd just be like another one of those horrible villag-"

"She's not like that! She's so much smarter than one of them," Naruto retorted, angry that the fox would condemn Sakura without knowing her.

"Did I ever say she was? If she's so much better than them, then what've you got to lose?"

"I guess you're right then. But I'm still worried; if she sees me as a monster then I won't be able to live with myself. She's my.. best friend. What if I was wrong? What if she is just like one of them? What will I be able to do to convin-"

Naruto's whining what-if's were cut off, "Just stop. You were so sure just a second ago that she could have no faults. You either go for it now or keep lying to her for the rest of your sad little life."

"Thanks Kyuubi. I think I'll tell her."

Naruto took a deep breath and left the sewer-like subconsciousness of his mind, the giant chamber and glowing red eyes behind bars fading slowly away.

"Naruto?" Sakura tried once again. When he didn't answer she gave him a light slap to the face. "Naruto!"she said fiercely.

"Wh-what?" Naruto shakily asked.

"Answer me!"

"Well, uh, erm, what was the question again?" he managed to squeak out, his voice getting dangerously high-pitched at the end.

"Naruto, you baka, you know perfectly well what the question was, now I want some answers!" Sakura growled at him.

Naruto hurriedly nodded his head and started talking. He was determined to tell her the truth now. "Well, erm, uh, You know when the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha, Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded, wondering how this had anything to do with Naruto's whiskers, or if maybe he was trying to change the subject by saying something completely off topic. "So, the Yondaime defeated him right?"Sakura nodded so he continued, "Wrong. A Biju, as an immortal, cannot die, so the 4th had to use an old forbidden jutsu. That jutsu could be used to seal it into an infant, as it cannot be sealed into an adult because a newly born child's chakra coils are not fully developed yet and can accept the new chakra without being killed. It so happened that on that fateful night his wife had given birth to his child, and, in doing so, dying. He sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of all the tailed beasts, into his first born child. That was how he died."

"I was an infant around the time of that attack," Sakura began thoughtfully, "So that means that this jinchuriki is our age! I wonder who it is?" she said, not yet catching on.

Then it all clicked as Naruto said just two simple words that were so quiet she barely caught them as they escaped his mouth, "I am."

Her emerald eyes widened. That explained everything. Well, except for his inexplicable love for ramen. It explained his unimaginable amounts of stamina and his over jonin level amounts of chakra, even the mysterious red chakra that sometimes surrounded him while fighting. It also explained why everyone hated him. The elders and older jonin speaking badly about him, mercilessly beating him sometimes. Why other kids were mean to him back in the academy days, making fun of him, hurting him even. Sakura had always thought it was because of the pranks he had pulled back then, now she realized those pranks had been cries for help. The one thing that hadn't made sense to her back then was why many villagers and kids would call him "demon" or "fox brat", not that Sakura had cared back then, when she had been obsessed with her precious "Sasuke- kun". Well where had that obsession gotten her? Nowhere, it just gave her a buttload of depression when Sasuke abandoned Konoha and left her lying unconscious on a stone bench in the middle of the night.

It also explained why he had had no friends. She had been there through all of that. If only she had reached out to him, comforted him, become his friend. Instead she had shunned him like all the rest, blinded by her supposed "love" for the Uchiha, too obsessed with becoming popular to see the lonely little boy crying on the swing set, obviously wanting nothing more, nothing less, than a friend. Yes, back then, she was blinded.

But Naruto had forgiven them all, given them second, third, maybe even hundreds of chances and she had just ruined it. Sakura felt her eyes stinging but quickly rubbed them before Naruto could see.

Sakura looked up from the bed spread where she had been absentmindedly playing with a stray piece of fuzz.

Naruto looked timid, scared, fearful even. He looked at Sakura like she was going to yell at him, hit him again. Would she think of him as a monster now?

Sakura raised her arm slightly and Naruto flinched, thinking she was going to hit him, but instead she enveloped him in a friendly, comforting hug.

"Don't worry Naruto-baka I would never hate you for something sealed inside of you," she whispered in his ear.

She felt his tense body slowly relax as she let go of the friendly embrace.

"So, do those whiskers of yours do anything?" Sakura inquired, all tension and awkwardness gone from the air.

"I dunno exactly what they do, 'cause I've never been awake to find out. As soon as they get touched, just brushed on, it's like some sort of electric shock goes over me and I fall unconscious. When I wake up I usually find myself surrounded by a state of total destruction. I would never want you near me when it goes down- what if something happened to you? I would never be able to forgive myself. Pretty crazy, but at least I've never killed anyone. Kyuubi won't tell me what happens, though."

"Wait- you can talk to that thing?!"

"Yeah, sometimes it shows me into my mind where it's kept and talks to me, though that's mainly in life or death situations."

"Naruto, would you mind going to the training grounds with me after the party and seeing what happens when your whiskers get touched? I think I can handle myself against you," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I don't know.. What if something happened?"

"C'mon, Naruto! It would be exciting and you would finally understand what happens to you, no matter what that old fox thinks you should know."

"Su-sure,"Naruto was still kind of working with the fact that he had told Sakura about the Kyuubi and she didn't hate him, not even in the least bit."

"C'mon, knucklehead, let's go get some cake."

"Ooh! Ooh! Is it ramen flavored ?"

Sakura made a face and gave him a look that plainly said, "Are you serious?!"

"I was just kidding!" Naruto grinned sheepishly and gave a nervous laugh.

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End of Chapter Number one!

Like it? Hate it? Review and say it! That sounded stupid... but it rhymed, sorta. I'm looking forward to reviews 'cause I don't know if this is any good. This is my first Naruto fic and second fic in general. Hopefully I'll have the second chapter up in a few weeks, I'm not really good with timing, so let's hope for the best! Comments , compliments, and constructive criticism are appreciated.

-ManateeFace