"I'm ready to leave," Soft liquor-coated lips brush against his ear.

The novelty of their proximity leaves him uneasy. He's wanted this for so long, but having been denied it too often to count, he doesn't know how to react.

"I'll walk you back," Naruto offers. Goodwill mixed with selfishness prompts his actions; the latter being that he isn't ready for the night to end.

Casually Sakura slips her hand into his. Her seemingly tender actions are effortless and without hesitation, as if it's part of their daily repertoire. She takes the lead as they squeeze their way out of the bustling bar.

In silence, they walk under the hazy glow of the street lamps lining the campus park that leads them to Sakura's on-campus housing. The gentle but chilly winter breeze slowly starts to rob him of his inebriation. Yet, he doesn't descend from his liquor induced high. He blames this on his lovely companion.

As they near the dimly lit student apartments, Naruto desperately attempts to conjure up reasons to extend their time together. He's almost certain that this is a one-time opportunity. His mind stutters. It's way past midnight and it's freezing outside. The idea of asking her to come back to his place is tempting. His reasons are solely to bask in the enjoyment of her company, but he is certain it won't be interpreted that way and this mini-fairy tale would come to an end.

At the entrance of the lobby, when he realizes he has no choice but to say his farewells, she turns to face him but doesn't make eye contact. Bowing her head in a manner atypical to her confident demeanor, she quietly asks, "Do you want to come up?"

Seconds pass and his mouth remains shut. He is too stunned to pinch himself awake from this dream. Maybe he fell asleep at the bar and this was one of the many dreams he had about the pink-haired beauty.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Sakura's soft voice brings him back to the present.

"Yeah," He answers dumbly, still trying to comprehend if he heard her correctly.

Naruto smiles sheepishly as he mumbles, "Sorry, just a little tipsy. What did you say?"

Before answering, Sakura retrieves a white, rectangular card from her coat. She swipes it against a digital box, which is followed by a low beep that signals the unlocking of the lobby door. Naruto responds quickly and swings opens the door for her. She pauses at the threshold and asks again, this time with more assertion, "Do you want to come up?"

He didn't imagine the invitation.

"If you're not tired," He responds nonchalantly, as his heart hammers in his chest.

The short ride in the elevator to the fourth floor is quiet, as was their walk to the dorm, and now their walk to the end of a long hallway where her apartment is situated.

Sakura's one bedroom apartment is exactly how he imagined it to be, from the pink feminine decorations to the clean, floral scent wafting through the small, cozy space. He feels privileged to be offered this opportunity.

He follows her to the futon, where he sits a respectable distance away from her. Sakura turns on the TV to a random foreign movie. Naruto doesn't really pay attention to the plot; he is more focused on what he should say and how he should act. By now the liquor has completely dissipated from his system.

"I didn't expect you to be this shy?" Sakura mentions from her side of the couch, knees tucked under her thighs.

"Huh? What do you mean?" No one has ever associated Naruto with shyness.

"You're always going on and on about how much you want me, and now we are fully alone and you're holed up in your corner like a blushing bride." Sakura shifts around so that she is no longer facing the TV but is staring directly at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes lower as Sakura's short black dress rides up from the movement, revealing more of her smooth, toned legs.

His eyes remained glued as she slightly parts her leg to expose black, laced underwear.

"I don't want to end up with broken bones," Naruto gulps in between shallow breaths as she parts her legs even further.

"Is that what you really think of me? Just a monstrous beast."

"You're too pretty to be a beast," Naruto quickly corrects and begins to edge forward.

Sakura unfolds her legs and begins to settle on her back as Naruto hovers over her. He traces his hands up her thighs, savoring the smooth texture of her skin.

"Is that what everyone thinks of me?" He doesn't want to believe that she is still thinking of "everyone" even in this intimate moment. She isn't someone who is concerned with the public's opinion. She only cares about one moron. He lowers down and presses his lips to hers to silence the cry of jealousy that threatens to break free.

Sakura tastes like her namesake, sweet but with a hint of bitterness from the alcohol. She moans into his mouth when he hitches up her dress and pressed his clothed hardness against her.

