I don't own Naruto. What if this were to actually happen to Sakura?
Forever With Me
"Sakura, come here," Naruto said, motioning to her. "I need to give you something."
"Okay," Sakura said. "What is it?"
Naruto suddenly grabbed her shoulders and kissed her, hard. She kissed him back. It was like being set free from something, but she couldn't figure it out.
Naruto pulled back for a moment. "Marry me, Sakura."
Only then did it hit her how confused she was, and she remembered.
She remembered as a younger girl, she had wanted her first kiss to be from Sasuke. She had wanted him to love her and want her.
But then as she grew a little older, and she became part of Team Kakashi, she began to wonder what she had ever really seen in him. Certainly, there was something in Naruto that she was attracted to. But Sasuke? He had always been so cold and hard towards her; towards everyone. So she thought her feelings for him were just something she wanted to be true.
But now, she didn't know.
There was some part of her heart that had always been inscribed with Sasuke's name, even after she realized how much she loved Naruto. She had thought it would fade after a while, but it hadn't. It never had, even after so many years. What was it that made that part of her still reserved for no one but him?
So her love for him wasn't an illusion. It was real. But even though she now knew some fraction of her, however tiny, would always love Sasuke, she didn't know why. Now she could feel it. The torment her heart was going through.
Was this what he had wanted her to feel? Or was it just how he was? Was he really that cold?
"Sakura?" Naruto's voice interrupted her swirling thoughts.
She took a deep breath. She knew this would be hard. "I can't, Naruto." She looked down, knowing she couldn't look him in the eye.
"What...why not?"
"Because...I can never love only you, completely."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Sasuke, Naruto." Now she looked at him, straight in the face. "Part of me...however small...will always be...for him. I'm so sorry."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. It scared her. "What do you mean, 'it will always be for him'? He's gone, Sakura, forever. Out of our lives. He hates you." He had hissed it, and his eyes flashed red, like the fox inside him.
"That's why I want to say yes, but I know I can't. Because it would hurt you, too, knowing that...that...that I still loved him, even though I had committed myself to you. I love you too much to do that to you." She was whispering, almost impossible to hear.
His gaze softened. "Sakura..."
"Please understand." She felt the tears come now.
He nodded. "I understand." Then, he pivoted on his heal, and walked away. She waited for him to leave before she began to sob helplessly.
"Why did you do this to me, Sasuke? Why did you have to ruin my chance for happiness, with anyone? Why? What did I ever do to you?" She knelt on the ground, her hands full of dirt from grasping the earth. She felt the anger flash in her, the want to kill him, the want for revenge. But then, her own heart cried out in warning, as well.
She knew it now, and stood, letting the cold breeze blow through her, and looking off into the dark mountains ahead, feeling the night air envelope her thin form.
This was how she would live. Tormented. Torn between the two people she loved most, unable to commit to either one. Wanting to stop loving one of them, but unable to. So desperate and alone. So sick inside, wanting to scream, wanting to curse him, Sasuke, for everything he'd done to hurt her so much. He had seemed to do it so effortlessly. Like she didn't matter at all to him.
Am I really that low to you, Sasuke? Do I really mean that little?
She would find him, and hurt him. Take away everything he had, and every chance he had of getting what he wanted. She would leave him helpless, crying out for her, pleading, stretching out his hand. But she would not help him. Never. She would go after him with the intent of killing him, but save him the pain of the last blow. She would make him suffer as much as he had made her. She would kill him on the inside, as only the last embers of life were already fading inside her. Only the shell would be left. And she would make sure that shell had nothing to pursue, not even her. She would be too strong for him, to be sure. She would take away his strength.
Or she would kill herself. But no, that was weakness in his eyes, she knew. She would live on, and if he did come after her, she would beat him with ease, barely having to move a finger. She would show him true strength.
She remembered the time he had once told her that solitude was painful. Oh, yes, Sasuke, how painful it is. But not only was it painful, but it was useful. It supplied wisdom. She wondered if he knew how much he could gain from it. But she didn't care. Because she would use it before he did. She wouldn't let him have a single opportunity to strike her again. She would be the winner this time. She would be the one to hurt. But not to kill. Her heart didn't have the strength. That was the only thing she could never have that he did. That would be her only weakness. He had given her almost all her strength, but also the only thing that held her back.
Because his handprint was still on her heart, and always would be.
A/N: Thinking about making a story kind of based on this. Not sure. Please R&R! Flames are actually very welcome this time, as long as they're not too derogatory. You know, constructive criticism, preferably. Thanks!