Disclaimer: this manga belongs to Kishi but mostly to SP.
She got out of the room, hands shaking, the paper was in her jacket pocket and it felt heavy just like the weight of her feelings, her head was bowed down while making a bee-line to her office, she entered and placed her hand on the edge of the table, took a deep breath and for a second her mind and vision went blank, she took a moment to process all what've happened.
"What in the hell was she doing? Telling for Naruto about the truth. Was she crazy? This was like adding water to the crumbling mud, and not that! She slept in his room, during her working hours! It was out of her nature to make such stupid mistakes; Sakura immediately took the paper out and threw it in the trashcan.
However her eyes kept fixated on the crumbled piece of paper, it was still readable, if someone were to walk in… She went to the trashcan and took the paper and ripped it into pieces. It might seem crazy but better safe than sorry. She just need to concentrate on going back as friends with Naruto.
She read the clock, there was another hour till her shift ends and Naruto would be discharged tomorrow either in the morning or afternoon, depends on his condition, she knew he hated the hospital breakfast, so if she wants to fix stuff with him, might as well start now.
The head medic changed her into her regular clothes and walked out of the hospital, It was a lovely morning, as everyone would say for such a lovely morning, the fresh air that recharged one's lung with life, the birds' chirping their song, the warm rays of sunlight peaking from the trees that were near the hospital warming her skin and the clear blue sky that was dotted with clouds, the streets were kinda empty, it was 5am people were just starting to wake up.
and that when it hit her; that had to wait another hour because Ichiraku's open at 6am.
"F-for me?" Naruto's eyes were wide open.
"Yes, Naruto-san," the nurse answered and started setting the table.
"From who?" he asked, who would send ramen as a breakfast?
"Sakura-san" she replied, placing the tissues and other stuff on the table, she placed the hot brewing miso ramen on his table, with chopsticks aside,
"Do you want anything else, Naruto-san?"
"Where is Sakura-chan?" he asked, as if it was something vital.
"Sh-she is busy now" Sakura actually told her that he will ask about her, and she should answer with 'busy'.
"Tell her to come here okay" he pleaded.
"Okay I will be sure to inform her" she smiled in assurance at him and left the room.
Naruto split his chopsticks and started to slurp his noodles, after taking two bites of the delicious Ichiraku noodles that sent jolt of energy to his body, suddenly and for the first time in his entire life he dropped his chopsticks, he didn't feel like eating ramen, as if his body didn't accept it, it felt odd; both of his hands rested on the sides of the table, slowly he felt the heaviness on his heart started to accumulate and let out a long sigh. He wasn't feeling well, and it wasn't something physical, it was something emotional, something in his heart.
Why was Sakura acting like this? Bringing him ramen, talking to him through papers, and sleeping next to him in the hospital, why would she smile so dearly after she got out of the Uchiha compound? Why was he feeling so left out, why was he feeling so distant. His little encounter with Sakura made his mind rowdy.
He shook his head, tossing all his thoughts away, he took back his chopsticks and slurped his ramen and relinquished in the spicy sweet flavor of his breakfast, even though it took his two bites to get back to his normal ramen-eating-addict-self.
For the fourth time this day, he called the nurse to ask her about Sakura's whereabouts, and she would answer him the same thing "Sakura-san is busy" Naruto tried to sneak out of the room however the nurses would put him back, as if they knew he will escape… which explained why he couldn't meet her the whole day.
The next day, the day where Naruto will be out of the hell hole, he received another bowl of Ichiraku ramen with a note, he was happy about the breakfast, since lunch and dinner yesterday at the hospital was awful, who eats this food anyway?
He opens the note;
"Meet me at the training grounds after you're out of the hospital.
-Sakura"
Keeping the note in his pocket, he silently ate his ramen, deep thought on his upcoming talk with Sakura-chan, she said she wasn't in love with him, but her actions would appear to erase her confession, the way she smiled after exiting his house, in the academy days, when they got him back, her visits to his house, didn't she want to be with him?
He would remember when he saw her, in the glorious white dress, she looked stunning, all the lingering fatigue in his body dissipated when he found her, yet a pang in his chest remained and it was a hole that slowly expanded, how come things turned out this way? He did everything he can to make her happy, why isn't she happy? But it wasn't about her, as much as he hated it, part of him was happy that she didn't ended with his Uchiha teammate.
Naruto just realized that this was the first time he did more thinking while eating his favorite meal than he ever did.
The whiskered blonde ninja went to his apartment and took and shower and changed into a new set of clothes, heading to the training grounds, it was something was meant to happen anyway, talking to her, they were gonna face each other at some point.
Naruto walked to the training grounds, hands in his pockets, trying not to show any emotions that were occupying his heart, regret, fear and anger.
she was standing by a tree, seeking shelter from the rays of the sun, her face turned to see him the moment she heard his footsteps crushing the grass, but he didn't, he looked at the trees beyond, expecting to hear her say anything, scolding him for being late or asking him about how he is feeling, he patiently waited but all he could hear is her breathe.
