(Flashback)

Sighing Naruto got off the swing, his now 5"11 body far too big for his usual place of relaxation, yet another growth spurt having taken place over the past month.

He adjusted the blue bandanna round his head, imagining that it was a headband, and not some bright piece of cloth that he had stolen from the fabric shop.

So he just leaned against the tree, trying his best not to cry as he watched all the graduates pour out of the academy, each one holding a shiny new Leaf headband-

Which he would not be wearing this year, having failed the genin exam yet again, the embarassment so great, that he had just walked out, not wanting to see everyone else pass, leaving him behind for yet another year

He knew better than to mingle with them, he still didn't understand the looks their parents gave him, but he knew well enough, that if he hung around them to long-

A beating would be in order.

He HATED beatings.

Already he could feel their piercing stares, and turning to go-

He nearly ran into someone, a girl with pink hair, who was crouched behind the tree-

Crying?

Kindness kicking in, he knocked on the wood beside her, and heistantly, she looked up with a snifle, tears pooling in her emerald eyes.

"Y-Yes?"

The girl, like him, was tall for her age, and if he had to guess, she was around the 5"8 mark.

She wore a plain red dress, and her eyes were red from crying, yet filled with loneliness and sadness, much like his own.

He took note that she too, did not have a headband.

"You okay?" His voice cracked, and he winced at it-

Yet she nodded, unafraid of his deepening voice, even though it was early for his age, her hands now over her head, pulling her rough pink bangs over it, in an attempt to-

Hide it, perhaps?

"I-I-I d-didn't study, c-cuz everyone said I had a big forehead-

Naruto shook his own head, speaking in simple sentences still. "No, you don't."

A light blush lit her face as he knelt before her, sapphire blue eyes meeting emerald green, as he wracked his mind for a remedy to this situation. "You shouldn't hide it. Makes it worse."

"W-What?" She stuttered, as he snapped his fingers, and began undoing his bandanna, untying the simple knot that held it there.

Then, he still did NOT know why, he brushed her hands aside, then , nudging her hair back, he tied the bandanna on , thus holding her bangs back.

From his small pack, he pulled out a mirror, and held it out to her.

"Better?"

For a moment, she just stared into it, then ever so slowly, a small smile lit her face, as she touched one hand to the bandanna

"WOW! Its so pretty!"

He was at a loss for words as she beamed up at him, eyes alight with glee.

"Can I keep it?"

He nodded numbly, unsure. "Sure...

Suddenly, he felt something, warm and moist, yet soft and firm against his cheek.

He felt his face heat up, in a light blush

He blinked as the girl pulled away, all smiles now.

"Sakura."

"Eh?" He blinked, still reeling from the fact that he had been-

A giggle escaped her, and it was like peals of heavenly music. "Its a name silly! My name."

"Naruto." He spoke his name without even thinking.

Smiling, she pulled him towards the crowd, and he unwillingly allowed her to do so.

"Okay then Naruto-kun, from now on, you and me are best friends!"

Kissed. He had just been kissed by Sakura Haruno.

(Present time)

And that was how it all started.

Sakura nudged past him now, her hips, wide for her age, as she begun to his puberty, brushed against his own, and for a moment, just a moment, on that stairway time stopped.

He looked at her, REALLY looked at her, his eyes running over every smooth and curved line of her body, that had brushed against his own.

He had two choices, right then and there.

He could reach out and grab her, confess his true feelings, and come what may...

But then he saw the look she was giving Sasuke, and NOT him.

One of intense feeling, even if the Uchiha was ignoring her.

Or he could do nothing.

What was the point? He told himself, his eyes focused on the bandanna she still wore, a painful reminder of what could've, no SHOULD HAVE been.

He had only himself to blame

She'll never look at ME that way, the way she sees Sasuke, she'll never see me.

Or he could do nothing.

He knew in his heart...

That this just wouldn't work.

With barely a snifle, he shoved past her, roughly knocking her aside, and sprinting up the stairway, calling out an apology as Sasuke steadied her-

HIS hands on her hips.

This was the last sight he saw, before he slammed the rooftop door closed behind him, deadbolting it shut.

Only THEN did he cry, until a shadow fell over him.

Whoever it was, didn't go away, until at last, Naruto looked up, eyes red from crying.

"What the hell do you want?"

He couldn't SEE the figure, but he heard the voice.

"Do you REALLY want to start over, boy?"

Naruto glared up at the man, anger coursing through his frame, as the 18 year old rose to his feet.

"Damn right I do! I want outta this life!"

An amused chortle was heard from the man, and suddenly pain exploded in Naruto's chest.

He dropped to the floor, suddenly unable to move, and he was vaguely aware of the blood pooling beneath him.

"Very well then boy, I shall take you there...

'Where?'

"To your new life...