You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone
"I do." Naruto beamed, voice gruff with emotion.
Sakura lost herself in the gaze of his crystal blue eyes. The sheer amount of emotion she saw in them was making it hard for her to breathe. Love radiated from his eyes like he was trying to physically manifest it for the target of his gaze. The saying "The eyes are the windows to the soul" seemed to have been created solely for Naruto. When he looked at someone, they could tell exactly what he was feeling as he made no attempt to hide his emotions. He instead wore them on his sleeve; always seeking any sort of connection with anyone that he met. Many considered this outlook foolish, out of place in his profession as a shinobi, yet he would silence any opposition to his nindo by creating miracle after miracle. His nindo was his key to victory all the way through his final battle with Kaguya as he never ran away and never went back on his word. He had done the impossible time and time again; He defeated the preceding year's rookie of the year in the Chuunin exams, he learned the Rasengan in a week; an act that simultaneously convinced Tsunade to return to the village to become Hokage. He brought half the village back to life following Pain's attack on the Hidden Leaf. He managed to lead all 5 hidden villages into a temporary truce in order to save the world from the demented plans of the ancestor of his best friend/rival. He even kept the promise he made to Sakura to bring his best friend/rival and her Sasuke-kun back. Sakura began to question how everything had reached this point.
The aforementioned best friend/rival was a painful memory for both members of team 7 that had been left behind by him years earlier. The more that Sakura thought of how things had gone with Sasuke-kun the more it hurt to look at Naruto. She had long stopped looking at the world through the rose-colored glasses of her childhood crush, and began to realize how little chance a real relationship between herself and Sasuke would have of coming to fruition. He was broken, something she had hoped to fix upon his return to was something she had worked her whole life towards accomplishing. Something she had doggedly pursued for nearly her entire career as a kunoichi. She had single-mindedly thrown herself into her training focusing solely on bringing Sasuke Uchiha back so that she could help him. He would have to notice her if she was the one putting him back together. Unfortunately for Sakura, Sasuke had never wanted help putting himself back together. He could acknowledge that he was broken and he would not allow himself to drag others into the mire with him. The day Sasuke abandoned the village, Sakura had made it clear that she would willingly dive head-first into the darkness just to be with him so upon his return to Konoha after the war Sasuke made sure to make his stance towards Sakura clear. He was not, and would not force himself to be what Sakura wanted. He didn't want to be in the village that had caused him and his family so much pain. He wanted to wander the world, and not be tied down by obligations such as a wife and family. As far as he was concerned, he had been called the last true Uchiha for years and that was how things would remain until his death. Sakura was devastated by his decision but had matured admirably since the last time a similar scene had played out. She understood his decision, and while it hurt, she recognized that his leaving the village was in his best interest.
With the only goal she had ever had in life now wandering the world and only sending the occasional update, she began to wonder what she would do. Lucky for her, being the apprentice of the most legendary medic in the shinobi world, as well as being the best friend of the most hyperactive ninja in Konoha has perks. The days working at the hospital with Tsunade, Shizune and Ino then ending the day training with Naruto all seemed to blend together into a blur. She could honestly say she was truly happy. A huge weight seemed to be lifted off her and Naruto's shoulders now that they no longer focused so heavily on training to bring Sasuke back. Their training was simply for improving themselves and they were no longer in a race against time to get stronger. She began to truly enjoy the work she was doing healing others while at the hospital, even on hectic days. Naruto smiled more, if that was even possible and she found that she had never truly appreciated his smile. It was so infectious that all he had to do to brighten someone's day was smile. Even with the increased responsibility of being a worldwide hero and the lynchpin that held together the peace of the 5 hidden villages, he still found time to spend with his teammate and he always had a smile saved just for her. Some days no words were even needed. She would see him at Training Ground 7, he would give her that goofy grin and she would immediately attempt to wipe it off his face with a right hook, a smile plastered across her own face. The spar would last until they were both exhausted and then they would part ways. If only things could've stayed that way forever.