Unbeknown to him, she was feeling the same thing, yet her mind was blank as a sheet of white fresh paper; she did not know what to say, now that she called him to meet her, for a moment she forgot the purpose of this meeting.
"So you asked me to come here" Naruto broke the silence, he was looking down at his feet, it was uncomfortable being here, he couldn't deal with any more of this, it hurts much more, talking to her now felt like pushing a three ton metal gate using poor chakra reserve; hurtful and tiring.
There was a silence, Sakura didn't know to initiate this heavy conversation that they were about to have, it was devastating, but she should; she should or this will go on forever, the barrier that was between the will only grow thicker if they didn't face each other.
"Where is the paper?" Naruto asked, his voice was husky and dried of emotion, his cold gaze was directed at her open greens, he squared his shoulders waiting for her response
"I threw it away" she simply confessed, his intense gaze felt like daggers. She looked at anything but him, she felt guilty.
"Why" he asked his tone was filled with sheer curiosity mixed with fear, his voice almost husky.
"I couldn't show it to you, I can't explain everything in one piece of paper, i am sorry." her hands were on her sides, her head shook slightly.
"Okay what do you wanna say?" he replied back, coldly, his tone deprive of sentiments
Sakura felt his cold retort, it only showed how great the pain she had caused to her teammate's heart,
"Naruto I am so sorry, I hurt your feelings, I hurt you, and I made you go through hell and I shouldn't,"
"You know…" Naruto whispered, interrupting her apology, not because he didn't want to hear it, but because he won't have the chance to say his true emotions again to her, so he needed to tell her, actually 99% of him wanted to forgive her, but this 1% suddenly gained more power than the remaining; because she needed to know,
His eyes went back to his feet; his lips quivered upwards, his dark ocean blue eyes filled with soft glow that indicated turmoil of emotion.
"Yeah well you hurt me, and you avoided me the entire day, the nurses kept making excuses, saying that you're busy but it was so obvious" he started, his gaze are slowly looking at the background of the place they're in.
Was he accusing her of avoiding him? did he have the right to? Because last time she checked the one who started this was … She knew she came her to apologies but things has to be clear,
"If we are gonna talk about avoidance, you avoided me too, and not just that, you left the village when we needed you, when Sasuke just settled in, you ran off to a long mission and you never came back until…" she stopped, knowing that she reached this line where she was still in the wrong.
"Why did you runaway? Didn't you love him, weren't we supposed to bring him back together and he's here now, why did you not go to him?" he suddenly started throwing questions like arrows, one by one, right in the dot. He felt like he was walking on eggshell, yet nothing was breaking.
"Because, I do not hold any feelings for him, Naruto." she blurted out, for the second time, or was it the third?
"Then why did you say yes" he didn't wait for a second, this question came on an impulse, another shooting arrow.
"Because of you, you just left like that, it made me so confused, I wanted to see you…" she said, as if she suddenly found the path that connected to her heart and she was able to process her feelings into words.
"See me and then what!" his voice rose at the end of his blurting, his eyes looking at her carefully,
"I just wanted to see because we have unfinished things to deal with" she said what her heart said,
"What was unfinished?" he asked not only her, but it was also primarily for him to answer.
She didn't know actually, her heart didn't give her anything, it was for her mind to answer this time, but what was unfinished that haunted them?
"What is it? All I did was to make you happy, you wanna be with Sasuke? Be with him, perfect! And now you don't want him, what do you want Sakura?" whatever was coming out was managed under no consideration, but it was true, what did she want? His eyes looked at her, as if she is miles away, in the highest mountains and they were separated seven seas.
"I am trying to do my best here," he whispered, his eyes met the ground helplessly.
"Naruto I am sorry" 'this is messed up and its all my fault' this was the only sentence that ranged in her mind.
"And you know what," looking at the background of the place they were in, his voice was croaky, his body felt heavy by the second, recalling memories…
"I thought you were kidnapped or taken away, I couldn't find you," he let a chuckle that died quickly,
"And where were you heading anyway? Were you leaving the village? Sometimes I keep thinking what would've happened if I didn't come back that day," he continued, shrugged at the remainder of the thought, Sakura noticed that he was talking his heart out, this is a new part of Naruto that she never saw, his sorrow and sadness, his deep wound that was caused by her personally.
"All I wanted is to ensure you happiness, but if you don't know what is it that you want then" he stopped, lost in the ending of this sentence, he couldn't see an ending to it in his head.
"You're right, I don't know what I want," she confessed, their eyes met, and for once it was rigid, contact, their eyes locked, whatever unfinished seemed to have a fate in remaining unfinished.
A/N: i missed a week i know, but i had tons of assignments and projects -.- even with the whole The Last antiNS shit, I won't give up on narusaku, they are my babies, I love them so much !
Anyways, I don't care what's canon, i will never give up on any of my stories so if I don't update, BE 100% SURE, that I am either writing or thinking about the next chapter or editing.
this chapter has a cliffhanger and i am AWARE of that, this week is rough for narusaku but believe me this story is a happy ending. i will try to update earlier! please tell me what you think.