Sorry for being so inactive for so long! I promise to write like crazy this month!
For now, here's a little angst since I'm pretty depressed that Naruto is ending soon.
To be truthful, Sakura wasn't surprised that Sasuke chose not to stay in Konoha. Naruto was shocked, Kakashi was angry, but she couldn't even bring herself to protest.
After all, Konoha had never been his home.
She remembered her mid-battle confession towards the end of the war, the angry tears that streamed down her cold cheeks, and the bitter rejection that followed. What did she expect? She long ago gave up on ever having her feelings reciprocated.
Naruto avoided talking about him. Kakashi didn't say a word about the incident. The entire village seemed to stray away from the topic of the Uchiha whenever Sakura was near, and she absolutely hated it. It made her feel fragile, something she had tried her absolute hardest not to be ever since he had left the village after the chunin exams.
She was one of the newly-named sannin, for fuck's sake. How pathetic was it that some stupid boy had such control over her?
You're such an annoyance.
The words flitted through her mind every so often, usually when she was drunk and alone, something that happened quite often ever since the war. No one had caught on, save for Tsunade, who silently understood and never said a word about it. She still carried out her hospital duties flawlessly and completed every S-ranked mission with ease.
A year passed, and Sasuke hadn't visited.
Sakura started to move on, picking up the pieces of her heart and trying to put them back together. All around her, her peers started pairing up, and she decided to do the same.
Her relationship with Kakashi was complicated, since they both knew that she would probably never fully get over Sasuke. She often wondered if she was serving as a replacement for Rin, which was probably true to an extent. But Kakashi was warm and supportive whereas Sasuke was cold and far away.
Since Kakashi was Hokage until Naruto was old enough, he didn't have much free time, but he made her feel loved and wanted, which was exactly what she needed to distract herself.
Another year passed, and he returned.
When she saw him at first, she thought she was dreaming. Although she was walking beside Naruto, she had never felt so vulnerable and alone. Sasuke's eyes met hers immediately, and her heart clenched painfully at the way his expression softened. It was unfair that after all of the years he could still affect her so strongly.
Naruto sprinted over and started babbling happily while Sakura chose to silently slink away. She felt Sasuke's eyes bore into her back, and it took all of her willpower not to burst into tears.
As one of the prominent leaders of the village, she was present at the official meeting for Sasuke's reception. She sat perilously close to Kakashi, squeezing his hand tightly underneath the table. Sasuke stared in her direction the entire time, but she wasn't sure if it was because he was focusing on Kakashi or her. She selfishly wished it was because of her, but it was more likely that Sasuke was irritated at Kakashi holding the Hokage position.
Later that night, Sakura walked the empty streets of Konoha to her apartment after a long shift at the hospital, never expecting to run into the very man she planned on avoiding.
He stopped, giving her the same molten stare as before. She nodded as some form of acknowledgement and tried to walk by, but he blocked her path.
"Sakura."
Ignoring the way her insides melted at his husky tone, she frowned, avoiding eye contact. "Yes?"
"You're avoiding me," he said pointedly. Gathering up all of her strength, Sakura replied with words that felt absolutely foreign on her tongue.
"I don't love you anymore," she spat out, sprinting away. He didn't follow, and with every step she took, Sakura could feel her heart break even more. She felt sick to her stomach, and her head swam with emotion.
Why did she do that?
It was probably for the best. She knew he never would love her back, and it was easier this way.
Tears silently streamed down her face, and she never spoke a word of her false confession to anybody.
The next day, Naruto told her sadly how Sasuke left the village that night without a word to anybody. He noticed her silence, but thankfully didn't ask her to explain.
A few months later, Sakura was in the training fields, pouring every last bit of her chakra into destroying her surroundings, taking out her pent-up emotions on the nature around her. The last thing she expected was for someone to catch her fist mid-punch, saving the tree trunk and causing her to stumble forward into a pair of warm arms.
