Disclaimer-I don't own any of these Naruto characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Anata Ga Kini Irimashita
It was an exciting night in Konoha as two popular shinobi celebrated their engagement at the Hyuuga manor. A happy blonde and his dear fiancée were surrounded by all of their close friends and relatives.
Naruto had a wide grin plastered on his face as his fellow ANBU teammates gathered to congratulate the happy couple. Even Neji, who had his reservations about the pair at first, wished Naruto the best, and his firm handshake confirmed his trust in Naruto's care for his cousin. This brought happy tears to Hinata's eyes. The emotional Hyuuga heiress couldn't be more delighted at everyone's support.
As the night progressed, the party was thus divided. All the kunoichi in attendance crowded Hinata and fussed over her eagerly to discuss the plans for her upcoming wedding. Hinata was only the second girl to marry in their age group. Temari, being the first, had a lot of advice for her. She described with a twinkle in her eyes how she put up with her lazy husband and his habits. The Hyuuga heiress silently thought that Naruto's lazy habits could in no way be compared to Shikamaru's but she listened to her friend's story politely. After all, they were just having fun and sharing experiences. Ino and Hanabi were selected to be her bridesmaids along with Sakura who was chosen to be the maid of honor.
Sakura felt very responsible for her best friend and took her duty as maid of honor seriously. She was elated at the task set before her. She looked around and saw her blue-eyed former teammate sitting with the most elite shinobi, most of them being in ANBU, and even Sabaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage was with them. The group was drinking and laughing. Of course, Naruto was taking the lead in the conversation.
At the moment, Naruto was having a heated argument with his fellow ANBU teammate. Sai had carelessly expressed his pity for the "poor Hyuuga who had to contend with a dickless husband". Sasuke snickered silently at this comment and sipped at his drink as he listened to his best friend argue with Sai as usual. Sai always said the most thoughtless things and Naruto wasn't really good at handling his comments. None of them were, for that matter. Both Sakura and Sasuke too, often argued with the mindless ANBU.
Sasuke closed his eyes as he listened to the ramble. Then a sexy smirk crept on to his face as Naruto had reminded him that that he was supposed to be his best-man. Their peers teased him as they couldn't imagine the stoic Uchiha fulfilling such a role. Even Sasuke cocked a brow slightly in amusement. But Naruto had insisted on it, so there was no helping it.
"Ah, so the emo and the hag will be walking down together," Sai mused out loud. This popped a vein or two on Sasuke's face, and he clenched his fists as he reminded himself not to let the idiot get to him. Remembering that Sakura was the maid of honor, he glanced in her direction.
Sasuke was lost in his own thoughts as he watched Sakura. These same thoughts had been recurring in his mind for the past few weeks. He stared at her admiringly. She was beautiful, strong, capable, sexy and responsible. He couldn't help but wonder if she still had any feelings for him as he remembered the days when Team 7 had now started off. Sakura, along with his many other fan girls, always used to swoon over him. Of course, Sakura had matured from that stage, and he wished that the other girls would similarly grow up. The raven-haired Uchiha, with his devilishly handsome looks, was always being chased by a lot of drooling girls who couldn't seem to take a hint.
He knew that Sakura had a lot of guys on her tail too. The Hokage's prized pupil was very popular and known to be one of the strongest kunoichi in Konoha. Her striking looks attracted many. Of course lots of these men, who may have attempted to go out with her, were usually forced to back down because two powerful ANBU captains, namely Sasuke and Naruto, always stood in their way, threatening their lives. The blonde-haired shinobi in particular, constantly tried to protect his "innocent teammate from any teme that may be after her."
Sasuke looked at his best friend at that moment and had a twinkle in his eyes as he remembered the crazy crush that Naruto had on Sakura when they were younger. And look at him now, celebrating his engagement to the Hyuuga heiress. The remainder of the night passed by quickly.
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An ANBU mission kept Sasuke out of the village for almost 6 weeks. Nearing the end of the mission, Sasuke's team faced a surprise enemy attack. They had almost reached Konoha, when they were ambushed. As the team captain, the Uchiha suffered the most injuries while protecting his team and successfully defeating the enemies. He was rushed to the hospital.
Most of her friends usually requested that Sakura be their supervising medic nin. It was no exception now. Sakura attended to her friend. His ANBU outfit was soaked in blood. She had to act quickly.
The Uchiha looked on as Sakura fussed about him. Although she was just doing her job, Sasuke thought that of how he would like her to always be around him. He had missed her a lot over the past few weeks when he was out of the village and it was then that he had confirmed to himself the feelings that he had for her. They were really close friends already, but he wanted her as something more in his life. He wanted to be with her.
He wasn't quite sure what to do now. They were such great friends and former teammates; he did not want to risk ruining what they had. Why did I deny her all this time? He couldn't help but wonder. Although she previously liked him, Sakura was a much more level-headed person before. He had no idea how she would react if he told her how he felt. He didn't want to offend her with a sudden declaration.
Also, Sasuke felt all of his energy drained from him. The mission lasted very long and the ambush in the end had cost him a lot. He had lost a lot of blood too.
However, the confused Uchiha decided that now was the time.
