Disclaimer: All Naruto characters are the copyright of Masashi Kishimoto. I'm just borrowing them to write up a story with no intention of making any money. This is for fun. That's all. :) No copying of my story is allowed. That's stealing if anyone copies my story into his/her own story. Write your own story without taking others' works! (angry glare)

WARNING: This story contains spoilers for the second Naruto: Shippuuden movie. If you do not want to be spoiled, do not read this fic. Not ever. Okay? If you've seen the movie, then you can continue on. :)

Pre-story A/N: The idea for this one-shot came to me after I watched the second Shippuuden movie for the first time after I have downloaded it. Amaru stated she will stay with Naruto, so he will not ever be alone. Also the ending credits where Sakura was berating him, makes me wonder at times why Naruto even bother with her. So I came up with this one-shot on what I think might happen if Amaru did stay with Naruto after the events of the movie.

READING NOTE: This story is in the first-person as told by Sakura's POV.

Thanks goes to Weixuan18 for betareading this fic for me! (big grin)

Story rating: K+
Written: July 2009

Summary: Sakura asks a very simple question. NaruAmaru. Sakura's POV. Shippuuden Movie 2 spoilers.

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What If…
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)

There are times when I look back at it all, and wondered if things could have been different. If I had not been such an uptight person, who jumped to conclusions regarding my blond teammate, would I be the one now in her shoes instead? Would I be the one married with the title 'Mrs. Uzumaki-Namikaze' instead?

If you're wondering who I'm talking about, I was referring to Uzumaki-Namikaze Amaru, the wife of our current Hokage, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. She's a redhead who works under me in the Konoha Medical Corps, with me being second head doctor under Shizune. Not only is Amaru a great doctor, she is also a wonderful contributor to the community with her volunteer work with some after-school children's programs. Overall, almost the entire village respects her deeply, which is why I envy her at times.

(Roll eyes) Oh, just listen to me. I'm acting like a jealous woman after all these years. I really shouldn't even think about that time at all. I'm married to Rock Lee, and we have three wonderful children. Why should I even think about the time I realized I lost Naruto's love to another woman?

(Pauses to think before resuming) Maybe because I know that Naruto had been my first true love. They always say that one can not ever forget your first true love, and they were right. Of course, it was ironic that I didn't realize he was my first true love until after I lost him.

It had all started way back when Naruto and I were sixteen years old. It was just after the very brief war with the supposedly-resurrected Sky Country. Naruto, with help from Uchiha Sasuke, had defeated Shinno and destroyed the flying city, and with no means to get down to the ground, Naruto fell to Earth, looking like he was going to die. Amaru had jumped the flying passenger ship and went after him, thus we all watched as she caught up with him and hugged him as they fell to Earth. Luckily for both, Jiraiya had happened to be there to summon Gamabunta to catch the falling pair.

With Naruto and Amaru safe on the ground, do you know what the first thing I did was? I berated Naruto. I was so worried about him that instead of immediately checking his injuries and ask how he was, I berated him for his usual reckless behavior and going overboard with things. I was not alone, for I'd heard Yamato-taichou, Chouji, and few others joined me in berating him.

However, Hinata and the rescued villagers from Amaru's village quickly told me and the others that Naruto was a hero for doing what he did. Amaru joined in as well, and it was not long before the others and I felt some guilt for once again putting Naruto down. Yet, as usual, our blond lunkhead gave a grin and took everything in stride. At the moment, I thought things would be back to normal.

Boy, how wrong I was.

With her master gone and no place to go, Amaru had decided to stay in Konoha than return with her people to their village. Naruto was very pleased with her decision. As a matter of fact, now that I look back at the moment, my blond friend was happy. At the time, I had thought he was happy just to have another friend in Konoha, and knowing him, he could be friends with almost anyone around. I virtually did not even have a clue to what truly was going on between Amaru and Naruto, although I was told later by Kakashi-sensei that I was simply blind to not see Amaru's true intentions, which was seen clearly in her eyes from the way she looked at my longtime teammate.

So we all headed back to Konoha, which was currently repairing the damage done by the Sky ninjas' first sneak-attack. There, Amaru's people took on some supplies before starting the trip back to their village, while Amaru signed up for medical classes to further her medical skills.

The very first sign that something was going on between Naruto and Amaru was when the redhead immediately moved into Naruto's apartment flat. I had thought that Naruto was taking advantage of the girl, but she chastened me that it was she who nearly begged Naruto to let her stay with him. With very little money, she couldn't afford at the moment to stay anywhere else, especially if she was going to start her medical classes. I had pretty much accepted the reasoning, given it made sense due to her financial situation.

