It had been a year and a half since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War, and Naruto had been studying the things he would need to learn to become Hokage. He was working with Kakashi and Tsunade on this a few days a week. The other days, he'd do missions or train. But almost every day, he took time out to eat ramen as he was doing right now. It was one of only a couple things that still consistently made him happy.

He had also been spending a lot of time with Hinata. They had gotten fairly close, and Naruto had made a lot of progress in getting over what had happened with Sakura at the end of the war. It still bothered him, but he didn't see Sakura very often, so he rarely thought about it now.

He finished his meal and walked out of the ramen stand. Several feet away was Yamanaka Ino. She waved and walked up to him.

"Hey, Naruto. Sakura wanted to talk to you," she said.

"Really? I wonder what it's about," Naruto replied.

"She didn't tell me, but I bet you're in for a surprise. Good luck, buddy,"

Ino grinned.

"Huh? Whatever, Ino. I'll talk to you later. Where's Sakura-chan now?"

"She's over by the BBQ place. Good luck, buddy," Ino said, still grinning.

"Why did you say that again? Never mind. I'm going."

Naruto turned around and quickly left before Ino could say something ridiculous again. He hurried over to the BBQ restaurant. Sakura was waiting outside, looking somewhat uncomfortable. She was looking around like she was hunting for something. When she saw Naruto, she called out.

"Naruto! I'm over here," she shouted.

"Sakura-chan, hey. How are you doing?" Naruto replied after getting close enough to talk privately.

"I'm fine. Can we go somewhere quiet and talk?"

"Sure, let's go to training field 7."

They walked there briskly without saying much of anything. It was a bit awkward.

When they arrived, they stood at a comfortable distance from each other. Naruto waited for Sakura to start talking about whatever she wanted to talk about. It was several seconds before she finally spoke up.

"So, Naruto... I've been thinking..." she said.

"About Sasuke?" Naruto replied.

Sakura's eye twitched.

"No, not about Sasuke! Do you think everything I do is about Sasuke-kun?"

"Sometimes it seems that way..."

"Ugh, you're making this so difficult for me. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"No, go ahead, Sakura-chan. Say whatever is on your mind. I do want to hear it."

"Thank you. Well... I guess in a way it is about Sasuke-kun. You see, I have spent a lot of time on this. Way too much time. I really don't think I should be with him. He never valued me like you did... He tried to hurt me... My parents told me that going with him would have been a terrible idea. I got mad, but later on I realized they were right. I don't want to be with someone like that," Sakura explained.

"How exactly does all this add up to not being about Sasuke? Not that I disagree. You're totally right. But this is entirely about Sasuke. I don't understand why you're telling me this," said Naruto with a serious expression on his face.

"Naruto... Well... It's just that... I have feelings for you. And I think-"

Naruto cut her off.

"Sakura-chan, we've done this before. You don't. Or if you do, it's not enough that it can compare with how you feel about Sasuke. Don't get me wrong. I'm not telling you to be with Sasuke. I understand where you're coming from, but I'm not on board with this, Sakura-chan."

"We could be really great together though, Naruto... I thought this would make you happy... Why not...?" replied a deflated Sakura.

"Because, Sakura-chan. It would all be over when Sasuke returned. You'd go back to falling all over him like you always did. My heart wouldn't be able to take it."

"I wouldn't, Naruto! I promise. I would never hurt you like that."

"Don't you understand you've already hurt me? We did everything together. You saved my life. I saved yours. I thought our bond would never be broken. But once he was done being evil, you went back to being his fan girl. You said you still loved him. Because you did! You asked to go with him and blushed like your face was burning off. Do you know how that made me feel?"

"You didn't say anything about it at the time..."

"Of course I didn't say anything at the time. Our friendship might be completely over if I had. The strong, independent Sakura I loved seemed like she was dead. The love I did have for you was never going to be the same after that. Surely you can at least understand that?"

"But, Naruto... It would be different now. What do you want me to do?"

Naruto kicked the ground in frustration.

"There's nothing you can do! There's no taking it back, Sakura-chan. I don't know what to tell you."

"So you're saying... Even if Sasuke-kun came back and I wasn't interested... You still wouldn't want to be with me?" Sakura asked, almost disbelievingly.

"Don't you know that I'm with Hinata? I'm not saying that I feel the same way about her as I felt about you. But I'm not going to just drop her because you feel like you want to try this out. It probably wouldn't work and I'm not an asshole, Sakura-chan."

"Do you love Hinata?"

"Not yet... I don't know. We'll see."

"Then do you still love me?"

"I'm not going to answer that. It doesn't matter, Sakura-chan! Why are you doing this to me?"

Naruto was starting to get emotional. His eyes were slightly wet. He was staring through Sakura's skull.

"I don't know... I'm sorry... I thought... I don't know what I thought... I want both of us to be happy... I want things to be like they were before he came back..." Sakura mumbled.

"They won't be, Sakura-chan. They can never be. You should have thought about all this before that bullshit at the end of the war! If I was that important to you, why were you willing to leave me and everyone else?" asked Naruto, looking at her with a pained expression.

"I don't know... Naruto... I was being stupid... I guess I'm really selfish... God, Naruto... I'm so sorry... I didn't think about it, okay?! I didn't think about you! Is that what you want me to say?!"

Sakura began to tear up.

"And that's why, Sakura-chan. I always thought about you. If something would have affected you, I guarantee you that I thought about it. You were everything to me back then. I would have cut the sun in half if it was something you wanted. But all you wanted was him. I was just stupid to think it would be any different," Naruto answered bitterly.

Sakura's eyes widened in response. His words had struck her deeply.

"So there's nothing I can do...? Naruto...?" she asked, weeping.

"Damn it! I haven't even heard that you don't love him anymore! Only that you think you now have too much self-respect to be with him! Did you seriously think I was going to be happy to hear this?"

"Yes... I guess I really am a fool... Sorry, Naruto..."

"It's fine, Sakura-chan. You deserve to talk things out... I'll never say no to you when it comes to that. I just really don't think this is going to work."

"I won't give up, Naruto... Eventually, you'll see that I'm serious... I care so much about you and want the best for you. I want you to know that I won't give up on you..."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan... I'm sorry things turned out this way," said a somber Naruto.

"It's fine... It was my fault, Naruto... All my fault... I'll see you later..." replied a depressed Sakura.

Sakura wiped her eyes before turning her back on Naruto and slowly walking away.

Naruto stood there for a long time, thinking about how things should have been.