"Of Time and Summer Skies"

You tell me, you're in love with me
Like you can't take your pretty eyes away from me
It's not that I don't want to stay
But every time you come too close, I move away

From the day she'd met him, he'd told him he loved her. Every chance his bright little self got. She could remember him being silly about it when they were younger; but as time passed, it had never changed.

Sometimes he tried to let her know with little things, tiny quirks of his: a grin when they saw one another, a wave when he wanted her attention, a shout when he really wanted her attention, and the occasional request to take her on a date. But most of the time, his methods were always a bit more…obvious. Most of the time, he didn't hesitate to come out with what was truly on his mind – her.

"Oh, c'mon, Sakura-chan! Maybe Sasuke doesn't wanna be with you, but I do!"

Thinking of the words he'd spoken oh so many times, she couldn't help but smile.

But nevertheless, whether he'd wanted her or not, she'd always wanted Sasuke a little more. Back then. Sasuke had been her dream, the man she'd looked up to like no other, and the man she'd had her heart set on since she was young. Everything about him had been perfect. His hair, eyes, form. And even beyond looks – Sasuke had been brilliant. So smart and serious. So strong and smooth. Exactly the way a shinobi should be.

Or so she'd thought…back then.

Back before…

I wanna believe in everything that you say
'Cause it sounds so good
But if you really want me, move slow
There's things about me, you just have to know

Perhaps the biggest disappointment, the biggest sorrow in the pink-haired girl's life, was knowing that he'd chosen his own desire for power over the bonds he'd shared with her and Naruto. Sasuke had always been so different back then. And now, thanks to all that hate he'd stored away for so long, he wasn't at all the person he used to be. Not anymore.

Once he'd decided that friends, teachers, Konoha, could no longer help him in the pace he so desired, he'd dropped them all. Just like that. And he'd run down a new path: a path full of darkness and fear, yet the complete ability to suck him in with the chilling and evil beauty it possessed. If one could even call it beauty at all.

But for him, it had meant more. For him, it was the only way.

And just like that, he was gone.

Sakura could clearly remember the terror in that night. And for the longest time, whenever she'd so much as closed her eyes, she saw him again. Standing in front of her, but only slightly. Pausing, as if waiting for her to finish. She could see herself holding onto his arm tightly, she could hear herself crying, begging him to stay. Or at least…

"Sakura…thank you."

Oh, those words. How she'd desperately wanted to hold on to them, believe they'd been his way to telling her that he loved her. That he would be back soon. For months, she told it to herself. But deep down, she knew how silly such dreams were. And now, now as she looked back on it, she still knew how silly such dreams were.

Sasuke had never loved her; not in the way she'd wanted. Sasuke would never love her.

It hadn't been until then, when she'd truly begun to realize how wrong she'd been. About Sasuke. About the hope that he'd someday love her like she loved him. About Naruto. The day he'd set out to bring Sasuke back to her, to the village, she'd never expected to hear such words from him. From the boy who was so dead-set on proving his love was greater.

"I will definitely bring Sasuke back. That's the promise of a lifetime!"

So cheerfully he'd said it; so filled with utmost certainty. And she'd known, from his smile and the tone of his sweet voice, that he was serious. Despite how much he loved her, despite how much he knew she loved Sasuke, and despite that Sasuke was the only obstacle standing in front of the love he held, he'd promised her, given her his promise of a lifetime, that he would bring Sasuke home.

It'd been the very first time she'd realized that that promise wasn't the only thing he was serious about. Because if he would so readily do such a thing, there was no more accusing him of being nothing but a silly teenage boy with a crush. He loved her. He seriously, boundlessly, loved her.

Sometimes I run
Sometimes I hide
Sometimes I'm scared of you
But all I really want is to hold you tight
Treat you right, be with you day and night
Baby, all I need is time

Time had passed so slowly after the realization. She hadn't even been able to try to deny it. Because there was no more denying it. And it frightened her in a way she'd never been frightened before.

