Summary: Uzumaki Naruto is not a stranger to unrequited love. He has been in love with Haruno Sakura since his Genin years, after all, hasn't he? But what if that love is not as unrequited as he thought it would be? NaruxSaku

Author's Note: I'm currently settling myself in this very annoying phase where I get all upset about my language (or, in this case, my complete lack of it), and can't help but criticize and flame everything I have managed to complete. You have no idea how many partly done stories I have locked up in my thumbdrive; and how many more I have stored in my brain. The inspiration is definitely there, but I have no idea how now to press onwards in written form.

Anyway, please review.

Stupid

I liked her. A lot.

Even in our Genin days, when she had been in love with that Sasuke-teme, I had been head over heels for her. I remember how the hairs on the back of my neck would stand on edge; as if electrified; each time she ever even bothered to acknowledge me. It set my heart pounding, my breath hitching, each time her warm, smooth skin would come into contact with mine.

She would laugh me off, of course – perhaps even pound me in the head, if the mood fit her----

---because it was so very easy of me to simply raise my arms and scratch the back of my head, sheepishly; cracking some sort of dirty joke that hardly reflected my emotion towards her.

I had no idea why at the time, but it just seemed so much easier – this unrequited love, thing.

I would ask her out, and she would deny me, and we would carry on our merry way: being completely oblivious, on her half; and forever curious and wondering, on mine.

I guess, in a way, you can say I have relationship issues. Perhaps I'm not ready for commitment.

((Dry laugh))

Wouldn't that be news, huh? The one and only, Uzumaki Naruto – the boy who always forced people together, was too clingy and emotional for his own good, would hold on to friendship until the day he died – afraid of commitment? I forced Uchiha Sasuke to stay with us back here in Konoha – had risked my life to get him back – all because of my strong, faithful friendship with him. Commitment is hardly the issue here.

The issue here is...

I don't know.

I don't know if I'll ever know.

Believe it or not, I'm not a guy with a plan (I know you won't have trouble believing that). I make things up as I go and am completely spontaneous with everything I do – but there is one thing you should know about me. A minor detail that contrasts with everything I have ever said, done, or otherwise:

I am a man of routine.

When something good – or even bad, for that matter – comes along, I prefer to stick to it like religion, instead of exchanging it for something completely foreign. Sure, if the completely foreign thing had been for the better, I'd be all for it – but it'd take time. Awkwardness would best describe the period of change from one medium to another...

...and we all knew (know) how Uzumaki Naruto deals with awkwardness.

He screws it up.

He makes some dumb move, cracks some dumb joke, and, POOF! Just like that, the awkwardness is over.

Of course, at the same time, Uzumaki Naruto doesn't enjoy what he had done. Most times, Uzumaki Naruto is overwhelmed with immediate regret; but his false pride keeps his mouth shut. Sometimes, he even wonders to himself when he is all alone: how would it have been if I hadn't done that?

How would it have been if I had kissed her?

I'm not as stupid as most people might think I am. Believe it.

I know blushing is a sign of discomfort, or even embarrassment. I know those slight brushes she would make against my skin were not done by accident – but were placed there, just to be near me, as I have always wanted to be near her. Her days of denying me were long over; even if she tried not denying me with a gruff air. She would lock eyes on me, and she would not turn away.

It was no longer a matter of unrequited love.

We both had it in for each other, no doubt about it.

So, even now, as I watched my best friend, my crush for thirteen years, rise up upon the alter, her bright, seafoam-green eyes focused completely on another man, I couldn't help but wonder:

How would it have been if I hadn't been so stupid?


Author's Note: Good? Bad? You tell me.