Hidden Feelings

Pairing: Sakura x Elena

Genre: Romance

Disclaimer: I do not own Wanna Be the Strongest in the World or any of its characters.

Author's Note: (jumps and waves) Hello, everyone! My name is Yuri and here's my first "Wanna Be the Strongest in the World" fanfic, featuring my favorite pairing, Sakura x Elena. Oh, man! That series was totally intense and enjoyable at the same time! And the interaction near the end of the series, that had me in tears. I just loved that ending scene right there! So, this takes place after the series. Hope you all enjoy!

Warning: Contains spoilers.

Elena sits on the chair backstage while the other girls are getting ready for their next live concert. Lucky for her and the rest of Sweet Diva, her wrestling tournament is in two weeks. But after this concert, she and her best friend, Sakura have to train hard to accomplish it. It's been about 3 months since Elena and Sakura had been on the wrestling team together. After that intense fight between the two, both of them realized that they had their own set of goals, in which was singing and wrestling. Thanks to the champion wrestler, Jackal, they had made their decision to do both wrestling and singing. They wanted to be the strongest in the world.

"Elena?" Sakura's voice says from above the orange-haired idol.

Elena looks up to see her best friend leaning down with a smile on her face. "We're on in five minutes. Want to talk a little about what's on your mind?"

Elena shakes her head. "No, I'm fine. You go on ahead with the other girls. I'll catch up later."

"Okay. See you on stage!"

With that, Sakura skips off to join her fellow idols while Elena sits there with her fist now raised to her chest. Her heart is beating rapidly. There it is again, she thinks to herself. This . . . feeling. I'm really in love with Sakura. She had realized these feelings ever since Sakura had left her and joined the wrestling team. And when that happened, Elena had hoped that after Sakura's rematch against Rio, it will be all over. But that didn't happen at all. Sakura still wanted to wrestle because it had became her passion, her goal to keep getting stronger. So, to take back her dear friend, she disguised herself as "Blue Panther" and through Juri's hard training, Elena had challenged Sakura to a match. However, after a brutal fight between the two, Elena had lost anyway. For her, she felt like she was going to lose her best friend for good if she had lost. She had also loved her, so from her decision to become a wrestler, her plan was to take back Sakura to join Sweet Diva again.

"Elena!" the idols' manager, Makoto calls. "It's time!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Elena says as she stands up from her chair. She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down and with determination written all over her face, she makes her way to the center stage with Sakura by her side.

Up on stage, Sakura notices Elena blushing for some reason as soon as she walked next to her. She gives her friend a confused look for a second before facing the audience. She will have to talk with her later. After the announcing of the idols on stage, lights shine brightly upon Sweet Diva and begin to sing. For the whole concert, Elena kept her cool and stayed with Sakura while dancing.

After the concert, the other girls start to change into their casual clothing while Elena is already fully dressed. She looks over at Sakura, who is talking and laughing with the other idols as they undress, blushing. There's the feeling again, she thinks to herself. Oh, no! How am I going to tell Sakura how I feel? This is too difficult to handle!

"Hey, is something wrong, Elena?" Nanami, one of Elena's fellow idols ask. "You look like you're in a daze."

Jolting up in shock from the voice, Elena swiftly turns to the brown haired girl and shakes her head. "N-n-no! I'm totally fine! D-don't worry about me! Ahahaha!"

Nanami shakes her head while grinning. "It really looks like you have something on your mind. Why don't you come with me so we can talk in private?"

"Uh . . . s-sure." The orange haired girl looks back at her best friend, who is still getting dressed while talking and walks with Nanami, exiting the stage.

Once outside, the two stand by the door with only silence for a few minutes. Nanami looks at Elena wtih a smile on her face as she breaks the silence.

"So, anything you want to tell me, Elena?" she asks.

"U-um, n-no," Elena stutters. "Like I said, it's nothing to worry about."

"Elena . . ."

The orange haired girl groans in defeat. "W-well . . . there's one thing that's been bothering me."

"And does it have to do with Sakura?" Nanami asks.

Elena sighs, knowing how Nanami is with people with their problems. "So, you figured it out, hm?"

