Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So if these type of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks.

AN: This story takes place a few months before the Pain saga, right after Sasuke kills Itachi. So Jiraiya is still alive. For those wondering, from here on out the !/? or ?/! is for exclamatory questions, since I can't use the two together in the normal fashion.

It was a quiet morning in Konoha, the sun was just rising over the eastern mountains. It was the middle of October, yet summer winds still swept through the town, as The Land of Fire was warm all year round. Naruto was just waking up with a groggy stretch and a yawn. He scratched his head through his wild spiky golden yellow hair, before rubbing the back of his neck as he licked his dry lips. He looked over at the calendar, which was located on the left side of his bed, and a look of dread came over his face as he narrowed his Cerulean blue eyes. He turned his head back and looked downwards to his signature black t-shirt with the Leaf symbol on it.

Giving a heavy sigh, he could only think of what was to come today, as it did every year as this was the day he despised the most. "Happy Birthday to me." he stated, depression seeping into the tone of his voice. For most this would be a joyous day, a day of celebration, but not for Naruto. No, for him, as well as the rest of the village, this was a day of mourning. A day of sorrow, a day of misery. For this was the day that the Kyuubi, which was sealed inside Naruto, attacked Konaha. Forcing the Forth Hokage to seal the beast inside Naruto, at the cost of his own life. Many were the shinobi and kunoichi who lost there lives that day. Many were the reasons the elders of the village hated him.

Not that he wasn't use to it by now, after all when you lived through it for 16 years, you come to expect their looks of hate and prejudice. How ironic, the Forth was said to have made him the village Hero with that act, yet only for him to be treated like that Villain. Naruto could only scoff and shake his head at the idea, what ever the Forth was thinking, it sure as hell backfired. He pulled back the blankets and swung his legs over the right handed side of his bed. He gently rubbed the marks on the side of his face, a constant reminder of what lay within him. Taking a deep breath and giving yet another long sigh he got up and began preparing for the day.

'This is going to be a looong day.' He thought, as he was heading towards his shower in his Orange boxers. Pealing of the now well wrinkled and sweaty clothes from his body, he turned on the hot water and stepped inside. The heat was refreshing, the water beating down on him was soothing to say the least. The tension already building for the day to come. Naruto was no slouch by any means, even by shinobi standards. Standing at near 6' ft. tall, he was a wall of 195lbs of pure iron clad muscle. Even as a Kid he had next to no body fat on him, an amazing feat considering how much Ramen he usually eats.

Of course, with as much training as he goes through in a day, its not so surprising. You would think with his looks and his build, you would find it hard to believe he was still a virgin. Than again, when you walk around in a big Black and Orange jacket with matching pants, its really hard to get noticed. That and he had been chasing a single girl for about half of his life. One who was adamant about denying him every chance she got. Still he didn't complain about it, right now his main focus was getting Sasuke back to Konaha and with Orochimaru now dead, there was more time to do that in. But the ever looming threat of Akatsuki waiting to strike, he still couldn't drop his guard just yet.

Dunking his head under the water, he went about his daily routine, Shampoo, Conditioner, and the usual scrub down. After rinsing and turning off the water, as well as shaking out the left over water from his hair, Naruto returned to his bedroom and dressed for the day. After putting on his Ninja gear, he went to the kitchen to have breakfast, nothing special just some tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) and rice with miso Raman along with some Orange Juice. After finishing the meal and putting the dishes up, he left to report to the Hokage to see if any missions were available.

The path he chose to the Hokage's office took him by Yamanaka's Flower shop, where Ino Yamanaka was working. It wasn't his favorite street, considering this was the market district, and was the most populated street in Konoha. But it was also the shortest route to the Hokage Mansion. And because of it, and the fact of what day it was, the inevitable stares and glares from passerby's were in abundance. It had tone down as the years had gone by, do to his work and accomplishments as a ninja, but every now and then he would catch one from a stranger as he walked by, but thanks to his past encounters on this day he had come to expect them.

It wasn't so much the younger generation that did it any more, as they began to acknowledge him for what he has done for the village, and had made quite a few friends because of it. However, the older generation still prudently held a grudge against him for that horrible event, so every now and again they reminded him of their prejudice with the all familiar looks of hate he received from his childhood. If Naruto were any less of a man, he would have put them in their place a long time ago, but not willing to prove them right took their looks and glares in stride. It was days like this that he really wanted to talk to Sakura, not that he thought she could alleviate some of his misery, but it would be nice to see a friendly face today.

As if on cue, Naruto heard a familiar voice call his name; "Hey Naruto!" It was Sakura Haruno, Naruto's second best friend and life long crush. Walking up from behind him with a bright smile, one that if he hadn't known better, would have made him thought she was happy to see him.

But even the sight of her couldn't bring him out of this funk, as he replied with a rather glum; "Hey Sakura.." his voice sounding hollow as he greeted her. Walking up next to him, the pink-haired Kunoichi tilted her head to the side, with a frown on her face and a sad look in her emerald green eyes.

"Hmm, what's wrong Naruto, you don't sound like your usual self?" she asked, oblivious to his reason for being down in the dumps.

Naruto just looked at her for a second, she was still wearing her usual red and pink t-shirt and vest, with her black shorts and Ninja boots as usual. He turned his head away quickly, before answering her. "It's my birthday." he said solemnly, it was almost heartbreaking how depressed he sounded.

"Oh…oh!" Sakura replied with a gasp, eyes wide with realization. She was the only other person his age that knew what he meant, having been told his secret on the mission to recover the Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand from the Akatsuki. Suddenly feeling awkward for asking a rather stupid question, Sakura started to scratch behind her head, much like Naruto would. "Uh…well, umm Happy Birthday!" she said, rather sheepishly with a flaccid smile. He looked at her and gave a sort of half-smile that didn't come any where near his eyes.

"Thanks." He said, even though his eyes didn't seem to mean it. He wasn't even trying to hide his misery today.

One look into those sad, broken eyes and Sakura felt her heart crush. It almost made her hate the village for treating him so badly. Yeah she was in love with Sasuke, but lately she was wondering why she even bothered. The guy was so hung up on revenge, he practically left her in tears the night he left, and the one time they saw him at Orochimaru's base he basically said he didn't want anything to do with her. Add to the fact, that even after Itachi's death, the bastard didn't bother to come back. Yet, here stands this tall, blond-hair, blue-eyed, unbearably sweet guy who told her he loved her more times then she could count.

'What the hell have I been doing all this time?'

She thought to her self, feeling slightly guilty, knowing she was also part of his misery. Kami she hated herself for that, how many chances with Naruto did she blow off, for a self-serving, egotistical stoic bastard like Sasuke? She mentally kicked herself for that, she would have to make it up to him later. But she couldn't. Not yet, not till Sasuke was back and she could give him a piece of her mind, and openly accept Naruto so he wouldn't think she was still after that jerk.

But right now she had other things to worry about. She couldn't do much to make up for the huge screw ups in her life, but she could at least try to make him feel better. She had to think of something fast. Suddenly an idea crossed her mind, but she would have to be sneaky about it. "So…um…do you have any plans for later?" she asked, lowering her head to hide the blush. Naruto cocked his head to the side slightly, this was unusual of Sakura, by any means. He had thought of asking why she was acting like that, but considering his mood and the way she usually reacted to such questions, he wasn't really looking forward to being hit right now.

"Um…no not really. Why do you ask?" he questioned, wondering what she was up to.

"Oh…um…No reason." she answered, not wanting to draw to much attention to herself. She raised her head and put on a Naruto like smile, the kind he usually wore when he was trying to hide something.

Naruto himself gave her a suspicious glare, before replying; "Oh…OK. Well I'll see you later Sakura, I'm going to see if Grandma Tsunade has any missions for me." with that said, he gave her a wave goodbye, and headed on to his destination.

'She's up to something…' he thought as he walked away.

