SAKURA POV:
The boy looked between her and the bullies before just raising an eyebrow and saying " 5 vs 1 and then you call her a stupid nickname based off an obvious thing? Oh yeah that's definitely fair".'
"GET LOST!" the leading girl shouted.
"Ladies first" he smirked at her.
She growled at him before throwing the same stone he had thrown towards him but it didn't even reach halfway to where he was .
"Nice throw" he said sarcastically. He then jumped down on top of one of the boys, surprising everyone present there. He quickly picked Sakura up and ran with her in his arms in a princess carry.
He then jumped up very high. Sakura looked at his face as he looked towards her with a slight smile. The sun shone towards his face making him look..."wow" she unintentionally said.
"Thanks, I think?" he said with a slight tilt of his head, looking a bit confused.
She blushed and looked away " N-Nevermind".
They landed near a park and he put her down.
"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki" he said smiling again at her.
"I'm Sakura Haruno" she said with a smile.
"Don't listen to those idiots. I think your forehead looks good." Naruto said pointing his thumb towards where they came from before turning around and picking up the bag he had dropped to go rescue Sakura, not noticing her surprised expression.
She was so surprised that she almost didn't hear him say " Aw man, I have a training session in less than half an hour and I still need to buy vegetables."
She giggled.
He looked at her, annoyed, and said " What, you like veggies?". She just shook her head and said "No, but why are you buying the groceries instead of your parents?".
He stiffened and said "I'm an orphan."
Horrified, Sakura quickly apologized as Naruto dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "You didn't know that so it's fine" he turned around and started walking again, waving over his shoulder towards her "Well then, see ya around and don't let me see you taking those insults again".
"W-Wait" Sakura stuttered. Naruto stopped and turned around, staring at her expectantly " Would you mind if I joined you? I accompany my mom when she goes shopping so I could help out" she said, nervous that he would reject her.
Naruto looked stunned before he gave her a grin and said " Definitely Dattebayo!". She caught up with him and walked beside him.
As they walked at a more populated area of konoha she noticed that Naruto was getting a lot of glares. He had also noticed but was ignoring them and being his usual ramen obsessed goofy self.
She saw him trying to enter a lot of stores, only to be kicked out. She may not be as smart as a Nara but she could tell that the general populace of Konoha hated Naruto for some reason so he wouldn't be able to buy anything.
"How about you give me the money and the bag, and I can buy what you need?" Sakura asked softly. He just shrugged and gave her the things and a list of everything he would need.
20 minutes later:
" Well, I ought to go drop these at home and go train" Naruto said, holding up the bag of groceries he had successfully procured due to Sakura's help.
"Do you have to go? I haven't really got any friend's.." Sakura trailed of. "All the kids tease me because of my hair color and large forehead" she said, looking down.
Naruto just stared at her before laughing and saying " While I do think those guy are stupid for disliking you cuz of hair or forehead, I mean, I'm blonde, that aint much better than Pink, not that pink is bad" He hastily said" I can ask my teacher to add you to our little training sessions, only if you want of course.".
Sakura stared at him, Then gave a huge smile before saying " I would love to join you".
NARUTO POV:
Gai sensei looked at him, Then Sakura, then him again.
" Naruto, while I understand that you want to your friend to be strong with you, I am under no obligation to train young Sakura here." he said with a slight frown.
"B-but you haven't been training me under any obligation have you?" Naruto asked. "Yes, but that was because I saw your determination and when I got to know your reason I decided. I am not saying I will not train her. I am saying I must know her reason and the amount of determination she has before I teach her anything" Gai explained in a very un-Gai (calm) fashion.
Sakura looked unsure at that. "So, Sakura, why is it that you want to train with me?" Gai asked her, looking towards her eyes to see if she was being honest. "I don't want to be behind any of the classmates I will have in the ninja academy and I want to be strong enough to support my family. A-Also I don't want to fall behind Naruto here either.." she said, giving Naruto a glance towards the end.
Naruto just grinned while Gai nodded. "Yes, wanting to support one's family and to fight alongside your friend is a very youthful Aim indeed. Very well, I will train you after seeing what you might have talent for learning in.
"Wait you didn't do that with me dattebayo" Naruto said, sounding confused." That is because you are already someone with the mindset of a frontal assault fighter. Once I'm through with you and you learn ninjutsus you will most definitely be a nin-taijutsu specialist with maybe a specialty in a weapon. Sakura here, however, I do not know her fighting style. She could end up being anything, from a medical ninja to spymaster. That is why we have to see what she might have talent in so we can further enhance her skills in that department." Naruto nodded, satisfied with his answer.
"ALRIGHT THEN" Gai shouted, back to his loud self, "LET US BEGIN YOUR TRAINING MY YOUTHFUL PUPILS."
3 hours later:
SAKURA POV:
Sakura went home covered in grime and dirt. When asked what she had been doing by her mother, she had muttered something about training and sleep and had gone to bed after cleaning herself up without eating dinner. Her mother had been quite worried but let her sleep.
The next morning:
Sakura woke up a bit later than usual and came down rubbing her eyes and mumbled a "Guh mornin" as she sat at the dining table and started eating her breakfast.
"So, Sakura, where were you yesterday?" Sakura's mother, Mebuki Haruno asked her. "I was being trained with my new friend Naruto by Gai sensei" Sakura said as she took a huge gulp of orange juice, not missing the slightly happy expression her mother had.
"I see.. Gai is one of konoha's strongest ninjas so im sure he can be trusted with your training, I just hope you don't pick up his fashion sense" Mebuki said, shivering when she imagined Sakura with a bowl cut and sparkling as she did a nice guy pose.
"Yeah...definitely" Sakura said, who was imagining the same thing.
" As for this Naruto, would this happen to be Uzumaki Naruto?" Mebuki asked. " Yeah, why?" Sakura asked, wondering why her mother of all people knew Naruto.
"Hmm, nothing just happy that such a nice boy is your friend" Mebuki said with a small smile.
" Have you met him before Mom?" Sakura asked, a bit startled.
"Well kind of, he helped me pick up a bag of groceries I had dropped once, Nothing major but I thought it was sweet".
"Naruto is an orphan" Sakura told her.
Mebuki nodded and said " That's why, if he ever does something ill mannered, it will be up to you to teach him manners, sometimes a bit forcefully"
Somewhere else in Konoha, A blonde whiskered boy shivered in fright. " Why do I feel like I'm going to be in a world of pain soon" Naruto asked himself.