It's human nature to want more than what we have and after a few months of monotony Sakura began to wonder what a romantic relationship with Naruto would be like. The more she thought about it the more desirable it became. Her dreams started to take a decided turn from a dark haired avenger towards a certain blonde haired Hokage-hopeful. In her dreams Naruto would show up on a particularly stressful day at the hospital surprising her with a bouqet of flowers he and Ino had arranged especially for her. They would spend her break chatting amicably before she would be forced to kick him out of her office so she could start working again. As he was getting up to leave he would invite her to dinner at a rather fancy restaurant that had just opened up saying he had been gifted two tickets by a rather stressed out looking ambassador from the Land of Demons. He had brushed off the man's pleading look as simply the man needing to get the tickets out of his hands, completely misunderstanding that he was supposed to invite Shion, the priestess team 7 had rescued and Naruto had unwittingly agreed to have a child with. The agreement was verbal and a misunderstanding so she had no grounds to actually claim Naruto but in Sakura's dreams it was still nice to have Naruto disregard the priestess in order to invite Sakura to a fancy dinner. Naruto in a tux had an appeal to it that couldn't be put into words. It was such a contrast with his normal personality that the fact that she got to see him like this (even in her dreams) made her feel special. After a wonderful dinner she would invite him back to her place where Inner Sakura would take over and then she would wake up wishing the dream could've lasted just a little bit longer.
Having to return to a not so rose filled reality every morning was becoming increasingly frustrating for Sakura. Dream Sakura would always make wonderful progress with Naruto and the blonde young man in her dreams was always entirely receptive to her advances. He would instinctively pick up when she wanted him to ask her out and he would immediately do so. Reality Naruto on the other hand seemed hesitant whenever anything resembling any form of affection was displayed between the two. Sakura had taken to dragging him by the wrist wherever they went, intentionally speeding up how fast she walked so she could maintain the contact. She would hug him hello and farewell but it didn't take a mind reader to be able to tell the hugs were making him uncomfortable and the "hand-holding" was slightly annoying him. Suffice to say he never initiated any sort of skinship himself. Of course, anyone withexperience dealing with females understands that to most, skinship is an important part of their daily vitatmins and that not enough will leave them feeling depressed and unwanted. Exhibit A: Sakura Haruno.
Again anyone with experience dealing with females also understands that most like to let the boy make the first move. Sakura was no exception, and initially she didn't think she would run into a problem here as Naruto was so straightforward with what he wanted that he would simply ask her out when he realized that she wouldn't get annoyed and there might be the slightest chance of her saying yes. Once he asked her out, she would get him to change the location to a dinner somewhere fancy and make him realize that it wasn't just a dinner between teammates by dressing to impress. The only thing that slightly worried her was that she wasn't sure when the last time Naruto had asked her out on a date even was. Sure, they sparred and they even occasionally ate dinner together following a particularly lengthy session, but he hadn't asked her out in a romantic meaning in who knows how long. The more that she thought about it, the harder it was for her to place the exact date that he had just stopped asking her out. Just more evidence that she hadn't been paying enough attention to her only remaining teammate when all the signs that something major had taken place were there.
Growing up, Naruto asking Sakura for a date was as routine as him going to Ichiraku's. So for Sakura it almost became an automated response to say no outright, (sometimes more violently than was probably necessary, she now realized) or deflect his question and attempt to redirect the blonde's energy into something actually useful. Had she been paying more attention to Naruto as time passed she would have noticed him becoming less and less serious about pursuing a romantic relationship with her. If you were to ask Naruto when he began to accept that his feelings were probably not going to be requited, he would probably answer the day he returned to the village with Tsunade to heal Sasuke after he fought Orochimaru in the Chuunin Exams. While his social skills had yet to develop into anything resembling a normal person, (something that is debatable even now) he still had the emotional empathy to understand any place he held in Sakura's heart paled in comparison to Sasuke's from the sheer amount of emotion she displayed upon Sasuke's awakening. He could never just give up on anyone or anything as the very idea ran counter to his nindo, but even Naruto gladly took a step back in his one-sided pursuit of Sakura knowing she was in pain following Sasuke's abandoning the village. Now looking back at everything that had happened, Sakura wondered how she could've been so blind as to not notice such a large change in one of the only constants in her life.
