Title: Slice of Heaven
Rating: PG-12 (Sakura hears moaning ;;)
Pairing(s): SasuNaru, NaruSasu, NaruSasuSaku
Summary: All of her life, Sakura's been second best to Naruto and Sasuke… and sometimes… she gets tired of it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto … although I really do wish I did sometimes
There were times when Sakura just couldn't believe that this was happening. All her life she had been chasing after Sasuke Uchiha, fawning over him, worshiping the very ground he walked on, and yet he never seemed to actually see her. He was always looking ahead, pushing forward, chasing after idiots and their dreams, and she was dutifully dragged along. He was an unattainable beauty, something she could always want because she could never obtain it… in all reality, she had never expected to ever matter in his eyes, and she never expected him to see her.
So when, one day many years down a difficult road, he turned to her, opened his eyes and actually saw her, she almost stopped breathing. His voice, so perfect when heard from afar, was actually coarse and rough when he spoke directly to her, only to her. It took all the dreams she had placed on him, all the inhuman expectations she had come to form over the years, and it brought them down to an actual human level. Brought him down to a human level.
It made the unattainable Sasuke… attainable.
He was no longer something she was constantly loosing in the dark, he was there, in front of her, tangible, solid, so utterly warm and there… and behind him, behind him in the darkness was another ray of light, something even warmer and nearly quivering with power and energy. She was welcome into their world, their crazy world of boy-logic, strength, sweat, and angry love. She was no longer on the outside looking in, she had forced her way to their sanctuary, and they had realized it… and guided her for those last few steps.
She was with them, heart pounding in tandem, feet whispering over the soft ground and hands reaching out. They were an acrobatics act, tumbling, wheeling, twisting, turning, grabbing each other and moving forward to new heights. They fought, they cried, they bled, they dealt with things no human being should have been able to deal with. They killed for their village, they died for their village, they fought their way to death's door and back over and over again. They killed relatives, buried long decayed skeletons. They wrenched open closed doors, slayed personal demons, until finally, one day as they knelt before a goddess' feet, a ray of light shone down. Finally, curtains were drawn back and years and years of distrust and betrayals were lifted from their shoulders.
Sakura watched as her best friend, her emotional support for so many years achieved his dream. She held him as he cried into her shoulder, laughed and danced around with him. She watched as he embraced their other teammate, smiled at the stiff-armed response the raven-haired boy gave, and rejoiced.
She watched as the chains of bad decisions were finally unlocked, she watched the weight of suspicion slid off of Sasuke's perfect shoulders, and for the first time in six long years, she looked at his face and saw traces of a smirking twelve-year-old under the stone-cold mask of a young man who had seen things no one should be subject to. And there, deep down, she almost fancied she could see traces of a smiling nine-year-old who had never gotten the chance to show his parents who he would one day become.
She was happy for them, seeing them move off from their small team into the true paths of their lives, into the destinies that had been waiting for them. Naruto was a kind person, befitting of a Hokage. He had the enthusiasm that made people love him, despite what logic was otherwise telling them. He was almost unrivaled in strength in the village, which was where Sasuke came in. Sasuke slipped into the shadows, donning a painted cat mask and the tattoo that branded him part of the ANBU. He was a creature of the darkness, he always had been, and he soon advanced in rank until he held the title of second strongest in the village. An ANBU captain.
And Sakura found herself sitting on the sidelines again, watching her friends get stronger, watching them succeed, watching their dreams come to life. They were doing what they had always dreamed of doing… at eighteen they had achieved all of their lifelong goals, and she was happy for them.
She was honestly, truly happy for them.
Yet… she couldn't help but remember a time when Naruto would cling to her, where Sasuke would be a comforting presence at her shoulder. A time when they could walk down the street shoulder to shoulder, where she was level with them, where she was at their level, not above it, and not below it. She missed the easy camaraderie they had forged, she missed being with them and knowing them so well, inside and out, that she could know what they were going to say even before they opened their mouths.
So when she walked in on them one night in Naruto's office, completely missing all the warning flags her mind threw up when she heard the panting, moaning, and strangled little gasps, she wasn't as surprised as she should have been. The shock in Naruto's eyes, the hard indifference in Sasuke's… it cast her out of their sanctuary more than any actions could have. She should have known that they were… that she wasn't… but…
Seeing them together like that, clothes and limbs tangled together, not knowing where one of them ended and the other began, knowing that they had been like that for a while, knowing that there was just one more place they could go where she couldn't follow… it hurt. It felt like all of her hopes, all of her dreams had just been ripped out of her heart and thrown to the ground.