"Sakura…"
The pink-haired beauty, who was tending to some of his injuries, looked up puzzled. Her friend had called her name in a gentle tone that she rarely heard him use. He was visibly debating something in his mind.
"What is it, Sasuke? Are you injured anywhere else?"
"No…"
By now, Sakura knew that there was something really bothering him and he just didn't know how to say it. But she instinctively felt that now was not the time.
"Just rest. Your body is very weak right now, so don't put a strain on yourself. Ease your mind until you recover, okay?"
But Sasuke knew that his mind would not ease. Sasuke no longer cared about his pride. He needed to tell her how he felt. It was a compelling urge.
"Sakura," he began, "I've changed somewhat." Sasuke spoke slowly, carefully thinking of what to say. "My feelings toward you have changed. I think of you as much more than a friend," he concluded a bit awkwardly. This was the first time he ever had to do something like this.
Sakura stared blankly. She tried to process what her friend was saying. Is Sasuke trying to say that he…likes me? She blinked in shock. It was probably a bit too much for the wary Uchiha too, for he slipped into unconsciousness soon after.
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Sasuke stirred. A bright blushing face was eagerly staring at him.
"Ah, you're awake, Uchiha-sama!" the cheery voice was hardly able to conceal her coy laughter. Sasuke frowned. He hated how the girls would fawn over him unashamedly. They were shinobi! Have they any pride at all? And as medics, they should be looking after the patient, not looking at or ogling him. Although Sasuke wouldn't mind if a certain pink-haired medic nin paid him that kind of attention. With that he vaguely remembered what his confession before he fell unconscious. Where is she anyway?
"Where is Sakura?" the ANBU demanded in his clear voice, with slight apprehension in his tone.
"Haruno-senpai has her day-off today. You were unconscious for 28 hours, Uchiha-sama."
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Sakura paced uneasily at home. I wonder when Sasuke will wake up. She had instructed the hospital to inform her as soon as the Uchiha regained consciousness. Of course, this had no other meaning. She always took charge of the healing for Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and her other friends.
Then she thought back again to what Sasuke had said. It finally did register to her brain what he had meant. She was very surprised. To think that this highly sought-after ANBU would confess to her was quite unfathomable. Uchiha don't voice such feelings, their faces are usually emotionless masks. Sasuke was no exception. She knew him for years, and he still kept to himself. As much as they were all dear friends, Sasuke never ranted or proclaimed his feelings like his loud-mouthed, blue-eyed best friend.
Sakura's eyes softened as she fondly recalled how Sasuke had put aside all momentary hesitation and fear and how he had determinedly let her know how he felt, even in his weak condition. That must have been one of the hardest things Sasuke had ever done, she smiled appreciatively.
Her thoughts were interrupted as someone knocked on her door. A message from the hospital was delivered to her. She scanned the note quickly and promptly made her way to the hospital.
As Sakura entered the room, she caught the chuunin who was left in charge desperately trying to make conversation with the tight-mouthed Uchiha. Sakura caught Sasuke's wary glance and cleared her throat, "Himiko-san, you may return to the desk now. I'll resume charge from here." The startled medic flushed and hurried out of the room.
Sasuke let out a relieved sigh. He laid his head back onto the pillow and closed his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Sakura probed as she went over to him to do a quick body scan.
"My right leg still pains, but everything is fine now," he mumbled.
He watched intently as Sakura then concentrated her chakra on the said leg. She seems normal. It doesn't really feel too weird. He looked fixedly at the beautiful kunoichi who was surging her green chakra over his injuries.
"Sakura…about what I told you…" Sasuke paused, hoping she would say something, but Sakura continued her work, thus forcing the uneasy ANBU to complete his comment. "I really meant what I said and I want us to be more that just friends."
The medic nin finally looked up. This was the second time that the stoic Uchiha had confessed his feelings to her, or to anyone for that matter. Her emerald eyes shone as they met his onyx orbs. She was held by his firm, deep gaze that pleaded for her to respond. She did so slowly.
"I feel the same way too, Sasuke." Sakura didn't need to explain further. Those words were all that the ANBU needed to hear before he leaned closer to the medic nin. Holding her waist tenderly, Sasuke pressed her lips against hers. Sakura threw her arms around him gracefully and returned the kiss sweetly. He then engaged her in a long lip-lock and squeezed her warmly.
Sakura smiled happily and hugged her new boyfriend. With Sasuke's strong arms around her, Sakura felt very safe and content. Things were finally like it was meant to be. It was a "dream come true". Of course she didn't fawn over him like she used to do when she was a kid, but she still loved the Uchiha dearly. Besides the fact that he was ridiculously hot and sexy, Sakura had always secretly wished that their relationship extended beyond friendship. To think that it worked out like this brought her much joy. It really was unexpected.
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A/N: The title of this story ~ Anata ga kini irimashita means "I like you" in Japanese ^_^
Sasuke might be a bit OOC here, but hey, that's what a fanfic is about! ;D
Please REVIEW and tell me whether you liked this fic or not.
Also, I'm thinking of making a sequel. It all depends on the response I get.
Do you think I should write a sequel?