Disclaimer- There are quite a few things that I own, but Naruto isn't one of them. Working on it, though.
Dedication: to my Delinquents, who are my best friends and the most amazing people I will ever know. Epiff Annie, irrationalism, and Renalin, this is dedicated to you.
i.
To many people who know her, Sakura is the sweetheart of Konoha, the girl who always has a smile on her face, a hand to lend, and a shoulder to cry on. She is always the one you look for in a crowd, because she has a friendly, familiar face, and you can always count on her to cheer you up, and for her to be just happy in general.
But not many know of her other side: not many can remember her from her genin years, except that she had been weak and one of the many Sasuke fangirls. Not many can remember the way her eyes flashed at Naruto whenever he said something stupid; not many can remember can remember the lack of control she used to have.
It's tightly roped now, hidden behind that cheerful smile and happy laughter, but when Sasuke wakes up in a cold sweat, dreams of Sakura, it isn't about that perpetually blissful façade, but instead all he sees are fierce viridian irises and flushed pink cheeks.
ii.
Not many people know about it, because it's not common knowledge, and most of those who had known about it are dead, but Sakura and Sasuke had been friends, when they were little, once upon a time.
There had been a time where Sasuke hadn't minded his fathers disapproval, because the Uchiha patriarch had certainly sneered at the idea of Sasuke and Sakura's friendship; back then, Sasuke cared more for the roseate-haired females happiness than his own father liking him.
When she smiled, so happy and brilliant, it made his six-year old heart do funny flip-flopping things in his chest. And whenever she slept over, he used to creep into the guest room and watch her sleep, because it was one of the few times where he felt at peace.
One time, he had a nightmare while Sakura was staying the night, and he couldn't remember what it was about, but he crawled into Sakura's bed. She had woken up, and instead of being scared, she took one look at Sasuke's wide, frightened gray eyes, and she held him, whispering a song for him to fall asleep to.
One week later, Sasuke's vision became tainted with scarlet liquid, his world shattered, and nothing was ever the same.
iii.
Sakura's smile is bright and happy, and her laughter echoes in a room, showing her cheerful personality. Everything about her is bright, and while Naruto may be the sun at noontime, Sakura is the sun at five o'clock, still burning brightly but muted down, yet you could still feel the warmth of it gracing your skin.
Sakura is like the sun, but only Sasuke knows that Sakura is more like the rain.
The revelation came to him during one of their many missions when they were genin; Kakashi had managed to get them a hotel, because the clouds rolling above were dark gray and threatening, and so he got them all one room.
Kakashi had gotten the first shift, and Sakura had offered the second. After that was Sasuke, and the last was Naruto.
When Sasuke had awoken, his nightmare tainted with crimson rain and more dead bodies than you could count, it was to the soft pitter-patter of rain on the roof and Sakura sitting on the jutting-out windowsill, knees drawn up to her chest and a hand against the cold pane of glass.
A flash of lightening split through the dark night sky, and the brief spark had illuminated her face, highlighting her features in gold, and Sasuke's gaze was caught by the small smile on her face as she gazed out at the rain.
His eyes shifted to outside the window, then back to the girl sitting by the window, and it was then he knew: Sakura was not the sun, she was the rain, capable of being gentle and soothing or harsh with an unrelenting fury.
Haruno Sakura was also like the rain in the way that when everything seems hopeless, dry and barren, like a certain avengers heart, she comes when you need her the most, making everything better again.
iv.
Many people assume that just because Sakura's hair is pink means that she likes the color.
Sure, she likes the color; after all, when you see it every day, it tends to become familiar to you, so how do you hate something that's familiar to you?
However, the first time Sasuke stepped foot in her room, her walls had been painted a silver-ish gray color, and in the fading sunlight, it looked almost purple.
Sakura had confessed to him, then, with them being eighteen, that it reminded her of his eyes.
Sakura's favorite color was not pink, or green, or red, but the changing colors of Uchiha Sasuke's eyes.
v.
People see the way Sakura dresses; mostly in red and green, and they assume that the reasons why she dresses in those colors is because those are her favorites, and also because those are the ones that she looks best in. (They never associate it with Christmas, because another incorrect assumption is that just because Sakura is a child of spring means she hates winter. Au contraire, Sakura's favorite season is winter, with it's coldness and darkness, because she needs the winter to be happy.)
As a matter of fact, Sakura looks the best in white.
When she is walking towards him, in his mother's dress and with that smile on her face that is his, like her, he comes to the conclusion that, although Naruto is his best friend, it will always be Sakura who knows him best.
And hours later, when she is tangled in his white bed sheets with her hair spread around her like a halo (white is the sign of purity, and purity is associated with children and angels, and Sakura had been the former and is the latter) with a happy, content smile on her face while she is falling asleep, he comprehends one more thing.
Although people had been wrong about so many things concerning Sakura, they all are correct on one thing, and it is now that Sasuke is realizing it for the first time.
Sakura, whether she is six, twelve, eighteen, or twenty-three, is beautiful.
A/N- Disjointed? Check. Fluffy? Check. Sweet enough to give you a toothache? Check. If this made you go aww, even a little bit, then review.