"I can't stand people who lie to themselves."

Sakura's eyes widen at Naruto's decleration. She realizes then that Naruto is no longer the dense 12 year old she met when they first formed team seven. As she realizes her mistake she tries to calm her guilt that is slowly trying to consume her. She comes to the conclusion that it wasn't only Naruto she was trying to fool but she was also trying to convince herself of the words that came out of her mouth, but she also atones that they weren't all lies but more like half-truths. Sakura bites her lip in anguish and forces herself to look away from Naruto's probing eyes. She feels like she has betrayed him in some way.

She hears him let out a sigh before she feels his hands on her shoulders, firm yet gentle, "Sakura-"

She stops him, "Naruto" She looks off to the distance where she sees the snow coming down in gentle waves. The view is serene, beautiful. The contrast of the white snow make Sakura feel tainted against something so pure, "Naruto I…wasn't lying." There's sadness in her voice, but for the first time since the conversation had started Sakura didn't have a smile, she was serious.

"Sakura-"

"No naruto let me finish," She looks at him, he sees determination, the way she furrows her brow in concentration and the way she has her mouth set in a firm line and her eyes bright, lid up with confidence and determination make him remember why he had fallen in love with her in the first place. "I love Sasuke, I have always loved Sasuke," She looks towards the snow again, "But the Sasuke I loved is dead." Naruto's eyes dim and he feels sorry for the dark look that flashes through Sakura's face before it turns into one of empty indifference, "I can't do this anymore, it hurts too much," she looks at him then, her eyes filled with worry, worry for him, "you can't keep doing this."

"Sakura I-"

She shakes her head, her pink locks tossing left to right, "Listen please." She looks up at him in a pleading sort of manner, "please" a faint whisper that he barely manages to hear and it brakes his heart to hear her sound so defeated. He can't speak, his voice is stuck in his throat and he only nods to let her know he is listening.

She takes a deep shaky breath and turns her body away from Naruto. Naruto is able to look at Sakura's profile and notices the distant faded look in her eyes and he wants to reach out and console her, but he gives her space, she is trying to be strong. She does not look at him when she speaks, "I will not deny my love for Sasuke, but I will no longer chase a ghost." Her voice was stern and Naruto knew she would keep her word, and it killed him to think Sakura had given up on their third teammate. "At first it was hard to except Naruto, but as time went by the pain got easier to deal with,…you made it easier to deal with." She looks at him then and he sees for the first time what he's been wanting to see for such a long time and it takes he's breath away. There she was, Sakura, the girl he has been in loved with since childhood, looking at him the same way she would look at Sasuke. He can't speak or think and he finds himself overwhelmed with emotion, he feels his eyes starting to shimmer.

She walks toward him and places a gentle hand on his cheek and brushes away a small tear that he didn't notice he had shed, "I don't know when it happen, but sometime after Sasuke left I realized how precious you are to me. When you came back from training I found myself liking you. As time went by I realized I had formed a crush for you." She smiles at him and traces his jaw with one of her slender fingers. "You mean everything to me now and I owe you so much," she goes down the length of his arm and intertwines both their hands, "You, Naruto-kun, can make me forget about Sasuke," he freezes and feels his body run out of air as he feels himself being pulled into an intimate hug. He shudders as he feels her whisper into his ear, "can you do that for me Na-ru-to kun, can you make me forget?"

He doesn't know what to say, he is so confused and feeling her tiny slim body being pressed up against his large bigger frame is making him unable to concentrate, "Sakura-" he's shock to find his voice sounding so dry.

She squeezes him reassuringly and looks up at him, noses touching, "We can do this Naruto." She slowly, tentavily, kisses him on the lips, freezing Naruto on the spot before he too starts to kiss her back.

From afar their lone teacher watches them with worry. He knows Sakura and he knows Naruto and he wonders whether he is making a mistake by not stopping the current event that has just taking place. He wonders whether this would come back to hunt all of them, as he looks at their students in a still intimate embrace he wonders whether anyone would live to regret this.