A/N: I apologize for any spelling and grammar errors. I also apologize that this chapter is short, but the lengths of future chapters will increase over time.

Chapter 1

Giggle.

Smile.

Insert a flip of hair here.

More smiles.

Flutter the eyelashes.

Then finally...a wink.

Across the small cafe, a boy began to blush. Four pairs of eyes watched as he waved a waiter over with a trembling hand. It was almost too pathetic too watch, but nevertheless, entertaining as he said something to the worker and motioned his hand in a particular direction. The waiter, who glanced up, nodded to the customer with understanding before moving to disappear into the kitchen. Five minutes later, he returned with a plate of four slices of cheesecake covered with strawberry sauce. He walked through the cafe, approaching a group of four girls.

"Ladies," he said with a dazzling smile as he set each dessert in front of each girl, "These are for you... A treat from the young man over there." He jerked his head in the direction of the still blushing boy.

One of the girls giggled and gave the waiter a cheerful smile. "Please tell him we said thank you very much."

He nodded. "Of course." Then he left.

It wasn't until the worker was gone from earshot did the group of girls then lean forward toward each other and began to gossip furiously. One in particular was pointing accusingly to the pinkette sitting across from her. "Damn forehead, you really know how to get them!"

"It's all about body language," Sakura smirked as she picked up a fork. Cutting a piece of her free (to her) cheesecake, she gave the boy another wink before taking a bite. With a smug look, she watched as the boy began to blush even more; his face taking a darker shade of red.

Tenten, who was sitting across the table and beside Ino, gave a low whistle. "Keep this up, and he may break Hinata's blushing record."

Said Hyuuga felt her own face heating up, and she looked down in a useless attempt to hide it.

Ino snorted in amusement. "I swear, billboard brow. Any guy, anywhere, you know how to get their attention," the blonde said before digging into her own cheesecake. The other two kunoichi quickly moved to follow her lead. It wasn't until they were done and exiting the cafe, did Sakura finally respond to her words.

"I just know what guys want to see and want to hear."

"You mean there's more than just showing off our legs, boobs, and telling how amazing they are?" Tenten questioned, shooting a knowing look in Ino's direction, whom rolled her sky blue eyes.

"Hey!" she said, "I'm not the one who's single here!"

"A-Actually, Ino-chan," Hinata spoke up, her voice soft, but loud enough for her friends to hear. "You broke up with that Kenichi boy last week, remember?"

Ino blinked. "Oh? I didn't tell you that I got a new boyfriend yesterday?"

Tenten face-palmed, "Wow, Ino. You're such a slut."

"You're just jealous of my beauty! ...and my skills in bed!"

"I don't even want to know what you do in your bed!"

"Lies! I bet you wish you could do at least half of the things I can do in my bed!"

"Ino, that is just wrong! I really don't want to hear anything about your sex life!"

"Please, you're dying to hear what I did when Sai and I-"

"Lala, I'm not listening!"

"-or when-"

"STILL NOT LISTENING!"

Hinata and Sakura watched in amusement as their two friends charged forward down the road, forcing people to quickly move out of their ways. Or more like, Tenten was trying to runaway with her hands covering her ears, and Ino was chasing after her and going on and on about her experiences. Sakura shook her head, shooting a wide grin at the shy girl walking beside her.

"There they go again."

Hinata nodded, a small knowing smile shaping her lips, but said nothing. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they followed the other half of their group, but at a more moderate pace. Almost five minutes passed when a Genin suddenly appeared before them, jumping down from the roofs above.

"Sakura-onee-san! Tsunade-obaa-chan wants to see you!"

"Thank you, Konohamaru," Sakura smiled at the young boy, emerald eyes scanning over his body. "Say, did you get taller?"

"Half an inch!" he declared happily. "Well, I got to go now! I have to go and deliver something to Iruka-sensei!"

Sakura gave him a nod, and after he left, turned to Hinata. "I'll be leaving then."

She nodded, "I'll tell Ino and Tenten that you went to go see the Hokage."

Sakura smiled. "I'll see you tonight at Ino's house for the sleepover. Later, Hinata-chan!" She formed a single hand seal and disappeared into a puff of smoke...to reappear right outside the windows of the Hokage's office a moment later. With a deep breath, she slid one of the windows opened and swung her leg into the oval shaped room.

"You called for me, Tsunade-sama?"

