A/N: Ok so, here is my new story. Sorry it's taken me so long. School is brutal, no joke. I've now got college decisions creeping up on me. So sorry. Anyway, I am slowly but surely working on my stories. But updates will be slower, guaranteed. Nevertheless, enjoy you healthy dose of Saku-ness!
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The Sweetest Joy Is You
"When you are in Love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams." –unknown
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Team 7… how to describe team 7? They were close weren't they? I mean, after how many years of training, sharing meals, swapping stories over fires, humoring one another, and most of all, always being defending your teammates, did it take for a team to get close? And they were close. They were family in almost every regard. Like every team, right?
Wrong. Team 7 was... so closely knit, it put every other team to shame.
Sakura knew that they were inseparable.
So…how…why? Why did Sasuke leave? He had been gone a while now, but, the pain in her heart had yet to dissipate. She had loved him with everything she had. At one point she could've argued her heart beat because of Sasuke. Every time he'd catch her eye, and every time he sat by her. And especially every time he saved her.
Don't get Sakura wrong. She was no damsel in distress. But he always saved her if she ever came close. He was her knight in shining, black armor.
Now, Sasuke was painful memory and a heartache.
And yet she hated herself for being so softhearted. She hated herself for loving him.
Upon that moment, it was then when Sakura knew – that it had to stop. That loving Sasuke was pointless. Because he was never coming back. She'd never see him again.
This dedication to mending a broken heart was only half a year ago. Not terribly long at all.
The Sakura half a year later would love to say she was healed up.
She would never admit it to herself that she wasn't.
A stage of denial of the love she had once was where she laid currently.
Unfortunately, her teammates, being so close to her, were already quite of aware of Sakura's love dilemma.
To say the least, they were thrilled to find out she was trying to recover. It was her struggle that bothered them though.
For Naruto, having a friend turn traitor was painful enough. But how does one deal with that pain on top of knowing the girl you've loved since childhood is still hung up about your best friend? It's really not all that pleasant of a feeling.
It was not only just him that mourned the situation regarding Sakura's heart.
Kakashi had always known Sasuke would never go for Sakura. His desire for revenge was to greatly present than to allow love the chance to blossom. He was actually quite grateful for that too.
Moving forward, it was no mystery to anyone on team 7, aside from Sakura, that knew of the seniors of the team's love for Sakura.
Kakashi and Yamato.
For Kakashi, he had no idea when it started. Maybe once he realized Sakura was starting to blossom as a ninja and as a mature adult. Once Sasuke left, she had started training with the Godaime. All while trying to overcome an unrequited love of her childhood.
Yamato admired her for that. To him, Sakura was one of the strongest people he had ever met, and he loved her for it.
Yet, any love they could've shown her, any future they could've provided her, was dashed; because both were 26, while Sakura was only 16. A difference that large makes any one hesitate, I suppose.
The same couldn't be said for other shinobi looking to court Sakura, however.
A growing issue by the hour it seemed, with not only Sai and Naruto fawning over her, but Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru also.
Yamato could remember an incident as if it had only happened earlier that same day.
He had just sat down on a stool from the ramen bar, adjacent to Naruto and Sai on the other side, Kakashi was late of course.
Which was not surprising.
He let his eyes gaze into the murky soup, his mind wandering far off.
Pink hair and a brilliant smile made its way into his mind.
Gosh he loved her. He really did.
Why was it every time his heartbeat, he could've sworn it was all due to her?
He was a loveless fool though, in his opinion.
She was much too young for him though, at least it wouldn't be accepted socially. Onlookers might sneer.
He wouldn't care if they sneered at him, but putting his Sakura through that rejection was not an option. She meant too much to him.
He was so entranced by his fantasies; Yamato hadn't even notice Kakashi sit down to eat.
He did notice though, when a certain pale eyed Hyuuga came into the bar with the love of his life a little too close to him for his liking…
Damn Hyuuga…
Love could be a dangerous thing if one wasn't careful…
Sakura meanwhile, was oblivious to all this attention of course. For a girl as smart as she was, it never crossed her mind that love was in the air.
She thought it a bit strange when they would block her from being seen in front of a large group of oncoming males, though.
She realized some men were dogs and she grew indifferent to whistling in her direction. Why did they need to form a wall? Speaking of protective, Naruto was one of the worst.
Sakura knew Naruto liked her, possibly loved her. She was aware of that much however.
Naruto made it clear he had feelings for her. He could be quite touchy with her to if he wanted, much to the rest of team 7's displeasure.
All in all, the scenario was that of a confusing love sun. And the reason I say sun, is because all the men have fallen in love with one girl. Six different men all have eyes for the centerpiece, Sakura Haruno.
