AN; I have planned this to be a 30 something chapter fanfiction, possibly more. It will not be a quick love. It is essentially about long term unrequited love. I know there are those of us out there that dislike Sakura as a Sasuke "Fangirl" Who don't like it when she's madly in love with Sasuke to the point that she seems to have no self respect. If you're one of those people that don't like it- much like me- then know that you aren't alone. I also dislike Sakura as a weak, I only love Sasuke, kind of character. That being said, this is a love story, and even unrequited love, is noble. I have a plan for this, and if you stick around, you may be surprised.
No quick love for this story though. It will be slow building, budding love. Unrequited love is a really interestingly sad thing to write.
Pairing: Sasuke and Sakura. Mild romance otherwise will be included.
Rating: For now, it is quite general. Maybe one day though, it will raise.
Goal: I will attempt to have my next chapter up by the end of this week.
So, appropriate disclaimers are where they belong. I don't own anything but this story plot, and even that is age old. So, I hope you enjoy this. It's unbeta'd and a little raw, so excuse any small errors. The next chapter will be quite a bit longer. Get back to me on whether you like it. I haven't written any fanfiction in quite a while my loves.
"Let no one who loves be called altogether unhappy. Even love unreturned has its rainbow." -J.M. Barrie.
My heart is exposed to you. As open as a field, yet you ignore it. A smile bent upon my lips, and it didn't hurt me that you didn't seem to take notice. I wouldn't expect any less from someone like you Sasuke. I consider myself lucky to simply be in your presence on a day like this one.
Your hand comes up to block one of my punches, and I am overwhelmed by the skin on skin contact, even though it stings from the impact. At this time your eyes connect with mine, and I realize that you're stealing away my reservations. I don't know if you're keeping them, like a memento of the person I used to be, like a trophy to be viewed as you change me from the person I am. Either way, just keep them for now. As long as I have you I don't need anything else.
You reflect my kick and look solemnly bored. To me, you are solid depth, like the night sky. You are strong as the wind of early fall. As important to me as the ground beneath my feet, yet you grant me flight. To me you are a miracle. Something more rare than I knew existed. Fighting it has become futile. You are simply made to break down my barriers, and like the snow would a daisy, you hide away my fears. You are the wings where I nurse my heart. Something more precious to me than any words may express. Immaterial nonsense when compared to the breadth of my feelings. You are a light that I treasure as if I have never glimpsed the sun before.
You block another of my punches, and this time counter. Chakra enhances your kick and as your heel plummets into my side, I feel pain as such that I can only hope you didn't mean to cause to me. I collide with the ground and lay there for a moment, trying to catch my breath. As I do such, I spend a few seconds hoping that you didn't do it on purpose.
You whom I love so much, will never return my feelings.
Unrequited love. These unreturned feelings that I know are blatant upon my face, you will always simply refuse.
How does one rid themselves of the deep roots of fruitless love?
"Oi, Sasuke," Naruto's voice is distant to me, not because he is far, but because I can't hear him over the sound of my own breathing. "Watch yourself." He is defensive of me as usual.
Before me, my Sasuke seems offended by Naruto's presence alone. "Whatever."
Naruto growls and stomps his way over to me. His hands which land on me are warm, and his touch is very gentle. I however, gaze up at Sasuke's ignorantly blank expression. So carefully unaware of my pain. "You didn't have to hit her that hard." Again my fox friend defends me and I am touched by the gesture, but only momentarily.
Sasuke's eyes shift away from Naruto and pinpoint my side. His pupils retract their size as they land on the hands that have now come to comfort me. I hope this means that he is reconsidering his actions, but I am entirely uncertain.
Eventually, his dark eyes pull away again, and he shoves his hands in his pockets with new force. "She's a kunoichi. She'll be fine." His sentence is like lead to the bottom of my stomach. I don't know whether that is a positive thing he says, or negative. I am always uncertain of what to think about this particular boy.
"Just because she's a kunoichi doesn't mean you should go full strength against her." Naruto adds, his voice low in tone, and a little sad.
I lift a hand and lay it on his knee. "I'm fine." I spoke in a steady tone, but thoughtful Naruto doesn't seem to be appeased.
Without looking at either boy before me, I lower my hand to the very bruised spot at my ribs. Even thinking about it caused it physical pain, so I began healing immediately.
It only took a second to remove Sasuke's damage from it's physical manifestation. I spend a moment longer daydreaming, wishing that it were only that easy to heal away these terrible feelings that I have. Surely, my life would be so much easier if I could.
As soon as my healing process was complete, I stood and Naruto went with me. His hand still hovered at my side as if he were afraid I would faint.
I am unsure whether to be thankful for him, or sad that he thinks so little of my strength. At one point, I would have been angered by his treatment of me. Offended that he wouldn't allow me to take care of myself, but at this point in our friendship, I have grown used to Naruto's careful demeanor towards me.
I clamp a firm hand on his shoulder for a moment before turning to Sasuke, who was busily gazing at the trees in the distance.
At the sound of my voice, his eyes did turn on me, and they made my heart beat flutter nervously. "Thanks, Sasuke," I always took every chance I could to say his name out loud, "for the match."
He grunts, and I am surprisingly nullified by the sound. "Whatever."
That word that he loved so much.
I took it to be a good sign these days. Anything he would say to me was something I would treasure.
We naturally began walking at this time, without words, or awkwardness. Simply a practiced routine that we did without acknowledging.
Naruto always walks a little ahead of us, and today is no exception. He remains safely in the lead, and Sasuke always remains a little to my right at my flank. He has never taken to walking directly beside me by choice, and I have never felt confident enough to wait for him.
It is torturous being only two steps from him. Only two steps and I could be walking directly beside him.
I decide not to say anything, and especially not to act on the impulse to stop and wait for him. Rather I quietly follow Naruto as we head towards town.
When we reach the Hokages tower I remember something very important.
"Guys," I wonder how I could forget, "Today is Ino's birthday!" I am dead. She will kill me if she thinks I forgot.
Naruto turns towards me with a frown, and Sasuke doesn't shift his attention at all. Rather, he stares into the distance, his eyes squinted as if the sun bothered him. "Sakura, who cares?" Naruto is unimpressed and I frown.
"Ah, come on. We have to do something." I say, and chew on my lip. Naruto gives a defeated sigh, and it makes me smile. "Thanks."
He swipes the air as if shooing a fly, "Don't bother. I'm not doing it for her." He says in a troubled voice. His expression is very reluctant.
I grin at him, and grab his hand. In turn, he grabs Sasuke by the shoulder and I am secretly happy for this. "Let's go find everyone. We can definitely throw a party." I am suddenly happy to think of a party. We don't actually see many of our friends outside of work related reasons, so it could be nice to gather them together just this once.
Naruto does give me a chuckle, but Sasuke counters him by grunting. Even with the negativity I'm glad that Sasuke is with me.
This person, I see something beautiful in his eyes. I see a sad person. One that is overwhelmed by his thoughts. This is something that I relate to, even if they aren't the same kinds of thoughts.
I glanced over at him, but he wasn't looking at me.
He is never going to be looking back at me. I will accept this one day.