The named woman jumped in her seat. A few cursed words filled the air. "Damn it, Sakura! Why can't you be normal and knock at the door like everybody else?" she complained, turning around in her chair. Sakura took note of the small wet stain on her shirt, and the now empty sake cup in her right hand. "You made me waste perfectly good sake!"

"You do know that the only one to 'knock at the door' is Shizune-onee-san, correct?" she questioned, slipping the rest of her body into the office. After sliding the window closed, she moved to stand in front of the Hokage's desk. "Everybody else either transports directly into your office, walks right through the door, or - like what I did - use the window. So...technically, comparing myself to everyone else, I am 'normal.' Though, I question what your definition of normal is in the first place."

Honey brown eyes glared darkly into a pair of amused emerald.

"Shut up, Haruno."

Sakura raised a hand and figuratively zipped up her mouth.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, and with a huff of annoyance, leaned back into her chair, a bottle of sake in one hand. She took a few sips - gulps - and through it, Sakura waited patiently until the older woman basically finished her sake. With a satisfied 'ahh', the blonde then chucked the now empty battle to her left, where it joined a small growing pile. Sakura raised a brow at the sight of this, and knew that Shizune was not going to be happy. Nonetheless, she continued to stay silent, and watched as Tsunade's back straightened. A serious look appeared on her face, and it made Sakura, herself, gain a grim expression.

"Jiraiya informed me that he and Naruto will be returning within a week."

Different emotions flashed across Sakura's face. Confusion, understanding, surprise, happiness, excitement, horror, and then annoyance. The fifteen year old kunoichi groaned as she slapped a hand over her eyes. Despite loving her teammate like a brother, and looking forward to seeing him once again, there was one thing her loud mouthed male blonde could never understand. Though, it was understandable as to why.

Isolation.

Growing up, Naruto spent his childhood alone and shunned. Nobody wanted to do anything with him. He was kicked out of stores, sold horrible food... Life was just miserable and lonely for the blonde, and because of this, he grew up into someone who assured no one would ever feel the way he did. That no one would feel the pain of being alone; isolated from everyone else. Especially his important people, and while it was good to know that Sakura was among them, Sakura herself needed her time of isolation.

To be away from people.

To be completely alone.

To be by herself and isolated.

That was the only time Sakura could actually be herself. Her real self, and with Naruto returning, those times were going to be little to none.

"You know, he'll understand if you tell him the truth," Tsunade said, her voice so low that Sakura had almost missed her words.

"Uhh...thanks, but no thanks," the pinkette muttered, her hand sliding to the back of her neck, where she rubbed against the peach tinted skin. "Fifteen years of lying to him, to everyone. I don't think anyone would be so understanding of it."

"It is Naruto."

Sakura paused to think.

"...you're probably right-"

Tsunade snorted and mumbled, "When am I ever wrong?"

"When you gamble."

Another dark glare was thrown at Sakura, who snickered.

"Anyways, that's beside the point," Sakura said, changing the topic. "Okaa-san would be angry if I started to tell the truth."

"Bah, who cares what that old bat says!"

Funny, aren't you an 'old bat' yourself? Sakura thought, inwardly smirking. On the outside, however, she continued on speaking. "Also, since I have been lying all my life so far, it would be difficult for me to start now."

"You have to start somewhere," Tsunade pointed out.

She shrugged, "Eventually, but not right now."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Next week, you'll tell Naruto the truth. That's an order."

"One year from now."

"Next week."

"Eleven months."

"One month."

"Ten."

"One."

"...seven?"

"One."

"Four."

"One."

"Give me at least three!"

"Two and a half."

Sakura grumbled under her breath. "Fine, two and a half months after Naruto returns, and I'll tell him that-"

There was a soft knock at the door. Blinking, Sakura turned as Tsunade said "Enter". A second later, Shizune was walking in with a small scroll in her hand. Upon seeing that the Hokage was not alone, she halted after a couple of steps. "Why, hello, Sakura-chan."

"Hi, Shizune-onee-chan!" Sakura greeted with a smile.

After returning the smile, the black haired kunoichi directed her attention to Tsunade. She approached the large wooden desk and set the scroll in her hand down. "A new mission has been requested from a small village almost two days from here. The leader is paying for a B-rank to get rid of a group of bandits."

"A B-rank? Are the bandits dangerous?"

Shizune shook her head. "From what has been written in the letter, the group of bandits are not shinobi."

"So why are they willing to pay it as a high rank mission?"

