My Precious Cherry Blossom Chapter 1: Different, a naruto fanfic

-1Different

Sakura sat on a bench, waiting for him to come back. She knew she had to apologize to him, for doing something so stupid. But it didn't seem like he was going to come back; she couldn't sense his chakra anywhere nearby. She sighs.

She knew she was in trouble. Any minute now, Kakashi will appear in front of her and tell her she'd done it again. It was always the same. Any minute now, he'll be here.

But Kakashi never came. She'd waited for hours, and no sign of either of them was to be seen.

Finally, after the sun had set, and her surroundings were dark, she decides to head home. Walking down the road she knew too well, she was too busy thinking that she didn't notice the person standing in front of her until she bumped into him.

"Oh!" she gasps.

In front of her was Naruto.

She bites her lower lip nervously. How am I supposed to explain this without hurting him again?

She knew she had to say something, but the words wouldn't come out, no matter how hard she tried.

Naruto's eyes seemed dazed; he didn't seem to be paying attention to his surroundings, his mind miles away. He hadn't even realized who was standing in front of him.

Before she could build up the courage to say something, Naruto turns around and walks away.

It was raining, but Sakura didn't move. She just stood there, and she would have stayed for hours if it wasn't for the guy that showed up behind her.

"Sakura?"

She turns around quickly. She knew that voice…

Sasuke was standing beside her now, his umbrella sheltering both him and Sakura from the rain. His raised eyebrow showed that he wanted to know what she was doing out so late at night, this far away from her house.

Sakura could feel the lump in her throat grow larger, and she had to swallow to keep herself from crying. Whispering only one word, she felt a single tear slide down her cheek in regret, "Naruto."

That was all it took for Sasuke to understand what was going on; she'd hurt him again, just like she had so many other times. Instead of saying anything, or comforting her like anyone else would make an attempt to, he leads her down the road to her house, where he knew she'd feel better after sitting with him in private.

Once inside her house, Sakura sank into the couch, her head resting on her bent knees.

They sat silently for a while, thinking, until Sasuke was brought back to reality by the sounds of someone crying. He knew what came next, and, just like so many other times, Sakura started speaking, "I…I didn't know he was going to take it so seriously. And I didn't even know what I'd done until he suddenly ran off."

He only stared at the coffee table, occasionally looking at her to show he was still listening.

"But this time was different; he was different. When I saw him again, his eyes looked distant. I was standing right in front of him, but he didn't even seem to realize who I was." She looks at him with wide eyes. "Sasuke-kun, what if he doesn't get over it this time?"

Sasuke listened more closely now; everything she was saying sounded different from all the other times she had messed up.

Sakura continues in a low voice, almost a whisper, "And today was he turned sixteen. It was his birthday, and I ruined it. I ruined it…" She lays her head down on her knees again. She was done talking now, and usually she felt better after talking to someone about it, but today was different.

"Sakura."

She looks up at him.

"…it wasn't all your fault; he knew what the answer was going to be. He really needs to learn not to hope so much for something he knows isn't going to come true."

"I know, but…I have to do something."

Sasuke nods his head once. "Right. Don't think about it right now; wait until tomorrow."

Sakura takes a deep breath to calm herself. "Okay."

When Sakura woke up, she wondered why she didn't remember ever getting into bed. Then she smiles. Maybe I fell asleep on the couch and Sasuke-kun brought me up here. He has grown nicer over the years.

She walks over to the door and notices that it wasn't closed completely. That proved it; Sasuke had brought her upstairs. He always left the doors like this whenever he was in the room.

She sits down on the couch and stares at the opposite wall where a picture of Team 7 hung in the middle of it, taking up most of the wall. She really missed not having anything to worry about in those days.

A few hours later, a strange noise brought her out of her thoughts, and she realized what it was. The doorbell. She didn't have to answer it though; he walked right in after ringing it only once.

Sakura waits for that person to come into the living room where she was sitting, hearing the almost silent footsteps reach the doorway.

"Sasuke-kun…what're you doing here?"

