I was reading an article on MSN, and I saw something that was like "23 Ways To Say I Love You," and the very first one made me laugh so hard just because and then personal reasons only a certain person will get, that this came to mind.
...
Naruto knew quite well how exactly he felt for her. In fact, he knew it so well he could sit there and think about it for hours and hours, and it never grow old. She was on his mind constantly, to the point he honestly had to question himself whether it was healthy or not.
But he couldn't bring himself to say it to her directly.
He'd thought the words plenty of times. Written them down, gone through the motions, came so close to saying it...
But he still hadn't told his Sakura-chan "I love you."
Maybe it was just a defect of some sort. An incapability to pair those three words together into one sentence with that much meaning... An odd handicap, but it wouldn't surprise him. Not with how much trouble he was having.
It was truly frustrating. So many moments had come and gone where it would have been perfect; the perfect time to finally let her know just how much he cared. It was one of those things that was taken as general knowledge, but it would mean much more if the confirmation of the fact was said aloud, and in person, and with a sincerity matched by nothing else.
Maybe he'd finally have the guts to say it while they were watching a movie, on that Friday night. He was sitting up straight, with her head propped on a pillow on his lap while they watched some gory horror flick; they were her favourites, and who was he to deny her what she wanted, even if it scared the everliving out of him? By the end of the movie, she was yawning and the time that he spent struggling to keep his eyes open grew longer and longer.
Okay, maybe a horror movie wasn't the best time to say it. Not his best plan, no.
"Time to go to bed, scaredy-cat," she teased him before stretching as she got up, making her way towards the first room of the apartment they had shared since they had started college.
"I don't need your back-talk, woman. Go to sleep," he snorted in return as he followed her.
She laughed at him, but made sure to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him before she entered her room. "Goodnight, Naruto," she yawned, turning to close the door behind her.
"Wait."
The door stopped, and she leaned against the doorframe with a raised brow. "What is it?" She asked him, stifling another yawn behind a hand.
Dumbstruck for a moment, the blonde felt himself grow tongue-tied. He almost went to say never mind, and to just duck down the hallway to his own room, but he swallowed down the hesitation, determined that this would be the night he finally said it.
"Sakura."
"...Yeeeeeeeees?"
"You are the syrup on my waffles."
Wait, what? Naruto blinked once, and felt heat rise in his cheeks. Okay. That was so not what he meant to say. Though...
She smiled, and laughed in that way she did when he'd done something sweet.
"I love you, too, Naruto."
The roseate clicked the door behind her reply, leaving him standing in the middle of the hallway, flabbergasted. Well... At least she knew what he meant. And as he dragged his feet to his room, he supposed that was all that mattered.