It happened so many years ago that it almost felt like it had been a dream. But it did happen, or so she thinks.

It had been the start of the spring when it happened, and the flowers were in full bloom, as Konoha celebrated the annual spring festival held outdoors amidst vast expanses of greenery.

There was a definitive lull to everyone's step. They seemed not to be in a hurry to get anywhere. And why would they be, given that the current scenery appeared to have been stolen right out of heaven.

Fresh air brushed past the festival goers, and almost everyone sighed in bliss as they were enveloped in the invigorating scent of freshly cut glass mingled with the spring flowers.

In the vicinity, little kids chased after tiny flower petals, as said petals floated with the breeze.
Perfection, is the word that better sums up the scene at hand.

And everyone was relaxed.

Well, almost everyone.

A little girl, with hair the color of Sakura petals stood out from the crowed not because of the peculiar hair color, but rather because she was evidently more rigid than anyone in the vicinity.

She stomped forwards in determination, adamant on not letting the calming weather distract her from what she knew she had to achieve.

She has waited for a very long time and if she doesn't move now, the 13 year old knew that she would live to regret it.

She sure as hell wasn't about to let her adversary beat her to her target. Especially now that she is certain that it was her destiny she was racing towards.

With that in mind the girl soldiered through the laid back crowd.

A few seconds passed where she had to avoid being drawn in by many a persistent merchant and a few overly enthused activity coordinators, Sakura finally arrived at her destination and came to a stop, her eyes fixed on the figure that she has been seeking out.

He stood under a branching Sakura tree. The late afternoon sun, setting behind the tree, seemed to imbue the entire scene with a rather surreal air.

The girl sighed as she pondered what she knew she needed to do. She had no other choice but to go through with it, but this didn't make it any less risky or terrifying.

Absently she noted another figure standing next to him by the tree. But at the moment, everything else hardly mattered.

At least his intimidating presence has ensured that everyone else, other than the person standing next to him, maintained a few steps between them. He always had that effect on people. He was deadly and serious. And she was proud to be one of the few people who admired him for it and didn't mind in the least if his grumpiness happened to be taken out on her.

Steeling herself, she walked forwards in a halting manner.

She was almost too shaky to function as she came to a stop in front of him.

His eyes were cast forwards, and he didn't seem to want to shift his attention to her. Not that she would have known, given that she kept he eyes fixed on the ground beneath her feet.

It was just too much to expect her to do this. She was mortified. But she knew that she wanted this, she needed this, and her life depended on this.

With freshly found courage she looked up, eyes glistening with determination, and cheeks stained red with embarrassment.

"Sasuke-Kun," She started, before waiting patiently as her teammate took his sweet time shifting his bored attention to her. He said nothing in response and she saw it fit to push on. "I... I..." She tried but it was too hard to say, so she figured she'd break the ice first. "What do you think of my Kimono?"

Sakura questioned coyly, leaving out the 'I'm wearing it just for you' part.

Sasuke's eyes snapped back to the horizon where they have been lingering before.

She shifted on her feet as she registered the fact that he wasn't about to answer her.

"Umm... Ano..." The girl stuttered. It's not like she wasn't used to his antics. But she was hoping things would be slightly different today what with the relaxing atmosphere and everything. After all, she needed all the encouragement she could muster in order to blurt out what she needed to say.

"How much longer do we have to stay here?" She heard Sasuke ask someone behind her.

"At least 5 more minutes." A voice replied, and Sakura was so entranced by Sasuke and the sexy lilt of his voice to even care who he was speaking to.

At the other person's response, the Uchiha seemed grumpier than before, and Sakura absently realized that if she had any hopes of getting what she wanted to say out, she needed to say it within the next 5 minutes.

"Ano, Sasuke-kun," she tried again.

Completely ignoring her, Sasuke turned once more to the person standing behind her.

"I will walk around for the remaining five minutes." He declared, and much to her horror, Sakura watched as he turned to leave.

Her heart started pounding and before she knew what she was doing, her hand shot out to grab hold of his, effectively halting him mid motion.

Finally his eyes snapped to hers.

She faltered, and blushed again, yet she retained her hold.

He glared at her, not even bothering to ask what she wanted.

"I... I... I..." She tried, but the words felt like they refused to come out.

A second later he had snagged his arm out of her hold, and was ready to completely ignore her once more and just walk away.

Sakura's eyes widened; breath quickening as she started operating on mere impulse, "Sasuke-Kun, I love you." She declared, and she didn't expect her voice to come out that loud.

Almost instantaneously all the chatter around them seemed to cease and the otherwise unencumbered festival goers shifted their attention discreetly to the unfolding scene.

Sakura held her breath as Sasuke momentarily stopped moving.

She smiled as he almost turned his head towards her.

But much to his dismay, he didn't complete that motion.

A second later, she was almost too dumbstruck to register the fact that he just walked on like she hadn't just said anything.

Shock froze her to the spot, as she watched him go and slowly chatter broke all around her, as people whispered not too kind things about her.

Vaguely, Sakura noticed that her entire body was shaking with pent up anger, and before she knew it, she had lunged upwards, dislocated a particularly heavy branch of the Sakura tree, and flung it at Sasuke's retreating figure. If he had even remotely expected her to do such a thing, he would have parried, but as it stands, he realized it way too late and was promptly knocked face first to the ground.
Sakura continued to shake, as the chatter that just started, immediately stopped. And it only took her one more instant to realize what she just did, as she watched Sasuke struggle to his feet and turn towards her with a murderous look in his eyes. She had never behaved that way towards him before. As a matter of fact, never in her life had she put on such a display, period.

"Ummm... I ... ah... I am... I mean..." She muttered, not really sure what she should be thinking or feeling at the moment. She considered retreating as the Uchiha looked like he was about ready to lunge himself at her, his face a mixture of rage and utter mortification.

"We are leaving, Sasuke." Came a command from behind her and for the first time she saw the person accompanying Sasuke.

At that, Sasuke instantaneously regained his bored demeanor, and in an effort to preserve his dignity he started walking away like nothing was important enough about the situation at hand to merit his interest.

Sakura shifted her attention to the man who was walking towards her.

He looked like Sasuke, but not really. He was taller, evidently a few years older, and there was something about his demeanor that spoke of great power and unparalleled restraint.

She watched him silently as he passed her by.

He was looking straight forwards, which made it that much more startling when his hand discreetly shot up and ruffled her hair.

Her eyes widened, and she immediately looked up, but his hand was gone and he was already a few steps in front of her, walking after Sasuke.

Sakura blinked confusedly.

Did she just imagine that?

Well, she had to have imagined it, since no one else appeared to have noticed the rather brisk, potentially fictitious, move.

Deflating, Sakura stalked towards the tree and sank to the ground, leaning back against the trunk. She didn't even care what anyone thought at the moment.

"I hate my life."


This story has been nagging at me to write it for a long time. Eventually, I couldn't hold out anymore and I had to put my other story on hold, succumb to its incessant pleas, and give it a life of its own.

This is not meant to be a long story; as a matter of fact I think that two or three more chapters will suffice to see it through.

I hope you guys liked it; I would really appreciate it if you let me know what you think, and if you would like to read more of this. I hope you would since I have already started working on the next chapter :D

Please Review.