Her arms encircle his waist as she pulls him in to deepen the friction. His mouth moves from hers and slowly climbs down to her neck and then to her chest. She helps him by raising her hands as he tugs the dress off.

Her breasts aren't as small as he expected them to be. They are sizable enough to fill his palms. He flicks this tongue over the nipples that are as pink and delicate as her cotton candy-coloured hair.

She combs her hands through his unruly hair as he lavishes her breasts with his mouth. He feels her nudging him lower.

He has no experience satisfying a woman with his mouth, nor has he had the desire to. But for Sakura, he is willing to do anything to make her happy.

She raises her hips to help him remove the laced undergarments.

Experimentally and somewhat hesitantly, he begins by flicking his tongue over her clitoral hood. He moves to kissing her labia but steers clear of the vaginal opening and the secretions quickly drenching the fabric of the futon.

In a somewhat exasperated tone, Sakura questions, "Have you done this before?"

Naruto shakes his head a bit embarrassed by his inexperience.

"Focus your attention here," She forces his face to the center of her opening and tugs on his hair to move his tongue to her clit, then down to her opening. Face drenched in her juices, he does as he was physically instructed.

"Mmmm," she moans out.

Her strong thighs clamp around his head when he brings her to an orgasm.

She's exquisite and pliable in her post-orgasmic high. She doesn't resist when he brings her onto his lap. He fondles her breast with his left hand, as his right hand works on pulling down his boxers and jeans.

He shifts her up and nudges his neglected cock toward her entrance.

Emerald eyes widen as she pushes against his chest, "What the fuck are you doing?"

Regretfully and guiltily, he tells her, "Sorry, I don't have any condoms. But it's okay, I'm clean. Never been with any-"

She flips her leg over and slips over to the other side of the couch, in an almost defensive manner, "It's not about condoms, Naruto. Why would you think we were going to have sex?"

He assumes he wasn't able to mask his uneasiness and hurt, because her face softens when she finally looks his way.

"You know that I am saving myself for marriage. I have told you that so many times."

It's a blatant lie. He's seen proof against this claim. The discovery came during the final year of high-school, while scrolling through Sasuke's phone to send some group shots from a birthday party to his phone. After he sent a few pics to his phone, he decided to check out if he and Sasuke had recorded any memorable videos from the event. This is when he accidentally came across a video of Sakura sucking and fucking Sasuke.

For fifteen minutes he agonizingly kept his eyes glued to the screen as we watched each and every moment of the video. His hand tightened into fist as Sasuke shoved Sakura deep onto his erection which left her gagging. His stomach heaved as his best friend then fucked her aggressively from behind.

After the video was over, Naruto forced himself not to barge into Itachi's room and beat sense and feelings into Sasuke. When Sasuke eventually returned to his bedroom, several minutes and none the wiser, he was quick to question the sudden pale complexion of his overly-tanned friend. Naruto brushed it off as food poisoning and quickly excused himself to head home.

The video left Naruto with a sour taste of jealousy. This feeling wasn't new to him. He wasn't blind. He knew Sakura was obsessed with his best friend, probably only tolerated him because of the close association. But it didn't matter because he couldn't control who he liked and who he was attracted to. Sakura was the first girl who he befriended, when others were unaware of his existence. His heart belonged to her from the day he entered into the precarious and nerve wrecking phase of adolescence.

Naruto would have found it in his heart to accept and one day even celebrate the relationship of the two people most close to him, if only Sasuke was appreciative of the gift Sakura's love, which she so easily offered. But his best friend treated Sakura with cold indifference.

Sakura deserved better. Sasuke should be singing her praises to anyone who would listen. That's what Naruto would have done if given the chance.

The startling discovery of the video led to a rift between friends. Naruto began making excuses as to why he couldn't hang out or study together anymore. Eventually Sasuke stopped asking and by the end of the school year, they hadn't seen each other outside of school for months.

Smoking a spliff with Shikamaru in the parking lot, during the night of their prom, Naruto's anger came to a head when he saw a teary-eyed Sakura rushing toward an uber.

Naruto watched in dismay as her eyes darted toward the entrance of the hall. Coolly, Sasuke was seen walking over to the parked vehicle.