(Roll eyes and shakes head) Maybe I should have been more open-minded then. Having been blinded to Amaru's true feelings, I did not even think that having her stay in Naruto's apartment would eventually lead to something more, for after all, I had thought then that Naruto wouldn't even look at another girl as he did with me.

As time moved on and everyone grew accustomed to Amaru's presence being a resident at Naruto's place, the changes had started. They were little things at first, like Naruto and Amaru shopping together, which was not odd since they were living together, thus it made sense they would shop for food together. Yet other changes began to surface. Naruto would rather go home after missions or training to be with Amaru than to hang out with me or his friends. They were seen going to movies and doing other things. It was quite clear to all that they had formed a relationship.

Yet the most heart wrenching change was when Naruto stopped using the 'chan' prefix to my name. To hear him call me 'Sakura' instead of 'Sakura-chan' was like being hit with a bucket of ice-cold water. He was still friends with me and our team dynamic had not changed; it was just that he stopped calling me 'Sakura-chan' and started calling Amaru 'Amaru-chan'. It was right then, that I realized what I just lost.

I was a fool, a complete fool. Naruto had not ever called any other girl with the 'chan' prefix except me. It was a clear sign that he had interests in me and only me. With him dropping the suffix from my name, I knew he no longer saw me as 'more than friends'.

Shortly after I first heard him call my name without the suffix, I had gone to Kakashi-sensei. He was sympathetic to me and told me right then about my blindness to what had happened between Naruto and Amaru at the end of the Sky Country War. Furthermore, he pointed out that with me constantly pushing Naruto away, it was only a matter of time before another girl would come along and be bold enough to admit to Naruto her feelings. Having grew up with no family and no love, Naruto would definitely latch onto that girl's declaration of love, especially from a girl that he cared.

At the time of this revelation, I was still a mess of person emotionally. Having been rejected by Sasuke, I didn't know I was afraid of making a commitment with another boy. It was only after Naruto started his relationship with Amaru that I realized that I still had not truly grown up from the insecure girl that I was as a genin. Tsunade-shishou had told me later, after Jiraiya-sama's death, that love was about taking chances, and if you do not take a chance to make a commitment, you won't ever find out what you could have gained.

(Sadly smiles) Shishou knew what she was talking about. She could have gained so much love with Jiraiya-sama, if she had not run away from Konoha after her first love's death. I saw it in her eyes all the regrets of not even telling Jiraiya how much he meant to her. She had told me that she was hoping that Naruto and I would eventually get together, but given my insecurities, Amaru had beaten me to the punch. In the end, I had pretty much made the same mistake as Tsunade-shishou did.

However, as much as I had felt saddened by the loss of gaining love with Naruto, another girl had been quite devastated by her lost chance with Naruto as well. Hyuuga Hinata, currently Head of the Hyuuga clan with her husband Kiba, had been in love with Naruto ever since our Academy years. Being shy as she was, she just couldn't muster up the courage to tell Naruto her feelings for him, thus she too, like me, lost a chance.

It was ironic. For years, Naruto had dreamed of being loved, and here were two girls, each capable of being the one to give him the love he craved, yet both were unable to get past their personality insecurities to commit to him. One knew she loved him yet was afraid of being rejected. The other didn't know she loved him out of unawareness which involved fear of being rejected again.

(Gives a smirks) Hinata and I made quite a pair. After she had moved on and started dating Kiba, we had, by chance, told each other of our lost chance with Naruto, and by the end of our confessions, we became closer friends due to our mutual feelings for that lovable, silly blond. Next to Ino, Hinata became my second best female friend in the village. Both of us, to this day, found it very ironic that despite us each being powerful kunoichi in our own right; we were defeated by a civilian to win Naruto's heart.

As for Amaru, Hinata and I held no grudge against her; not then and certainly not now. Oh, we were slightly jealous of her for awhile, but all in all, we certainly couldn't begrudge her of falling for the lunkhead and having the courage to nab him. Naruto needs a strong woman in his life, and even though Amaru is not a kunoichi, she is strong, resourceful, and certainly no pushover. Once she has her mind set, nothing will change her decision, for not even Naruto can nudge her. I admire her greatly in keeping that husband of hers in line at times. (Smirk)

After the Sky Country War, things really picked up the pace in the grand scheme of life. The Akatsuki War reached a peak with Konoha being nearly destroyed (again) by Pein, and Uchiha Sasuke killed Orochimaru, then his brother, only to join Akatsuki in destroying Konoha. It was a good thing Naruto stopped Pein and then later Sasuke, who switched sides against the remaining Akatsuki members including Madara. Of course, that was after Danzo was killed, so with no more reason to hold a grudge against his former village, Sasuke joined our side.

