Sakura sat on the forest floor as Kakashi went over the mission. She stared at him blankly. His lips were moving but Sakura could here nothing coming from them. She already knew what the mission was supposed to be about. It was more of a competition b/t the genin teams of kohona. At first she was excited. This would be her chance to prove herself to Sasuke-kun and beat that Ino-pig at the games. But everything came crashing down last night. After last night, she didn't really care about beating anyone. She really didn't care about anything...not even proving to everyone that she wasn't useless. Her mind went back to the exact moment that her world came crashing down. To the exact moment that she went to visit Sasuke-kun at his apartment. She had a cup in her hand. She had come up with the brilliant idea of being able to spend just a little more time with her crush...she would ask for sum sugar. Then he would have to let her in and everything after that she would have to wing. But when she got there she heard voices through his front window. She hesitated at first but found that the voice belonged to Naruto. Naruto wouldn't be a problem...so she went on to step up to the front door prepared to knock, but soon stopped herself. She heard another voice. A voice that belonged to neither Naruto or Sasuke. "What do u even think of her anyway?" the unfamiliar voice asked. "Who? Sakura?" Sakura's heart jumpped when she realized that it was her Sasuke-kun who was replying to the question. Her will to knock was now gone. She had to hear his response. He may not confess his feeling to her personally, but he would to his guy friends. "Yeah Sakura. We all know she's got the hots for ya. So u gonna get with her or what?" the stranger's voice continued. 'Pease say yes. Please say yes.' Sakura mind repeated over and over again. "I could care less about her." Sakura's heart dropped. She hadn't expected that. "Then why do u let her continue pushing u for a date?" the voice inquired. 'Yes why?' Sakura inquired herself. " She's wasting her own time, not mine. The girl just won't catch a clue. What's the point in telling her to stop if she's too stupid to see that I don't care for her?" Sasuke finished, unaware of the heart-broken girl standing outside his front door. Sakura involuntarily dropped her cup. And everyone in the apartment heard it. "What was that?" Naruto asked. She could hear them coming toward the door. At the last moment she did a few hand signs and in a puff of smoke she was gone. Sakura went back to her apartment and cried herself to sleep that night. And now she had to endure being in the same field as Sasuke.
Sakura's eyes had not once crossed over to Sasuke. She hated him. And now they had expected her to do her best at this competition...'screw that' she thought to herself still pretending to pay attention to Kakashi-sensei. But Kakashi knew that she wasn't. "Sakura?...SAKURA!" he yelled attempting to get her to actually pay attention. "Hmm?" was all he got from her. He sighed, "u all know what to do." and in a puff of smoke he disappeared. "Okay, here's the plan..." Sasuke started, but at this point Sakura really didn't pay any attention. All she knew was that they were supposed to capture a hidden flag for the first mission of the competition. "...u got it Sakura?" he finished as Sakura nodded her head yes even though she really didn't know what the hell he just said. "Okay lets split up." he said before jumping up into a tree and took off toward the east. "Sakura are u okay?" Sakura turned at the voice to meet the baby blue eyes of Naruto. He looked genuinely concerned. Sakura smiled at this and told him that she was just fine. He knew that she was lying but didn't push it any further. He just jumped up into a different tree and took off to the west. Sakura sighed and stood up. "Might as well get this over with." she mumbled to herself walking off toward the north.
She hadn't been walking too long before she came to a small pond shadowed by an old willow tree. The place was nice and quiet so she resloved to have a rest for a bit even though she had done nothing. She parted the hanging branches of the willow and slid down the trunk of the tree. She closed her eyes and sighed once again. She wanted to cry, but she told herself that she would no longer cry over the cold Uchiha any more. And besides...she had cried herself dry last night. And now...she could care less about the team-mate. "Hey." A voice woke Sakura from her dazed stupor. She looked to the side of her to see Rock Lee. She mentally rolled her eyes. She really didn't feel like listening to Lee give reasons why she should go out with him. "Shouldn't u be looking for the flag?" Sakura asked the boy in green without even turning to look at him. All she got from him was a grunt. She turned to finally look at him. He had a grave expression on his face. Sakura frowned at his expression. She had never seen him like this. Usually the boy was full of energy and very talkative, but now he wouldn't even look at her. He kept his gaze toward the glistening pond, and soon Sakura followed suit. The silence shared b/t the two wasn't akward or uncomfortable...it was soothing. Sakura felt all of her animosity toward Sasuke and the entire world drop. She felt the tension in her heart ease...and it wasn't caused by the one tha she thought she loved, Sasuke. How could Lee have such an affect on her? Sakura began to feel a bit guilty about treating Lee so horribly over the last few years. They were all 17 now, but Sakura could remember when she was 13 and Lee had first asked her out at the chunin exams. Over the years, of course she had become friends with her admirer, but she still refused his feeling for her. She was too caught up with trying to get Sasuke to love her. She was so stupid and now she realized that everything that she wanted from Sasuke...all the love, all the protection and the feeling of contentment...Lee was already giving her. 'Damn, how could I be so blind? He probably hates me now.' she thought to herself not daring to glance in Lee's direction. "Lee-kun..."she started ready to give a full apology for the past 4 years. But she caught Lee shaking his head. "Don't." he said simply still focusing on the small pond before them. Sakura's shoulders fell, thinking that he didn't want to even hear her try to explain. He just saw her as the girl that wouldn't look away from Sasuke. "Being in love means never having to say you're sorry." he said to her finally turning to face her. Sakura's emerald eyes met Lee's raven orbs. She gave him a smile content that he understood what she felt for him now. He pulled his gaze from her and stood up. W/o a word he held his hand out to help Sakura to her feet and she took them willingly. "We should find our teams. The game is probably over by now." he told her still holding both her hands. She nodded her head. But before they parted their separate ways Sakura stood on the tips of her toes and put her lips to his. When she pulled back, she saw a smile spread across his face. She smiled back and walked away.
W/in 20 minutes Sakura found her team back at the exact same spot that they had been before the game started. The game was now over and the teams were making their way across the field to go home. Sakura walked toward her team-mates. "Sakura where were u?" Sasuke asked annoyed that he had to wait so long for her to come back. "None of your business." she stated boredly walking right past the surprised prodigy. She could hear Naruto laugh out loud and tease Sasuke for being called out like that. Sakura kept walking with a smirk on her face. No she really didn't care about proving herself to the Uchiha boy to receive his heart when she didn't have to do anything to receive Lee's. He loved her just the way she was...no one could beat that. No one could make her feel the way that Lee made her feel just by sitting with her...saying absolutely nothing.