Song Title: You Had Your Chance

Artist: Mariah Carey

Album: Charmbracelet (2002)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the song You Had Your Chance. I do own a broken charm bracelet though…and a Sasuke plushie…and cherry blossom lotion…and this story. Close enough I guess…

Well it's been a while

Since I looked into your eyes

Never dreamed I'd see you tonight

And it's interesting that I

Just don't feel a thing

For the so called love of my life

We used to be close (but you didn't love me)

We used to be best friends (but you never really cared)

I let you into my soul (didn't know you couldn't be trusted)

It took me so long to forget (all the little things we shared)

Chorus:

And now you want me back again

After my heartache and suffering

I was your fool but that's all in the past

So sorry boy, but you had your chance

See, I spent so many sleepless nights

Trying to block you from my mind

I was so convinced I dealt without you once upon a time

Now my eyes are open and I can see

You were devious and shady

Only trifling with me

We used to be close (but you didn't love me)

We used to be best friends (but you never really cared)

I let you into my soul (didn't know you couldn't be trusted)

It took me so long to forget (all the little things we shared)

Chorus

Where were you when I needed you most would've done anything to hold you close

Would've given the whole world to be back in your arms

But you've left me so torn apart

Chorus (x2)


It was not how they expected. Far from it actually. When Sasuke returned to the village, he stood nobly surrounded by an air of confidence now that his duty since childhood had finally been fulfilled. He seemed colder. More reserved. More dangerous. He didn't fit the description that some villagers imagined: being half conscious and fully gory. Nor did he fit the image that the rest of the villager's held: lying peacefully in a wooden, makeshift casket that some sadist had thought would be a kind and amusing thing to do. No, he surprisingly stood tall and indifferent and carried on about his business as if nothing had happened.

And the most surprising thing: Sakura didn't run crying into his arms. As a matter of fact, when the pink haired kunoichi heard the news, her reaction was…well, nonexistent. Naruto came stumbling in excited, breathless, and in one word blurted out "Sasuke'sback!"

Sakura, who was thumbing through medical records, didn't even falter. She only responded casually through the pen she held between her teeth, "Ah."

That was it. No tears of joy. No shriek of relief. Not even a glare of anger. Just a simple, "ah." It was as if Naruto had just come in and told he's saw a pretty flower on the way over.

The blonde blinked twice, dumbstruck by his teammate's reaction- or lack thereof. Sakura found the piece of paper she was looking for and set the rest in a manila folder on the table and turned to leave, but Naruto was quickly in front of her.

His hands grasped her shoulders tightly and he forced her wide, emerald eyes to look into his bright, ice blue ones. Her eyes, held nothing; no pain, no joy. Naruto repeated himself slowly.

"Didn't you hear me? Sasuke is back."

"I did hear you Naruto," she replied, her voice even, "but I have a patient right now. If you need to talk about it, you'll have to wait until later."

Then she picked his hand up between her index and thumb fingers and easily moved his grip from her shoulder. She turned and walked from the room, calling over her shoulder, "Oh, and you can tell him I said 'hi' I guess."

Two months later, Sakura acted no different. She was not bitter towards the taciturn man, but in his presence, she was secretly guarded. She was never happy to see him, but she didn't dread it either. People began rumoring that- to Sakura- it was as if Sasuke had never left the village. Like he had never left her.

Sasuke realized this too, and surprisingly, it bothered him. He'd never really thought about what kind of a reaction Sakura would have upon his return, but he never would have guessed it would be like this. Why couldn't she clearly be happy, clearly be angry, or clearly be sad for that matter! Why did she have to go on about life as if nothing had even changed? As if his coming and going was as normal as the rising and setting of the sun. As if he was no longer worthy of her emotions.

Sasuke sat at the end of the bracket shaped, three part tavern booth and seethed. Across from him at the other end, he watched Sakura laughing gaily and chatting with the rest of the Rookie Nine that was present; as if she had no care in the world. Beside him, Naruto was laughing deafeningly and beside Naruto, sat a drunken Ino. He'd placed blonde between blonde to nonviolently prevent molestation from beneath the table.

Next to Ino, seated in the part of the booth that ran along the wall, sat Shikamaru with his cheek propped against his fist, and beside him sat Kiba. Choji sat beside Kiba- piling food into his mouth and laughing along with everyone else. Shino seemed un-entertained and sat dully at the inside seat of the booth perpendicular to the wall part and parallel to the seating that held Sasuke and the blondes. Beside the bespectacled man sat his girlfriend, Hinata, who every now and then would engage in conversation with Sakura, who was seated to her left.

He inwardly growled at the half drunken blonde to his left, who was the reason he had been dragged out and forced to watch all of this. Inconspicuously, Sasuke continued eyeing Sakura- the cherry who had, indeed, finally blossomed. He watched as her eyes grew bright and her heart shaped face was filled with mirth when she laughed. The same bright glow and mirth that only used to come when she saw him.

Sasuke picked up his drink and took a sip, all the while glaring strangely at Sakura. Between listening to Kiba's anecdote about how he received the disgusting gash on his arm and laughing at the brown haired man's jokes, Sakura caught eyes with Sasuke. He was still glaring, but she merely looked at him and flashed a friendly smile before turning her attention back to her, Kiba, and Naruto's conversation.

Sasuke's jaw tightened and he stiffly placed his drink on the table. Another salting of the wound.

At about nine o'clock, Sasuke had had enough of that night's festivities, and of a certain pink haired female responding to his presence as if he were a common cockroach. No, worse than that; at least she would feel enough about the cockroach to kill it.

Sasuke wordlessly turned from the table and stood to leave, but Naruto caught his arm. Sasuke looked down at the blonde, whose eyes were starting to fog from intoxication.

"Hey, where ya goin?"

"Home." Sasuke answered simply.

"Aw, c'mon! Stay awhile! What else do y' have to do?"

"Yeah, Sasuke, the night's still young!" Kiba chimed in.

"Yeeaah, you should staaaay!" Ino slurred, downing another cup.

Slowly the Uchiha made his eyes around the table. Naruto, Kiba, Ino, Choji, and Hinata all wanted him to stay and enjoy a little piece of the night life. Shikamaru and Shino looked as if they wanted him to stay because he'd be one more tally for the sane and sober side. Then his eyes rested on Sakura.

Unsurprisingly, there was no hint of care within them. If the rosette would have asked him to stay- be it with her eyes or aloud- Sasuke would've. If she had shown even the slightest bit of wanting him to leave, then he still would have stayed because at least he could see she wasn't so apathetic toward him. But her eyes were unconcerned. Although bright by nature, they seemed uninterested and simply resting on the current spot of attention.

"No thanks." He sneered directly at the still unaffected female and walked out of the tavern.

The remaining eight chatted and drank for about half an hour more until Sakura rose from the table.

Stretching, she grunted out. "Well I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto protested. "Why're you leaving?"

"Because unlike you guys I have to work in the morning. I'm pretty sure all of Konoha would appreciate it if I don't have a hangover when I see my patients. Anyway, don't any of you have a mission tomorrow?" She asked looking pointedly at Shikamaru.

"Believe me," he drawled out, "I'm not staying here all night."

"Okay, so I'll walk you home; it's dangerous and stuff, ya know." Naruto offered, using the table as support when he stood up. Sakura sternly placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"I don't think a drunk loudmouth is going to help me Naruto. I'll be alright."

"Well I'll walk you," Shikamaru offered preparing to nudge Ino so he could slide from the booth.

"Man you guys, I said I'd be fine. Believe it or not, I'm a ninja too. 'Sides, I like walking at night."

"Weirdo…" Kiba sang into his sake cup, before raising it to his lips. Sakura shot him a harmless glare, said her goodbyes, and left the tavern.

She decided to take the long way home; through the road leading out of the village. As she paused momentarily in front of the concrete bench that held so many memories for her, Sakura felt someone approaching her from behind. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"I thought you went home." Sakura observed with an uninterested tone to her voice.

"I never said when I'd get there," Sasuke responded coolly, slowly emerging from the shadows.

