Yes, I am insane for posting a new story when I have others to work on. That's fine, a little insanity's okay c;. I had this idea and I wanted to run with it and finish it before I lost feeling for the idea. I will work on my other storys, don't worry, but I need to get this out in the open first! So yus!

Warning: M for the following reasons... Swearing, BoyxBoy smexy loving, sexual themes, somewhat humorous (Well, I think I'm somewhat funny 8D), a tad angsty, and uhh... OH YEAH! So it's a little onsided affection on Naruto's part for Sakura (trust me, they go nowhere. So don't worry) and then it'll turn into SasuNaru (: I don't hate Sakura, so no, this shall not bash her. The characters might, but that's only their nature (; I hope no one is OOC but if there is, then I apologize! THOSE GUYS ALWAYS GROW MINDS OF THEIR OWNS... And penises-WAIT WHAT?

Disclaimer: Guys, I don't own Naruto. We can dream, right? -Sings WE ARE FIGHTING DREAAAMERS-

Oh yeah, this is about 20 chapters. Not too long, right? (:

Enjoy, everyone!

There are some things in life that you'll just never be able to explain.

For Naruto Uzumaki, regular student with a dopey GPA, that time had come today.

It all started with a bunch of roses, strung together with thirteen promises.

Chapter One: The First Promise

+I'll Give You a Smile+

Blue eyes were slowly opening up to the world of a brightly shining sun and the smell of bacon floating through his nostrils. A yawn tumbled from his lips. 'He's cooking today,' that's new. Iruka rarely ever had the time to cook. Let alone get up in the morning. A wane smile pierced the blonde's face. 'Maybe today's going to be a good day.'

And it would be, but let's give him a few more hours.

Scratching his tummy, Naruto headed down the stairs, his normally flatten blonde hair poking out in odd directions for the sky. The closer he got to the kitchen, the more he got assaulted by the smell of bacons, eggs, waffles and… was that coffee? 'Damn, Iruka went all out this morning.'

"So," Naruto yawned, sitting down at an empty chair as he watched his guardian worry over the stove, "who died?"

Iruka stopped what he was doing to give Naruto a look. "What makes you think someone's dead?"

"Well, you never cook this much on a Monday morning unless someone's either dead, dying, or it's the anniversary of a dead person."

"Can't I cook a nice breakfast just because I want to?"

Naruto grinned, "Nope!"

Iruka sighed and went back to his cooking. "I swear you are something else, Naruto Uzuamki."

The blonde stretched out like cat and rested his cheek onto the hardwood table. It was cool to the touch and chilled Naruto's face. "That's what they say! So what's the real reason why you're cooking so much?"

Iruka set a steaming plate of waffles, eggs and bacon in front of Naruto and then set a plate for himself. He sat down opposite of Naruto. "I was in the mood, you know? I woke up with the feeling: 'Something's good is going to happen'."

Naruto was already scarfing down his breakfast at a lightning speed. "Mmm… myeah," he swallowed, "I know what you mean. Mmm, these waffles are really good! And the eggs… and the bacon! Iruka, you're a fucking genius!"

"Language, Naruto." Iruka corrected sternly. "I've raised you better than that."

"I know, I know." Naruto defended himself. "It'll never happen again, I promise!" he went for his mug of coffee and slurped it down like he was dehydrated for months. The hot liquid scorched his tongue and left a trail of fire heading down his throat. "Fuck!"

"Naruto!"

+I Promise+

As Naruto entered through the double doors of Kingsway High, he knew something was up. Even more so than usual he felt eyes glaring into his back, trying to mark him down. He stood straight through it all with his head held high and a mask stamped onto his face. Glares were nothing. Whispers were just something he brushed passed with indifference.

School was nothing more than a habit, a part of a ritual, to Naruto.

'Ten more steps to my locker,' he thought with lines of hopes stringing through his words. 'Then I'll see Kiba and Gaara, have an obnoxious conversation, and slum through the rest of the day.' That tactic would have worked on any other day of the week, but not today.

"Hey, ho!" Kiba, his shaggy best friend, bounded up beside him and latched onto Naruto like a hugging leech.

"Gah, Kiba! You fucking whore, get off me!" try as he may, Naruto couldn't peel the dog-boy off of him so he sighed, gave up, and started to jam random folders into his locker.

"You love my affection," Kiba said.

"Yeah," Naruto slammed his locker door shut once he had everything he needed.

"You're just like a dog, annoying and obnoxious."

"Hey!"

Gaara, right on time, walked up to his two friends and pried the loud brunette off of Naruto. "I had a feeling something stupid was going on…" he glanced over at Kiba who was pouting like a child, "Good thing I came."

Naruto beamed brightly, "And this is why I love you so much!"

"Where's my love?" Kiba whined.

"Up your ass," Naruto shot right back.

