Optimism is for fools. Naruto has had this thrown in his face all his life, and, being a ninja, he supposes it is true.

optimism keeps Sasuke in his heart, keeps Sakura in his future. optimism makes his world keep turning, and he's willing to be thought a fool if it means having them

There are enough realistic ninja in the world, and it has done nothing but cause war and fuel hate. Realism means bitterness, and Naruto has seen enough of that to last a lifetime.

he has felt enough of it too, and everytime someone scoffs at him he wants to ask what they know of having their brother abandon them, of loving someone who can't reciprocate, of never knowing one family and slowly losing another. naruto wants to know what anyone in the village he is sworn to protect knows about him.

He may be a fool, but he is not stupid. He knows it's unlikely Sasuke will return, and knows that Sakura may never love him the way he loves her. But there is still a chance that both of these things will come true, and Naruto lives on chances like these.

he sees Sasuke falter at the sight of him, sees Sakura give him a smile that makes him want to marry her, right there and then. he remembers training with Sasuke, and envisions growing old with Sakura, and he finds it a little easier to keep shooting for that chance

He henges into Sasuke every so often, not because he wants to be him, but because he can look into a mirror and pretend that his brother hasn't left, up until the tears that inevitably trickle down ruin the façade. Sasuke would never cry over him.

he once tried to henge into Sakura, but he broke the jutsu before he even looked in a mirror; he knew that he wouldn't see the love he wanted to

Sakura means the world to him. Everything he does now revolves around her, and he doesn't dream of being a Hokage so much as he does dream of just being with her – she's his only dream now.

she's just as far off as Hokage status, just as almost unobtainable. sometimes he wonders if he deserves either of those dreams

but she sits close to him some nights, almost touching but miles and miles away from it. She huddles into herself and looks more grown up than Naruto has ever seen someone look. Creases line her face and the blue eyed hopeful doesn't find her the least bit less beautiful for it. They sit in silence, and as much as he itches to reach out for her, Naruto doesn't, because for all his flaws, he has always understood Sakura. And right now, he knows, she is trying to prove herself and her independence, and not to him.

You know, I still believe in happy endings, Naruto.

She offers only tones of resentment and desparation whenever her lips part, and Naruto knows he is a fool for hoping the way he does. More than anything else does he want Sakura's happiness.

But I now know that not everyone gets one.

He's going to give her that happy ending if it kills him.

and what a way to die

A/N: So this started as a Naruto introspective piece, that morphed into a NaruSaku at the end because of my different mindsets from the start and when I finally got around to finishing it off. But Naruto's trulyhonestlybrilliantly amazing, and I think it's high time he gets some well deserved recognition for it.