"I came to take you to Naruto's house."

"Why would you do that, Sasuke-kun? You never liked to get involved with things like these before…"

Sasuke shrugs. "I guess…I don't like it when you two are acting like babbling idiots, but it's better than both of you not talking at all. And this time it's different. Naruto hasn't come here, has he." It was more of a statement that a question, but Sakura still nodded anyway.

It was quiet on their way to Naruto's house, until Sasuke broke it with, "Sakura, can I ask you something?"

Sakura was surprised. Usually, Sasuke didn't ask permission to ask a question; he just went ahead and asked what he wanted to know. Maybe he was being nice today because of everything that was happening to his team? "Sure."

Sasuke's gaze was focused on the ground in front of him as he asked, "Why do you always reject him?"

"Because…he's just not the right guy."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means: he's not the guy that I like. I'm waiting for that guy to tell me how he feels." She smiles sadly. "But I don't think he feels the same way."

"Why's that?" he asks. He was still looking at the ground.

Sakura shrugs. "Well, for one thing, he's not the type to show his feelings. And it seems that he doesn't like me. Don't ask me how I know that, it's something that I can feel every time he looks at me."

"Anyone I know?"

"Yup. You know him."

Sasuke stays quiet for a minute, thinking. Finally he asks, "Is it Neji?"

Sakura stares at him, surprised. "Of course not! He used to be cute, but he's not the guy that I like. Sasuke-kun? Why are you asking me this?"

Sasuke finally looks at her. Ignoring her last question, he asks, "And why not?"

She shrugs again. "I guess… he's not… what I thought he was."

"I don't get what you're saying."

Sakura laughs sadly and murmurs, "That's because you've never fallen in love, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke scowls. If only you knew.

"Anyway, how's your mom doing?"

"She's okay. Says she wants you to come over soon."

"Your mom is really nice. She likes it when Naruto-kun and I come over to your house, doesn't she?"

"Yeah."

Sakura looks straight ahead at the house in front of her, her fingers trembling slightly at the thought of what was going to happen next. "We're here."

But…she had Sasuke by her side; she could do this.

Sakura was standing a little behind Sasuke, afraid to get any closer to Naruto's house. Sasuke sighs, and in one quick movement, he was standing too far away from Sakura to grab onto.

"I said I'd come, but I'm not doing the talking."

Sakura nods. Knocking on the door, she waits nervously for Naruto to open it. When he does, he just stares at them for a while before motioning for them to come in. Sakura sits down on the couch, next to Sasuke. She was nervous, but Sasuke wasn't; as long as they didn't start physically hurting each other, he wasn't going to get into this problem.

She clears her throat. She wanted for them to go back to the way they were; laugh about their problems and then go to Ichiraku's Ramen, where Naruto would always eat more than he could pay for.

"N-Naruto-kun, I wanted to… tell you that, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't say it right, and I know I hurt your feelings."

Naruto doesn't say anything.

Sakura continues, "I didn't mean to sound like I was mad at you. I only wanted to make it clear to you that I don't like you. I like someone else. And that's not going to change."

Naruto stared at her. He didn't say anything for a while. After a few minutes, he stands up and says, "I understand." Then he walks to the door and holds it open; a sign that he wanted them to leave.

Sasuke stands up and, after noticing that Sakura wasn't going to stand up, decides to pick her up himself. He puts his hand around her arm and lifts her to her feet without effort.

Then he gives her a light push on the back to get her to move toward the door.

After going outside, Sasuke held on to Sakura's arm. She looked like she would collapse any minute.

Sasuke led Sakura to her house. They were almost there when Sakura fainted. He caught her in time; after all, he was fast. Shit. Why did she have to faint now?

Sasuke carried Sakura the rest of the way to her house and, once inside, laid her down on her bed. He went downstairs to see if she had any medicine in the kitchen, but then decided to wait until she woke up. She would tell him why she had collapsed. But Sasuke already knew. She's been stressing over this for the past two years, always trying to hide her sadness with laughter and smiles. She's not like any other ordinary girl.