"Ah," Sakura nodded, then began walking up the path and to her apartment.

"Sakura." Sasuke's voice was deep and firm. Sakura stopped and slowly turned to face him. Their eyes locked beneath the moonlight and everything was silent. When after about ten seconds, Sasuke still hadn't spoken, Sakura raised her brow, tightened her mouth, and gave one slow nod as if to say "thanks for wasting ten seconds of my life." Then she turned to walk away, but Sasuke stopped her again.

"Why are you acting this way?" he asked with much hesitation, darkness, and aggravation. He was as equally confused and annoyed by her actions as he was towards his feelings towards her apathy. Sakura stopped and lazily cocked her head over her shoulder to look at him.

"Like what?"

Sasuke growled. "Like I'm not even here. Like I don't exist."

A playful scoff was thrown into the air. "If I were acting like you didn't exist, then I wouldn't be talking to you now."

The young man's tone changed. "I can see you've changed Sakura," Sasuke all but smirked, stopping the woman before she could think of leaving. His rising anger had been replaced with cynical taunting. "You're strong and well respected now. And you'd hate for the village to think that you're returning to your old habits- to me. So you'll pretend that nothing ever happened…right?"

"You're not making any sense Sasuke, I'm leaving." While she spoke, a chilly air gusted through the street and tingled her bare arms. Through her thin cotton bra and shirt, the air caused her nipples to peak and Sasuke took note. The desire was overwhelming. He had to have her.

With a smug smirk over his handsome, lustful face he continued, walking closer. "You certainly have grown." When Sakura let out an irritated sigh and turned to leave, he pressed on. "I have to admit, I do regret leaving you."

The front of his body had now pressed itself close to the back of hers and he snaked an arm around her waist, pressing his lips to her neck and freezing her in place.

Before his dipping head could go any farther along her neck, Sakura clutched his wrist in her hand and twisted it as she broke away from him. Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head slowly before glaring into his astounded eyes. When she finally let go and began backing away, Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Forgive and forget," he sneered venomously. The retreating female stopped moving, but kept shaking her head. She took a deep breath and continued locking eyes with the Uchiha. She waited for some feeling- any feeling- to wash over her, but none did.

"Sasuke," she began slowly and precisely, "sometimes I wonder if I ever loved you. Years ago, I was crazy about you. I'd do anything for you- even betray my village. When you left…I was devastated Sasuke. Devastated. You have absolutely no idea how much you tore me up inside. I couldn't eat for days…For weeks I'd just lay in bed at night, afraid that you'd come and leave while I was asleep. You were my life Sasuke. I couldn't imagine my days without you because back then, I couldn't see that you didn't care less about me. I couldn't fathom the thought that you would never care for me like I cared for you. I was young then. Young and foolish. But now…now that I'm older…I see you for who you really are: a power hungry avenger, who-despite what you may say- will never truly care for anyone…especially me. Will we ever be able to build a friendship up? I don't know…I guess, probably. But will it ever turn into anything else? No; because you and I both know that that's just not something you want. But I don't hate you for it, because like I said, it's who you are. If anyone, I should hate myself for not seeing it sooner…But I don't; I don't hate myself for wasting years of my life fawning over you, or for falling to pieces for the time I did when you left the village, or for taking all these years to realize my potential without you. No, now…I'm…I'm honestly just tired of feeling things for you. I'm glad you're back Sasuke- it's good to know you're all right… but that Sakura that you're probably looking for- the one that used to dote on your every word and action- well she's long gone now, so don't expect her back."

With that Sakura turned and prepared to walk off, but once again Sasuke called out, stopping her. His voice was boldly challenging, but underlying the challenge was the slightest bit of anxiousness and upset. "Can you really say goodbye that easily? Are you really strong enough to forget everything that happened before?"

A slow, confident smile spread across Sakura's face and once again, she cocked her head over her shoulder to look at the man. "Yes. Goodbye Sasuke." The pink haired girl said firmly before turning slightly on her heels and walking off, leaving a stupefied Uchiha frozen in his tracks.

So sorry boy, but you had your chance.


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