"They wish for the problem to be taken care of immediately, as soon as possible," she answered, glancing back over her shoulder at Sakura, who was listening with slight interest. "I apologize for interrupting your meeting, but the village Leader seemed very desperate."

Tsunade reached out a hand and grabbed the scroll. Unraveling the string, she rolled it opened, and her honey brown eyes ran over its contents. "I see... I'll take care of this then. You're dismissed, Shizune."

The woman nodded, and with a farewell to Sakura, she left, closing the door behind her. Sakura waited until Shizune's footsteps faded away before she raised her hand like when she knew the answer to a question in her days as an Academy student.

"I'll take the mission, Tsunade-sama."

A blonde eyebrow raised in suspicion. "If I recall correctly, you're on vacation, and said vacation does not end until this Sunday. You're not supposed to have a mission during this time."

"Well, Ino found out about my little vacation, and decided to take advantage of it," Sakura sighed in irritation, ignoring the slight warmth in her cheeks. "She demanded that we, plus Tenten and Hinata, have an all out sleepover."

"...a sleepover?"

"A sleepover," Sakura repeated through clenched teeth.

Tsunade smirked. "And why wouldn't you enjoy a sleepover with the girls, Sakura-chan? I am quite sure you would enjoy it."

"Tsunade-sama!"

"I'm sure Kotetsu and/or Izuma can handle this mission easy."

"Tsunade-sama, please!"

"Hmm...they have been complaining about being stuck on gate duty after all..."

"I'LL BUY YOU A CRATE OF SAKE WHEN I RETURN."

"Deal. Here's your mission!"

EVIL WOMAN.

"I know it's last minute, but it can't be helped," Sakura said, head turned and emerald looking down at the ground. After having received her newest mission, she had gone home to pack. The sun was about to set, and she wanted to get out of the village and get some traveling in before it was too late. It had nothing to do with the fact that she did not want to risk Ino somehow convincing her to attend the sleepover anyways were she to plan to leave the next day. Nope. nothing like that.

"Wow, that sucks, and you're on vacation too!" Ino pouted, placing her hands on her hips. Sakura looked up at her and attempted to give an apologetic smile, but felt her body freeze. Her best friend paid little attention to the fact that the sash around her robes had come undone, causing said robe to open a little. Without her consent, emerald eyes noticed the drop of water that fell from Ino's long blonde hair - the girl had just finished showering a little while - and slid down her neck, collarbone, and down into-

"Well, we'll have to do this another time."

"Uh - yeah - sure, of course!" Sakura said, her eyes shooting up to meet disappointed sky blue. "W-Where's..." she coughed a little, clearing her throat. "Where's Tenten and HInata?"

"They're in the bathroom. Tenten just finished showering, I think, and Hinata is about to get in."

They're...bathroom...showering...

Sakura slammed the door to that thought, and ignored the nonexistent tingling sensation she felt between her legs. Nope, there was nothing. There was no odd feeling. She wasn't thinking anything bad, anyways! Definetely not something including Tenten and Hinata-

"Well, I got to go now! See ya later, pig!" Sakura said, and before Ino could even say anything, she jumped up to her best friend's roof and began to make her way toward the front gates. Ino blinked, and with a shrug of her shoulders, stepped back into her house and closed the door. Feeling her chakra signature recede deeper into her home, Sakura quickly created a hand sign, and the next thing she knew, she was in the bathroom of her apartment.

She didn't waste time to drop her clothes and pack to the ground before turning on the shower, and jumping in. Automatically flinching, she ignored her reaction to get out from under the frozen cold sprays of water, because she had to deal with something more important.

More hard...

Damn it. Stupid teenage hormones.

...because Sakura Haruno had to deal with a little problem. A problem only a boy, like himself, would normally get.

A boner.

"God, I hate pretending to be a girl," Sakura said, her - his - voice becoming a few octaves lower and less feminine as the jutsu to tighten his vocal chords was released.

A/N: Sorry that the chapter is late! I got sick, and then I had finals and check-offs I was stressing over for class... So being sick and stressed meant becoming sicker...and I just recently got better! I felt bad that I hadn't written or updated the first chapter to this story though, and that's why it's so short! To try and make things up, expect a new chapter in the next two or three days.

Updates for this story will be on a basis of one to two weeks on either Wednesday or Thursdays. Reasons why it may be longer will be because something may have come up, or I'm sorting out details.

OH, AND IMPORTANT THING!

Male!Sakura.

In terms of being a guy.

Straight, Gay, or Bisexual?