Naruto's decision to ease off in his pursuit of Sakura following her outburst of emotion upon the Uchiha's awakening and subsequent abandoning of Konoha was only compounded upon by his 3 year hiatus from the Leaf while training with Jiraiya. Sakura didn't care for the late Sannin but she respected him and not just because he was Naruto's pervert sensei. However, Jiraiya's decision to take away her remaining teammate when one had just abandoned her was always a sore spot, in addition to his attempts to turn Naruto into even more of a pervert. Jiraiya's not so hidden affections for her sensei were also a point of contention for her, but the biggest problem that she had with the man had nothing to do with any of those things. She wasn't even sure if she had a problem with what he did. He was trying to look out for his apprentice. After tonight she would have to re-evaluate everything she thought both about master and apprentice. Looking through Ino's memories was a rollercoaster of emotions and memories of what she probably would've done had she found out about this before tonight. Ino had warned her that these memories would be hard for her to watch but upon being informed that Sakura was actively pursuing Naruto, Ino decided to let Sakura watch the night's events to gain a better understanding of what had happened to distance Naruto from his pink haired teammate. It was something she would never have known about had Ino not decided to let her view her memories and at the moment she was feeling empty. Blankly staring at the mirror in Inos mind containing the memory before deciding to step through it a second time to see if she could even come up with some sort of an emotional response this time.
It was the night before Jiraiya departed for Rain and he had invited his apprentice to the bar for some drinks as well as to impart a final bit of knowledge as he was having a bad feeling about rain. If there was one thing he learned in his long years as a shinobi, it was that you trust your feelings. He decided to attempt to get his young blonde apprentice drunk as well as possibly take him to a brothel to "become a man." He wanted Minato to be proud of how he had trained his son but also wanted to have something to tease him about if he ended up meeting him early. When his first plan of getting Naruto too drunk to realize what was going to happen to him didn't work, Jiraiya resorted to plan B. Plan B consisted solely of tie Naruto up, throw him over his shoulder and walk out of the bar to the first brothel he could find and lock him in a room with a girl until nature ran it's course. He was certain the little brat didn't have a girlfriend as his incessant ramblings about Sakura-chan had dwindled to few and far between and now most conversations she was brought up in she was a footnote to the Uchiha. Jiraiaya made it quite a ways down the street towards his destination before he noticed that someone was following him. It really shouldn't have surprised him seeing as how he was blatantly kidnapping a young child, but he was a Sannin. The person tailing him obviously was not informed that he had free reign in Konoha and even ANBU would look the other way for whatever he was planning to do. He decided that if they were content to just watch, it would make for even more blackmail material against Naruto to get the boy to behave if he had another witness seeing Naruto enter the establishment of ill-repute.
Ino had noticed Jiraiya hauling a tied up Naruto over his shoulder after passing by the bar Jiraya had just walked out of on her way to her family's flower shop. Her initial reaction was to just ignore the situation as Naruto had probably said or done something stupid if his sensei was forced to tie him up and take him somewhere outside of town. However, upon hearing Jiraiya's lecherous giggles and the strange glances he was sending towards Naruto, who grew increasingly panicked on said Sannin's shoulder, she decided she would at least make sure he was okay and she was ready to alert the ANBU if anything truly untoward were about to happen to her fellow blonde. She realized that Jiraiya more than likely knew she was following him and so was almost stunned at his blatant disregard of her when he continued on towards his destination in a leisurely fashion. She became increasingly stunned and almost equally infuriated when the streets started becoming less populated and the shop signs grew increasingly garish. They were clearly in a rather slummy part of town and the Toad Sannin seemed right at home. Naruto for his part fought like a man possessed before he seemed to resign himself to his fate. After attempting to break free the entire trip there, crossing the threshold of the door to the cathouse, Naruto decided to switch strategies. He immediately went limp and attempted to control his hyperactive nature enough to play dead. Maybe if he was unresponsive, the ladies in this brothel would leave his whiskered face alone. During his travels with Jiraiya the ladies at the establishments they stayed at grew increasingly persistent in their attempts to let them touch his whiskers as well as other parts of him, though he tended to manage to escape using his ninja abilities before anything too permanent happened. Today was different however, as without chakra or the use of his hands, he was completely at the mercy of the women and he could only pray that they would show him some.
Jiraiya dropped his now suspiciously limp cargo onto the couch in the lobby before approaching the receptionist desk. Being a legendary Sannin had its perks as the receptionist girl immediately called out every available girl for his inspection and every one of them was, in his opinion, rather high quality. Any one of them would make a fine first time for his apprentice; not to mention, what better way to drown any remaining heartache the kid may have over his crush not giving him the time of day than some good old fashioned loving. This thought led him into what would unknowingly become his final bit of advice for the kid. Selecting a very pretty young redhead girl named Rose, (probably not her real name but the less they knew about each other the better) Jiraiya led her over to the couch where he had deposited Naruto. Jiraiya quickly put an end to Naruto's faking unconsciousness by flaring some killing intent and began his lecture with a little jab at his former student Minato.