She'd loved Sasuke with every ounce of her soul. For years, she'd had her heart in high hopes that he was the one – she'd been so sure of it! It hadn't been but a few days, and now everything she thought she'd known, every hope in her heart, had been broken. Sasuke would never love her. Naruto did. It made no sense. It wasn't the way she'd seen it; not in the least. It scared her. Because she'd had no idea how she was going to settle into such truths.

But she had.

When Naruto returned without the promise fulfilled, it'd been okay. Her heart had still been broken. Her dreams had still been shattered. But it'd been okay. She'd decided that she wanted to be a part of this promise. She wanted to save Sasuke as well. Not for herself. For both herself, and for Naruto.

And shortly after, the two of them had begun dedicating their lives to getting stronger for the day when they would do so. Naruto left the village to train with Jiraiya. She stayed and trained with Tsunade. All the while, settling more and more into the fact that she had been wrong.

I don't wanna be so shy
Every time that I'm alone, I wonder why
Hope that you will wait for me
You'll see that you're the only one for me

The hardest part of being wrong, for her, had always been the fear of being wrong a second time. As clear as a summer sky, she could remember the feeling in her soul when she'd seen her blonde companion again for the first time in over two years.

It was him. It was the man who loved her.

She'd been anticipating his return the entire time, going over the words she would say to him, the looks she would give him. Wondering if they'd still be as close as they were; if he would still love her. And of course, they'd still been close, and he'd still loved her. Nothing had changed. Except her, that is: she'd changed in more ways than anyone would ever know.

Her heart had been hardened to the raven-haired shinobi she once called her true love; and her heart had been softened to Naruto, the one she once thought she could never love. But these were feelings she'd kept to herself. While she no longer loved Sasuke as she had before, she had still never forgotten him, never let go of the memories he'd left. And while Naruto had slowly but surely begun to take his place, she had never allowed herself to fall again.

She was torn in a way that would take so very long to heal…much longer than two years.

She didn't want to take the chance of opening that wound back up, no matter how badly she wanted to believe him.

I wanna believe in everything that you say
'Cause it sounds so good
But if you really want me, move slow
There's things about me, you just have to know

They'd begun to spend more time together again once he'd returned. It'd been wonderful, just like the old days. And also just like the old days, he still had all those silly ways of showing his affection: that smile, that boyish laughter, the begging her to go on just one date. She'd forgotten how sweet all of it was, and she'd found herself wanting, truly wanting to respond to it. But she hadn't. She couldn't. Not yet.

When he'd done everything in his power to save Gaara, she'd seen how deep his bonds meant to him, even to friends he wasn't around nearly as much as others. When she'd risked her life, nearly died, herself, fighting Sasori, she'd seen again the terrors of losing loved ones, as she'd watched Lady Chiyou sacrifice herself. She could remember crying again, just as she'd cried when Sasuke had gone, because she was always reminded of him whenever someone left her, or this world.

And even scarier, she was reminded of the ever-present worry that Naruto too, might one day disappear.

It was something she couldn't handle. But it'd passed.

Looking back at the first time she'd seen the Fox Demon, even that hadn't been as frightening as the thought of losing the boy that held said demon. But it'd still been one of the more terrorizing moments of her kunoichi life. Especially when she'd tried so hard to stop him, and hadn't even the ability to do that.

She'd felt so guilty. He loved her so much, and not only could she never bring up the courage to give away her own heart, but even all the other things she tried to do for him, were always so small, so meaningless. He'd done everything for her, given her all she could've ever hoped for, made her see the truths she'd been blind to, and she'd never be able to repay him.

Yamato had tried to console her, make her see that it didn't matter how big or small the things she did were. He'd helped her a bit, but what good was the love she had to give Naruto, if she could never bring herself to truly give it? Still, she'd been happy. Happy that he'd been alright in the end, and happy that he'd always love her no matter what she could or couldn't live up to.