'He is soooo not buying it.' Sakura thought as she waved back saying; "Later Naruto!" Even though Naruto had a head as hard as Diamond sometimes, and was a bit scatter brained, even she couldn't deny that when he had his shit together there was little that got by him. Dropping her hand to her side and watching him go with a sigh, she couldn't help but feel sad for him. It actually hurt to see him walk way like that. She was surprised, as she found herself clutching her chest near her heart, did she already love him THAT much? It was right then that the young Yamanaka came running up to Sakura from behind. Sensing her presence, Sakura turned to her letting her hand drop and gave a cheery smile, trying to hide the hole in her heart from her face.

"Hey Sakura, what was that all about?" she asked, pointing towards Naruto, referring to the conversation they just had.

"Oh nothing, well actually, there is something I need your help with." said Sakura, knowing her friend would never turn her down.

As if to confirm her assumption, Ino replied; "Oh sure, what do you need?" wondering what she had in mind.

"Well, it's Naruto's birthday today, and I wanted to surprise him." said Sakura, with a sort of overexcited smile on her face.

At first Ino was shocked and a little confused at the news of the blond jinchuuriki's birthday, considering most would consider such a day a joyous event. Having no idea as to why though, since neither Sakura or Naruto bothered to clue her in on his little secret, decided to let the subject drop. But her surprise faded into an all-to-knowing, teasing smile of her own, as she caught wind of that last part as well as her friends oh-so-obvious expression. "Oh, so you finally decided to accept one of his date invitations? You know I always thought that the two of you would make a cute couple." she teased, although only half-heartedly so, knowing all to well how Naruto felt about Sakura.

Sakura was surprised by her friends' sudden, and rather embarrassing, teasing statement found herself brandishing a rather deep shade of red. Similar to the one Hinata was often seen sporting when around Naruto. Fighting her sudden blush, she tried to play it off as anger, as she replied; "W-what are you talking about?/! I didn't mean any thing like that!" she held up her fists next to her face like she was ready to punch Ino, who only busted up laughing as she held her sides at Sakura's response. Feeling her blush only deepen, Sakura decided it was better to leave the subject untouched, for feeling it would more than likely egg the laughing Yamanaka on.

When Ino finally got control of herself, Sakura continued on saying; "Anyway, I was thinking of throwing a surprise party to help cheer him up." she said, her tone and face completely serious. As soon as the words 'surprise party' left Sakura's lips. Ino's eyes lit up like fireworks on the Summer Festival, and she was in FULL attention with a smile as wide as the Sand desert.

"A SURPRISE PARTY!/?" she squealed, causing some of the patrons around them to stare for a moment, as she jumped up and down excitedly while giggling and clapping her hands like a school girl.

Despite her age, Ino often acted even more immature then Naruto at times. At the sudden out burst, and her sudden embarrassment for being associated with the screaming girl, Sakura treated Ino the same way she would treat Naruto in such situations. "BAKA!" she growled, as she raised a shaking fist over her head. Her eyes becoming like burning flames.

WHAM!

"OWWWW! " said the Yamanaka, as she squat on the ground, as she now sported a rather large lump on her head. All the while Sakura stood over her tapping her foot, while looking rather frustrated, GLAD that Naruto was no longer around to hear the out burst. Suddenly Ino got a very distinctive idea of what it was like to be Naruto for a day. Rising up from her position, she stared Sakura in the eye, unlike Naruto she didn't have a problem confronting her for doing stuff like that. "What was that for?/! Kami, and you hit Naruto that hard?/! Good lord Forehead! I'm surprised he has any brains left!" she exclaimed, as she nursed the poor wound back to health.

Feeling flushed and a little humiliated, Sakura turned on Ino and replied; "Yeah, well that's what you get for suddenly screaming in the middle of the street, Ino PIG! Jeez and I thought Naruto was bad!" Upon hearing this, and namely Sakura's favorite nickname for her, Ino became furious at her and her glare began shooting daggers as they locked eyes and sparks began to fly. However, suddenly hearing Naruto's name again brought Ino back to the subject they began with.