But for Sakura Haruno, her foremost challenge was getting Sasuke back as a part of team 7, and having a platonic relationship between him and her. If things were platonic, things would be back to normal. She was going to try and overcome this old heartbreak.
And after sharing her personal goal with Naruto when he, and he often did, mysteriously ended up at her house unannounced, he completely agreed with her. Naruto supported her fully, and for that Sakura rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek. (His face was akin to that of a tomato afterwards)
Team 7 was going to do their part too. After all Naruto promised her that he would bring Sasuke back. A promise is a promise, after all.
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They had been gone a long time. A long time, meaning 2 years.
Sakura was 18 now, close to 19. And yet, they still hadn't come home.
She was beginning to doubt they would ever come back. Did they forget about her? Did they even miss her?
She could only hope so at this point.
Vaguely she had wondered if they found Sasuke and just ditched her.
That was not a pleasing thought.
No, they would come back.
There would be a lot to catchup on of course.
Sakura couldn't wait till she could see their faces once she told them!
Or maybe they already knew? Well, whatever the case may be, the rankings had been changed in the top medics of the world.
Guess who was number one?
Oh yes, the one and only.
Besides her elevated status, Sakura had also gone to live in Suna for a year and a half.
Shikamaru had cracked down and gone to see her a year through her stay, which was so unlike him.
Temari had mentioned it was because he was smitten with her, but Sakura was in denial of that of course.
She and Shikamaru were friends, nothing more.
He would never want to date her!
Neji had shown up one day as well, grabbing Shikamaru by the neck of his shirt and tossing him down a flight of stairs.
Ah yes, her two best friends. They were surprisingly softhearted when it came to her. She loved how she was the only girl, aside from their teammates, that they opened up to. And she could do what none of their female teammates do too, make them blush!
She was quite proud of the fact.
It had happened one day, when they got together at Shikamaru's house to play shoji. It just so happened that she decided to wear a shorter skirt. Why not, it was her day off? She thought she looked good in it too.
What the general population and all the ninja world didn't know about those two, was that wearing a skirt that short while playing a game that was supposed to require concentration, made them very distractible.
Let's just leave it at their eyes were not on the board during that game.
She still laughed every time she thought about it. Oh, maybe she should try that on Gaara! If she made, Neji crack, then maybe Gaara isn't as icy as he appears to be.
Back to where we were. Yes, Sakura had stayed with Gaara and is siblings in Suna. While there, she had grown extremely close to the Kazekage. Tsunade had even jokingly proposed a marriage.
When she thought about it, Sakura wouldn't have minded marrying Gaara. She knew he would keep her happy, and cherish her as a wife, most certainly.
But marriage at this age? Not a chance.
Besides, she was happy being single for now.
A baritone voice broke her thoughts. "Good morning Sakura chan."
She turned around to see a handsomely sharp-looking Hyuuga Neji.
To most of the female population, Neji embodied class. He oozed it with his high class heritage.
"Hello Neji kun!" She smiled brightly. Honestly, Neji's heart couldn't help but do a somersault. He cherished her entire being. It was almost pathtic. And deep down he realized that, admitting his defeat to love though was not in his vocabulary.
"How are y-" A big puff of smoke exploded and out appeared a Shikamaru Nara.
What great timing. Damn strategy genius.
"Sakura chan," he said a little too happily for Neji.
Lazily, he swung an arm around her shoulders and announced, "So…Tsunade has a mission for all of us."
"Why don't you release Sakura, Nara."
"Too troublesome. My arm is already comfortable."
"Well I'll rip it off then…" Neji muttered.
The thing that bothered him was not only Shikamaru's behavior, but it was the fact that he was so damn informal with his the apple of his eye. Sakura deserved to be put on the highest pedestal possible. She was an amazing person.
But the real reason that ticked him off the most was the excessive amount of physical contact Shikamaru threw in on top of that. That right was reserved for him only. That would be his future wife after all.
He already decided.
They all headed off towards the tower, a new mission awaited them.
Somehow, Neji couldn't wait for this mission. He had a feeling things were going to get interesting. Whether it is for the worst or not.
Besides, the best part was the fact that this pink haired beauty next to him was going to be going with him.
That was all he cared about.
He suppressed the urge to grab her hand with his and caress it.
Gosh how he loved her.
He was a gentleman though. He had control unlike some lazy shinobi on the other side of Sakura.
He mentally sighed. Yes, this would be interesting.
What all of them didn't realize as they entered the office of the hokage, was that such a precise premonition was spot on.
New perils were to be faced, and more feelings were to be explored.
Oh yes, interesting indeed.
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A/N: This was a short intro to the story. It just covers the background leading into the good stuff. I will be adding a lot more characters and romance. I hope it is decent. Tell me what you think? Good so far? REVIEW!
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