No matter what I do, she'll never see me for who I am, I think I understand that now.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved his arm wildly, jogging up to the pink haired Genin with a broad grin on his face.

That beautiful smile always seems to die whenever she notices me. Why am I always the reason her heart crumples?

"You're late Naruto." Sweatdropping, the blond boy backpedaled a few steps, Sakura looked angry again. And an angry Sakura liked to hit stuff to relax.

I'm never good enough, I know.

"But Kakashi-sensei isn't here yet!" Naruto held up his hands and began scooting backwards.

And no excuse will be accepted.

"You're hopeless." A boy dressed in blue, off to the side, only took notice of the confrontation to ruffle Naruto's feathers.

Sasuke. It's always Sasuke. Why Sakura-chan? Aren't I improving? He's not so far ahead of me now.

"Rrrrrr, Sasuke." Naruto shook a fist in the other Genin's direction, then immediately squatted, holding his head.

He doesn't like you that way, even I can see that. You're smarter than me, why can't you see it too?

"Don't shake your fist at Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura towered over Naruto, a literal monolith of embodied anger.

My stomach sinks a little lower each time you hit me. It's going to be at my ankles before my next birthday at this rate.

"Teammates shouldn't be waiting their energy hitting each other like that." Kakashi appeared in a whirl of smoke and leaves, his typical flashy entrance.

There's only one of us who would be doing the hitting. I could never hit Sakura-chan. Not even if my life depended on it.

"You're late, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto stood up, still clutching his smarting skull.

"Sorry, I had to help an old man walk his dog, and a stray cat came walking by..."

Couldn't you have come sooner, Kakashi-sensei? You could have spared my heart another crack.

"You're always late." Sasuke stood and brushed off his shorts, completely ignoring the adoring look Sakura was giving him.

Sakura drifted a bit closer towards Sasuke, not that he noticed. "What's our mission today?"

Naruto noticed.

Why can't you ever look at me with those eyes Sakura-chan? Why are they only for Sasuke?

"No mission today." Kakashi rubbed his chin reflectively. "Since you all have so much energy, we'll do a ten mile run around the north edge of the village." Pointing at Sakura and Sasuke, Kakashi jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "You two will head that way."

"Hai!" Grinning broadly, Sakura began skipping along behind Sasuke as he took off without a word. The pink haired girl quickly realized that the object of her affections was outdistancing her, and began sprinting to catch up. "Wait for me Sasuke-kun!"

Kakasi-sensei, are you out to make my life miserable? Was it the chalk eraser I dropped on your head the day we met?

"Naruto..."

"Eh?" The loneliest boy in Konoha blinked, and slowly lifted his head up to look at the older Jounin standing before him. He blinked in surprise at what he saw in that single eye.

Kakashi-sensei...

"Forget about everything for now, Naruto." The masked ninja ruffled the boy's unruly blond hair. "You've got a long run ahead of you."

A large bead of sweat dripped down the back of Naruto's head. "Senseiiiiiiii."

Prodding Naruto ahead, Kakashi moved to run along side the boy.

Kakashi-sensei, was that pity I saw in your eye? Do you feel sorry for me?

I guess it doesn't matter how I feel anyways.

I know now.

She doesn't love me.

-

I wrote this for two reasons. One, because poor Naruto has feelings too.

Second reason, LOVE isn't always returned! Deal with it!

That's right, this is an ANTI-LOVE fic! No romance! No mushy junk! Reality! It's not always a fairy tale ending.

Aaaand, I like to angst sometimes.

Read and review. My money is on a lot of flames from the romance crowd. Bring it on! I'm flame proof and very sarcastic! I can take it all! MWAHAHAHAHA!