After straightening up, Ino blinked a few times in confusion before asking; "OK but let me ask you something first, why do you care so much all of a sudden?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked in sudden confusion.

"Well it's just up till now you never bothered to even remember his birthday, let alone throw a party for him. Why the sudden change?" Ino asked, rather curious as to why she was so interested in this.

Being put on the spot like that threw Sakura for a loop, and was caught off guard and feeling rather embarrassed, as she didn't know how to answer that one with out the Yamanaka figuring out her little secret. Of all the times for Ino to be clairvoyant and suspicious, this had to be the worst of them. Deciding to ignore the issue, she tried to go with the best friend routine. "Be-because you saw how he was acting, when have you known Naruto to behave like that?" she asked, trying to divert the attention from her.

Ino's eyes just narrowed at Sakura, how could she be so clueless?/! "Actually, quite a bit. You just never seemed to notice." she replied sternly, causing the pink-haired kunoichi to wince slightly. Sakura hated to admit it, but Ino had her there. What was worse she knew half, if not most of his misery, was because of her and Sasuke. 'Could this GET any worse?' she thought; as she hung her head low in shame.

Watching Sakura, Ino couldn't help but giggle, this was almost too much fun. Giving a mischievous smile, Ino thought; 'Well, may as well have some fun with her.'

"Well if you say so, but if you don't want to go out with Naruto, would you mind if I did?" she asked knowing full well what Sakura's answer would be.

To which, she was not disappointed, as the second-top Medical-ninja of the leaf (next to Tsunade of course) grew red with both embarrassment, and jealousy, "W-wait what? NO WAY!" said Sakura; in a jealous fury, that even surprised her.

But it hadn't surprised Ino, in fact she had counted on it. She giggled quietly, before replying; "Oh relax Forehead, I'm just teasing! Not that I can blame you, he sure is handsome. I use to be a full blown hardcore Sasuke fan-girl and even I can see how much of a stud Naruto has become. Truthfully I'm surprised he's still single, I mean sure, he is immature and is a bit dense, but what guy isn't? You know, you should count yourself lucky Sakura, not many guys that hot would stick with one girl for as long as he has. Especially after being rejected so many times."

Of course this didn't stop her from feeling sorry for Hinata, as Kurenai-sensei had made her aware of the young Hyuga heiress's feelings for the blond boy since childhood, on one of Ino's many visits to see her. And since Asuma-sensei's death, those had become quite frequent. She had been keeping Kurenai-sensei company and helping her through the pregnancy and going to her check-ups while Shikamaru was away on missions. But that didn't stop her from having to run the flower shop.

On Sakura's end, however, this seemed to only help her depression as she slumped over in a submissive gesture. Ino had her, thanks to their childhood rivalry they could read each other like a pair of books. If that wasn't bad enough, Ino was rubbing in something she had become painfully aware of. And BOY did she become aware of it! Kami, if Ino only knew how right she was. Hinata would pay a FORTUNE to see what she had seen! Even now the memory of that still gave her sweats, and made her knees grow weak. She would NEVER forget that day!

_Flashback_

It was an extremely hot day in June, the hottest by far in Konoha standards, the kind that would make a dog sweat a river if he could. She had come to tell Naruto about a Mission that Lady Tsunade had for them. "Naruto! Are you there?" She asked, as she knocked on his door for the third time. She must have caught Naruto at the tail end of a shower, cause he answered the door in just a pair of pants, with a towel around his neck drying his hair. From the look of things he only had time to throw them on before he answered the door.

"Hey Sakura, what's up?" He asked, wondering what was on her mind.