Yet after the Akatsuki War, Sasuke trekked off on his own again and managed, by himself, to unite the remaining Sound ninjas back into a collective unit, but not without first taking Kabuto out of the picture. He's presently the Nidaime Otokage of the Sound Village, which we have a non-aggression pact with.

To be honest, I'm glad Sasuke had not ever bothered to return to Konoha. My feelings for him had changed over time, and by the time of Pein's attack on the village, I knew I did not love him anymore. It would have been awkward for me to have him living in Konoha after so many years away. Least he is sort-of happy with his wife Karin and their six children, and I did meant 'sort-of' due that the few times I have met and talked with Karin, it was like looking back in time to my genin self. The woman is just so obnoxious! (Roll eyes)

Anyway... After Danzo's death, the Fire Lord and Konoha immediately voted Kakashi to be the next Hokage, and since Danzo was not Hokage for long, they'd decided to give the Rokudaime title to Kakashi as well. Given how bad Danzo was during his very brief term as Hokage, I do not blame anyone in wanting to erase his name from the records. It was better left forgotten how much of a mistake it was in giving the Hokage seat to Danzo.

Tsunade-shishou, after waking up from her coma, didn't mind being removed as Hokage. After draining herself during Pein's attack on the village, she had weakened herself to a point where she couldn't even maintain her advanced henge to continue her portrayal of youthful beauty. She had spent many years as advisor to Kakashi and later Naruto, as well as medic consultant and teacher. She died peacefully in her sleep one day. Not since the Third Hokage's funeral have I seen so many tears in a grand outpouring of mourning.

As for the Konoha 11, or 12 if one counts Sai in replacing Sasuke, we have all advanced, in our professional and personal lives.

As I mentioned, Hinata moved on from Naruto and had started dating Kiba. Next to Naruto, I really have to say that the Inuzuka suited Hinata wonderfully. Well, I can't say the same for the rest of Hyuuga Clan with the exception of Neji and Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister. They were all dead set against the two marrying, and it had taken some careful inter-clan political maneuvering to allow the marriage to take place. Any of their children shown to have the Byakugan would be considered possible heirs of the Hyuuga clan, while children without the bloodline could become Inuzuka members instead. Not what anyone would call a true family, but it worked out the best for everyone. Both currently have five children – fraternal twins, a boy and girl, with the bloodline, a girl without it, another girl with it, and finally a boy without the bloodline. Profession-wise, Hinata is the Hyuuga Clan Head, while Kiba is a jounin, who occasionally is liaison to Iwa.

Hyuuga Neji and Tenten had gotten together, and unlike Kiba and Hinata's marriage, they had experienced no problems from the Hyuuga Clan over the pair tying the knot. After all, she was not even a member of any clan, so it was easy for Tenten to marry into the Hyuuga Clan anyway. Neji is currently a jounin-sensei, while Tenten retired from the ninja force upon the birth of their first child. Today, they and their four kids live happily on an estate adjacent to the Hyuuga Compound.

I have to say that my first best female friend sure had a long and winding ride, when it came to dating men. After it was clear that Naruto and Amaru were a couple, Ino had tried to date Shikamaru. Poor Piggy. The whole relationship fell flat given he was her commanding officer, and she just did not even have the tact at times to keep her professional and personal affairs separate. Given how we have all seen the odd relationship of Shikamaru's parents, we thought Ino would have been perfect for Shikamaru.

As I said, poor Piggy. After Shikamaru, she had on-and-off relationships with nearly a dozen men for years, until she took the chance with the last guy she ever thought of having a relationship with – Chouji. They were good friends, and despite any appearances, the big Akimichi was a true gentleman with a big heart. They had taken a chance and have been together ever since.

Now I have to say that when Ino married Chouji, many in the village speculated wildly to how their children might come out, for after all, their marriage was the first ever between a Yamanaka and an Akimichi. Yet all the assumptions were highly exaggerated, for their two children look quite okay. Only time can tell if they will exhibit one or both clan bloodlines.

As for their careers, they went into directions that were unexpected. Ino Pig is now a teacher at the Academy under Iruka-sensei, while Chouji is a member of the ANBU Black Ops. How about that, eh?

