A/N: Well…here it is.
Chapter 1: A Lone Cherry BlossomOo------------------------oo----------------------------------Oo---------oO---------------------------------------oo---------------------------oO
"Sigh…" A lone cherry blossom gently expelled itself from the tree. It blew through the air wavering as it fell. The shadow of the leaf danced entangled in the blades of the fresh green grass, until it softly landed in the blonde coloured spikes of hair of Naruto Uzumaki. He sat clinging to the same old wooden swing he always sat in when he was sad and needed some self-soothing time. The old wood of the seat creaked, as he swung from side-to-side. He glanced above him at the beautiful Sakura tree. Instantly, in the corner of his eye, a bead of liquid formed and trailed down the side of his face to the ground. For one of the third times in his life, Naruto Uzumaki was actually crying. He remembered Sakura – that is, when she used to talk to him cheerfully, acting all annoyed whenever he did something idiotic. But he also remembered the Sakura Haruno who had chosen Sasuke Uchiha to admire. How Naruto hated Sasuke was not hatred, but an act of sheer jealousy – Sakura gave Sasuke all of her attention, admiration, and respect, when she downed Naruto. He was always put down by his crush because she liked the Uchiha. Just thinking of how stupid he was that time in the academy. He had thought she wanted to sit next to him, when it was Sasuke who she was after. He suppressed a coy smile and a few meek words escaped his mouth. He, of course, was talking to himself. "Life just plain sucks sometimes." Realizing he was stupid to ever have the subject cross his mind, he got off the swing and left the Sakura tree to bloom alone, to grow alone. He admired its beauty and willfulness. The swing swung in the wind until it subsided. The wooden board on two hard strings slowly creaked to a stop, and a lone cherry blossom fell again. Naruto walked off mindlessly for a few minutes until realizing he needed to go see someone. But in the meantime, a snack was always a good way to relax. He sighed, looking back at the Sakura tree, and smiled. Then he walked away to the one place he truly loved.
"Oh. Hey Kakashi-sensei." Naruto weakly expressed as he shifted and budged on the hard stool – one infamous stool that belonged to the Ichiraku Noodle Bar.
"How's it going, Naruto?" He said slyly, in that rather seductive tone. "You feeling ok?" He slurped up some ramen. Naruto had just realized that Hatake Kakashi was not wearing his mask. For the first time, Naruto had seen the truth. That in fact, all he had been hiding was the normal face of a man. With all the anxiety as kids, it was hard to believe that truthfully it was nothing but a scam.
"Huh?" Naruto snapped back into reality. "Oh, right… Yeah, I guess. Just a lot on my mind…" He alerted the owner to cook up a bowl of ramen for him.
"Hm… Any issues, perhaps? With a girl?" Kakashi emphasized the girl part. Somehow, he had this way of knowing how to make somebody snap. I don't know if it was his intellect, or his strange ability to know everything. As a child, Naruto had stupidly thought he was a stalker. But, how could he be so stupid? There was no way Kakashi-sensei could be a stalker… right?
"…" Naruto sat quietly for another minute, while Kakashi finished up his bowl. "I am having a bit of an issue with a girl." He finally stated. "Remember last month? When we were on that special mission with Lee?"
"Yes." He said pretty emotionless.
"Well…in that mission, if I remember correctly, we were looking for Sasuke. Well, somehow, I found him. He just kind of stared at me blankly until I, for some reason, confessed to him. Right as Sakura turned the bend, she noticed me yelling to Sasuke. I was screaming to him how I have a crush on Sakura and that he had to be there to steal her heart from him. Sasuke chuckled and jumped away, as Sakura stood there teary-eyed and confused like. When I turned to look at her, she just ran to go find you and Lee. She hasn't said a word to me since then. And one, I'm worried about her, two, I still have a crush on her, and three, I don't know WHY she won't talk to me!" He gasped for a breath stupidly. He left Kakashi sitting their skeptical, but then he smiled widely, as Naruto received his ramen and began to dig in.
"Naruto…you're 17 for god sakes… you haven't gotten a girlfriend? Damn are you pathetic!" He chuckled slightly. "I always knew you had a crush on Sakura anyway. And, Naruto, if you realize, you and Sakura are the sole two ninja in this entire village without a girlfriend/wife, besides Tsunade-sama, Iruka, Gai, Azuma, and me. You're the only Chunin who are single. You should just go find her and talk with her, you know."
Naruto flinched and slurped a noodle. "That's the problem. I doubt she would want to talk to me. Plus, Sakura only likes 'cool' guys like Sasuke." Instantly he flared. "That's all it is with her! Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke! Goddamn it! It pisses me off so fucking much to see that just by him acting cool, Sakura falls for his act." After a few seconds he calmed down. "I wish she would just at least acknowledge me…it would mean so much to me. Hell, I may have been a dolt in the past but I'm different now. And Sakura just hasn't come to realize it, I believe…but…" he sighed. He inhaled a few more noodles.
"Naruto, the only reason she won't accept and/or admire you is because you always used to be such a little brat! Hyperactive, annoying; Konoha's number one knucklehead!" He smirked. "You just have to change your personality a bit."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I know all about women, Naruto. Just follow my lead and you'll be as cool as Sasuke! Hell, even cooler! Wait… never mind. You could never be cooler than Sasuke – in Sakura's eyes anyhow." Naruto excitedly finished his bowl of ramen.
"But how I am I going to change my personality? It's who I am basically! And plus, I doubt you could be of any assistance. You couldn't even stop lame Sasuke from turning evil!" Naruto joked. It was, after all, true.
"Nope, I know somebody who could up your cool. And don't worry, she's trustable." Kakashi said. "I'm guaranteed this will work. Just follow me, Naruto." He explained as he began to jump from building to building.
"Hey, wait up!" Naruto exasperatedly set his bowl of ramen down and leaped after him. If this were to work, he would have to thank Kakashi so much for this. But… who says he has to thank him for it? Who am I kidding! Me thanking Kakashi-sensei – Yeah right! That'll be payback for all the times he was late on arrival! Yeah! "Sakura Haruno… I vow to protect you…" Naruto stated as he remembered Rock Lee's own words. Hey! I'm not supposed to be like bushy brow! What's up with that?
Next Time…Kakashi leads Naruto to a mysterious woman who he says can help him 'up his cool'. When Naruto runs into Sakura after his 'transformation', what will he say? And is he really changed in the heart – besides physical and social changes? Find out next time!
A/N:
Yep, sucky. Feedback oh feedback. Just so you know, this was originally a oneshot. It will contain lemon, rated M for safety. Pairings are SakuraxNaruto, later on. Review and make me happy or else. Ok, Arigatou everybody.