a/n: This was supposed to be a oneshot, but if you want me to do more I will. It's NaruSaku for the first chapter (that's what it's intended to be) but I can write some SasuSaku as well. If you want me to continue, my plan is to write a little oneshot having to do with love (during their days at the academy) for each of the Team Seven members. Leave a review and your opinion, no flames.

She was beautiful.

Even when I was a kid, I always knew that. I didn't dwell on it, and I didn't recognize it as love, but I knew it.

The other boys would be playing games out in the schoolyard. I would sit on my swing, my safe haven, and watch them. I would watch them smiling and laughing, but none of them glanced my way and asked me to join them. I guess that was what I was waiting for.

One day, I saw her.

She was sitting against the wall, hidden from view and weeping. She was curled up, trying to make herself invisible.

Her sobbing was completely quiet.

And I couldn't help but think of how striking her looks wereIt hurt me to see her crying.

She raised her head and looked me in the eye for a brief moment. There were tears streaming down her face. Her bright green eyes had shadows of sadness in them.

I wonder how my eyes looked to her. I could almost imagine them mirroring hers, reflecting the same sorrow.

She looked down again, ashamed. I wanted to go over there and comfort her, but I knew it would only hurt her pride. This girl had pride. It was pride that was almost nonexistent after being battered around, a rag doll to the whims of others. But it ran deep. She was weak right now, but she had invisible strength lying deep inside, waiting to surface.

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Every so often I would see the girl there. Sometimes crying, mostly just sitting there glumly, trying to find some peace.

I begin to feel more alone than ever. I felt such a connection to her, but I doubt she even realized I was there.

Her name was Haruno Sakura.

And it was a wonder that I had never noticed her before.

You might say it wasn't my fault. She was hidden behind layers of timidity; she liked to quietly follow a popular blonde girl. The blonde was annoying but she had guts, I'll give her that. They seemed very close, and I was a little bit jealous.

Sakura had bangs that covered her eyes, her green eyes. Her tears were beautiful, but even better was her smile. Her smile, though rare, was true and honest.

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She didn't come to the schoolyard again for a long time. I would come to sit at my swing every now and then, but I never saw her, not once.

Now she was using a ribbon to hold back her bangs. She revealed her bright eyes to the world.

It felt good to see her happy, but I knew that now I wouldn't see her at the in the yard after school. And somehow this made me sad.

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I noticed that she'd started watching Uchiha Sasuke, kind of like how I watched her.

I always had the feeling I might have been friends with him. He had been one of those boys who'd played and never given a second thought to me, but suddenly he was different. He would stay inside studying instead of playing.

I heard his family died. I might've known what he was going through, in a way. But he wouldn't even answer me when I said hey.

I started to resent him.

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And then, one day, she was there again.

It was raining that day.

I never came to my swing anymore, but that day I had a strong urge to sit there. Some rain wasn't going to stop me.

And that was when I saw her.

Usually there were younger children playing, almost giving the effect that things hadn't changed since the days when I'd sat on my swing and watched the other boys. But today the playground was deserted, because of the raining.

It was raining hard. A hard, solid rain. There was no thunder or lightening, just rain pounding down on the Konoha pavement.

And there she was, drenched. You couldn't tell tears from raindrops.

I stood there, watching her. Her crying was silent, but she looked to be in great pain.

I walked up to her and for the first time ever I spoke to her.

"Sakura?"

Her head jerked up. "W-what?" she managed, holding back her crying. She might've wondered how I knew her name. She might've recognized me as the punk who vandalized the village and was infamous for causing trouble. I was sure she didn't recognize me for myself.

"It's okay."

She just looked at me as though I were insane. But if my insane comments comforted her even a little bit I was happy to say them.

Apparently, it did help. She choked back her sobs and confessed.

"My best friend hates me. I wish it didn't end this way. We… we were going to be best friends forever." Her voice sped up, anxious, "Always there for each other, you know? And it's all over because some stupid boy… but… I… I…" Her voice slowed, and she trailed off.

It was Uchiha Sasuke. I knew what the rest of her sentence would have been:

But I love him.

She looked down at the pavement.

"Love really hurts," she said.

I could sympathize completely.