You know it's a good day when insults flow so easily into the conversation.

The bell rang, cutting off any and all retorts the brunette could have made up in the span of five seconds. If you were curious, Kiba came out with around ten insults, each holding onto a very obscene curse word.

"As much as I love watching you guys argue, I don't want to be late for class." Gaara shrugged up his messenger bag and raised a non-existent eyebrow towards his blonde best friend. "Coming, Naruto?"

"I dunno," Naruto drawled and leaned against a locker. "I'm really not in the mood for—Ouch, don't yank on my arm, dammit!"

The redhead was not going to deal with Naruto's truancy act for another day if he had any say about it. And he did. A lot of say in the situation, to be honest. "Nope. Not having it. We're going to class."

"Gaaaah," Naruto tried to wriggle free from Gaara's grasp but, damn, that kid had such a grip! He shot his other friend a final, pleading glance as he was yanked around a corner. "Kiba! Save me!"

"I'll see you in art, bitch!" Kiba waved a goodbye, a huge grin on his face.

"I hate you!" was the last thing the brunette heard before Naruto was dragged away to his doom… English class.

+I Promise+

Not for the first time Naruto wished he could have shot himself out of this boredom he was forced to sit in and listen to for the next hour and two minutes. His head kept on meeting the desk with a soft thump.

'Kill me,' he thought as the teacher droned on and on about a novel he really didn't care to know about. 'Just kill me now.'

"Naruto! Last time I checked this wasn't naptime. So either go to the nurse if you feel like you're about to die, or go to the office. I will not tolerate students falling asleep in class!"

"Well maybe if your class wasn't so damn boring…" Naruto mumbled.

Jiraya, his perverted and normally indifferent English teacher, could feel his blood starting to boil. "What was that you fucking brat?"

"Nothing!" Naruto piped out. He knew better than to push the limits of Jiraya's once he started to cuss.

"Baka," the blonde heard Gaara whisper.

"Oh shut it!" he whispered back.

The rest of class dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. By the time class was done Naruto thought half his brain was partially dead and or rotting. He nearly whooped in relief when the bell signaling sweet freedom from the world of poetry and Charles Dickens rang through the air.

"About fucking time!" he hollered.

Gaara smirked, "Class wasn't that bad."

Naruto scoffed, "Says you, Mr. Teacher's Pet."

"Please. I'm just not an idiot like you are."

"Why do I hang out with you again?"

"You ask Kiba and I the same question at least once a day and what do we say?"

The blond sighed, but a small smile fought onto his face. "You guys are the only ones who can give me kick ass butt sex."

Gaara smirked, "And don't you forget it."

+I Promise+

"Hey, Naruto… what's that thing hanging from your locker?"

"Huh?" Confused, Naruto tugged at the flower dangling from his locker with great care. He recognized the flower immediately. "It's a rose…" he whispered. Rose, the symbol of love and affection. 'Who could have put this in my locker?'

"Dude," Kiba plucked the flower from Naruto's grasp and examined the white note tied to the stem with curiosity. "There's even a note on here. Holy shit, you've got a secret admirer, you lucky bastard!"

"Shut up, Kiba! I don't!" Naruto pulled the flower back from his best friend's hands, his eyes falling onto the white letter.

To Naruto it said in the neatest handwriting Naruto had ever seen.

"Lucky bastard," he heard Kiba mutter. "Why don't I get shit like that?"

Naruto shrugged. The hallway around them was starting to clear out as lunch rolled by. Naruto, Kiba, and Gaara normally met at the blonde's locker before heading off to lunch but Gaara was running a little late due to a science project he had to present. He said it wouldn't take too long and that he'd meet them at Naruto's locker so they could head out.

"Probably because no one can stand that big mouth of yours," the blonde carefully slipped the letter from the stem and held the white card in his hands. They trembled. Curiosity gnawed on his mind. 'What if this is some joke?' he thought, his thumb caressing the plain white paper.

"You won't know if you don't read it."

With a sigh—Naruto was positive his heart was going to explode from all the tension—the blonde turned over the letter.

One day, I'll give you a smile.

—S

Naruto's eyebrows shot to his hairline as he read over the letter. A smile? What? 'Who is this person…?' he looked at the only signature that gave at least a hint as to who the mystery person could be. "S…" he whispered, his mind racing with different possibilities.

Kiba peered over Naruto's shoulder. "S, huh? Maybe it's Sakura! You've had the biggest crush on her since, like, Kindergarten, man!"

A blush seized Naruto's whiskered cheeks. He shook his head wildly, his blonde mop of hair flying with him. "No way! Sakura wouldn't do something like this… would she?" out of all the interactions he had with the pink-haired girl it normally ended up with him getting punched for something he didn't even do! The girl had a killer left hook, too.