"Hey kid, you're going to become a man today whether you want to or not so you might as well be an active participant; unlike one of my former students who just let his future wife, also a redhead by the way, have her way with him."
"But Ero-Sennin, I don't want to do any of that lewd stuff." whined Naruto."...At least not with anyone except.." he added in a whisper.
Unfortunately for Naruto, Jiraiya wasn't a legendary ninja for nothing so Naruto might as well have yelled the last part right in his face for all the good whispering did him.
"Naruto Uzumaki," Jiraiya snarled, Naruto visibly tensing at the use of his full name by the normally laid back Sannin.
"I will not allow my students to make the same mistakes that I suffered through the pain of. Listen to me, that girl you love will never return your feelings no matter how long you pine after her or how many wishes you make. She doesn't even see you, she's so focused on someone else. "
Naruto opened his mouth to defend her but was quickly cut off by Jiraiya .
"Don't Interrupt me!", Jiraiya hissed before he murmued his final piece of advice in a softer tone. "You can be there for her as much as your heart can stand but never, ever get it into your thick skull that she will ever be able to return the feelings that you have for her, because if you do, your heart won't be able to take it when she completely rejects you."
Naruto simply hung his head in defeat at being told by his sensei what everyone else had been trying to tell him since the first time he was rejected by Sakura. What he himself had slowly started to accept after bringing Tsunade back. His feelings for Sakura would forever remain unrequited. Unbeknownst to both the Toad Sannin and the heartbroken young man on the couch, Ino had decided she would experiment using her mind transfer jutsu on the young redhead escort halfway through the conversation. She was curious to try some of the things she had read in Kunoichi Monthly and was unable to pass up the opportunity to test them on a boy that was unwilling to be her partner in the first place and thus wouldn't attempt to push things too far. Her plans however were derailed when the look of utter heartbreak on his face was seen clearly by "Rose", who suddenly couldn't control the urge to hug him and gently stroke his whiskered cheek. Naruto, not sure who this woman was, initially tensed, but upon feeling the warmth of the embrace and the softness of her touch allowed himself to melt into the hug. She convinced him to follow her to her room to lay down, winking slyly at Jiraiya as she left while simultaneously feeling slightly bad for taking advantage of the boy's emotional distress to manipulate him into doing something she's certain he wouldn't normally do. She eased him into things slowly starting out rather tame, with Naruto just going through the motions before realizing how incredibly rude he was being to her and quickly correcting his mistake. To compensate for his apathetic start to the night, Naruto spent the rest of the night simply attempting to please his partner. A partner who would wake up the next morning certain that she would never find a man with the sheer amount of stamina and will to succeed as the young man still asleep next to her.
It took going through the memory a second time for Sakura's emotions to reboot properly and start making themselves apparent. When she had heard what the sannin had said to his student she had been livid. He was the reason he had stopped asking her out. He was the reason Naruto was distant. This was replaced by surprise that her perspective had suddenly changed to the point of view of the redhead girl. Sakura was known for her smarts however so she quickly put two and two together to make four and realized that Ino had used her clan technique. Upon realizing what her female best friend's plans were for her male best friend, initially she felt completely betrayed. That emotion refused to go away even as she reminded herself that Ino had volunteered to share this memory with her rather than keep it locked away for eternity never known to anyone but Ino. Sakura had to admit that Ino was rather skilled and seemed to please Naruto almost effortlessly. Something the blonde male attempted to return tenfold with his stamina and determination. Judging by the moans coming from the redhead's mouth, she judged that he was doing a rather good job. She only the memory would also transfer the sensations of taste, for the kisses he placed on her lips and for the kisses she placed throughout his body. She wished it would transfer the sensation of touch so she could feel him hold her, touch her in an attempt to please her. The longer the night went on the more she realized that Naruto was hardening his heart against his feelings for Sakura. He was cutting off his love for her and shoving it into the deepest corner of his heart, to remain forgotten. Right before her eyes the boy she loved was putting up the walls she had been hitting for the past few months and there was nothing she could do about it. When she was finally ejected from the memory signalling the end of the memory, she regained consciousness in her own body as Ino released her technique. She wasn't even in her body for 5 seconds before she was bawling her eyes out.
Ino grabbed Sakura and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm sorry Sakura, I really am" Ino sniffled. Sakura looked into her eyes see if she could see any hints of deceit and found none.
"It's alright, Ino, I'm glad you shared that with me when you didn't have to. I'm sure it was hard for you to let me see that." Sakura lamented.