The moment she saw Naruto's half naked form, she went bug-eyed! Naruto's sex appeal hit her like a ton of bricks! Bells and whistles went off in her head, and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the now very apparent mountain of muscle before her. Naruto had a lean athletic figure, most common among shin-obi, but the ripples of 100% beef-cake meat on that frame made him look like he was cut from solid marble. His shoulders were surprisingly broad despite his size, framing a chiseled chest that bled into a sea of abs that held no less then a six-pack, and from what the waist band of his pants hinted at possibly an eight-pack. For a split second her eyes shot to the arm he was using to dry his hair, and watched as his beastly biceps, triceps an every other muscle in between danced in a river of motion she suddenly found absolutely fascinating! As she watched, it appeared as if time it self began to slow down, as they flexed and released.

Tracing the arm back up to the shoulder, and down to his chest once more, time once again slowing down for her as she watched as a single drop of water glided down that amazing body of his. She could almost hear her heart beating in her chest, her pulse pounding in her ears, as she watched the drop intently. Finding herself wanting to lick her lips in anticipation. His scent had mixed with the sweat and the water, which had created a pheromone so powerful, it sent shivers of lust down her spine. At that moment, every instinct in her told her to push the boy down, close the door behind her and lick up every drop of water like a cat would a bowl of cream! She would have too, if he hadn't of said something right at that very moment.

Naruto had noticed Sakura staring at him very closely, which was making him kind of nervous, so he decided to strike a conversation as to make her pay attention to his face. "Uhh…Sakura, are you ok?" he asked, rather confused at her strange behavior.

Hearing his voice, Sakura had to force her eyes to meet his, her biggest mistake as it proved to be her down fall. Up to that point, she could have walked away and thought nothing of it, simply the heat of the day playing tricks on her mind, but the moment her eyes met his she was done for! She stared into those Cerulean blue eyes and silently gasped, finding her self mesmerized, hypnotized even by their beauty. He could ask her to kiss him right then and she would do it, blissfully so. How the hell she could have gone with out noticing those gorgeous eyes after all these years was beyond her!

Her once lost breath, returned rigid and shallow in her lungs, forcing her to draw in more of that delicious scent of his with fevered pace. Her hands became cold and clammy, despite the extremely warm weather they were having. Her knees became so weak, they may as well have been jelly under her weight! If she hadn't been frozen in place, she had no doubt in her mind she would have fell flat on her ass right then and there. Her throat was suddenly dry, but was quenched by the gulp, as she was forced to swallow the drool from her previous ogling.

She had seen these eyes thousands of times, and even had seen him like this and even worse, like back in the Forest of Death during the Chuunin exams, but in those times Sasuke had been there to anchor her feelings on him. And even during his Training learning the Rasen Shuriken, she had only seen him from afar. But after their encounter with Sasuke and Orochimaru, she suddenly found her self hating Sasuke more and more. As she continued to stare into those heavenly blue eyes, which right now held confusion, wonder and possibly a little of worry, she couldn't help but wonder why she even chased Sasuke to begin with.

"Sakura?" he called again, trying to snap her out of her trance. His voice had echoed in her ears, as if he was Kami himself, and at that point she wouldn't have denied it. Suddenly, everything he had said began to register, as her mind began to catch up with her hormones. When it did, her memories of the thoughts she had during her trance came back in full force, causing her to blush redder than the vest she wore.

Embarrassed and mortified, she began to desperately try to remember why she had come here to begin with, when the memory came back she answered in a shaky voice; "W-we ha-have a m-mission from L-lady Tsunade." Suddenly she knew what it was like for Hinata, no wonder the poor girl couldn't talk to him! Seeing him as he is now, she could understand it completely.

Not sure what to make of her new behavior, Naruto raised an eyebrow and stared at her. Sakura was never one to be shy about anything, so when she started acting like this, he found it kind of strange. "Um…Sakura are you feeling ok? Your starting to sound like Hinata." he asked, wondering what was wrong with her.