"You worry too much about everyone else, except for yourself, Sakura." He says out loud. He looks at her face and frowns. Your face has been getting paler these days. What's going on with you?

Two minutes later, Sakura wakes up. She blinks and looks up at Sasuke. "Where-?"

"You fainted when we were on our way back. I had to carry you here."

Sakura's eyes grow wide. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun. I didn't do it on purpose."

Sasuke nods. "I know."

Sakura smiles. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She stands up and says, "I want to go visit your mom. Is that okay?"

Sasuke nods again. He stands up and they both walk to the Uchiha's part of the village.

As they walked through the Uchiha district, Sakura smiled and waved at mostly everyone. They all knew her, and they liked her.

They were almost at Sasuke's house when a boy their age runs up to Sakura and hugs her. She laughs and hugs him back. "Good afternoon, Sechiro-kun!"

He lets go of her and smiles. "Why haven't you been here lately? I haven't seen you in ages!"

Sechiro is a member of the Uchiha clan. He's Sakura's friend, and they like to tease each other whenever they can. Sechiro is really nice to Sakura, and he's one of the strongest ninja in Konoha.

"I've been busy. But I'll come over more often."

"Is that a promise?" he asks, looking hopeful.

Sakura smiles again. "It's a promise."

Sechiro smiles back. "Okay. Well, I have to go, but I'll see you around."

Sakura hugs him and then he takes of.

Sasuke frowns. He felt a little jealous because Sechiro hugged her and she responded. "I think Sechiro likes you."

Sakura looks at Sasuke with a surprised look on her face. "He's my friend, of course he likes me."

"I meant that he really likes you. And not like a friend."

"Huh? I didn't hear what you said, Sasuke-kun."

"Nothing," Sasuke mumbles. After blurting out that statement, he felt stupid. Why should I tell her that Sechiro likes her?

Sakura smiles. "We're finally here!"

Sasuke opens the door to his house and holds it open for Sakura. She walks inside and is followed by Sasuke. The door led into the living room, which was furnished with lots of comfy couches, along with a TV and a small table in the middle.

Sasuke led Sakura to the kitchen, where they found Sasuke's mom cooking.

When she saw them, she smiled widely. She walked over to Sakura and gave her a big hug. "Sakura-san, it is so good to see you!"

Sakura smiles back at her. "It's good to see you, too."

Sasuke just stands to the side, unsure of what to do. His mom sees this and grabs him so he could be in the hug too. "Don't worry, sweetie. We didn't forget you."

Sasuke blushes. His mother was hugging him, and worse, he was also partially hugging Sakura.

His mom saw that he was blushing and lets go of them. "Sasuke, are you blushing? That is so cute! It's the first time I've ever seen you blush! Oh, I have to go get the camera!" She runs off and goes upstairs, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone.

"You were blushing? Why?"

Sasuke doesn't look at her. "I wasn't blushing."

"But I thought your mom said you were blushing."

Sasuke blushes again, and keeps looking at the floor. His long bangs covered most of his face, so Sakura couldn't tell that he was blushing. "I wasn't blushing."

"Oh, okay."

Silence.

Sasuke finally looks at Sakura and says, "I'm going to my room."

He was almost to the door when Sakura says, "Wait! Can I come?"

Sasuke looks straight ahead and says, "Whatever." Then he starts walking again, with Sakura right behind him. They walk upstairs to the room at the end of the hall, Sasuke's room.

Sasuke opens the door and they walk inside. (I'm not good with home styling, so just imagine Sasuke's room however you want it to look) Sasuke's room is really big.

He sits down at his desk, which was piled with scrolls from their mission reports. Sakura sits down on Sasuke's bed and looks around. She had already been over to Sasuke's house a thousand times, but this was her first time in Sasuke's room. "Wow, Sasuke-kun! Your room is really big!"

Sasuke looks at her. He shrugs. "It was the only room my mom wanted for me. She didn't like the other rooms, because they didn't have a good view of Konoha."