"You have to understand that at the time he wasn't even on your radar, I figured I could use him as a sort of test run without any repurcussions for... " Ino trailed off.
"That's the only problem I have with you in how that memory went, Ino. How could you decide to just use him like that? He's a human too, you saw his feelings laid bare and you still went through with something you knew would hurt him more." Sakura accused.
"I wasn't thinking, that memory is from when both of us were going through puberty and I let my horomones get the best of me. I'm really sorry. Can you forgive me?" Ino pleaded.
"Of course, I can't really hold something that happened years ago against you especially since both of you were still kids who didn't know what they were doing." Sakura joked half-heartedly.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you Sakura. I actually felt kind of bad for that redhead girl, she missed out on what would have probably been one of the better nights of her life." blushed Ino.
"Ease up there Ino, I've laid claim to Naruto now so you wouldn't happen to be reminiscing about my boyfriend would you?" threatened Sakura.
"Uhhh... Forehead?" Ino asked with a tilt of her head.
"What Ino-pig?" Sakura mocked.
"Hinata claimed Naruto when he revived half of Konoha to include Hinata herself after defeating Pain." Ino slowly explained. "I was kind of hoping that letting you see that memory would show you that Naruto is a burned bridge." Ino winced in preparation for the reaction that was sure to come, though in Ino's defense the news shouldn't have been that much of a surprise.
"WHATT!?"
Sakura screamed.
"How?!" "Since when?!" " Why did nobody tell me?!" "WHAT THE HELL INO!?" "You're supposed to be current on village gossip. How did this never cross your desk?"
Sakura was on the verge of a mental breakdown. She had just seen the memory of when she had lost the boy she loved but felt that it could still have been salvaged somehow with enough time. But now there was another girl in his life? One that had been there for years and that she hadn't given a second thought to. How the hell did that happen?
"INO-PIG! EXPLAIN! NOW!" Sakura exclaimed through gritted teeth.
"You were there, Sakura. Hinata jumped in to protect Naruto when nobody else would. What you probably didn't know is that she confessed to him in that crater before Pain killed her. The first girl to confess to him gets killed by the same man who killed his sensei. I'm slightly amazed he didn't just let the kyuubi out of the seal entirely." Ino considered.
"But Naruto and Hinata were never together after that. Wouldn't they go on dates or something?"Sakura questioned.
"Forehead, either you're joking, have selective eyesight or are going blind. You can't tell me that you haven't seen them together." Ino drawled unamused.
How, how, just how could she have missed it. The signs were all there. She had simply ignored them as inconsequential. Hinata wasn't a female around Naruto that Sakura had even remotely worried about. Any contact between the two she would've immediately written off as having to do with shinobi business. If they were alone at a restaurant they must have just gotten back from a mission. If they were walking around town shopping, they were probably buying supplies for an upcoming mission. She started to remember every time she saw them together in a different light. Naruto was smiling that genuine smile that would make you feel like the only thing in the world when it was directed at you. The smile that would brighten anyone's day just by seeing it even if it wasn't meant specifically for them. Hinata was blushing up a storm but began to walk noticeably closer to Naruto, who didnt pull away. How could she have missed these things? There's no way this is the end right? There's no way that she doesn't end up with Naruto. Right? Right?!
She was jolted out of her memories to the reality in front of her by the voice of the Hokage. Her sensei Tsunade, officiating the marriage of the boy she loved to a girl that wasn't her.
"Do you, Hyuuga Hinata take Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze to be your husband, to cherish in friendship and love today, tomorrow and for as long as the two of you live, to trust and honor him, to love him faithfully, through the best and the worst, whatever may come, and if you should ever doubt, to remember your love for each other and the reason why you came together with him this day?"
Sakura wanted to scream "I DO! I DO NARUTO! ME! SAKURA HARUNO!" but a thing as simple as where she was standing made her unable to use her voice. Naruto and his bride were only standing a foot above everyone else but might as well have been worlds away. They were lost in each other and all Sakura could do was hope against hope that Hinata got cold feet and broke Naruto's heart so she could have the pieces. Her last hope was shattered however when Hinata opened her mouth and vocalized the two words she was dreading with a finality that hit Sakura like a ton of bricks.
"I Do" Hinata beamed.
"Then By the power vested in me by the People of Konoha, I now pronounce you husband and wife. "
Tsunade continued oblivious to Sakura's inner turmoil.
"You may kiss the bride."
You Knew Exactly What You Had; You Just Never Though You Would Lose It