At the first mention of the Hyuga princess, Sakura suddenly schooled her features and forced out a reply of; "I-I'm fine, really! Never better!" as she sheepishly smiled and tried to give a dismissive wave, only to find her arms felt like they were full of lead. "Except I feel like I got hit by a freight train, good grief Naruto! Could you be any sexier!/?' she thought as she let her arms drop to her sides. Taking one last long good look at the man before her, making sure to eye every detail, she could only think of two words at the moment; 'Hell NO!' she unconsciously licked her lips as the words passed her mind. Just what the hell was happening to her?/! Even she couldn't figure it out. Though she had to admit, this was one of the few times she was glad he was so oblivious to the ways of seduction, if he knew half of the things he was doing to her, he would never let her live it down. Sakura had to force her eyes as fast as she could to his once more, trying to distract herself.

"Um…OK, just give me ten minutes so I can get dressed." he said, as he flashed that brilliant trademark smile of his that made her damn near faint. She could only nod her head in agreement, now having long forgotten how to use her voice. When he finally closed the door, Sakura backed up towards the wall in his hallway, leaning against it she felt the tension in her body she didn't even know she had flow out of her and slid to the floor. Her mind raced with the images of what she had seen and thought, she closed her eyes, she felt her heart quiver which sent shock waves running through out her entire body. A shaky moan escaped her lips as it passed, her eyes popped open the moment it happened. 'Where did that come from?/!' she thought, wondering why she even did it.

It was right then, as she sat on the floor of the apartment hallway, she noticed a strange wetness in her shorts. Her eyes widened at the discovery, not wanting to look, she placed a shaky uncontrolled hand over top of her womanhood. Sakura gasped at the feeling of moisture on her fingers, not sure where it came from, then instinctively slid her hand into her shorts under her panties and to her horror learned the shocking truth. Her pussy had been drenching wet, and had soaked her panties and shorts clean through! Her curiosity getting the better of her, she carefully and attentively placed her index and middle finger, inside the mound in question. It was there she found a rather engorged and very sensitive clitoris, and as she slightly brushed against it, she forced her other hand over her mouth and closed her eyes to prevent what would have been an extremely loud moan from escaping her lips.

Feeling adventurous, she let her fingers slide further down, were she found the source of the moisture in question, said fingers having "accidentally" slid inside the pulsing entrance. Feeling the sudden pleasure of the action, she shook her head violently as she struggled to contain the moans in her throat. Pulling the digits from her shorts and panties, she slowly opened her now hooded eyes, and looked at them. They were completely covered from tip to base in love juice! She spread the fingers slightly and watched as a ribbon of it clung to the now parted digits. An image of Naruto's grin flashed before her eyes, and she knew, she knew then the cause of all this.

'All this because of HIM!/?' she thought, as her eyes went wide, the realization had hit her like a sledge hammer. However, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She had always wondered why when he left, she felt hollow, empty even. Funny how not even three years ago, the very idea of this happening would have mortified her. But after every thing they had been through, and what she had just seen and felt, who would blame her? Realizing that Naruto could come out at any minute, she forced her still weak and lust ridden body off the ground. 'I have to get out of here.' she thought, as she bolted for the door to the apartment building. There was still plenty of time, time enough to get to her place, and get a change of shorts and panties.

_End Flashback_

Needless to say that mission had been an emotional disaster on her part, it was a B-rank escort mission, with her and Naruto along with one overly observant Sai and one extremely alert and perverted Kakashi. Surprisingly it had gone off with out a hitch, despite some very embarrassing moments for her part. After they got back, Sakura spent the rest of the day practically locked in her room, and thankfully having put a sound barrier up continued her exploration that she started in Naruto's place. Thinking of that day, still brought shivers and moans from her, not that she would let them be seen or heard. But the image would linger in her mind forever.

Ino watched as Sakura let out one dreamy sigh after another, she could only blink at what Sakura could possibly be thinking about. Having heard five of them so far, decided it was time to bring her back down to Earth. "Sakura? Helloooo, Earth to Sakura!" she said, waving a hand back and forth over Sakura's eyes.

The sudden movement brought Sakura out of her daze with a start. "W-what what?/!" she asked in a panic, wondering why Ino was so close to her all of a sudden.