"Dunno! But word on the street is she's a veryaffectionate lover! We have class with her after lunch, right?" Naruto nodded slowly. "Then if she smiles at you, she's gotta be the one!"

"Who's going to be the one?" Finally finished with his project, Gaara shrugged up his messenger bag and stood near Naruto.

"Oh, nothing much." Kiba grinned wildly, "Naruto just has a secret admirer who sent him a rose as all and it's Sakura Haruno from our grade!"

"I do not!" Naruto refused, but the blush on his face was telling a different story. He really wanted to smack off the smirks that grew on both Kiba and Gaara's face. "We don't even know if Sakura was the one who sent it, so stop saying shit, Kiba!"

"Just watch me be right, Uzumaki! You'll be clawing at my feet for forgiveness after doubting me."

"Kiba, you're an idiot." Gaara grounded out, amused by the mock look of hurt on Kiba's face. "And Naruto, are you sure this rose thing isn't some joke? Remember last year?"

Naruto felt his body go rigid. How could he forget last year? A shiver danced up his spine at the dark memories that clouded his mind. He gulped back the fear. "Of course I didn't forget," he said quietly. "But maybe this is different? Seriously, though, I could really care less if this rose-promise-thingy is real or not. I just want lunch! I heard they're selling brownies with the premiere lunch today!"

"Brownies?" Kiba's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "Why didn't you tell us that before? Fucking brownies man!" he grabbed both his friends by the arm and started to drag them down the stairs. "Let's go get some brownies!"

+I Promise+

After lunch was art class, and Naruto would have been lying if he said his heart wasn't on the verge of spewing out rainbows and other fluids. Nervousness gnawed on every fiber of his skin as he took his place in the middle of the art room with Kiba.

"Watch me be right," Kiba pulled out his sketchbook and a box of 128 Crayola crayons.

"Watch you be so wrong!" Naruto countered. His nerves were sparking up a different story, though. Deep down, he knew he wanted Kiba to be right no matter how much gloated he'd receive from his friend later on. Despite himself, his eyes traveled over the expanse of students to the girl who currently had a wild clutch on his heart.

Sakura Haruno, sixteen-years-old and one of the few girls every guy in the school wanted to hook up with—no lie, there's an actual line of men just waiting for her to open up her… arms. On the exterior she was just a pretty girl with short, pink hair, porcelain white skin and sea-green eyes that popped vibrantly off her skin. That's only if you don't know her well enough, though. On the inside Sakura was a raging bull that could hold her own against anyone. Her strength was rather legendary.

'And I'll never get her,' Naruto thought morbidly. There's a reason why, too. And it was not just because of their social standings in the circle of high school life.

"Oh my God! Sasuke's here!"

"Jesus, that kid is fiiine!"

"What I wouldn't give to have him smile at me…"

"Smile? Please, I want that damn body of his!"

And there's your reason.

Naruto felt his blood boil over as squeals after squeals erupted from various areas of the room. He could never, for the life of him, understand why the girls always got so hysterical around Sasuke Uchiha. 'He's a prick!The bastard never talks to anyone but his older brother and treats the rest of us like dirt.'

It was true, to a certain extent. Sasuke Uchiha was the typical bad boy covered in ice that every girl fawned over. Even Naruto's childhood crush…

"God, girls are so annoying." Kiba muttered as he colored in another part of his character based off his favorite game Kingdom Hearts. "Oh garsh, that Sasuke is sooo hot! Mmmm, what I wouldn't give to have his penis inside me!" he mocked whispered, causing the blonde beside him to snort out a laugh.

"If any of them heard you say that you'd be walking around dickless," Naruto said in-between peels of laughter.

Kiba shrugged and pulled out another crayon. This one was Aquamarine. "Like I give a fuck what they'll do to me. I don't' see why the spazz out so much over that bastard. He never gave them the time of day yet some of the have already planned out their wedding!"

Naruto had to agree with that. He never understood what the big deal was about this Uchiha kid! 'Sure, he's rich… and he's like a beast at soccer and lacrosse. But other than that he's a prick!' he sighed and looked over at the bastard raven in the back who was simply sitting there doodling, completely unaware of the hateful glares he was getting from the males and the lustful gazes he was getting from the girls. 'How could anyone like Sakura like him?' Naruto glanced over at his crush who was engaged in conversation with her best friend, Ino. Giggles would erupt in quiet spasms, followed by quick glances at the quietly working raven.

Naruto picked up a marsh green colored pencil and began to sketch his scenery. The project was due by the end of class and he only had about 50% of it completed. 'That's what I get for goofing off.' He chastised. Art class was one of his best subjects since it didn't include any numbers or memorization of poems written by dead poets with suffering souls. All it required was time, patience, and imagination. Naruto had the imagination part hands down.