So she ran, she just dropped the papers she had been bringing to Naruto, muttered an apology, and ran. Her feet carried her across the village, chakra propelling her faster in her desperation to just get away. She felt their chakras following her, but they soon faded into the distance… and she knew… she knew that she would never be on their level, she knew that she would always be second best compared to them… she knew…
She knew she wasn't good enough. Not good enough to love, not good enough to fight… and not good enough to chase after.
Pain blossomed in her chest, and she stopped her mad dash, wheezing, sobbing, fingers digging into the soft bark of a tree. Her mind knew that she was in the training grounds, but her eyes couldn't see it. She was lost, falling, spiraling downwards as pain clutched at her, as her breath left her body, as tears rolled down her face. After all she had tried… after all she had suffered through… after all of their battles… she was nothing more than a third wheel, someone there to meet the required minimum, nothing more… nothing more…
"Sakura…"
It was Naruto, of course it was Naruto, sneaking after her and standing there in front of her, hesitating over coming forward and touching her. She could just imagine the tortured expression on his face, could feel the pain he was in at having to choose between her and Sasuke… it was all she could do to make the decision easier for him… all that she could do…
"Naruto," smiling was painful, and looked out of place on her blotchy, tear-stained face, but she needed him to know that she was all right, that she knew and understood… even if it was a total lie. "I'm… happy for you… congratulations."
The blond just bit his lip and reached out towards her in short jerking motions, as if he was fighting an inner battle. Sakura shook her head and closed her eyes, tears leaping from her face to hit the ground and Naruto's disheveled Hokage robe at the motion.
"Just… go back to Sasuke-kun, Naruto… I understand," she whispered, tightening her closed eyes and reaching up to hug herself. She couldn't break down now, not now, she could wait, she could hold herself together until Naruto left, it would be better then, easier then… he needed… he needed happiness, and he didn't need to see her falling apart in front of him.
"Sakura-chan…" he murmured, and Sakura opened her eyes just in time to see his gaze flit over her shoulder, resting on something behind her before returning to her watery gaze, a slightly pained smile ghosting over his lips.
Her eyes widened, and her heart leapt to her throat as a second, familiar chakra signature registered in her fogged, racing mind. It was… no… it couldn't be. Naruto… Naruto was a given to follow her, they were close, friends, siblings… they were… but Sasuke… he… why would he?
She turned around slowly, breathing harsh and eyes impossibly wide to meet the stoic black gaze seemingly just waiting for her. There was a slight flush on his cheeks and his hair was ruffled and windblown, but even so he looked too beautiful to be real… too perfect to be human.
This… what was this?
Why… why did they stop? Why did they chase after her?
A strong hand rested on her arm, and she felt a warm presence at her back. Sasuke said something, and Naruto chuckled in response, but she was too preoccupied with the way the Uchiha walked slowly towards her and the way Naruto's chest rumbled against her back to pay attention to their words.
Why… were they so close? What were they doing? Weren't they… with each other… and not her? So why?
Feather light lips brushed her temple, and she shuddered as Sasuke finally stopped just a few inches in front of her. She breathed in and flushed as the tips of her breasts brushed against his chest. Naruto chuckled again, and this time she shut her eyes and drank in the words, her entire body shaking.
"We didn't mean to leave you out Sakura-chan…"
Sasuke's hand went to her other arm, and his chest pressed against hers, and she was trapped between the two warm, tightly chorded bodies, trapped between two heartbeats. It was heaven, feeling Naruto's lips graze against her neck and jaw, hearing Sasuke's light sigh and feeling it tickle the hair falling over her ear. Her hands raised gently, hesitantly, to wrap around Sasuke's torso and pull him closer, and despite being ninja, having six legs so close to each other caused them to overbalance and fall towards the tree. Naruto gasped slightly in pain and started yelling at Sasuke over her shoulder, blaming him for using him to break their stumble. Sasuke just huffed and said it was the only logical solution… and Sakura, surrounded by their warmth, embraced by their gentle but awkwardly held arms and hands, let a smile cross her face and sighed into Sasuke's shirt.
Their paradise, their small little realm for just the three of them was permanently sealed off, Sakura was inside of it, accepted into it, becoming integrated into it, learning all about it. She was with them, running beside them, encompassed by their warmth. They were the perfect team, the three next Sannin of Konoha, the Hokage, the ANBU captain, and the country's best healer, they had taken a village that hated them, taken events that had made their lives living hell, and had used their stubborn streaks and the support of each other to change them into their only little piece of Heaven.
And heaven, Sakura decided later as she leaned back into a blond embrace and watched Sasuke run through katas with a child that looked remarkably like him, was nothing more than awkward embraces and bickering teammates.