They spoke quietly for a few seconds, until Sasuke signaled the driver to leave.

Before the car pulled off, both Shikamaru and Naruto heard a pitiful cry from Sakura, followed by yelling out and accusations that Sasuke was "a heartless bastard."

That's all that it took for Naruto to stomp over and pummel his ex best friend into the asphalt.

He didn't need to hear Sasuke's side of the story, he had already pieced together the breakdown in his mind. Sasuke had once again failed to reciprocate Sakura's feelings.

Not being one to take things lying down, Sasuke retaliated and at the end of the night both were bloodied and bruised. Finally, Shikamaru overcame his surprise and called for help to pry them apart.

Summer turned to Autumn, and most of the students at Konoha High decided to attend the same university in Tokyo.

During their first semester, Sakura began dating an art student named Sai. Sai eventually hooked up with Sakura's best friend, Ino. Mid-semester, the two girls end up in a heated argument outside the university bar. Knowing their history of physical confrontations, Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru decided to intervene by pulling them apart. Ino was led away by Sai, and Shikamaru unwillingly escorted a belligerent Sakura back to her dorm.

Sasuke and Naruto easily found themselves chuckling as they reminisced about a similar event just months prior. Naruto learned for the first time that Sasuke had to get stitches just under his eye probably from the first punch Naruto threw. Sasuke found out that Naruto nearly lost his tuition grant, but their teacher, Iruka, begged the principal not to report the matter to the authorities (though the Uchiha's name was never brought up in this discussion).

Reminiscing and being around each other helped with repairing small components of their friendship, but there were and still are broken pieces.

In the present, in Sakura's apartment, he can't help but to remember the past, and with it comes the jealousy of being set aside for Sasuke.

Having slipped back into her dress, Sakura places her hand on Naruto's thighs and draws enticing circles with her manicured palms.

"We can't have sex, but I can help you in other ways."

Immediately he pictures her lips around his cock. He nods his head a little too enthusiastically.

She strokes his semi-hard penis back to rigidity. Her hands are soft, but dry and he winces at the grating friction. But the thought of her sucking him off keeps the flow of blood pumping into that area.

His fantasy never materializes. He realizes this a little too late and only when the area is beginning to chafe. He considers voicing his desires, but fear of rejection keeps him muted.

An electronic ping echoes through the living room.

Sakura switches to stroking him with her left hand, while she uses the right to check the incoming notification. From where he is seated, he sees that the message is from Ino. Sakura doesn't hide the disappointment on her face.

He knows her well enough to know why she is disappointed and the identity of the person who she was anticipating the text to be from.

He immediately softens in her hands.

"You're not into it anymore?" She asks as he dresses himself.

"Just tired," he lies.

He's reduced to feeling used. His confidence and sense of masculinity plummets.

Not wanting to show physical weakness, he decides to leave.

"You're leaving?" Sakura asks as he bends down to slip on his boots.

"Yeah."

"But it's late and cold outside. Just spend the night." Her smile is genuine and it gives him hope again.

"You sure?" He asks, still apprehensive.

"Of course," She stands up from her seated position on the couch. Leaning forward, she calls him over, "here help me get this down."

Naruto helps her lower the back of the futon so that it turns into a makeshift bed, "You can sleep here."

He watches her in disbelief. He's too tired to hide his true feelings.

"My bed is tiny. We both can't fit on it. You'll sleep better here," she gives as her reasoning for the separate sleeping arrangements.

"Right." What else can he say at this point? He simply accepts what she offers.

After she has slipped into her room and shut the door, he bundles himself under a blanket that barely covers his lower body and stares at the ceiling.

He hates this feeling of dejection that makes him feel low – undeserving of love and affection. He knows that he shouldn't allow one person so much control over his state of mind. And he has no one to blame but himself. Sakura is always honest about her feelings and what she wants, brutally at times. He is the one with impossible expectations. He is the one reaching for something unattainable. Love wasn't meant for guys like him.

Good guys always finish last.


Experimented a bit with switching the gender roles in this fic a bit. Don't want this story to convey sexism or misandry. Would love to know if you guys found this scene interesting (even though it is of a pairing most of us aren't fond of).