Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi…

= I Love You =

By: Durian

Part One

"Ne, did he ignore you again?" asked Naruto.

Sakura looked up at the beautiful clear blue sky and sighed, "Yes he did."

"When will you get over him? It's been 10 years already…" stammered Naruto tensely as he thought about the years he had chased after her.

"I don't know…" muttered Sakura.

"Fine, tell me what you like about him!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sakura stared at Naruto with frozen eyes and her lips stuttered to move, "I…" Her heart raced a little while the rest of her body tensed to find the right answer. She asked herself, 'Why do I like Sasuke? He has always been so cold to me, so cold…' A small tear escaped Sakura's jaded eyes as she thought about how Sasuke had so easily brushed her aside.

"What has he done for you?" asked Naruto insistently and added, "Does he like you? Has he ever said he liked you?"

Sakura clamped her hands to her ears and whimpered, "Shut up!"

Naruto snatched her hands and made her look directly into his warm pools of sea blue eyes. He noticed her tears so he used a finger to brush them away. He whispered softly in her ears, "I have always loved you…" He didn't care what she thought of him but took his chance to embrace her.

Not far nearby Sasuke was looking for a training spot before he noticed some pink hair in the faraway distance. 'Sakura… annoying…' thought Sasuke and wondered if she had waited for him. As he moved a little closer he saw some blond hair, out of curiosity he moved closer to see Sakura in Naruto's arms. He didn't know why but his fists clenched from the sight.

Sasuke ran away to find a different training ground, he could not control his anger as his eyes turned a fiery shade of red. He found a big solid tree and imagined Naruto's image. He began to throw kunais at it but they all missed. His anger controlled his sense of aim as they flew in all directions.

When he had thrown all his kunais, he fell down on his knees. 'Why should I care about them? Sakura means nothing to me!' he thought. He looked at the trees surrounding him and felt the eerie silence haunting him. He was alone and the feeling of isolation scared him. He clutched the grass beneath him and remembered how he thought Sakura was annoying intruding on his training. She was always spying on him from a distant corner…

#

For less than a minute Sakura stayed in Naruto's arms. He slid his hands through her silky pink hair before they rested on her soft cheeks. He leaned closer with his lips reaching slowly towards hers. Sakura's head felt dizzy as she watched his lips protrude to hers. She twisted her neck a little so that Naruto's kiss landed on her cheek.

Naruto moved a step away and asked, "Why?"

"I'm not ready…" she whispered and turned her back to Naruto. She said softly, "I have to go."

Naruto felt a little sad from her rejection but returned to his cheerful state when he thought, 'at least it's an improvement!' He decided to go to his favourite ramen bar to celebrate. When he got their he sat down on his usual bench and was shocked to see Hinata serving bowls of ramen to the customers.

"Hinata what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto-kun hi. I work here, would you like a free ramen?" she asked timidly.

"Really? Yes please," said Naruto.

"Naruto, can we talk during my break?" she asked softly.

"Sure!" replied Naruto as he cracked his chopsticks and waited patiently for his ramen to come.

When Naruto had slurped down his last strand of noodles he watched Hinata taking off her apron. He remembered that she wanted a little talk so he stood up and followed her outside. He watched her twirling her fingers and looking at the ground. For all these years Naruto had been so dense that he didn't feel her one-sided love for him.

It was also because of the fact that Hinata had always been shy on words. She stopped walking abruptly and turned to face Naruto directly with her opaque white eyes. She took up all her courage and blurted out, "I love you, I have always loved you… Naruto-kun."

The words repeated twice in Naruto's ears as he tried to work things out. Hinata likes him but he doesn't like her in that way. He didn't want to break her heart but thought it was the best to tell her the truth, "I don't like you in that way. I'm sorry."

As soon as Hinata heard this she took off with great speed. Tears were streaming down her eyes but Naruto never noticed them. He was always too busy thinking of Sakura, he watched the last blur of Hinata disappear and decided to find Sakura.

#

Hinata ran and ran blindly with tears stinging her eyes. She was so condemned in her rejection that she did not realize a dog barking at her. She ran straight towards it and nearly tripped over it if Kiba had not caught her. He clung onto her hand and demanded, "What is wrong with you? Why are you crying?"

Hinata refused to answer but continued to stare at the ground. Kiba took the hint and demanded, "Is it because of him? I know it is, don't lie!" Hinata raised her head a little and nodded. Kiba snatched Hinata roughly into his arms and gave her some moral support.

"I'll get him for you," he muttered and added, "I'll make him pay for making you wait all these years!"

Hinata shook her head, "You can never own someone who does not love you. I have known you liked me for all these years but I can never return that love."

The words pierced Kiba's heart as his hands fell off of Hinata's shoulder. He stared at her with hurtful eyes and spoke freely, "Don't I deserve a chance? Has Naruto ever given you a chance?"

"No…" she whispered and left him standing with his dog.

Kiba sighed, "Looks like it's me and you, Akamaru." He brushed his dog's hair and commented, "Good boy, at least you never say no."

#

Naruto was thinking about Sakura all day and night. He couldn't sleep so he decided to go to his favourite creek to catch some fireflies. It took him an hour or more to catch a jarful. He was going to surprise Sakura at her house but before he got there, he heard some noises. He saw Sakura and Sasuke under the moonlight.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke took a deep breath, he looked at Sakura then to the ground and finally back to her, "I… I… I love you," he said quickly.

"Really?" asked Sakura again.

"Yes…" said Sasuke as he held her in his arms. 'If Naruto can do this, I can do this,' he thought.

Sakura felt really cold in his arms and even colder when a breeze of wind blew past. She couldn't think straight but her mind began to conjure images of Naruto. She remembered the one who ate ramen with her and told her funny stories when she was down. Images of the one who took her shopping, gamboling and playing replayed in her mind. She tried to search for recollections of Sasuke but their was none.

Suddenly her thoughts were intruded as a glass jar broke into pieces on the ground. The green glowing fireflies were set free as they fluttered into the night sky. It was no longer dark as the insects provided them light. It was a beautiful sight but Naruto was not there. He had ran off and thought his chance was probably gone.

Footsteps followed him deeper into the woods before two arms wrapped around him from the back. Naruto stopped running abruptly; he recognized the scent of the person. Sakura! "Don't move," she panted. After a minute she regained her breath and whispered very softly, "I never knew before but now I know I love you…"

The End

Durian: Hi, if you liked the story then you can give me some durians. If not you can throw some at me but I won't be there to catch them… XD Hmm... Please review.

P.S Want to see the other characters say 'I love you?'