As for Shikamaru, would you believe that lazy slacker went for another troublesome blonde after his break-up with Ino? Many wondered to this day whether his whole relationship with Sabaku no Temari was just one big secret arranged marriage between Suna and Konoha. He and the Sabakus had denied such a thing, for Shikamaru and Temari's relationship were genuine. Despite their denials, the rumors are still running around, no matter what they do.

Anyway, the Naras are quite a bunch today. Shikamaru is a jounin in the Konoha Intelligent group while being one of Naruto's closest advisors. Temari is a jounin-sensei to a Konoha genin team, since the Nara's family home is here in Konoha instead of Suna. Yet occasionally, she still runs liaison duties with Suna. Oh, I shouldn't forget their three troublesome brats – a girl, who is just as lazy as her Dad, a boy, who almost always closely follows her Mom, and a girl, who seemed normal but occasionally loves to play pranks. Yep, the Naras are quite a bunch.

Shino happened to be the only one to have a normal career and personal life. He had married a civilian scientist, who loves to study insects, and it was evident the pair clicks whenever they jump into discussions of insects, their impact in the world, etc. Quite weird though. Yet it came to no surprise his two children – a girl and boy – are following the Aburame Clan's tradition of being hosts to the Kikaichu insects. Currently, Shino is a jounin-sensei.

The only one in the entire Konoha 12 to not get married is Sai. Given how he was mostly molded by Danzo to become a mindless drone, I really am not surprised that Sai couldn't handle the complexity of relationships with women. He did date Ino for awhile, but she just did not have the patience to teach him as to what he should or should not do. In other words, it was like teaching a 7 year old how to date. His personal life aside, Sai is quite remarkable in his career though, as Head of the ANBU Black Ops. Naruto trusted him explicitly, and Sai won't ever betray that trust.

As for me, I already mentioned that I married Rock Lee and have some wonderful children with him. After losing Naruto to Amaru, I slowly realized I have to change and take a chance with a guy when the opportunity presents me. It was ironic that it was Naruto who encouraged me to give Lee a chance, and I have not regretted it since. Lee is loyal, funny at times, and like Naruto, will not ever give up. He was almost a perfect fold to me. … Well I did say 'almost'. (Chuckle) I just wanted him to tone down his 'Flames of Youth' and with his hair no longer in a bowl-cut, he looks handsome, especially in his sleeveless jumpsuit with jounin jacket.

Yet despite some changes that made him a better husband for me, there are times I just couldn't get him to stop totally. None of his current genin team will ever don the green spandex suit, but at least our eldest son is following his footsteps with glee, while our two daughters will not have anything to do with the color green when it came to clothing. It is a good thing I'm now the Second Head Doctor of the Konoha Hospital while being an occasional advisor to Naruto. At least I can return home daily to make sure my two girls do not do anything crazy to their elder brother.

As for Naruto and Amaru, their relationship is like something straight out of a fairy-tale book. As I mentioned, I do not begrudge the girl in nabbing Naruto when she had the chance, but when she told me and the other kunoichi exactly what had happened in that flying city, temple, or whatever, we all couldn't help but feel it was so romantic in a way that by the end, we envied Amaru highly. She admitted that she had started to fall for him when he had stopped her from committing suicide, and when she ended her tale with her and Naruto's conversation while in the middle of freefall, every kunoichi in the room knew the girl had it bad for our Number One Unpredictable Ninja. It was evident in her dark blue eyes that she was in love with him.

Was their relationship perfect? Not by a long shot. He drove her crazy at times with his occasional sloppy ways, and he couldn't stand that she would be so bossy at times that he wondered if she was really a carbon-copy of me. Yet he is loyal to a fault and loves her deeply, and she is the same toward him. She had promised during that freefall that he would not ever be alone and she kept her word to him.

So it came to no surprise to everyone in Konoha that Naruto's marriage to Amaru came to become a royal festival of great significance to the village. The couple had wanted just a simple wedding with all their friends, but since Naruto was a great hero in not only the Fire Country but to many other countries as well, the guest list had grown so large with so many people wanting to attend the wedding that Kakashi-sensei had no choice but to make the wedding a village project.

(Snicker) Poor Amaru. The girl was out of her league with being the center of such a huge operation. It was a good thing Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Temari, and I all chipped in to help her out. All we had to do was give orders to the appropriate people and the jobs would be done.

When the day finally came, security was tight as it would be for the Chuunin Exams with so many important people attending, and since the number of guests was huge, everyone agreed that the wedding would be held at the Chuunin Exam stadium with rows of seats placed on the arena's ground in addition to the already placed stadium seats. I was chosen by Amaru as Maid of Honor along with Hinata as bridesmaid, while Naruto chose Shikamaru as his best man with Lee as a groomsman.

All I will say is that the whole wedding and the festival that took place afterward would be forever remembered as the biggest, fanciest, and most expensive wedding in Konoha's history. It was clear that Naruto was going to exceed Kakashi as Hokage, and given his linage as the Yondaime Hokage's son on top of his hero status, it had become even more apparent how Naruto and Amaru's wedding was indeed quite royal as Konoha could get.

(Sighs happily) I have to say I was very happy for my best male friend. He and Amaru loved each other so much that they clearly expressed it when they made their vows in front of Kakashi-sensei with so many people behind the pair. It was quite a fairy-tale wedding alright.

(Clears throat) As for their careers, I think someone in Konoha would have to be quite ignorant to not know how their careers went.

After completing her medical classes, Amaru slowly became one of the best doctors in the village, with specialization in non-chakra medical practice. Oh, she can use chakra if she needs it, but just in case, she has her non-chakra skills to back her up. She can back me up when it comes to making drugs and cures. As I mentioned, she works under me as Third Head Doctor.

Naruto's career is the real fairy-tale tale. Having grown up being scorned as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, he emerged out of the Akatsuki War a huge hero. With Amaru's encouragement, he quickly advanced the ranks to jounin in less than two years. He had spent one year in the ANBU Black Ops before taking the role as jounin-sensei for a genin team. After his team was promoted to chuunin in less than two years after taking them, the day finally came for him to become Hokage. His inauguration was less of a show than his wedding, but it was still attended by many people, who wanted to witness the day his dream came true as he became the Nanadaime Hokage. Again, I was very happy for him.

As for their children, they drew the line at four. Their eldest daughter had red hair so dark that it was clear she would be named after Naruto's mother. A boy with blond straight hair was their second child. Another boy came, but his hair was red as his mother's. The last was another girl with strawberry blond hair. Yet despite how these four are considered 'royalty', they are as normal a kid as any other. The only notable things were that the eldest had inherited her father's huge chakra reserves, while the second son had strangely gained superb chakra control. The other two are considered 'normal' by ninja standards.

Yet I know the Uzumaki-Namikazes well, for after all, the family is close friends of mine. All of the Konoha 12 had remained close after all these years, but my family is particular close with Ino's and Naruto's, especially Naruto's. I swear that my son and Naruto's youngest have formed a strange bond despite him being nearly ten years older than her. I guess as Naruto meshed well with Lee, his daughter meshed well with my son. A loud, hyperactive girl will certainly bond with a boy spurting out about 'The Flames of Youth'. Naruto, Amaru, and I made it a joke that these two will eventually become something more when they become adults, but Lee was so for the idea that I had to prevent him to even suggest a proposal of an arranged marriage between the two.

(Sighs happily and deeply) Looking back at it all, I have to say that I'm happy things came out the way they did. I will not want to change anything. Just as I said, I still occasionally think of that time - a time when I lost my first real chance for true happiness with my first true love. Naruto and I will forever be close friends, and I will forever love Lee.

It's just that I, like many other people in the world, occasionally wonder about the moments where we each ask that simple question that always never has a simple answer…

"What if…"

The End

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Post-story A/Ns:

1) I had written this one-shot from start to finish in less than a day. I had started at sometime past 11 AM and didn't stop typing to nearly 8 PM. I had few breaks to eat and watch TV, but I did spend most of the time typing this story up.

To be honest, this is my first true long-written, 1st Person POV fic. I had wanted to write up a First Person story, and after watching the second Shippuuden movie, I had wondered how things might have looked to Sakura if Amaru had taken a chance to nab Naruto. I say I had fun with writing this up, for I couldn't stop typing. :)

2) I did not write this story for the pairings alone. It was primarily written up to tell Sakura's POV regarding her feelings, events, etc. around Naruto and Amaru. All the pairings mentioned were to me the most logical pairings given certain circumstances if Naruto was paired with Amaru. Also please note that this is a stand-alone, and it is not connected to any of my other Naruto stories.

3) No, there will be no sequels, series, etc. to spring out of this one-shot. I already have a full-plate with "Unexpected Love" and "The Matriarch of Destiny". I might feel like doing a lemony, fluffy one-shot PWP of Naruto with Amaru, but please, do not count on it.