Ino stared in confusion, and possibly worry. "Are you feeling ok?" she asked, giving Sakura a strange look, "One moment, you were standing there talking to me, and the next you were off in La-la Land!" she explained, as she tilted her head to the side.

Feeling rather embarrassed at spacing out like that, Sakura's hand immediately shot to the back of her head, and chuckled and smiled in a very Naruto like fashion as she replied; "Oh sorry about that! Anyway, I'm fine really. No need to worry about me." she gave another chuckle before her other hand gave a dismissive wave.

Ino couldn't keep the smile off her face even if she tired, this was just too rich! Thrown into a fit of giggles she laughed out; "You must have it pretty bad, if your starting to imitate him!"

Sakura's eyes went wide once more, dropping her hand to her side. She hadn't even realized she was doing it. In a fit of nerves, she yelled out; "S-shut up!" right before she bopped her on the head again.

But this time Ino barely felt it, the endorphins from the previous blow, along with laughing so hard dulled the pain. "Guess the cat's out of the bag, eh Sakura?" she asked with another small giggle, while she rubbed her head from the blow.

Realizing she had been defeated not only by Ino, but her own body language, Sakura blushed red enough to make Hinata jealous and started to push her index fingers together asking; "You won't tell will you?" she paused before continuing, "The last thing I need is for him to think I like him out of pity, or that he's just a rebound from Sasuke." Sakura pouted with puppy dog eyes, trying to prove the urgency of her point.

Ino quirked an eyebrow at the child like behavior, when was the last time she seen Sakura look that pathetic? Giving a rather playful sigh, Ino looked at her with an equally playful grin, and said; "OK fine, I won't tell a soul. Now what do you need for this party?" she asked, bringing them back on topic.

Sakura's eyes lit up like Christmas trees, as she asked; "So you will help?/!" she suddenly found her heart racing in excitement, which was a surprise in it's own rite.

Nodding, Ino complied by saying; "Well of course, I did say I was going to right? Besides he saved my teams butt with the Kakuzu and Hidan situation, so I guess I owe him." Having remembered the moment Naruto killed Kakuzu with one blow and an elegant display from the Rasen Shuriken, she had to admit she had a lot of respect for the guy.

Putting on one of her own genuine "Sakura" smiles. Sakura placed her hands behind her back, while tilting her head and replied; "Thanks Ino."

Of course, Ino being Ino, couldn't let this opportunity slip as she said with a snicker; "Sure, no problem. Just remember to send me an invite to the Wedding!" she soon burst into laughter as she finished.

Sakura's eyes shot open, and this time allowing anger to consume her, grabbed Ino by the collar began to shake her furiously as she screamed; "I'LL KILL YOU!" all the while Ino continued her laughter. When they finally calmed down, the began to work out the details of the Party.

Naruto arrived at the Hokage mansion, where he bumped into Shizune, who greeted him with a smile.

"Hey Naruto, how have you been?" she asked, in her usually chipper manor, but frowned noticing Naruto's glum expression.

"Hey Shizune…" he replied, as he struggled with a half-hearted smile. Suddenly Shizune was very worried for his change in demeanor, normally Naruto was all 'sunshine and daisies' so to speak, but right now he made a night in the Morgue look like stand-up comedy hour at the local bar.

"Naruto are you feeling ok? You look like something Tonton dragged in." she asked, wondering what could have the infamously upbeat Naruto so down lately.

He kept walking on, not bothering to look at her before answering; "It's my birthday." to which the raven haired kunoichi gasped in realization, but he didn't stick around for apologies or 'Congratulations' as he went straight into Lady Tsunade's office.

Tsunade looked up from the documents she was reading to see who had entered. Surprised to see it was Naruto, as he usually entered with him calling her Grandma or some other form of the term, signifying her as an Elder. She looked at him with a weary set of eyes, wondering if she should go through with it. Seeing him as he was now, she could almost predict how this was going to go.

