Up Through the Ashes
by Lemon Drops/thatreevesgirl (both me)
one-shot
Sasuke is only a silly childhood crush. Sakura looks in the mirror on her nightstand and tells herself these words over and over again. It isn't an easy thought to swallow. She tries to forget the dark haired boy, but he invades her thoughts again and again. He is a part of her, she finally admits dejectedly. He is an intrinsic piece of her past. Sakura tries hard to put Sasuke out of her mind, because these days there is a possibility of new love in her life.
He is more mature than he was during her genin days, but still has an undeniable boyish charm. In other words, he still annoys the hell out of Sakura most of the time. Sakura can honestly say her feelings for him took her by surprise. She remembers feeling relieved to have Naruto back in her life after returning home almost a year ago. She can't imagine being without him. His smile makes her smile.
She tries again, because she is stubborn. Sasuke is only a silly childhood crush. If she tells herself this enough, maybe it will be true. People can condition themselves to think and act differently. Sakura lives within a militaristic society, so she knows it is possible. She repeats her mantra again and again, because she knows how her feelings for the Uchiha dig deeply into Naruto's heart.
Sakura's lip quivers as she thinks about Sasuke. Why won't his memory leave her alone? It haunts her and taunts her, and she wishes she could drag him home to prove how much her feelings have changed. She isn't the lovestruck twelve year old girl of team seven any more. Her love for Sasuke is a broken shell of what it used to be. Now it is the kind of love which will live inside her always, because love never truly dies, it only fades. She hates to admit it, but what she felt for Sasuke was real.
There is a knock at Sakura's door. She stumbles up to the entryway, greeting the blond standing behind her heavy oak door with a cheery smile. She struggles to let go, desperately trying to release what she has clung to during the last three years, because he is worth it. Naruto is worthy of being loved, and she wants to give him a chance.
He hasn't admitted his love aloud to her yet, but Sakura knows. She can see it in the way he is gentle and kind toward her, and how he tries desperately to be the man he thinks she desires. Sakura wants to tell him how she adores him just the way he is—loud and brash, strong-willed and loyal—she loves these things, and doesn't want them to change.
"Can I treat you to some ramen?" he asks. A cheesy grin is plastered on his face. He obviously thinks he's being sneaky by not calling it a date, but it is what Naruto considers this. He would give her a thousand non-date dates if it meant spending more time with the woman he loved. Sakura promises herself one of these days she'll call him out on it, but not today.
"You can," she gives her permission. He smirks and chuckles in that endearingly odd way of his. It makes her roll her eyes, but it also makes her stomach do flip-flops.
Sasuke was the first person I ever loved, Sakura thinks to herself, but my heart has grown past him. She closes and locks her apartment door behind her, and for this moment at least, she leaves any thoughts of Sasuke inside. Today she has new opportunities standing before her, and she refuses to deny herself the possibility to love once again.
Author's Notes: I'm having fun playing with present tense. I hope to have better stories for all of you, but I'm in a bit of a slump. I will definitely try harder.