"Sakura."
She flung herself back immediately, eyes wide.
"What are you doing back?" she stammered out, allowing herself a moment to fully take in Sasuke's appearance. He looked weary, and his piercing gaze was marred by the dark-circles and sallowness of his skin.
"The war changed me," he said cryptically, which only managed to anger her.
"It changed everyone," Sakura sourly replied.
"I said things that hurt you."
She chose not to reply.
"I didn't allow myself to accept your confession."
"Please don't bring this up, Sasuke," Sakura whispered, his name noticeably void of the usual honorific.
He noticed.
"You are the only person that's supported me no matter what I did. Even Naruto was angry with me, but you stayed loyal."
The familiar prickle of tears made Sakura's gut wrench uncomfortably. "Not that it mattered to you."
"It did."
"Then why would you respond so callously?" she asked. "I'm better off spending my time loyal to people that reciprocate my feelings."
"You will never feel the way about Kakashi that you do about me," Sasuke pointed out, making Sakura grit her teeth and push down the urge to throw a punch in his direction. "You will always love me."
"Go away, Sasuke. You don't care about Konoha, much less me. You never did."
The bitter words once again surprised her, but it was probably for the best. This time, it was Sasuke's turn to leave.
She was grateful, because that meant she could cry without him watching.
A few days later, Sakura was about to go to sleep when she heard her bedroom window open easily. Sasuke's presence was surprising, though surprisingly not unwelcome.
After their last discussion, she had thought over their relationship at length.
She thought over her and Kakashi's relationship, and realized how laughably pathetic it was in comparison to her feelings for Sasuke. Kakashi was only a stand-in, and it was obvious from the start.
Vaguely, she wondered if Sasuke would say the words that she wanted to hear, but she seriously doubted it. It was rather sad that she had already decided that those words would make her forgive everything, no matter how pathetic it made her seem, no matter how it would look to others, no matter how badly it could turn ou—
"I want to stay in Konoha."
His admission made her freeze up, and he stood barely two feet away from her as she sat on her bed in just an oversized t-shirt and panties.
"I want to stay with you."
Her heartbeat sped up, silently willing him to continue.
"With Itachi gone, you are the only one who makes me feel…."
He paused, taking a cautious step forward.
"…loved."
Sakura smiled warily.
"I don't know, Sasuke," she shakily replied. "Is this what you really want?"
The lips pressed against her own caused an electric current through her body, the heat emanating from his body both surprising and comforting. When he withdrew slowly, a twinge of red on his cheeks, she felt her animosity fade away, as well as any remainder of her bitter pride.
"I'm sure."
A moment of silence passed between them.
"You know, that was my first kiss," Sakura admitted. Sasuke looked slightly surprised.
"Kakashi and you didn't-"
"As silly as it may seem, I couldn't see myself doing anything with anyone that wasn't you."
His expression softened before a slight smirk crossed his lips.
"Well then we certainly have a lot of lost time to make up for."
Not surprisingly, Kakashi took the news well, congratulating them warmly. After all, it had always been inevitable. Even the Sage of the Six Paths could see it; Sasuke had always been affected by Sakura's love, and it had always affected him no matter how much he tried to ignore his feelings.
Naruto was obviously thrilled, as well as the rest of their Konoha 11 group. Jokes about pink-haired kids soon followed, which earned him a few hard punches.
Life with Sasuke was strange at first, but it soon fell into a comfortable pattern. His time away had made him more open and talkative, and sometimes Sakura would even catch him smiling a real smile. He didn't even complain when Naruto became Hokage over him, though that might have also been due to the fact that Sasuke was pretty busy with starting his first experiences with fatherhood.
Their story was not the typical love story, but then again, they were not the type of people to live typically.
Scared for how Naruto: The Last movie will turn out. Kishimoto better not be an ass and leave things open-ended, because if he pulls a stunt like that, I will personally travel to Japan and bitch him out.