Title: Twenty Truths and Thoughts About Sakura and Team Seven

Author: Crest of Water (Taihime)

Character/Pairing/Group: Sakura and Team 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Dedication: Chibicohime! I wouldn't have finished this without her badgering!

When Sakura is eight she meets Naruto for the first time. She is hurt and lonely, but vividly remembers a boy with bright blue eyes and messy blond hair, pulling her into a hug after he sees her crying. He stays with her until she calms down before smiling at her and walking away. Sakura can never forget the feeling of his arms around her or the bright but lonely smile on his face.

A week later Sakura meets Sasuke for the first time. She remembers dark hair and eyes and a soft hesitant smile as a boy helped her wash the mud out of her hair and she thanked him. Sakura will never know, but that was the first and last time he had smiled since the massacre two weeks before.

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto will ever know it, but when they helped her all those years ago Sakura made a vow that she would one day find a way to thank them. That vow was only strengthened when she sees them and finally learns their names. After Sasuke leaves Sakura adds a second part to her vow.

That second part is that she will always protect them. She hasn't broken it since.

When the three meet again at twelve for a moment Sakura contemplates asking just what happened to the boy that held her while she cried or the boy that helped wash the mud out of her hair, but she shoves the thought into the back of her head and eagerly thinks of ways to get Sasuke to notice her. It isn't until they return from their first C-rank turned A-rank mission that she realizes both boys are still there.

Sakura knows that Naruto can save Sasuke. She believes this with everything she has so when she can't stop him she has no problem begging Naruto to bring him home.

It isn't until she sees Naruto wrapped from head to toe in bandages, the light in his eyes gone and such a sad look on his face that she realizes how stupid she has been. Sakura knows Naruto can save Sasuke because when he can't she'll be there to save them both.

Contrary to popular belief Sakura has never hated Hatake Kakashi for ignoring her. In fact she isn't quite sure what she thinks of him. Sometimes he is a crazy distant uncle you can't help but like or the embarrassing young father you're not sure your related too. For now though she'll stick to seeing him as just Kakashi-sensei.

The first time Sakura is truly complimented by Kakashi is just six months after both Naruto and Sasuke had left. She had gone over to say hello just moments after she had punched out an ANBU member for bad mouthing her teammates. He had patted her on the head like he used to do and had told her that she had really improved and he couldn't wait to see how well she did in the next Chunnin exam. She remembers the twinkle in his eye and the almost smile on his face and she still takes great pride in that compliment.

When Sakura takes the Chunnin exam for the second time she streaks a strand of hair orange, stitches the Uchiha fan into the collar of her shirt and vows on the bridge where Team 7 used to meet that next time they'll take the exam together.

Sakura believes that this is why it took her one punch and exactly 30 seconds to beat her final opponent and pass the Chunnin exam so easily.

Three months after Naruto returns, five failed attempts to retrieve Sasuke and two denied attempts, Sakura contemplates asking Naruto whether he wanted to go temporarily missing-nin just to retrieve their wayward teammate's sorry ass.

This is no longer contemplated when returning from a mission with Naruto she finds Sasuke wounded and bleeding heavily ten miles from Konoha.

She heals him partially, calls Naruto and with his help they tie him up. When Sasuke finally awakes it takes them two days, several yelling matches, exactly 300 insults, over 30 shannaros, 20 pleas and several forms of "hn" to get Sasuke to admit that he was on his way back to Konoha. It takes them another four hours to get him to admit he really only wanted to see them.

When they return to Konoha, Sasuke is tied up and chakara blocked between them. Later she will remember feeling like she was coming home for the first time in years.

It takes a promise to Tsunade, six interrogations of Sasuke, and a pledge to the council by Sakura and Naruto for Sasuke to be sentenced.

Sakura will never forget the look on her teammates' face when a year and a half after Sasuke's return, Tsunade informs them that she would be dropping his ANBU guard to one and a allowing him to train again on the condition Sasuke and Naruto moved in together. The look of absolute horror and dread on their faces had left her laughing for weeks.

Sakura only ever wears one piece of jewelry. This is a necklace given to her on her 14th birthday by Tsunade. From it hang her three most cherished things. The first is a heart shaped locket in which the original Team 7 picture is placed, the second a crystal cherry blossom charm given to her by her father and the third is a set of keys.

These are quite literally the keys to her heart. They are copies of the keys to the apartments of the three most important men in her life. Her sensei and teammates.

In the end Sakura doesn't get her fairy tail ending, but it's as close to one as she can get and that is just fine with her.