Sometimes I run
Sometimes I hide
Sometimes I'm scared of you
But all I really want is to hold you tight
Treat you right, be with you day and night
Baby, all I need is time

But slowly, the promise he'd made, and the promise they'd decided to keep together, was eating him alive. Each and every day, it was all he thought about. And everyone had noticed. He was still happy and optimistic, loud and impatient – those traits were simply his way. But deep down, they all said, they all knew, deep down he was hurt too. The stronger he got, the more the fire burned within him, that fire that she'd lit herself, when she'd asked him to bring Sasuke back.

"Even I can tell…that he truly loves you."

Sakura had cried again when even Sai, who'd lacked real feelings for most of his life, had been able to see it. They'd decided together shortly after, that she would finally confess her love, tell him not to worry about the promise anymore because she no longer cared about Sasuke. But even she should've known that it was no longer completely about the promise.

It was about saving a friend.

Nevertheless, they'd all gone after him. And she'd told him. Tried to convince him that she loved him now, not Sasuke. Which was true, even if she'd still never been able to let go of the past, and step forward. In all her honesty, she simply hadn't been ready.

There was always a time and place for everything, every situation, and every confession. She'd broken the boundaries of that special time, though, in hopes that maybe he'd stop killing himself over a promise. Thinking back on it, though, it'd been one of the biggest mistakes of her life.

"I hate people who lie to themselves."

The response had shocked her, as well as Sai, and everyone else; scared her. But she should've known better! She should've known it wasn't about the promise anymore. After all, for these years of hiding it so deeply within her, never allowing her heart to open a second time, it made all the sense in the world that he would believe she was a liar. She hadn't been ready. She couldn't love him yet. And she'd been a fool to try too soon.

But of all things, she hadn't been lying!

Perhaps she hadn't been ready yet, but one day…she would be.

Just hang around and you'll see
There's nowhere I'd rather be
If you love me, trust in me,
The way that I trust in you

For a while, she'd let him believe it. She'd learned the hard way that forcing feelings one wasn't ready for was a terrible mistake, no matter how innocent an act it'd seemed to be. But she couldn't help but think back on it and hurt. Whether her confession had been present truth or not, she'd been rejected; but then again, if Naruto had been able to recognize that, perhaps it was better than she'd once thought. Perhaps it only meant he knew her better than anyone else had ever known her.

And if nothing else could, that made her smile.

She supposed she'd find out when the time was right, when she could finally say with every ounce of truth within her, that she was ready to be his. Lately when such things had come to mind, she'd found herself wondering if what she truly needed, was the promise to be kept. For Sasuke to finally come home. For the choice between him and Naruto to be slapped right in front of her. She'd even tried hurrying that along, confronting Sasuke herself, and again realizing what a mistake it'd been. Perhaps the choice, though, would truly happen someday. Such a thought once scared her. But now, she truly felt that she was ready.

Naruto had changed her, after all. Shown her the truths she'd failed to see in the beginning. And even with the confession she'd attempted, he'd shown her that nothing, especially not love, worked well without truth. Oh, how glad she was of that, even if she'd felt so terribly ashamed at first, so stupid for allowing her worries about him attempt to fight fate.

But then again, she loved him. And ready or not, everyone did stupid things for love.

One day, she would tell him. She would apologize for pretending to be ready, and she would finally confess in truth, that she wanted to be his. The more time that passed, the more her wounded heart opened. The more she broke off those old chains holding her back, and the more she realized that Naruto Uzumaki would be the one to throw them into oblivion where she'd never have to worry about them again. She knew, with all her soul, that when the time was right, he would know as well. And this time, he wouldn't reject her.

But until then…she would only continue to wait.

Sometimes I run
Sometimes I hide
Sometimes I'm scared of you
But all I really want is to hold you tight
Treat you right, be with you day and night
Baby, all I need is time.

Song: "Sometimes" by Britney Spears.

Finally, a shot dedicated to my favorite pairing.(: Hope you all enjoyed!

Thanks for reading; reviews & favs are very appreciated!