He stands up and looks out the big balcony. Sakura goes with him and leans over the railing. The view was amazing. You could see all of Konoha, even most of the forest. With the sun setting at an early hour, it set an orangish color over the whole Village. The wind was blowing and it ruffled Sakura's hair. The sent of cherry blossoms drifted over to Sasuke, who felt his face burning up.

"Mom was right; you do like the view."

Sakura looks at Sasuke and says in a happy voice, "The view is beautiful! No wonder your mom wanted you to have this room!"

Sasuke nods. He knew how beautiful the view was, even though he would never have admitted it out loud. He looked back at the Village and sighs. He knew he had to tell her his secret someday.

She looks at him questioningly. "What's the sigh for, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "It was just a sigh."

"Oh."

She stays quiet for a moment. Then she asks, "Sasuke-kun? Have you ever loved someone other than your parents?"

The sudden question left Sasuke speechless. "What?"

"I said: have you ever loved someone other than your parents?"

"Ah." Sasuke seemed to think for a minute. "Yeah, I did."

Sakura stares at Sasuke. She hadn't expected him to say this. She thought that he would tell her she was crazy, for asking such a stupid question. "Who?"

"A girl," he says, still looking out at the Village. "And I still like her."

Sakura smiles. "Is she pretty?"

"Mmhm."

"Oh… What do you like most about her?" she asks. She was interested in hearing what he would say, although she tried to hide it.

"Hmmm… I guess… I like how she thinks. Although I don't understand why she hasn't noticed that I like her. I thought it was pretty obvious."

Sakura sighs. "I know what you mean. The guy that I like doesn't have a clue about my feelings, even though we spend most of our time together talking. And I really want him to like me."

Sakura stays quiet.

Sasuke notices that she looked sad, so he says, "We should go inside; it's already dark."

Downstairs, Sasuke's mom was setting the table. She looks up and asks, "Sakura-san, would you like to join us for dinner?"

Sakura smiles. "That would be nice. But does Sasuke think it's a good idea?"

Sasuke looks down. "Hn."

Both girls laugh. (by the way, Sasuke's dad is away for a few months)

After dinner, Sakura and Sasuke started washing the dishes.

"Sasuke-kun? Do you think Naruto-kun will be okay?"

Sasuke stays quiet for a moment. The only noise is the clatter of dishes as they work. Then Sasuke says, "He'll be fine. When we see him tomorrow, he'll probably be the same knuckle-head he's always been."

"I hope so. Naruto-kun isn't the type of guy who can stay quiet too long." She sighs. "I just wish that he'd fall in love with some other girl. Hinata-chan likes him. They're complete opposites, but opposites attract, right? That way, I wouldn't break his heart again. I'm just so stupid."

"You're not stupid," Sasuke blurts out before he could stop himself.

Sakura looks at him, and he looks at her. She felt a little odd, because Sasuke rarely held eye contact with anyone.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Sakura, Sasuke looks away. Sakura takes a deep breath. She had barely noticed that she had been holding her breath.

Both of them didn't look at each other; they were both blushing.

When they finally finished washing and putting away the dishes, Sasuke says, "I'll walk you home."

Sakura nods.

They walk outside and start their way back to Sakura's house. The streets were empty, so Sakura got closer to Sasuke. She didn't like walking down these streets, especially because there was always an older guy who scared Sakura. Sasuke glances sideways at Sakura. He asks, "Something wrong?"

Sakura blushes. She knew ninja's weren't supposed to be scared of anything, but she just couldn't help it. "I… I thought I saw something hiding in the shadows." It wasn't a complete lie, because she knew she hadseen something.

Sasuke looks at her. "But I don't sense anyone."

"I must be imagining things," she says.

Sasuke was about to say something when someone says in a cold voice, "You're not imagining anything."

Please review! Oh yeah, and by the way, before anyone asks, they're sixteen years old in this story! It won't be too long…I don't think it'll even reach five chapters, but we'll see.