"Hey Granny…" said Naruto, in a rather half hearted greeting. Tsunade didn't even register the greeting, as she heard the pain emanating from him, and had to fight down her motherly instincts to go up to him and hug him tightly and make him feel better. Still trying to at least humor him, she let out a frustrated growl, accompanied by her usual glare. This gave him a somewhat light hearted smile, before she began to address him.

"What is it Naruto, is something on your mind?" she asked, trying to delay the impending doomed conversation to come. She was NOT looking forward to this, if Jiraiya ever came back, the only thing he could look forward too was a body bag! How he managed to rope her into doing this was beyond her understanding. He had to pick TODAY of all days, to have her tell Naruto the truth. 'I really HATE that man!' she thought as she waited for Naruto's answer. Judging by his mood, this situation just went from bad to volatile!

"Actually I was wondering if you had a mission for me, any thing to get me out of this town for the day." he answered honestly, with a heavy sigh. The misery oozed off of him like a black fog bank, threatening to devour him entirely. 'I really, REALLY hate that man!' she thought, as she stared at Naruto. Seeing him like this, she really didn't want to do this.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but all missions have been assigned, besides the Akatsuki have been sighted in Fire Country and I can't risk you being off on your own right now." she replied, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer she gave him.

"Perfect…" said Naruto with a dejected sigh, as if this day couldn't get any worse! Now he was stuck here 'till they left. "…well then, I'll be seeing you later." he concluded as he turned to head for the door.

However Tsunade stopped him by calling his name; "Just a minute Naruto! I would like to have a word with you." she said, as he turned the handle.

"Hmm? What is it?" he asked, as he turned to listen to what she had to say.

Tsunade motioned her hand towards the chair in front of her desk. "Have a seat." she requested, to which he quickly complied. Unknowingly to Tsunade, he had accidentally left the door slightly ajar, breaching the sound proof barrier. Looking at Naruto, Tsunade gave a hefty sigh of her own, before looking him straight in the eye and said; "Naruto, there is something I need to discuss with you..." she paused there to gauge his reactions, she knew there was no way to sugar coat it, so she got to the point of the conversation, "...Understand that what I'm about to tell you, is of the utmost secrecy, so much so that I'm breaching the law of my predecessor by doing so. There is something that has been kept from you, something you may not even like." she stopped there as she watched him.

Naruto's eyes opened in wonder, and yet at the same time a small amount of fear, he could tell what ever she was about to tell him wasn't good. He nodded, signaling her to continue. To which she complied. "First, let me start by saying, that it was decided by the Third Hokage that you were not to hear this until you were eighteen. But with the increased activity of the Akatsuki as of late, Jiraiya and I thought that it would be best to tell you while we can, in the odd chance that something happen to either of us." she paused there, narrowing her eyes on Naruto, as she leaned against her desk on her elbows with her fingers folded covering her mouth. 'Or you for that matter.' she thought before she continued.

"Naruto, how much do you know about the Forth Hokage?" she asked as if it were a simple question, she almost dreaded his reaction to this.

Naruto for his part seemed confused on the question, subtlety was not his strong suit. But he answered regardless. "Not much really. Why do you ask?" he asked, with a blank stare. Tsunade, upon hearing his reply, got up from her desk and proceeded to take a from the drawer of her desk.

"Have a look at this." She said, as she tossed the file too him.

Naruto read the file cover, the name read "Minato Namikaze" as he opened the file, his eyes opened wide in shock! "W-what is this?/!" he asked in a panic, you could even hear it in his voice. "Why does he look like me!/?" he almost growled that last part, the anger seeping into his voice which could be seen in his eyes.

'Here we go…' she thought, as she took a bracing sigh. "Because, Naruto, he-he's your farther." she said, bracing for the inevitable.

The news of this hit Naruto like a bolt of lightning as he cried out; "WHAT!"

AN: Well this is my first fanfic, so those who read it I ask you, be nice! R&R! I hope you like it! OK I know I screwed up with the climate, but that will change, so sorry if that was inaccurate. Edit: I know I screwed up on the timeline once again with Kurenai's pregnancy but it should be ok now sorry for the constant changes!