He felt eyes on him about halfway through class. He looked up, blue clashing with beautiful sea green. He felt his heart stop. A blush crawled over his whiskered cheeks. Sakura Haruno… his crush… the girl he wanted in his arms… was smiling at him.

I'll give you a smile.

The words replayed over and over again in his mind as he watched the girl get embarrassed and then turn around, giggling madly with Ino. Naruto found it hard to catch his breath. He thought the world had frozen and for a moment it was just him and Sakura. Beautiful, smiling Sakura.

'Dammit! I should have smiled back!'

"Toooold you!" Kiba sang. "Gaara so owes me ten bucks now!"

Naruto was too speechless to talk back. His mind flooded back to the rose that was resting in his book bag. His fingers absentmindedly brushed over the blood red petals. They were soft to the touch, smooth as velvet.

'Maybe Kiba was right after all…' his heart skipped a beat at the prospect.

"Well, while you sit there and think about how much you owe me, I'm going to go get some watercolors." Kiba got up from his stool, "Be right back."

So Naruto was left alone to figure out the chaotic pieces of the puzzle the fulfilled promise and rose meant. He grabbed another color, this time cotton candy pink, and started to color in his orange blended in with golden yellow sky. He was so immersed in his artwork that he didn't notice a certain raven peering over his shoulder…

"It's not polite to ignore people."

Naruto literally jumped out of his seat. Disbelief glowed brightly in his eyes are he stared at the raven examining his work. "W-What are you doing?" he asked, placing his upper body over his artwork so the raven couldn't see. He didn't know why he was acting so self-conscious around Sasuke. It's not like he cared deeply about his opinion.

The raven smirked, though it was small. "Was just passing by and saw your work… it's alright."

Naruto felt a vein pop. "Alright? Just alright?" his voice kicked up another level.

"Naruto, shush!" the teacher called out. Naruto slumped in his seat, ignoring the muffled chuckles around the room.

"The blending's nice," Sasuke, continued totally unfazed. "But you're trying to attract the attention on the boy in the field, right?" it took a while, but Naruto eventually nodded slowly. "Then wouldn't it make sense to make the boy a different color? You have his clothes mixing in with the grass. Even not coloring hi at all, or just making one portion of the boy colored would instantly attract the viewer to him."

"The blonde gaped at the observation Sasuke could make just a few seconds of glimpsing at the picture. Granted it was a normal one, but Naruto had totally overlooked it in the heat of the moment. A small part of his pride was telling him that the bastard had no idea what the hell he was talking about, but the rational part that wanted a good grade on his project told him to take the advice with stride.

So, with great trepidation, Naruto allowed a small smile to grace his face. "Thanks…"

Something happened to Naruto that he never expected to see even if the apocalypse was occurring. He witnessed an event barely anyone got to see.

Sasuke Uchiha… had smiled at him. It was small, but it was still a smile, and Naruto vaguely noted that it was a nice smile too…

"No need to thank me, Dobe. I just felt the need to point it out."

And then Naruto felt the urge to knock the living daylights out of the raven come back again. He scowled, "What the hell did you just call me, bastard?"

The raven's smile grew a little in mockery. "I called the Dobe a Dobe."

"Go to Hell, Uchiha!" Naruto screamed.

"Naruto, shut the hell up!" his teacher barked right back.

Naruto silently fumed in his seat as he watched the raven saunter away all-high and might like. 'He's bastard! A humongous, stick up the ass, bastard! I hope he inhales too much gas and dies!' wow… that was a little intense.

"Oi, what did the rich prick want with yah?" Kiba finally came back with his watercolors and pastels. He sported a confused look on his face.

"Nothing," the blonde muttered, picking up another colored pencil so he could resume his work. "He was just being his bastard self."

Kiba scoffed and sat down, "What else is new?"

For the rest of the class, Naruto continued his work fixing things here and there and splashing in finishing touches until his artwork was finally satisfactory to him.

"Hmm," his teacher hummed, peering over the blonde's shoulder. "Very nice, Naruto! I love how you only colored the hair on your character. Since we cannot see the boy's face, you manage to draw the viewer in by the brightness and color of his hair! Well done."

That was the first time Naruto was praised in Art class. The foreign feeling bubbled through his system, forcing out a goofy smile on the blonde's face.

"Told you," the raven walked by, a secret smirk in place as he went up to return his supplies.

But right now, Naruto couldn't care less about Sasuke's bastard ways. He was praised for something he did, not mocked and looked down upon like was the norm—not in the class, but by a few classmates… And, Sakura smiled at him… a promise fulfilled to the brim. Today was definitely a good day.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think about the first chapter! Sorry if Sasuke's advice to Naruto was a little... stupid, I may have tried a little too hard to sound "art smart". Well, other than that, what did you think? Review, please (:!

Until next time :D!