Authors Note:Hello readers, I am a live. I just wanted to try out my writing again. Ever since the manga has ended, and specials had been released, i feel that the Naruto franchise is just slowly reaching the end of its denouement. And that's sad, and scary. Naruto has been a huge part of my childhood. It game me something to look forward to every Thursday. It kept my spirits high and well... bottom line is it means a lot to me. and I don't want to ever let go of this part of me. And just looking back on the other stories I've written, aha I do realize that I'm not exceptional or "good" for that matter, but I love Naruto and I love trying so I hope that, if there is anyone reading this, that you'll enjoy it. I do hope that when I finally write the other stories I have planned but failed to actually extract from my brain guts and into digital paper- I hope you'd support that too! anyway enjoy!

I disclaim.

sometimes: when you've held love in your heart for too long, you'd be just as scared of fulfilling it as letting it go.

It was a quarter to midnight, a few more minutes 'til that god damned day, the day that would denote the eternal repose of his feelings... or maybe not. After all, it seems like he has a fetish for self-inflicted emotional pain. I felt a hand on my shoulder. There was no need to look back - I sensed her presence the moment she steeped in the bar, anyway, and she knew that too.

"You need to go home Sasuke. It's late. You've got a big day tomorrow."

I scoff. "You make it sound as if I were the one getting married."

She took the end of that sentence as a sign to sit next to me. Of course, won't it lessen my burden if I console in someone? Well, that's counterintuitive to my fetish so... no.

She lifted a pale arm and asked for a drink. The bartender came by and gave her a shot of whiskey. By this time, my head drooped to the table. I admit I'm pretty drunk of my ass to even sit up right. Uchiha pride be damned.

"Everyone missed you at the party. It would have meant a lot to him if you came."

I hid my face in my arms, trying to steady the nauseating feeling in my gut and the stinging behind my eyes. No, it's not because of the alcohol.

"And what?"

She looks at me. I feel her stare. She leans in a little to hear my murmur and tries to decipher the slur words that I utter.

"Watch him deny every suggestive glance, deny any hint of admiration from fucking anyone, even deny alcohol because that's how perfect he is? Because that's how fucking loyal he is? Because that's how much he loves his-" I wanted to hurl now. I've talked too many words, too many things said that were never meant to even be said. Now even bile wants to come out. Maybe I am that drunk.

A soft sigh -or was that a scoff?- came from her. As irritating as it was, I didn't even spare her a glare. The tears would just ruin it after all. "You're an idiot, you know that right?"

"I know."

She sat there in silence. We didn't talk and, for once, I spared her a long stare. Her hair, as pink as the flower she was named after, was immaculately pulled in a bun. Her emerald eyes looking in the distance, empty yet contemplating.

"I loved him, you know," I murmur.

She doesn't look my way. "I know."

"Know something else?" I sit up this time, looking as distant as she is. I look forward to a place far, far away, to a vision where I could have been happy - a vision that I know wouldn't come true.

"You're talkative tonight. This is the most I got from you for all the 16 years we've been together." A hollow laugh, a quick gulp of her shot. "What..."

I too laugh hollowly. "I'm scared." A shaky breath. "I'm scared. After all, when you've held in something like this for far too long, you'll be just as scared of fulfilling it as letting it go."

Silence. I look at her.

"I know," she says.

"I'm sorry," I say.

She gets up from her stool, looks straight then looked down on me like she'd won. She did. "I've made my peace, so should you. He still needs his best man, Sasuke. He still needs you. We both know he does." We both know that I do was the silent continuation of that sentence and,for once, in so long, we shared a knowing look.

I took a heave of the alcohol in front of me and she left. That was that.

The next morning I woke up with a splitting headache. I didn't have to look into any goddamned clock to know that I was late, even more so to know that I probably looked like shit. Who was I kidding? It was intentional. I might have a fetish for pain but I'm not suicidal. Then, her words from last night rang in the forefront of my mind and I smiled. Oh it rang, alright, and no matter how shitty and damned cliche it was, it rang true.

I grabbed some slacks, a shirt and tie, a jacket too -since it was there might as well- and headed to the door. Never mind my fatal hangover, never mind how the road in front of me blurred from the moistness of my eyes- Goddamn it, enough. Enough!

Enough...

I reach the chapel and-

Fuck, I said enough with the fucking waterworks, Uchiha! You're not a faucet. You'll just get dehydrated this way. You won't ever be able make that proverbial river...

He was there, standing in a regal white suite. It contrasted beautifully with his tan skin. His blue eyes were shining, putting the bright skies to shame. It was a glorious day. Well, of course, nothing less for his wedding. Yep, nothing less. He smiled at his bride, the person standing next to him. He was so happy. Did he not even notice that I wasn't there? You know what, I really can't cry up that proverbial river.

But I can try.

The ceremony had ended and the newly weds go running out of the chapel, and I wait outside. I wait just beside the rose bushes and, oh, what a surprise, the roses were pink.

The couple comes out,her arm slung around his. They were smiling from ear to ear. It was a really beautiful sight. It was so beautiful, it made me want to gauge my eyes out. She was going to throw her bouquet now, she turned her back on the crowd of awaiting people but then our eyes met. Green clashed with Onyx and she smiled at me. Naruto seemed to have noticed her stare because he looked at me too, and he looked happy and as she threw the bouquet, the sound that it made as it crossed through the air was shadowed by the braking that thundered inside of me. I caught it, off course, it was thrown to me after all. Her hair was pulled into that etherial bun, a mop of pink curls rested atop. I hated her.

I love him..

still do.