"Not quite," Nanami says. "Look, I've been noticing you acting strangely around Sakura for the past 3 weeks. And it seems like you want to tell her something, but try to lie your way around your true feelings. Elena, if you love her that much, then just go tell her."

"B-but . . . I can't," Elena says, softly. "Because there's also something that's bothering me . . . Moe-chan."

"Ah, that karate champion freshman?" Nanami says.

Elena nods. "She seems to be very clingy to her lately and every time I see Sakura with this girl at our wrestling team, it seems like I'll never get my chance."

"So, that's why you've been keeping your feelings hidden all this time?"

Elena nods again.

Nanami smiles as she puts her hand on her fellow idol's shoulder. "Look, I know it's hard for you, but let me tell you this: do you know that Sakura has been thinking about you and talks about you, even during backstage? She even tells me how lovely you are at singing and dancing, also at some wrestling matches. Nothing about Moe-san that I know of."

Elena gasps as she blinks twice. "She did that?"

Nanami shrugs. "I could be wrong, but that's what I've been noticing lately. And though Moe-san can be a bit clingy to Sakura, that doesn't mean you have to give up on her. You're her best friend and I know how much you care about her. And I know she feels the same way."

Small tears come to Elena's eyes. "Y-you really think . . . I can still have a chance with her?"

Nanami gives her a gentle smile as she nods. "I'm positive. You'll never know what you're going to get unless you go for it."

Elena smiles back as she hugs her idol mate. "Thank you, Nanami. I feel a lot better now."

"No problem," Nanami says as she returns the hug. "I wish you the best of luck."

Late that night, Sakura and Elena walk together to Sakura's apartment because Elena had asked her to sleepover. Unfortunately for Elena, she is starting to feel really drowsy because of her hard work at the concert. Sakura looks at her in concern.

"Are you feeling alright, Elena?" she asks.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," Elena replies, drowsily. "Just . . . a little . . . further . . ." And then, the orange haired girl closes her eyes, with her legs no longer having the strength to move anymore, and starts to fall face down when Sakura quickly catches her.

"Elena!" Sakura cries. "Are you okay!?"

All she could hear are soft snoring coming from Elena. The raven-haired girl smiles as she thinks to herself She's asleep. She must have worked extra hard from that dancing and the finishing move. She picks up her best friend and carries her on her back all the way to her apartment, which is not too far from where she is now. Once she enters the apartment and her room, Sakura gently sets down Elena on her couch and tries to find the covers to cover her friend with. She finds one on her bed and gently sets it down on her friend. Elena shuffles for a bit before going back to sleep, which makes Sakura giggle softly. The raven-haired girl goes by Elena's bedside and looks at her while smiling. Her heart starts to beat rapidly, causing her to blush bright red, but despite that, the raven-haired girl remains all cheerful and happy.

"Baka," she whispers. "You shouldn't have overexerted yourself from the dancing. After all, we're both wrestlers now, so save some energy for your training, too."

Elena can hardly hear her as she keeps on sleeping soundly. Sakura blushes as she starts to lean in closer to her best friend.

"And also . . . there's one other thing I need to tell you. And I know you can't hear me through my whispers, but . . . I realized why you were acting so strangely for the past few weeks. From the way you blush around me . . . and how you are always with me, whether it's at our wrestling match or concert, you were always there. Right by my side. And I began thinking, Is it only because she's my friend? And then, I thought, No, it has to be more than that. You would never leave me, even after our fight against each other that one time. But now I know. And I'm here to say this now."

The raven-haired girl leans in and softly kisses the orange haired girl on the lips. After about a few seconds, she leans back and smiles.

"I love you, Elena," she whispers. "And I think you loved me, too . . . even though you never said it."

Before Sakura starts to head for bed, she notices a small smile on Elena's face. The raven-haired girl realizes that her best friend had been hearing her this whole time and smiles back.

A/N: Holy cow! I did it! I have actually written a Sakura x Elena fanfic! Gosh, I love these two! They are just lovely together! Oh, that last line that Sakura spoke, that was from "The Incredible Hulk" 1995, I think it was. I'll look it up later. But that's the exact line David Banner said to Elena when she died, so i thought I'd use that for the story.

Anyway, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review. ;)