Change

Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto.


Prompt; An untamed flame.


Yagura didn't know what happened. One minute, Sakura was this annoying little girl, who insisted on seeking him out every time he visited her village, in order to interact with. The next, she turned into an annoying woman, that irked him for an entirely different reason.

He fancied her.

The rosette had matured into a fine woman, with long petal pink hair, glowing green eyes, curves, and an independence, that only made Yagura want to protect her more. She still had traces of the 12 year old girl he had met, when it came to teasing him about how she was taller and that he only got cuter with age. But now when she touched him, it was not just a mere warm feeling of acceptance, it was a burning flame that could not seem to be extinguished, until he did something about it.

The problem was, he didn't want to.

He didn't want things to change between them in risk of losing what they had spent years building. In the beginning, remaining in contact had been impossible, do to his job responsibilities and the fact that she was still to young and inexperienced to leave her village for lengthy periods of time. So, the wrote letters to each other, in between the time periods they could not meet.

Sakura had told him all about her team and their antics, he didn't particularly care for her commenting on how cool other guys were, but still read all the letters from top to bottom. She talked about meeting Tsunade and how amazing she was, that had Yagura nodding in approval, when he learned that the Slug-hime took her on as a student. Tsunade was known for her strength and healing capabilities, Sakura being able to protect and heal herself, put him more at ease. She also told of the substitutes, that were temporarily placed on her team, when the Uchiha was learning his family business and when the copy-cat ninja, had injured himself for a long period of time. And finally he heard about her best friend, since childhood, as well as her parents.

During the decade of which he had known her, Yagura was only able to meet with Sakura a hand full of times for only a few hours of the limited days he would be in Konoha. The last time he had seen her, was when she was 19 and had recently been promoted to jounin. She was as bright and bubbly as always, with a tad more maturity, than her 16 year old self.

However, when he had seen her several days ago, she clearly was different. Her whole persona gave off a mature and, dare he say, sexy vibe, that had left him momentarily stunned. She had greeted him the same as always, with a hug, but with this one, he could really feel how much she had changed over the years. Where as before, she could meld her whole body to his, she now toward over him by half a foot and had two mounds that blocked her stomach from making contact with his, unless she added more force. Not to mention, instead of a huge grin, she gave a soft smile, that made him feel like a preteen again.

Sakura had blossomed into a beautiful woman, both inside and out, and Yagura was attracted to her.

Upon this realization, he had cursed himself repeatedly. He tried to deny his feelings, but when in her company, that proved impossible. So, he had taken to avoiding her, as much as possible. He knew she would figure out something was up, if they continued to spend time together and as much as he hated being away from her, losing her completely would devastate him.

So with a heavy heart, Yagura was currently lying on a hill, near the outskirts of Konoha. The sun was slowly setting and he had closed his eyes, just listening to the wind around him.

Until barely audible footsteps, alerted him of an approaching figure.

The warmth of the sun was gone, as a shadow covered his upper form.

" Are you mad?" the sweet voice questioned. There was no anger, upon finding him alone doing nothing, when he could be spending time with her, just curiosity.

Without opening his eyes, he replied." No."

" Then why do you refuse to be around me?"

" Because..." he struggled for a moment, before coming up with a safe answer." you're different."

" Oh?"

" You're not the same innocent little girl anymore."

" No, I'm not. But, you've also changed as well."

Yagura opened his eyes and looked to his left, Sakura had decided to lay down at the opposite end, to where only her head was visible, from his laxed position.

" How so?"

" You're more talkative, than when we first met, you express interest in what we do, instead of just having me decide, and you smile more." Yagura said nothing, so Sakura spoke again.

" Do you not like change?"

Contemplating her question for a moment, Yagura sighed before answering." Change is good, but it can lead to unexpected things."

" What kind of things?"

He closed his eyes again, not willing to answer.

Sakura rolled onto her stomach and raised herself onto her hands and knees, so that her head was directly above Yagura's.

" Yesterday, a person, who I had been crazy about in my childhood days, asked me to be his girlfriend."

Fuchsia eyes snapped open to meet emerald.

" I turned him down."

" Why?" that simple word, felt like the most complex thing in the world.

" Because things had changed." she said smiling." As you said, I'm different now. My feelings no longer lie with him, but with someone else."

Sakura's eyes burn with an intensity, that matched his own. Yagura knew and he slowly reached up to cup her cheek.

" Me..."

" You."

The flame sparked again, but this time, Yagura knew he could tame it.


Sort of a sequel to the first chapter. I wanted to update this, but didn't know what to write for some time.

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading.